The Pistons’ loss shows the key to successful organization

The Detroit Pistons started the season with a 115-109 loss to the Indiana Pacers. At first glance, it may seem like the team is picking up right where they left off after a 14-68 campaign in 2023-24. But if you look a little closer, you’ll see that the Pistons have created a blueprint for a future of success.

Don’t take shortcuts

“It’s a process. We’ll be patient,” Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff told the media after the first home game.

Bickerstaff’s comment reflects an integral maxim of sports: process over results. Or should we rephrase it: great process over unsustainable results, because with a sound process you will get consistently great results.

In many ways, that feeling is the focus of the Pistons’ 2024-25 season. Over the years, previous regimes have failed to digest this truism, always prioritizing first-round berths (the NBA’s equivalent of quick cash) over patient, long-term success.

The original sin occurred in 2008, when the team traded away a franchise icon (Chauncey Billups) in hopes of getting one last shot at an aging superstar (Allen Iverson) rather than using their biggest trade asset to begin a rebuild. After this trade, the Pistons went 36-43 (after starting the year 3-0), were defeated by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round, and lost Iverson for free in the off-season (the legend retired midway through the following season).

Then, ten years later, they signed an injury-plagued star on Blake Griffin’s team to a mammoth max contract. To Griffin’s credit, he rewarded them with an All-NBA season in 2018-19, but even his valiant efforts couldn’t keep the Pistons from being crushed by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the playoffs that year.

This loss marked the last time the Pistons had playoff success. Since then, they have tried to use the same half-measures that have become synonymous with them (i.e. trading for Bojan Bogdanovic), but unfortunately the oldest sports stereotype remains undefeated. If you want lasting success, you cannot skip any steps.

Finding light in loss

Between Bickerstaff and new general manager Trajan Langdon, the current Pistons basketball regime believes in this principle in a way its predecessors never did before.

With that in mind, Langdon kicked off media day. “I don’t think our goal is wins and losses… it’s about creating a group that shares the Detroit Pistons identity.”

Bickerstaff, Langdon’s trusted lieutenant on this mission, works with the head of the command structure. Despite the crushing defeat, Bickerstaff began his post-match press conference by saying that “there were a lot of positives to take from the match.”

It’s not just that he’s a good company person and says what the fans want to hear. Even though the scoreboard says the Pacers won, the Pistons played like the better team.

Take, for example, a team-wide buy-in on the defensive end of the pitch. Last season, the Pistons ranked 25th in defense with a defensive rating of 118. Meanwhile, in their stifling first half, they held the team from the second-best offensive rating since last year (120.5) to an offensive rating of 96.1 (per NBA .com). Heck, if you want to get even more specific, in the first quarter that number was just 89.3.

“The energy was amazing. The physicality was great. “Communication and execution, all those things were really at a high level,” Bickerstaff said. “But again, this is one of those things that we will get better at. Understanding how to fold half, three quarters, four quarters. But the will is there, so I’m happy with what we did tonight and where we’re starting.

Offensively, even though they were forced to go toe-to-toe with such a worthy opponent, the Pistons generated the better shots throughout the evening.

A great way to get an idea of ​​how well an offense is functioning is to see how many open threes it generates. This is because open threes are usually a byproduct of your team getting into the game, the defense breaking down, and you throwing the ball to the shooter on the perimeter. Generally speaking, the more you can get deeper into the paint on offense, the better.

Anyway, according to NBA.com tracking data, the Pistons made 29 three-pointers when their shooter had at least 4 feet of space, while the Pacers made 28 of those types of shots. It may not seem like much, but the fact that they shoot even one more open three than a team of this caliber is worth feeling good about.

We did a great job of trying to share the ball. We touched the paint. We kicked the ball out to open shooters,” Bickerstaff said.

This is where the process/results begin. Unfortunately, the Pistons only made 6 of those threes (20.7%), while the Pacers made 9 (32.1%). In a game where the victory was decided by six points, it’s the little things that ultimately make the difference.

But as anyone who has played basketball at any level will tell you, the ball – and its relationship to the hoop – is a delicate matter. There are days when the ball can’t get past the hoop, and there are days when it refuses to do anything but miss.

That’s why you focus on the process. No matter how good a shooter you are, shooting comes and goes. All you can do is focus on creating great looks and eventually it will all even out and you will win a lot of games.

This applies to all systems. Whether we want to believe it or not, ultimately we are all particles colliding with each other in random directions. No matter how hard you try to do what you should, unexpected events will happen from time to time. You just have to be consistent in doing everything correctly so that in most cases the intended results will come true.

If we continue to play like this, goals will come in our defence. We just have to be consistent with it. Regardless of whether we lose, we just have to survive it,” Bickerstaff emphasized.

The Pistons have trusted their method for one game, but they need to remain disciplined and continue on their current path. Given the history of this franchise, such a request seems like a tall order. However, if this first match is any indication, the new regime is ready for the challenge.