By the way, the Pistons possibly did something no NBA team ever has last night
OK, I know I was a little perplexed by the lack of playing time for a couple of guys in last night’s blowout of Cleveland, but this is pretty cool, via Dan Devine at Yahoo!’s Ball Don’t Lie:
It’s not just that the Cavaliers were awful, though; the Pistons turned in a performance for the ages, seen through one lens. Basketball-Reference.com’s game logs, which go back to the 1985-86 season, show no record of a single regular-season or postseason game where a team shot 60 percent or better from the field, 40 percent or better from 3-point land and 90 percent or better from the free-throw line. The Pistons did all of those things on Tuesday night.
That definitely changes my tune some. Historically good performances are always welcome. Best not to risk Austin Daye‘s 30 percent shooting messing that up.
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Apr 18, 2012 • 10:59 am
by vic
an honest look at this team says that its just flat out getting better.
We barely lost to a championship contender, we smashed a tanking team with off the charts shooting percentages. We’ve got a coach that tightens lineups when needed. I’m glad the culture is changing.
Apr 18, 2012 • 11:36 am
by DoctorDaveT
Tanking is never good. It breeds an incredibly negative culture, starting with the Owner/GM/Coach that is giving the tacit impression that cheating is acceptable.
It’s great to see these guys play like this. Sure, I’d like to see a better draft position – but it’s way more important to build the right culture than it is draft 8 vs. 7. Or 6. Or the chance to draft higher.
Monroe/Knight have a real opportunity to be the building blocks of something special. Make them hungry to win – not teach them that losing is culturally OK.
Apr 18, 2012 • 3:27 pm
by tarsier
“It breeds an incredibly negative culture”
This is perhaps the most common claim with regard to tanking. But nobody ever, ever backs it up. Yes, the year after most tanks, teams perform poorly. Because they usually don’t yet have that much talent. But once they have a good bit of talent, somehow this “losing culture” always evaporates. Yes, sometimes a 9th man sort of veteran from a contender is brought in and is credited with removing the losing culture. But even if that is accurate, if removing a losing culture is that easy, why is anyone worried about it?
I challenge people every time a “losing culture” is mentioned, but nobody ever responds. Could somebody please tell me why they believe in this? Is it a gut feeling? Is it based on a few cases of anecdotal evidence? Is ti because karma makes for a good narrative? Is it based on a real study with factual findings that I just haven’t seen?
Apr 18, 2012 • 6:03 pm
by MNM
They have no examples…OKC is REALLY suffering arn’t they?!
Apr 18, 2012 • 7:07 pm
by tarsier
There always will be examples both ways. That’s a give and proves nothing. Although, quite frankly, I’m not expecting proof, or even very strong evidence, I just want to know what the basis for that line of reasoning is.
Apr 18, 2012 • 7:14 pm
by tarsier
*a given
Apr 18, 2012 • 12:14 pm
by Padden
I agree with Vic and would add that a lot of the “change” this year has been in the coaching. Frank seems more able to motivate this team. If we get more (substantial) pieces in the off season over the next couple of years it’s not that hard to imagine the Pistons being contenders.
Apr 18, 2012 • 10:06 pm
by tarsier
The problem is it is hard to imagine the Pistons drafting many more players of the same talent level as Monroe if they keep drafting at a similar position.