Van Gundy, Pistons Confident They Have Enough To Win Without Jennings
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
AUBURN HILLS - The Detroit Pistons had lost, 103-95, to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the postgame press conference had almost concluded. Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy had already fielded at least three questions that referenced a player who will not return to the floor until next season.
A fourth such question pushed Van Gundy over the edge Tuesday night.
"These guys are all NBA players," Van Gundy said, an exasperated expression on his face. "Look, Brandon was having a hell of a year, okay? I feel bad for him, but I'm not going to stand up here and say that's the reason. We've got good enough players to win. We had good enough players in there tonight to win. We just needed to do a couple of things better, and we're not going to come in here, after every loss now, and talk about Brandon's effect."
Brandon Jennings, the team's point guard and leader in points and assists before he ruptured his left Achilles, had helped the Pistons overcome a wretched start to the season and win seven straight, infusing the group with a new confidence and a chance to make the playoffs. In the game in which Jennings suffered the injury and the two games since, the Pistons have a record of 0-3.
Cavaliers forward Kevin Love noted that the loss of Jennings has definitely had an impact on Detroit.
"Brandon really had them rolling," Love said. "He was the guy that really set up the entire team and was having a career year. He had continuity and flow to his game, so having him out is tough for them."
Van Gundy insists, however, that the absence of Jennings does not doom Detroit. He said the Pistons would have had a chance to beat the Cavs, winners of seven straight, had they taken better care of the ball and come away with more defensive rebounds to limit Cleveland's second-chance points.
The Pistons turned the ball over 18 times against the Cavs and allowed 20 second-chance points.
"Look, the three straight losses, sometimes you get a little carried away," Van Gundy said. "Some of it's a function of scheduling stuff, too. If you look at our losses – we've had two games in the 18 since Christmas where you can look and say, 'Wow, they just didn't play well' – the New Orleans game here and at Milwaukee. The other night we're in a four-point game at Toronto with a very good team, second- or third-best team in the East. We've lost two what I thought were pretty competitive games with Atlanta, who's the best team in the East, and we never quite put ourselves in a position to win down the stretch, but I thought pretty competitive game tonight against - other than Atlanta - the hottest team in the East, so sometimes when you back those teams up - I mean we played one bad game and then we lost two competitive games against really good teams, one of them on the road.
"I don't think we're in any kind of downward spiral because we lost to those teams," Van Gundy added. "We play 13 games in 22 days, and we go into another one tomorrow night. Sometimes the schedule backs up on you. I think our team will be just fine."
Van Gundy said the players believe, as he does, they can still win without Jennings. Forward Anthony Tolliver confirmed that feeling after the game.
"Obviously B.J. going down was a big loss for us," Tolliver said. "He was a big part of our team, but I think that we have enough here in order to still make a push, and I think that's something we have to continue to believe and instill in each other. The confidence that we had a week and a half ago, two weeks ago, we're still that same team - minus B.J., but we're still a team that can make a run and hopefully make the playoffs."
