Midseason Power Rankings: Pistons NBA's Surprise Team At Season's Midpoint
By Dan Jenkins
@DanTJenkins
Most people who follow basketball expected the Detroit Pistons to improve under head coach Stan Van Gundy, but the team's rise in the league is happening faster than some expected.
The Pistons were 22-19 at the midway point in the season, good enough to be among the top eight teams in the Eastern Conference. Here's a look at how writers around the internet ranked the Pistons as compared to the league's best teams.
Note: The Pistons had a win against the Houston Rockets and a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans after most of these rankings were published.
"The Pistons are known as a rather grindy team, largely because of the physical presence of Andre Drummond, but simple scoreboard math has proved to be an interesting barometer for the team that just conquered Golden State. Nearing the end of a challenging stretch of five straight games against winning teams, Detroit is up to 17-3 when it scores 100-plus and 5-15 when it falls short."
"When you beat the champs, holding what has been a historically good offense under a point per possession, it makes up for another loss to the Grizzlies on another crazy shot. The Pistons' starters continue to play the heaviest minutes in the league, but the bench has improved. They've outscored their opponents by 12.3 points per 100 possessions with at least on starter off the floor over the last eight games."
"Stan Van Gundy has parlayed the talents of Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson into a group that can be formidable, but which leans heavily on its two stars. Still, the Pistons are now trending in a positive direction and presently on track to make the playoffs for the first time since 2009."
"Besides, the Pistons beat the full-strength Warriors by 18 on Jan. 16, making them the first team this year to topple the defending champs without a built-in excuse.
Unfortunately, that result only counts for so much after losses to the Bulls and Pelicans.
Detroit moves up because it did something nobody else has done. But the potential for an even bigger jump would have been there if not for a couple of other missteps."
"In one of the more impressive performances of the season, Detroit pounded Golden State Saturday night after a very competitive game in Oakland earlier this season."
"I keep falling for the Detroit Pistons like they're an incredibly attractive girl that puts you in the friend zone and keeps you on the hook. They'll have a great week like last week when they went 2-0, or even this week when they pounded the Golden State Warriors, but then they'll miss out on potential statement games against the Spurs, Grizz and Bulls."
