Pistons Are Third-Best In The East … At Best

It has become painfully clear to me that the Detroit Pistons are in rebuilding mode for the future. This year, the Pistons are not on par with the top teams in the Eastern Conference. In recent matches against Boston and Cleveland (the two best teams in the East) the Pistons have not looked like a team playing at that level (the level necessary to say with a straight face that you’re competing for some kind of a NBA championship … or, for that matter, even an Eastern Conference championship). The Pistons do not dominate teams with defense like they did when they won the championship in 2004, they don’t have a consistent low-post threat, they have not found a way to integrate Allen Iverson effectively into their offense, Michael Curry is a bit green as a head coach and this team appears to know it is not on par with the elite teams in the league. The Pistons are building for the future.