Will there ever be a team like the 03-04 Pistons?

JustRelaxMore · Post #1 » by **JustRelaxMore** » Thu Jan 21, 2021 7:57 pm

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tmorgan · Post #2 » by **tmorgan** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 12:05 am

Great teamwork, great chemistry, and a lot of good fortune coming together at the right time. Castoffs, malcontents, rehabbed busts turned into a title team. Great coaching by a mad scientist. A team that embodied its city and received tremendous support.

Won’t be easy to replicate.

DBC10 · Post #3 » by **DBC10** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 12:16 am

No more hand checking and defensive 3 sec calls basically made the 04 Pistons the last of its kind. Just grinding out wins by sheer defensive presence and teamwork without a true superstar

I honestly would not mind if we could bring that type of swagger back because the current game is way too much scoring lately

bstein14 · Post #4 » by **bstein14** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 12:40 am

The 2008 Celtics were the closet thing to a truly dominant defense with scoring coming from a variety of options.

NYPiston · Post #5 » by **NYPiston** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 3:01 pm

bstein14 wrote:The 2008 Celtics were the closet thing to a truly dominant defense with scoring coming from a variety of options.

Pierce and Garnett were bigger stars than any of the Pistons players although on the back half of their career. Not a bad comparison though but in an era of superstar teams over the last 40 years, the "Going to Work" Pistons were an extreme exception. Can't think of any other team that won without a superstar since 1980.

In a superstar driven league like the NBA, it's almost impossible to win with a bunch of good not great players. I suppose the Bubble Heat came close to something like that but it was a fluke due to circumstance.

Billl · Post #6 » by **Billl** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 3:31 pm

Right now? Nah. It's a superstar league. Always has been. And with the way guys a jacking up 3's right now and you aren't allowed to do much about it, there is no way you can win trying to grind out 85-82 point games. Seriously, that team averaged 90 ppg and won a championship. The worst offense in the league this year is 102 and the top teams are up at 120 ppg. They just don't let you play that type of defense anymore.

bstein14 · Post #7 » by **bstein14** » Fri Jan 22, 2021 3:37 pm

NYPiston wrote:
bstein14 wrote:The 2008 Celtics were the closet thing to a truly dominant defense with scoring coming from a variety of options.

Pierce and Garnett were bigger stars than any of the Pistons players although on the back half of their career. Not a bad comparison though but in an era of superstar teams over the last 40 years, the "Going to Work" Pistons were an extreme exception. Can't think of any other team that won without a superstar since 1980.

In a superstar driven league like the NBA, it's almost impossible to win with a bunch of good not great players. I suppose the Bubble Heat came close to something like that but it was a fluke due to circumstance.

2014 San Antonio Spurs had a bunch of good players but no one considered a top 10 NBA player.

Duncan in his last NBA season was 37 years old and a 15 PPG scorer.
Parker lead the team in scoring with 16 PPG, and was
Leonard was just 22 and in his 3rd season, a great defender and 12 PPG scorer.

The only all-star on that team was Tony Parker, and it was mostly because the Spurs were an elite team not because his stats put him there over other guys.