The funny thing about news roundups is that they can bring together a bunch of stories that have nothing to do with each other. That’s the case with the Detroit Pistons and the news of their incredible comeback victory.
Going through some morning headlines on Wednesday, February 26, I found the strangest headline from NBC News: “Texas measles outbreak grows and the Detroit Pistons’ turnaround: Morning Rundown.”
Hey, again, I get that sometimes, these roundups bring together different topics. But it was just funny and curious to see this headline, because the measles and Pistons, hopefully, don’t go together.
Cool to See the Pistons Get Some National Press
For someone who has been a Pistons fan my whole life, it’s cool to see the team get good press, even if it’s in a roundup about the measles.
In the roundup, sports reporter and expert Andrew Greif notes, “Last season, the Detroit Pistons hit a historic low when the team lost a record 28 consecutive games. The NBA is often full of bad teams seemingly on a doom loop of rebuilding, and nothing seemed that different about Detroit, which had tried in recent seasons to reset its trajectory to no avail.”
He adds, “That’s why the team’s sudden turnaround feels so notable. The Pistons endured plenty of struggles last fall when pairing a new coach with a mix of older additions and young, homegrown players, but things are turning around. Since December, they’ve become one of the biggest success stories in the league, building a 32-26 record — more wins than in their last two seasons combined.”
Pistons Head Coach is Staying Humble
Detroit Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff isn’t getting ahead of himself. Now, the team is on a seven-game winning streak, which will be tested on Wednesday, February 26, against the Boston Celtics.
“The Celtics are easily the best team Detroit has faced during this winning streak,” Brennan Sims of Detroit Bad Boys said in a February 26 article. “They’ll look to target the Pistons’ weak spots. We’ll better understand how Detroit’s recent top-notch defense will fair against a top offense, stretch bigs, and a revolving door of drive-and-kicks.”
Detroit is 32-26 overall and has a home record of 15-13.
“We are still working our way to becoming the team that we want,” Bickerstaff said to the media after their Clippers win on Monday, February 24, according to the Detroit News. “Every opportunity is just a challenge for us to sharpen our tools, and when you do it against the better teams in the league, it gives you a baseline of where you stand, where you can improve, and what you do well.”‘
He added, “They’re just great opportunities for us to play against the best, challenge ourselves, learn from it, and hopefully get better game by game.”