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Four minutes into the first preseason game of the season, the Detroit Pistons received their first boos.
The Milwaukee Bucks opened the game with a 20-3 run, prompting a negative reaction from the home crowd at Little Caesars Arena. The memory of last season, clearly, was still fresh. And it was an early indicator to a new front office and coaching staff that the team had a difficult road ahead to earn fans’ trust back.
That game, ironically, ended up being a precursor for the team’s forthcoming transformation. The Pistons faced a 24-6 deficit with 7:01 left in the first quarter. At halftime, they led by two points. It ended up being a 120-87 blowout win, after outscoring the Bucks 29-8 in the final period in a defensive masterclass. They held Milwaukee to 34.5% overall shooting.
Team president Trajan Langdon said his first full season in charge feels “a little bit surreal” when he addressed the media following the team’s practice in New Center on Wednesday. The Pistons pulled off a historic turnaround, finishing 44-38 overall, adding 30 wins to last season’s total and clinching the sixth seed in the playoffs. On Saturday, they’ll take on the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Fans have bought back into the franchise, faster than anyone could’ve predicted.
More: Why Cade Cunningham, JB Bickerstaff deserve to represent Detroit Pistons in NBA Awards
“It was something hard to forget,” Langdon said of the boos on Oct. 6, which coach J.B. Bickerstaff also reflected upon earlier this week. “But when it happened, it was understandable, right? I mean, we were getting shell-shocked by a really good team and it probably had memories for a lot of fans from what happened last year. So we knew it would be a climb, we knew it would be a build.
“It's just incredibly gratifying to get to this point after a lot of the hard work, and all 30 teams worked their butts off, right? And in terms of preparation every day and in the summer and throughout the season. But sometimes there's some luck involved and things don't turn out and for us, our group has really come together in a winning way, in a way that they've been incredibly supportive of themselves and they enjoy coming to work every day, so for us to see that from the city, to us, it means everything.”
A lot went right for the Pistons to turn their fortunes around coming off of the worst season in franchise history. It started with the hiring of Bickerstaff, who reshaped the Pistons into a team that reflects teams of yore — physical, unrelenting and organized. They finished with the league’s 10th-best defensive rating, and were fifth-overall since Jan. 1.
Players deserve credit for the defensive shift as well. In particular, Ausar Thompson and Isaiah Stewart have been two of the league’s best on that end. But Bickerstaff came to Detroit with a reputation for that style of play, and was able to get immediate buy-in despite being their third coach in three seasons. The Pistons went 33-21 over the last two-thirds of the season, after starting 11-17.
“The quickness that, as a group, they were willing to embrace what JB was asking them to do was something that surprised me,” Langdon said. “I knew we had a lot of talent, but at the end of the day had to learn how to embrace each other and learn how to execute on both ends of the floor to win games.
"It’s one thing to be close, it’s another thing to execute and actually put a mark in the win column.”
More: Yes, I'll defend Tom Gores: He finally learned lessons to set up Pistons for greatness
The Pistons’ improvement was also due to time, and timing. Cade Cunningham put together an All-NBA worthy season, averaging 26.1 points, 9.1 assists and 6.1 rebounds per game. Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren and Marcus Sasser all showed growth from last season. Ron Holland exceeded expectations as a rookie. The veterans — Tobias Harris, Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Paul Reed — meshed with the group on the floor and off.
The team caught its stride in December and carried an eight-game winning streak through the trade deadline. Langdon managed to fortify the roster with Dennis Schröder, while also adding draft capital. The veteran point guard stabilized the team’s backcourt and was a key reason they were able to go 4-2 and clinch the playoffs during a six-game stretch without Cunningham.
Postseason basketball is returning to Detroit. It’s a destination for a team that hasn’t won a playoff game since 2008. It’s also a starting point, as the team sets forth to establish a new standard — the old standard — for Pistons basketball.
“I’ve been in organizations that have won championships, I’ve won championships myself as a player,” Langdon said. “For me is this something that we didn’t expect? Yes. But now that we’re here we’re competing to be in the mix.
"We know how difficult it’s going to be. They’re a very good team, it’s a difficult environment. They expect to come in and beat us, so we know it’s going to be difficult. But our job is to prepare in the best way that we can to combat that, give a fight, be competitive and hopefully come out the series as winners.”
Contact Omari Sankofa II at [email protected]. Follow him on X and/or Bluesky.
Make "The Pistons Pulse" your go-to Detroit Pistons podcast, listen available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify).
Stay tuned all year long at freep.com/sports/pistons.
Follow the Detroit Free Press on Instagram (@detroitfreepress), TikTok (@detroitfreepress), YouTube (@DetroitFreePress), X (@freep), and LinkedIn, and like us on Facebook (@detroitfreepress).
Matchup: Pistons (44-38) at New York (51-31), Game 1 of first-round playoff series.
Tipoff: 6 p.m. Saturday; Madison Square Garden, New York.
TV/radio: FSND, ESPN; WXYT-FM (97.1)
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Pistons' Trajan Langdon reflects on surreal season to make playoffs
Continue reading...
The Milwaukee Bucks opened the game with a 20-3 run, prompting a negative reaction from the home crowd at Little Caesars Arena. The memory of last season, clearly, was still fresh. And it was an early indicator to a new front office and coaching staff that the team had a difficult road ahead to earn fans’ trust back.
That game, ironically, ended up being a precursor for the team’s forthcoming transformation. The Pistons faced a 24-6 deficit with 7:01 left in the first quarter. At halftime, they led by two points. It ended up being a 120-87 blowout win, after outscoring the Bucks 29-8 in the final period in a defensive masterclass. They held Milwaukee to 34.5% overall shooting.
Team president Trajan Langdon said his first full season in charge feels “a little bit surreal” when he addressed the media following the team’s practice in New Center on Wednesday. The Pistons pulled off a historic turnaround, finishing 44-38 overall, adding 30 wins to last season’s total and clinching the sixth seed in the playoffs. On Saturday, they’ll take on the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Fans have bought back into the franchise, faster than anyone could’ve predicted.
More: Why Cade Cunningham, JB Bickerstaff deserve to represent Detroit Pistons in NBA Awards
“It was something hard to forget,” Langdon said of the boos on Oct. 6, which coach J.B. Bickerstaff also reflected upon earlier this week. “But when it happened, it was understandable, right? I mean, we were getting shell-shocked by a really good team and it probably had memories for a lot of fans from what happened last year. So we knew it would be a climb, we knew it would be a build.
“It's just incredibly gratifying to get to this point after a lot of the hard work, and all 30 teams worked their butts off, right? And in terms of preparation every day and in the summer and throughout the season. But sometimes there's some luck involved and things don't turn out and for us, our group has really come together in a winning way, in a way that they've been incredibly supportive of themselves and they enjoy coming to work every day, so for us to see that from the city, to us, it means everything.”
A lot went right for the Pistons to turn their fortunes around coming off of the worst season in franchise history. It started with the hiring of Bickerstaff, who reshaped the Pistons into a team that reflects teams of yore — physical, unrelenting and organized. They finished with the league’s 10th-best defensive rating, and were fifth-overall since Jan. 1.
Players deserve credit for the defensive shift as well. In particular, Ausar Thompson and Isaiah Stewart have been two of the league’s best on that end. But Bickerstaff came to Detroit with a reputation for that style of play, and was able to get immediate buy-in despite being their third coach in three seasons. The Pistons went 33-21 over the last two-thirds of the season, after starting 11-17.
“The quickness that, as a group, they were willing to embrace what JB was asking them to do was something that surprised me,” Langdon said. “I knew we had a lot of talent, but at the end of the day had to learn how to embrace each other and learn how to execute on both ends of the floor to win games.
"It’s one thing to be close, it’s another thing to execute and actually put a mark in the win column.”
More: Yes, I'll defend Tom Gores: He finally learned lessons to set up Pistons for greatness
The Pistons’ improvement was also due to time, and timing. Cade Cunningham put together an All-NBA worthy season, averaging 26.1 points, 9.1 assists and 6.1 rebounds per game. Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren and Marcus Sasser all showed growth from last season. Ron Holland exceeded expectations as a rookie. The veterans — Tobias Harris, Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Paul Reed — meshed with the group on the floor and off.
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The team caught its stride in December and carried an eight-game winning streak through the trade deadline. Langdon managed to fortify the roster with Dennis Schröder, while also adding draft capital. The veteran point guard stabilized the team’s backcourt and was a key reason they were able to go 4-2 and clinch the playoffs during a six-game stretch without Cunningham.
Postseason basketball is returning to Detroit. It’s a destination for a team that hasn’t won a playoff game since 2008. It’s also a starting point, as the team sets forth to establish a new standard — the old standard — for Pistons basketball.
“I’ve been in organizations that have won championships, I’ve won championships myself as a player,” Langdon said. “For me is this something that we didn’t expect? Yes. But now that we’re here we’re competing to be in the mix.
"We know how difficult it’s going to be. They’re a very good team, it’s a difficult environment. They expect to come in and beat us, so we know it’s going to be difficult. But our job is to prepare in the best way that we can to combat that, give a fight, be competitive and hopefully come out the series as winners.”
Contact Omari Sankofa II at [email protected]. Follow him on X and/or Bluesky.
Make "The Pistons Pulse" your go-to Detroit Pistons podcast, listen available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify).
Stay tuned all year long at freep.com/sports/pistons.
Follow the Detroit Free Press on Instagram (@detroitfreepress), TikTok (@detroitfreepress), YouTube (@DetroitFreePress), X (@freep), and LinkedIn, and like us on Facebook (@detroitfreepress).
Next up: Knicks
Matchup: Pistons (44-38) at New York (51-31), Game 1 of first-round playoff series.
Tipoff: 6 p.m. Saturday; Madison Square Garden, New York.
TV/radio: FSND, ESPN; WXYT-FM (97.1)
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Pistons' Trajan Langdon reflects on surreal season to make playoffs
Continue reading...
