By: Opinionated MJ (Michael Tolliver)

DEEEEETROITTTT BASSSSKKKETTTBALLLLLLLL!

Let’s go Detroit! It’s very different this year. It’s all because of Dwane Casey, Blake, Drummond, and the rest of the team accepting their roles. This is just the beginning. Just wait till everyone really grows into their roles. Luke Kennard is still hurt and he was trending upward before injury. Helped us win games early while everyone was trying to figure out their roles.

I don’t know the ceiling for us because we’ve got two dominant bigs. I’ve always believed in that formula. Duncan/Robinson, Bynum/Gasol, Davis/Cousins, and now Blake/Drummond. It always yields successful results as long as one member of the duo can stretch the floor. If our wings make timely shots, Reggie Jackson & Stanley Johnson continue to split 3rd/4th option duties, and the rest of the team continue pressing forward and improving… I think we will be a serious problem. Let’s not sleep on the unguardable pace Ish Smith runs at. He does the Steve Nash thing alot as well. If only he had the passing acumen. It’ll be even greater for this team.

I’m not predicting this, but I want to say this.. We will make the playoffs of course, and once we do, if we’re clicking, I anticipate that we could actually make the conference finals. How? Because we already play playoff basketball. Half-court style, slow-grinding, inside-out, basketball. So we will not be shocked when teams focus in. They already have been doing so, at least when it comes to Blake Griffin. They’ve been doubling him ever since he dropped 50. Thereafter, he had a bad game because the scouting report probably began to focus on limiting his space and opportunity to go 1 on 1 cause he’s very strong. That’s when our team began to adjust and then found their shots cause we were shooting horrible early in the season, within the first 10 games. Having Drummond cleanup the boards definitely doesn’t hurt either.

Having Dwane Casey is a big, big deal. It may not be acknowledged until we beat a few other great teams. He’s already recently had the best team in the east, just last year. Fired as a scapegoat for the Raptors. He then accepted a role with our organization just southwest of Toronto. Detroit welcomes him with wide open arms.

The win yesterday was also huge for our city. I just hope those who didn’t make the game made sure that they watched it. That’s about the most packed I’ve seen the new LCA Arena, for a Pistons game. I monitored the tickets all the way up til 30 minutes before gametime and it went from having plenty tickets to only a few in ONE SECTION! I believe we were very close to selling out if we didn’t actually achieve that feat. Great for our city, our organization, and our players. Especially with them being in the heart of Detroit, downtown. Not in Auburn Hills. Downtown Detroit is surrounded by bars, restaurants, clubs, and nightlife, I’m sure it put all the corporates on notice downtown as well who are apart of it. Reminded me of how the gym was packed when we had our “Doin’ Work” Pistons roster with Chauncey Billups, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, and Richard Hamilton. We had like a 250+ sellout steak. I forget the exact number but I attended about 4-5 games during those years. Very exciting. Loads of energy in the building.

Lookout for the Pistons. Everybody is learning their new roles now. Including the fans. Detroit is full of some of the most passionate you’ll find. This combination will become dangerous once the playoffs begin. Even ESPN showing us love. Watch out NBA!

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