Hands Down: The Best Team in Detroit

The eyes of the sports world have been focused on Detroit over the last few weeks, but for the wrong reasons. Sure, the Super Bowl, itself, is the major sporting event in our country, yet the coverage and hype leading up to the game rival the coverage and hype that the game, itself, should receive.

Although the war of words between Jerramy Stevens and Joey Porter is amusing, it shouldn't have been mistaken for or covered as if it were an actual sporting event. And while I do believe that a van carrying a number of Seattle's offensive players colliding (barely) with an entry gate is newsworthy, I don't think that it should be the news of the day.

Look, I understand that the reason the sports media had descended upon Detroit was because of the Super Bowl, but I didn't need to know every little thing that took place in the lives of the Steelers or Seahawks for a period of two weeks. While the sports journalists in Detroit were busy reporting about the halftime entertainment or asking the players the inane questions which illicit mindless responses, there was another amazing sports-related story taking place in Detroit right under their noses.

Yes, I'm speaking of the dominance of the Detroit Pistons.

It's not often in the sports world when a regular-season loss can conjure up feelings of shock and disbelief. Yet, I was more shocked by the end of the Pistons recent 11-game winning streak at the hands of the New Jersey Nets than I was when the NFL's last unbeaten team, the Indianapolis Colts, went down. How can I be so surprised considering Detroit already had experienced five losses and is in the middle of an 82-game season? If you watch the Pistons in action, you'll know why.

It's not because of the number of games they've won. It's the manner in which they've accomplished many of these victories. The most glaring examples are the two victories that constitute the season-sweep of the defending champion and overwhelming pre-season title favorite, San Antonio Spurs. Not only were these games not close, they were both played in front of a national television audience. These two games arguably represent the primary reason the Pistons have overtaken the Spurs as clear-cut championship favorites.

It's odd to have an overwhelming pre-season favorite to win a championship in any sport. It's exceptionally odd to see said team lose its status as title favorite before the midway point of the season — while actually living up to the high expectations placed upon it at the season's beginning. San Antonio isn't underachieving. This has nothing to do with the Spurs and everything to do with the Pistons.

What's remarkable about Detroit is that it's exceeded the expectations placed upon San Antonio this year. Everyone thought Detroit was good, but why is that nobody thought Detroit was capable of being this good? I think much of the reason that Detroit was overlooked is that analysts and prognosticators spent too much time dissecting the talents of individual players while failing to sufficiently acknowledge what it actually takes to comprise a good team.

To comprise a good team, one must build with "team concept" in mind. By this I mean, the architect of the team must take into account the egos and attitudes of the respective players on the team. These players also must understand and accept their respective roles. Most importantly, these players must be able to play together or as it's more commonly known, have chemistry. Of course, talent and skill is a requirement, but all of the talent and skill in the world means nothing if it doesn't mesh on the court. Finally, it's almost a given that the teams that will win championships in the four major American team sports are above-average defensive teams, at the very least.

The architect of the Pistons, Joe Dumars, understands all of this. He's put together a group of very talented team-oriented players and paired them with some very talented coaches who share Dumars' philosophy of "team ball." Joe Dumars has succeeded where many other general managers have failed. Let's examine why.

Let's be honest. The NBA is a star's league. When we look back at the champions of the last 20-30 years, we focus almost exclusively on the stars. Names like Duncan, Jordan, Magic, Kareem, Shaquille, Kobe, Olajuwon, Bird, McHale, and Isiah Thomas (yes, even Isiah Thomas) are synonymous with winning. Many NBA general managers are no different from the rest of us in that regard. The trend as of late has been to either attempt to acquire superstar players or to continuously build around superstars with a variety of players in hopes of winning championships. Now, I'm not going to argue with the notion that having a superstar on one's team is a good thing. I recommend it. What I do disagree with, however, is the notion that it is necessary to have a superstar on one's team in order to win a championship.

The fact is that the key to winning titles rests within the concept of team. Superstars, though helpful, are far from necessary. Look at the names above. These names represent the NBA champions going all the way back to 1984 — with one exception, the Detroit Pistons of two seasons ago. The Pistons were able to win a title without any superstars. In all actuality, the common denominator in all of the NBA champions since 1984 has not necessarily been the presence of a superstar, but the presence of an array of players who were adept at filling their respective roles and served as great complementary pieces to the best players of their respective teams.

Because the aforementioned Lakers' formula for winning (two dominant superstars supplemented by average role players) was a recent phenomenon, some teams have attempted to follow that mode. The reason that the Lakers were the exception and not the rule, however, was because the superstars on that team were dominant.

This is precisely why attempting to build in this manner in places such as Houston has not had the desired effect. Houston only has one dominant superstar, Tracy McGrady. Although Yao Ming is a very good NBA player, he is neither dominant nor a superstar. What's even more significant, however, is that unlike the supporting cast of the Lakers, the players around Yao and T-Mac are either not very good or just aren't good fits with the Rockets.

The other manner in which NBA GMs have been trying to win titles is by building around superstars in a constant and often careless fashion. Again, this is a flawed manner of thinking. For instance, the Miami Heat were just one game away from defeating the Pistons last year in the Eastern Conference Finals. They lost the series-deciding game without one of their best players and one of the league's brightest young stars, Dwayne Wade. So, what did they do? They turned over half of their roster and acquired more "name" players.

It's curious as to why Miami decided not to upgrade its roster with a few minor tweaks. It's a very risky endeavor to overhaul one of the league's most successful teams, especially when said team displayed a great deal of cohesion. But this is exactly what Pat Riley did. It's true that on paper, Miami looked as if they could be the class of the Eastern Conference this year. But, as we all know, games are played on the court, not on paper. Well, some games are played on paper, but not basketball games, but I digress. On the court this year, Miami has looked like a good team, but it has yet to resemble the great team that took the floor a year ago.

Another example is the Minnesota Timberwolves. Just two seasons ago, they were two games from reaching the NBA Finals and their second-best player Sam Cassell, was out for the latter part of the Western Conference Finals due to injury. They went into last season as one of the favorites to win the Western Conference, yet missed the postseason entirely. Many blamed the down year on the reigning league MVP, Kevin Garnett. Garnett, however, wasn't the problem-actually, far from it.

The real culprit, as funny as it sounds, was the full-time return of two players who played bit parts the previous year, Wally Szczerbiak and Troy Hudson. Minnesota suffered from having "too many cooks in the kitchen," if you will. Ironically, the return of these two guys was part of the reason many thought Minnesota was a preseason favorite in the first place. But the previous year's lineup had developed very good chemistry together and the addition of two more players who demanded time on the court really changed things for the worse.

This is why Joe Dumars is the best in the business. He understands the most foolproof way to win. First and foremost, he's identified that although the NBA is marketed as a star's league, the reality is that the teams that play like "teams" are the teams that win titles. Dumars has found a group of guys who check their egos at the door. Look at the starting lineup. Tell me which player is the best of the five. It's impossible.

It's true that some of them are more talented than others, but it's up for debate as to which ones. Everyone's got a different opinion. It just depends on your perspective. There isn't a bigger compliment that one could give to a team. The starters are all equally talented and their respective talent levels all measure out at "very good." The starting five also understand and accept their respective roles on the team.

Ben Wallace is primarily on the floor for rebounding and defense, especially help defense. The Pistons have shrewdly recognized that many teams do not have one good post player, let alone two. Therefore, Ben Wallace is able to leave his man to either help with other people's responsibilities or hit the boards. Does he love this role? No, he would rather be involved more on the offensive end, but he understands and accepts what is asked of him.

Rasheed Wallace is the individual defender and scorer of the two big men. For as much abuse as Rasheed's taken in his career, nobody has ever claimed that he was a bad teammate on or off the floor. He's the rare type of player that can go anywhere and instantly help team chemistry on the floor rather than hurt it because he is such an unselfish player with a high basketball IQ. More significantly, he doesn't need the ball to be effective.

Tayshaun Prince is asked to defend the best swingman and score when needed. He's so tall and long that he poses problems for most of the guys he's guarding. Even the shots he doesn't get a piece of are many times altered due to his presence. He's also capable of scoring inside and out, yet never forces the issue.

Richard Hamilton's job is to run around like a madman while the others set screens for him. Once he's open, it's up to the others to get him the ball and they almost always do. He's one of, if not, the best player in the league at moving without the ball. He's also a tremendous mid-range jump-shooter and an adequate to better-than-average defender. This makes him the primary scoring option, but not in a "Kobe Bryant taking 50 shots" way.

Chauncey Billups is the playmaker and the guy the team looks to in crunchtime situations. "Mr. Big Shot" has ice in his veins from almost anywhere on the court when the game is on the line, yet never forces anything throughout the rest of the game. He makes the right decisions on who should get the ball and where and is a very good defender at the point guard position.

Dumars has also assembled a bench that many consider to be average, at best, but is sufficient considering the amount of time the starters see. The Pistons have also astutely balanced the bench with a mixture of energy guys, guys that can score down low, rebounders, and playmakers. The only thing really missing is a nasty outside shooter.

The Pistons have also done a very good job at perfecting team chemistry and again, Joe Dumars should be acknowledged as the one person most responsible for this. The last time Joe Dumars made a major move was two seasons ago when he acquired Rasheed Wallace at the trade deadline. The unselfish Wallace was a perfect fit for this team due to his "team play" and defensive presence. Dumars was able to acquire Wallace without giving up any guys who played significant roles on the team. By keeping his core together, Dumars made sure that the growing pains of his new starting lineup would be minimal and short-lived.

Since then, Dumars has only made minor tweaks to solidify the Detroit bench. The strength of Joe Dumars is that he does not make personnel moves solely for the purpose of making moves. He understands that his team is already a championship-caliber team. Because he exercises such great patience, he only pulls the trigger on deals that make sense for his team in respect to both the players he sends away and the players he brings in. The continuity has only served to better his championship team of a few years ago. Dumars' genius is exemplified by all of this.

The Detroit starting five has been together now for two years and counting. All five players are very good players in their own right. They all play within the team concept and have had the time and a patient enough front office to allow them to both develop chemistry and understand their respective roles. It's much easier to play the game when everyone from the owner to the ballboy is on the same page.

The emphasis in Detroit, as always, has been on defense, and new coach Flip Saunders has really opened up the offense. Right now, this team is dominant because it can conceivably take down anyone on both sides of the floor. It's unfortunate they've received so little attention recently while playing in a city that has been the focus of the sports world the last few weeks.

While the mainstream sports media was spending gobs of time trying to drain the most trivial pieces of information out of the backup long-snappers of the Seahawks and Steelers, the Detroit Pistons continued on their way to what will perhaps be the story of the year in 2006.

In a few months time, the Detroit Pistons could be wrapping up a second title in three years while making their case as the best team in NBA history. It's ironic that many of the aforementioned media might be returning to Detroit to ask the questions that they wished they would have and should have asked while they were in Detroit the first time around.