Motor City basketball is back… or is it?

The Detroit Pistons have started the NBA season off hot, can they keep it up?

The Pistons have started the season better than anyone predicted. The Pistons have been getting some big-time work from their main players. Coach Stan Van Gundy has brought this group together and hopes to continue on the path to the playoffs.

There have been many surprises to start this NBA season without a doubt, but not a lot of people expected to do much of anything this season, let alone be tied with the Golden State Warriors for the third-best record in the league at 10-3. Who predicted this? Not anybody outside of Detroit, we’ll assume. ESPN put Detroit at twenty-one in their preseason power rankings and predicted a 39-43 for the season; the Pistons are one fourth the way there only thirteen games in. The question is, how did this happen?

Last season Detroit posted a 37-47 record and were awarded the East’s tenth best team, what’s new since then? Avery Bradley, that’s what. Bradley was acquired from Boston in a deal that sent Pistons PF Marcus Morris packing, a starter for the team last year. Bradley this year is averaging 16.4 points, 3 rebounds and a steal and a half a contest, but his defensive presence is something that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet. There’s of course the big man who’s doing pretty much everything, Andre Drummond. Drummond is currently averaging 14.2 points, 15.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.5 blocks, and 1.8 steals a game, the man is working. Nevertheless, players like Tobias Harris, Reggie Jackson, Ish Smith and Stanley Johnson are contributing to the squad’s success.

You can never forget the man on the sidelines though, Mr. Stan Van Gundy. Van Gundy was a great coach for the Orlando Magic when he had his tenure there, including a Finals appearance in 2009. Van Gundy lead the Pistons to a playoff berth in his first season in Detroit before getting swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers, then struggled last season. Detroit fans are hoping this is the season that their team finally makes the jump to a contender this season, only time will tell.