Detroit Pistons’ Identity Runs Deeper Than Any One Player

The Detroit Pistons are two games into the preseason, and one thing is already certain: the Pistons’ culture is real. While many thought the Pistons would lose their culture when they lost Isaiah Stewart and Tobias Harris, and while the team is not better without them, their impact remains.

The Pistons are just as physical, and following two straight games of altercations, it’s clear that the team still buys into the physicality. The Pistons are the same nasty team, but that was started by Stewart and Harris, and it didn’t end with them.

This Pistons team remembered everything, and the newcomers know what the Pistons are. The incumbent squad still kept the same attitude and physical play, and the style has rubbed off on the new guys like Isaiah Joe and John Collins. While no team wants ejections or fights, this is a Detroit team that doesn’t mind being the villain.

The villain role comes with two understandings, which help explain how the President of Basketball Operations, Trajan Langdon, built the team. The Detroit toughness and grit still remain, but the team needed shooting and consistent perimeter play in order to succeed, and based on reports, the team isn’t done building. The Pistons have acquired shooting and kept the same rugged mentality, making sure that the identity is the exact same but with a new scoring punch.

With questions to whether Detroit is a contender or not, the core of this team is the same. The same trio that helped the Pistons win 60 is still there, but they added new guys to make this team’s floor and ceiling higher. Now the goal is for the Pistons to capitalize on their growth and new players to make a run at a title.

The Pistons team is back, and these new Bad Boys look to take the league by storm.