Detroit Pistons Benefiting From Steady Approach By Joe Dumars.
Joe Dumars‘ motto should be “Steady as it goes”.
Throughout his tenure as the Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations, Dumars has continually focused on what each move would mean for the future of his ball club. He hasn’t been perfect at it, but then again, who in the NBA has? General Managers do not have crystal balls in their offices, as much as they may wish they did! Instead, they make the best decisions they can, with whatever information they have available to them. As good as information can be, it is still merely a guide to help the Gm guess the character of an individual; to see what this person is capable in two years, or three, even five years from now. Planning for the future, while trying to remain competitive, is no easy task, but Dumars has doing an admiral job over the last few seasons, and the Pistons are built to scrap for a playoff spot once more.
One look at the character make up of the Pistons over the last decade and you see the pattern that Dumars has aimed for. Hard working, grind it out players, who are willing to share the load and play unselfish ball. Think back on Chauncey Billups, Rasheed and Ben Wallace, Teyshaun Prince, and Richard Hamilton. When they played together as a unit, Dumars’ vision was clearly represented. The group represented grit, heart, and single minded intensity on both ends of the floor. During the group’s impressive run at 6 straight Conference finals, there was never a feeling of one player being more important than the others, on the contrary, it felt as though each player was absolutely necessary to the team’s success.
This year’s Pistons have the same sort of feel, just without the veteran experience that was always the fuel behind Detroit’s Do Work mentality. Ben Wallace may have already played his last NBA game, leaving Prince as the last remaining Piston with championship experience. Still, even with the younger players, the culture of blue collar hard work is ingrained within the halls of the Palace of Auburn Hills, and as long as Dumars keeps reading the charachter of his players this way, that attitude will remain.
With all that he has done, Dumars has been far from perfect. There have been a few draft selections that left the rest of us scratching our heads, and a trade with the Denver Nuggets two games into the 07-08 season that sent the city in an uproar, officially kicking off the dreaded rebuild, but the Hall of Fame “Bad Boy” has just stuck to the formula that should be his motto. He just stays steady as it goes.
There always comes a time when the talent on the team has passed its prime. Every great dynasty must eventually make way for the next team in line. Rebuilding is as much a part of the game as rebounding is. A quick look around the league and it is obvious that Dumars deserves a nod of appreciation for getting the Pistons back to this point, as quickly as he did.. Of course, he has gotten a bit lucky from time to time, acquiring top tier talent from the draft in positions that made them absolute steals, but even those “steals” are at best, educated guesses.
Thankfully, Dumars is on a Vegas hot streak right now, and we will all reap the rewards when we watch the Pistons make a run for the playoffs once again.
Jeff Everette is a featured columnist for www.RantSports.com, covering the NFL and NBA. You can follow him on twitter @jeverettesports, or subscribe to Jeff Everette-www.RantSports.com on both Facebook and Google+ for all of his latest articles, opinions, and rants.
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