Keeping things in perspective after the first playoff game.

Detroit-Philadelphia, 86-90. Wait, what? A loss?

Yes, a loss to start the playoffs. Not quite the same thing as a loss to end the playoffs, though.

I guess all Pistons fans are frustrated right now. Even casual basketball fans must be. Why? Because the Pistons, who can play brilliantly sound, selfless basketball regularly, just laid an egg tonight. Their second half was utterly pathetic, there´s no disguising that. Still, the Pistons are mathematically a long, loong way from being eliminated, and the series has just started. It would be foolish to assert that the Pistons will be eliminated for sure.
Let´s get real for a second. At this point, anything can happen. Detroit is a better team than Philadelphia, without a doubt, and they still hold their future in their hands. Improve notably, and they will win the next games. Produce the same kind of effort as tonight from now on, and they could lose. Could. After all, they only lost by four points, and that was after an entirely dismal performance, right?

It´s true. But here´s the thing. As nonsensical as declaring the series to be over for the Pistons is, it would be just as foolish to dismiss any cause for concern and tell people to relax because everything will turn out just fine in the end. It´s legitimate to be frustrated by errors that cause your team to lose, especially when those errors are part of a larger trend, especially when those errors appear again and again in the same fashion.

The Pistons have already lost two playoffs series that they clearly should have won. The last two playoffs series, for those that are keeping count, and with the same core. So it´s not absurd to think the dreary past could be an omen for the immediate future.
I´m not saying it will be. I am, though, saying that this Pistons squad has given us reasons to think it easily could be.

First clue. The Pistons lost, and they shouldn´t have. Really. Unless your business is making excuses, this should matter. A lot.

Second clue. They lost because they reverted to a pattern that has cost them several losses. They stopped moving the ball, they didn´t attack the paint, and their offense totally collapsed. This has already happened, and the measures that are touted every single time as the remedy still aren´t applied on the floor.

Third clue. I won´t single out individuals in this paragraph. But as a unit, you could see that the starters weren´t as effective as when a mixed unit was on the court.

And now, we come to the most worrying of clues, as I see it.

Fourth clue. The Pistons on the floor at any given time were not the best Pistons that could have been out there. A game flows. Momentums can be shattered in seconds, or created and upheld if treated carefully. With the Pistons, the former has ocurred at times, and the latter often doesn´t happen. Not once in a while, not sometimes, not occasionally. Regularly, to say the least.
A player is not getting the job done, but still stays for several minutes in the game. Basketball is not soccer, you know? There are no limits on the number of times you can substitute players, which is why you really should take advantage of it.
A player is in a rythm (not red-hot, mind you, just in a rythm), and is pulled out.

With the Pistons, these two cases are not even the worst. I am even more troubled by the fact that Saunders doesn´t seem to have a clear idea of which players connect well on the field and should preferentially play together because they click. And which players absolutely do not. It can vary from game to game, so it´s not as if I was suggesting handing him a short list and hops, all problems solved. But the coach should be able to recognize it as it happens, and make good things happen by putting the right lineup on the court as the game demands it. Flip really doesn´t have a clue, in my opinion.
What´s more, I hate the fact that Detroit can come out of a timeout and appear disoriented. I mean, timeouts are supposed to give direction to a team, provide insightful imput and decisive suggestions from the coach. Insightful? Decisive? These really aren´t Flip´s strong suits, and yes, it can cost you some games. Only one is enough in a playoff series.

But what I loathe with every fiber of my Pistons-loving soul is this.

Fifth clue. The starters are not, I repeat, ARE NOT always giving their best on the floor. I´ll sigh and groan when their shots aren´t falling, I´ll curse and shout when they have turnovers at crucial moments of the game. But the only thing that has me foaming at the mouth and despising this team is seeing complacency from the starters. You have to bust your ass every single time you´re on the floor, period. Especially in the playoffs, yes, but it should be that way every single time.

Not because the players are paid millions. No. Not because it´s their job. Because every single player that steps foot on a basketball court should be expected to do the same. Because basketball is a game, and playing sports is all about passion. Because games are just about loving it, loving the game, and what you love you launch yourself into, giving it your all, or it just doesn´t make any sense. Being competitive isn´t about loving winning. It´s about making every effort possible and then some even in a loss. Because from the moment the game starts until the moment it finishes, it is all that exists and that demands utter honesty.
And the game feels it, you know? If you´re halfhearted about it, the game will go the other way.

So yes, when I see these Pistons play, I can not accept seeing people who don´t go all out to avoid losing. People who don´t hate losing and thus vow to themselves to find a way next time to pull out a win. People who are mentally entitled and crumble when things don´t go their way.
It´s not about what you say afterwards. It´s not about making angry faces. It most certainly is not about making excuses after you lose. It´s about hustling, about demanding the best of yourself and your teammates, about jumping out of your skin to go the extra inch and grab the ball.
I will take one player among the starting five that has a bad night and doesn´t contribute positively, be it with stats or attitude. They´re human. I´ll give them that. I most certainly won´t take a first unit that only occasionally gives it everything it has. How many times this season have we felt that the starters were all, at the same time, completely committed to the game, from start to finish bustling their asses out?
Unlike the Zoo Crew, that apparently doesn´t figure too preeminently in the playoffs plans.

When you add all that up, you have some really negative trends showing up.

That´s why fans have a reason to scrutinize every single defeat critically. That´s why every single loss could indeed spell doom for a title´s hope.

I am frustrated, not hopeless. I am hopefully critical, instead of in denial.

I sure as heck still think the Pistons can win it all. I sure as heck expect them to win against Philly. But I won´t back down from criticizing them when it is deserved. I won´t cut them any slack whenever effort is lacking. I will rejoice when they win, and celebrate. I will still support them if they lose. I will, after all is said and done, come back next year, and criticize their mistakes, and expect the best from them. The best.

Because I´m a Pistons fan, and of course it means I expect from them the best sports has to offer, which is honesty and determination and passion, and as an extra, the best THESE Pistons have to offer, which is altruism and brilliance and talent.