Toronto — About two weeks ago, the Pistons were in the midst of a miserable skid. Eight straight losses and 12 in their previous 13 games. That included a 30-point debacle to the Dallas Mavericks, a 25-point mauling against the Memphis Grizzlies and a 22-point shellacking to the Charlotte Hornets.
An 11-point loss to the Washington Wizards on Valentine’s Day was the tipping point, where things took a turn.
Two words: team meeting.
That phrase generally conjures either images of a WWE-style cage match with throwing chairs around the locker room or a round-and-round yelling match that doesn’t get much accomplished.
The Pistons’ version was neither.
Rally falls short as Pistons beaten by Wizards, 116-113
“We were just talking about the end of the game as players. We didn’t like how we just played and we kind of had a thing about a lot of the games that we had played in the past, and it was just a random moment, to be honest,” Saddiq Bey told The Detroit News. “It wasn’t planned, and we were talking about it and I guess it was that time to talk about that.”
Bey added: “It was definitely a defining moment, a pivotal moment for us. I think we kind of laid all the cards on the table individually as players and talked about what we needed to do and what we saw on the floor. We haven’t talked about that since, but you can tell it’s helped subconsciously.”
In the five games since the meeting, the Pistons have gone 3-2, with wins over a pair of playoff-bound teams in the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers, and a thrilling overtime victory at Charlotte on Sunday.
They’re in their best stretch of the season, and the eye test shows that the meeting paid dividends, both on and off the court. By all accounts, the discussion remained positive, centering on constructive solutions, with each person being direct and seeking not only to hold others accountable, but to be accountable as well.
“Something was needed. I felt like it was needed, and it wasn’t negative; it was like a film session, but the subject was different, and it took a little longer,” coach Dwane Casey told The News. “I thought it was productive in the tone; I liked the tone of it, and it wasn’t just a (complaining) session. It was a productive meeting with guys talking about how they felt, what they felt about their role.”
The meeting lasted about an hour, and it was open for all to speak their mind. The Pistons have mostly younger players on the roster, so many of them hadn’t been through anything quite like that in the NBA.
The tightrope in team meetings is keeping away from the finger-pointing and yelling and staying solution-oriented instead of accusatory. The Pistons were 12-45 at that point, so there was a level of frustration, but the vocal leaders on the team helped steer the meeting in a positive direction.
“I think it was a boiling point. I mean, (we were) losing a ton of games already, and then we were on a big losing streak, at that point,” forward Jerami Grant told The News. “So, it just came out organically. People started talking, and other people started listening, and then a lot of back and forth.”
Grant added: “The thing is, you’ve got to tell the truth. At the end of the day, if everybody wants the same thing — which is to win and to get better, and to stick (in the league) — then you’ve got to listen, regardless of whether you like the truth or not. You’ve got to speak up and let everybody know.”
Casey said that the meeting also served to help reiterate and redefine some of the players’ roles on the team. The team has been through several ups and downs this season, with COVID issues and injuries slowing their progress of playing together and finding chemistry with each other.
As most of the roster gets healthy, there will be some adjustments on the court to new lineups, and new rotations, but the bonding that took place in the team meeting served as a new marker for where the team can improve and build on that conversation.
It could be a point where they look back and see where the season turned for them.
“It was great. We knew all the concerns, we knew what we had to do, and we knew that nobody was going to help us get out of it but us. So, it was great, and ever since, it’s been great,” guard Hamidou Diallo told The News. “It was more within us and us questioning each other’s will and fight.
“Once we did that, and everybody understood that, once you say this, it’s what we’re going to hold you to for the rest of the year. And ever since then, it’s been good.”
That’s the goal for the rest of the season, and beyond.
Pistons at Raptors
►Tipoff: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Air Canada Centre, Toronto
►TV/radio: BSD/97.1
►Outlook: The Raptors (34-27) are in the No. 7 spot in the East, and like the Pistons (15-47), they’ve won three of their last five games. Toronto will have their second game with a full capacity of fans back in the arena.