Have played together for a total of 5 minutes in the NBA regular season.
Not 5 seasons. Not even 5 games.
They’ve shared the court together, as a 5-man unit, for 5 total minutes.
They’re 22, 21, 20, 23, and (barely) 20.
I underhand having no patience after years of ineptitude. But remember: our core 5 guys have played a total of 5 NBA minutes together.
Just keep that in mind.
I don’t think most of us, in our sane moments, don’t think we have some good players. And maybe that’s whats most frustrating. I think the real question as to why we continue to be absolutely terrible lies in other areas.
1.) Is our coaching any better than it was? Monty seems to have a real dislike for Ivey. It really feels like it’s beyond the “teaching the Colts a lesson” phase. And that’s just one example.
2.) Has Weaver failed to put together a team that is as good or better than the sum of it’s parts? The evidence strongly suggests that this is the case. Every other Pistons championship team had unrivaled chemistry. I would argue this is just as important as talent, unless you’ve got LeBron James or Michael Jordan.
3.) Again, this is on Weaver. Have the Pistons established any type of positive culture in the years since he has taken over? Again, the answer has to be no. Look how long it took Dan Campbell to establish a totally different culture. It can be done and in less than four years.
Injuries and excuses about how our core is young are just not acceptable. A real championship team has a nice mixture of veterans and youngsters. I think this is where Weaver has failed the most. Injuries are mitigated by having good depth.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll continue to say it, we’ve been terrible for 10+ years, that falls on the front office.
Time for a change.