The more I watch this team the more they remind me of the Larry Brown Piston teams... A lot of good players and no dominant star... Easy to say on a winning streak but the individual talent on the team makes me think they are legit if they stay healthy... not sure i would trade anyone right now...
Championship contender? No. The team is a contender to make noise in the playoffs though, which is pretty good.
I thought about that Pistons team as well. Only one team that I know of to ever win a ring built like that. So even if we were equivalent to that team, the odds of us being a contender are very unlikely. BUT...I think if Wood somehow takes his game to another level and becomes even a borderline superstar and Olidipo and Wall continue to improve and get more comfortable and get close to all star form then it'll be interesting. Either way...I think I'm going to continue watching this team play--true contender or not..
We are. I wish we could just leave it at that for now. Contender or not, we're playing well right now so let's enjoy it. We'll worry about the trade deadline at the trade deadline.
Wayyyy to early to tell. We are much better than many posters here were willing to admit, but "contender" status means you have the talent and have played up to that talent long enough to prove yourself. We have a 6 game win streak. That's great. We look much much better. But we aren't a contender yet. That said, "non-contenders" can still win. I wouldn't have considered the Pistons "contenders" early on in the 2003-04 season. To me, "contender" means you start the finals today and they are a favorite. I don't think we would be a favorite in most series, YET.
Just enjoy the ride. Expectations are what ruin teams. We had one of the best teams in the league the last few years and we'd end the season disappointed. Now, we've been winning and it's been a lot of fun but don't let expectations of playoffs or contending keep you from enjoying this team whatever it may be.
2nd round upside. But it's fun and without expectations so lets enjoy it! Future looks incredibly bright, which is strange to say after the impending doom of the last season and change.
Absolutely not. Chips are won by individual super talented players that we lack. LeBron, Kawhi, and Curry. Every ring in the last 9 years was won by those 3. Think about that 3 guys won all the championships over a decade. If you go back further the trend still holds for Shaq, Kobe, Hakeem, Jordan, Magic, Bird, etc. The Pistons are such an outlier it’s the reason everyone remembers them. If LeBron and Kawhi both have season ending injuries then maybe, maybe there could be a shot.
You don't need a season ending injury... pulled hammy or something minor knocks them out for a half a playoff series could do it...
I think it's easy to look at a lack of a star and say we're not a contender but if we are a top 5 defense it's easy to underestimate the ceiling because defense doesn't usually sell sneakers... those Pistons teams won with defense.... I think we'll know in a month maybe...
