JB Bickerstaff should\u00a0probably win\u00a0Coach of the Year for what the Detroit Pistons have done this season, but voters\u00a0seem\u00a0to be\u00a0talking themselves out of it for\u00a0all of\u00a0the wrong reasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Pistons are cruising towards 60 wins, something that not one person predicted, not even me, Homer #1, who had them finishing 4th\u00a0in the Eastern Conference before the season, so even the most biased, optimistic opinion (mine) was\u00a0way off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Many predicted a regression for the\u00a0Pistons,\u00a0in fact, ESPN predicted Detroit to win 42 games this season and finish 8th\u00a0in the Eastern Conference. Other sites like Bleacher Report had them at 45 wins and had to adjust for a hot start<\/a> no one saw coming.\u00a0In case you were wondering, ESPN had Boston finishing 5th in the East with three more predicted wins than Detroit.<\/p>\n Bickerstaff\u2019s biggest competition comes from Joe\u00a0Mazzulla\u00a0of the Boston Celtics, who led his team to a #2 seed without Jayson Tatum for most of the season.\u00a0 <\/p>\n While this has been impressive, fans and pundits are ignoring their own words.\u00a0<\/p>\n Can we give JB Bickerstaff a little credit?\u00a0<\/p>\n What the Celtics did without Jayson Tatum was\u00a0impressive,\u00a0and\u00a0Mazzulla\u00a0deserves a lot of\u00a0credit, especially since they have had myriad injuries aside from Tatum.\u00a0<\/p>\n But they also had another superstar to fall back on in Jaylen Brown, who has put the team on his back, and a better-than-advertised supporting cast. All that said,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0impressive that Boston could finish ahead of New York when the Knicks have been\u00a0relatively healthy\u00a0by\u00a0comparison.\u00a0<\/p>\n But\u00a0all of\u00a0these same things could be said about the Pistons (who are ahead of both of them), except they\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0have a second superstar to fall back on. All\u00a0we\u2019ve\u00a0heard all season is how the Pistons\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have a second star, how they need more shooting, how\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0just Cade and a bunch of try-hards, yet the Pistons keep winning without him.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n