DETROIT – The unpredictability of the 2020-21 NBA season continued on Tuesday, when the Detroit Pistons learned their second consecutive game and this season’s fourth would be postponed. So, they focused on what they could control, a phrase that some players have uttered this season in their various Zoom media availabilities.
On Monday, the Pistons (8-19) went to bed knowing that they would not face the San Antonio Spurs. They spent a few hours of the night examining the Dallas Mavericks movie, which they were supposed to play on Wednesday at the American Airlines Center. But that game was also postponed on Tuesday because of bad weather in Texas. So the Pistons weren’t sure they would have a game until they visited Memphis on Friday.
Now the Pistons are set to face the Chicago Bulls (11-15) on Wednesday (8 pm Fox Sports Detroit) and they again have to change gears to face a different opponent. Chicago was in a similar situation when the league’s health and safety protocols postponed its game against Charlotte Hornets, which was originally scheduled for Wednesday.
This Detroit-Chicago clash was originally planned for the second half of NBA programming, but with both teams having disputes postponed on Wednesday, league officials struggled to adjust.
“From our perspective, as we said throughout the year, ‘You have to be flexible and agile, you have to be prepared,'” said Pistons coach Dwane Casey. “Our video people are doing a great job now in preparing the video for Chicago. Our coaches are entering the field now preparing for Chicago. So it’s a change. “
So far this season, the Pistons have had four of their originally scheduled games postponed. They already saw another game originally planned for the second half to increase after defeating the New Orleans Pelicans at Little Caesars Arena on Sunday.
With the confrontation against the Bulls replacing the game against the Mavericks, the Pistons still have two games ahead of them. Unless otherwise changed, the Pistons will play games against the Memphis Grizzlies (Friday), Orlando Magic (Sunday and Tuesday) and New Orleans Pelicans (February 24) during this five-game trip.
Even though things change, the Pistons has emphasized this flexibility for its players, and the newly acquired point guard Dennis Smith Jr. is learning this. He said he focused on the present because that is what he can control.
“They canceled the game, we came to find out, it does not change the way we train, it is still coming and we are going after it,” he said.
Filling Griffin’s leadership void
The Pistons took another big step toward restoring their franchise on Monday. Although it is a domino effect over the course of minutes, Casey hopes that Blake Griffin’s absence will open the door for other veterans to take on more leadership roles.
Detroit still has a veteran presence in Jerami Grant, Mason Plumlee, Josh Jackson, Delon Wright, Wayne Ellington and Rodney McGruder. Casey said the leadership role will be even more important now that the season’s oldest Piston is advancing.
“Do it for a committee,” said Casey, “And if a young person comes in and sees something and wants to be in a leadership role, that’s also a possibility.”