Pistons' physicality helped get them to playoffs but don't call them Bad Boys yet

New York Times

17-04-2025

Doc Rivers was well acquainted with the 'Bad Boys' Detroit Pistons of yesteryear.
Before becoming a head coach, Rivers, now leading the Milwaukee Bucks, played 13 seasons (1983-96) in the NBA. During his playing career, Rivers matched up against the Pistons in 53 regular-season games and four postseason series, many coming against those Bad Boys.
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He experienced that team's physical nature firsthand … in the head.
Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas, who brought two NBA championships to Detroit in 1989 and 1990, was ejected for attempting to kick Rivers, who played for the New York Knicks at the time, in the head 32 years ago to the day, on April 17, 1993.
'They weren't that bad,' Rivers jokingly said April 11, before the Bucks beat the Pistons, as he gestured with his hands as if to say 'Cut it out.' 'Bill Laimbeer, so soft. … First of all, we could fight back then. They'd allow you and then you could play. They didn't take you off the floor, which was really wonderful. I think that's what we should go back to. I think when guys square off, we should say, 'Alright, go ahead.''
And while Rivers may be wistful for a more pugilistic NBA era, that's not how things work in today's league. Gone are the days of Detroit's 'Jordan Rules' defensive strategy that entailed the Bad Boys' pummeling Michael Jordan.
Still, that doesn't mean teams can't use physical toughness as a calling card. Enter today's Pistons. Not quite the Bad Boys 2.0, this team has a young nucleus that is no longer a guaranteed win on opposing teams' calendars. Detroit is also no pushover as a unit.
'They seem to get into more fights than other teams. I don't know if that's the Bad Boys way or not,' Rivers continued. 'They're playing really physical. I think J.B. (Bickerstaff) is just doing a wonderful job. He's kind of brought that to them. I don't think Isaiah needed it – Stewart or Isiah Thomas, either one. They're both the same in a lot of ways.'
Detroit finished the regular season fourth in the NBA in total fouls with 1,695 and got tangled up with multiple teams. Four Detroit players have been ejected at least once this season. Cade Cunningham was assessed back-to-back techs against the Thunder on March 15 for arguing with refs.
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Isaiah Stewart, Ron Holland and Marcus Sasser were each ejected for the altercation with the Timberwolves on March 30 and those three received suspensions for their roles in the scuffle. Stewart, Holland, Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson and Paul Reed make up the'Dawg Pound,' a crew Stewart and Duren created that features some of the grittiest players on the roster.
The physical, gritty mentality Thomas and the rest of the 'Bad Boys' embodied from the late 1980s to the early '90s is something Bickerstaff's version of the Pistons is attempting to tap back into, including, at times, Bickerstaff himself. The Pistons' coach was livid after Cunningham's ejection and the loss to the Thunder in March.
Yet, physicality isn't always the easiest quality to quantify by stats. There are hustle stats such as offensive rebounds, points off turnovers and potentially transition points that can point to physicality. But more than that, coaches around the league have taken notice when game planning for the 2025 Pistons.
'They are very physical,' Toronto Raptors coach Darko Rajaković said before the Pistons defeated the Raptors on April 4. 'Defensively, you can especially see how they guard off-ball actions and handoffs. They are really trying to blow out everything to be very physical to take you out of your actions.
'So a couple of things. It's spacing that you need. … So they cannot be physical in those actions. And the other way is, when we're using our dribble handoff and off-ball sets, we've got to really use pace and speed to combat the physicality.'
The Raptors' off-ball action showed the adjustments teams need to make when they face the Pistons, as they freed Jamison Battle for the long-range jumper in the above clip as the Raptors executed on the spacing Rajaković discussed. Although Toronto lost, Rajaković's changes led to higher-quality shot attempts and consequently caused the Raptors to finish the game slightly above their season average from behind the arc at 35.1 percent.
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X's and O's are one portion of planning for physicality. But there's also the mental aspect. Sacramento Kings interim head coach Doug Christie, a four-time All-Defensive selection from 2001 to 2004, was no stranger to a scuffle in his day either. So Christie's approach to managing the mental side of the physicality Detroit brings is to match energy.
'My mindset is that, that's where we're going. We plan to bring it, too,' Christie said before the Kings beat the Pistons on April 7. 'So, you've got to meet that with force. That's the only way that you survive. So really, there ain't no secret to that one. Don't talk about it, be about it.'
Mark Daigneault's Oklahoma City Thunder rely on past matchups against other physical teams to best learn to combat the Pistons' physicality.
'It's easier said than done. We just played three really fast teams,' Daigneault said ahead of the Thunder's April 2 win over Detroit. 'But until you're out there, in the speed of it, you can't really prepare for it. (The Pistons') physicality and pressure is similar to that. So it's something that's just grown through the experience of the first time we played them.'
Daigneault's best player, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, showed he was still in the process of using his experience to his advantage. Although Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 33 points in the win, he did so on 10-of-26 shooting. Eleven of his 33 came at the free-throw line, where he only missed one attempt.
Ausar Thompson, with his 6-foot-6 frame and 7-foot wingspan, had a few defensive possessions in particular that stood out on Gilgeous-Alexander. Especially when he picked the 2025 MVP candidate up just over half court and pressured him into a tough shot that Thompson eventually blocked.
Of all the coaches we asked about the Pistons' physicality, Thibodeau was the most guarded with his answer.
'That's a big part, I think, in general of the league,' Thibodeau said of the Pistons before the Knicks' third loss to Detroit this season on April 10. 'There's more physicality to it, so that's a big part of this. Just compete, understand what goes into winning, you don't have to change what you're doing.'
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Brunson, in the two teams' last meeting, only managed 15 points on 5-of-15 shooting and had five assists to three turnovers. In Brunson's defense, this was his first time this season not scoring at least 30 against the Pistons. But he has shot a worse percentage in each game against this Detroit defense.
The Pistons' tough style of play has led them back to the sixth seed in the East for the first time since 2008. It's also given Detroit fans a brand of basketball to be proud to root for. Take it from someone who knows.
'I think J.B. has really connected the team to the city from a pure basketball (standpoint),' Rivers said. 'It's really cool. It's really cool to watch the fans get back into this team.'
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