The Detroit Pistons completed a 30-game turnaround this season.
They went from losing a record 28 straight games a year ago to making the NBA playoffs. They trail 2-1 against the New York Knicks in the first round but one former Pistons player is just enjoying the revival.
Rick Mahorn, who won back-to-back titles in Detroit in 1989-90, thinks the Pistons are headed in the right direction.
“It seems that they have a togetherness about them,” Mahorn said in an interview with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson. “It seems like the veteran leadership is very contagious with Tobias Harris, Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. and then the rookies are responding with Ausar Thompson and Ron Holland.”
Mahorn also gave credit to Trajan Langdon, in his first year as general manager, for the quick turnaround. Langdon hired J.B. Bickerstaff before the season.
“You gotta credit, it starts from the top,” Mahorn said. “Trajon [Langdon] did a great job coming in his first GM year to hire a guy like J.B. Bickerstaff… His record has shown. Nobody gives him that type of credit from Houston and when he took over Cleveland. He has a pedigree with his dad, Bernie Bickerstaff. I’ve known him since he was a kid. And so to see his relationship with the players is more about making sure they’re on the right page.”
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