Detroit Pistons Streaking: But Is It Built To Last?

Did anyone see this coming?

The Detroit Pistons have won five straight games (and six of their last seven) and have seemingly turned around their season.

Is this winning streak built to last or are we witnessing fool's gold? Let's take a look at how Detroit has been winning.

Pass The Rock!

When the season began, most people thought Detroit would score at will. What was less clear was who would be setting up those points. Without a true point guard in the starting lineup, assists could be an issue. And for the first month of the season, they were; Detroit ranked last in the league.

Slowly that trend began to subside, and as the dimes increased, so too did the wins. During the last seven games, Detroit has averaged nearly 20 assists per game.

While this represents an improvement, it is undoubtedly not nearly where coach John Kuester would like the total.

To put things in perspective, Detroit averaged nearly 22 per game in the 2007 season and that put Detroit into the middle of the pack.

Obviously assist totals do not tell the entire story of an offense, but they usually point to a team that has good ball movement. With the amount of weapons Detroit has and will have as the season moves forward, this will become a huge deal.

If Kuester can get his young team to move the ball around better on offense, it will likely signal greater success down the road.

Rebounding, It's Fun For Everyone!

Throughout this season, Detroit has done great things on the boards, averaging nearly 42 per game.

Most importantly, they have been out-rebounding their opponents by nearly four per game, good for fourth best in the league.

During their winning streak, this has been even more obvious. Only once has an opponent had as many boards as Detroit (Washington), and the Bucks, 76ers, and Warriors were each out-rebounded by at least 13!

Of course, there are many reasons that people could point to, but the real reason is undoubtedly an old and familiar face-Ben Wallace.

Wallace has found the fountain of youth in Detroit, revitalizing his career by averaging double digits in boards for the first time since 2007.

Wallace has had luck on both ends of the floor, but his penchant for grabbing offensive rebounds in particular is helpful to this team. He is averaging 4.2 offensive boards per game, the best showing in his career.

For a team that is built on perimeter scoring, this has an obvious benefit-it gives the offensive weapons more chances. And for most of those weapons, a second chance is all they need.

More than his totals alone, Wallace has served as a mentor to his young teammates and made rebounding contagious.

However, defensive boards, while better during this streak, need to improve in order for Detroit to limit their opponents' second chances.

Second Unit In Your Programs, First In Your Hearts

The player that has arguably benefited the most from Wallace's renaissance has been Charlie Villanueva.

When Wallace is on the court, Villanueva is free to roam on offense and protected on defense. What's more is that Villanueva seems to be improving on the defensive side of the ball, chipping in modestly with nearly a block a game.

Villanueva currently resides on the bench when the game begins, a strange yet effective strategy that coach Kuester has employed.

Basically, Kuester has used his second unit as essentially a second first unit in order to take advantage of opponents' weaker benches.

During the winning streak, the bench has stood out as one of the biggest catalysts, springing into action and helping Detroit take control of games.

Villanueva has been the largest contributor off the bench, averaging nearly 18 points per game during the streak, including games of 27 and 24 against Denver and Golden State, respectively.

But the scoring doesn't stop with Charlie V. Will Bynum has emerged as an absolute terror, averaging over 13 points per game on the season.

While Bynum has been effective scoring the ball, his real value comes as a distributor, keying the second unit offense with over four assists per game.

And don't forget about Ben Gordon. The Pistons' biggest offseason acquisition has been limited recently by an ankle injury and at times has been thrust into the starting lineup due to team injuries.

When healthy, look for Gordon to be the real key to this unit.

However, once everyone is healthy there will be only so many minutes to go around. Arguably, the biggest challenge facing Kuester will be how he divvies up those minutes and whether or not he is able to keep everyone happy while still developing the rookies.

The Kids Are Alright

Easily the second biggest surprise this season behind the re-vitalization of Wallace has been the play of the first year players.

Team president and general manager Joe Dumars definitely has struck gold in his draft selections of Austin Daye, Dajuan Summers and of course Jonas Jerebko.

Jerebko in particular has been a revelation, filling in for the injured Tayshaun Prince to start 20 of 21 games.

His all out hustle and energy has sparked the first unit and drawn comparisons to everyone from Dennis Rodman to ABBA. One Detroit sportswriter calls him a one-man Princeton offense.

And while his offense has been a pleasant surprise, he is truly making his presence felt with defense and rebounding. During the streak, he is averaging over eight rebounds per game to go along with a healthy 12 points per contest.

While Jerebko has been the gold standard amongst the Detroit rookies, his fellow freshman have had their moments as well.

Daye has made the most of his opportunities, providing a much needed perimeter shooter on offense and a pest with a condor-like wingspan on defense.

Summers has seen a lot less time, but in short doses has helped to spell the regulars with his athleticism.

The injuries to the veterans has opened to door to these young guys, and the rookies have definitely seized that opportunity. But Kuester will need to continue to trust these guys when the vets return or else their development could be stunted. How Kuester handles this situation could well effect the coming years of Pistons basketball.

Stuck-ey On You

Speaking of the future of Pistons basketball, how about Rodney Stuckey?

Detroit's heir apparent to the departed Chauncey Billups has teased Pistons fans with his talent over the course of the past couple seasons. Many of those fans turned their ire over the Billups trade into disdain for Stuckey.

Those of us that have Stuck-ey around on the Rodney bandwagon (that's the last one, I promise!) have been pleasantly surprised by his recent play.

No Piston has been more important to this team's winning streak than Stuckey. In fact, he has personified most of the aspects that have led to this streak.

When Ben Gordon got hurt, Stuckey took the first team offense on his shoulders, averaging 25 points per game during the winning streak while playing mostly off the ball.

However, he hasn't stopped there. He has also improved his passing, leading to nearly six assists per game.

Additionally, Stuckey has become more involved in the team-wide referendum on rebounding, grabbing nearly five rebounds per game for the year.

While I personally predicted that Stuckey would improve this year, I had no idea the results would be so stunning.

The real challenge will come when everyone is healthy. If Stuckey can spread the ball out to his teammates while still saving some points for himself, he will have truly become the point guard many had hoped he would be when he was drafted.

Solid Foundation

So is this team for real?

Well, it is and it isn't. This team may have won five straight games, but it is not going to compete for a title this year. It is, however, a solid playoff team that is likely one or two pieces away from winning it all.

The most encouraging sign is that this team is young and improving. This is quite a departure for Pistons fans.

For years, this team was regarded as being a dinosaur with one, maybe two good years left. However, Dumars has seemingly done what he set out to do, which is rebuild on the fly.

Now, you have young and relatively inexpensive character players that have a higher ceiling of potential than many had hoped or even dreamed.

This five game winning streak is essentially a window into the future...a future that seems to be much brighter than previously thought.