Are The Pistons Crafting a Brave Legacy?

At first blush, you might think that the NBA’s Detroit Pistons and MLB’s Atlanta Braves have nothing in common.  You’d, of course, be wrong.

The Pistons and Braves have success in common.  Long term success.  We all know the Braves’ story.  Something like 14 straight division titles.  All they’ve done since the 90s is win, win and win some more.

It might have slipped past you, but that’s all Detroit’s done for this Millennium.  After eliminating Orlando recently, Motown’s Bad Boys earned their (are you sitting for this?) SIXTH straight Eastern Conference Finals appearance.  Sure the East has been down in quality for a while, but you’ve got to give it to Detroit for their consistency and success.  Six straight anything is not an easy thing.

Here’s the catch.  There’s a dark side to this tale of accomplishment.  During Atlanta’s winning run, they made won exactly one World Series.  Think about that.  Smoltz, Glavine, Maddux, not to mention the Jones boys added up to exactly one world series title.  Unlike say the Buffalo Bills in the NFL, the Braves actually did break through to win one.  Still, the Braves lack of championships puts a damper on almost twenty straight years of phenomenal regular seasons.

Back to Detroit.  Six straight conference titles later and how many NBA titles do they own?  One.  And after that one, they still couldn’t keep Larry Brown from leaving town.  Detroit needs to step it up title wise or they’ll soon have their legacy tainted by thoughts of what could of been like the Braves.

What are their chances this year?  Who knows? 

They’ll either face LeBron and Co or a Boston team that ripped through the regular season only to struggle on the road during the playoffs.  The Pistons beating either wouldn’t be the greatest upset ever. 

Following that, they’d rep the East against one of this quartet:  New Orleans, Utah, LA or San Antonio.  There’s no easy road here.  Chris Paul is killing everyone he’s been up against.  Utah has the biggest home court advantage in the league.  LA’s got Kobe playing like an MVP, even if Chris Paul should have gotten the trophy.  And, well, San Antonio is the flip side of the Pistons.  They’ve made the most of their playoff runs.

If the Pistons can somehow break through, they’ll have earned the right to no longer be compared to the Braves as well as a proud legacy all of their own.

Me and Maddux are betting against them.