Over at ESPN, 11 experts predicted the outcome of the Pistons-Knicks series that starts Saturday night. All of them picked the Knicks -- even though the Pistons beat them three out of four in the regular season, including both times at MSG.
"How about J.B. Bickerstaff?" says Costa. "Anyone think he should win Coach of the Year? No, runner-up on ESPN and Yahoo! What about Malik Beasley? Guy finished one three-pointer shy of the most in the NBA this season. Came off the bench. He’s gotta be Sixth Man of the Year, right? Nobody has put out that he should win it.
"Cade Cunningham. He’s on some All-NBA teams, but the same or lower than Jalen Brunson. There’s a healthy debate there, but nobody is putting Cade above Jalen Brunson. And it’s across the board. This team does not get respect."
The simple question, says Costa, is "Why? Why does this keep happening?Why doesn’t the league embrace the Pistons more?"
Jansen says that it stems from the Bad Boys and the Goin' to Work Pistons, who won ugly more than pretty: "And this is why if you don’t like the NBA, I’m with you, I stand with you, I agree with you. But the Pistons play different. I like the Pistons because they play four quarters. They play defense, they’re aggressive, confrontational at times, and again, it bucks the trend of what the NBA wants."
To Costa, "the way the Pistons have been treated as an organization doesn’t match up with what they’ve accomplished. There’s only five teams in the NBA that have won more championships than the Pistons. The Celtics, Lakers, Warriors, Bulls and Spurs. I get it, those are your royalty teams. Nobody else, though, has won more than the Pistons and they don’t get treated that way.
"Two different eras of champions, they’re on their way back up and you think this would be celebrated more. And instead it’s like, 'Yeah, yeah, the Knicks are going to dispatch them in four, five, six.'"