Detroit Pistons: How the Mighty Have Fallen

For some Detroit Pistons basketball fans, this season's losing record marks a shattering crash from a championship era. For others who are ever-loyal, troubles that included a mid-winter 13-game losing streak simply represent temporary bad luck.

When the regular season ends in late April, the Pistons will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2001.

As recently as two winters ago, the Pistons were on their way to a sixth straight trip to the NBA's Eastern Conference finals, which is the equivalent of reaching college basketball's vaunted Final Four. They had captured the 2004 crown as an underdog team, relying on team play rather than a megastar such as Kobe Bryant or LeBron James. Their hard hat slogan, "Going to Work," was intended to represent the Motor City's blue-collar image.

The Pistons are among the National Basketball Association's original historic franchises and their fan base is one of the largest, which means their sudden fall during the past two seasons is the talk of the town.

To begin this season, injuries sent veteran mainstays Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince to the sidelines for more than 25 games apiece. Just as Hamilton and then Prince were returning, newcomer Ben Gordon and spark plug Will Bynum were hurt.

Virtually no basketball followers in 2008 would have envisioned that within two seasons, a reconstructed team would lose 13 games in a row.

Remaining optimists among team supporters include Bryan Matecun, 14, a starting guard for Walled Lake Western High's freshman team who is such a devoted fan that he once wore Pistons jerseys for 627 straight days.

"They have the talent to be good again," Bryan says. "Injuries have hurt them this year, but also they have a lot of new players, and so the team chemistry is different. It takes time to get used to playing with different players."

Younger brother Eric Matecun, 12, has surpassed 1,300 consecutive Pistons jersey-wearing days and is still counting. He has followed his brother's footsteps on Sarah Banks Middle School's seventh grade squad, and he retains his starry-eyed innocence when friends criticize the team he loves.

Eric tells detractors, "Say those things when they're winning the championship again. They've just had some injuries. I still say they'll win the championship next year, the next year after that...every year."

The boys' mother also has her views. Teri Matecun is a 1979 graduate of Warren Woods Tower High School who says she became a basketball fan through the influence of her husband, attorney Glenn Matecun, whom she met in 1985 and married in 1988.

"Glenn actually explained the game to me, which makes it a lot more fun," says Teri Matecun. "It's been a rough season, but I just watch the games and root for the Pistons, regardless of the team's record. In some games they are so far behind that you think maybe it's over, but then they come back."

Bloggers: Some Loyalists, Some Cynics

The Matecun family represents one element of the Pistons' fan base. Another core group is the adults who are so involved that they use their personal computers to support the team, exchanging blogs and messages.

Boris Layupan, 38, of Troy is "Piston Boris" on www.ClubPistons.com, which he established last year because he was "somewhat dissatisfied with coverage being provided to the team" at other sites. He is a small business owner and freelance writer who has followed the team ever since the Isiah Thomas era of the 1980s and early 1990s, which produced NBA crowns in 1989 and 1990.

"The Pistons are a potentially dangerous team that has been wracked by injuries since the start of the season," Layupan says.

He notes that when the Pistons had their winning years, in contrast, hardly anyone ever got hurt.

"If and when they get healthy and get all hands on deck, the Pistons have the ability to make things uncomfortable for anyone in the NBA," Layupan says.

Many bloggers are not as constructive as Layupan's Piston Boris. For example, one fan sarcastically asserts that the team should trade "Tayshaun Prince for a ham and cheese sandwich, and Rip Hamilton for a bag of balls."

Layupan's reaction: "Just reading the comments of some people, you can tell they like the Pistons only when the Pistons are title contenders."

Pistons Serve as Community Anchor

The Pistons' sudden dive to the NBA's lower echelon is among the top ongoing sports stories in metro Detroit because the Pistons, in many ways, have the widest appeal of the community's big four pro franchises.

Football's Detroit Lions, one of the few teams never to reach the Super Bowl, lost 14 of their 16 games during the past season and all 16 the year before. Baseball's Detroit Tigers had a brief fling with a 2006 trip to the World Series, but have fallen back. Hockey's Detroit Red Wings matched the Pistons' success during the past decade, but they appeal to a narrower niche of fans.

From January 2004 through February 2009, the Pistons drew 259 consecutive sellout crowds to the Palace of Auburn Hills, which has a 22,076 seating capacity. They annually led the NBA in attendance.

At the current season's midpoint in late January, however, the average draw was down to 18,299. This still was ninth highest among the league's 30 franchises, and empty seats are highly noticeable because among NBA arenas, only Chicago's United Center is larger than the Palace. Still, Pistons executives are concerned.

Layupan says the team's unfamiliar losing record is a factor, but so is a sour economy. Unemployment is at 15 percent across Michigan, the highest in the nation, and 20 percent in metropolitan Detroit, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Layupan says he has cut back on his own game attendance for the sake of his personal budget.

Dave Wieme, the Pistons' director of strategic communications, says the franchise is remaining strong.

"Fans can be fickle in professional sports, but in Detroit you won't find any more loyal or supportive fans, win or lose," Wieme says.

"Pistons fans understand that basketball is a game of streaks, winning and losing. Because fans understand this, it makes it more important for us, as an organization, to produce touch points with our players, giving them opportunities to relate to fans. When people get to know our players on a more personal level, more than just seeing them on TV or at the Palace, they have more of a vested interest in supporting the team.

"Our hope is that this personal interaction, from appearances to bobblehead winner meet-and-greets to pre-game autographs, will keep people attached to the team -- even through bad streaks and bad economies."

Billups Trade Dilemma Lingers

Bryan and Eric Matecun started their Pistons jersey-wearing tradition during the winter of 2006. Their heroes were in the process of winning 10 of 11 games and, when the streak was over, they stuck to donning their daily attire.

Each boy collected an assembly of about a half-dozen jerseys featuring various players. Because both play in the backcourt, a natural favorite was Chauncey Billups, the point guard and team leader who was named most valuable player when the Pistons won their 2004 championship.

The 2008-2009 season started with two straight wins, but the Pistons suddenly traded Billups to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Allen Iverson. Billups flourished in Denver while Iverson became a malcontent in Detroit and played only a few games. The Pistons managed to limp into the bottom rung of the 2009 playoffs, but they suffered four straight blowout losses at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Bryan Matecun was among fans who for the first time perceived lack of effort on a team known for hard work.

"It didn't look like we were really trying against Cleveland," Bryan says. "I had been pretty sad about the trade because (Billups) was my favorite player. I was expecting it to work out, but as of right now, it was a mistake."

Team President Joe Dumars said part of the reason for moving Billups was to create more court time for a younger guard, Rodney Stuckey. Eric Matecun reflects the loyalty that Pistons' executives are counting on, because he says Stuckey is his new favorite Piston.

"I like the way Stuckey plays," says Eric. "He drives hard to the basket. He's not a big three-point shooter; he takes mid-range shots instead."

At the core, Layupan and other enthusiasts say true Pistons fans appreciate the game of basketball, looking beyond the wins and losses. Teri Matecun is among them.

"The kids are supposed to go to bed early," she says, "but for certain games I have to let them stay up just a few extra minutes and watch on TV, because the score is so close."

Sources:

http://www.nba.com/pistons/stats/

http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/jerseyboys_070417.html

http://www.clubpistons.com/

http://www.clubpistons.com/member/Piston%20Boris/

http://www.nba.com/

http://www.slamdunkcentral.com/2009/02/05/pistons-sell-out-streak-is-history/

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/attendance