Stan Van Gundy Has Had It

The Pistons got walloped 113-82 last night by the not-very-good Bulls, and it was ugly from start to finish—Detroit was being doubled at halftime. Head coach Stan Van Gundy did not hide his feelings on the matter:

“We got crushed. It was a disgusting performance by all of us, me included. I mean, it was unprofessional, embarrassing, humiliating. Whatever you want to say, it was terrible.

[...]

“It looks to me like a lack of effort and a lack of heart.”

There’s some context for this mini-rant, though. In the video above, Van Gundy’s opener, “team meeting my ass,” refers to a players-only meeting called after Saturday’s loss, in which the main topic of conversation was reportedly increased ball movement. Which itself is almost certainly code for figuring out what to do about Reggie Jackson, Detroit’s black hole of a point guard—passes come in, they don’t come out. Jackson carries the NBA’s 19th highest usage rate—the same as Giannis—but with a below-NBA-average PER. Clearly, running the offense through him isn’t working.

Jackson appeared to be trying to prove a point last night, attempting just five shots from the field, by far his lowest total of the season, and posturing, visibly frustrated, when he gave up the ball and it didn’t come back around to his side.

“I just tried to help, do my part by promoting ball movement,” Jackson said afterward. “...Coach’s play calls, I think, tried to help promote it.”

Being asked about Jackson’s comments was pretty much the only time Van Gundy got terse. “That wasn’t us,” Van Gundy said, “that was him.” He then repeated it for emphasis. Man, the Pistons sound like a bad time right now.