The memory is already 4 years old, a long time to remember fresh the details, the smells, the exact sensations of a moment.
But for Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince, the night of June 15, 2004, when the Pistons won their last championship, is still clear.
“To me,” Prince said, “it was just like yesterday.”
More than anything, he remembers the exhilaration of a dream completed. But he can’t look back without sensing something else, too — raw disappointment. Because for the last three seasons, the Pistons have felt they could replicate that night and relive that glory. For three seasons, they’ve fallen short.
Now, with another playoff run starting Sunday with similar expectations, they are adamant that this has to be the year they finally get back there. They can’t keep living off a 4-year-old memory, no matter how fresh it seems in their minds.
As Rasheed Wallace says, “We’re not getting any younger.” Opportunities pass and repeating history gets tougher and tougher.
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“You know it’s going to be 10 times harder,” Prince said, “to get back the feeling that you had. Everybody else wants the same feeling too.”
But for lots of valid reasons, this group fully expects that feeling to be theirs again.
In many ways, this team is better equipped for the postseason.
“We’re quicker, we protect the basket better, and I think we have the ability to adapt more to styles of play,” coach Flip Saunders said. “… There’s no question that athleticism at times has hurt us in the past. Now, we have the ability to stay as athletic as most other teams.”
The extra athleticism, the added quickness and the bonus shot blockers all come from a well-stocked bench. This team can — and will — play literally anyone on their 12-man active roster on any given night.
“I don’t know of any other team that can say that,” point guard Chauncey Billups said.
And because the Pistons explored that depth this regular season, the four returning starters played an average of 3.2 fewer minutes per game and a combined seven fewer games. They did so while improving their production too.
For example, while Billups played eight more games than last season, he played 11 total fewer minutes.
“I know my legs don’t feel the same way they felt last year at this time,” Billups said. “… But we’ll see how that translates.”
This team is not without weaknesses. Throughout the season, strong opposing defensive pressure would force the Pistons into stagnant offensive nights, when the ball stuck to one side of the floor and the team relied heavily on jump shots. The Pistons shot 40.6 percent with an average 5.8 fewer assists in their 23 losses this season.
Even on good offensive nights, the Pistons are primarily a jump-shooting team, and some believe that’s not the kind of basketball that wins championships.
Outsiders peg the 66-win Boston Celtics as the favorites in the East. They see the Pistons as the team that will overlook opponents, feel entitled to win and blame the officials when they lose.
And it’s true the Pistons, although a No. 2 seed this year, still see themselves as the team to beat. It’s true the Celtics don’t scare them.
“Ever since I got here,” Wallace said, “Jersey was supposed to be the team, then Indiana, then Cleveland, then Miami. Now it’s Boston. Hey, it’s just another notch on the belt.”