When the Pistons signed Ish Smith to back up starting point guard Reggie Jackson this offseason few looked at it as a championship move, but Smith believes Detroit is ready to contend this season.
“I always ask people, ‘What wakes you up at night?’ For me, now it’s the pursuit of a championship,” Smith said.
“That really is what the case is. It’s like, we’ve got a real chance to be champions. And I know that sounds crazy, and people think, ‘Naaah. Yeah, you guys got better; not champions.’ But we’ve really got a real legit chance. And as long as we believe it, nobody else matters.”
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Smith broke out with the Pelicans and 76ers last season, averaging 12.6 points and 6.5 assists per game. The journeyman, pass-first point guard has finished only two out of his six NBA seasons averaging double-digit points, and he's played an entire season with the same team only once — the Suns in 2013-14.
However, the Pistons liked Smith enough to give him with a three-year, $18 million deal this offseason, which was seen as a steal compared to all the grossly overpriced contracts.
Ultimately, Smith feels like he is the perfect fit to run Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy's pick-and-roll offense.
“Through the whole process, I looked at all the teams pursuing me, and Detroit just stood out to me,” he said. “For the simple fact we were all young, Coach wanted to play with pace, Coach wants tons of pick and rolls. All those things fit into the way I want to play. Defensively, he wants us to climb into people. Getting to the playoffs was a huge goal, so now we have to come – me, (fellow free agents) Jon (Leuer), big Bobie (Boban Marjanovic) – and be that help and hopefully we take it to the next level.”
It would be refreshing to see a team like the Pistons, who built their squad off of draft picks and reasonable trades, make a long postseason run. Super teams such as the Cavaliers and Warriors seem too in control of the game, but there is something to be said for chemistry.
“I tell Reggie all the time, ‘I’m not your backup; you’re 1A and I’m 1B.’ I come in and the goal is not to have drop-offs," Smith said. "When he comes out, we’ve got to take it to another level, and that’s the goal. Our second team has to be just as good if not better than the first team and that comes with competing in practice. We compete against each other and make each other better when it comes to game time. When the starters come out and they’re up five or six, we can take it to 12 or 13.”