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00:00We'll get back to that coming up in a moment,
00:02but proud at this time to be joined
00:03by the Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations,
00:08Trajan Langdon has made his way into our studios here
00:11at the Pistons Performance Center.
00:13And I'm gonna start here
00:14cause we wrapped up with JB Bickerstaff.
00:17Trajan, first of all, thanks for joining us.
00:18Absolutely, thanks for having me.
00:20We finished with JB Bickerstaff
00:22talking about his younger days and his ties
00:25to Chauncey Billups.
00:27Are you letting him go first?
00:28Yes, we did.
00:29Take it up with Kevin.
00:32I'm gonna start with you about your battle
00:35with Rip Hamilton in the National Championship game
00:38when you were at Duke and he was at UConn in 1999.
00:40What do you remember about that?
00:46One of the best and worst memories of my life.
00:49Obviously it was a dream.
00:51Getting back to that or getting to a National Championship,
00:54especially coming into my freshman year in 94, 95,
00:59we came in just after they lost
01:00the championship game to Arkansas.
01:03And my dream was to play in a final four
01:04in a championship game.
01:05And it took my whole career to get there.
01:09So to play in that was a dream come true
01:10and obviously incredible experience.
01:13And I think we were the two top teams
01:15in college basketball that whole year.
01:17So we knew it was gonna be a battle and he just caught fire.
01:22I mean, I guarded him a couple of times,
01:24but we all guarded him.
01:26He was running off staggers and doing his thing
01:29off the bounce and mid-range and posts and finishes.
01:32And I think he ended with 27 and was the best player.
01:35But we were going back and forth.
01:37I think I had 23, 25 in that game as well.
01:40And it went down to the final couple possessions
01:42in the last couple of minutes and was an amazing game.
01:45But unfortunately we came out on the wrong side.
01:48And UConn won their first National Championship.
01:51It's terrible to start with this bad memory.
01:54It's a really bad start.
01:56It's a really bad start.
01:57I apologize.
01:58Can we do this all over again?
01:59Yeah, I've never watched the game.
02:01So now you're having me recall memories
02:03from 25 years ago.
02:05So, you know, hey.
02:07Hey, listen, we're Lowbrow.
02:08Get used to it.
02:09You're gonna bring this up.
02:12You didn't want to talk about the Michigan State game
02:14we won in the semi.
02:15No, I don't want you to.
02:16We didn't even want to talk about that one.
02:17No, I don't want you to talk about that one.
02:19Not even a little.
02:21We Spartan fans have some bad memories about Duke.
02:26We have a couple good memories,
02:27but unfortunately more bad than good.
02:29But nonetheless, hey, it's good times.
02:32Those teams were amazing.
02:34But you had the greatest nickname, I think, in sports.
02:38The Alaskan Assassin.
02:41Looking back on it, is it kind of weak
02:45compared to how guys are shooting today in the game?
02:48It's crazy.
02:50I think back a lot growing up and even being at Duke
02:53and even watching my son.
02:54My son's a 16-year-old.
02:56And the amount of shots these guys get up
02:58and just the focus on the perimeter shot.
03:02It's just completely different than it was then.
03:03I think it's cool, but I'm just like, man,
03:05I could have made a little bit more money.
03:07Not that I didn't make pretty good money playing.
03:09I could have made a little bit more money now,
03:10but it's fun.
03:11It's fun to watch.
03:12So who's impressed you so far of this roster?
03:16You know what?
03:16As a group, JB, and I'm sure he discussed it,
03:19he's done a tremendous job communicating
03:22the things that are important to he and his staff
03:24on how individually and as a team
03:27that they want our guys to compete on the floor
03:29and show up in games and practice in games.
03:32I think we showed it in our five games.
03:33I was very impressed by that.
03:36But I think Jaden Ivey has done a really nice job
03:39being consistent on the floor and off the floor
03:41with his habits of working and then competing.
03:45I've been impressed with, obviously,
03:46Tobias missed the first couple games
03:49with a sickness, but he's been tremendous as a leader
03:50on and off the floor.
03:51And I think Cade has really came in in great shape
03:55and just has a presence about him
03:57in terms of wanting to lead on and off the floor
03:59and take that next step.
04:01So he's been tremendous in terms of his habits,
04:03his work, and the way he's shown up every day.
04:08And JD's done a nice job coming in
04:10and having an interior presence.
04:13I think you could see in the games
04:14having a lot more focus on the defensive end,
04:17coming over to really protect that rim.
04:19So we're young.
04:21We need to put ourselves in a lot of difficult,
04:24in good end game situations to see
04:26if we can figure out ways to win.
04:28And young teams usually take some time to figure that out,
04:31but let's stay in games and figure it out
04:33and we'll see what happens.
04:34It seems so simple just to say,
04:36oh, a team to get better, you need to play better defense,
04:38you need to shoot better.
04:40And yet these are things that you're probably trying to do.
04:43And bringing in coaches and the coaching staff
04:45is gonna look at how you can improve the shooting.
04:48There are guys in his team that can shoot and shoot better.
04:51But clearly the defense is the one thing
04:53that definitely has to improve in his team.
04:54How have you gone through,
04:56what measures have you done so far
04:58that you feel like it's starting to pay off,
04:59you can see it right away?
05:01Yeah, I think JB and I's,
05:03kind of the way that we see the game is similar.
05:06It's defense first and defense wins championships.
05:08I've won a lot of championships myself
05:10in the teams that I was on or around.
05:14We were really good on that side of the ball.
05:16And so I think he feels the same way with his background.
05:19And so it's been a presence.
05:22It's been intentional every day that that's how we start.
05:26The defensive philosophy on the ball, off the ball,
05:28being in the right places and demanding that.
05:30And I've watched him teach and it's not,
05:33if you're six inches away from the spot that he wants you,
05:36he'll stop and say, you gotta be there.
05:37And this is the reason why.
05:38So he's been fantastic at giving these young people
05:40the reason, these young guys the reason
05:42why we need to be in these spots,
05:45which has been fun to watch.
05:46I think it's difficult to teach at this level.
05:48It takes a lot of patience
05:49because these players are so talented.
05:51You think that they just know everything
05:53when really a lot of times they don't.
05:55And so he does a really nice job of teaching intentionally.
06:01And I think another thing that you said,
06:02shooting and defense, another thing is turnovers.
06:05This team turned the ball over
06:06at a super high rate last year.
06:07So you combine those three things,
06:09lack of shoot and turning it over
06:10and then not getting back and defending.
06:12You have no shot to win games.
06:13So that's another thing that he's been on this team a lot
06:16is really taking care of the ball
06:18because taking care of the ball leads to good shots.
06:20And if you get good shots,
06:21you have a better chance to shoot a high percentage
06:23and be more efficient.
06:24And it also leads to floor balance defensively.
06:25So it all kind of leads into each other
06:28to leads down the line.
06:30If you go one way, you're going to be better.
06:31If you go another way, you're going to be a lot worse.
06:33So he's done a nice job.
06:34Your first year here.
06:36So you're coming in just starting,
06:38but fans are hungry to win now.
06:40How do you balance?
06:41Because they've been watching rebuilds
06:43and other people try to get this thing going.
06:45How do you balance sort of that sense of urgency
06:48to show progress, but also you're just starting
06:50and you're probably looking at a 30,000 foot view.
06:53Here's the long plan.
06:55Yeah, I think from day one, it's got to be compete, right?
06:59As you compete every day and you try to get better.
07:01And what I've told people as individually and as a team,
07:03I want our guys to get better,
07:05be better in December than what they are now
07:07and be better in March than they were in December.
07:09And for us, that's going to be, that's progress.
07:11So we're not going to, I say this,
07:14but you don't want to look at wins and losses,
07:16but of course you're going to, nobody wants to lose.
07:19I mean, what happened to them last year is just,
07:22in terms of a spirit standpoint,
07:24it makes it really, really difficult.
07:26And so for us have being positive
07:28and making sure we will go through losing streaks.
07:30And when we do stay positive, look at the positives,
07:32look at the negatives, learn from them
07:34and come back and compete the next night.
07:36So competing and doing it together and being unselfish
07:39is going to be three pillars for us.
07:40And I'm sure JB discussed the same thing
07:42when he spoke to you,
07:43but it's going to be very important with this group
07:44because I think we have 10 guys under 25 and under,
07:47and that's just a really young team.
07:49So of course you want to show progress and winning,
07:53but you do have to be patient.
07:54Because it is such a young team,
07:56there's always turnover in the league,
07:58but being such a young team,
07:59wanting a team to grow together,
08:01do you envision that we're not going to see
08:03a bunch of player turnover during the course of the season
08:06or is this roster going to look completely different
08:08come May?
08:10I'll tell you something you could ask me
08:11at any point during my time here.
08:14If we have a chance to get better, we'll get better.
08:16We're going to be open to anything, listening to anything,
08:19because if there's something that comes across our table
08:21that makes us better or we feel it makes us better now
08:23or into the future, we got to look at it.
08:26So I wouldn't say that we're going to stay pat.
08:27I wouldn't say that we're going to be super aggressive.
08:29It's if something comes along
08:32and I think we have optionality
08:33in the way that we've set the roster
08:35and having that 15th roster spot open,
08:37or if something comes along where we can get better,
08:39we'll have the ability to do it.
08:41Got to have stars.
08:41And you got a bunch of guys that could be a star.
08:44Asur, Jay Nivey, Kay Cunningham.
08:47You got Ron Holland in the mix now.
08:50You know, Jalen Duren.
08:52Do you feel like one or two of those guys
08:54are showing you they can be a star in this league?
08:56I think there's a couple that they have the qualities.
08:59They have the, one, they have the care factor,
09:02which is most important.
09:04You have to want to come in here
09:05and work your butt off every day
09:07and then be competitive.
09:09And then you have to be willing to sacrifice
09:11in a certain way too.
09:12And I think we have a lot of good human beings here
09:15that I think are super talented basketball players.
09:17Now, how can they reach that ceiling and that potential?
09:21We'll see given the coaching and, you know,
09:23they'll have a chance.
09:24They're all going to have a chance to play here.
09:26But at some point we got to start winning.
09:27And that's when you start seeing if, you know,
09:30if these guys start impacting winning at a high level,
09:32then they'll have a chance to be a star.
09:34But if we, if these guys don't win,
09:36then we'll have to, you know,
09:37we'll have to make some decisions.
09:39Just my final question,
09:40you mentioned the spirit after what happened last year.
09:43Is that something that you had to reset the tone
09:46or did the players do it themselves
09:48to come into this year with a little bit more hope?
09:51I think it starts with JB and I for sure
09:53in this building every day,
09:54coming in with a positive spirit,
09:55understanding that we're here to provide the resources,
09:59to try to get you guys to be the best versions of yourselves
10:02and reach your potential every day.
10:04But in terms of the environment, that's everybody.
10:07And that's what we've expressed
10:09is that's not just me and JB.
10:10It's every coach, it's every staff member,
10:12it's every player that has to come in here
10:14and create this environment of positivity and growth.
10:17How has your adjustment been coming to Detroit
10:19and finding a place to live,
10:20getting the family all settled down and all that?
10:21No, thanks for asking.
10:22The first 45, 60 days was a whirlwind.
10:25So there was no settling at that point.
10:27But since then things have slowed down.
10:29The people of Detroit have been tremendous.
10:31The staff here have been tremendous.
10:33And we're in a good place now.
10:34So thank you.
10:35Well, I apologize for how it started, the interview.
10:38Hopefully we can be in a good place moving forward.
10:40I didn't mean to bring up that bad memory for you.
10:44Look, if you want to brag about the Duke win
10:45over Michigan State at Breslin,
10:47I remember that one where you guys think you shot
10:49like 15 three-pointers in the first half.
10:51That's fine.
10:52That was a good win.
10:53Yeah, that was a good win.
10:55Thanks for your time.
10:56Good luck.
10:57All right, thank you guys.
10:58Appreciate the time.
10:58Trajan Langdon joining us here on Carson Anderson
11:00on 97.1.