The Detroit Pistons have been criticized for having underperformed last season, despite playing with the formidable duo of Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond. But former coach Stan Van Gundy reiterated that the team never got its rhythm going, particularly because of a bad roster and injuries to key players.

Detroit Free Press' Vince Ellis recently sat down with Van Gundy and talked about his former team.

“When we started, the roster wasn’t very good and didn’t have a lot of assets and we were able to get to where our top people were pretty good and when healthy, we were good, but we didn’t have the depth to overcome key injuries.”

While Drummond, Reggie Jackson, Tobias Harris, and Avery Bradley formed the core of the team at the beginning of the season, they were obviously inconsistent throughout the season, hovering in and out of the .500 percent win-loss record, and eventually missed out on clinching a playoff spot.

They traded Harris and Bradley midway through the season to acquire a long-coveted superstar in Blake Griffin, but there was just not enough time for them to build up chemistry as injuries continued to hamper the team's progress.

The Pistons did not make any drastic changes in their roster this upcoming season as the team will look to bank on the partnership of Griffin and Drummond to take them to the top of the eastern conference. Young guns Stanley Johnson and Luke Kennard are also expected to step up big time, providing valuable support for Jackson, the team's starting point guard, and their big man duo.