NINE TO FIVE.

One thing about this league, sometimes you really can’t learn how to win until you learn how to take L’s. 

I’ll be honest, my rookie year didn’t go how I expected. It was a journey. With a few ups, and a lot of downs.

The day after I got drafted I was super excited. I flew out, did a press conference, met all the coaches, threw the first pitch at a Tigers game. It was lit. In my head it was like, This is where I want to be. Summer League came, and we played well. We had Monty, and yeah, we all felt like we were a team that could really compete. In my mind we were going to the playoffs. The regular season started, and we dropped the opening night game to Miami, but then we turned around and got two dubs. And it was just like, Yeah, this what we thought was going to happen. We got a team. 

Then we lost. And you know how parents are, right? Trying to be encouraging and stuff. They’d always say, “We’ll get the next one.” Or before the game, “Can we get this one tonight?” 

I’d be like, “Yeah, let’s get it!”

Next game. “Let’s get it....”

“Yeah, let’s get it….”

“Let’s get it....”

You get the picture. It was just like a broken record.

And yeah, I’ll just say this. Nobody on the team thought we were going to lose 28 games in a row. I knew it was part of the process, but it was definitely rough. My first experience in the NBA was just a bunch of losing. I’d never lost that much in my life. And the thing is, we weren’t even a terrible team — we were just losing a bunch of games in the fourth quarter. I’m not going to lie, after 30 games I was like, Jeez. That was probably the first time I was like, Oh, I see how guys can burnout now. When you’re 2–29 and you still got 51 games left — like, you’re not even halfway through the year, and you’re already out the playoffs — the season starts to feel long. It’s exhausting. There’s no sugarcoating it.

So yeah, like I said, I didn’t expect things to go like that. But that’s just life. We all came back the next year, and with all the turnover, it was just like a fresh start. 

Nobody forgot though. At training camp, we all were on the same page that we wanted to change the way we did things, be more locked-in in practice, and do everything with more detail. Tim played in the championship the year before, so him and Tobias especially, they would get on the young guys if we were bs’ing. If we shortcut anything or weren’t locked in, they would be like, “This isn’t how winning teams do it.” The vets really wanted to see the young guys be successful and teach us how to do it the right way, and I feel like that made the biggest difference in our culture. Tobias had played with Detroit before, and the last time he had played with them, they were in the playoffs. So he was always saying, “Detroit needs to see playoff basketball again.”

And yeah, I guess that just really stuck with us. Tobias said it so much that I started to believe it, too.

I’d be lying if I said we didn’t have a chip on our shoulder last year. That we didn’t come in with something to prove. But it wasn’t just about getting our lick back. It wasn’t about ego. It wasn’t even about the team.

It was about Detroit.

Something I always say is, I feel like the city where you play shapes a big part of how you play. The pioneers, the legends never fully leave, especially in a city like Detroit. All of Detroit’s teams that made it to the top had gritty defenders, people who weren’t afraid to make the game a little scrappy, but at the same time were still playing basketball. I feel like Stew is a perfect example of that, Ron, even myself. I may not be as loud, but I definitely consider myself a dog on the defensive end.

Last season, Stew was able to bring in the energy for the bench unit. He was the defensive anchor. In that role, I think he was able to just do even more of what he does, which is protect the rim. I think he’s top-two in the league at that. Maybe top-one. I’ve tried to dunk on him probably 15 times since I got to the NBA, and I get close a lot, but I still need to check that off. Haha. Having him at center is a big part of what made us a Top 12 defensive team. He’s a competitor, but as a person, he’s like Good GuyTM. Seriously the nicest guy. Always checking on his teammates. It’s funny, I know people say this all the time, but Stew is a person who, if he’s on your team you love him, you would never want a different teammate…. But when he’s not on your team you just hate him. Hahah. That’s the type of guy he is.

I was happy with the way I worked into season shape. The training was a very gradual progression, and then we picked it up, picked it up, picked it up. I was just happy to be back out there. I love this game. And I love doing all the little things on the defensive end. Honestly, I feel like growing up playing against my brothers all the time, especially Amen being around him the most, I was bound to be a defender. I mean, I guess going against a future TOP-FIVE PICK DEFENSIVE FIRST-TEAM PLAYER every single day, literally fighting our way through one-on-ones maybe helped just a little. Lol. Growing up I always played super hard on defense, but I was getting away more with just my natural athletic gifts, which I still get away with now, but I try to be more technical, more system-based. I feel like that’s what I’ve been locked in on the last three years.

One thing about sitting out the end of my rookie season, I could see a little bit more of what we were doing wrong. I feel like one reason we lost so much my first year is because we weren’t sticking to the system. We might do our system for maybe two or three quarters, but in the fourth you’re getting nervous because the game’s on the line, and you’re like, We gotta win. And you start drifting away from what you do best. The teams that win play the exact same way they play in the first quarter in the fourth. They might think a little bit about the time and score, but at the end of the day they’re going to play their system, and we had to learn how to do that. Like playing free, but knowing when it’s time to slow it down.

Once that clicked, we were rolling. The vets were able to lead the team and get us locked in every night. I mean, Beasley set a Pistons record before the All-Star break in threes made. I remember the game he did that, second game of a back-to-back. His shooting ability was ridiculous. I did not know the level of shooter he was until he got to the Pistons. Cade’s ability to step up and be a leader, especially with J.I. going out and him having to take on more on-ball duties. How he never complains, and he just never blames anyone. Those were the main things that got us to the post season.

Life comes at you fast in this league. One season you’re 14–68, the next, you’re in the playoffs.

Playoff energy really is crazy. It reminded me of playing big tournaments in AAU, or when we went to States. The crowd was so loud, and everybody was so into it, and you wanted to be the team that left with the W. That’s how it was the whole time we were playing New York. Every game felt like an elimination game, like you were playing for your life. And yeah, losing sucks, man. We wanted Boston in the next round. So we’re not satisfied with that ending. All summer, the only thing on my mind was getting back to that position and winning a series.

It was my first full healthy offseason, so I put in a lot of work this summer. I felt a lot more freedom. I could go harder. And I got to sharpen my mentality, just thinking about how I want to feel after games. Basically, I always want to feel like I gave it my all. Like I didn’t hold anything back and was aggressive every chance I got. I have even more drive as a player, now. I want to take it further. Obviously I’m not a vet, but maybe I can do a little bit of the things I’ve learned from Tim and Beas and Tobias. Just being more vocal, being more of a leader.

Last thing I want to say is this.

Game 2, I went into it thinking about this city. You know, in a way I can’t quite put my finger on, it kind of reminds me of Oakland. Or maybe I’m just starting to feel at home. It feels good to play for Detroit, for a city that we know really believes in us. And so going into that second game, coming off that Game 1 loss, it was just like, Man, Detroit needs to see playoff basketball again. This city needs a dub. I fought for that so hard I fouled out. But that was my first playoff win in the league, and I’ll never forget that.

Now that we’re back, and it’s a new season, it’s kind of like none of that matters. We have to take it one game at a time, knowing that 77 games from now, we want to be back where we were. 

We know how to win, we just have to stay consistent.

Don’t overthink it. Don’t make it hard.

Just play defense and play fast.

See you out there,

Ausar