The 2000–01 Detroit Pistons season was the 53rd season for the Detroit Pistons in the National Basketball Association, their 60th season as a franchise, and their 44th season in Detroit, Michigan.
Season summary
Off-season The Pistons had the 14th overall pick in the 2000 NBA draft, and selected point guard Mateen Cleaves out of Michigan State University. During the off-season, retired All-Star guard and Pistons legend Joe Dumars was hired as General Manager. The team acquired Ben Wallace and second-year guard Chucky Atkins from the Orlando Magic, acquired Cedric Ceballos, Dana Barros and John Wallace from the Dallas Mavericks, and acquired Billy Owens from the Milwaukee Bucks.
Regular season During the first month of the regular season, the Pistons signed free agent Joe Smith in November. With the addition of Smith, Atkins and Ben Wallace, the Pistons struggled losing four of their first five games of the regular season. In late November, the team traded Ceballos to the Miami Heat after 13 games. After a 13–15 start, the Pistons lost 13 of their next 15 games, and held a 19–31 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team traded Jerome Williams, and Eric Montross to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Corliss Williamson. The Pistons finished in fifth place in the Central Division with a disappointing 32–50 record.
Jerry Stackhouse averaged 29.8 points and 5.1 assists per game, and led the Pistons with 166 three-point field goals, despite only shooting .402 in field-goal percentage. In addition, Smith averaged 12.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, while Atkins contributed 12.0 points and 4.1 assists per game, along with 121 three-point field goals, and Ben Wallace provided the team with 6.4 points, 13.2 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 2.3 blocks per game. Off the bench, Barros contributed 8.0 points per game, while John Wallace averaged 5.9 points per game, Cleaves contributed 5.4 points and 2.7 assists per game, and starting small forward Michael Curry provided with 5.2 points per game.
During the NBA All-Star weekend at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C., Stackhouse was selected for the 2001 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Eastern Conference All-Star team; it was his second and final All-Star appearance. Meanwhile, Cleaves was selected for the NBA Rookie Challenge Game, as a member of the Rookies team. Stackhouse also finished in 14th place in Most Valuable Player voting, while Ben Wallace finished tied in fifth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting, and also tied in ninth place in Most Improved Player voting.
The Pistons finished 22nd in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 607,323 at The Palace of Auburn Hills during the regular season.
Aftermath Following the season, Smith re-signed with his former team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, while head coach George Irvine was fired, Cleaves was traded to the Sacramento Kings, John Wallace was traded along with Jud Buechler to the Phoenix Suns, and Owens retired.
Draft picks
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 14 Mateen Cleaves PG Michigan State 2 44 Brian Cardinal SF Purdue
Roster
Regular season
Season standings
z - clinched division title y - clinched division title x - clinched playoff spot
Game log
| 1 | October 31 | @ Toronto | | Jerry Stackhouse (44) | Ben Wallace (12) | Chucky Atkins (7) | Air Canada Centre19,800 | 1–0
| 2 | November 1 | @ Boston | | Jerry Stackhouse (20) | Jerome Williams (14) | Chucky Atkins (7) | FleetCenter17,725 | 1–1 |- | 3 | November 3 | Sacramento | | Jerry Stackhouse (22) | Ben Wallace (10) | Chucky Atkins (7) | The Palace of Auburn Hills22,076 | 1–2 |- | 4 | November 4 | @ Milwaukee | | Mateen Cleaves (19) | Ben Wallace (11) | Michael Curry (5) | Bradley Center18,717 | 1–3 |- | 5 | November 8 | @ Philadelphia | | Jerry Stackhouse (36) | Eric Montross (8) | Chucky Atkins (7) | First Union Center15,986 | 1–4 |- | 6 | November 9 | @ New Jersey | | Jerry Stackhouse (29) | Jerome Williams (12) | Atkins & Stackhouse (6) | Continental Airlines Arena10,000 | 2–4 |- | 7 | November 11 | @ Indiana | | Chucky Atkins (18) | Jerome Williams (17) | Chucky Atkins (7) | Conseco Fieldhouse18,345 | 2–5 |- | 8 | November 12 | Seattle | | Jerry Stackhouse (38) | Ben Wallace (12) | Chucky Atkins (11) | The Palace of Auburn Hills14,289 | 3–5 |- | 9 | November 15 | Indiana | | Jerry Stackhouse (29) | Jerome Williams (11) | Mateen Cleaves (7) | The Palace of Auburn Hills14,350 | 3–6 |- | 10 | November 17 | @ Charlotte | | Jerry Stackhouse (25) | Jerome Williams (12) | Jerry Stackhouse (5) | Charlotte Coliseum14,771 | 4–6 |- | 11 | November 19 | Charlotte | | Jerry Stackhouse (22) | Ben Wallace (12) | Chucky Atkins (10) | The Palace of Auburn Hills13,088 | 4–7 |- | 12 | November 21 | @ Cleveland | | Jerry Stackhouse (32) | Ben Wallace (13) | 3 players tied (4) | Gund Arena12,683 | 4–8 |- | 13 | November 24 | Vancouver | | Jerry Stackhouse (31) | Ben Wallace (9) | Wallace & Cleaves (6) | The Palace of Auburn Hills14,709 | 5–8 |- | 14 | November 26 | Utah | | Jerry Stackhouse (37) | Ben Wallace (17) | Mateen Cleaves (5) | The Palace of Auburn Hills12,943 | 5–9 |- | 15 | November 29 | New Jersey | | Jerry Stackhouse (31) | Ben Wallace (23) | Jerry Stackhouse (6) | The Palace of Auburn Hills11,497 | 6–9
| 16 | December 1 | Cleveland | | Dana Barros (16) | Williams & Wallace (7) | Mateen Cleaves (6) | The Palace of Auburn Hills15,323 | 7–9 |- | 17 | December 3 | Washington | | Jerry Stackhouse (24) | Ben Wallace (14) | Atkins & Stackhouse (5) | The Palace of Auburn Hills12,137 | 8–9 |- | 18 | December 5 | @ Vancouver | | Chucky Atkins (13) | Ben Wallace (9) | Jerry Stackhouse (11) | General Motors Place12,578 | 8–10 |- | 19 | December 6 | @ Seattle | | Jerry Stackhouse (41) | Ben Wallace (17) | Chucky Atkins (6) | KeyArena at Seattle Center14,795 | 9–10 |- | 20 | December 9 | @ Portland | | Jerry Stackhouse (26) | Moore & Smith (5) | Mateen Cleaves (5) | Rose Garden Arena19,980 | 9–11 |- | 21 | December 10 | @ L.A. Lakers | | Jerry Stackhouse (30) | Ben Wallace (13) | Mateen Cleaves (4) | STAPLES Center18,997 | 9–12 |- | 22 | December 13 | Atlanta | | Jerry Stackhouse (30) | Wallace & Smith (11) | Mateen Cleaves (7) | The Palace of Auburn Hills11,252 | 10–12 |- | 23 | December 15 | Minnesota | | Jerry Stackhouse (29) | Ben Wallace (14) | Jerry Stackhouse (5) | The Palace of Auburn Hills13,744 | 10–13 |- | 24 | December 17 | Dallas | | Jerry Stackhouse (24) | Joe Smith (13) | Jerry Stackhouse (7) | The Palace of Auburn Hills11,389 | 10–14 |- | 25 | December 19 | @ Phoenix | | Jerry Stackhouse (35) | Ben Wallace (14) | Stackhouse & Atkins (4) | America West Arena16,951 | 11–14 |- | 26 | December 20 | @ Denver | | Jerry Stackhouse (30) | Ben Wallace (12) | Chucky Atkins (8) | Pepsi Center16,100 | 11–15 |- | 27 | December 23 | Chicago | | Jerry Stackhouse (25) | Ben Wallace (12) | Jerry Stackhouse (8) | The Palace of Auburn Hills13,896 | 12–15 |- | 28 | December 26 | Boston | | Jerry Stackhouse (33) | Ben Wallace (16) | Jerry Stackhouse (7) | The Palace of Auburn Hills14,568 | 13–15 |- | 29 | December 28 | @ Orlando | | Jerry Stackhouse (34) | Ben Wallace (19) | Atkins & Cleaves (4) | TD Waterhouse Centre16,018 | 13–16 |- | 30 | December 30 | Miami | | Jerry Stackhouse (35) | Ben Wallace (21) | Jerry Stackhouse (7) | The Palace of Auburn Hills15,789 | 13–17 |- | 31 | December 31 | @ Washington | | Jerry Stackhouse (25) | Ben Wallace (9) | Mateen Cleaves (4) | MCI Center13,132 | 13–18
| 32 | January 3 | @ Dallas | | Jerry Stackhouse (33) | Joe Smith (15) | Jerry Stackhouse (8) | Reunion Arena12,789 | 14–18 |- | 33 | January 4 | @ Houston | | Jerry Stackhouse (46) | Moore & B. Wallace (9) | Chucky Atkins (5) | Compaq Center11,646 | 14–19 |- | 34 | January 6 | @ San Antonio | | Jerry Stackhouse (34) | Ben Wallace (15) | Jerry Stackhouse (6) | Compaq Center11,646 | 14–20 |- | 35 | January 10 | Toronto | | Jerry Stackhouse (23) | Ben Wallace (9) | Jerry Stackhouse (7) | The Palace of Auburn Hills17,249 | 14–21 |- | 36 | January 12 | San Antonio | | Jerry Stackhouse (35) | Ben Wallace (9) | Jerry Stackhouse (5) | The Palace of Auburn Hills14,576 | 14–22 |- | 37 | January 14 | Portland | | Jerry Stackhouse (41) | Ben Wallace (14) | Jerry Stackhouse (5) | The Palace of Auburn Hills16,798 | 14–23 |- | 38 | January 16 | @ Miami | | Jerry Stackhouse (28) | Ben Wallace (14) | Mateen Cleaves (7) | American Airlines Arena16,011 | 14–24 |- | 39 | January 18 | @ Chicago | | Jerry Stackhouse (36) | Ben Wallace (13) | Jerry Stackhouse (11) | United Center22,092 | 15–24 |- | 40 | January 19 | New York | | Jerry Stackhouse (37) | Joe Smith (10) | Jerry Stackhouse (10) | The Palace of Auburn Hills16,728 | 15–25 |- | 41 | January 21 | Milwaukee | | Dana Barros (22) | Ben Wallace (13) | Michael Curry (8) | The Palace of Auburn Hills13,357 | 15–26 |- | 42 | January 24 | Phoenix | | Jerry Stackhouse (19) | Jerome Williams (9) | Jerry Stackhouse (3) | The Palace of Auburn Hills13,113 | 15–27 |- | 43 | January 26 | @ Philadelphia | | Jerry Stackhouse (34) | Smith & B. Wallace (11) | Michael Curry (6) | First Union Center18,609 | 15–28 |- | 44 | January 27 | @ Milwaukee | | Jerry Stackhouse (32) | Ben Wallace (13) | Jerry Stackhouse (7) | Bradley Center18,717 | 16–28 |- | 45 | January 29 | @ Boston | | Chucky Atkins (20) | Ben Wallace (10) | Jerry Stackhouse (5) | FleetCenter13,537 | 16–29 |- | 46 | January 31 | @ New Jersey | | Jerry Stackhouse (30) | Jerome Williams (17) | Jerry Stackhouse (10) | Continental Airlines Arena10,279 | 17–29
Player statistics
PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG 81 75 29.2 .399 .357 .692 2.1 4.1 0.8 0.112.0 60 0 18.0 .444 .419 .850 1.6 1.8 0.5 0.08.0 57 3 12.9 .463 .416 .750 1.6 0.7 0.4 0.23.4 15 0 8.4 .323 .000 .611 1.5 0.2 0.5 0.12.1 13 0 12.8 .394 .275 .800 2.0 0.5 0.5 0.25.8 78 8 16.3 .400 .294 .708 1.7 2.7 0.6 0.05.4 68 58 21.8 .455 .444 .849 1.8 1.9 0.4 0.05.2 10 0 6.9 .455 n/a n/a 1.9 0.3 0.4 0.12.0 42 20 13.5 .413 n/a .269 3.4 0.4 0.2 0.52.5 81 2 14.2 .493 .000 .731 3.9 0.4 0.3 0.84.4 45 14 17.6 .383 .150 .475 4.6 1.2 0.7 0.34.4 69 59 28.1 .403 .000 .805 7.1 1.1 0.7 0.712.3 80 80 40.2 .402 .351 .822 3.9 5.1 1.2 0.729.8 80 80 34.5 .490 .250 .336 13.2 1.5 1.3 2.36.4 40 0 13.2 .424 .133 .778 2.1 0.6 0.3 0.45.9 33 2 24.4 .438 .000 .722 8.4 1.0 1.2 0.37.3 27 9 29.6 .534 n/a .626 6.2 1.0 1.3 0.315.2
Player statistics citation:
Awards and records
Transactions
References
See also 2000-01 NBA season