2001–02 Detroit Pistons season

2001–02 Detroit Pistons season
Division Champions
Head coach	Rick Carlisle
General manager	Joe Dumars
Arena	The Palace of Auburn Hills
Results
Record	50–32 (.610)
Place	Division: 1st (Central) Conference: 2nd (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Lost in East Conference Semifinals to Boston (1–4)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com

The 2001–02 Detroit Pistons season was the 61st season of the franchise, the 54th in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the 45th in the Detroit area. Under new head coach Rick Carlisle, the Pistons finished first place in the Central Division with a 50–32 record. Ben Wallace was named Defensive Player of The Year, Corliss Williamson was named Sixth Man of The Year, and Carlisle was named Coach of The Year. In the first round of the playoffs, they would defeat the Toronto Raptors in five games, but would lose in five games to the second seed Boston Celtics in the semifinals. Following the season, Jerry Stackhouse was traded to the Washington Wizards.

The season saw the team revert to its traditional color scheme of red, white and blue.

Draft picks

Main article: 2001 NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	9	Rodney White	SF/PF	United States	North Carolina-Charlotte
2	37	Mehmet Okur	C/PF	Turkey

Roster

Detroit Pistons roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From F/C 9 Alexander, Victor 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 265 lb (120 kg) Iowa State G 7 Atkins, Chucky 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 160 lb (73 kg) South Florida G 1 Barros, Dana 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 163 lb (74 kg) Boston College G 20 Barry, Jon 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Georgia Tech F 35 Cardinal, Brian 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Purdue F 12 Curry, Michael 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Georgia Southern G 14 Jones, Damon 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Houston C 31 Moore, Mikki 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Nebraska C 39 Rebrača, Željko 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 257 lb (117 kg) Serbia F/C 30 Robinson, Cliff 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Connecticut G/F 42 Stackhouse, Jerry 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 218 lb (99 kg) North Carolina C 44 Varda, Ratko 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 247 lb (112 kg) Serbia F/C 3 Wallace, Ben 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Virginia Union F 5 White, Rodney 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 238 lb (108 kg) Charlotte F 34 Williamson, Corliss 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Arkansas	Head coach Rick Carlisle Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Central Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Detroit Pistons	50	32	.610	–	26–15	24–17	20–8
x-Charlotte Hornets	44	38	.537	6	21–20	23–18	17–11
x-Toronto Raptors	42	40	.512	8	24–17	18–23	17–11
x-Indiana Pacers	42	40	.512	8	25–16	17–24	13–15
Milwaukee Bucks	41	41	.500	9	25–16	16–25	17–11
Atlanta Hawks	33	49	.402	17	23–18	10–31	11–17
Cleveland Cavaliers	29	53	.354	21	20–21	9–32	12–16
Chicago Bulls	21	61	.256	29	14–27	7–34	5–23

#	Eastern Conference
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-New Jersey Nets	52	30	.634	–
2	y- Detroit Pistons	50	32	.610	2
3	x-Boston Celtics	49	33	.598	3
4	x-Charlotte Hornets	44	38	.537	8
5	x-Orlando Magic	44	38	.537	8
6	x- Philadelphia 76ers	43	39	.524	9
7	x-Toronto Raptors	42	40	.512	10
8	x-Indiana Pacers	42	40	.512	10
9	Milwaukee Bucks	41	41	.500	11
10	Washington Wizards	37	45	.451	15
11	Miami Heat	36	46	.439	16
12	Atlanta Hawks	33	49	.402	19
13	New York Knicks	30	52	.366	22
14	Cleveland Cavaliers	29	53	.354	23
15	Chicago Bulls	21	61	.256	31

z - clinched division title

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

Playoffs

East First Round

(2) Detroit Pistons vs. (7) Toronto Raptors Last Playoff Meeting: This is the first meeting between the Pistons and Raptors.

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Score	Record (DET-TOR)	Venue	TV Time
1	April 21	Toronto	63	Detroit	85	1-0	The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills	TNT 8:30et
2	April 24	Toronto	91	Detroit	96	2-0	The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills	TNT 7:00et
3	April 27	Detroit	84	Toronto	94	2-1	Air Canada Centre, Toronto	TNT 8:30et
4	April 29	Detroit	83	Toronto	89	2-2	Air Canada Centre, Toronto	TNT 8:00et
5	May 2	Toronto	82	Detroit	85	3-2	The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills	TBS 8:30et
Detroit wins series 3–2

East Conference Semifinals

(2) Detroit Pistons vs. (3) Boston Celtics Last Playoff Meeting: 1991 Eastern Conference Semifinals (Detroit won 4-2)

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Score	Record (DET-BOS)	Venue	TV Time
1	May 5	Boston	86	Detroit	94	1-0	The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills	NBC 3:00et
2	May 8	Boston	85	Detroit	77	1-1	The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills	TNT 8:00et
3	May 10	Detroit	64	Boston	66	1-2	FleetCenter, Boston	TNT 7:00et
4	May 12	Detroit	79	Boston	90	1-3	FleetCenter, Boston	NBC 3:00et
5	May 14	Boston	90	Detroit	81	1-4	The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills	TBS 8:00et
Boston wins series 4–1

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Victor Alexander
Chucky Atkins
Dana Barros
Jon Barry
Brian Cardinal
Michael Curry
Damon Jones
Mikki Moore
Zeljko Rebraca
Clifford Robinson
Jerry Stackhouse
Ratko Varda
Ben Wallace
Rodney White
Corliss Williamson

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Victor Alexander
Chucky Atkins
Dana Barros
Jon Barry
Michael Curry
Damon Jones
Zeljko Rebraca
Clifford Robinson
Jerry Stackhouse
Ben Wallace
Rodney White
Corliss Williamson

Awards and records

• Ben Wallace, NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award
• Corliss Williamson, NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award
• Rick Carlisle, NBA Coach of the Year Award
• Ben Wallace, All-NBA Third Team
• Ben Wallace, NBA All-Defensive First Team
• Clifford Robinson, NBA All-Defensive Second Team
• Željko Rebrača, NBA All-Rookie Team 2nd Team

See also

• 2001-02 NBA season