Mike Brudenell

Detroit Free Press

Detroit Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy wasn't hiding his feelings after practice today in Auburn Hills.

"I've never had a team have a performance like that," Van Gundy said of Detroit's 124-81 loss to the Washington Wizards on Monday night. "So certainly, I didn't expect it."

With a nine-game home stretch up next, starting with the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday (7:30 p.m., FSD), and a playoff spot up for grabs over the next couple weeks, Van Gundy admitted that Monday was a rough night.

"I was awake all night and I had a lot of time to think about (the loss)," said Van Gundy. "I didn't talk to them that long (today). I made my points, and then we got working on things we needed to work on."

Van Gundy didn't go into much detail about what he said at practice.

"We talked about it, but I'm not going to get into what we talked about. It had nothing to do with X's an O's, I'll tell you that much," he said.

"Nine straight games (at home) mean nothing if you are not going to bring great energy and great effort."

So have egos been bruised?

"That's up to them -- we got what we deserved last night," Van Gundy said. "If that shakes your confidence, so be it. Find your confidence. You're a professional athlete."

How was the mood and the effort of the players at practice?

"Practice was fine -- practice is always fine," Van Gundy said. "We are a much more consistent practice team than we are a game team, in terms of effort."

Van Gundy didn't stop there. Asked whether consistency is the problem for the Pistons (34-33), he replied: "I don't know if it's consistency. Our starts to games were pretty consistent over the last three games. We weren't ready to play in the beginning of any of them, so I thought that was pretty consistent.

"We are coming with no focus -- just throwing the ball around. What we've done at the beginning of the last three games has been very unprofessional. I know where it comes from: it's a lack of focus and not getting yourself ready to play."

Asked whether the most recent losses could be blamed on the team's youth, Van Gundy said tersely: "It's a good excuse being able to say you're young, which basically means you're not mature or tough enough to play well every night. If I were guys and that was being said as my excuse, I'd be embarrassed. They've all played the game since they were 5 and 6 years old. So get yourself ready to play and play it."

Note: The Pistons decided not to sign forward Justin Harper for the remainder of the season. Detroit recently penned Harper to a second 10-day contract.

"His 10 days were up, and we didn't sign him for the rest of the year," Van Gundy said at practice Tuesday in Auburn Hills.

The 6-foot-10, 225-pound Harper had been playing with the Los Angeles D-Fenders (D-League) this season.