If Hollywood came to Stan Van Gundy to consult on a basketball movie, chances are he wouldn’t last long. He’d be rolling his eyes and pulling every clichéd scene from the screenplay, especially ones featuring fire-and-brimstone rallying speeches.

It’s not that he doesn’t believe in the concept of leadership. It’s just that it doesn’t often come in the form that sells movie tickets.

In Van Gundy’s experience, leadership most often comes the way Reggie Jackson brought it to life Monday night in Utah when the Pistons pulled themselves out of a defensive tailspin that threatened to leave them with a 1-3 record to show for their four-game road trip.

Instead, Jackson scored 29 points in 31 grinding minutes, committing only one turnover and hitting 12 of 19 shots by being nearly flawless in his decision-making of when to attack a rim protected by shot-blocker supreme Rudy Gobert and when to pull up for soft floaters over him.

But that wasn’t what really moved Van Gundy to sing Jackson’s praises in the aftermath of the 95-92 win that allowed the Pistons to sweep Utah for the first time since the 2002-03 season. Van Gundy called it the best defensive effort Jackson has logged in his 72 games since joining the Pistons 11 months ago at the trade deadline.

“I give Reggie credit,” he said after the game. “That’s the best I’ve seen him do it. But I also thought Brandon (Jennings) worked his butt off. You see those guys out there at the head of the defense, giving that kind of effort, and that’s setting the tone for other guys.”

The Pistons remain a very young team at their core. Of their two leading men, Jackson is in his first season as a full-time starter and Andre Drummond is 22. So is Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Marcus Morris is in his fifth NBA season, but like Jackson his first as a full-time starter. Stanley Johnson is 19. Those are five of their six leaders in minutes played.

They’ve talked openly amid some of their season-long inconsistencies about the need for leadership to emerge and for players to hold teammates accountable, but it takes a lot to bake the cake in the NBA. Their most experienced players come off the bench, guys like Anthony Tolliver and Aron Baynes, or sit outside their rotation, Steve Blake and Joel Anthony. Tolliver has his finger on the pulse of the team as much as anyone and he’s a naturally upbeat, vocal player who – by his own admission – has to push himself to make pointed criticisms.

And that’s a tough position for a guy coming off the bench to occupy.

“Holding each other accountable is all about you doing it yourself,” he said. “If you’re going to say something to somebody, you have to be doing that yourself. I’ve played with teammates that have been great at that and I’ve played with teammates that have been terrible at that. The guys no one listens to are the guys who say, ‘Let’s work hard,’ and then they’re out there working the least.

“In order to hold each other accountable, you have to hold yourself accountable first. I think we definitely have to do that more and be more vocal. I try to be vocal. I try to always be positive, but sometimes I feel like I’ve got to challenge myself to bring some of the negative stuff from a teammate’s standpoint. That’s a part of growing, as well.”

The Pistons reached a new season high for frustration after Saturday’s loss at Denver, yielding 39 points in the third quarter after dominating the first half and eventually losing by three in a game that went to the wire. But they went very hard in practice on Sunday – exactly what Van Gundy hoped their response would be – and then engaged in a spontaneous snowball battle that left them howling in laughter.

It was a reflection of the camaraderie they’ve created from roster spots one through 15. Does that create an environment where holding each other accountable becomes easier?

Mabye. Maybe not.

“It should,” Van Gundy said. “But it can also go to where you’re so into the friendship that you don’t want to. You’re too worried about that to hold somebody accountable. So it can work either way and it’s a hard balance for guys to find.”

“At the end of the day, we all like each other. We all get along really well,” Tolliver said. “I think that’s a really big thing when it comes to playing this game. If you like each other, you’re going to try to help each other out. I feel like sometimes our on-court performance doesn’t dictate how much we like each other off the court. If we do that more – if we’re more together on the court – I think that’s the direction our team needs to go, taking that off-the-court camaraderie and really putting it on the court on the defensive end and on the offensive end.”

It’s the rare player with enough stature and the right personality who can get away with constantly challenging teammates for their slightest transgressions. You can’t wait for one of them to fall your way before deciding to win any more than you can afford to wait on winning the lottery.

“It’s certainly great if you have those kinds of leaders,” he said. “I don’t think you have to. God, I don’t even know how many teams would have that. Maybe five or six. It’s a pretty rare thing. Everybody talks about it, leadership and everything else, but in my experience that kind of leadership we’re talking about is pretty rare.”

Van Gundy probably would say Tolliver did his part for leadership by draining four big 3-pointers, including three straight early in the fourth quarter when Utah was riding a hot streak from Rodney Hood to eat into a Pistons lead. Tolliver cherishes his status as an NBA player, working his way into a prominent role in his eighth season after going undrafted out of Creighton in 2008. And he takes his role with the Pistons, as a key contributor off the bench and the elder statesmen among those in their rotation, very seriously. He sees the need to become more critical when it’s appropriate.

“It’s something I have to get used to,” he said. “I’m just so used to being positive all the time. I’m always looking at it from that standpoint. In order to be a better leader, I have to be able to identify some of the negative things guys are doing.”

Tolliver said his teammates did open up some on this trip as their frustration level went up and was encouraged by the way the criticisms were received.

“For me, it’s a learning experience and as one of the leaders on this team, I have to be more vocal on the negative things as well.”

If that had something to do with the effort the Pistons put into their win over Utah – “the hardest we’ve played since really early in the year,” Van Gundy said – then even their coach might put some stock into the value of what’s said in the locker room.