"I once scored four touchdowns in a high school football game." - Al Bundy. Yes, Detroit fans, we've reached our Al Bundy moment. The window has been emphatically slammed shut by none other than Mr. James and his rag-tag bunch of cast-offs.
Where do we go from here? First off, get rid of 'Sheed. He's an embarassment, a liability, and a nutcase. How do you let yourself get tossed in one of the most important games of your career, thus ensuring not only that your team's chances of winning diminish greatly, but that you'll also hurt them by being suspended should you win the game?
Next, the Chauncey question. To re-sign or not to re-sign? Hell, that's tough. He's 31, but one of the top five PGs in the game right now. What options do we have? Bibby? No defense. Mo Williams? Not sold on yet. J-Kidd? Too risky. The only hold-up is that Chaunce is going to ask for something like 60 over 4 and there is no way in hell Joe should pull the trigger on that. But there are more than enough desperate teams in the league that will. I'd hate to have to make that call. Then again, I bet the Mavs wish they had.
Then you've got the question of Flip Saunders. I don't think you have much of a choice here either. Who's out there for a veteran team? Carlisle? Bridge is burnt and submerged under sewage. Brown? The previous times infinity. Chuck Daly? Hey, Riley's still in the game! Yeah, well since Flip has a guaranteed contract, I don't think we'll be seeing a change at the helm anytime soon. This isn't necessarily bad, because I think with Rasheed gone, it'll be much easier to get a hold over the team. And let's be real: the Pistons won 64 games last year, the highest total in team history. Clearly Flip is doing something right. When he first started he was praised for opening up the offense. I hope we can keep that trend going.
The bottom line is the Pistons need new blood. Build around Tayshaun. Get a few more good years out of Chaunce and Rip. Get a great post player (I didn't really realize how much we missed Ben Wallace until I watched Ilgauskas abuse us on the offensive boards). Get a consistent scorer who can create his own shot. Get fracking motivated about winning. The insouciance of this team since they won the title has been galling. They need to stop reading the press-clippings and start earning the right to wear those dumb arse "championship belts" Rasheed and Ben used to wear.
I think this quote from Chauncey sums up the Pistons over the past couple of years:
"I don’t see the situation as being that bad," he said. "It’s 2-2, these are the Eastern Conference finals. We have three games left — two of them at our place."
Yeah, funny how that worked out.
P.S. - In order for the Cavs to earn my respect, they need to take two games off of San Antonio. If they can do that, I will admit that they are a decent team. Until then, they still suck. They are the real-life equivalent of Michael J. Fox's basketball team from Teen Wolf.
1 comment:
Hadn't thought of getting rid of Sheed, but like it. Some rumbles that New York would be interested - pull Channing Frye and whatever else. Crawford might be interesting - he can score, and in the clutch, if his percentages aren't that great.
I don't like Saunders at all. Isolate Rip: NO. Run him off screens and watch him score, like he's been scoring for years. He needs to hire an offensive coordinator... but there's a lack of intensity and cohesion on the team that may stem from him, too. I agree, there aren't many answers. Jeff Van Gundy? Chuck Daly would be perfect, if he weren't a yellowed-haired octogenarian or whatever he's up to nowadays.
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