Sigh...Go Pistons

(Power to the People day is canceled due to lack of response. Lazy bastards)
I'm a beaten, broken man now. I got home from class and flipped on ESPN really quick where they were playing Classic NBA Finals recaps and sure enough...1989-1990. Back to Back Motor City Bad Boys Champions.

This post is dedicated solely to the Detroit Pistons and the NBA.

I love the Detroit Pistons. As much as I hate on them, I really do love them. Not as much as I did back in my Ben Wallace 'fro wearing in Indianapolis with the Pistons flag as a cape and old school Detroit Pistons logo t-shirt days (there are pictures out there somewhere, let's try to keep those under wraps and you know who I'm talking to Jerm, Dave, Tom, RJ, Twatty) but I still consider myself a big Pistons fan.

Watching that old school footage of the glory days of Rodman, Salley, Vinnie "the Microwave" Johnson, Joe D, Zeke, Laimbeer, and Mahorn was just what I needed to get myself fired up about the 'Stones again. And for the record, those teams had the coolest warm ups I've ever seen. They looked like a bunch of janitors with their first names on their chests as they were warming up. Straight up classic. They were the original blue collar basketball team. They showed up, worked their asses off, and won championships. Those Piston teams weren't not at all afraid of putting someone like Jordan or James Worthy right on the ground without any fear of punishment or suspensions and if they did get suspended, they didn't care, there was some other goon who could come in off the bench and do exactly the same thing. Now THAT was Detroit Basketball.

The closest thing to those days was the championship team in 2004. Ben Wallace was the Laimbeer of the group. The gritty player who scrapped around for rebounds and was an absolute intimidating force on defense. Sheed was the young, pre hair dye Dennis Rodman of the group, another solid rebounder and defender (remember the "No Fly Zone?") but was able to hit a shot or two in clutch situations to nail the coffin closed on teams. Chauncey was clearly Isiah Thomas and made a career out of setting up Rip Hamilton who was that team's Joe Dumars but with more mobility. Tayshaun Prince was Vinnie Johnson for his just overall unnoticed clutch play in those playoffs (Reggie with the layup, nope, it's blocked have a nice off season). That team played harder and hungrier than any Pistons team since. This team this year doesn't have the "look" of a team that is going to win a championship just yet.

When you step back and look at this team today, it is missing the one cog that made it special in 2004. Ben Wallace. Ben Wallace was the straw that stirred the drink on that 2004 team and although I wish I could say I can never forgive him for leaving Detroit, I do understand. Detroit was in no way ready to pay Ben the money needed to keep him in the Blue and Red and he bolted to Chicago for an absurd amount of money. The kind of money you pay a player who can do everything. But let's be honest, Ben Wallace was a two trick pony. He played defense and rebounded. That's it. He wasn't a scorer, he couldn't shoot free throws to save his life, and any time he put the ball on the floor the Palace held it's collective breath waiting for him to dribble off his foot like a 4th grader on a playground. I don't blame Ben for leaving though, there comes a time in every player's career that he simply has to go out and get paid and that is very understandable. For the sake of the Pistons though, it sure would be nice to still have him playing at the Palace. Jason Maxiel is a Wallace type player but with the ability to score, but he's still not the afro wearing menace in the paint that we as Pistons fans all hope he will eventually be. But the clock is ticking.

Let's be honest with each other here. Time is running out in Auburn Hills. Rip, Sheed, and Chauncey aren't exactly young anymore and Antonio McDyess is currently being held together with athletic tape. Tayshaun, Stuckey, and Maxiel are the future of the Pistons and as of yet, they aren't championship caliber players. They are all great in support roles, but I don't see them as having the ability to carry a franchise to a championship in any league. Which leads me to my next point...

Darko. The Sam Bowie of the 2003 draft. I said at the time that Darko was a great pick with nothing but upside since he was only 17 when the Pistons drafted him second overall. Instead of trading down like they should have done in retrospect, they pulled the trigger and took a gamble on the youngster from Serbia and Montenegro. It's not gambling if you can't lose and I know that. Trading down however could have landed the Pistons any of the following very solid players: Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Josh Howard, Chris Kaman, Boris Diaw, or even Luke Walton. Any of those players would be great to have right now. Or maybe the potential of getting a 2004 first rounder for the 2003 pick which could have resulted in Dwight Howard, Emeka Okafor, Jameer Nelson, Luol Deng, or even Andre Iguodala. But of course, that point is now moot. Dumars did what he thought was the best thing for the franchise at the time and picked a kid who could develop into a great player. Instead, we got the human victory cigar.

There is one person though whom I would like to throw some blame at before I am done here. David Stern. David Stern changed the rules of the game to prevent solid defense and encourage scoring. I understand that most fans want to see 120-115 games. High scoring, back and forth affairs are more fun to watch for most people. Not Pistons fans. It is amazing to me that the Pistons have kept winning since 2004 and the rule changes that came into effect. The rule changes rendered Ben Wallace essentially obsolete. The days of intimidating defense were over and those days ushered in fast paced run around with your hair on fire and throw a up a random shot and hope for the best league that we see now. It has done nothing less that individualize basketball. It has taken a great team game and set it aside to make it a game centered around individual talent. Whatever team has the best player, the player that can take over a game, should always win. It is a vastly different league now than it was even in the Jordan domination days. Michael Jordan was a dominant player, but he was surrounded by players the likes of Scottie Pippen and Tony Kucoc who could also take over a game if need be. It was still a team game back then. Now it's just "get the ball to Kobe" or "get the ball to Lebron." The best teams in the league are the ones who can still get everyone involved such as the Celtics, Pistons, Spurs, and the Jazz. In fact, those are the four teams who I say will eventually advance into the next round of play. Basketball is a team game. It's time the NBA recognized that again and went back to its roots.

Oh and one quick shout out and good luck wish to the Grass Lake Warriors baseball team coached by my dear friend Ben Hamilton. The Warriors are 20-2 and could potentially seal up their first Cascades Conference title in 15 years against Manchester on Thursday. Go fetch us a championship boys!!