Ya, good column and I agree. My knee jerk reaction was that AI was done and we’re throwing in the towel. Looking at his stats and knowing he had to share the rock with Carmelo, maybe he’s got enough left in his tank to push this team over the top… if not, then we move on to a new era (as Adande claims.) Whatever questions we’ve had or currently have, they’ll be answered at the end of the season, and be filed away in a vault. Finality to this “window.” It was coming sooner or later. I commend Joe for approaching it head on.

My sentiments exactly. I too was shocked initially, but as I thought more about it and realised that as much as I argued against trading Billups initially, the deal makes sense. We get a GO TO scorer that can destroy opposition players. We get financial flexibilty for the next couple of years and a shot at another superstar. Chauncey was a top PG for a long time here, but this new dynamic to the team is exactly what most of us were asking for at the end of last season.

A++

I think there will be a lot of people who change their minds after watching AI play with us tonight in toronto.

Is anyone going to the game on Sunday? Watching AI torch Rondo is going to be amusing.

I should drive to TO to try and get tickets, but it’s probably crazy expensive now.

My first reaction was stunned silence when this trade happened, followed closely by lots of swearing. This lasted until later in the day when I looked at the complete picture and then I began to understand. Joe is a smart man. Everyone should ignore the phone when he calls regarding trades. It just isn’t fair to the rest of the league!!

I think this is the better move for us, and I can’t wait to see how AI meshes with the Pistons tonight.

Also, I agree that McDyess is most likely coming back, but everyone in Denver has to pretend that he isn’t. I remember the stink the league caused last year when Stackhouse proclaimed he was heading back to Dallas (when he was being worked into the trade with NJ).

Who are the big free agents in ’09? I know LeBron and friends headline a star-studded 2010 free agent class, but what about this upcoming summer?

I don’t think Iverson was the guy anybody here wanted when the trade for an impact player talk was at its’ peak, but if we parlay that into someone younger and bigger who can score like an answer in his prime, then whatever happens this season is fine with me. I want Dyess back. My sincere thanks to Billups for running a sick team for many years here in the D.

Glad you’ve come around from before (i’d link to the “doesn’t make sense” column if i were more internet savvy). This isn’t change, for the sake of change, like some trades that were thrown around this summer, either. Chanucy and Tay were the 2 guys on the squad that I wouldn’t want to see traded, but to get AI in return, I have no problem with that. As for the timing, this gives us until the trade deadline to evaluate our squad and coach. Rather then waiting until the deadline and only having a couple of months to gel, we get 4 months to see how this works. And if it isn’t, we can make more changes then. I hope Joe D stays on the job for a very long time.

Allen Iverson isn’t Terrell Owens. People seem to forget that. I mean, he butted heads with Larry Brown. That’s the only time in his career that he’s had chemistry problems, even though there are some…umm…strong personalities in Denver. Chemistry won’t be a problem here. I think this move does for us what KG did for Boston – he’s going to push the rest of the team to get the most out of their talents, he’s going to valuable toward the development of Stuckey, and he’s going be an impact that go beyond the box score.

After taking time to digest it though, I think we won this trade. What does Denver really get out of it? They’ve made themselves the Pacers of the west – no cap flexibility for years, not much of a chance at moving up in their conference, best case scenario a 7 or 8 seed and first round exit. The job is to win a title, not tread water.

Chauncey and Dyess make them better in the short term, but is Chauncey, Smith, Anthony, Martin, Nene, with Dyess and Kleiza off the bench enough to get the job done in the West? Will that roster be enough to get them past LA or NO? It better be, because they won’t have any wiggle room after those guys for the next two years.

Ha, just came across this browsing on ESPN. From Bill Simmons’ fantasy preview: under Favorite Legitimate Sleepers:

Rodney Stuckey
He’ll average a 13-3-4 off the bench and has major “what if Billups or Hamilton gets hurt?” upside. Hey, which team would turn down a “Stuckey, Tayshaun Prince and Amir Johnson for Carmelo” trade? Doesn’t Joe Dumars have to swing for the fences at some point? Or is he happy running the Atlanta Braves II?

Ironic.

Imagine this— two years before he’s given the keys to a championship ball club, Rodney Stuckey has two years of careful tutoring: one by Chauncey Billups, one by Allen Iverson. I couldn’t ask for much more for Stuckey.

If Chauncey was Barack Obama, then Allen Iverson is Kwame Kilpatrick. No thanks. Even Isiah Thomas was Priest Superfly. Stinky shit stinks. If you expect to change an ego-tripping asshole that doesn’t give everything he says he gives, at his age, you’re either a Pistons shill or a battered wife.

The C’s story was dumb as hell. I can’t look upon last year as anything more than rigged, wrong, and el oh el. What makes you think I wouldn’t apply this treatment to a Cracker Jack toy championship that the Pistons could win? It ain’t right.

You’re asking me to give a shit about American Idol Pistons.

So many questions.

You said the team that started out 2-0 was good enough to win 50; what about the team that beat Charlotte? First, could that team make the play-offs, and, then could that team with AI coming off the bench win 50+?

(Your answer might come easier after the game tonight as AI may have to sit out if Chauncey has not reported.)

Before I go further with this, I would ask those laughing to look at this as a coach who wants to win. My concern as that coach is whether the All-NBA Forevah wants to win no-matter or if the ego is too big. If the answer (intentional) is that Iverson can play sixth-man for a few games to see if Stuck can run the point versus the top clubs, then we will know if we have a future. And it is a very low cost experiment.

Now imagine two potential teams: Stuckey handling the rock with Rip in motion versus AI dribbling. If your two teams were Stuckey running the point and Bynum running the point, you have two play-off level teams in one.

Given Coach Curry’s strategy of using at least 11 men a game, do you think a first string run by Stuck would give up more points than that second unit (Bynum, AI, Herrmann, Max & Kwame) would score?

Is my idea that we could win more, grow our future team and be rested for the play-offs wrong or just too outside the box?

Lord, can we please cut it with the Obama crap? Isn’t two years long enough to have to deal with this stupid election?

I can deal with all the emo-tastic Chauncey love, but I’ve had enough politics.

I must say that, for purely selfish reasons of course, the portion I’m most upset about is the timing. And, not because of preseason work with the players to create chemistry, etc. I’m upset because the nationally televised games, for the most part, are established prior to the season and the Pistons have slowly been shoved out of the primetime games because they were too much of the same. I know that’s not a big for y’all still in the D, but when you’re in the middle of central Florida with a cable provider that doesn’t carry NBATV, those national games were how I was able to watch the team. There’s no way TNT and ESPN would have ignored the Pistons with this Iverson trade over the summer, right? I could have seen probably up to 10 additional games of the team if this trade happened earlier.

Truly selfish reason, I know, but still…

Your nation just elected the first black President in its history, and you think politics is going away?

Someone’s sipping the Hatorade.

@rjsplow:

COMPLETELY AGREE. I’m in Chi-town and I’m seriously thinking about spending $180 (outrageous price by the way) that I don’t have for the League Pass. I cannot even describe to you folks how bad the local Bulls coverage is here. Kelser and Blaha are GODS in comparison.

Hats off to Joe D. If we had done this deal in the summer, Billups and Dyess for an established star whose contract expires after the season, I think we all would have said this is the deal Joe has been talking about to shake things up. Hate to see Dyess leave, class act, but hopefully he comes back. It would kill me to see him sign with the Celts.

I think the Pistons made the deal with Rip to make sure his head stays in the game, even though he had two years remaining. Second, what if this does work? Does AI sign for 10M next year and still leave us with 10M to sign Sheed? or perhaps be a player in the 2010 free agent class?

The best part about this deal is I think it gives us two guys (Stuck & AI) who can get shots off in the playoffs when things grind to a halt. Plus, between them both we should get to the line alot faster as a team, which will help everyone.

On the flip side, I don’t think Joe is done. If things blow up between now and Feb, he can still use AI’s contract to bring in some other talent. Now, to throw the ball up in the air, anyone excited about Prince for Al Harrington? Just thinking.

Given that AI hit 46% of his shots last year, it would appear that we traded Obama for McCain.

As for Dyess coming back, Hollinger has a post up today outlining the scenario. Basically, he’d have to cough up $5 million in order to return to a team that traded him. This is because we spent part of our mid-level to acquire Kwame Brown.

Ironically, Hollinger also counts the Lakers among those teams that might be willing to spend the MLE, which would mean effectively that we traded Antonio McDyess for Kwame Brown.

You can’t win me over with the “League of Stars.” I liked this team for what it wasn’t. NBA is insufferable, and Detroit jumped right in like a pack of fools.

Later, ’baters.

Hey, sauce, why don’t you bring up his posse, tatoos, and corn rows. He’s a scary gansta, isn’t he? How about basing your post on how his talent will affect the team? I’ll be happy to celebrate our “cracker jack” championship this year, too. Sounds like you’re about to jump on the Utah Jazz bandwagon.

Apparently Chauncey and Samb haven’t taken their physicals yet so AI might not get to play tonight.

Okay, I’m going to defend myself as an exception to my farewell.

Craig, you’re a fucking idiot. AI’s not a leader. Neither was Kwame. I wasn’t going for a racial comparison. Those were comparisons to people, in general. Do you even know what Superfly is? Youngblood Priest was a sympathetic character. Get your head out of your goddamn ass.

I’m not a “pistons shrill or a battered wife”, but am looking for some evidence for your comparisons. Got any recent evidence to back up your accusations on his character? Your reference to a 70’s movie isn’t going to make me think your stance is any less biased. I like that your response is to insult me, and then not give any additional evidence about how AI is morally bad. Maybe you can compare him to a character from Shaft to make it more clear to everyone.

Go fuck yourself, you dumb motherfucker, Craig. Learn to spell.

Ouch, the spelling call out. Go CJ Miles!!!

Sauce: I get what you’re saying about Iverson’s history of issues, but for me I’m willing to give it a pass until I see what he can do with our team. I just think there’s more upside than downside in this deal, and we got the best of it. I want to watch Iverson play in Detroit and enjoy every minute of it, because it might not last long. He’s an all-world talent that might be able to take us back to the finals. If he screws up the chemistry and we fall apart, then I’ll shake my fist at Dumars and say, “What were you thinking?” But until then, bring on the AI-mini-era.

Don’t expect to insult my character in a retarded fashion and walk away without your fucking house burned down in a response.

They say ignorance is bliss, but when you get your shit kicked constantly, I think that’s an ignorant maxim to begin.

The proof’s there, if you’re wondering, Craig. I don’t repeat for idiots. If you can’t connect the dots in your dumb-addled head, then I don’t know what to tell you. Have you tried aroma therapy? You’re gonna need some Glade at least to clear up the shit smell. You can’t smell that stench? Damn.

@Sauce:
You add zero to the conversation on DBB when you bring the tinfoil hat, “its rigged” nonsense and whine about how unfair the world is. If you don’t have anything productive to say, don’t say it man.

Fuck that, Garrett. We’re way off in our estimation of what cap space does in a sick league for a market that isn’t sunny, friendly, or endorsement-lucrative. I bet against.

Chicago may be run by village idiots, but that didn’t stop Ben from gettin’ paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid. That’s the NBA mentality, not your wishful thinking that Joe will nab a favorable “superstar.”

For those that went off on Adande, you’re fucking retarded, too. The man picked Detroit to win it all last year. He hates Detroit? Please. Ever read a Bill Simmons column?

Agreed.

Mike, fuck you. You want to know why Finals ratings were dismal, just compare with the Super Bowl, see how David Stern handles things, assess it poorly like a rational and objective outsider, and don’t lie when you tell people that I bring nothing.

If Detroit’s all you care about, oh well. Fair enough.

Damn it Sauce got in there before I could submit. I agree with Mike Payne. I’m sure there are people who agree with Sauce but I don’t think saying it that way is going to convert anyone.

Hahaha, WTF Sauce?

I am not trying to convert anyone. Joe allowed the line in the sand to be redrawn.

Sauce, did you mean that you were going to cyber-burn down his cyber-house? Cyber-arsonist!

Seriously, you’re pissed because Iverson is too much of a star? Seriously? That may be the dumbest reason for not supporting a trade that I’ve ever heard.

You think Chauncey’s ego wasn’t a problem since 2004 when every time that we got down in a playoff series he was saying “It ain’t no thing, we’ve been here before”?

And gee, I wish we had a chance at landing Carlos Boozer this off-season, but we all know how he only runs toward the bright lights as a free agent…

Being a dick to everyone who disagrees with you doesn’t make up for the lack of ONE decent argument against this trade.

Anger, anger… SO much anger!

Don’t worry everybody, Fabio will save us all.

The internet, man. It’s crazy. Please, be civil or be quiet.

Also, from experience, don’t antagonize Sauce; his one-liner conspiracy quips are best appreciated like a fortune cookie — read it, either laugh or nod your head, then go about your day. But don’t argue with the man — he’ll either make you think he’s crazy or he’ll depress you by making you ponder things you don’t want to think about. Either way it’s no fun.

Also, I like slam dunk shots. Do you like slam dunk shots?

Wow. What happened to Sauce? Off the ledge, man!
Anyway, Adande’s just a troll, like a lot of talking heads out there.

I think Iverson will fit right in, just a hunch. And doubts about his effort, of all things, make me laugh.

The Celtics’ championship season was rigged in the sense that several great players and surprisingly good role players got together and played their asses off. So yeah…rigged. I hope our season gets rigged that way, too.

Superfly is a highly overrated movie, save for its soundtrack.

This totally looks like the Detnews board, suddenly.

So…big game tonight, right?

I see Antonio’s physical was “waived.” Does anyone know how or why you waive a physical? Maybe if he doesn’t plan on reporting, or they don’t expect him to report? Maybe meaning a buyout is on the way…?

:)

(click on the smiley face!)

AI said in the press conference, that the biggest thing was that he was happy to know someone wants him. He said:

“And that’s the best thing for me and my family mentally, just to be embraced. That’s what you want more than anything.”

As a guy who studied psychology in college, I love this. I’ll look to myself. What’s the biggest plus for me? The Pistons will be cared about again on a national (global?) stage. I can’t remember how many times (especially as a Detroiter living in LA) I’ve complained about how the Pistons get no love and/or attention from the basketball media. I feel like a large section of DBB has that same reaction. Seriously, how does six straight conference finals garner so little attention?

I know that trading for a superstar and the subsequent attention that follows doesn’t automatically produce the ultimate goal, that being to win the games. But, Joe D. has always taken care of the winning aspect with this franchise. I’m confident that will continue without a hitch. Adding the superstar aspect, well that’s just something new altogether, and to me, that’s the most exciting part about all this.

Thanks for more than six great years, Chauncey. Welcome to the D, AI. Our fans won’t let you down.

LMAO!!!!

Awesome MP.

Matt Watson: I, too, like a good slam dunk shot!

You’re the dirt on my shoulder, MP.

The mistake is all mine. I thought there were ENLIGHTENED basketball fans here.

I like finger rolls. George “The Iceman” Gervin was the master of the finger roll.

It’s really embarrassing when people act tough on the Internet.

@Sauce:
I’m just being playful, no offense intended. Thought you might get a laugh out of it.

I’m really surprised that some people are saying that Iverson is way past his prime and is slowing down really fast but no one is saying that against Kobe which is his batch mate in the ‘96 draft. Yeah he’s older that Kobe, but in terms of playing years they basically played the same number of it in the NBA. What I do think is AI will be a fine addition to the team, especially during those times when we are having scoring droughts.

So is AI not playing tonight for sure? Either way I am looking forward to seeing the Raptors:

Calderon vs. Stuckey is a very nice PG matchup.
Jermaine O’Neal vs. Rasheed is always interesting.
Plus we can all start scouting Bosh for free agency in 2010.

All the Canadian channels here are heavily promoting AI’s first game in a Pistons uniform, so I assume he’s playing. They keep going on about how he has averaged 30 ppg against the Raptors over his career, so I guess they’re eager for another smack down.

You can spin this any way you want but I still hate it….

If we don’t get out of the East (and we won’t now that we don’t have a real PG) this ABSOLUTELY is giving up this season…

I’m sorry, I want REALLY BADLY to believe someone really good is coming here next year but it just isn’t true. This “Big FA summer” and the one after are going to be the biggest hoaxes in the history of the NBA… EVERYONE will have huge cap room and all the best players will end up in the best markets, JUST LIKE ALWAYS…

Detroit will get nothing…

And we just traded one of 4 true PG in the NBA for the right to rent what’s left of Allen Iverson…

Call me stupid, call me whatever but this deal just sucks, its wrong and I’m not even sure I want to watch the rest of this season…

“Say it ain’t so Joe”…

I HATE THIS!

Also, you guys aren’t being fair to Sauce…

He called this LAST year during the pre-season, he called it when we signed Kwame…

he has EVERY right to say “I told you this was the end” now…

To “f*&king bad” if you can’t handle it.

Keegan,

I figured they waive the physical, because of Dyess’ past knee problems. After micrfracture surgery, I’m guessing at his age a “doc” won’t say he’s healthy.

According to ESPN, billups won’t be ready to take the physical until Thursday, so both billups won’t play tonite against the Mavs but will on Fri against the warriors, or whoever the nuggets are playing, thus, AI won’t be playing tonite.

The end…of what?

They still need to win as a team. Nobody’s expecting to ride Iverson to the tune of 35 points a night. Our cast is a little better than Eric Snow, Aaron McKie, Kevin Ollie, & the oft-injured Matt Geiger. I refuse to believe this team is any worse off now than it was pre-trade.

So go down to the storm shelter, and wait for the sky to fall, eating canned potatoes. I’ll be up here eating piping-hot, Pistons cornbread.

AI’s Win Produced Per 48 Minutes last year was .134
Billups WP/48 last year was .304
Amir’s WP/48 last year was .244 (Second Highest on Pistons right behind Mr. Big Shot)

http://dberri.wordpress.com/nba-team-reviews-2007-08/

“Above and beyond what he brings to the court, his arrival also puts the national spotlight on the Pistons. Everyone is watching to see how this works,”

Interestingly enough almost all of the sports MSM coverage has switched to Billups and away from Iverson. I think that the power of “Detroit Pistons” name far exceeds that of any one player. Remember the MSM considers us a team of players without superstars. Therefore, in order to keep that image intact they are moving their coverage to Billups/Denver and away from AI/Pistons.

Good post, mike, although I’ll be happy to see how our record this year compares to last years. I’m not sure if it’s been linked, but I think Jemele Hill’s piece is pretty spot on:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=hill/081105&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab3pos2

Mike – Clearly Dave Berri is not an AI fan, and indeed used this idea to form the foundation for his book’s marketing effort. (Did you hear this guy thinks Iverson actually sucks?!?!?! OMG!). I don’t think he’s being anything but genuine, but it is worth noting that hating on Iverson helped launch his career in the basketball stat world.

Moreover, there is hardly a consensus about Iverson vs. Billups among the top stat guys. The two PhDs at 82games.com that make adjusted +/- like AI better than Billups (interestingly b/c AI hurts his teams less than Chauncey on defense). Hollinger rates them very similarly (admittedly he likes Billups better and has come out publicly that he thinks Denver got the better end of the trade, but the reality is their PERs are not that different.) Ditto for Roland Rating, which has Iverson just two spots below Chauncey.

Not to even remotely accuse you or anyone else of doing this, but let’s not jump off the “Iverson may score a lot of PPG but he’s really just the avatar of all that is mispriced in the NBA” bridge just yet.

Let’s face it, we weren’t the favorite in the East this year. There is mixed evidence as to whether this trade increases or decreases our expectation of winning this year. But there is stronger evidence that 1. it adds variance, which is what the second or third favored team should want and 2. helps our expectation of winning in the future.

Bill Clinton stole from Albert Einstein who stole from Ben Franklin who I’m sure stole it from someone else because that’s just the kind of butthole he was:

“Insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results.”

Insanity is trading the best thing you had going for you so you could be like every other team in the league..

Mark my words, this team is NOT making the ECF…

and F&*K your bunker buddy.

@PG4L – I’ll take the other end of that bet, key player health permitting. We are built for the regular season, as our depth gives us a chance to win against most teams in the league, even when a star (like Iverson tonight) misses a game. As such, I think we’ll finish with the 2nd best record in the East and win the Central. So if you think Boston is winning the East, then it’s the winner of the Southeast who takes the 3 seed, i.e. Orlando.

So to me the bet is this: do you think this team as currently constructed beats Orlando in the second round? I say yes and would be happy at the start of such a playoff series to make a large bet with you at even odds.

I’m hoping Vegas agrees with you PG4L.

I would love to hear some of the tangible arguments against this trade that have people on here calling for Joe D.‘s job, disowning the team, and disavowing our season. All I’ve heard is “AI’s got an ego,” “he misses too many shots,” or something else rhetorical. I’m a facts person – I’d like to hear the facts for the opinion.

I’ve said exactly why I don’t like the trade about 4 times now, you just keep ignoring it, it’s pretty simple:

1) We had one of 4 actual PG in the NBA
2) Allen Iverson is not a PG
3) This was a team game built on spreading the ball around and every starter contributing each night
4) Allen Iverson is not effective unless about HALF the offensive plays a team runs are for him or keyed around him.

Stop making me out to be a pyscho…

You know what, forget it this is just WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY too much B.S. for one week…

Just pretend I didn’t write any of this and instead i said “Wow I hate basketball, I just realized I never was a fan anyways and I’ll probably stop reading about the sport this year…”

“Insanity is trading the best thing you had going for you so you could be like every other team in the league.”

I’m sad that Samb’s gone too, but still, life goes on. And people can disagree without resorting to comic book swearing.

Maybe you’ll end up really liking him, like when Subway came out with pizzas, and I thought, “those can’t possibly be good.” Yet, sure enough, they were.

The whole “true PG” thing is bullshit. Steve Nash was, for three years, the greatest PG I’ve ever seen. And what did the Suns do?

JACK SHIT. Just like our Pistons.

Honestly, after watching the last 2 games, I’m pretty sure we’re a 55-win team WITHOUT Chauncey or AI. This is Michael Curry’s team. AI isn’t going to come in a f*ck everything us. He’s going to buy in. The rest of the league is pissing their pants right now.

*up

@PG4L – Sorry for not being more clear. Only the first line was to you – the paragraph was regarding all the negative comments I’ve heard about the trade. Yours have probably been the least psycho.

And thanks for listing the reason – I had only caught one of them, that AI isn’t a true pg. I still think we’ll be fine, but listing the reasons like that just makes more sense than the narratives others have written.

Keegan, no chief, you earned the comic book swearing with the storm shelter comment…

Seriously we can stop now, I’ve never much liked you anyways…

And fwiw, I repeat, you people are all wrong…

This was a contending team with Billups…

This team will not make the ECF with Iverson.

We can yell at each other all day but this is what the score is going to be when the INTERESTING games happen.

The happiest person in the LEAGUE about this trade is Lebron James…

he’ll make the ECF now.

Seriously done, have a great day gentlemen…

No, wait PG4L!!! Should we take this prediction as seriously as we did your rant about UM beating MSU this year (which I didn’t)? Come back!

http://www.sadtrombone.com

@Garrett

Excellent

+1 Garrett

PG4L: I, along with a host of other DBBers look like crow-eating idiots for my adamant refusal to believe Boston could get it done. Could the Pistons as constituted on opening night have won it all this season? We’ll never know. But we do know that the Pistons with AI have neither won nor lost anything. Matt said he’s going to “enjoy the ride”. Me too. I have no idea where we’re going, but it’s going to be new and exciting. And while Billups is a former Finals MVP, AI is a former regular season MVP. We have never had one of those in the D. Here’s to something new and exciting that hopefully it brings good results.

“I’ve never much liked you anyways…”
No, really, I’m like those Subway pizzas too.

For the life of me, I can’t figure out how this tanks the season. I simply didn’t know how we were going to get much further then the conference finals anyway. Is there a chance, pre-trade, that we’d make it past the ECFs? Sure, there was a chance. Is there at least as great a chance of us getting to, and past, the ECFS post-trade? Roughly. We’re all dwelling in the land of hypotheticals anyway, four games into the season, with our big addition yet to play ONE game.

I’m just happy to be truly excited about this team again, instead of just watching and ranting about the same things, as we all have for the past two years.

Seriously, I’m done with all of this! Have a great day! Except when I’m back again later today, to see if I incited more posts!

PG4L: Please leave because you don’t know anything. Obviously the Chauncey style of play worked for a while when they won the championship, but it’s over – move on. I’m not happy with Obama but guess what I have to move and support my country! If you don’t want to then get the hell out of here! Stuckey and AI will speed the game up and help Detroit score more points and with our defense could imagine if were in the 90’s every game – It’s over! And AI is a winner, you can talk of his percentages and all that, but he has always been on crappy teams. And still finds a way to win! So playing with the Pistons now is a blessing for him and the league will see. My prediction is that Iverson will take a pay cut next year to get another markee player, because he will see the light. Garnett did it to win a championship, MJ did it to keep Scottie around, and once AI see that this is opportunity knocking, if he’s smart he will make the right choice. So talk about how great Chauncey was but if AI was the PG for these last 6 ECF’s there would atleast 3 or 4 championship banners up NOT 1!!!! So shut your mouth when your talking about Allen Iverson a first time ballot hall of famer, can you say that about your Chauncey? NO!! Boo Hoo all the way to Denver chic!

That was kind of… no, definitely… an embarrassing rant. PG4L is clearly well-informed on NBA and Piston basketball in general. You may not agree with her, but you sound like a 5th grade with hurt feelings telling people to “please leave because you don’t know anything.”

Really?

At the end of the day, getting to the ECF don’t mean squat unless you win the championship. Who the F**K cares if we get to the ECF? It’s winning the ECF that counts. I understand that you can’t win in ECF unless you’re there. But hell, we’ve been there for the last 3 years and haven’t done squat.

Does anyone think signing Kwame will get us past the ECF? No.

Amir playing more? No.

In the playoffs, defenses becomes key and the game slows down. A team needs a superstar to get points and/or free throw line opportunities. AI is a warrior and will play accordingly. If not, Stuck is in and takes over a year sooner. No way Stuck rides pine for 3 years while Billups plays out his contract. Traded now for a future HOF and still a superstar with something to prove at the top of his value. Trade him next year and we don’t make the Finals and billups comes up a step slower. His trade value goes down. We got cap space to sign someone. And given the franchise, players will want to come here. I’ll take the Moss example from last year as a starting point and go down if need be. It’s a win/win.

PG4L: please stay because you make me laugh

Mark: I beg to differ re: the ECF, personally. I for one, take a lot of pride in the ECF streak. It goes to the heart of proclaiming the Pistons as the class of the East. If we get back there for a seventh straight time and the Celtics can’t even manage to string two together, they become a joke and we’re the true symbol of greatness who never stopped winning. First we made it to the ECF without Ben. Now let’s make it without Chauncey. A championship would be great, sure, but something is better than nothing at all.

I’m in the LawyerBoy camp. I hate the idea of being the NBA’s Miss Congeniality, but I hate the idea of the Pistons being irrelevant do a greater degree.

*to

MATT WATSON can we set up some sort of pool on how well the Pistons do this year like we did last year? Seems like we need it…