Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson is scheduled to arrive in the Detroit area today and begin consulting the Pistons on their coaching search, a source with knowledge of the situation told the Free Press this morning.

[...] The source added that, if Dumars thinks it would be productive, Jackson would participate in some of the candidate interviews this week.

"It's an experience," Gilbert said. "Let's face it, (arenas) don't belong in a farm field in the suburbs."

The Cavaliers finished with a worse record than the Pistons this season, but Gilbert said the team still drew about 15,000 fans a game to its downtown arena, while Gores' Pistons at times were noticeably bringing in only a few thousand.

Rasheed Wallace announced his retirement on Wednesday, because nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky, and all we are is dust in the wind, and even the realest stars among us must fade away eventually. 'Sheed is headed to basketball heaven now, and if that doesn't necessarily include a trip to Springfield, Massachusetts, it will definitely involve a life of surprise cameos at the Raleigh Pro-Am and a lot of chilling in sweatsuits and talking shit.

Dennis Rodman -- fresh from his basketball summit in North Korea -- is now setting his sights on fixing those pesky problems plaguing the Catholic Church ... because he's jetting to Rome today in hopes of meeting the new Pope.

[...] As for what Dennis wants to accomplish ... he tells TMZ, "I want to be anywhere in the world that I'm needed ... I want to spread a message of peace and love throughout the world."

"In my career, when Juwan Howard was a free agent (in 1996), we had serious talks with Detroit. Same with (Dikembe) Mutombo (in 1996)," Falk said. "You go to play, it's your job. You have a finite amount of time to win. When Detroit was good, it was a very attractive place to play, guys wanted to go there.

"I can't speak for every player, if they want to be actors and have commercials. Don't you want to win? Who cares about that other stuff?"

2. Who's the rookie of the year of the first trimester?

Levy: Drummond. Although he's still convincing his coach he deserves 20-plus minutes a game, Drummond has been a revelation. He's answered every question about motor and intensity, while solidifying every assertion of his unique size and athleticism. Lillard is off to a great start as well, but Drummond is clearly headed somewhere special.

Strauss: Drummond. Look, I'm under no illusions. I get that Lillard, Oakland's version of Chauncey Billups, will take this award. But Drummond's higher PER gives me an excuse to choose someone who's made more astounding plays this season. Drummond might not always know what he's doing, but he'll crush laws of physics at least once a game, all the while looking like a combination of young Amar'e and young Dwight.

But what about guys earning playing time based on merit? Any objective observer can see Maxiell is the superior player right now.

"And now for the 100th time, the Pistons were prepared to let Prince walk, but Frank wanted Prince back seeing as how there wasn't a starting caliber small forward on the team."

Core Four on the Floor – The four players who comprise the core of the 2012-13 Pistons are Greg Monroe, Brandon Knight, Tayshaun Prince and Rodney Stuckey. If it’s a close game and none are afflicted with injury or foul trouble, they’re going to be in the game. The identity of the fifth player could vary from game to game, based on performance and matchups. They could go small with Prince at power forward. They could go big with Andre Drummond at center and Greg Monroe at power forward. They might opt for a shooter and use Charlie Villanueva or Austin Daye – or perhaps one of the rookies, Kim English or Khris Middleton.

"I wouldn’t call it success," he said when I asked him if his early showings had given him greater confidence in his NBA future. "I would call it a new stepping stone for me. I’m building up as a player. The success I’ve had so far, that’s just the ground floor for me. I need to build to get better each and every day, so I’m not satisfied at all. I mean, it’s great that I’ve played well those six games, but I’m still not done. I have a lot more work to do to get myself where I need to be."