Piston fans take different approaches to dealing with a loss. Me, I like to change the batteries in my smoke detectors, since they've obviously been sitting for a while.
But some fans, drunk off the success of a 37-5 start, fall deep into despair as soon as the Boys in Blue have a rough game (which was bound to happen at some point). While I don't enjoy a loss any more than the next fan (especially one to the New Jersey Nets), some perspective is in order.
Yes, Rasheed did shoot 1-11 from 3-point land and avoided challenging one of the most pathetic frontcourts in the NBA down low. Yes, Tayshaun did look a bit slow against Richard Jefferson, leading to a number of layups and dunks not normally seen against the Pistons. And yes, Ben was practically invisible against the likes of Nenad Krstic, Jason Collins, and Uncle Cliffy. But the mere fact that these black holes aligned on the same night--and the Pistons still had a chance to pull out the game in the final minutes--should give everyone a sense of how good this team actually is.
The Pistons start anew tonight, at home against a revamped Timberwolves team so embarrassed by their last Piston beatdown that they overhauled a third of their roster. [Okay, I don't really know if it was the Pistons' visit to Minnesota a week ago that sparked the T-Wolves' swap with Boston, but I like the mental image of Kevin McHale flying off the handle and calling his old Celtic teammate, Danny Ainge, to commiserate. And yes, along the lines of Matt's earlier post, I still maintain an unhealthy hatred for the Celts based mostly upon the original Bad Boys era.]
Pistons 107, T-Wolves 83 box score [ESPN]
Celts and T-Wolves swap seven [FakeTeams.com]