More swill scraped from ESPN's lower intestinal wall. This time it's Hollinger and Chris Broussard are responsible for smearing this filth on a word processor and plopping it down on the internets. This time the pistons are ranked 29th in the NBA. I'll put $110 million dollars on buddy-ball getting the number 1 slot, as per mandatory league-wide Miami jock-straddling regulations. Full Text below.

I'd like to be mad about these rankings, but the fact that they don't mention any of the reasons we will be better than we were last year (Bynum, Jerebko, health, etc.), it's clear they didn't attempt too much research here. It will just help add gravity to my icy glare and dead panned "No", for when anyone asks "Aren't you surprised at how well the pistons are doing this year?"

Article Blurb

29. Detroit Pistons
The more things change: Years ago, when Tracy McGrady was healthy and in his prime, the Pistons tried and failed to trade for him. Well, they finally got McGrady, signing him as a free agent this summer for the veteran's minimum of $1.35 million. But the 31-year-old McGrady is such a shell of himself that the Pistons were perhaps the only team that wanted him. McGrady will get a chance to shine in Detroit, though, which is an opportunity he would not have received in most places. The Pistons also finally got a skilled big man, happily drafting Georgetown's Greg Monroe. Monroe has great talent, but his toughness and determination have been questioned, as he underachieved in NCAA ball.

The more they stay the same: Detroit's three best players may still play largely the same position. Point guard Rodney Stuckey may be more like a shooting guard, a position that's already stocked with Richard Hamilton and Ben Gordon. The three are too small to start in a three-guard lineup, but the Pistons' front line is too offensively challenged to put up big points without those three on the floor.