Stick a fork in the Pistons

First off, before I say anything else about the ECF, let me credit he Celtics for beating the Pistons 4 games to 2. They played well in crunch time, and deserved to win. They're a damn good team. With that out of the way...

I know you should never blog mad. You tend to say extreme things, have emotional knee-jerk reactions. But the Pistons, as usual, have pissed me the fuck off. Another season of promise ending in the east finals.

With this Pistons team, I never know from night to night which team will show up. Will be the night they decide to flip the switch? Will they show up in the 3rd quarter? The 4th? At all?

To be honest, the Detroit Pistons are a tiring team to root for. I'm tired of their hubris. The taking games off. The false bravado. The tough talk, but NEVER backing it up. (Think about it, the only season they backed up the talk was the title season) If I never hear "If it ain't rough, it ain't right" again, it'll still be too God damn soon.

The Pistons as we've known them? They're done as title contender. Blow the core up. At the very least, Joe Dumars cannot come back in '08-'09 with this same roster. Something needs to change. Right now, they are the Atlanta Braves of the NBA. And that's NOT a compliment.

For all of the talk of their being a team that claims they've "been there before," and "play best with their backs against the wall," they disappeared quicker than WMD's did in Iraq in the 4th quarter of game 6. After the Pistons took a 70-60 lead, a the Celtics outscored the Pistons 29-11. That's clutch play? That's being at your best when everything is against you?

Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton were the only two of the core who truly showed up. Period. It says VOLUMES your best players were also your most banged up. The backcourt was gutty as Hell, considering their injuries. Unfortunately, the front line was nowhere to be found.

Why did the Pistons lose? Rasheed Wallace had more fouls than points. 4 points in the biggest game of the season? When the team needed you to come up big? Wallace couldn't have come up any smaller, 2-12 says it all. Tayshaun Prince was 0 for the 1st half, 3-10 overall and committed a game changing turnover late in the 4th. Overall, Prince had an awful series, and Wallace's biggest impact was in pissing off the refs. Most of the blame should fall on them.

Antonio McDyess was...Well, he was just sort of there. 3 shots? 6 points? It's as if he used up every drop he had in his monster game 4, and had nothing left to give. The young players were OK. Jason Maxiell brought a spark, and Rodney Stuckey looked good at times, and other times played like the rookie he is. But this wasn't their game to win. It was the core's and they came up woefully short.

As for Flip Saunders? I'm not sure what to make of his status. If the Pistons feel the need to bring this same core team back, I don't know how Flip can return as well. My best guess? Saunders is toast.

Though I will say this in Flip's defense. The Pistons core group are coach killers.

The core didn't get along with Rick Carlyle. Larry Brown had the personality to handle them, but never unpacked his suitcases. Saunders doesn't get any respect from the core. That's 3 different coaching styles, 3 short timers, 3 years max (Assuming Flip gets the ziggy).

Who on earth is capable of coaching this group? The more important question is, who would WANT to?

I know I said this back in the Philly series, but it's even more true tonight. I hate rooting for the Pistons. They are a team that frustrates me to the point of distraction. That pisses me off to no end. Who have an personality that exudes a combination of unearned entitlement and undeserved cockiness. Not exactly a likable combination...

The Pistons are what they are. What they aren't, is good enough.