We're talkin' about The Ghosts Of Pistons Past

This is a match-up that turns people against each other, if just for one day or night. For me, it's been this entire month. Tomorrow things will get ugly. Things will get loud. There will be lots of jumping and screaming and cursing at 241 Warren.

Especially from this girl.

I haven't forgave the Celtics since they beat my Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals last year:
They won game 1, we won game 2, they won game 3, we won game 4, they won game 5 and 6, and then I went against everything I believe in and rooted for the team I hate the most on this earth ... The fucking LAKERS. That shows you how pissed I was.

I really haven't forgiven the Celtics since ... or myself for rooting for the Lakers, but hey - I did what I had to do. They rubbed it in my face even more as they went on to win a ring.

And when it was all over, I said "Hey, I can go back to liking the Celtics again because it's over and we can't go back in time."

But then the 2008-2009 season came, and I went over the Pistons schedule and those feelings came back.
The last 2 times we've played each other since, we've lost. But the Big 3 isn't what did us in, it was their bench. We have a good bench, especially now with Rip. But I read today that Rip might not be playing Friday.

Thus proving that GOD HATES ME.

But as always, I have tremendous hope for my Pistons, and I'm not giving up.

After the Celtics, we will go on to face the Cleveland Crabaliers and then the Miami Heat. These ate the 3 teams responsible for killing our championship hopes in the last 3 seasons.

All 3 of these games are at the Palace.
We must defend our home court, Pistons. ME MUST.

It's on.

We're talkin' about a little love.

He's not the best player in the NBA anymore, but he’s still the best player on his team.

You know what I think? MC needs to let him run wild on offense. Let the team adapt to his play. Let him be the Allen Iverson we all know he is.

I want A.I. to hog the ball for real, like everyone says he does [what games have you been watching?! Did you forget to turn the Lakers game off? When did the Pistons get purple and gold uniforms?!]
And then we'll see if he's the one "making the Pistons suck."

I bet it kills him to do what's "needed for the team" to win a championship. I bet you if Kobe and LeBron were asked to sit more and take less shots for their teams they'd cry about it. But Allen does it and shuts his mouth because he thinks if MC thinks it'll make the team better, then he should do it. But um, it's not working.

Shit, son! You traded for A.I., you need to use him. His scoring average is down because his shots are down [The Pistons share the ball, ya know] and his minutes are down. Not because he sucks. Good Lord.
A.I. is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, man.

Why is MC running an offense that isn't designed to make the best of the talents from the 2 best players on the team? A.I. and Stuckey, hello.

And no, I'm not saying the others should be forgotten about. We absolutely need them, they all do great things for the Pistons.

Oh yes, and I wish everyone would stop crying about A.I. is going to be an All-Star for the 10th time.
The ballot don't lie! Deal with it, love it.

And Pistons "fans", It must suck that you can’t root for your home team because A.I. will be the one leading it. And you always say it's because he's a bad player, which HAS to be a lie. Maybe you knew him back in the day and have bad blood or something. Maybe he pissed in your trash can or broke into your house with a gun or something.

So stop hating. It's like a trend or something to hate on him. Like, really.
And stop hating on the Pistons, too. I really do believe in my heart and soul that something is going to happen and it's gunna be good. It'll happen sooner if they let A.I. happen. He is starving for a ring, and he deserves it more than anyone.

Oh, and anyone think he needs the number 3 back? I know he's said he's retiring with #1, but maybe it'd be like MC Hammer's shoes for him.

Don't act like you don't remember Hammerman, folks.

We're talkin' about benches.

A lot of Pistons fans love to call me "new jack" for this, but I'm happier than happy that Rip will be coming off the bench.

With Rip as the sixth man, Detroit will start with a bigger lineup which is what got us eight wins in ten tries while he was out with a groin injury.
This move will benefit us greatly. It'll put an end to the struggles we had to rebound and defend with that three-guard lineup, especially.

As big of a diva Rip has been being this whole thing, he accepted it with nothing but class. That's my boy!

“A lot of people have made a lot of things about this. Regardless, you want to win games. Me and Allen both know that. They told me I was coming off the bench, that it was something MC wanted and I said, ‘Fine, cool.’ The bottom line is you want to win games. If this is the best way we can win a championship, then I am all for it. The thing is, we have two great scorers, me and A.I. We have to figure out how both of us can be our best.”

This was definitely the answer. Rip will be a bomb scorer off the bench.

So PEACE OUT small-ball. This experiment has been interesting, but I'm glad it's over.

We're talkin' about a losing streak: Loss #5.

The Pistons are on a five game [as of last night] losing streak.

Even though they lost, they played great, and a lot of fans never even look at the positives in a negative situation. They focus on the loss, and that's it. But I'm different, I guess.
I mean, of course I'll be upset when my team loses. Every fan of any sport is upset when their team loses. But I'm not gunna go off and talk about how horribly they played [unless of course they do play horribly] or place the blame on one single player [which, in the Pistons case, everyone seems to think is Iverson, which I'll get into later] or give up on my team.

Like I said, I focus on the positives after I pout about the loss for a little bit. I see the good in the bad -- when it comes to the NBA, anyway.

There were lots of things the Pistons did last night that will help us win games and get us out of this losing streak. Ball movement looked better, better rebounding and better defense, more assists than they’ve had in any of the 5 games.

The Pistons won a board battle 45-37. Maxiell was great, Sheed was great, Dice was great.

If the Pistons were a little more on point from the field and hit all their free throws they definitely would have won last night.

Like coach Curry said a couple days ago, the Pistons have been playing better basketball these 5 straight games that they've lost than they were playing during the 7 games straight that they won. So what is going on?

To me, it seems, everything goes downhill in the 4th. Why, I'm not sure. I don't think they do, either. If they did .... well, you know.

Also, it boggles my brain how all these seasoned veterans can have great victories over the Lakers, Cavs, Spurs, and Nuggets but can't take down the Pacers, Bobcats and Thunder - some of the worst teams in the league.


Now, about the A.I. thing. His entire career, he has never been on a team that's as versatile, unselfish and experienced as Detroit. He had to be everything for the Sixers, he was supposed to bring out the absolute best in Melo on the Nuggets, and he was expected to help them reach a whole other level.

The Pistons don't need A.I. to carry the franchise on his back. They don't need him to be the leading scorer.

The Pistons just want him to be professional, to get into the paint and score the same way he always has, and to add his signature brand of toughness.
They don't need him to the The Answer, so people need to stop expecting him to be. Stop blaming losses on him. You're just all so used to the past.


This is the Pistons' longest losing streak since the 2003-04 championship season, which was 6 consecutive losses. But we went on to win a championship, so don't write off the Pistons yet.

We're talkin' about practice in Detroit!

Ah, I love it.

We're talkin' about Iverson the answer for our ring?

[From Mlive]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- An All-Star talent arrives in Detroit with a checkered past, in the final year of his contract.

Four years ago, that was Rasheed Wallace who catapulted the Pistons to an NBA championship after being traded by Atlanta.

Is Allen Iverson next?

The Pistons certainly hope so after they traded team captain Chauncey Billups, super sub Antonio McDyess and second-year center Cheikh Samb to Denver in exchange for Iverson.

Iverson will take a physical Tuesday morning, and a press conference introducing him as a Piston is expected to take place Tuesday afternoon at The Palace of Auburn Hills. The 33-year-old guard then will travel with Joe Dumars to Toronto, where Iverson is expected to be in uniform for Wednesday's game against the Raptors.

"Losing Chauncey Billups is not easy for us," said Dumars, who added that trade talks with Denver began Thursday and didn't conclude until the wee hours of Monday morning. "So you have to replace him with somebody who can have an impact on the floor."

This wasn't Dumars' first attempt at landing Iverson. In 2000, the Pistons were within hours of completing a trade for Iverson, who played for Philadelphia at the time. However, former Sixer Matt Geiger had a trade kicker and refused to waive it, so the deal was killed.

Iverson has been one of the league's premier scorers for years, and currently is ranked 20th among NBA all-time scoring leaders with 23,031 points. He has been one of the league's top 10 scorers seven of the past eight seasons, and has three scoring titles.

"We get a chance to get a first ballot Hall of Famer," Pistons coach Michael Curry said.

Charlotte coach Larry Brown coached all the players involved in the trade except for Samb.

When asked about the two key pieces of the trade, Billups and Iverson, Brown said, "It's like trading Marilyn Monroe for Jane Russell. That's not bad."

For Brown, who led Detroit to an NBA title in 2004 and a return trip to the NBA Finals in 2005, there's a bit of sadness in seeing Billups and McDyess traded.

"Everytime I look out and I don't see Ben (Wallace), I get a strange feeling," Brown said. "And now, to not see Chauncey and Dice ... it's different."

Wallace signed a four-year, $60 million deal with Chicago in the summer of 2006. He since has been traded to Cleveland.

Dumars acknowledged there's never any joy in trading away a player such as Billups, who was so instrumental in Detroit's growth into an Eastern Conference power.

"Chauncey helped (form) the foundation," Dumars said. "Between him and Ben Wallace, along with Rip (Hamilton). It's never easy. It wasn't easy when Ben left to go to Chicago. And this is not an easy day to watch Chauncey Billups leave as well."

But an opportunity to acquire a talent such as Iverson made the deal attractive.

Add the salary cap flexibility this deal gives Detroit, and Dumars saw this deal as being too good to pass up. By dealing the 32-year-old Billups, McDyess and Samb, the Pistons shaved off more than $30 million in salary over the next three seasons. Iverson, who is due $20.8 million this season, is in the final year of his contract.

"If a situation like this presents itself where you can cover yourself on both sides, an immediate impact player and long-term flexibility, you have to push the button and make it happen," Dumars said.

Most of the Pistons were relatively mum or declined to comment on the trade, even after it was officially announced.

Its impact will affect a number of Detroit players, including Rodney Stuckey, whose play in the postseason last season seemed to quicken the likelihood of Billups being traded.

When asked about what he has learned from playing with Billups, Stuckey said, "He's just been there, let me know what to do and what not to do, stuff like that. He's just a great guy."

Dumars acknowledged that there are similarities between acquisition of Iverson and the trade the Pistons made four years ago with Atlanta for Rasheed Wallace. But that was not a factor in his decision to pursue the nine-time All-Star.

"Just because it worked with Rasheed, that can't be the model with all guys," Dumars said. "But this was a situation where this was a risk worth taking."

We're talkin' about ALLEN IVERSON!?!?

It's official: Allen Iverson is going to be a Piston.

[From Mlive.com]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The trade of Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb for Denver's Allen Iverson, is done.

Iverson will take a physical tomorrow in Detroit, with a press conference scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. He will then head to Toronto where he's expected to play against the Raptors on Wednesday.

McDyess' reluctance to be included in the deal did not become an issue. He is expected to work out a buy-out with the Nuggets, and then re-sign with Detroit after he clears waivers.

Andy Miller, the agent for both Billups and McDyess, said the 34-year-old McDyess was not happy when he learned of the trade. His client gave thought to several options, including retirement.

Billups, however, isn't as torn about the trade.

He is a Denver native, and by most accounts considered one of the greatest prep players to ever come out of city.

"From Chauncey's point of view, its kind of a mixed bag of feelings," Miller said. "He feels very good about what he's done in Detroit, the legacy he has left. And coming back home to Denver, it's sort of like coming full circle for him."

For Detroit, the trade has several ramifications now as well as for the franchise's future.

By trading away Billups and McDyess for Iverson, the Pistons would shave about $34 million off their books in salary over the next three seasons. Billups makes $11.05 million this season and has another three years remaining on his contract that's worth about $40 million, while McDyess will make about $6.8 million and he has another year after this season for a similar amount. Iverson is in the last year of his deal which pays $20.84 million this season.

The trade also provides Detroit with a dynamic player who has been among the league's top players for more than a decade, and will surely help get a few more warm bodies in The Palace.

But you have to wonder, just how much does Iverson still have left?

The Pistons are banking on enough to get them back to the NBA Finals.

Through two games, the 32-year-old Billups is averaging 12.5 points and 7.5 assists (14.8 points and 5.5 assists for his career), while the 33-year-old Iverson, is averaging 18.7 points and 6.7 assists through three games (27.7 and 6.3 for his career).

McDyess, 34, has come off the bench to average 7 points and 4 rebounds in a pair of games.


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I don't know about anyone one else, but I'm shocked and excited to have my favorite player in the history of the NBA - Allen Iverson - to be on my favorite, and home team.

I'm excited for what the season holds.