AI to the D

Ok, ok. Several of you have asked so I think I can take a two minute break from the Barack Obama campaign to give my two cents on this Detroit Pistons-Denver Nuggets trade, so here goes:

If you've followed my work here, you know that I'm a firm believer in blowing things up and starting all over again. You may not know that that goes for whether the team is good but not quite good enough, or very awful. The Pistons fall into the former category. Consistently very good but not quite good enough. Personally, I don't care if you win all 82 games in the regular season and lose in 7 games in the NBA Finals - that's not my idea of a good team. If you're getting that close every year and can never seal the deal, you need to try something new. And if you start out on a high and then get progressively less good every year, that's even worse.

So I would have blown up the Pistons a few seasons ago, like 2005 a few seasons ago. They haven't really added or subtracted anyone of substance since they won in 2004, but yet expected that they'd somehow just up and figure it out. Well, I am glad they figured out early in this season that if they want to get to the top, they're going to have to take some drastic measures.

What did the Pistons lose? Not too much, in my opinion. In face, I may get jumped on for saying this, but I think Antonio McDyess is a bigger loss than "Mr. Big Shot" - whose shot has been M.I.A. longer than he's had that nickname. At least McDyess provided consistent inside scoring and solid defense, and he played hard every game - but he is getting up in age. Now, I know Billups had become Mr. Detroit, welcoming Obama instead of the mayor of Detroit, but I think it was time for him to go. Billups was inconsistent in terms of output and effort. The name Mr. Big Shot was only befitting if we're talking about shots he wasn't making, and on top of that, his shot selection became increasingly suspect. The irony of this trade is that the Pistons got rid of one gunner and picked up an even bigger gunner.

Which leads me to what the Pistons have gained. I mean, it's A.I. - I'd bet $100 that there are party promoters making up flyers for the official welcome to Motown party with his face splashed on them. Never mind, I don't want to take your money. This is huge for Detroit sports, especially when the stars on Detroit sports teams are few and far between these days. I'm far from a jersey person but I just might have to get his . . .

In terms of on-court gains, that remains to be seen. Iverson must have the ball in his hands to play well. Scratch that - to play at all. If he's not touching the ball at least 90% of the time his team has the ball, you're pretty much wasting him. He takes more shots than just about anyone in the game, but the thing is he almost always gets hot eventually, unlike some other people that I know. I actually enjoyed watching him and the 76ers in the NBA Finals back in 2002 when they lost in 5 games to the Los Angeles Lakers (featuring Kobe and Shaq). It was one of those LeBron James situations where he had pretty much no help but took his team much further than anyone thought was possible. But LeBron is a big man who takes over games. Iverson is barely 5'10" (I don't care what the NBA tells you) and just a scrappy player who leaves it all out there on the floor every night, and when he's on, he's dangerous. He may not like to practice, but he certainly likes to play. He has that heart that you just can't teach. And now that he's getting olderguy wants an NBA championship so badly he can taste it. He is one of the few who has been able to successfully get past a ton of off-court drama to get it together when necessary.

Fortunately, the Pistons are the most unselfish group of guys that you're going to encounter (sometimes to their detriment), and I think they can handle Iverson and his constant touching. As long as they can find themselves and their shots in the midst (i.e., after Iverson misses and the Pistons get the rebound) this could make the eastern conference very, very interesting this year. This is all neglecting the salary cap space that will be cleared because Iverson's contract will be up next year, allowing the Pistons to potentially pick up some other key players.

(Did I already mention that the Pistons instantly got more attractive?)

As for the gain to the Denver Nuggets . . . well, hopefully the thinner air and hometown factor will help Billups locate his shot again. McDyess . . . not really sure where he will fit in out there since they've already got a lot of big bodies who can score, but I think he was included as one of those unload situations to pad the deal (they also traded center Cheikh "Mr. Pad the Deal" Samb). The Nuggets with AI and Carmelo Anthony were supposed to be way better than they were (which wasn't terrible, but wasn't what they expected) and it looks like they weren't interested in giving that anymore time to work out.

This ESPN writer says the Nuggets got the better end of the deal because Billups will work better with Melo's style of play and now the Nuggets will have a true point guard rather than the shooting guard they had in Iverson. All I have to say to that is "OK." We'll see. I actually can't wait to see another exciting NBA season.

The bottom line is that this move is likely to either going to fail wildly (although it may still be a good move in the long run with the expired contracts issue) or result in a serious run at the championship - I don't think it can go any other way. But I love Joe Dumars for having the guts to shake it up.

This may call for NBA League Pass . . .

Taxes = Run Down

Tax time. Let's face it. The only reason that I bother to file this early is because I expect to get a refund. I've let the government use my money tax-free long enough, so it's time for them to pay up. That means that I spent most of the evening sorting through documents, but for us, that means it's time to run it down:

1. Sad news today out of Minnesota where Vikings defensive end Kenechi Udeze has been diagnosed with leukemia. Life certainly has a way of interfering when you least expect it. Prayers for a speedy recovery to him and for his family during this difficult time.

2. Uno the beagle won Best in Show at the 132nd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, the first time that a beagle has ever won the honor. I would put excerpts of the AP article here but you really need to read the whole thing to get the proper effect. Trust me. Apparently Uno has the making to be (I'm sorry) top dog being billed as the All-American dog because of his popular breed. Not only does Uno get to eat steak (more like swallow if you've seen a dog eat) on a silver platter at a swanky New York restaurant but he also gets to ring the opening bell on Wall Street and make the TV rounds. Yet he can still eat his own crap and sniff other dogs' nether regions and no one bats an eye. Life is not fair.

3. The Detroit Pistons have quietly racked up nine wins in a row. If it's not the Boston Celtics, it's just not news. Well, when they lose prior to the NBA Finals, perhaps someone will find it interesting then.

4. Indiana University basketball program looks to be in some trouble over allegations of improper calls to recruits in violation of the NCAA rules. Not just a few, a whole lot. So is that how they got Eric Gordon? By calling him a lot? I'm going to go on record as saying that that only works in some instances and not others. No further comment.

5. This dispute over the shot clock pausing for 1.3 seconds in a heavily-contested rematch of the women's NCAA final featuring Rutgers vs. Tennessee has turned serious. Ordinarily, people wouldn't notice the pause, but in this case, a foul is alleged to have occurred during the pause, which, if the clock had been performing normally, would have come after the game was over. As it was, the foul was ruled to have occurred prior to the buzzer, and Tennessee ended up winning the game by one point on the made free throws. Now the inventor is speaking out and saying that the clock is fine and human error could have caused the problem. Really, the inventor? Is the shot clock business so competitive that the inventor of the NCAA's choice du jour feels the need to publicly defend his product? Perhaps his competitors are jumping in trying to push their shot clocks upon the slightest sign of a malfunction. That's a tough business. Those of you who were thinking of getting into it may want to reconsider.

Perfect Shooting and Mulligans

Interesting past few days in the NBA.

First, the New Orleans Hornets' star Chris Paul shot perfectly from the field in the Hornets game against the Miami Heat on Friday night. Like, really, perfect, as in did not miss a shot. 7 for 7. And it was not just him, his teammates Bobby Jackson and Jannero Pargo were perfect, too, going 9 for 9 and and 4 for from the field, respectively. Jackson is not being promoted as a star like Paul, so that's why his 9 for 9 gets second-billing, although Jackson's performance was more impressive to me (7 for 7 from behind the 3 point line). And not one of them even attempted a free throw. Of course, this is minus Shaq, but even without him, only two starters had two fouls, while the rest of the team had about one foul apiece. That's great defense, Heat. If you don't believe me, check out the caption on ESPN for the above photo: "Looking on is Miami Heat guard Jason Williams."

This was in striking contrast to the Detroit Pistons shooting against the New York Knicks on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden. Who won this game? If you said the league-terrible Knicks, then you would be correct. The Pistons shot about as awfully as they could have. How awful? Second worst scoring performance in the history of the franchise. That bad.

But, the Miami Heat can take solace in receiving the rarest of the rare kind of gift from the NBA. No, not a good team. No, they received the chance to re-play part of a game that they lost.

In a December 19 game against the Atlanta Hawks, the official scorers incorrectly reported that Shaq had fouled out of the game with 51.9 seconds remaining, when in fact he only had 5 fouls. Alas, Shaq "fouled out" and the Hawks won the game, 117-111.

The Heat protested the game's outcome because of the foul discrepancy, and Commissioner David Stern has decided they were right. So on March 8, the team will re-play the game with 51.9 seconds on the clock, when the Hawks were leading 114-111. From Stern's comments, the closeness of the game is the reason for the re-play. And the Heat lost an "L" in the loss column - although I don't think it would make much of a difference.

Not only that, but Stern fined the Hawks $50,000 for their "grossly negligent" conduct. Yes, Stern is still an attorney at heart.

If that sounds unusual, it's because it is. I can't recall ever hearing of anything even remotely like that. That's because nothing like this has happened since 1982, when the San Antonio Spurs benefited from a do-over against the Los Angeles Lakers (ironically, involving the same scores involved here, 117-114). I'm intrigued as to how this will be handled logistically. It appears that the end of this game will take place prior to the beginning of a regularly scheduled meeting between the two teams, so that the fans will get something of a doubleheader. I would be mad if I had tickets to the last outing, though, and couldn't witness the history in the making. I will be tuning in for this one, for sure . . . hmm, maybe that is the whole point? Stern is no dummy, folks.

What A Difference A Day Makes

Last night, the Detroit Pistons stunk up the entire American Airlines Center the Dallas Mavericks.

On Thursday night, they put a beating on the reigning champion San Antonio Spurs.

All day Thursday, the sportswriters talked about the "slumping" Pistons, whose 9 game winning streak ended against Boston (top record in the league) on Saturday and who lost again to Dallas (second best record in the West; third in the league) on Wednesday night. And the Pistons have the second best record in the entire league and are one of the four teams who has beaten the Celtics. Slumping. Right.

Anyway, they redeemed themselves tonight by never letting San Antonio come up for air. The Pistons ended the first quarter up 30-15, and even though the Spurs got within 6 or 7 at one point, they were never really in the game. The key to the Pistons is not going ice cold down the stretch, and not making adjustments on defense, and they didn't and did, respectively. Solid win.

With this much depth in the league, this is going to be a very good year to be an NBA fan come playoffs time.

RFTR* . . . What Number Are We On Now?

Quick rundown from the run-down of the weekend's events since I am trying to get up early tomorrow:

1. The Detroit Pistons laid a turd Saturday night against the Boston Celtics, allowing a bench player and rookie (nicknamed "Big Baby" - accurate, if I do say so myself) to have a career night, taking very bad, ill-advised shots at the end of the game, and my pet peeve - missing free throws! Oh well. It's just one game. At least the Big 3 were kept relatively quiet. And I was not far off in my score prediction, I just didn't think the Pistons would be the ones with 85 points. This will be a very interesting playoff series, for sure.

2. End of the line for the Washington Redskins. Too bad that they couldn't win the wild card game for their fallen teammate, Sean Taylor, but the Seattle Seahawks are just too good.

3. Kudos to the Jacksonville Jaguars for taking out the Pittsburgh Steelers in the other wild card game Saturday night, and coming back for the crazy win. I left the sports bar after the Steelers got behind 28-10 and I thought for sure that was all she wrote. Too bad Maurice Jones-Drew couldn't have big games like that during the regular season! I guess now is a good time, too . . .

4. Did I mention that I am not a fan of Kevin Garnett? Almost as much if not more than I am not a fan of LeBron James. I don't like stars who think they are entitled to calls and who whine if they don't get their way. Put them in the same category as players who seek to draw fouls rather than take shots when the game is on the line. And I believe KG does both. Yuck.

* Short for Rundown from the Run-Down

Celtics v. Pistons, Part Deux

It's not often that an early season game in an 82 game schedule takes on any significance in the NBA these days, but Saturday night's game may just be one of them.

On Saturday night, the Detroit Pistons will host the Boston Celtics in what many are predicting will be a preview of the Eastern Conference Finals, and at the least, will be a great game between two teams with the best records in the league right now.

The Pistons took them out last time these two met a few weeks ago and I am not ashamed to admit that nothing would make me happier than to see the Pistons take them out again. Anything that will slow down untested hype is a positive in my book.

Both teams look pretty good. I had the opportunity to watch a full Celtics game recently and I must admit that they are operating well on all cylinders, outside of just the "Big 3" with good play from Eddie House, Tony Allen and Rajon Rondo. They had a good west coast swing, including a win over the always tough Utah Jazz. The Pistons have also found their offense that seemed to have disappeared earlier in the season a few times, and they are playing consistent basketball again.

If the Pistons lose their offense, I wouldn't expect them to win against the Celtics who have multiple scoring options - at least one of whom typically has a good game - but if they can play like they've been playing as of late, I don't see the Celtics beating them. The Celtics have more to gain by winning this game, since the Pistons have already proven that they are capable.

My prediction: Pistons 89, Celtics 85

Shut It DOWN!

Yes!! Finally!!

One post only tonight since I'm heading out of town tomorrow (again). I may post during the day tomorrow, though, so stay tuned. Or peruse my archives for any posts you've missed (I'm most proud of my Vick, tennis, and Knicks trial coverage, if I do say so myself).

But tonight's post is a happy occasion. Perhaps the happiest I have ever felt while posting. I'm happy because the Boston Celtics lost Wednesday night, and lost at home.

Not because they lost for just the third time this season but because they lost to an Eastern Conference powerhouse - the Detroit Pistons - that exposes how overrated they really are. Sure the Celtics made some errors here and there (including Tony Allen falling for the pump fake by Chauncey Billups), and Doc Rivers made a few coaching blunders (i.e., putting Allen in the game at all), but this is what the game is all about. No one really cares about what happened. It's all about who comes away with the W.

It was a tight game, but the Pistons prevailed in the end by 2 after Billups scored the game-winning free throws. Pistons coach Flip Saunders said that no one will remember this game next week, but this one game says a lot about the Celtics. This one game has the potential to dampen the noise from the Celtics bandwagon. It shows that they may be good but if they want to get out of the East, much less win a 'ship, then they have some work to do. The rest of December we'll get to see them play some pretty good competition so we should get a decent picture of what they are going to do.

Better luck next time, Big 3.

They're Not Really Free If It Costs To Miss Them

One of my pet peeves is missing free throws. It's one thing to miss one here or there, but missing all the time is just atrocious, and I don't think there is any excuse for it. If you play in a professional basketball league and you can't shoot free throws, then you are either a) not practicing or b) in need of a coach to teach you how to shoot properly. There is no reason why the average man or woman, much less an NBA (or WNBA) player should miss free throws if they practice them.

I understand that sometimes nerves come into play, but seriously, if your free throw motion is automatic, you should only miss every once in a while. And if you are a paid professional, I'm going to need you to suck up the nerves.

What brought this on, you ask? Wednesday night's game between the Houston Rockets and the Detroit Pistons. In this game, the Rockets nearly set an NBA record for missed free throw shots. In fact, let's play a game. How many free throw shots did the Rockets miss? Was it:

a) 8 out of their first 9
b) 10 out of their first 11
c) 14 out of their first 15

If you guessed "c," you are correct! The Rockets ended up making 6 of 22 free throws and winning the game by 3. The only thing that saved them was even more atrocious shooting from the Pistons.

The Rockets worse offenders? No, not Yao Ming, who made half of his free throws. The worst free throw shooter of the night is a tie between Tracy McGrady, who went 0-5, and Bonzi Wells, who was 2-9. I can't tell if Bonzi should get points just for making 2 of his, or if the fact that McGrady shot less should spare him from the title.

Seriously, that kind of performance may get you the occasional win during the regular season but it will not get you very far in anyone's playoffs. Do they need to start incentivizing free throws in player contracts? They ought to be ashamed.

The Pistons Need Help Scoring

At least off the court.



I don't normally post on weekends, but this one was worth it.

The Detroit Pistons have begun a promotion to get female fans (i.e., me), or just women in general, to show up to games. Click on the picture to enlarge the ad.

The kicker? Two passes to a post-game autograph session. I've seen promotions for NBA teams, including the Pistons, and this autograph session is definitely not the norm.

Just one question: Which player came up with this one? I guess it's the guys who show up to the session.

Classic.