All is cool professor, all is cool.

Re: Miami. I agree that we are better than the Heat when we are at our best. At our best, I don't think anyone in the league can hang with us -- not the Heat, not the Mavs, and certainly not the Suns. But we're not playing at that level with any consistency.

Re: Inconsistency. This crew has never exhibited that primal quality required to kill a team and put them away in 4. They never will. That's fine. But, I contend that there's a difference between not having the extra gear required to destroy a desperate team on the ropes, and showing up only every other game. This last phenomenon is not something I ever really associated with this Pistons team until these playoffs.

Re: What is "necessary". What is "necessary" in my opinion is a consistent effort from one game to another. Even with such an effort, the team may need to go the distance, or even come out on the losing end. I can live with that. But without a consistent effort, they lose games "unnecessarily", to say nothing of losing my support.