The players are lacking some personal accountability, but at the end of the day, it is always easier to change coaches than to overhaul a roster.

I'm not suggesting Flip should be fired but I do want to make it clear that aside from his offensive philosophy that Chauncey Billups alone seems to have complete mastery of, he's lacking for leadership and gamesmanship. It seems like it is once every dozen games or less that the decisions from the sidelines affect a game in a significant manner.

Perhaps Sheed should be held personally accountable. I don't know what goes on or is said behind closed doors. At the same time, a player of Sheed's caliber, who can win you games without a monster statline is truly a rare asset. You have to accomodate his idiosyncracies. You have to create an atmosphere he thrives in.

This in some part was also an issue with Ben Wallace. He was the ultimate role player who didn't like being totally eliminated from the offensive game plan. The conventional wisdom is that if your big man triggers a break with a big play and then trails, you feed him and allow that guy to finish. Give the dog a bone so to speak.

In Minnesota, the greatest asset was KG. But he was also a detriment to team chemistry. No one ever says that he is a good teammate or that the Wolves had a family atmosphere. In Detroit, these are foundation type character attributes for being a Piston. The whole is greater than the sum of it's parts.

I worry that Joe D. has started down a road of trying to be "new NBA" when the Spurs have shown you can be consistent season after season playing fundamentally sound team basketball and even the new school teams like the Suns and Mavs are finding ways to get it done with a cast, rather than being totally single superstar centric.

It's an interesting time in Detroit. I'm much more excited about our incoming talent than the acquisition of a Chris Webber. That's all proviso that we have the coaching staff in place with a long term vision and philosophy to develop Detroit Piston players, not quick fix fill-ins to patchwork us from season to season.

When Joe talks about Pistons DNA, is that Webber, Murray or Mohammed? I'd like to think that Delfino, Maxiell and Davis fit the mold.

__________________
There is no such thing as a good time for bad luck. - Down, On March The Saints
Progress cannot be organized. - Ludwig von Mises
You cannot stop innovation. - Sun Tzu