Come on joe. Clean up this big mess. Who would of thought that the Tigers would have a better chance at the World Series than the Pistons would at the Larry O'Brien Trophy in June.

I don't know if McCosky wrote that on his own or now. Perhaps it was an attempt on his part to suck up. I don't really know. But if things cannot be worked out with Ben then Dumars has to nip any childish cheapshots in the bud and not let it escalate into a Ben Wallace bashing fest. Ben has done a lot for this francise and has made far more money for it than his 30 mil contract. If both sides do part then the Pistons better make sure its done with a lot of class.

I just won't believe that Flip runs more defensive sets in practice than LB. That's obviously not true.

Ben says they don't practice defense enough. Let's see....who to trust more?...Ben or McCosky? Ben or McCosky? Hmmmm.


And if Rip and Chauncey get in "heated" discussions, why hasn't our beloved beat writer mentioned that before?

I obviously agree that this piece by McCosky is a disaster.

This guy's such a phony. He tries to act like he knows the game. For instance, I believe it was Hubie Brown who pointed out Detroit's so-called "tilt" defense against LeBron. A few days later McCosky's dropping the word "tilt" on DFN like he's been talking tilts for decades. I don't know. Can that be a coincidence? I never heard McCosky say "tilt" before.

I like the Freep writers the best. I even think good ol' Mitch has been bringing it pretty strong the past few weeks. There's really very little The News does better. I love Wojo, but I don't care about his columns. My moles are telling me that Rob Parker is an irrelevent slappy.

And then there's Mlive's Blakely. He can be really off the money sometimes, like "did we watch the same basketball game?" baffling. And it seems like he spells a lot of words wrong when he posts on mlive's forum, which is weird for a writer. Then again, it's awesome that he posts and takes questions from fans. I want Blakely to be good.

Did Krista Latham get married (suddenly Krista Jahnke is her name)?

I digress.

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Napkin Sketches:
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KL got married. I saw it posted on another forum.

Dana Garauder does a decent job over at the Oakland Press.

I stopped reading the D-news a few months ago. I prefer the Free Press, although mlive's coverage is probably best. They seem to be much more internet oriented, and able to approach stories from more than one direction.

I worry about all of the "in crowd" news sources starting to pass off Ben leaving. I've felt for a long time that since 2003, Joe has pretty much had all of the print and radio beat guys in his back pocket. He calls the shots 9 times out of 10 on what gets printed.

Yesterday on WDFN Clarence Black (who is a hardcore hoops junkie) was selling no Ben Wallace. No criticism of Sheed, of Chauncey and little on Flip. It was all Ben has to go, and Rip should too because he can't dunk.

The same thing with Matt Dery before Game 5 on the pregame show. Ben = bad. Repeated dozens of times. To the point that I emailed him before Game 6 and asked him not to do it unless it's a superstition thing to get us a win. Too much negativity.

Then today, Eric Pate and Rob Otto on WDFN are pulling the same stuff. I actually threw Otto for a loop when I said that Chauncey Billups wasn't efficient unless he had a legit PG on the bench to push him (Arroyo). It's like these guys aren't even considering that the team's demise could be on someone other than Ben.

It worries me. This franchise which I love and have given allegiance to, is very fickle and historically notorious for being disloyal and underhanded. The only exceptions in my mind are Laimbeer and Dumars. With most everyone else, it's been silent endings and sudden divorces.

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Nov 13 LW Milan Lucic had an active night. He scored his first goal in eight games since his Oct. 25 hat trick and also pounded Michael Komisarek in a third-period fight. Lucic cut his hand in a fight with Michael Komisarek. "I'll be fine," he said. "(X-rays are) negative, but there's so many broken bones in there from before you can't really tell."

Bill Davidson's way of doing business, I guess. I don't like it either, but it can't be helped, probably, until he sells to someone else.

I never liked how Isiah was forced out of town, and if the same happens with Big Ben I will be extremely disappointed. Ben is our MVP, just as Isiah was for the Bad Boys, and I don't want to see things end prematurely or badly.

You could write a book about that stuff. Believe me. Jack the Trader was ruthless in an "endearing to Bill D" kinda way.

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Nov 13 LW Milan Lucic had an active night. He scored his first goal in eight games since his Oct. 25 hat trick and also pounded Michael Komisarek in a third-period fight. Lucic cut his hand in a fight with Michael Komisarek. "I'll be fine," he said. "(X-rays are) negative, but there's so many broken bones in there from before you can't really tell."

This is troubling. Isiah. LB. AD. Rick Nation. Just to name a few.

But it's weird. We want loyalty, and yet as fans we're all asking for ____'s head. Where's our loyalty?

As far as local media going all anti-Ben, it seems to me like people are getting too carried away with the perception of the New NBA. Rule changes or not, I believe the '04 Pistons would be in the Finals this year. Gritty basketball will always have its place. Detroit CAN'T pattern itself after other team's philosophies, which means you don't get rid of a player as special/meaningful/unique/passionate as Ben Wallace. I think it's crazy that people are even discussing it like it's an option.

Anyhow, you gotta wonder what will change when Bill Davidson ain't around. Indiana fans seem to think Tom Wilson is a baby eater. Who's the real bad guy. Dumars?

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Somewhere in McCoskey's articles are slivers of reality... an actual quote from management or player that is factual... unless it's in quotations it can't be trusted.
One thing in this piece that was intriguing was that the Pistons viewed Amir Johnson as a SF.... this qualifies as another one of McCoskey's believe it or nots.
And why are they talking more highly of a late 2nd round pick than JMax?

Don't just throw out crap like "The Pistons view such and such" without saying where you heard it.... sources buddy.

If Ben goes then there goes our defense and offensive rebounding right out the window. Look for Billups to get into foul trouble often as his guy tries to blow by him everytime.

What we should do is put Ben back to his old PF position. Center has been too hard for him which he has had to play ever since we got Sheed. Help the guy out. If anything move Sheed for a decent center.

I agree with this... Ben may be best suited as a PF/C depending on matchups...
I will say that if Ben plays PF other teams would still match up with him the same as they do now on defense... the other thing to consider is that there are several PF's that could draw Ben out of the paint.

Lately I'm not sure if Dice isn't a better option than Sheed... If only he was a better shot blocker... we gotta find out how much that ankle sprain effected Sheed.

Just want to be 100% sure we can't get it done with the same core for now.

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With politicians the future lies ahead