I mentioned it briefly in my post to Barbara San Anton in a response to her Spurs talk thread on 7/13. The difference was we are only losing Ben, where the Lakers lost not only Shaq, but Payton, Malone, Fisher and Phil. In other words a full rebuild of the team was needed.

We lost one player and some are thinking we are done and a possible overhaul is needed. Does that mean that the contributions of Rip, Billups, Sheed and Prince the last 3 years were overstated and we cannot win with these pitiful allstars??

Even with the best record from start to finish, most of thought we were still one player short guaranteeing the ship and sure enough that prediction came to fruition. Even with Ben, our interior defense was suspect, so yes we will be a little weaker there but hopefully a combo of mini trades and signings made to replace ben we will keep us in the the mix and we will not fall like the mighty Lakers in the next season.

Dre,

I think that everyone expects that the Pistons will be a good team. But our fall is Laker-like to me. The Lakers were at the absolute top. Only the Pistons were better than them that year. Despite the Kobe-Shaq feud, I think that they thought something was seriously wrong with the team. Nothing was. They ran into a Piston buzzsaw. The Pistons were the best team in the NBA for two years--even though SA beat us. Nobody knew how good the Pistons really were at the time.

Well, the Lakers are now signing guys like Radmanovich (spelling) to stay competitive. No more talk of championships right now. Meanwhile, Shaq wins one in Miami. We are not in that Laker boat but what happens next year when Chauncey opts out? I am worried that we are on a path of managing our decline without saying so and without a vision to get better. If not, how do we go forward with this teams given the new rules, losing Ben's athleticism, etc.? If we are in decline, then it is Tay and Rip's team and let's build on that.

What bothers me is that for the Pistons, to merely be good following this two year run, is somewhat hollow. I mean we were dominant. We put fear in teams. We were a force in the NBA. They may have even changed some rules with an eye to the Pistons. And if we did lose that, it wasn't because of age but because of money. Every team eventually gets old. We weren't there yet.

The ultimate irony for me living in LA watching the Lakers come apart is that Shaq going to Miami may have been the biggest reason the Pistons didn't go to three straight finals and why Ben is now gone, etc., etc. Wade alone would not have taken Miami to that level so soon.

Our fall was 2 notched; finals loser and ECF's loser. With sixty 4(7) wins. The sky isn't falling. But ArmyG is making me worried.
CB's STAYS. Relax.

LApiston, you are correct on one aspect here. There are some that say our 04 ship was tainted because Malone was a no show---gimme a break

The Shaq move to Miami actually made us play better this past year because we wanted to prove it was no fluke that we beat them the prior year despite their so called excuses (Wade was hurt and Shaq was tired. )
In other words we could not get any respect either year and then could not back up the ship with a repeat despite the fact (and I concur ) we were better better than the Spurs.

This year after proving that we could go to the finals 2 straight years, we finally get the due respect midway thru season after putting up an impressive 35-5 record.this season. At that point we were installed as the favorite even though the Spurs and Mavs were no less than 5 games behind us.

You are correct; Shaq moving over here probably prevented us from going to the finals for a third consecutive year. Despite super wades heroics, the Heat would have been no better than a 4 to 6 seed and would have been taken out by (the Bulls or Nets) before we even had a chance to play them.

Next years Piston team will have to get by the Bulls, Cavs, Nets and Heat so we shouldn't be that mad if we fall to 4th seed or 5th seed. We have enough experience in us to over come our shoutcomings and get back to the ECF where anything can happen

No true #1 seed has won the ECF since 00-01 Sixers (I know the Nets and Pistons tied for the best record in 02, but can't recall who was the # 1 seed.)