There's no excuse for the years of futility the Bulls did after the great one. Year after year of high picks that they discarded.

I'm looking forward to Pistons re-acquiring Ben after Chicago buys him out in 2 years. He'll be a great spark off the bench to back up Amir.

That will be Darkos' job.

There you go again. No team is going to stay on the top forever, Pistons still have managed to be the only real team out of the East this year. I have no doubt that one of the young teams is eventually going to catch up and there is not much that you can do about it.

Is it really an offense 1st team? Sheed has mainly been a defensive specialist this year and every run they go on is triggered by their defense.

Personally, I believe this is an offense first team and Flip believes if you get a block or two during the game great, but he could care less. I think SOME of their runs begin with good D, but A) they only do it in spurts...and B) They really only seem to do it against the worst the league has to offer. I would like to see them shut down the top teams on a consistent basis.

Now, I've never argued that any team can stay on top forever, but to me, when you're on the top, the worst thing you can do is change. Unfortunately, that's exactly what Det. did.

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I don't really want to get into that Ben Wallace thing again. I mean he has slowed down.

Why is it that some Det fans insist on the Pistons always going against the grain? Why do we always have to be different? Whats so bad about playing the same way that other successfull teams have past and present? Most World Champions are not the necessarily best defensive team in the league. You have to play D and be good at it. But why must the Pistons have to totally lock down on it and only play a certain way to make some fans happy?

Well, I guess they don't have to lock down on D, but it sure is fun to watch. Playing that certain way really makes this fan happy!

4th in PPG defense, 19th in PPG offense.

6th in defensive FG pct.

4th in the NBA in blocks.

1st in fewest turnovers.

You still "believe" this is an offensive team?

Btw, in their last 10, the Pistons are #1 in PPG defense.

They beat the Cavs, the Bulls, the Raps, the Lakers, the Magic 2x and lost to the Purrs. Is that lineup the "worst" the league has to offer?

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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."

Don't let the smooth taste slow pace fool ya. The Pistons slow the game down more than anyone in the NBA right now. To see how good our defense and offense really is, you have to look at it per possession, or per 100 possessions, which is easier to understand.

On a per 100 possession basis, here is how we stack up to the other good/decent teams in the league.

Team- Off/Def (#of poss)
Det- 109/105 (88)
Dal- 112/103 (89)
Sas- 110/101 (90)
Pho- 115/106 (96)
Hou- 105/99 (90)
Chi- 105/100 (94)
Cle- 105/103 (90)
Ind- 104/105 (93)
Orl- 105/104 (89)
Tor- 107/106 (92)
Uta- 111/107 (92)
Was- 111/111 (94)

So, the teams with > defenses than the Pistons include:
the Mavs, Spurs, Rockets, Bulls, Cavs, Magic, and the Pacers.

The Phoenix Suns only give up 1 more point per 100 than the Pistons. Their defense is about equal with ours. Their offense is much better though. The frckn Magic and Cavs have better D than us!

The real key is point spread per 100:
Dal +9
Sas +9
Pho +9
These are the elite teams. They also have had a tougher strength of schedule.

Then you have
Hou +6
Chi +5
Uta +4
Det +4


In my estimation, we are in trouble. Dallas and San Antonio are better on both sides of the ball. Phoenix is about the same on D, but blow us away on offense.

Our style of play has changed drastically from when we won the Championship. Don't let the slow pace fool ya.

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"Will was rolling, wasn't he? I roll with the guy that's hot." MC

I'm a big proponent of pace TaShawn. But unlike the Cavs and Bulls, our last 20 games are a better indicator of what this team is than the pre-Webber/Billups injury Pistons.

Dallas, San Antonio, Chicago, Phoenix and Cleveland didn't make substantial moves. Adding Webber dramatically changes our defense and offense.

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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."