Saunders takes charge
With Dumars' support, Pistons coach grows more assertive, and players climb on board.
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

AUBURN HILLS -- It was an odd thing to be asking about a coach in the second year of a four-year contract, especially one who had won a franchise-high 64 games last season. Still, given the way things ended, it seemed like a legitimate question to pose to Pistons president Joe Dumars.

ABC12.com: Detroit Pistons ready to go to work in 2007

Detroit Pistons ready to go to work in 2007
The Pistons must banish the ghost of Keith Hernandez
WJRT LeeAlan Weddel, abc12.com Web producer

AUBURN HILLS (WJRT) - (10/29/06)--Before his two episode stint as "The Boyfriend" on Seinfeld, Keith Hernandez was known as one of the best first basemen ever to play baseball. He was also known as one of the most cocky and arrogant athletes of his generation. When asked for his best pick up line, he responded, "I'm Keith Hernandez of the New York Mets." Pop culture embraced the phrase "I'm Keith Hernandez" as a way of portraying arrogance in one's own superiority.

The Detroit Pistons have been saying "I'm Keith Hernandez" for the past two years. After shocking the world by beating the Los Angeles Lakers' collection of superstars, it seems the Pistons have walked around the league with a sense of entitlement. A look back at the Pistons' key "Keith Hernandez" moments: [more]

Can't disagree with that. Hopefully this Piston team puts the greatest effort out there. That will get some of the dissapointed fans back, and it will get this team back to truly winning games.

NBA EAST PREVIEW
It's thin at the top, but Pistons are a cut above

Saunders' in-game and game-to-game adjustments were shaky at best, as was the Pistons' bench. So he spent most of the preseason trying to develop his reserves and work Nazr Mohammed, Wallace's replacement, into the Pistons' All-Star lineup.
"This team has had the best starting lineup over the last four years and we still feel we have the best starting lineup with four guys returning and the addition of Nazr Mohammed," Saunders said in a conference call with reporters.
"We feel right now a lot of people have us under the radar. ... We feel that we are going to be a team that can compete for the NBA championship."

link: NBA EAST PREVIEW / It's thin at the top, but Pistons are a cut above

__________________
TIGERS PRIDE ROAMS NATIONWIDE!!!
THE ROAR IS RESTORED!!!
DETROIT BASEBALLLLLLL..nope, doesn't work
TIGERS BASEBALL IS BACK!

McCallum, Thompsen, Burns, and Mannix of si.com offer their playoffs predictions. Only one of them has the pistons making it past the first round...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...ons/index.html

Pistons: What's Left in the Tank?
By Kealin M. Culbreath "The Truthsayer"
for HOOPSWORLD.com


Back in the Race

In the last edition of the Pistons’ Place, we talked about the departure of Ben Wallace and the introduction of the new starting center, Nazr Mohammed. In this edition, we will focus our attention on an important part of the this year’s team, the reserves as a whole. If we learned anything from the playoff failure of the 2005-2006 season, it was the fact that the bench must be utilized in the regular season if they are to be contributors in the post-season.

The team at Basketball News Services is very excited about the 2006-2007 Detroit Pistons. Not only does the team possess one of the best starting line-ups but they also can boast of having one of the deeper benches in the league. Last season, the Pistons, on the strength of their impeccable starting five, ran roughshod over the rest of the NBA with a record of 64-18.

Pistons expect improved bench play

Tuesday, October 31, 2006
By A. Sherrod Blakely
AUBURN HILLS -- The last few seasons, the Detroit Pistons had a starting five that found its strength in its collective efforts. The Pistons bench, on the other hand, was a one-man show better known as Antonio McDyess.
It worked well for most of last season, as the Pistons won a franchise-record 64 games during the regular season. But not getting enough from the other reserves in the playoffs was part of the reason the Pistons lost in the Eastern Conference finals to eventual NBA champion Miami Heat.
The development of their bench, perhaps more than anything, will determine how far the Pistons go this season.

__________________
With politicians the future lies ahead

PISTONS BASKETBALL: Flip asserts himself

He'll be all business, and Dumars agrees
October 31, 2006
BY KRISTA JAHNKE

Flip Saunders should adopt a new mantra this season -- no more Mr. Nice Guy.
The Pistons coach has turned up the intensity this October. No more allowing his veterans to run the show. No more hearing them say they'll do things the right way come game time. No more believing in flipping a switch

To remain among elite, Pistons must give young players a shot

Tuesday, October 31, 2006
By A. Sherrod Blakely
AUBURN HILLS -- Measuring how good an NBA team is, is easy.
Take a look at their calendar, and flip ahead to the month of June.
If there are more scheduled tee times than tip-off times, well, there's the answer.


Pistons out the prove their worth as a team without Ben

Tuesday, October 31, 2006
By A. Sherrod Blakely
AUBURN HILLS -- For years, the Detroit Pistons have been a tight-knit, Teflon-tough group of players whose harmonious play, if it were a song, would sound something like a modern-day version of "Kumbaya."
But NBA teams, like music, change with the times.



Mohammed confident he can give Pistons what they need at center

Tuesday, October 31, 2006
By A. Sherrod Blakely
AUBURN HILLS -- In one preseason game, Nazr Mohammed played more than 26 minutes without getting a single rebound. On another night, he scored 20 points and made all his free throws.
The more you watch Mohammed play, the more you get a clearer understanding of both the promise -- and the problems -- he'll have this season trying to fill the void left by the departure of Ben Wallace.
Mohammed has heard the talk about him replacing Wallace, much of it predicting the Detroit Pistons' demise without Wallace.

__________________
With politicians the future lies ahead

By LARRY LAGE AP Sports Writer
DETROIT Oct 31, 2006 (AP)— Chauncey Billups has become the face of the Detroit Pistons.
The All-Star point guard is hardly new to the team, but his status changed when Ben Wallace took his muscle and assorted hairdos to Chicago as a free agent last summer.
"I guess this kind of fell in my lap, and I'm comfortable with it," Billups said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I never chased being able to be `the face' or `the man' of a team because that's not what I'm all about, but I'm not running from this role because it's an honor. It's not going to be tough because I'm just going to be me."