Not when we had him. Paid around 5mil/yr for a guy with a bad back and dimished skills. Never played much.

The dreaded Teal era? Bite your tonge; er fingers!

The decline is evident tho. Since the title we've lost Big Nasty, Memo, Mike James, a wasted lottery pick, and now Ben. The only notable replacement is Dice. That's a LOT of talent lost with no return.

Somebody tell Joe its time to pull outta this nosedive. I ain't for crashin or burnin.

Yep. And I fear that Dice's best seasons as a Piston are behind him.

The biggest error was in the selection of the #2 pick. Ben's leaving would have minimal impact if the Pistons had one of the superstar picks i.e. Wade/Bosh/Howard sitting on the bench.

so Low, I guess you don't like Flip and you wanted Ben to stay, huh?
Very emotional piece, but sometimes these posts are needed. Although I don't agree, I have the same fears that this team is going back to averageness again... step by step...

I wish someone would ask Joe and co. why there was no effort made and interest shown in re-signing Ben. Ben was let go not simply out bid for. The let go part, without any explanation, angers me. Your star is fading Joe.

Well, it's just one of those things that I think have been pointed out as bad for us (Bouncing LB, focusing on offense, AND not competing for Ben) and continues to not work yet, everyone seems to be happy with it. It's almost like people would rather not be the best and talk about things we "could do" instead of actually doing what made them successful and helped them win.

Isn't is possible that Joe didn't want Ben back? Ben became a disruption to the team and his talent was clearly on the downside. I also think Joe is not happy with Flip and his inability to adjust and give the bench some burn. I think Joe is OK with stepping back for a year to see which youngsters will develop and then make some moves next summer.

Stick to rap and leave the fate of the pistons to Joe D. Ben is not worth 15mil.

In about 4 months, we went from a dreaded powerhouse to just another good team. I agree. You can't let the owner off the hook either. Stern is feeling good, too. The no defense NBA.

The problem is once you fall fall back into the pack it is hard to get up and above it again. It is very hard to reach the elite level in the NBA. And I don't see how we are going to get better with no cap space.