How long has it been since there was really only one halfway decent team in the Central Division? If our 26-47 record isn’t a big enough slap in the face, Indiana is a whopping 21 games behind Chicago for the Central lead — and they’re in second place. The eventual downfall of the Pistons (and Cleveland’s toppling when LeBron took his talents to South Beach) has taken its toll. The NBA spread between Chicago and the “rest of us” has gone from bad to worse.
Saturday’s “Battle of the Suck”, between …

A pessimistic title…I know. Had I turned the game off with 1:40 left in the 4th, I would probably be writing words or joy and encouragement. Despite the given opponent being the Nets, it would have been awfully nice to see Detroit go in there and kill Prokhorov’s big debut night. For me, it would have made a statement.
Why? Because winning season-opening road games is never easy, even when it’s against the (slightly-improved) Nets. And for most of the 4th quarter, I thought we had it.

A 13-3 run in the …

Wow…a Shaq AND T-Mac combo? Although I’d take Shaq over an Erick Dampier-like figure, I don’t know about $8 million. Shaq would have been a nice big man…but solid? Not much more than Tracy McGrady. Would’ve had a heck of a bench though. *rolls eyes*
From mlive:
Tracy McGrady may not have been the only big-name veteran the Detroit Pistons pursued this summer.
Shaquille O’Neal said during a recent interview with the New Orleans Times Picayune that he had an opportunity to sign with the Pistons before settling for a contract for the …

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The Piston Post – a Detroit Pistons blog

Done and done: the Pistons have agreed with ex-Knick T-Mac on a 1-year, $1.35 million deal.
Pretty good deal, if you ask me (you are asking me, right?).
There’s been a lot of negative chatter on the efficiency of this move, but from one Dumars critic to another, I’m just not buying much of it. Offer McGrady anything above the veteran’s minimum, and my tone might be a bit different. The truth is, the Pistons are gambling pocket change for a guy who just might stay healthy/keep a positive attitude this time. …

Link – Pistons.com

Not much going on in the Pistons’ frame of free agency lately. However, I managed to scrounge up a few scraps from under sports media’s dining room table:
Sadly, the most exciting waiver wire tidbit is that Brad Miller is still available for the time being. While I am (admittedly) not the biggest Dumars supporter lately, his silence during free agency is understood. Take a look at this summer’s free agency signings and you’ll get it. If the Darko Milicic and Amir Johnson “bargains” weren’t enough, Tyrus Thomas just landed a …

Freep is reporting Ben Wallace is about to ink a two-year contract at $1.9 million per season. At that price, Ben is a bargain for the level of play and rebounding numbers he gave in 2009-10. Of course, the Pistons can’t put a price on the [potential] tutoring of Greg Monroe. Ben said that he wants to retire as a Piston, so I’m making a pretty safe assumption that these two years will be his last.
From freep.com:
Free agent big man Ben Wallace has agreed to a two-year deal at $1.9 …

Happy Independence Day! Here’s a quick roundup of NBA free agent happenings around the league:
The Pistons are holding off on Will Bynum – As Vince Ellis points out, I’m on the fence about the strategy here. When Darko is getting paid $5 million a year, there’s no telling what kind of crazy offer could come Will’s way.
Add Amir Johnson to the list of hilariously ridiculous contracts – 5-year, $34 million. No, that’s not a typo. Almost $7 million a year for a guy who averaged 6 points and 5 boards …

Visit the right side of the page to vote in The Post’s freshly brewed free agency poll.
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Fear not! As tempting as complete blog abandonment would seem after a 27-55 season, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. In all reality, due to the current state of Michigan’s employment market, I have recently completed a complete relocation to Dallas, Texas. Here, in the presence of such basketball icons as Mark Cuban, Dirk Nowitzki, and Jason Kidd, I pledge to stand my ground in the name of the Detroit Pistons and to divert my eyes in the presence of American Airlines Center. Pistonpost.com will continue, and I hope …

Let’s face it, this isn’t exactly a high point in any Pistons fan’s year. The team is 23-50, has lost eight games in a row, and is rotting at the bottom of the Central division, 34.5 games behind Cleveland.
So, it is with a putrid combination of basketball misery and hockey/baseball optimism that I present the top five reasons to support the Wings and Tigers while the Pistons play golf and pray for a high lottery pick.
5. Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterburg and…Todd Bertuzzi? Wings fans have come to expect Datsyuks’s magic …

Warning: This post is spiteful, unprofessional, and would probably earn me a $100,000 Van Gundy fine if I worked within the annals of the NBA.
First: last night’s game between against the Cavs was despicable. Not in relation to how the Pistons played (surprisingly), but how the sickening officiating robbed Detroit of a blood-sweat-and-tears kind of win. A Ben-less Pistons team that turned up every ounce of their game, made all the right runs at all the right times, and had an answer to everything Cleveland threw at them — except …

You hear about things like this happening once and a while in the sports world, but you never really think it’s going to happen to the team or players close to you. Rodney Stuckey collapsed on the bench during the 3rd period of the Pistons-Cavs game Friday night and had to be transported to the Cleveland Clinic via ambulance.
As of now, the best update I have is the Pistons Twitter (and ESPN) saying that they believe Rodney had some sort of seizure on the bench. Seeing him grasping Arnie Kander …

Along with every NBA All-Star game come the inevitable remarks and dubious blog posts questioning the validity of the event, along with comments of how x isn’t on the team, but y made it and everybody knows how terrible y really is. This just happens to be one of those articles. Welcome to my very own mock 2010 All-Star team:
West Starters
Chris Paul. Continues to play out the dictionary definition of “point guard”. Leads the league with 11.1 assists per game, right on par with his recent career numbers. I have …

Sheed strolled in, had his pregame pleasantries, and was sent packing by a crippled Piston squad that had too much motivation on their side.
Scoring like it’s his job: Rodney Stuckey was out of control last night, and the Celts absolutely could not top him. As much as I hate seeing Stuckey take jump shots, they seemed to be falling this time. When he wasn’t dropping those, he had the jets on and his sights on the bucket. Rodney was born to drive to the hole, let’s hope he keeps doing …

The Pistons possibly for sale and the Wings might be playing at the Palace? What is this world coming to?!
From Yahoo! Sports:
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP)—The Detroit Pistons might be for sale.
“The options are being explored,” Pistons owner Karen Davidson said Wednesday night after the first quarter of a game against the Boston Celtics.

Her husband, Bill Davidson, died last year. The late owner known as “Mr. D” helped the Pistons win NBA titles in 1989, 1990 and 2004.
He had said during an interview before his enshrinement into the Basketball Hall of …

While I was impressed (yet somewhat terrified) by Rodney Stuckey’s fledgling no-holds-barred state of mind, the result was far from groundbreaking. Stuckey ended up with seven points below his average as the Bulls sailed to their easiest win of the season, 120-87. Our precious Pistons have passed from the realm of terrible to borderline obnoxious.
So what happens now? Detroit has officially matched the infamous season-ending losing streak of ’94, and is doubtfully looking to surpass it. The good news – they have to lose to the Wizards to get there. …

I’m back! Looks like I picked a splendid time to take a couple weeks off. In true Kelser fashion, I’ll rattle off a few key thoughts the Pistons need to focus on to climb out of this ungodly little slump.
Play some freaking defense. I’m sure all of you have been shouting some profane version of this at your TV screens like I have, and we have every right to. It’s exactly what was in the back of many a mind when Joe put all his chips on Gordon and Villanueva, …

Well, university-related education has officially ended, and the job hunt begins. As I search for employment, make sure to keep up with the Pistons during these trying times.
I will resume pistonpost.com posts in the second week of Janurary.
Happy holidays and Go Pistons!