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 …

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 …

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, …

From my piece over at The Western Herald:
The complete Detroit Pistons team is gathered near the scorer’s table. Each player wears a blue or white practice jersey with their numbers printed on both sides.
With a basketball in his hand, backup guard Will Bynum steps out of the group and firmly plants his feet just outside the right wing. He glances upward, then heaves the ball 25 feet into the Palace air. Thousands of fans watch, each one standing and momentarily silent. Bynum takes off running. The ball lands near the …

As most of the summer’s free agents have been signed and a handful of less-than-stellar NBA players are now calling new cities their home, I can look at the Pistons and say (knock on wood) that they aren’t as far from contending as most would guess.
Fans of other teams can point to Detroit and chuckle, catapulting comments regarding Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva and how that combination will rarely improve a team’s championship odds.
Perhaps, in that aspect, they would be right.
However, as the 2009 postseason action comes to a close, …

Don’t get me wrong, I liked the Pistons’ signing of Charlie Villanueva, but I still think that five years was too long.
This time, when I heard that they had signed Chris Wilcox Saturday night, I didn’t have much to complain about.
The main reason was the contract length. Detroit inked Wilcox for two years at $3 million per season. Not only is this a bargain for a big man of his caliber, but if Wilcox can’t pick up his quality of play, he’ll be gone faster than a Pistons’ coach. What …

If there’s one thing that Joe Dumars needs to learn how to do, it’s be patient.
The Denver Post reported Sunday that the Nuggets and Pistons were arranging a deal that would send the Pistons’ Arron Afflalo to Denver to clear cap space, which brings me to my first point.
Afflalo’s paycheck this coming season would total all of $1.09 million. In the sports world, that’s pocket change. Not even pocket change. Walter Sharpe nearly gets paid that much, and the only time fans usually see him is during timeouts, where he …

I’m not a fan of making posts solely based on the actions of other teams, but this time I couldn’t tame the demons.
When I went online yesterday to find that Cleveland had given Anderson Varejao a $50 million contract, I said to myself, “That better be for at least 10 years, because anything over mid-level is absolutely ridiculous for this guy.” I knew, however, that would not be the case.
Instead, I was utterly sickened to see that it was for nearly half that long. $50 million for six years. Six …

Arguably, Tayshaun Prince remains the Pistons’ most valuable trade asset. His length, defense, and ability to play almost every position have made him a reasonable prospect for almost any style of basketball.
However, there is a problem with Tayshaun Prince. His progression is completely stagnant.
Prince was 24 when the Pistons won the 2004 championship. He was on top of the world, and the only place he could go was up. The following year, his averages improved considerably. Since then, his stats have done nothing but hover.
Now that the Pistons have morphed …

I stumbled across an interesting little piece from the Orlando Sentinel yesterday. It was an article that assessed whether or not Rasheed Wallace would be a good fit with the Magic, if they were to sign him. As you may already know, Orlando-ites don’t exactly love Sheed (but who does?).
Regardless, in the amount of time it took for Magic fans to read the article, Rasheed did a complete 180 from a no-good cry baby to an impeccable team player and all-around great guy. Newly ordained Sheed-worshippers commented relentlessly, and 78% …

Yes sir, our former Mr. Big Shot back in the conference finals for a league-leading seventh season in a row! We sure miss him, right? Curse Joe Dumars for trading our beloved point guard, right?
Wrong. Chauncey Billups may be in the spotlight again, but that doesn’t mean we should have kept him.
I say this with due respect for Chauncey. He was a superb leader and floor general. But it was his time to leave Detroit. His passion for the Pistons had all but faded. Only a shell of his former …

Who wasn’t excited when they found out that H-O-R-S-E was being added to the All-Star game festivities? It’s not the most gripping addition, but change is good. I could have guessed there would be a catch.
Turns out, according to USA Today, participants in the H-O-R-S-E event will not be spelling “horse” at all. They’ll be spelling G-E-I-C-O.
“As that contest joins dunking and three-point shooting contests as part of TNT’s NBA All-Star Weekend coverage, the as-yet unnamed three contestants — who’ll be overseen by an NBA ref — will play G-E-I-C-O. …

By Adam Debrowski – PistonPost.com writer/editor
A team’s struggles can never be entirely placed on a coach’s shoulders, but isn’t it tempting?
In no way should the Pistons mid-season slide into mediocrity be solely put on Michael Curry. Perhaps Joe Dumars is to blame for the questionable hiring in the first place. The downward era of an aging team full of NBA Champions and All-Stars alike is not the most ideal time to experiment with a coach who has an empty resume.
Michael Curry is trying his damnedest to get this thing to …

Why did the Pistons hire Michael Curry?
Short and simple: they needed someone who would punish our little drama queens when they got out of line.
Judging by his [lack of] decision-making during Sunday’s pitiful performance against the Knicks, he’s not doing a very good job.
There are so many questions. Why, after going scoreless in the first 4 minutes and finishing the first quarter down by 17 points, was the bench not in sooner? How did Walter Herrmann sit the first 3 quarters when the Pistons were getting manhandled? Why did Rodney …

David Stern, you got your wish.
The Spurs are gone, and now the Pistons have joined them.
What an exciting NBA Finals it will be! Surely, a feel-good story featuring a team that has risen from the ashes and a team that is just finding its niche- and with everyone’s favorite MVP!
Just like old times, right? Celtics and Lakers at it once again, after all these years. Since the Pistons have already played the Lakers in the Finals and everyone is sick of seeing the Spurs, I guess it really was time …

If this has offended any of the Magic fans that DO have class, I apologize in advance. If you see these guys walking around, tell them they’re making all of you look bad.
After seeing this debacle from a “professional” newspaper’s website, I can officially state that the Orlando Sentinel has no class either.
All photos are from the Orlando Sentinel’s website.
 
 A bit over the top if you ask me, hard to believe a “professional” newspaper would publish this on their “professional” website.
 

Ehh, I’d say about $10,000 since that’s what I saw …

Ahh, those good ol’ lackadaisical Pistons are back, chiming in like clockwork- and just in time for the playoffs!
“We’ve been here before. A lot of guys on that team, it’s their first time.”
“We’re going to be all right. We have been here before.”
“I thought the mood was good today.”
All prime examples of what Pistons fans have had to listen to for the last three postseasons.
Well maybe the mood shouldn’t be good.  We got showed-up, at home, on national TV, tisk tisk.
And yes, I fully understand that the Pistons’ way of …

Funny how much attention a 30-point blowout gets you.
ESPN announcer Jeff Van Gundy, whom I previously denounced for his comments on the Pistons’ whining and his nickname-bashing, had a convenient change of heart yesterday in the midst of Detroit embarrassment of Phoenix.
I’ve witnessed Van Gundy, on multiple occassions, singing the bandwagon praises of the Celtics, as well as knocking Flip Saunders’ coaching strategies (as if he should be one to talk). But all it took to change his mind was a “revamped” team getting shut down on their homecourt, …

When Belmont Abbey College takes the floor at Bobcats Arena to prepare for today’s 3 p.m. men’s basketball game against North Greenville College, Crusaders’ assistant coach Jonas Hayes will be following in his twin brother’s footsteps in many different ways.But don’t get the impression Jonas wishes he was taking NBA jumpshots — like twin brother Jarvis Hayes did 12 days ago in the same building for the Detroit Pistons — instead of coaching.
When Jarvis and Jonas Hayes were on the market during their college years, they came as a package. …