Mr. Dumars,

I am a loyal Pistons fan. Look, I even have a Pistons blog. But knowing Ben Gordon is at the Palace right now makes me a bit queezy.
Remember how Allen Iverson did with Detroit? Imagine having a player who takes double as many shots, only half of them were ill-advised threes from five feet beyond the arc. Sounds bad, huh? Well, that’s what you’ll be watching if you sign Ben Gordon.
Did I mention the word “defense” isn’t in his vocabulary?

Sincerely,
The Piston Post

•For once, the Pistons looked like a youthful group that could keep up with one of the league’s top teams- until the clock struck 12 [minutes left in the fourth quarter]. Initially up by eight then outscored 32-14 in the final quarter, this was one of the most embarrassing Piston collapses in recent memory.

•This is the first time Detroit has lost four straight home games for eight years. That’s no typo- eight years.

•The loss moved the team to 13-11 at home and .500 continues to creep ever closer. Perhaps the unfamiliarity of having a losing record would prompt some stern action from the front office. They could only be so lucky.

•Rip was extremely efficient off the bench and Allen Iverson used his time well. However, I don’t think Rip playing only 26 minutes was part of the bench bargain.

•Amir Johnson was bringing great energy every minute he was on the floor. But again, he played an inexplicable 21 minutes.

•Anderson Varejao got bloodied up by Dice’s inadvertent elbow, but honestly, I thought he was just flopping until I saw the blood.

•Interesting quotes from Ben Wallace:

“Billups brought a lot of leadership to the team and made sure everybody got the ball where they needed to get it.”

“It definitely hurt the chemistry of the team.”

Should Ben Wallace really be speaking of how a teammate leaving hurts the chemistry of a team?

•Excellent article by freep.com’s Jamie Samuelsen here. Speaks for many a frustrated Pistons fan.

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 work. He’s probably just as frustrated as anyone else that the team can’t maintain a flake of consistency. He was probably ecstatic when they knocked off seven opponents in a row, and he was probably crushed when they lost seven of the next nine.

I want to rant about Curry’s shortcomings just as much as the next guy, and I could think of at least 10 things off the top of my head.

However, Michael Curry’s whale of a flaw that led the Pistons into this mess is his inability to coach anything but Flip Saunders’ Pistons.

The lineup remained relatively unchanged during the two years Curry was associated with the Pistons, both of which Flip Saunders was head coach. All of the administrative experience Curry has ever had came during a period when consistency was married to an untouched roster that ultimately failed.

Michael Curry has more of an eye-to-eye relationship with Joe Dumars than Flip Saunders ever did, but in the end, Curry is no more than Saunders’ pupil.

When A.I. came to Detroit, Curry panicked. Stability turned into a hectic “does-not-compute” mentality. Lacking defense and ugly offense took over. No one knew what to do with Allen Iverson.

Sure, Detroit has a winning record. But will they get to that 50-win plateau that Pistons fans know so fondly? Probably not. If they can’t get past the Conference Finals with 64, 59, and 53-win seasons, how do they expect to make any progress with a 40 or 42-win caliber squad?

I hate to put my own team “under the radar,” but as of now, hope is quickly fading.

New coach, new players, new problems.

From what I’ve seen in interviews, it looks like it.  The veteran has said numerous times that he wants nothing else than to win a ring with Detroit.  Dumars said he was “bouncing off the walls” with excitement.

“I’ve done so many things in this league as far as being an All-Star, scoring champion, first-team All-NBA and things like that. But I haven’t accomplished my No. 1 goal and that’s to win a championship. Like I was telling Joe earlier today, I’m willing to sacrifice whatever I’m willing to sacrifice to get it done. I’ve tried it my way plenty of times. I’ve tried it different ways and it hasn’t been done,” Iverson said.

As long as Chauncey, Dice, and Cheikh pass their Denver physicals today, The Answer will indeed be playing in Pistons’ blue tonight.

His offseason promise to shake the Pistons core has been fulfilled, and a trade deal has been finalized that will send Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess to the Denver Nuggets in return for one of the league’s premiere (but aging) point guards: Allen Iverson.

There’s word that Cheikh Samb may also be heading to Denver as well.

I wholeheartedly give my stamp of approval to this trade.  Allen Iverson fits much, much better into the scoring style that Michael Curry has delivered.  AI and Rodney Stuckey could develop into a beautiful relationship.

So long, Chauncey and Dice- it’s been fun…

I’ll keep you up-to-date.