
Can someone explain to me what happened to the Detroit Pistons?
A year ago, they were battling the Boston Celtics like Motown warriors of the hardwood for a shot at an NBA title, and now we get this garbage we witnessed in Games 1 and 2 of the playoffs against the Cleveland Cavaliers? Team president Joe Dumars has run this franchise like the Detroit Lions do things the past nine months. Nothing makes any sense. They all look lost and disinterested.
From the hiring of an inexperienced coach in Michael Curry to trading Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson, they have lost so much credibility.
How does Dumars not keep Flip Saunders around for the final year of his contract and let Billups and these veterans have one more run at glory? It's painfully obvious he wanted to try to season Curry and second-year point guard Rodney Stuckey and just toss this year down the locker room drain.
Bad timing
Maybe Dumars is thinking the Pistons deserve to reload after six consecutive Eastern Conference finals appearances. I'm all for change when needed, but this is the ugliest year in Pistons history.
This team had a chance to win the East with Saunders as its coach and Billups as its point guard. You don't break up a team the way Detroit has done it.
The easy and right way was to let this team play the year out, and then make the changes, if needed, at the end of the season. All I keep hearing is how much salary cap room they have and how attractive they are to big-name free agents.
2009 NBA playoffs
Author: Fox Sports
Author's Website: http://www.foxsports.com
Added: April 23, 2009