Lets think about this another way too from AI’s perspective. You’ve been THE star for the previous ballclubs you’ve played for and you’re going to a team that recently just won a title and has its own set way about playing the game. If you sacrifice the points (which he did btw), and adjust the game you’ve played your entire life for the chance to win, and then the administration says “yeah, you’re just not cutting it for us, we’re gonna bench you” that’s a slap to the face. If this same thing were happening to Kobe or Dwade, the public would be outraged and defend the player. But not Allen, right.

Only chance detroit has at game 3 or 4 is to play Iverson. That is unless Detroit ego prefers a sweep instead of putting aside stubbornness.

You are absolutely right. The draft is Dicey. There are no absolute sure things in the NBA. Just a few years ago everyone thought Okafor was a far more dominate player & a better #1 choice than Howard. No one even knew who Deron Williams, Chris Paul or Brandon Roy were in their draft class & they were all skipped in the draft. There have been more busts that break out stars. Arenas, Rashard Lewis, Boozer, all 2nd round draft picks. Big Ben wasn’t even drafted. You just never know. Joe Smith was picked ahead of KG & Dirk. Again you never know. It feels like the pistons always make the wrong choice. We’ve gotten lucky twice. Had we lost the series to orlando in Princes rookie year, Melo would have been picked up, we wouldn’t have grabbed sheed, Memet Okur would never have been an allstar, Tay wouldn’t be a gold medalist & the 04 champs would be the LA lakers. You have to put thing into perspective. Nothing lasts forever. We definitely need a superstar on our squad, but the draft isn’t where we need to look. I would hope we get lucky with Stuck & he becomes that guy or Tay finally lives up to the expectations offensively but that’s all wishful thinking. We will have between 15 & 22 million to spend this summer depending on what the cap is. That’s a lot of cheese to lure the right guy. Most bad teams will look to shed deals. But most teams will also hold onto their star. We need to go after a young up & comer that is on the verge of being a star. Look at Danny Granger & the new AI in Philly. Monte Ellis in GS. There are young talented players out there but Joe has to be aggressive & pull the trigger, but we all know he won’t. Sad to say but we may be Boozer bound & stuck in the bottom bracket of the Playoffs for the near future. Sucks to be a Pistons fan these days, but the draft ain’t gonna get us over the hump. We need to make some trades to upgrade oh & FIRE Michael Curry. Bad bad choice Joe. Curry is the worse coach I’ve ever seen. If he is qualified, where can I get an application to apply for the job when you finally wise up & release that cat? Sad sad year.

Chauncy Billups was picked 3rd, was no good for the celtics, did nothing for the nuggets, and then did nothing for the magic, did nothing for the timberwolves, when Joe D decided this would be the next superstar for the pistons, where he earned a ring. He wasn’t born “Mr. Big Shot”. He turned himself into “Mr. Big Shot.”

Remember LeBron James could have fizzled. You never know, he could have Grant Hill (picked third by the pistons in 1994). Grant Hill was expected to be the Piston’s version of Michael Jordan. But for the next decade Grant Hill couldn’t play ball because his ankles broke all the time.

Anyway, what I am getting at is that you never know with the draft. But what Joe D has done is be like a K-Mart smart shopper, he sees players that are half up and buys them, that’s the one thing he is really good at, and I suspect that is the direction the franchise will take next year.

For goodness sake, Will Bynum was playing with Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel, when Joe D brought him to detroit, talk about finding a needle in a haystack.

Because you only mentioned standard injuries and not physically disabling diseases, I’m guessing that you’re probably not physically challenged.

I was thinking about all that Stephen Hawking has done and compared that to millionaires not playing hard because their “tired” (whether physically or mentally tired.)

My point this season is quite simple.

Two things have been killing this team:

- the chemistry, nobody is playing with any passion (some are, but that’s not enough in a game where you need five guys)

- a true Point Guard. I’m not saying Stuckey sucks, or he can’t play PG, but he’s either not ready to play with veteran players, or he needs to play the 2.

Of course he will learn, but Dumars wants championships. I do believe in him, and I hope his offseason can help him, but right now, he doesn’t have the qualities like one that you need to win championships, lets say, either one of the Nuggets – Hornets series (great series).

I do believe in this team, or else I wouldn’t come on this site every day. But there is a difference between a Team and a team.