I didn’t think some detroit ‘fans’ would be hating these much without giving the new look pistons at least half the season to prove their worth.

trade rip, trade tay, bench stuckey, bench charlie. is this the season’s battle cry of the piston’s fans instead of ‘DEEEEEEEEEETROIT BASKETBAAAAAAAAL!!!’ ????

although some of you have valid points, you should also have to consider that these are not the same pistons we had in the past years. who knows how well or how bad rip, tay and benW will mesh with the new faces.

so please, give them their time to prove themselves.

In the Oklahoma game, I was pleased to see Austin Daye get in the game, but the rookie got victimized and it helped springboard the Thunder’s competitiveness. We were pretty firmly in control of that game up until that point.

In the past, I was happy to sacrifice wins to see Amir Johnson get on the court and play. I think I’ll be in much the same mode this season because I’m not quite sure we’re a contender yet.

We’re built on the blueprint that got us a championship in 2004. Alas, at that time the league was dominated by offenses where superstars hoarded the ball. The league has changed and there is much much more ball movement. It is much better basketball, but it also makes it harder for teams that hope to win with their defense.

These past two games made me appreciate Rip Hamilton and at this particular moment, I’m not sure we can trade him. He’s basically our only big guard who can get his shot off with more consistency than anyone else. The other guards had plenty of shots blocked when they got into the middle of the paint and it really hurt us because it sent both teams running with numbers against us. It was really a killer in both games. Stuckey and Bynum really need to develop consistent tear drops and that should make all the difference for them.

I can’t wait until Rip gets back for a second reason and that is because I like Ben Gordon anchoring the bench. Without him out there, the bench seemed a little unfocussed offensively with guys trying to do too much all on their own.

Charlie V isn’t quite assimilated into the offense yet, but once he gets comfortable, I think the offense will look much much better. To this point, he’s been an afterthought in the offense, a bail out and often the passes have come late. As a consequence, he’s rushed his shots. I’d like to see some pick and pops run for him just to get him going and to also spread the floor.

What else? In general, the bigs have played pretty well. I don’t know what it is, whether it’s something in the Detroit water, or it’s Arnie Kandor’s magic, or Mason’s introductions hype him up but Ben Wallace looks like such a better player in Detroit than he did elsewhere. He’s not the same player he was, but he’s still plenty effective.

Finally, this is a Larry Brown offense. When Larry Brown himself got here, the Pistons struggled. If you go back and watch the 2004 Championship DVD, Dumars talks about bringing in a new coach and new faces. He talked about that adjustment period and the unfortunate fact that you’ve got to go through that adjustment period during the season. Thus, what I’m looking for is improvement.

The players looked frustrated in the past two games, but when they get more comfortable and are able to utilized their counters, their 2nd and 3rd options, I think they will look much butter on offense.

So don’t lose hope just yet.

Watching a lot of the other games in the first week of this season I’d put the Pistons in about the middle of the pack in the eastern conference.

Bottom line, even though they’re not as good as they used to be, they’re going to be entertaining to watch for the most part because it seems like everyone actually gives a crap and they’re giving it all they got every night….. for now. Hopefully that doesn’t change. I’ve always said I can handle a team losing if they played hard and didn’t mail it in like last year.