Photo/Getty Images

Nothing shocking, it was only a matter of time before one of the teams that were wooing him got what they wanted, but to most of us here in Detroit, having Sheed in a Celtics uniform is not easy.

“The Enemy” to some.

“Traitor” to others.

Some will even give you the obligatory “You can launch your three’s and not play in the paint for another team, thanks for mailing in the last season Sheed.”

But to most Pistons fans we are thankful to him for putting our team over the top in 2004, allowing us a Championship we wont’ soon forget.

Rasheed Wallace is not a Detroit Piston anymore, and to be honest…..I’m surprised he made it this far.

After each season when the dominant Pistons got ousted from the Playoffs everyone called for his head. But how do you give up on a player that can dominate a game the way he can?

The man can be SHEEDtastic at the drop of a hat.

He can make the impossible seem possible.

He’s a Joker!

He’s very tricky..

But he also comes with hair pulling frustration.

I cant count the number of times I sat in my seat at the Palace hoping no one was paying attention to me as I was talking to Sheed from my seat while he was busy arguing on the floor. “Don’t do it Sheed, your going to get another Tech and get tossed, that will be 16 and I don’t think Joe D will be able to get that rescinded. We need you, you’ll be suspended. STOP!!!!”

I may not have lost sleep, but it eats at you when you have so much invested in a team.

That I won’t miss.

I will miss his Sheedisms, his dominance and the fact he made the team fun to watch in more ways than one.

The dancing was a sight in itself too.

He may work well with Boston playing a smaller roll since he NEVER wanted to be “the guy” when he clearly had the talent to be put into the category of one of the best Power Forwards in the game. He’s even got a special relationship with Kevin Garnett going in.

One thing that’s funny to me is all the Boston love for a guy that was the enemy of all enemy’s to Celtic fans.

As for Celtics and their fans…. I come in peace here, but I have been pushed over the edge way too many times by Celtics fans, I do however respect and enjoy some of the many Celtics blogs out there, so when Loy’s Place shot me an email asking me to answer a few questions for them I was just fine…until they ended the email with this…

Thanks!  And welcome to the Celtics family!!!

On to the next part of this post.

I will never ever, ever never be a Celtics fan and I take offense to the mere thought of being a part of that family, because I am not.

I will (until I stop breathing) bleed the red, white and Piston blue, that is one thing you can put your money on.

I will NOT change this website nor my allegiance to the Detroit Pistons.

As you can see from the new addendum to the banner on the site, I rep the “D” regardless of Sheed.

If you followed this site from it’s inception I have stated that fact on more than one occasion. I have be asked the question hundreds of times….”What will you do when Sheed is gone?”

I will do this, nothing changes.

“Will you change the name?”….as of right now, no.

You see, this site was never supposed to be.  I started it as a lazy way to share my cartoon screensaver to my friends across the country. You see even when you leave the “D” you still represent it.  So as a way share my wallpapers, screensavers and videos (pre YouTube days) this website became more than I ever envisioned it to be.

Now….I’m Need4Sheed.

Funny, but I can’t change it. It may be a name to all of you, but it’s almost part of my identity at this point. When you get introduced as Natalie of Need4Sheed instead of your last name things change.

You see, it never really was about Rasheed. Sure there is plenty of Sheed here, he brings a lot to any team, but it is and always will be about the love of the Detroit Pistons.

So Sheed is gone, we all knew it was going to happen at some point. I wish him luck, but I can’t say I will be rooting Boston, but I will be rooting for him.

This is Need4Sheed where we represent the Detroit Pistons..thank you for your time Mr. Wallace and thank you for allowing me to hold this in my hands.

Onwards and upwards….DEEETROIT BASKETBALL.

From Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:

“The Boston Celtics appear willing to make major roster changes to balance a chance for a championship run and future financial flexibility.

The Celtics offered Ray Allen(notes) and Rajon Rondo(notes) to the Detroit Pistons for a package that included Richard Hamilton(notes), Tayshaun Prince(notes) and Rodney Stuckey(notes), league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Boston general manager Danny Ainge and Detroit’s Joe Dumars never spoke, but rather the Celtics had a lower-level executive make the pitch to a Pistons official over the past weekend, league sources said. Detroit immediately rejected the idea, and it never advanced to the two top executives speaking about particulars.”

This one makes absolutely no sense for Detroit, why would the Pistons trade away their best three players (and bargaining chips) for an again Allen (with an expiring contract) and Rajon Rondo. I can almost hear Dumars laughing now.

Update: PistonsNation points us toward Kelly Dwyer’s post over at Yahoo that maybe Dumars should reconsider.

Key Points:

• Detroit started the game off strong and went on plenty of runs throughout the game.  What changed in this game was Detroit didn’t let the runs that Boston went on get out of hand.
• Remember when we used the word poised when describing the way Detroit played? Well this is the first I’ve seen of it all season long.
• Detroit had lost five straight regular season games to the Celtics and 9-of-11 including a six-game Eastern Conference final.
• Detroit is back to playing .500 ball and has the same record as the Sixers. They are currently holding on to the 7th playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Get this….16.5 games back of Cleveland.
• Detroit played a solid 48 minutes.
• Rip Hamilton once again led this team to victory with 25 points, an assist away from a double-double. He added six boards in 39 minutes, while shooting 50% from the floor and went 11-for-12 from the line.  Is he trying to emphasize the fact that he should have never lost his starting job?  If he is, and this is the outcome we get…..keep it up Rip.

Photo/Getty Images

• Rip Hamilton’s post game comments. (video)
• “We played our type of basketball,” Hamilton said. “That’s the thing for me with Tayshaun, Rasheed (Wallace) and (Antonio) McDyess, I always know they’re going to be at all times.” Via NBA.com
• Thank you NBA Referees, we bitch when you’re wrong (like when you missed Rip getting mauled at the end of the game) so it’s only right when we thank you for your fine work. That’s just how we roll in Detroit.  Detroit made a season-high 34 free throws, in 40 attempts.
• Sheed 15 points, 6 boards, 2 blocked shots and a steal. Solid defensive game for Sheed. I still wonder if he thinks he can make some of the crazy threes he jacks up.  Maybe it should be Jack ….instead of Roscoe?
  
• Outrebounded 35-31.
  
• Iverson still questionable for Tuesday’s game against Denver.
• Tayshaun Prince again asserted himself in a big game.  Prince scored 15 with 8 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals. How about the kind bounce on the three in the third quarter…nice.
  

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• NBA.com Pistons vs Celtics Video Recap.
• God love Hubie Brown and his pronunciations.
• Pistons led at the half 55-47 and didn’t give the lead up at all until Boston went on a run. Boston led 85-81 when Rasheed hit a tree pointer with 7:04 left to start a 13-4 run that left the Pistons ahead 94-89. They never looked back.
• Maxiell making clutch free throws with under three minutes left in the game.
  
• Rodney Stuckey held his own Sunday afternoon with 10 points, 5 assists, 3 boards, a rebound and just one turnover.
• Will Bynum made a bigger splash and is making a case for more playing time with 9 points, 2 assists, and 3 steals in just 12 minutes.  The takeaway from Marbury that lead to a layup was a thing of beauty, not to mention hard work.
• I will never understand the head tattoo.
• How about Detroit’s determination to come back and regain the lead in the fourth quarter and close the game out?
• 40 points in the paint for Boston to 18 for Detroit.
• Can we just say all hail to The Mighty THOR!  Walter Herrmann was a huge boost for Detroit making 4 of his 5 shots for 11 quick points for Detroit.

Original Thor Drawing/Marvel Comics

• Say what you will, but that inbound pass he tried at the end of the half still has me laughing.  Remember MIGHTY THOR!

• 15 lead changes and this one was tied 20 times.
• Defense…the Pistons had 8 steals  and 3 blocked shots
• 15th technical foul for Rasheed Wallace.
• Stat line of the night, just 6 turnovers for Detroit.
• Look I’m usually not one to bash other teams or their fans, (except Varejoke) but I think Celtics fans have it coming. I can’t tell you how many vile comments I deleted all day by the classy people of Boston. So when I saw this picture of Glen “Big Baby” with that look on his face I found it quite amusing that even the fans reacted with the cry big baby dramatics.

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• Antonio McDyess 10 points, 5 boards and a blocked shot while Jason Maxiell had 8 points in 17 minutes.
• For the second game in a row the ball movement was flowing and the team looked in sync. Be careful to judge these two games as “the Pistons are back,” in fact it may be more difficult once Allen Iverson is back from injury and the rotation issues become prevalent. The problems haven’t disappeared just because of a big win. If the egos can handle what’s going on and they commit to playing the way they did the last two games then they just may have a chance to become respectable again.
• 30 Bench points for Detroit.
• “You can tell they’re playing the system they played before Iverson got there,” said Celtics forward Paul Pierce, who scored 26. “When Iverson is out there they’re still trying to figure out how to use each other, how to all be successful. But that group that’s out there is definitely comfortable because they’ve played together for years.’‘ Via NBA.com
• I’m loving the Blind Date comparison in the comments of the game thread. Feel free to keep them coming.

An early afternoon Sunday game.
A Nationally Televised game.
A 47-14 Celtics team.
Without their leading scorer Allen Iverson.

And if you didn’t know the news by now, Stephon Marbury and former Piston Mikki Moore are now members of the Celtics.

The Good News/Bad News and More

• Detroit has shot 39.2 percent and haven’t scored over 80 points in losing their first three games to the Celtics by an average of 12.7.
• No Garnett for Boston.
• Despite the win without him, the Pistons need Iverson. They won’t have him today against the Celtics.
• Curry: Iverson is the key to success.
• Bostons Herald – Iverson is not the Answer.
• Poor decisions, declining stars have the Pistons plunging.
• Salvaging the Season.
• Don’t forget the March 2009 Schedule Wallpaper.

Tip off is at 1:00 PM and will be Nationally Televised on ABC.  If you can’t catch the broadcast you can tune into 1130 AM WDFN to hear George Blaha on the call.  If  you can’t do either, follow the game live or listen to the stream over at NBA.com

Leave them in the Comments.