It seems like just yesterday that Pistons fans were celebrating a Championship.  It doesn’t seem that long ago that Detroit had a starting five that were familiar, solid, loved and envied league wide.  It really was just a short time ago that we continually got ready for a long playoff ride filled with joy and anguish.

There are highs and lows with every team, in every league, but as Pistons fans we have come to expect excellence and comfort.

Comfort in a style of gritty play, comfort with the one of our own running things,  and comfort in an owner that we knew loved his team above all else.

Last night I sat in wonderment at the Palace of Auburn Hills as my team took on the Boston Celtics.  This would normally be a huge game, even without the fact the Rasheed Wallace was returning to Detroit, in green for the first time.  Instead the place was littered with empty seats and quite a few that were occupied, were donned in green.

I watched my ailing team, in heart and body, pull off a pretty inspiring win.  A win that they not only dearly need for the sake of moral and pride.  I watched a reborn Ben Wallace take charge on the defensive end and Rodney Stuckey do what he needed to do to lead his team to victory.

The highs of the big game come with bittersweet sadness as I watched Mrs. Davidson have a mini press conference at halftime in front of her very familiar courtside seat and announce that she’s looking for a buyer for the team.

It’s her team and she can do with it what she wishes.  We as fans shouldn’t judge her, we just have to hope that she hands over the team to someone who loves it as much as Mr. D did.

I may be a bit sentimental, but I can still see him sitting in his seat with his beige windbreaker enjoying his team.  I see him with a mini television in front of him watching his hockey team on their way to a Stanly Cup, while he was watching his Pistons win a championship.  I can see him standing on court with Ben, Rip, Chauncey, Tay and Rasheed as they raised his banner in the rafters at the Palace.

I can still see his face as he was getting doused in champagne in the locker room by Isiah Thomas during the Bad Boys Championships.

I watched him embrace Isiah on court, when it was clear his health was failing at the All Time Pistons Ceremony.

One of my favorite memories is looking at his face in 2004 when they were presenting the team with the Larry O’Brien Trophy.  He may not have been able to hold that beautiful gold piece of hardware over his head, but his team made sure he could.

And how can we forget his very “Detroit” styled parade speech.

He may not be with us anymore, but he will always be remembered.  The Hall of Famer was a pioneer in professional sports and in love for his team.   If the new ownership has one tenth of the love that Mr. D had for The Pistons, things will be just fine.

We know that Michigan is facing hard times as well as the Pistons, but to see your team discounted at the local price club store….sucks.

It also didn’t help that it was sandwiched between a Olive Garden and CPK display either.

Needless to say after I saw this I made sure to headed right over to the discounted spirits section.

Wednesday can’t come soon enough, but I’m a little more excited to see just how this new team gets the crowd going at the Palace on Friday night. What kind of reception will Ben Wallace get, how will Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva respond and what does coach Kuester have in store for us.

A season of questions and if the defense doesn’t pick up we know what will be on top of that list.

Last Year’s Record: 39-43

Key Losses: Antonio McDyess, Rasheed Wallace, Amir Johnson, Arron Afflalo, Chauncey Billups (does that still count), head coach Michael Curry (a good loss) and possibly the best loss in Pistons history, the end of Allen Iverson in red, white and blue.

Key Additions: Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, Chris Wilcox, Austin Daye, DaJuan Summers, Jonas Jerebko and Ben Wallace.

1. What Significant Moves were made during the off-season?

The Pistons haven’t had a significant change to a start of the season since Joe Dumars took over as GM. Dumars started cleaning house well before the season started by trading away the Pistons cherished point guard Chauncey Billups for the expiring contract of Allen Iverson. The Iverson experience was a train wreck and by the end of the season it was obvious that big changes were coming.

Dumars started in late June with the firing of head coach Michael Curry. He traded Amir Johnson to the Milwaukee Bucks for Fabricio Oberto who was later waived. With the 15th pick in the NBA Draft Detroit selected Austin Daye of Gonzaga University and later took DaJuan Summers and Jonas Jerebko in the second round.

Dumars then shipped out Arron Afflao for more cap space to secure the free agents he was coveting. Dumars wasted no time in bringing Ben Gordan and Charlie Villanueva to Detroit. On July 1, 2009, the Pistons reached an agreement with the former Bulls guard on a 5 year/$55 million contract, as well as an agreement with Charlie Villanueva on a 5 year contract worth $35 million.

They picked up plenty, but they also lost two of their key players in Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess. On July 5, 2009 the Pistons Sheed to free agency. Wallace signed a two year, $5.58 million contract with the Boston Celtics. Following the departure of Wallace, former Antonio McDyess signed a one year contract with the San Antonio Spurs for the mid-level exception. Though Pistons fans were probably ready to see Rasheed say goodbye, McDess heart and desire will be missed at The Palace.

In dire need of big man, Dumars picked up Knicks power forward Chris Wilcox to do some damage down low. And a surprise that Pistons fans were hoping for, the return of Ben Wallace to Detroit. Wallace, who was waived by the Phoenix Suns signed for the veterans minimum to play for the Pistons this season.

2. What are the team’s biggest strengths?

This current configuration of Pistons should have no problem putting the ball in the basket. With Ben Gordon coming off the bench and Charlie Villanueva added to the starting lineup Detroit will be able to put up points.

They also got younger and faster this season with rookies Austin Daye and DaJuan Summers. Put them in the lineup with Stuckey or Will Bynum at the point and this team will get out and run, something we rarely saw from the Pistons half court style of play.

3. What are the team’s biggest weaknesses?

DEFENSE!

The most glaring and obvious weakness for Detroit is the “D”. Always known for defense first, the Pistons now have an offensive mined squad and a lack of established big men.
The Pistons new addition down low, Charlie Villanueva has a reputation to be allergic to rebounds and has been called “soft.” Look for Jason Maxiell, Chirs Wilcox and Kwame Brown to do most of the dirty work for the Pistons this season.

4.What are the goals for this team?

Better than 39 wins will be just fine for this Pistons team. If Detroit can pull off a winning season, than what happened last year can be somewhat forgiven.
If new coach John Kuester can get this team together they have the talent to do much better than expected.
Will they make the playoffs? Probably.
Will they go far? Unlikely.

5. Will the roster likely stay the way it is?
You can bet that Joe Dumars is working on trying to make a few more moves. The most valuable and likely to go is Rip Hamilton. He’s got value on the market and with Ben Gordon on the team, his offense wouldn’t be missed that much putting Ben in the starting lineup to replace him. If there is a move to make Dumars will do it, we saw it last year with Billups, don’t count anything out at this point.

One thing is sure, they may not be slotted to make the ECF like they used to, but this Pistons team is going to be fun to watch.

Projected Finish: 46-36

It could be something the Sheedburgler took from my personal Pistons collection, it could be a bobble head or it could be a limited edition T-Shirt. You just never know what the Sheedburgler is up to.

You can Follow me Here.

To find out what you could win be sure to Toon into my Twitter account.

Good thing is you can enter now by tweeting this exact (just copy and paste it) message via Twitter.

www.Need4Sheed.com , so good there really is NO NEED FOR SHEED. All others are just cheap imitations! @Need4Sheed_com #SheedBurgler

Here I go with another blast from the past.

Life was simple….mullets, acid washed jeans and florescent clothing were acceptable and the Bad Boys ran the show.

The most fabulous Old School blast from the past Pistons video. Anytime you have Fennis Dembo, Scott Hastings and Chocolate Thunder in a single video clip it’s sure to be an instant classic. Enjoy your old school Friday.

My find today, an old video of the top 10 Pistons buzzer beaters.

Now if you noticed the tile of the post is Top 11, that’s because this video was put together before this. You tell me where you think it should be placed on list.

Does that mean it smells like Rip Hamilton after he ran around screens all game long?

Since it is the number 00 it could also smell Like Hooper…who wears 00. As much as I love you Hooper, I’m not totally set on my car smelling like a horse or a man after he’s been in a horse costume for hours. Especially after I saw this!

A nice Vanilla would be just fine thanks, I would just hate for my car to smell like the Will Robinson Locker Room of Champions.

I told you I had a surprise for Pistons today and I wasn’t kidding.

To kick off the release of EMINEM’S eagerly anticipated CD Relapse today Need4Sheed readers are getting a chance to win a Limited Edition EMINEM Undrcrwn T-Shirt.

What proud Detroiter, Pistons Fan, EMINEM Fan wouldn’t want to have this one of a kind T with the Shady one clad in an old school set of Bad Boys Pistons warmups?

You can’t get this one in stores but Need4Sheed is give one away today! By no means do I consider my Toons works of art, so in comparison to this Undrcrwn shirt it puts my Eminem Toon to shame.

How do you win?

You have to be quick on the E-MAIL!

Not only will EMINEM be appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight, he will also be performing on the show Friday May 22nd.

Be the first person to email me with the name of the song Eminem performs on Jimmy Kimmel Friday 22nd and you get the Limited Edition Undrcrwn Eminem T-Shirt.

And don’t worry if you’re not the first to shoot me an email, a few runners up will receive a copy of EMINEM’S new CD Relapse.

Send your entry with the subject line – EMINEM to:

need4sheedcontest@gmail.com

With your

• Name
• Age
• And most importantly your Correct Shipping address.

And for those of you headed to the EMINEM show tonight Tonight and at The Motor City Casino, it should be a good one.

GOOD LUCK!