Arron Afflalo traded along with Walter Sharpe to Denver for a future 2nd rounder, clearing $1.8 million in cap space. Via Adrian Wojnowski of YahooSports

Good luck Arron, give Chauncey our best.

As the cleaning of house keeps rolling something tells me a big deal is on the horizon.

Most of you, including myself, aren’t very happy with the prospect of Glen “Big Baby” Davis donning a Pistons uni, but the chances of it just went up.  We wait again…. in what has turned out to be one of the craziest offseasons I can remember.

The Pistons will host the Cleveland Cavaliers this afternoon for what could be their last game of the season. Down three games to the Cavs and showing little or no signs of life, more than just an early playoff exit is at stake for this Detroit team.

Familiar endings and new beginnings.

With the team missing their swagger (as well as their leader) all season long this group will most likely be playing its last game (or games if they can pull it out today) together. So enjoy this game for whatever it is Pistons fans, your favorite players just may be playing their last games in red, white and blue.
Michael Curry

“Guys are down, but that’s anywhere when you’re down like this in a series and it’s tough. The biggest thing is getting just focused on one game. What you tend to do when you’re down in a series is go back over the whole season. So you start looking at things that you have no control over.” Via The Detroit Free Press

Tip off is at 3:30 and will broadcast nationally on ABC. If you can’t watch the early afternoon game, you can listen over at WDFN 1130 AM or follow the game live over at NBA.com.

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the Comments or Chat Live at gametime.

Yes the Pistons are now on the brink of an abrupt end to what turned out to be a painful NBA season. Down 0-3 to the Cavs after their 79-68 loss Friday night at the Palace, they are in jeopardy of a first round Swiffer if they don’t win Sunday afternoon at home.

Key Points:

• This one started out just right, Detroit came to play and even started the game in glorious fashion with this Richard Hamilton steal that lead to a Rodney Stuckey dunk, which led to an 8-0 Pistons run.

Video Courtesy of The NBA, The Detroit Pistons and ESPN

• The Pistons showed some heart, played defense and controlled the tempo of the game and held the lead until the Cavs took a 33-31 lead with five minutes left in the half.
• Yes the Cavs have went to the line a whopping 100 times this series compared to 40 times for Detroit. Don’t point all the fingers at the refs or David Stern, you don’t go to the line when you shoot jumpers, it’s as simple as that.
• Tayshaun Prince played hurt and was responsible for helping the Pistons start the game strong. He finished the game with 7 points, 5 boards, and 2 assists in 33 minutes.
• Rasheed….well Sheed either has lost more than a step or checked out before the series started. Sheed scored 5 points, with 7 boards and a steal. With similar numbers this whole series and for the later half of the season, it’s fair to question if Sheed still has it at all or for this team.
• Though Dyess had trouble knocking down his shot (4-for-10), he still put his heart on the line and was pivotal in Detroit’s third quarter run. He finished with 8 points, 2 blocks and 8 boards.  Unfortunately it looks like No Ice4Dyess.

Photo/Getty Images

• Two Pistons in double figures is disastrous.
• The Pistons are on Life Support.
• This one wasn’t hard to watch, they came to play but are clearly outmatched.  Tied at the end of the third quarter and then settling for Rip Hamilton jumpers in the fourth maybe was a mistake.
• Rip led Detroit with 15 points on 6-for-17 shooting with 6 assists, 8 boards and 2 steals in 41 minuets.
• “This is killing me, I can’t even lie,” Hamilton said. “Knowing how great we were, and then being down 0-3 and being the eighth seed and watching them celebrate shot after shot, it’s hard. It’s a terrible situation.” Via The Detroit News
• This was actually the first time in the series that Detroit was in a position to win the game but a horrible 4th (something that haunted them all season long) was the cause.
• Just 6 points for Bynum in 18 minutes but it was this leaping steal that made me rewind the game about three times.

Video Courtesy of The NBA, The Detroit Pistons and ESPN

• Sick and tired of “Andy” AKA CLOWNFISH getting in everyone’s face. I’m not one for violence but I wouldn’t mind clocking the dude myself. Yes he’s and energy guy bla, bla, bla….he’s a punk. And as Mr. Blaha said, ” Don’t the referees even watch this guy?” He pushed Kwame and Brown gets a tech. Great.
• Speaking of Mr. Kwame Brown, he’s been the surprise of the series. Bringing energy and banging down low ever time he steps on the court. Kwame scored 4 points in 13 minutes with 3 boards and 3 blocked shots. And he won’t let you get in his face either.

Photo/Getty Images

• Something so wrong at the Palace – Who was the genius that decided to get Cavalier phone service to sponsor the thundersticks so CAVALIER is written in bold across the thing?
• “Right now, we have to have a focus that is a game-winner, every possession,” Detroit guard Arron Afflalo said. “Just looking at a lot of the teams in history that are good teams, they played with a certain intensity, a certain focus, and a certain energy level, every possession. And being down 3-0, that’s what it’s come down to.” Via MLive
• What is really more to say, at least they tried. The Cavs are a better team and quite honestly it hurts much less to loose to them this year than it did in 07 when Detroit was the better team. I’m not giving up, but a Sunday home game looks daunting.

Will Tayshaun Prince play in Game Three tonight?

“I will give whatever I can give,” he said. “It felt better today (Thursday), but at the same time, I didn’t go at game speed. I am not the type of person to give excuses about injuries because I know both Rasheed and Rip (Hamilton) played hurt for us this season.

“But this is the pivotal game, so if I am not getting anything going early, I will let Arron (Afflalo) and those guys take the load.” Via The Detroit News

Read into this if you will, especially considering all that’s been going around regarding Prince’s playoff non production.

He’s not injured enough to not start (remember the streak), but if he’s not productive he will let Afflalo play (injury or not). Sounds a bit like an excuse is already in play for Prince.

I don’t know about you, but I would love for Tayshaun to have  huge game, we need him to, but with the injury and how he’s been playing lately I wouldn’t mind Afflalo and Herrmann for that matter to try to see what they can do.

Could Tayshaun be worried about being moved in the offseason? He may not be untouchable anymore.

With the Piston down two games to the Cavaliers in the first round and showing no fight whatsoever, what do Pistons fans do?  For one we admit to ourselves that the team we once knew is only a shell of its former self.  We may lay blame on Joe, Tayshaun, Curry, Rip, Sheed, AI or the lack of leadership.  But honestly what does that get us other than frustrated?  Sure it’s been a good run, but with the talent on this team it shouldn’t end like this.

I’m not claiming it’s over, but it’s hard to stay positive when you have watched this team go through the motions all season long. When you look back at the ‘08-’09 Season can you think of one positve thing about it?

Let’s see…..

• We lost our leader to Denver
• We in turn received a Superstar that said all the right things when he got here, but didn’t make good on a single one.
• We had a season with a new coach that was clearly over his head, especially after Joe D’s “BIG” trade
• Dyess shipped and thankfully returned
• A non existent rotation.
• Sixth man beef!
• Small ball
• Defense disappearance
• Offensive difficulties
• Rodney Stuckey wall
• Kwame Brown
• Arron Afflalo, despite decent play getting buried.
• Cap space
• Hooper doing something….
• A losing season
• An end to a Sellout Streak
• The disappearance of Amir Johnson and Jason Maxiell
• Barley making it to the post season
• Chuck Daly’s fight with Cancer
• The loss of a Great Man, Pistons owner Bill Davidson.

Should I go on?

The only bright spot I can think of right now is guy like Will Bynum making a name for himself after a long road to try to live his dream in the NBA. And helping Detroit along the way.

The Pistons compiled a video with a few bright spots, but does it take away the negative?

Now it’s your turn, vent in the comments.

Here’s the April 2009 Pistons Schedule Wallpaper with the home games in red and the away games in blue.
Download the April schedule wallpaper in

1024 x 768 -1280 x 800 – 1280×1024 and 1680 x 1050 resolutions.

First Prize: The Arron Afflalo Signed, and pretty sweet I might add Pistons shirt.
Nicolette Leppek
Comstock Park, MI

Craig Downing
Williamston, MI

If somehow you didn’t know by now I’m giving away Arron Afflalo signed swag!  I’m choosing a winner tonight, so you still have a chance to win. Everything you need to know is right here along with a video of me getting Arron to sign for us.

Remember….following me on Twitter makes it easier to win.

As you may or may not know by now, I’m giving away some Arron Afflalo autographed goodies from my trip to see him at his appearance at ABC Warehouse.  As I mentioned yesterday, if you follow me on Twitter winning may be a lot easier than it has to be.

What do you win…..

First Prize – his sweet Autographed Arron Afflalo Pistons thermal shirt.

Second Prize – an Autographed Arron Afflalo picture.

You can see him sign both things for me in the this video I took. Funny thing about me and my videos, I have been know to cause a bit of trouble wherever I go, just ask the good folks at the Palace.  So when I headed over to ABC Warehouse I decided to be on my best behavior.

Arron seems to be a quite guy so I figured I would tell him what I was doing and wish him well.  So I walk up and ask him if he knows me.  Who does that? Why would he know me? I meant to say do you know the site, but it came out me first….what an idiot.  I didn’t even realize how stupid I sounded until I watched the tape.  Maybe I was thrown off because of this.

More playing time would be nice Arron!  And by the way Thanks!

Arron was great, and now I’m handing the stuff over to you.

I will be randomly picking a winner from the CORRECT entries.  Just answer two questions correctly and you could be a winner.

What was Arron Afflalo’s high school teams nickname?

What is the name of the outstanding defensive player award Arron won while at UCLA?

Send the answers to me at
need4sheedcontest@gmail.com

• Subject Line:  Showtime at the AFFLALO
• Your Name
• Correct Shipping Address
• And your Email Address

If you follow me on twitter this should be easy!

I will annonce the Winners on Tuesday March 10th!

Yesterday by chance I opened up an ABC Warehouse sales paper that was sitting on top of my kitchen table for days and noticed that in an hour Arron Afflalo would be appearing not 3 miles away from me signing autographs.

So what did I do?

First I made sure everyone who follows me on Twitter know where Aaron would be and then I took my camera, and a brand new Pistons shirt and headed over to ABC.

Waiting in line I found out not only is Arron quite a nice young man but he’ll sign your baby if you ask him nicely. (Video)

So Arron Signed a coupe of things for me and I will be giving them away on Need4Sheed.com. Want to know how to win?

Just start following me on Twitter and I will give you clues on how to win a Arron Afflalo Signed Pistons Shirt and Arron Afflalo Signed Photo.

In the latest episode of the Pistons running series Teammates we learn who the messiest Piston is.  And many of you know the ones closest to you can be quite brutal at times. Does Amir Johnson smell like cat litter?

Its funny, I always pictured him as a puppy dog person.

This is starting to get a little tiring to write… after a third quarter of total domination by the Pistons they managed to once again blow a 15 point lead and the game to the Chicago Bulls.  This 107-102 loss to the Bulls is is a textbook example of everything that has been going wrong with the Pistons all season long.

Key Points:

• How much more can Pistons fans take?  From the comments in the game thread and in the chat room, not much.
• Too much talent to play the way this team is, period.  We expect losses, but it’s as if they are playing a game of NBA2K9 and think they can just hit restart when the game isn’t going their way (and yes I admit to doing that).
• Blame whomever you want, we have a coach who’s clearly in over his head, players that look lost, a system that doesn’t work, an unwillingness to change that system that doesn’t work, a defense that looks brilliant at times and then on the next play looks like a disaster… and to top it off when they can’t score they don’t make an effort to get the ball in the paint for easy buckets! We could go on and on.
• Think Joe is on the phone right now?
• 15 down with 8:09 to play…was it Chicago or did the Pistons hand the game to the Bulls?  Me…silver platter.
• Sheed utterly dominating, knocking down shots over everyone, and the Pistons stop going to him.
• 95 Points off the Bench for Richard Hamilton in the last three games for the Pistons.
• Rip led Detroit off the bench, but his 30 point game performance was all for nothing.

Photo/Getty Images

• Is Curry actually calling a play in the last seconds of the game when Detroit has the ball down three?  Rip to the hole for the dish to Dyess is ok if it works, and if Rip doesn’t waste most of the clock. Perfect ending to the storm.
• Richard Hamilton Highlights.
• 15 careless turnovers.
• And why the home whites in Chicago?
• As for those of you who wanted to hear Curry’s post game comments, they were nothing life-altering.  He just looks like a deer in headlights who has no idea what to say.  Kind of like when you break your mom’s favorite vase and have to own up to it.  You stand there dumbfounded for a moment trying to grasp for words.
• And what happened to the Defense in the fourth quarter?  Nocioni was blowing by Tay like he was invisible.
• The only enjoyable part of the game…..Anytime Joakim Noah can be made to look like a fool by anyone other than himself can always put a big smile on my face. Tayshaun blocked the grin off Noah’s face.
• (more…)