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.
i smell a sweep
[img]http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/4753/sweep.jpg[/img]
haha just had to make it
last time rasheed will be in a piston jersey.
gotta watch.
Natlie a simple name change for your site if we lose Roscoe. “The NEED” or the “Rollin ‘Stons” I like the 2nd 1 better. or do u have a name already?
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/161054-chris-bosh-to-detroit-for-tayshaun-prince
prince is no longer untouchable and he might be traded this year for bosh
…sigh…
pistons last playoff game… time to say goodbye to a former NBA champion and elite team.
bye bye sheed!
This year has had its downs. Actually its had a lot of downs. But looks guys, i mean, after something ends, something new starts, this could be the start of bringing back that elite team we know so well. So get your heads up. Enjoy this game and laugh. The Pistons will be here forever but we wont. So enjoy while it last
IVERSON313 THATS BULLSHIT WHY WOULD WE TRADE PRINCE FOR CHRIS BOSH IF CHRIS BOSH IS BECOMING A FREE AGENT THIS YEAR…AND CB DOESNT WANT TO GO BACK TO TORONTO ANYWAYS SO WE COULD GET HIM NO MATTER WHAT
I think the mentality of the Cavs is to end this series today so I don’t think the pistons will catch them off guard or anything. It would be great if they could win one for the home crowd, but I’m getting ready for an old fashioned sweep, and erasing this season from my memory as quickly as possible.
listen to you guys…the cavs ae not even that good, but if curry decides to screw us over by putting sheed in at center again then we’re in trouble. the problem is sheed, he doesn’t post up or do sh$% anymore other than stay beyond the arc. it’s nice he can shoot but damn we have no one to get the those points in the paint. those easy points! i think kwame brown should start at center
i feel the pistons will rally and pull it off, because i’m a pistons fan. it will be really tough but i will watch this game…i will because i still feel now that we are better, and have been better.
sheed in his last season as a piston….well at this point i don’t want him to leave because of all he meant for us, but we need a true CENTER and not a 2guard trapped in a center’s body
That’s probably the best thing Curry has said since he become coach O_o.
It’s not over til it’s over.
if sheed is traded will this still be a pistons site or will it be where hes at site
Sheed isn’t going to be traded. He’s gonna be a free agent during the off-season.
I’m sure none of you care but the bulls celtics game right now is a classic. Double OT right now, too many big shots to count
Before the playoffs, Sheed sounded hopeful, like he was actually going to play like he played in the past.
Now, all I see is the same lame game he’s played all year.
I really hope that Mr. Dumars keeps his word about shaking things up, and that trading Chauncey was just the beginning. Those rumors about Rip not talking to Curry since the “benching” almost confirm that there is bad blood on the team. There is no room for that attitude in Detroit Basketball.
I’m kinda glad that we’re not doing well, because that means changes are gonna come
It’s easy to SAY all the right things. They’ve been doing it all season long and where has it gotten them?
On the other hand, that Boston/Chicago game was AWESOME. I don’t get ESPN2 so I had no choice but to watch it. It was actually nice watching two teams who wanted to win instead of just one.
Cheers to the future and the great memories this team has given us!!
Go Pistons
Sheed just gave Lebron a nice whack across the face.
Tay being untouchable is a joke to begin with. He is utter garbage. His trade value is sinking with every game.
It was all over when Chauncey left.
This was officially Joe’s biggest mistake ever.
I would have fired him already. Or I would have fired him when he even considered trading Chaunc….No, I would have fired him when he let Ben Wallace get away.
@Amber
It was all over when LeBron destroyed them in 2006. It’s just so obvious now that even people like you believe it.
Emotion has no place in the business of basketball. And you rarely make moves for the fans. In essence, fans aren’t intelligent. They only want something to get behind. Whether it’s a young player, an identity, a favorite player, something like that. Winning helps too. The same people killing the Pistons now will be right there when they are a good team again. The Pistons already have a great reputation within the community, they are allowed to make the fans “suffer” as they try to build them a winning team.
Do you really think if we kept Wallace anything would of happened? He doesn’t even start anymore, and is a waste at the salary he is making…
And with Chauncey, they weren’t beating Cleveland or Boston with him anyways…so why not clear him out get some money to rebuild for the future…
I’d rather of seen this then another run with an old core that would underachieve again…
what a fucking joke rasheed is. 0-7 when the series is on the line. the series we lost in the past, he was a liability (san antonio, not in the huddles, cleveland last year). he’s lost his edge and he was a disapointment all year long. he can no longer produce and he’s become lethargic, settling for chucking up 3 pointers, which he also can’t make anymore. just let him go and get nothing in return. at least maxxx will get more minutes. go draft a center, like i’ve been saying all year. maybe we can trade him for brook lopez or someone. so long, screw up.
bright spots… anonio mcdyess has the heart of a lion and will bynum should be the captain. stucky ain’t shit. he’s a backup pg all day.
when was the last time you saw a center with no free throw attempts… what a pussy.
does someone want to tell me why the fuck kwame didn’t play today? he had like 3 or 4 blocks last time. at least we could have used the defense to clog up the middle.
A Long Summer..
It’s finally over
Standing ovation for MCDyess please. He has been the only true blue piston for the whole season! He has bled for Detroit since he got here, a class act indeed. I hope we don’t lose him to free agency next season, but, if he can’t get an ice here then by all means, he should join a contender. He deserves it, and the Piston’s organization owes him that.
and its over so what now…
This sweep reminds me of how the Bulls swept the Pistons in 91(I think?) then the era ended. Hopefully the Pistons will be back next season with the free agent signings and trades.
[image]http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/4753/sweep.jpg[/image]
Did anyone see the look on Sheed’s face while he was on the bench? Is he done with B-ball for good?
3 for 24 from our core guys. what a waste of 100 total minutes. Kwame-Afflalo-Herrmann could have made it a game.
Big question: why did they miss so many open shots?
This loss hasn’t been that hard, comparing it to the ones, the last couple of years, where we were truly the better team, but now, I have to say, we were blown out, and it hurts, but I can take the pain.
An offseason of changes, or just like last year (change will happen) but almost everything stayed.
I think we will see new faces, but it all depends if we can resign a couple of guys, in particular one, that is the most talented, and I think we all know who this guy is.
Love
Franz
I’m a person from Toronto and I’ll tell you 2 truths: Toronto Sucks and well…Detroit does now..but seriously..this years FA class isnt good and ive heard this a lot: detroit is known to be the armpit of america cuz its a terrible city. No one likes to come to detroit because its just not a solid place to live in. If big names such as CB4 or Dwade or Lebron might even CONSIDER moving…they would consider moving to big cities like Chicago, NY, NJ because they can become bigger celebrities there.
Live and Die with Sheed, we won the the championship with him. We got burned with him.
i hope, MC not coming back next season,, pls.
Having MC as a coach at the beginning of the season was the start of the fall of the pistons
meraj dats true thAT we suck but what you tryin to say??????
are you tryin to say people are scared to come out in the d or something???? or are you saying that there arent no celebrities like there are in hollywood?
either way chicago, ny, and nj are all ghetto and their not big cities only ny is!
Meraj, No professional player lives in Detroit. They live in the many wealthy subburbs of Detroit. Take a quick trip to Bloomfield Hills for one, there are mansions everywhere. Just like Toronto, Toronto sucks but it has great places to live. Trust me the players know about the great places in Southeast Michigan, they stay there when they’re in town.
As for the Pistons, they we’re beat by an elite team. It was going to end sometime guys, deal with it. Lebron has officially gotten my vote for top 10 of all time. I’m a die hard Pistons fan, but I’m also a die hard NBA fan, so I’m willing to admit greatness when I see it.
First off, thank you Natalie for this website. I have enjoyed it now for a couple of years–especially your comments and insights. It has also allowed me from time to time to speak Piston basketball–something that is hard to do in Louisiana because I don’t know any Piston fans down here. It was a good six years before this year. This year has been difficult to watch (or mainly in my case, read), but we knew change was coming at the end of last season and definitely 2 games into this season. Time to move on. Our core guys we knew little about 7 years ago and look how well they turned out. But now it is time to get new guys and start a new chapter. We might have some already on the roster, but big changes need to occur.
I know Tay was hurt for this series and Rip is a streaky shooter and don’t know where ‘Sheed was. As it has already been mentioned–biggest game of the year to stay playing and those 3 were 3 for 24 for 8 points. ‘Sheed 0-7, 0 points. Not exactly how I would like to remember his last game (if it was his last game and quite honestly, I think it should be). I am sure this group of veterans was hard to coach–so I am giving MC a pass for this season. Hopefully it was a learning experience for him also, like I hope it was for Stuckey, Afflalo, Bynum, etc. ‘Dice, you were terrific. Thank you for your effort all year long and your decision to re-sign with the team. I wish there was a better outcome–but maybe next year?
And to the rest of the people I read on this sight, thanks for your comments (although I wish a little less direct vulgarity or calling certain individuals personal names would occur less frequently ’cause I like to share this site with my sons–but I know sometimes emotions get the best of us).
Natalie, I wish you the best this summer and hope you are better now (after that somewhat unexplained “time off” that had me a bit worried for you). I look forward to reading your comments in the future.
Until the start of next season–go Pistons!
bye sheed bye tay bye rip …
hello new team
how many months without pistons??
7 months?
rey,
good luck with that, Joe D can either say its only his first year or he can stay because their tight.
I just want to to thank you all as well as the Pistons for giving us one hell of a run.
I’m not going anywhere and neither is the site…SHEED or Not.
I will still be updating as much as I can and I apologize for my layoff this last month (and longer) I know I didn’t explain much, but I had health issues that didn’t go as well as expected so I’m not 100% just yet.
Its going to be an eventful offseason and I’ll do my best to keep you up to date all Summer long.
Thanks Pistons fans and to take something away from the Tigers…
“Bless you Boys”
Thanks Nat! Enjoyed reading the blog this year.
WE THANKK UUUUUUUU NATALIE
Thanks Nat!
Thanks Nat. for all that you have done this past Season!
Yep, thanks Nat, hope you get feeling better.
And thank you Detroit Pistons, hope you get feeling better too. It’s been a great run, I’m excited to see the changes this off season.
Hey Maxaholic that was a great response up there to me…i really didnt know that thanks for that info…great sports fans are those ppl who appreciate the whole game and who arent ignorant…we need more fans like u!!!
Sweep!!! Bye Bye Sheed… Hope you find a great team next season. I still believe that you can still be an All Star calliber next season.
I think Joe Dumars & the Pistons made some big mistakes this year…
1.The Billups vs Iverson trade w/c is a big mistake made by him.
2. Hiring a bad Coach. Bad offensive and defensive strategies by Curry(Replace him!!! They should hire Jeff Van Gundy next season and replace Curry. lol).
3.A bad decision by Coach Curry. He should have made Iverson the starting point guard and not putting him in the bench(which discourages Iverson not to play anymore with the pistons). He should not have made Stuckey the starting guard cause stuckey doesn’t know how to be a point guard (even though he can score for the team) and he doesn’t play defense at all.
Thanks Natalie for keeping this up. I love this site.
It seemed to me like Tay and Sheed could not wait for this last game to come. They wanted this dissappointing season to end. Tay hung his head almost the entire series and Sheed showed zero emotion. Dumars has a lot of work to do.
Another season over, glad we have the best fan site on the net to track our team 🙂 Keep up the great work Natalie.
Yup Nat i hope you get feeling better soon! and i cant thank you enough for that great Blog!!! Damn what a season and i feel sorry for DICE that men has so much Heart a true Warrior! 26p and 10 reb’s once again he was giving us his best he had deserved a much longer season damn!!!
Thanks for the memories sheed. Natalie i enjoy all the posts and updates, i will always be a piston and sheed fan. Now its time to root for chauncy. BBBB BILLUPS
You rock, Natalie.
–NEED4WILL–
When Nat gets back to full strength I wanna see her lay in into Dumars and Curry, and perhaps even advocate a Curry firing.
Maybe even advocate trading Tay and Rip.
Tay, Rip, and Sheed all are coming off injuries. That is one of the big reasons for their seemingly uninspired play. I think losing Chauncy was also a big part of it. It is probably time for the big three to move on or at least take supporting roles on this team. But they gave us a great run and many trips to the ECF plus two to the finals themselves. I hope we make some good moves in the offseason and that we continue to be a team that plays “Team” ball without some “superstar” in the mix. We are the Statue of Liberty of bball, “Give me your poor, hungry, huddled masses…” that’s who we need to aquire for next year. Hungry as hell players who don’t care about personal glory but just want to form a team that kicks ass, just like the 03-04 Detroit Pistons!!
Thanks Nat for working so hard on updating us about the Pistons and I hope you get better soon. What a season it has been!!! It is truly an end of era. Words could not articulate what I’m feeling at the moment.
FIRE CURRY:)….And Joe, please get us legitimate basketball players…Keep Rip and Tay and gut the rest of the team. Please get us one of the top 4 draft picks some how…it would be nice to have Hasheem Thabeet, Blake Griffin, Ricky Rubio or someone with real potential. Please FIRE CURRY ASAP. I mean, does he have some evidence against you, I mean, I still dont see any real reason why he was given a job when so many much more highly qualified people are around (Jeff Van Gundy, Avery Johnson, Mike Fratello, Dave Cowens, Terry Porter, hell, even Isiah Thomas would have been better…)…please get rid of these projects…Amir Johnson, Maxiell, Walter Sharpe, etc, and replace them with legitimate NBA players…I really wish u hadn’t traded the heart of your team for a cancer, leaving a corpse like we have for a team now….
Detroit is the greatest city in North America for an athlete to come to. If you win here, you will be revered forever. If you lose, then we will pick you up and support you…Our city might not be the greatest, but our suburbs are better than 99% of the places out there. Hockey players hunger to be Red wings…and some day soon, hoopsters will return to Detroit….
Natalie, thank you for all of your work and interest in our team, and on behalf of all of your readers, we appreciate you 🙂
I always knew I should have started Need2GetRidofSheed.com.
Guy is the opposite of winner. He gave Detroit 4 months of playing hard and spent the next 4 years no-showing.
Good riddance.
Thanks for the great blog Natalie. It has make being a fan during this era all that much more enjoyable.
Looking forward to how things pan out.
Thanks for all that you do Nat. Here’s to a better season next year. 🙂
Whats the deal with Bynum? I have only seen the Pistons play a couple of times since he started putting up numbers, is he really that good? On paper he seems to have been our best player over the past 30 or so games. Does that statement even pass the laugh test or is he just padding his stats against opposing benches? Is he a challenge to Stuckey in the future?
Id like to keep Rip. The others can be traded.
We have the whole summer to talk about trades and free angents, for now let’s enjoy the rest of the Playoffs. I for one, will be rooting for Denver to win it all!
wat an end to an era. i will miss these pistons. nd Go chauncey!!!!!!!!! hez going to take denver to finals!!!
Well now its GO NUGGETS! Billups is still a Piston to me, so that’s where my playoff hopes are now, given Pistons won’t be back till Fall.
I think this season couldve gone better had they defined a rotation. I don’t see why stuckey is starting pg I seen him as sg. I would had bynum rip tay sheed and kwame. Stuckey couldve came off the bench and learned to play sg from rip. That way when rips contract is up stuckey has learned and seen some things. Little late now tho. So go billups! Beat LA!
I wish we could have an interview with a piston insider, and ask him what he thinks about this summer.
Yes Detroit isn’t the prettiest city, but look at Billups, Hamilton, and even Wallace (not anymore) but they all said, they want(ed) to retire here, because they feel a special connection.
When you live in Michigan, then you leave the state/ city, believe me, you do miss something.
We don’t have a great city, downtown is more compared to San Andreas GTA game, than to NYC, but this place does have something special.
The problem is, we first need to get the players here.
Thank you Natalie for this site, first thing I do every morning, is come on this blog and see what is new.
We do have great fans.
Hi Natalie,
What will happen to Need4Sheed if Sheed won’t be back in Detroit next season?
Thank you 4 having this site 4 Detroit Fans! (“,)
it’s fun while it last..hehe
let’s just w8 nxt season..hope there are better things to come in detroit.. i’m still a big fan of detroit pistons
well like i say “everything is not permanent”
as for now i;m rooting 4 chauncey and his denver nuggets
hehe
and oh
dont u dare say that jason maxiell is nothing.. he is one hell of a player he plays hard defense
hope he is still here nxt season
I think the saddest thing for me yesterday was hearing all the Cleveland fans in The Palace. That was sickening to me, a true sign that people know an era is ending.
I wonder if Dice sat in his locker stall after the game thinking to himself “Man, I should have stayed with Chauncey in Denver.” He’s the only one on the team I feel true pain for right now, because he is the only player on that team that gave 110% EVERY night. I tip my hat to you Antonio, you deserved better. 🙁
Tom..Will Bynum is the real deal. I think he is going to be extremely important to this team in the future if they play him right. The most important thing is getting next seasons team together immediately and as soon as possible having them practice and play together to form the bond that it seems we never had this year. I look forward to seeing Will, Rodney, Aaron, Kwame, McDyess, and Max. They all hustled and cared this year and deserve a spot on the roster.
For everyone feeling bad for McDyess: Let’s hope he addresses with his teammates the apparent lack of enthusiasm, focus, and muscle. He has every right to call them out on their shortcomings.
It was very mature and honorable that he played the way he did, though others took an early vacation.