So it may not have finished the way we would have wanted. It’s hard to watch your team go out like wounded soldiers with no fight left. It’s even harder to watch your enemy celebrate their victory in “Your House,” but you know what? I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
All good things must come to an end and this Pistons era as we know it just has. We saw the signs, we knew it was coming, it’s difficult, but we will be just fine. Just ask any fans from “Bad Boys” era.
We watched this bunch grow in front of our eyes and accomplish things we most never thought they could. A team with a traveling point guard that never found a home until he landed in Detroit, a ‘Froed defensive menace that couldn’t knock down a free throw to save his life, a masked man who didn’t fulfill his potential until he landed in the Motor City, a skinny undersized small forward who wasn’t supposed to be an “NBA” because of his body and a “technical” big man that wore out his welcome out West.
Add a coach with a past, a “Memo”, someone Big and Nasty, Elden down low, a Hunter, Mike James (the non lyrical one), and the Human Victory Cigar.
With that….we got this.
Who would have thought?
Pistons Fans!
So maybe they should have won more than just one ring, does that make it any less special?
And so what if those who were left of that special bunch didn’t go out on their best foot, they still made this city proud.
We look forward to new beginnings.
And we feel for those who gave more than their heart.
Photo/Getty Images
Thank you Boys, you have done this city and all its fans proud, whether you get the recognition you deserve as an Easter Conference Powerhouse or not, we appreciate you.
Good Times……
Good Times indeed. I just think it’s sad. Sad that after the last 8 years we’ve fired every single coach for what was called “underachieving”. For the past 8 years, no one has under achieved more that Michael Curry. Transition year or not, he under achieved & no one out side of the fans are talking about it. We lost most of our games in the 4th qtr. He never had a set 4th qtr rotation or even set plays. Yes this team is old, yes they were hurting & yes they played with no passion. But isn’t part of the coaches job to motivate his players? Rick Carlisle was fired for no real reason. Larry Brown admitted his interest in one day coaching the Knicks & instead of convincing him to stay through his contract we let him go. Flip had no bench so he road our starters til their wheels literally fell off. But the common denominator is all 3 coaches got the team to over achieve. So I ask you, why is Curry getting a second chance? I understand transition & I under stand we were ailing the entire season. But so were most teams in the NBA this year. Utah is the West Coast version of the Pistons. Booze, D Will & Memo missed a total of 73 games this season. Their big 3. Rip Sheed & AI missed a total of 62 games. The Lakers & Celtics lost 2 very important pieces in Bynum & KG. Still they all won! Even when we were in a 4 way race for that 5th spot, Mia & Chi made minor moves that upgraded their bench & their team significantly. Phi lost a coach & a superstar in Brand in the same year & here they are taking Orl to the brink. Orl loses their All star pg & go find a suitable replacement in Rafer Alston. The point is, every team either adjusted to imporve their teams or had a coach that kept things afloat. Tapscott, Del Negro & Spolstra! All motivated their teams to over achieve & all 3 have their teams poised to move past the higher seeds. Curry had more talent, more time & did nothing, yet he gets a 2nd chance. I will remember the good times & continue supporting this team. But Curry is going to show us that their are nothing but bad times ahead. I predict, if we don’t get a superstar this Summer, that The Bobcats or Nets, will take our spot in the playoffs next season while we continue to go through another wasted “transition” year.
We fall down, but we get up.
Somehow, I doubt McDyess thought he was shortening his season by opting not to play for the Nuggets.
I feel for that guy. I hope his next contract overpays him.
(Damn, those Nuggets would have been good if he stayed)
we will be back joe d knows what hes doin
DD3, while I agree with you on coaches did you really think that this season with Curry at the helm was going to be that productive? I sure didn’t and when we saw the change that was made with the trade it was a recipe for disaster.
While I believe he must be held accountable, he was put in a tough position. Sadly he’s probably going to coach us through another season of adversity and when Joe gets the personnel he wants he’ll get a big ticket coach.
Like N1ck said…we fall down but we get up. I like that, lets just hope it doesn’t take too long.
We have a lot of young talent that we can build around plus a lot of cap room opening to get some new vets. Once we find the right mix of vets and young talent we will be to an elite team once again. I am not sold on if Curry is the coach for us but I believe we need to give him more time to see.
I can’t wait til next year. Lets fish around and really get some good players that can work with our starters. I like the way True Blue Pistons put it…
“Give the Pistons a credible young scoring threat in their frontcourt and Rip Hamilton is again the three-time All-Star he was coming into this season.”
I can’t wait.
let’s just hope that dyess doesn’t leave us, and rip and tay finish their careers here. i’ll be sad when sheed leaves, but his laziness is contagious and maybe they will be hungry again.
i miss the old pistons. its too bad they didn’t win more championships these past 8 years. But your right Natalie, I wouldn’t trade those memories for the world 🙁
It wasn’t the best season, but I was happy as hell to have such a great team for as long as we did. Don’t hate on the players for a bad year, they gave us several great years and all without a single star player in the eyes of everyone else. Sheed was a great player and brought alot of grimey fun to the D. All I can say is that even though we had a bad year, at least they made a playoff push. Thats not an easy task with Curry calling the plays. Dyess was top notch this year for us and Rip was extremely mature by accepting a sixth man role. I wouldn’t give up one minute of the time we had Sheed, he was one of our smartest defenders down low. He only suffered this year because he had zero help down low. Hopefully we can move Amir and Stuck and give the team to Bynum. And I’ll be praying all summer that Curry gets the Axe along with that Douche Keith Langlois from Pistons.com. Sorry for the long post, probably the last one of the year. I hope Rasheed doesn’t leave hating Detroit.
THE STATE OF THE PISTONS…..
http://detnews.com/article/20090427/SPORTS0102/904270342/1127/sports0102/State+of+the+Pistons
We just have to hold on to Dyess. He’s not in his prime, but he can still give us 20 mins. of pure hart and that’s a hell of a lot more than some other did.
Sheed, thank you for all the good times but it’ s time to say goodbye.
DD3: I agree with you 100% that those coaches didn’t deserve to be fired (Flip will be great for the Wizards BTW). But at the same time, I would cut Curry some slack for this year. Coaches around the league new that the Pistons job was a very tough one. We don’t have one of these “coachable” superstars like Tim Duncan, who can set an example for the whole team to show up for practice, listen to the coach, play hard, etc. Once we lost Billups, it was all over… Sheed’s laziness infected the team. Anyway, I still like the roster and I think we can have a quick turnaround if we can replace Sheed with Boozer. He’ll give us the inside scoring and rebounding that we need, and we have several guys who can cover for his major weakness (shotblocking).
That pic with Chauncey made me cry. Man we were great.
Blue collar, guts, pride, spirit & leadership. That’s what’s all about. We lacked so many of those things this season it was bound to end like this. We don’t need no superstar. Joe D did it once, and he’ll do it again. I believe.
great piece. thanks for showing this team respect, while others have already forgotten everything they accomplished
looking fwd to a new beginning starting this summer
If McDyess or Sheed have to go, I would love for them to reunite with Chauncey. I would also love for Denver to win a Ship while the Pistons are rekindling their fire… Mr. Big Shot can join Kareem as the only players to win Finals MVP on two different teams. That should stamp him into Hall of Fame, you hear me Chaunce?
Change is so sad….im gonna miss what they were…
While I don’t think Curry is the right coach for this team…it wouldn’t be a productive year regardless. Stuckey hit a wall, there were more injuries than we are used to (funny how players are hurt more when the team isn’t winning?) & we lost our leader. That’s all fine. The Pistons will bounce back, and I believe in Joe Dumars 1000%. There is a certain player I hope the Pistons go after this off-season, also. Let’s face it…LeBron isn’t leaving Cleveland…especially after he wins the title there this season. I think Wade may be a stretch, also. I do see the Pistons making a move…possibly this offseason…to add Bosh to the team (Bye, bye Tayshaun?). The Pistons clearly lacked a 4th quarter scorer this season. We lacked that guy who would carry the team on its back, and lead us to victory. That player was Billups and was supposed to be Iverson…but obviously that didn’t pan out. Watching the playoffs yesterday…there is one player who would fill that role INSTANTLY & is an unrestricted free agent this summer. Welcome to the team, Ben Gordon!!! Thoughts???
ANYBODY BUT THE CAVS!!!!
TYHEY TRIES STEALIN MASON, THEY YELL “ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ” LIKE WE YELL “SHEEEEEEED”, THEIR PA TRIES TO BE LIKE MASON…THEY STOLE THE BEN WALLACE BELL [WHEN HE SCORES], THEY DO THEIR INTROS WITH FIRE, THEIR CHANTS, AND TGHEN THEY COME TO DETRROIT AND START CHEERIN FOR THE CAVS!!!!!!
*****************THE PISTONS WERE THE FIRST TEAM TO DO PRE GAME INTROS WITH FIRE****
IM GOING FOR ANYBODY BUT THE CAVS!!!!
THEY TRIED STEALIN MASON, THEY YELL “ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ” LIKE WE YELL “SHEEEEEEED”, THEIR PA TRIES TO BE LIKE MASON…THEY STOLE THE BEN WALLACE BELL [WHEN HE SCORES], THEY DO THEIR INTROS WITH FIRE, THEIR CHANTS, AND THEN THEY COME TO DETRROIT AND START CHEERIN FOR THE CAVS!!!!!!
*****************THE PISTONS
IM GOING FOR ANYBODY BUT THE CAVS!!!!
THEY TRIED STEALIN MASON, THEY YELL “ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ” LIKE WE YELL “SHEEEEEEED”, THEIR PA TRIES TO BE LIKE MASON…THEY STOLE THE BEN WALLACE BELL [WHEN HE SCORES], THEY DO THEIR INTROS WITH FIRE, THEIR CHANTS, AND THEN THEY COME TO DETRROIT AND START CHEERIN FOR THE CAVS!!!!!!
*****************THE PISTONS WERE THE FIRST TEAM TO DO THEIR PRE GAME INTRODUCTIONS WITH FIRE
Well said, Natalie. It wasn’t a great season but I’m proud of this team. Here’s to a new year and a new beginning with young talent and veteran savvy. We need to add a few pieces over the summer but this team has the foundation for a great ball club. There will be plenty of time over the summer to think about what’s best for the team so I’ll just say, I’m still and always will be a Detroit Pistons fan.
If it can’t be the Pistons then I hope it’s Chauncey that gets that ice.
The end to a great era. The detroit pistons have by far been the best team in the eastern conference and top 2 in the NBA over the last decade. Everything must come to an end. Us detroit fans rated this season as underachieved, thats because we’re used to having the best team out there every season. I wish the best of luck for chaunce out in denver man im rootin for that man. But lets take a quick look at the pistons future plans. I DO BELIEVE that richard hamilton, tayshaun prince, and rodney stuckey are untouchable. Rip and stuckey are for sure. You hear this stuff about tay going to be put on the block, but then if we lose him, we have no established one on one defender. I would love for McDyess to sign 1 last contract with our team. As for sheed, what can i say? I love sheed and i thought that sheed was the best player talent wise on our team over the last 5 years but for some reason, sheed just didnt care anymore this season. I dont know what it was, he just wasnt tuned in, and we cant have that in detroit where the fans expect nothing but the best from the pistons. I believe we can keep all of our starters and let sheed go, pick up boozer in the offseason, and make a small trade to get some bench production also, and we will be back up at the top next year.
Like you said…
Good Times….
there are more good years to come to the palace, no doubt about it. they just have to bring out good young talent, and nourish them into great players. or maybe get ‘leftover’ players, and turn them into great players, just like the 2004 championship team.sorry to say this but michael curry has to go, find a better coach.easier said than done, joe d has been there and done it, so it isnt impossible to establish detroit as an eastern powerhouse again.time will tell, lets just be patient. Tim from England
Nat….just a thought, because you have such a HUGE following of great people…maybe we could pool some $$$ together, and buy Dyess a great ring…not a championship ring, but a great ring from the fans who love him, and appreciate all that he has done for us!!! Not sure how to go about that…….
Dyess will get one with another team next year:
http://www.freep.com/article/20090427/SPORTS03/904270368/1051/SPORTS03/McDyess%20still%20gettin%20%20it%20done
I had about all I could take of last nights game after I literally watched sheed move out of the way for LB to dunk the ball. He obviously did not care at all anymore. Out of all the people on this team Will Bynum is the only one I want to see on this team %100 next season. Hopefully some gm’s will come knocking this summer with some great deals. Let the rumor mill begin.
great post! very good perspective piece from pistons.com: http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/truebluepistons.html
i am truly surprised and i expected so much more. but im still proud to be a pistons fan! Joe D. will have options this summer. and we will be in the thick of things come October. it will interesting to see if Rip and Tay stay. Sheed will have to ponder as well…. however, i realize its the players taht must produce on the court — but i get the sense that MC is not fully respected or ready to be a head coach. i like the guy, but i never noticed efficient offensive sets or a solid defensive set. looking at other teams one can notice more offensive structure and a variety of options. it would have been nice to see Avery “country” Johnson as our head coach.
anyway, good run but it aint over. Boozer and hopefully another asset. btw… am i the only one that thinks Stuckey is a combo guard and would kill if he played under that position. BYNUM! the kid has some go… great to see that we will have a solid back up coming off the bench….
you do know that it takes years to rebuild right? even with those key pieces and salary cap. Joe D you are the Jerry Krause of the pistons. ah well Go Nuggets
Let the rebuilding begin..first course of action…….Fire Curry!!!!!
It was a good run. We should consider ourselves lucky in that we did get 1 championship, but the sad thing is this team with all the talent assembled should have won 2 or 3 more. I guess all good things must come to an end and now we as fans must look forward and not back. We can reflect and know that this squad of Pistons did achieve great things but never quite lived p to their potential. But then again, how many teams actually live up to their potential? Who knows maybe things will tilt forward for us this summer if we can manage to sign Boozer away from the Jazz or get another big man and let the Rodney Stuckey era in Detroit get off to a better start . One thing is for sure though: in order to move forward we have to do so with a coach who has the backing of his players and for that reason the Michael Curry experiment needs to end. The one guy who all us fans truly feel sorry for is Antonio McDyess. Hopefully he will be back, but if not he had a great run here and he has absolutely none of the blame. He always played his hardest no matter if it was the NBA Finals or a preseason game. This was a bitter end to the year, but next should surely yield better results. Go Pistons in 2009-2010 and go Wings, get Detroit some redemption this year!
So is the name of the site going to change now that there really is no need for Sheed???
one of the best articles written by on need4sheed. thanks for this it helps me stay piston ture and keep beliving.
Good bye to an era, to a team that made me fall in love with pro-basketball, made me believe that if you work hard and want it enough, even an underdog can win the NBA championship. What ever happens to these guys, I wish them all the best including Sheed.
I will not watch the NBA as much any more because it has become the sport of “so called superstars” where lazy players get pay alot of money to not play and superstars can get more foul calls in one day against the whole other team. Good luck selling your stupid stars, Stern, in this economy, let’s see you try to sell your tickets.
sheed u can go, cause u dont show heart every night. but dyess cmon man stay please dyess. we need ur leadership, heart, hustle, fistinest. ik this year was tough but hang with us for another year, trust joe D. but if u sign somewhere else i wont be mad at ya
I think the problem this year was this: We didn’t have a player that could act as the “middle man” between coach and team. Chauncey was always that guy. This team (Rip & Sheed) has an enormous ego. Chauncey does as well, but what sets him apart is his respect for the coach. He understand that the coach can see things the players can’t always see and visa versa. Granted he hasn’t had that chip on his shoulder in a while, but he was still the glue. He was able to communicate to Rip & Sheed without insulting their egos. That was the difference. We didn’t have that guy to hold it all together and so it fell apart. (Tay is not the kind of guy to have and ego or lead a team. He’s an excellent complimentary star, but not a leading man. Think of Scottie Pippen… he could never get those Bulls over the hump w/o Michael.) They respected Curry before he was head coach, but think about any time one of your work friends became your boss. You quickly start questioning his decisions cuz he can’t be so buddy-buddy all the time. Michael Curry never stood a chance without Chauncey in the locker room. That is why he gets the pass this season.
With that said, it NEEDED to fall apart. If we grew old with this team so would have our winning ways for years to come. We made the move at the last possible moment we could have, and as Pistons fans we should be excited about it. I love everything this team gave us for the past eight years, but we have to start looking ahead.
I’m going to enjoy the rest of the playoffs and wait in excitement to see what our next move will be. (I would love to see Paul Milsap in red and blue next season. Much moreso than Booz.
Thank you to this Pistons team.
Thank you to Natalie for this amazing blog.
Thank you late Bill Davidson for all he has done.
And thank you Joe Dumars for being a Bad Boy and now for being a proactive team president who knows when to start looking to the future before it is too late.
It’s going to be an interesting year to come!!
Get Chris Bosh and we’ll be unstoppable!!!!
Denver Nuggets 2009 Champions!!!!
Lebron is still the (Burger) King.
We will be back Im telling you all. Look at the Lakers, they dominated in the 200-2004 and stunk then came back again with a different cast, they just developed their young players.
Thanks Natalie…the piece was heartwarming..every Piston fan needed that..
Good times indeed!
I`m excited to see how this team we love, grow again, and transform into another NBA powerhouse.
I think this is more painful than breaking up with a girlfriend. We’ve had some amazing highs and some forgettable lows throughout this run. Here are just a few of the moments that come to mind when I think of the run:
– Getting Swept in the 03 ECF by the Nets. I still can’t stand Jason Kidd, K-Mart, and Richard Jefferson to this day.
– The roller coaster of emotions that was Game 5 of the 2004 Conference Semifinals. Chauncey’s half court buzzer-beater to tie the game, the 3 thrilling overtimes, and the feeling of death when the Nets pulled it out. I still cringe whenever I see or hear about Brian Scalabrine (or anyone with red hair for that matter).
– Games 6 and 7 of that same series. I’m pretty sure game 6 took 10 years off my life. Game 7 was Pistons basketball at its finest.
– “Lakers in 4, Pistons can’t score.”
– Mike James and Lindsey Hunter’s defense in the 04 Finals. They almost made me feel bad for Gary Payton.
– That feeling when the buzzer went off at the end game 5, and the Pistons completed the first 5-game sweep in NBA history. The celebration pictures will forever be embedded in my head.
– Going into Miami and winning game 7 of the 05 ECF. Every Pistons fan just knew we were going to win that game. We were arrogant, but we had a right to be.
– The inbound play at the end of game 5 of the 05 Finals. Everyone I was with was screaming “Don’t leave Horry! Don’t leave Horry!”…Sheed left Horry.
– The end of game 7 against the Spurs in that series. The worst feeling I’ve ever had as a sports fan was when they showed Dyess at the end of that game. He looked a shattered man.
– I don’t really want to talk about the 06 and 07 seasons. Those seasons remind me of the ridiculous calls that D-Wade and Lebron get. The NBA is a joke.
– I don’t really want to talk about 08 either. That season ended on my birthday. I’m still working on suppressing those memories.
-And then there was this year. Fitting that it would all end with another sweep.
It’s been a magical ride, and I also wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. Sorry that I blabbered on forever. I’m just struggling with the fact that it’s over and it’s time to begin a new era in Pistons basketball.
Maybe Curry will DIAF?
aren’t the Pistons the only team that got swept in the first round this year? hahahahaha come on lets just blame it on Iverson 😉
and didn’t some one on the Pistons say that they were the most dangerous team in the playoffs? hahahaha ya i’m sure that every1 was scared of an under .500 team and the only team that go swept in the first round well good luck next year hope every1 can find someone to blame for the team sucking dont worry i”m sure you’ll find some one 😉 maybe like the whole crappy team? ppl here talk bout how good Sheed, RIP, Prince and sometimes even Stuckey well don’t you think if they were half decent they could of won atleast one game instead of getting swept?just one game? I think all the starters here should be replaced by benchwarmers from other teams so Detroit can have a better chance to whin one whole game in the playoffs next year!! hell maybe they’ll even finish the season at .500!!
sorry if i mispelled anything i’m typing on my phone and I want to make sure ppl can read it or they might blame AI for my mispelled words 😉
YOU
MADE
ME
SAD
just like when you posted that video at the end of last year… 🙁
Its never gunna be the same again. with a lot of main players leaving or waiting to leave (hopefully tayshaun), the pistons are going to get a whole new lineup. im a little sad that sheed will leave bcuz he was my favorite. im really looking forward to what Joe D. does for the team next season. i just hope he makes some great moves and not make a trade like the AI-Billups trade.
you hae a chance to go back and get Bosh!! Do it we need a fricking inside and out guy!!
Victor see us when Iverson has another good season (which he won’t) face it your hero sucks.
Sad news: Ernie Barnes, the artist who painted ‘Sugar Shack’ (The Good Times painting), died yesterday at the age of 70. R.I.P.
Yeah baby, it ws a nice nice ride. But somethings have to change, and this are my thoughts…
1.- FIRE CURRY
2.- STUCKEY ITS A SHOOTING GUARD
3.- WE NEED A REAL POINT GUARD TO MOVE THE BALL AND FEED RIP
4.- WE NEED A GOOD INSIDE PRESENCE TO MAKE TEAMS THINK TWICE BEFORE THEY GET IN THE PAINT
5.- THE PISTONS NEED OUR SUPPORT, SOME OF YOU PEOPLE GET OF THE CAR THIS SEASON, THAT IS NOT COOL. STAY IN GOOD AND BAD TIMES.
Hopefully next year we will be fighting for that title cup again.
P.S. Dice needs to stay, Sheed, we love u and all but you need to go…
Bigshot Says:
April 28th, 2009 at 3:53 am
I think this is more painful than breaking up with a girlfriend. We’ve had some amazing highs and some forgettable lows throughout this run…
its like a death…sighs…
Great piece Natalie.
I appreciate your optimism. It helps. Really.
Then I’ll be seeing you next season Sterney when he’s on a real team! I don’t think ppl realize that he changed how he plays just to try to mold in with this crappy team it’s not that he sucks he can still be a great player but he just wasnt effective playing how the worst coach in history wanted him to play! he’s been able to take a team to the Finals almost single handidly! this Pistons team calls them self the most dangerous team in the playoffs and can’t even win one damn game so I’d rethink who is the one that really sucks Iverson is just one guy but this “whole” team can’t even win one game but still talk about how “dangerous” they are… He may not be the same AI from 5 years ago but neither are the Pistons and AI is in way better shape for next year then the Pistons are, he has a chance the Pistons are stuck with the same coach and the same players who like to talk about how good they are insead of showing it this team is going down and it’s not going to get better as long as they have Curry and the same crappy players!
Goodbye Sheed and goodbye Dyess. Despite how hard he plays, I’m glad he isn’t staying loyal to the Pistons. Give that man a championship so he can throw in the towel.
My best years as a NBA Fan, thanks need4sheed, thanks Sheed, Tay, Rip, Antonio, Ben, Lindsey, Chauncey. Thanks for a lot of Blocks, a lot of defense, of heart, of courage, of big shots, .. yes.. inclusive for a lot of technicals. Marvelous 7 years not only for me.
I am as obscessed with poker as any one person can be.
I have got a fan page over at Facebook. If you wanted to see: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Poker-Players-Only/136818223026737