Kwame Killed Our City
or Why the Pistons Will Have Another Disappointing Season
The Pistons are set to kick off the 2008-2009 season, five years after they won the title in 2004. It’s been four straight years of underachieving and early playoff exits, yet the Pistons still carry themselves with a swagger that says ‘We’re the best team in the league.’ Why? What have they done? Do they know something we don’t? Winning one title does not give the Detroit the right to carry on the way they have. Sure, back in 2004 the Stones could turn it on whenever they wanted. They were a second-half team; they might struggle in the first half, but they would get their act together at halftime, and turn it around, dominate the second half, and win the game. But they’ve gotten older, everyone around them has gotten younger, and yet the Pistons think they can do the same thing. Four years of playoff disappointment has proven them wrong, yet they still believe they have what it takes to win.
Well, I don’t, and here’s why. Joe Dumars got a lot of credit for putting together the 2004 title team, and for good reason. That team was one of the best teams the NBA had seen in a long time. But the NBA has become inherently an individual sport, as evidenced by the Jordan teams of the 90s, and now Kobe, Shaq, Wade, and LeBron. These guys are X-factors that can take over a game at a moment’s notice, hitting clutch shots and playing shutdown defense. The Pistons don’t have a guy like that, and it hurts them. They need a pure scorer, one who can take over late in games; a guy who can put them over the top.
(Note: Carmelo Anthony or Dwyane Wade could have been this player for the Pistons. Instead, Dumars drafted Darko with the #2 pick. Until this offseason, this was just about the only knock against him.)
Yet, despite all this, Dumars has stood pat for the most part. Despite losing to LeBron’s Cavaliers in 2007, when he took over in the 4th quarter and overtime of game 5, scoring 29 points, Dumars didn’t go out and try to get a pure scorer. Instead, he started the 2007-2008 season with essentially the same team. And after losing to (nay, getting dominated by) the Celtics, Dumars kept the team intact once again. The only significant offseason moves were firing Flip Saunders (I agree with this, just not with the coach he hired. More on this in a moment.), and signing Kwame Brown.
Detroit already tried a meaningful relationship with a guy named Kwame (see Kilpatrick, Mayor), and it was an abomination. This relationship won’t turn out any better. Kwame Brown is one of the laziest, softest, and lamest big men in the game. He’s missed 145 career games due to injury, and is probably the worst #1 overall pick since Michael Olowokandi. His career averages are 7.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. And he positively shrinks in big moments. This is not the guy I want seeing crunch-time minutes in a crucial playoff game. And if he can’t perform in that situation, then why did the Pistons sign him? Their biggest problem over the last three years has been relying on a reserve tank that just isn’t there anymore and wilting when the game is on the line. Yet they go out and overpay for one of the most unclutch (yes, I just made that word up) players out there. Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, does it?
This Pistons team is old, folks. There’s no way around it. The average age of the starters is 31.5 years old. By comparison, the Celtics starters average 28 (remember, people called this team old during the playoffs last year), and the Cavaliers average just 24.5 years old. The Pistons are senior freaking citizens! Dice and Sheed are 34, Chauncey is 32, and Rip is 30. Tayshaun is the only starter under 30, and he’s 28. They need an injection of some youth and enthusiasm in a hurry. Sure, they’ve got some young bench talent, like Rodney Stuckey and Jason Maxiell, but until the core group retires or is traded, they will receive the brunt of the playing time.
Speaking of enthusiasm, it seems as if this team has just been going through the motions lately. And by doing so, they make stupid mistakes. Chauncey is not an elite point guard anymore. His assist-to-turnover ratio has been steadily slipping since 2004, and he launches ill-advised shots at the worst possible times. Sure, when he was younger and he buried those shots he was vindicated, but heaving 30 footers with 19 seconds on the shot clock is not an ideal shot under any circumstances.
Over the last five years, as Rasheed Wallace goes, so go the Pistons. Well, he’s finally gone downhill in a bad way. As long as he’s still around, it’s only a matter of time before the rest of the team tumbles down the hill with him. Don’t get me wrong, I love Sheed. I just think his time in Detroit has come and gone. When the Pistons traded for him in 2004, I was one of the first to declare that they would win the title that year. Lo and behold, they did. (Before you think I’m calling myself the next Nostradamus, keep in mind that I’m about 4-57 in picking major sports champions over the last ten years. So there.) But Sheed’s act is tired. He’s a whiner, and while that may have been endearing and a sign of intensity and caring back in 2004 and 2005, now it’s just annoying. And he’s got the rest of the team doing it. Fans and teams around the league hate how much the Pistons complain about calls. Based on the players’ reactions over the last five years, I think they believe they haven’t committed a single foul over that span.
My solution? Joe Dumars should have packaged Sheed and Chauncey and gotten out of them what he could. Baron Davis was available this offseason. So was Elton Brand. Both of them would have been huge upgrades at the one and four positions. Did you see how Baron Davis single-handedly willed his team to a series win over the heavily favored Mavericks two years ago? The guy’s a beast. I’m sure that trade would never have happened straight-up, but as a general manager trying to put a championship-caliber team on the floor, don’t you have to at least entertain trade offers for the two players most responsible for killing your team over the last three years?
Michael Curry has been a fine assistant coach, with a decent track record. But shouldn’t his introduction to the big time be for a lower caliber team? To put it another way, shouldn’t the Pistons have gone out and gotten a premier coach? Remember this: the Pistons won a title in 2004 with Larry Brown, a Hall-of-Famer in both the NBA and NCAA, and the only coach to win titles in both leagues. He also took them to the NBA Finals the following year, ultimately losing in seven games to the Spurs, who are a modern dynasty. After he left to go to the Knicks (This was the reason he sleepwalked through the 2005 playoffs, because he was so distracted by the media saga surrounding the NY job. Had he been wholeheartedly in it for the Pistons, they probably repeat.), Dumars hired Flip Saunders, a career .485 coach. The players never really played for Flip. You could see it in their demeanor. They thought after winning a title and barely losing in seven games the next, that Bugs Bunny could coach the team and they would win. They never had respect for Flip, and it showed.
So why are they going to respect Curry? Truth is, they probably won’t. The cocky attitude and false sense of entitlement that plagues this Piston team will continue, unless Joe D hires a coach that can bring them back to earth. That said, who should they have hired? The answer is obvious. Bill Laimbeer. One of the most intense individuals on the planet, and physically imposing as well, he’d be a perfect fit. Lamb is legendary in Detroit, and he’s one hell of a coach as well. Granted, I know it’s the WNBA (I say this because it’s a totally different game; I’m not going to get into the girls vs. boys debate here), but the man’s won three titles in five years! He’s got a stellar track record, he commands respect, and he’s been there before, on the floor and in the trenches. As a key member of the two-time title winning Bad Boys, he knows what it takes to win a championship. Plus, he played with Joe Dumars. Why this hasn’t happened yet is beyond me. Michael Curry? Really?
So what does this all mean for the 2008-2009 Detroit Pistons? Another 50 win regular season, maybe even a Central Division title, and another frustrating playoff exit. This team has hit its ceiling, and is currently on the way down. If you really think the Pistons have a chance this year, you’re kidding yourself. They’re trotting out the same team that has failed to win the last three years. The only difference between this year and last? Kwame Brown (laughable, man) and Michael Curry (not really an upgrade, not really a downgrade. Sidegrade? Yes, I made that word up, too.) Oh yeah, and the core of the team is another year older and another step slower. Anyone who thinks the Pistons are going to accomplish anything of note this season is going to be woefully disappointed.
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