NBA Draft: 2007

I will be posting here all night as I follow the NBA Draft as closely as one can from East Lansing, MI. I will be sizing up each pick and each trade as the night moves along. I will refresh the post every three picks so this post will grow in size as the night gets later, enjoy.

1st: Portland Trailblazers: Greg Oden (C) Ohio State: Can't fault them for this pick, not one bit. I think they maybe thought about grabbing Durant instead, but why? Oden is a franchise quality center, guys like that really only come along every 8-10 years, so they couldn't pass him up. I think this is like when Houston took Hakeen Olajuwon over Michael Jordan. We all know that Michael Jordan is the best player ever but you have never heard anyone rip the Rockets for taking Hakeem, same sort of situation. Sure, Durant could be a McGrady/Garnett hybrid, but Oden is a defensive force and a true post scorer, can't pass that up if you're Portland. Now Portland has Oden, LaMarcus Aldridge, Zach Randolph (for now), and Brandon Roy. A very good young nucleus.

2nd: Seattle Supersonics: Kevin Durant (GF) Texas: Another no brainer here. Durant will sell seats in Seattle (for at least one season if the team is moved) which is no easy task. The thing that scares me about Durant is that he is just so frail looking. Sure there are plenty frail guys in the NBA, but then there are great players like McGrady that have been very skilled in the NBA but just cannot stay healthy. I can see that happening with Durant. I won't put any money on it, it just scares me. That's really the only downside to this pick. Plus, this is a zero pressure pick. Portland could be ridiculed for years to come for passing on Durant, the Sonics don't have a choice, nothing wrong with being in that position. Seattle is a team poised to make lots of deals so I don't feel like I can really speculate on what that team will look like for next year. However, I can see them building around Durant. They have some really good players that are aging that they could trade off for other good young players to play along with Durant. The future is bring for the Sonics, no matter where they play.

**All I can think when they call players names is how they're mom's are all getting paid. I'd love to see someones mom say, "Sure, I'm very happy for my son, but I'm getting paid!"**

3rd: Atlanta Hawks: Al Horford (F) Florida: I like this pick even though the Hawks have now taken forwards like 19 out of the last 20 years. I think this pick triggers some trades for the Hawks and that's good. Horford has been called "the most NBA ready" of all players in this draft. I always liked him when he was at Florida because he was one of those guys when watching him that made me think "this guys could score 30 a game if he wanted to". He never did because he was such a good teammate. He's also good for Atlanta because he's always been a winner, you can't discount that in college players. Good pick for the Hawks. Lots of really good young talent and the Hawks have the 11th pick as well, we'll know more about where they are headed after that pick.

4th: Memphis Grizzlies: Mike Conley (PG) Ohio State: The comparisons to Tony Parker have been non stop since he said he was going pro and I think it's fair. I also don't know if it's totally accurate. He can't shoot like Parker and as we all know, Parker is great because he can get to the rim whenever he wants to, I don't know that Conley can do that in the NBA. Look at the best young PGs in the NBA. Paul, Williams, Parker, etc, they can all shoot the ball from the outside. That really worries me about Conley. He seems a lot like a 12ppg /7apg guy to me, which isn't awful, but is he worth the number four pick for the worst team in the NBA? Hmm. Conley has also had Oden as a teammate since 9th grade, I don't see anyone like that on the Grizzly roster, how will Conley adjust to not having a dominate teammate.

**TRADE** Looks like Boston will pick here, Boston picks up Ray Allen from Seattle. Looks like Boston will try to compete for the next couple years with Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, that sounds a lot like 45 wins to me. Boston will now pick for Seattle. **

5th: Boston Celtics: Jeff Green (F) Georgetown: So Jeff Green and Kevin Durant are going to be teammates, two quality wing guys. Green was one of those guys I really loved two years ago. This year as Georgetown started play great basketball I think he got a big overrated. Jay Bilas just said he could put up "big numbers" I don't see that. I think his ceiling is Josh Howard/Tayshaun Prince. Now that I think about it, pairing a guy like that with Kevin Durant is a pretty good move. So Seattle is starting to take shape, they now have lost their top two players (Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen) and replaced those positions with two really athletic young players. It looks like Seattle is moving in the right direction. Now they just need a healthy Robert Swift to score in the post (sort of kidding, sort of not). Go ahead and do a google image search of Robert Swift, you won't be disappointed.

**Side note, I read that the Chinese government really want Yi to go to a big market team. Milwaukee is picking next. Could get interesting.**

6th: Milwaukee Bucks: Yi Jianlian (FC) China: Uh oh. Milwaukee is about to go to war with China. I've obviously never seen the guy play. I'll just recycle what I've heard. He's a big guy who can shoot from outside and can score off the dribble. He's basically what people said about Darko when he was picked. So he sounds really good but who really knows. He is a seven footer but he's very skinny. However, I really like the Bucks, they now have him, Michael Redd, Maurice Williams, Bogut, and Villanueva. That's a lot of young talent. Now they just need to sign him. However, I wouldn't be surprised if he refused to sign so they had to trade him.

7th: Minnesota Timberwolves: Corey Brewer (GF) Florida: Kind of surprised here. I thought maybe they'd pick a big man so they would never have to play Mark Blount again, but I am wrong. I like Brewer. He can play D. That'll be his biggest asset. He's big for a guard but he'll draw the biggest matchup in almost every game. He'll be guarding Kobe, LeBron, Wade et al for the next 12 years. However, he's not much of a scorer. That being said, I'd take him over Jeff Green. Obviously he's still very young and has time to work on his offense, so that should improve. This could signal the end of the Ricky Davis era in Minnesota. However, with Garnett's future in the air, it's hard to say how this pick will effect Minnesota in the long run. I fully expected McHale to take Spencer Hawes here, good thing he didn't.

**I don't trust Michael Jordan as an executive. I bet he screws this next pick up. Probably Noah.**

8th: Charlotte Bobcats: Brandan Wright (F) North Carolina: Big surprise, another UNC guy. I like this pick a lot. All season long people had Wright going third or fourth in the draft. He dropped over the past two months because he's so skinny and doesn't have a great shot. However, he's gonna be a power forward, he jumps like crazy and if he bulks up a bit more, who cares that he can't shoot from outside. Another thing that has been said about him is that he doesn't play his hardest at all times. Isn't that what everyone said about Kwame Brown? So the Bobcats will need to stay on top of him and make sure he plays hard all of the time. I'm betting he hits a major wall around March 1st and the Bobcats will still be really bad. You heard it here first, folks.

9th: Chicago Bulls: Joakim Noah (F) Florida: Just what they needed, another big man who cannot score. I hate this pick for Chicago. The main knock on the Bulls last year was that their offense got stagnant and they didn't have a big man to score down low. Noah only averaged 12ppg last year and I'm guessing 90% of those were on free throws, dunks, and layups. Yikes. The one thing about him is that he's a real winner, and he tries hard all of the time. He's like that jerk Verajao. Verajao is very valuable to Cleveland but is he what Chicago needs? I really don't think so. Maybe he'll prove me wrong. The main feeling here is that when I add him to Chicago's roster he doesn't make them any more scary.

10th: Sacramento Kings: Spencer Hawes (C) Washington: I like this pick. Hawes is really young and needs a lot of work, but what do the Kings care, they're going nowhere. I had never heard of Hawes until the middle of the season last year. He's killer in the paint, there are very few guys who can do that. An easy comparison is Brad Miller and they will be teammates for the Kings. I'm always scared of big guys who don't dunk or rebound. They all remind me of Stacy King, Brad Miller, and Chris Mihm. Just learned he has a bumper sticker that says "God Bless George W. Bush". Interesting. Anyway, I do like this pick, it's a bit of a gamble but if the Kings just nabbed a productive 7 foot scorer they will come off as big winners in this draft.

**I think we could see the Hawks trade this pick for a PG, if not, they could take Acie Law. If they somehow pass on a PG, I will be amazed.**

11th: Atlanta Hawks: Acie Law (PG) Texas A&M: Good pick here. Law is one of those guys who dropped a bit a few weeks back, but he's gutsy, you can't pick that up. I watched a few A&M games last year and he played huge in each game. He's tough and he's not afraid of anything, he'll always take the big shot. I like the Hawks taking him here instead of taking Conley with the third pick. I do think Conley is better, but not that much better. Another nice thing about him is that he's a senior, so you know he's ready to go right away, something the Hawks need since they haven't had a decent point guard in a decade.

12th: Philadelphia 76ers: Thaddeus Young (F) Georgia Tech: Rated as one of the better scorers in the draft. He's a bit of a tweener at 6'7''. Not sure where he plays though. They already have Korver at SF. However, the Sixers do have three picks in the first round so they could have a lot of movement before the summer is over. Young did put up around 15ppg as a freshman in the ACC, no easy task. I think the Sixers would have preferred a PF to replace Joe Smith but all the options were gone by the time they had to pick.

13th: New Orleans Hornets: Julian Wright (F) Kansas: Good pick for the Hornets. He can play the 3 or the 4 which is good since Peja Stojakovic is worthless. Wright is still very young, he left after his sophomore year. Wright is a lot like Young in that he is young and raw but he did put up big numbers in a strong conference. Should the Hornets try to up the tempo in their game, which they should with Chris Paul, Wright could be very good his rookie season. Not a bold pick here, but he should contribute a bit this season. He did score over 20 pts only four times last year and averaged only 12 for the season.

14th: Los Angeles Clippers: Al Thornton (F) Florida State: One of those guys who everyone was talking about leading up to the draft. When I look at the Clippers team I see a bunch of slow and old guys, not good. They were wise to pick up Thornton here who many say is the next best scorer next to Durant in the draft. I saw a few FSU games last year and he was amazing. He carried his team, that says something about the guy. He can also rebound like crazy for a guy who is 6'7''. When you look at his numbers and hear what people say about him, you wonder why he dropped this far. The only real downside is that he is sort of old. If he scores 13 a game next year no one will care how old he is.

**I heard that there is no way the Pistons won't take Rodney Stuckey right here, I'm going to start my write up on him right now during the commercials.**

15th: Detroit Pistons: Rodney Stuckey (G) Easter Washington: Stuckey is a combo guard who can play PG, SG, and SF. He averages about 25ppg last year for a small school, many view him as one of the best guards in the draft. The Pistons needs more scoring from their backup guards. Stuckey will be viewed as a huge upgrade over Hunter, Flip, and Delfino. So essentially the Pistons picked up Stuckey for Darko. We'll see if that pans out for them. Being 6'5'' Stuckey can guard a number of different positions. Obviously there are concerns about him being from a small schools. He didn't go to a small school for skill reasons but for grade reasons, so it's not so much of a red flag. The Pistons don't need him to score on from the outside, they just need a guy who can get points in the lane, something Stuckey can do.

16th: Washington Wizards: Nick Young (G) USC: Young is another guy who shot up the draft boards after the season ended. The Wizards did need some help scoring from their guards, he's clearly an upgrade over Deshawn Stevenson. Plus, the Wizards play up and down basketball so Young should score plenty his rookie year.

**TRADE: Knicks just picked up Zach Randolph, gut reaction is that I like this deal for both teams. They needed to get Randolph away from those young players. Makes me wonder what they will do with Steve Francis.**

17th: New Jersey Nets: Sean Williams (FC) Boston College: Kicked off of Boston College for drugs. He had all kinds of trouble over there. However, he was averaging about 6 blocks a game before he was kicked off of the team. I'd be a bit worried if my team picked him though. However, the gamble could pay off because he's quick and will be a wonderful defender as long as he can stay out of trouble.

18th: Golden State Warriors: Marco Belinelli (G) Italy: Obviously people compare him to Delfino and Ginobili. Word is he's feisty and plays hard all of the time. He scores a lot and can shoot from the outside, very streaky. Sounds like someone who is perfect for the Warriors. He went a bit earlier than most people projected but you can't question the Warriors any more after what they did in the playoffs. Maybe he'll replace the mentally unstable Stephen Jackson.

19th: Los Angeles Lakers: Javaris Crittenton (G) Georgia Tech: Very good young player, very young however, young point guards don't always pan out right away. Many people say Crittenton is actually better than Acie Law. The main difference is age and experience. Crittenton is 6'5'' so he's a big point guard which is all the rage in the NBA these days. The Lakers now have both he and Jordan Farmar at PG, not a bad young duo to build with.

20th: Miami Heat: Jason Smith (FC) Colorado State: Chris Mihm Jr. Averaged 17/10 last year at Colorado state and can shoot from the outside a little bit. Jay Bilas loves him, but he loves everyone. The fact that he was on a bad team hurts him a bit and I know very little about him but when your two centers are Shaq and Mourning you need to take some young big guys, probably a pretty good pick.

21st: Philadelphia 76ers: Daequan Cook (G) Ohio State: Traded to Miami and Smith will head to the 76ers. I don't really understand that, why not just draft who you want? Whatever. Cook is a 6'6'' guard, lots of upside for him but his attitude is a question. Some have said that he was really overlooked at OSU because of Oden and Conley and they say he could be very very good. The Heat do need some better back up guards for WHEN Wade gets hurt every season. Good trade here for the Heat. The Sixers did need a big guy so I guess it works for them too.

22nd: Charlotte Bobcats: Jared Dudley (F) Boston College: Michael Jordan surprised me last time with a decent pick in Brandan Wright. There was talk of Dudley going to the Warriors, Dudley is like a Jason Maxiell or Ronny Turiaf. He's a weird size with no real position but he's very solid. He's a great team player and he has no questions about his attitude. Where does he play now that he's in the NBA? What does this pick and the Wright pick do to Adam Morrison? I'm always a big fan of taking those good college players that people pass over for some reason or the other. Tayshaun was one of those guys.

23rd: New York Knicks: Wilson Chandler (F) DePaul: I don't know much about this guy, but Isiah has a great track record for draft day choices so I assume this is a strong selection. Should the Randolph trade go through the make up of the Knicks changes. With NBA being slanted towards the athletic runners like Chandler this should hold up as a decent pick.

**Phoenix sold this next pick to the Blazers. I don't get that. The Suns have trouble with money so why do they keep throwing away draft picks where they are guaranteed cheap players?**


24th: Phoenix Suns: Rudy Fernandez (G) Spain: There has been talk of this guy the past few years, he's a terrific young point guard, something the Blazers need. He's a bigger guy for a guard which is obviously a plus. The Blazers seem to be doing this a lot more lately, picking up foreign guys late in the first round. They must be doing their research.

25th: Utah Jazz: Morris Almond (G) Rice: Poor guy has to go and play in Utah, tough break Morris. Seems like the Jazz have been looking for scoring guards since Jeff Malone left. Almond is a terrific scorer and stayed in college for all four years so he's ready to go.

I'm done now, I was thinking about doing the entire draft but this is probably getting close to unreadable because of its length. I'll do this again next year.

Sorry...

Sorry the posting has been slow lately, not good on our part. I promise something tomorrow. Probably something about the NBA Draft.

Checking In...

First, I'd like to thank all Spot Starter readers who came to my wedding, it was a delightful time to be sure. I was able to talk to Rob for a moment about how hot the Yankees were...speaking of which:

The Yankees are hot right now, I wish that didn't have to be news. Why is it that I care about that or know that? I don't keep that close of tabs on other teams. I know Seattle is kind of hot, the Angels are playing well, but that's about it. What is it about those jerk-Yankees? Yeesh.

As I write this they are 35-32, hardly stellar for a team with a the highest payroll in baseball, but they have won 9 out of their last 10. They still trail (as of 11:42pm) the Red Sox by 8.5 games and the Tigers by 4 or 5 games. Of course, most of this is moot since it is currently June 19th.

My point is this, if I have one, it's early, the Yankees could still win 100 games this year, the whole thing could fall apart and they'll got 79-83, and that is what makes baseball outstanding. That's why I don't like the salary cap in other sports, I like that I care about the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, and Cubs. I love it. So I'll be watching closely the rest of the year to see how Clemens and Pettitte and the rest of the Bronx seniors citizens do. It's good entertainment and it's part of what makes baseball so interesting to me.

We are also nearing the mid point of the baseball season, most teams have played around 70 games and some shifting and moving should start occurring. The first casualty of the first half was Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo. Perlozzo was let go after failing to make the lousy Orioles and less lousy. The Orioles have plenty of money but just haven't really put it together. The don't have it easy being in the same division as the Yankees and Red Sox, but they have made poor personnel decisions and have paid for it dearly the past decade. There should be at least 2 or 3 managers fired by mid August and probably a dozen or so trades by July 31st. One of those moves is going to pay off big time for someone, pay attention to see who it is.

Blake's Wedding

As you faithful readers may be able to tell, posting has been down as of late This is partially due to my absence for two weeks. We are now coming up on the weekend where Blake will join in matrimony with his fiance, Katie. What a time of wonderment.

I have no idea what I just typed. I am sorry.

In any case, we need to evaluate what Blake has received from the pro athletes around the world.

Justin Verlander got him a no hitter, that was a great gift.

LeBron got him a big ol' case of bricks. Not the greatest present in the world, but I am sure LeBron would have rather got him something else.

I am guess that Tiger Woods gets him a US Open Championship. Should be a good time.

The Red Sox gave him the 5 games that they gave the Yankees over the last week and a half.

On that note, the Yankees gave him 9 straight wins. I better not here a single bad thing come out of your mouth about them this weekend. Those wins are a big deal!

I'd say Blake is doing pretty well. Give me a big hearty CONGRATS in this thread. I will do my best to keep up the blogging. The wedding is at the Blake's home so it should be a good time...not to mention they will have Internet access and maybe he and I can sneak away from the party and get some blogging done. Priorities people, priorities.

Bullpen Trouble

As we enter mid-June, teams in MLB size up their chances at a playoff run and then act accordingly. For example, the Texas Rangers have the worst record in baseball even though they have some of the most talented hitters in the game and a strong bullpen. In the next couple weeks they will decided whether they want to trade off pieces for youngsters or stick with what they have. On the other side of that coin there are teams in contention who need to decide if they stand pat or look to give up some youngsters for some help at a playoff run. It's great fun in my mind and I get all giddy just thinking about it.

If the playoffs were to start today the Tigers would be in as the wild card, not bad. However, that doesn't mean this team does not need help. Their hitting has been other-worldly thus far and it should cool down a bit, but they are still lethal. The pitching has been another story. Guys like Chad Durbin and Tim Byrdak have done an admiral job filling in for the likes of Joel Zumaya and Kenny Rogers, but the fact of the matter is, they are a little too thin at pitching right now. Nate Robertson has been awful, ditto for the recently cut Jose Mesa. Check out these ERAs of the Tigers staff: (should be noted that ERA is a flawed stat, but it will work fine to prove my point here)...

Jeremy Bonderman: 3.63 very respectable
Tim Byrdak: 1.84 he's doing a terrific job
Chad Durbin: 4.59 solid but not great
Jason Grilli: 6.21 just awful, he need to turn it around or could end up in the minors.
Todd Jones: 5.55 embarrassingly bad for a closer
Wil Ledezma: 4.45 okay, but again, not impressive
Mike Maroth: 5.29 soft tosser is really getting hit hard
Nate Robertson: 5.07 has gone downhill big time his past 6 or 7 starts
Fernando Rodney: 5.25 I feel like he gives up runs every time he pitches
Bobby Seay: 4.96 has gotten progressively worse
Justin Verlander: 3.12 good for 11th in the league.

Aside from Bonderman and Verlander, everyone listed here either 1) didn't log enough big league innings last year to make not of or 2) has seen a significant rise in ERA. Most players ERAs are up on the team not a good trend. The season is 1/3 now so it's getting to the point now where you can start thinking, "what you see is what you get". I like Ledezma, he's still young and can pitch long relief, he gets to stay. I'm going to give Robertson the benefit of the doubt and hope that he can turn it around. The rest of the guys are either hot but shaky (Byrdak and Durbin) or just bad this year.

There has been talk recently of the Rangers trying to trade Eric Gagne (0.56 ERA) and Akinori Otsuka (2.28 ERA) and that the Tigers may be in the running for one or both of them. Gagne is very injury prone, I'd stay away from him and Otsuka is 35 years old so I wouldn't give much up for him. If the cost is too high for these guys I'd rather the Tigers just stand pat with what they have and hope some of these guys get hot at the right time.

Predictions for the Finals and Otherwise...

There is a columnist that writes for SI.com, Peter King. He does a great column every week or so called "10 things I think I think...." This is a great example of a sports writer who doesn't take himself too seriously. It's all just opinions. Anyone who was spent any time taking a statistics or ethics class knows you can make cold hard number say anything you want.

On that note, here are my predictions and thoughts on the upcoming finals and other topics...

1. The Spurs and Cavs won't be a series. I know we will hear both sides of this argument to no end over the next few days but still. The Spurs would have DOMINATED Detroit in that series and it took Cleveland 6 games. The Spurs have too many weapons and are too good on defense. If you go right down the line starting with the coach and going thru the starting 5 for each team, its laughable:

Popovich vs. ....yeah, I can't remember his name either (Ok, its Mike Brown, but you get what I'm saying).
C-Duncan vs. Z-Ilga...not even close
PF-Horry vs. Gooden...this is a better match up but still, edge to the spurs
SF- Bowen vs. King James...edge Cavs but Bowen will be able to D up LeBron better than any person in the playoffs yet. This will throw off LeBron enough that he won't be as effective. While LeBron is the better player, this is an edge to the Spurs because there is NOBODY shutting down their starts.
SG - Finley vs. Daniel Gibson...this would be close except that Manu comes in off the bench. Damon Jones is backing up "Boobie" and collecting social security at the same time. Big edge to the spurs.
PG-Tony Parker vs. Larry Hughes/Eric Snow...whoever, it doesn't really matter. Spurs again.

There has been a decent amount of talk on how LeBron had an out of body game when he put up 48 and now has been talking to MJ. Sorry. I am not buying it. It was a great game and give him his due but it came against a beaten Detroit team with an incompetent coach (more on that later). All we will see over the next 2 weeks is the Spurs putting themselves in the 'dynasty' conversation by beating a weak Cleveland team. That's all folks.

2. The only move Detroit makes is getting rid of 'Sheed. Flip will stay, Chauncey will resign, and it will essentially be the same go around. Except next year, they will be a 4, 5, or 6 seed because they aren't that good. They will have Chauncey in a contract that they will never be able to move and they will then blow up the team. I desperately want to be wrong on this point. Please, Joe D. when you read this, make me a liar. I noticed Blake thru 10 per year out there for him...I think that is a stretch. He is one of those guys that peaked too late during a mid-level amount contract and then is too old to get max money. Maybe somebody will give him max money. Now, please don't read this as me not liking Mr. Big Shot. I do. I just don't think he should get the max. Also, if they don't get rid of 'Sheed, I am done with the Pistons.

3. I will watch 1 (maybe 2) of the 4 games that it takes SA to beat Cle. This is for a couple of reasons. First, the Spurs are NOT fun to watch. Sorry Simmons, not with you on this one. I would much rather watch Nash and Co. light it up for 125 than great defense. Granted, I can appreciate the great team that they have and the chemistry, but you read about that stuff. When they are out on the court its not like you are sitting on the bench next to them hearing how well they get along. Second, the Sports Gal (my wife) has put us into a "No TV" evening tonight. I would imagine this is because she wants to spend more time with me. For some reason, spending time together can't be with SportsCenter on with Scott Van Pelt talking about the latest and greatest, or Berman going thru PLAYS!....OF!....THE WEEK! (Gooooong) Take note you soon to be married people and I know there are at least 3 of you who read this blog. Take note. Third, to echo Blake, relief set in after the Pistons lost. I can care a lot less now.

4. Away from Basketball, the Randy Moss signing will be bigger than everyone thinks. He reported early to camp. Teddy Bruschi said that he has seen him work hard the whole time he has been there. Brady and Belichek are both giving him a chance. This is scary for the rest of the NFL. Do owners not see that the Patriots went to the AFC Championship game with RECHE CALDWELL (61 catches, 760 yards, 4 TDs) as their No. 1 guy!?!?!?!?! Also, here is a fun stat for you....11 different people caught TD passes for the Patroirs last year. Not to mention, Wes Welker and Dante Stallworth signing up. All of the sudden the Patriots just added REAL wide receivers. Tom Brady might throw for 10,000 yards and 100 TD's next year. What you don't think he can? He threw 3500+ and 24 TD's working with Caldwell (61), Ben Watson(49) (TE), Troy Brown (43), and Kevin Faulk (43) as his leading receivers, respectively. How many other QBs could have done what Brady did with what he had?

Alright, that's all for now. Post on.

Glad to be Done

The past two seasons have ended in the same way for the Pistons and I felt the same both times. Relieved. Almost like weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I have this big section of worry removed from my life. Some fan huh?

I said this last year, I said it in December this year, I'm just sick of them. Their whole attitude that they are constantly being screwed over and taken for granted. Get over yourselves, yeesh! They complain like everyone is out to get them. Like they get no respect. They've been to the the Conference Finals or better the last five years, no one is taking them for granted.

I don't think anyone will say that the Cavs have more talent than the Pistons, but they certainly out played them, they out hustled them, they cared a lot more. A lot. I can see now why everyone outside of Michigan is so annoyed by the Pistons. I honestly don't think I can pull for a team who has Rasheed Wallace on it. I cannot. If he is on the team next year I can tell you now, I will not watch much basketball next year. Sure he's good for a big shot every now and again but so is McDyess. So are about 150 other guys in the league.

Rasheed got himself tossed at an absolute awful time. Down 8 with 8 minutes to play in game 6. If the Pistons came back and won he would have been suspended for game seven. I know some people have brought this up, but how is that not covered more than it already has been? He couldn't control his emotions to save his teams season. To me that is selfish. Selfish for a guy already bringing in $15 million a year to score 13ppg. I don't like it. If the Pistons can find a taker for this cancer they should take them up on it.

Also, remember how Rasheed's first year and a half in Detroit were terrific? How's it looking now. Were the Pistons a bunch of whiner's before Rasheed came into town? Nope. They won 50 games a year with Jon Barry and Chucky Atkins at the point. They were scrappy. They were the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavs of the NBA. They didn't have the most talent but you respected them and they played hard all of the time. I can't say that about the Pistons of the past 3 years.

I hope that Joe Dumars puts an end to the drama and stands his ground to put out a team that plays hard and keeps their mouth shut. That starts with getting rid of Rasheed. I also think they should handle the Billups contract situation the same way they handled the Ben Wallace thing last summer. Make him that offer up front and say take it or leave it. Billups will be 31 next year and shouldn't be given a five year deal for max money. Especially after disappearing like he did against Cleveland. More on this later.

Speaking of Good Grief...

I am watching game 6 right now. This is unreal...

Tayshawn can't make a shot.

The Pistons can't get a call.

Even when they do, they can't capitalize.

Daniel Gibson can't miss. This is posing a problem.

They are down 10 with Cleveland in the midst of a 12-3 to start the 4th. I think I have seen this one before....I'm going to bed.

Good Grief

The Tigers have lost 7 out of 8 games now after Todd Jones allowed 7 hits, two walks, and 5 runs in one inning of work allowing the Indians to beat the Tigers for the fifth time in a row, not exactly what you're looking for against the team you're chasing.

In the last eight games the Tigers are averaging a very healthy 6 runs per game. They have won only one of those games. The bullpen lost 3 of those games.

Time for a major shakeup in Detroit.