whapakk.

Yeah, sure, they beat Boston today, but it was only by ten points. Sure, they didn’t have Allen Iverson, but neither did the Celtics have Kevin Garnett. Sure, no one can deny the emergence of Rodney Stuckey, but what contributions did he make during that 8-game losing skid? In that span, he scored and assisted (in chronological order): 8-1, 16-5, 12-1, 3-1, 2-8, 8-3, 8-0, and 6-5. He certainly had enough playing time to produce more, so why did he underperform? I don’t know.

Do the Detroit Pistons still have what it takes to get deep enough into the playoffs to have a legitimate shot at the title? I don’t know. I’m a fan, but I still don’t think they should have traded Chauncey Billups to the Denver Nuggets for Iverson. They needed another scorer, yes, but they should not have given up their playmaker. When the trade was made I was pretty sure they had something else up their sleeve, but they didn’t.

Perhaps I still can’t see the Pistons chasing long-term dreams (long-term being 2010). Perhaps I’m still hoping they’d keep on chasing this year’s championship. But with Billups out, Rasheed Wallace getting T’d up more than necessary (again), Stuckey being inconsistent, and the Pistons of old showing up only every now and then, I have more than a couple of reasons to think that this year isn’t going to be Detroit’s year.