Jun
4
THIS IS THE END, MY ONLY FRIEND, THE END…
Filed Under Loose Balls
It Looks and Feels Like Detroit Pistons’ Stellar Five-Year Run Is Over!
As Rasheed Wallace completely lost it in the fourth quarter last night and Cavs’ rookie Daniel Gibson—a freaking second-round draft pick who would have been a junior at the University of Texas—kept burying wide-open three-pointers, you couldn’t help but feel that the Detroit Pistons’ stellar five-year run in the Eastern Conference is over. As Cleveland is on the rise and advancing to the franchise’s first NBA Finals in large part to Gibson and Lebron James, who just missed a triple double in Game Six after his dominating performance in Game Five, Detroit is definitely on the downside.
After digging hole after hole throughout their run of five-straight appearances in the Eastern Conference Finals and somehow finding a way to survive, the Pistons were unable to overcome their own worst enemy—themselves—this year.
When playing with aggression, passion and focus as in the first two games against the Chicago Bulls, the Pistons looked primed to get back to the NBA Finals and actually give an Eastern Conference team a fighting chance this year.
When playing in a malaise and as if they’d be “alright” in the end, the Pistons looked like, well, the team seen throughout the end of the Chicago series and whole Cavs’ series.
This “Dr. Jekyl/Mr. Hyde” persona defined the Pistons of the last five years. When on, they were an exciting team to watch. Their dismantling of the Lakers in the 2004 NBA Finals was a perfect example of this point and the highlight of their recent era of excellence.
When off, they seemed stuck in mud, both offensively and emotionally. Their past two performances’ in the Eastern Conference Finals—six games losses to the Heat and of course the Cavs—were prime examples of this frustrating aspect of these recent Pistons’ teams.
What Happens to the Pistons from Here?
With his fourth-quarter meltdown, Wallace once again showed how his temper has always held him back from possibly being one of the most dominant and uniquely skilled big men to ever play the game.
With his team dropping four straight games to the Cavs after winning an unimpressive first two games of the series and his own players questioning his strategies, Flip Saunders failed to show that he’s got what it takes to bring a team to the championship, and more importantly, get a team to command full respect out of his coaching abilities, especially when the going gets tough.
With rough series against the Cavs, point guard Chauncey Billups and small forward Tayshaun Prince showed how the Pistons were just an average team when these guys weren’t on their games and a truly elite one when they were playing at high levels. And now with Billups entering free agency, could Detroit lose its point guard to a team who wants to outbid them for a player of this caliber, like Chicago did last year with Ben Wallace! Could Orlando add some even more buzz to the Billy Donovan hiring and go hard after Billups, who once suited up for the Magic?
Sure, Detroit enters this summer with much uncertainty. Will Billups be back? Does Saunders’ have any credibility with his players? Is it time for Chris Webber to hang them up? Have they maximized what they’ve gotten out of Rasheed Wallace? Do they rebuild around Hamilton and Prince, or go for another shot with this current team with a few tweaks here and there?
Detroit basketball fans will have all summer to ponder these questions, but it certainly looks like the Pistons are finished. While they could remain around the top of a poor Eastern Conference, it really doesn’t mean much. Cleveland has got them solved, and Chicago could have beaten them if they hadn’t beaten themselves.
Detroit’s Run Has Been Impressive!
With that said, give Detroit a lot of credit for what they’ve done the last five seasons. As frustrating as they could be to watch with their peaks and valleys, the fact that these Pistons made it to five straight Eastern Conference Finals is an impressive feat.
As the NBA Finals are prepared to start and people will begin talking about a “Spurs dynasty,” the fact is that San Antonio has never made it to back-to-back appearances in the Western Conference Finals since winning their first title in 1999.
You can’t say that about the Pistons, who cut their teeth in 2003 at the hands of a New Jersey Nets’ sweep and then rebounded in 2004 with a six-game triumph over the Indiana Pacers and the aforementioned five-game dominance of the imploding Lakers in the NBA Finals.
And unlike the Spurs, who have never gotten back to the NBA Finals the year after winning a title, the Pistons did so in 2005. After a grueling, seven-game victory over the Miami Heat in the 2005 Eastern Conference Finals, the Pistons fell to the Spurs in seven games before losing these past two years in the finals of the Eastern Conference.
While these Pistons were no dynasty, they were a great team, despite all of their faults, which mostly were of their own doing.
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