NBA Preview Part 2: Central Division

NBA previews continue with a look at the Central Division. One correction from the Atlantic preview, I project the Celtics to win the division and get the 2nd seed in the East.  Now on to the Central.

1)  Cleveland Cavaliers
Last Year: 61-21, lost in Eastern Conference Semifinals

Additions: Ramon Session, Samardo Samuels, um....Joey Graham?
Subtractions: Lebron James, Delonte West, Shaquille O'Neal

Garbage Time: Duke, Detroit, and the Volunteers

Teach's Story: The Georgia Tech win against Duke last week was huge, not because I personally love seeing Duke lose, but because the ACC desperately needs a third team to be involved in the conference race, which over the last few years has been dominated by Duke and Carolina. This two team domination not only makes everyone else at the table feel awkward because all the drama centers around the Devils and Heels, but it also eats away at the idea that the ACC is the premier basketball conference.Insert a joke about the auto industry. Make a call for compassion about the state of Michigan's economy. Offer up a cliche Motown reference. Any of the above will work as an analogy for what's happening this season with the Detroit Pistons, but after watching them against the Wizards yesterday, a game that Detroit won 99 to 90, I can't help but look at Rip, Tayshaun, and Big Ben and think about General Zod, Ursa, and Non from Superman. It just feels like these three have seen better days and are just wasting time in the Phantom Zone. If you listen closely, you can even hear Rip yelling, "You will bow to me," but it's unclear whether he's speaking to Joe Dumars or the opposing team. On the bright side, Rodney Stuckey, the reason Billups seemed expendable, does lead the team in scoring with 18.2 ppg on 41% shooting; of course, the team he leads is only 12-25 and fourth in their division.

Lastly, how does John Hollinger have San Antonio number two in his Power Rankings? I'm a great hyperbolizer (word?) of the Spurs, and even I have a hard time comprehending what formula he plugged into his T-81 that backed up this claim. For the record, his number one team is Cleveland.

Langston's Story:
For much of the past two seasons, it seemed as if the rest of the basketVols stood around waiting for Tyler Smith to lead them to victory. Not unlike the Lakers before landing Pau Gasol, but all that changed when the Tennessee Four got locked up. The rest of the squad was forced to stand up and try to fill the shoes of their discarded teammates, and somehow, they managed to come out as a better team. This was never more evident than on Sunday, when they upset the Kansas Jayhawks playing with just six scholarship athletes and three walk-ons, with the biggest shot coming from freshman walk-on Skylar McBee. I'll let Bruce take it over from here:



Yesterday it was announced that Melvin Goins and Cameron Tatum passed drug tests administered shortly after their New Year's Day arrests and could be reinstated within the next two weeks. But after the way they played against Charlotte and Kansas, should they even want them back? Or do they just keep the chemistry they've built and bring them back next year?

The Vols move into SEC play against Auburn at 7:00 on Thursday, it can be seen on ESPN2.

Game of the Week:
#11 Georgetown vs. #4 Villanova, Sunday, 12:00 pm
Last Saturday, Austin Freeman had the best game of his collegiate career. One that saw him score 28 of his career-high 33 points in the second half, leading the Hoyas to a come back win over No. 13 Connecticut 72-69. On Monday, Scottie Reynolds scored 30 of his season-high 36 in the second half. Carrying his team from being 17 down in the first half to defeat Louisville 92-84 at Freedom Hall during a “white out." If this game is anything like these two splendid comebacks, it will be must-see TV.

Detroit Pistons Preview: "Tables for Ladies"

In an effort to gear up for the NBA season, we will view the upcoming season through the eyes of Edward Hopper. Feel free to add your thoughts on the 2010 Pistons in our comments section.
Rip places the continental fruit basket down on the buffet table and looks toward Mr. Dumars, the maitre d', with an expression that says, "thank you, for the table from Park Place and Hell." Mr. Dumars doesn't notice; he continues to file his nails while waiting on the next big name to walk through the doors--he's kept his best table available, hoping for a tip of the hat, or any sign of recognition from anyone that he is indeed the captain of The Palace.

In a sign of defiance to Mr. Dumars' indifference, Rip takes the best orange out of the basket and drops it on the floor, leaving it there like a planet that's fallen from its orbit. Then, Rip heads for the kitchen where he runs into Tayshaun, the busboy.

"Tay, man, you didn't scrub that table down good enough," says Rip. "'Cause of you not doin' your job they're already complainin'."

"You start splittin' tips, and I'll make that table look like some damn rims."

"You wait all day on the prima donnas of the world," smiles Rip, "and then maybe I split tips." Tayshaun bows mockingly and then continues on to clean a row of tables, stopping on his way to pick an orange off the floor and place it back in the fruit basket.

Rip bursts into the kitchen,"Hey, Big Ben, what's happenin' man? I got two orders for the roast duck, an appetizer of shrimp cocktails, and your finest champagne."

Ben looks up from the kitchen counter, moving as stiff as an Easter Island monument, his eyelids drooping, "you know I ain't got nothing to do with the drinks. In fact, while you grab the bottle, grab me one too. I'm hungover as hell."

"Didn't you just spend three years on a bender? Grab the bottle yourself."

Ben growls, sticks his index finger in his ear, twists it, pulls it out, and eyes the wax on it. He then starts preparing the duck, coating it like a candle.

The two patrons sit chewing like cows do cud, as if they're not sure whether the feeding of one's hunger is worth the effort it takes to chew such dryly overcooked meat. Their waiter Rip approaches and asks, "how is everything?"

"To be honest, I feel like I'm eating my grandfather's shoe," responds Mr. Gordon.

"I have to agree with my friend here," adds Mr. Villanueva. "We came in expecting to experience one of the city's finest dining atmospheres, but we've found previous reviews of your establishment to be vastly overrated. Do not expect us to be so kind in our own critiques."

Ranking the NBA Champions from 2000 to 2009

The NBA more than any other sport tends to define itself by the decade. The '50s belonged to short shorts and George Mikan's Lakers. The '60s clearly belonged to Bill Russell and Red Auerbach's victory cigars, with a bit of Wilt on the side. The '70s were like the NBA's dark ages. A decade where no team dominated--8 different franchises won championships--and the use of crack was rampant in the locker room, not to mention that the ABA peaked during the '70s and had the more entertaining stars of the two leagues. Then came the '80s, which were basketball's Renaissance. Magic and Larry were two rival artists outdoing one another one sculpture at a time, and the Pistons, 76ers, and Rockets weren't bad either. Then came the '90s and the Age of Enlightenment, and the dominance of Michael Jordan shifted the focus from the team to the individual.

Now, with the Lakers' victory over the Magic, another NBA decade has come to a close, and Langston and I have decided to rank the decades ten champions. It's been a strange decade; one that's seen the League hit all-time lows in TV ratings, get berated as "thuggish" by the media, and it's also been the decade where the League's popularity has exploded world wide, which has also increased the League's talent pool.

The play on the court this past ten years has been on par with any other decade, but for some reason it's the decade that lost a hold on the casual sports fan. The two marquee franchises of the decade were clearly San Antonio and Los Angeles, and they both became pigeon holed by the media and the fan. ESPN's 24-hour sports writers and a fanbase raised on highlight reels quit looking for stories that make teams matter and lacked the verve to create a contextual mythology to display those stories, so San Antonio became black and white TV, while the Lakers became a tale of modern ego and what's wrong with athletes today. San Antonio was too fundamental and old school, despite the fact that it was the first franchise to build itself as much on foreign stars, like Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, as it did on Americans. LA, meanwhile, became a soap opera, and an excuse for message boarders to say, "that's why I like college ball, It's about the name on the front, not the back of the jersey," ignoring the fact that for years NBA champions had not finished college, attended college, or simply used it as a stepping stone.

Anyway, I'll have an article later on this week about what this past decade meant to me as a fan, but, for now, here's a look at the teams that were the best in a decade that actually featured a lot of good ball on the hardwood and some historically great players. The following are what Langston and I came up with after a lot of discussion and debate, especially considering the fact that he happens to be a Lakers fan and I happen to be a Spurs fan:

The Champs:

#1: 2001 Los Angeles Lakers

The team didn't have an overly impressive regular season record--they finished 56-26, and they also weren't stacked throughout the lineup. Shaq and Kobe each averaged 28ppg, but Derek Fisher was the only other Laker that scored in double figures, at 11ppg. One reason this team may not have dominated during the regular season is that they were already the champs and were built to win best of seven's. To back up this opinion, I'm just going to cite the number of guys on this team that already had multiple rings going into the '01 season: Horace Grant (3), Robert Horry (3), and Ron Harper (4). What motivation did these guys have to do well in the regular season? Plus, they were good when it mattered.

In the first round, they swept a talented Blazers team that took them to 7 games the year before, in the Conference Finals. In the second round, they swept a good Sacramento Kings team, and then they swept the Spurs in the conference Finals. The only game they lost en route to the championship was Game 1 of the Finals against the 76ers, and how did they react to this overtime loss? They won the next four games for a 15-1 record, the best in NBA history.

#2: 2003 San Antonio Spurs

First, I feel like I have to preface this team by talking about the '99 champions and what happened the three years between those titles. The '99 team only allowed 84.7 ppg, which is absolutely ridiculous, and it went 15-2 in the playoffs, sweeping the Blazers and Lakers and knocking off KG's Timberwolves. The '99 team was a great team, but only four players from it were still on the roster in 2003: Duncan, Robinson, Steve Kerr, and Malik Rose.

In 2000, Duncan missed the playoffs and the team lost in the first round. Then Popovich and Buford spent two years reshaping the roster and getting beat by the Lakers. During this time, Tim Duncan played some of his best basketball, winning two MVPs, while David Robinson looked more and more like a role player and less and less like a Hall of Famer. As a Spurs fan, one began to worry if the Spurs would ever get past the Lakers again because whenever they met it really felt like Duncan was going one against five. Everyone on the team seemed to be scared of LA, except for Timmy and the Admiral, but the Admiral was running out of gas.

Langston believes that David Robinson's last ride was the Spurs' best, writing, "The twin towers combined to take out some of the best competition in the league, which included the surprising Suns, featuring Marbury, Amare, Penny Hardaway, Shawn Marion, and Joe Johnson, the Kobe/Shaq Lakers, the Dirk/Nash Mavericks, and the Jason Kidd led Nets. I don't think a team in the past 10 years has had steeper competition," but for Spurs fans the '03 championship was more than that. It was Duncan willing a cast of not-quite-ready for prime time players into champions, in order to give the Admiral the proper send off for his final voyage at sea. It was also the final NBA voyage for Steve Smith and Steve Kerr, and the first time that Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili went into the offseason as champions. This rare combination of youth and experience is what made the 2003 Spurs so great, not to mention that they actually won a championship with Captain Jack (Stephen Jackson) as their starting shooting guard.

Also, make note of Duncan's line from the Spurs Game 6 clincher against the Nets: 22 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists, and 8 blocks.

#3: 2008 Boston Celtics

I'm not sure one championship has ever reinvented the reputations of so many different players, coaches, and GM's. Kevin Garnett went from being a homeless man's Karl Malone to one of the most beloved players in Boston history. Paul Pierce went from being a poster boy for putting the individual above the team to making statements like "I'm the best in the world," and Ray Allen went from being a good player most people would forget about to being a Hall of Famer most people will forget about, but the legacy makeovers went beyond the court.

Doc Rivers, a coach who prior to '08 had never won a playoff series, became the second coming of the Zen Master, while Danny Ainge went from being a kid smashing Matchbox cars together to the architect behind the grand continental railroad. Seriously, what happened in Boston transformed the Three Stooges into the Manhattan Project within one year, which is the truly amazing part of this championship. It only took one year for this team to be assembled and come together to win 66 regular season games, two highly competitive 7-game series, a 6-game series against the Pistons, and a 6-game series against a dangerous Lakers team in the Finals. It takes most teams years to develop that kind of chemistry, which is a testament to how badly everyone on this team wanted to win, and if that's not enough for one to think they belong this high on the list, then take into account some of the numbers Langston came up with:

"Forget that without KG they became an average team in the playoffs this year, and remember how good they were last year. They had an SRS of 9.31, 110.2 points per 100 possessions, and allowed only 98.9 per every 100 possessions. Those are the most impressive numbers out of any of the teams to win in the last 10 years."

#4 2000 LA Lakers:

This team comes in at #4 because it's probably the most well-rounded of the Kobe/Shaq Lakers. They had a legitimate 3rd option in Glen Rice. They gave up 5 less ppg than their '01 counterparts, and they had a better SRS. They also went 64-18 in the regular season, which is ten games better than their '01 counterparts also; however, this team didn't roll through the playoffs quite like the '01 Lakers. This team, on its way to its first title, actually found itself on the ropes quite a few times.

It took them the full five games to get out of the first round against the Sacramento Kings. They easily dismissed Jason Kidd's Suns in the 2nd round, and then they got the scare of their lives against the Portland TrailBlazers, who were in the Western Conference Finals for the second year in a row. It took an amazing alley-oop from Kobe to Shaq for the Lakers to overcome a 15-point lead midway through the 4th quarter. This game against a very good Blazers team shows why the Kobe-Shaq Lakers were so good. The comeback features huge shots from Robert Horry, Derek Fisher, and Brian Shaw, showcasing that making shots as a role player is not just circumstance. This game also shows how good the triangle offense is when it features a dominant post presence. All in all, this game made Kobe and Shaq into great players, and turned the TrailBlazers into the JailBlazers. Portland never recovered, and the Lakers went onto win 3 titles. The Finals matchup of the Lakers and Pacers, which was actually a decent series, seemed ordinary next to what the Lakers had faced out West.

#5: 2005 San Antonio Spurs

Langston and I had a bit of a disagreement here. He went with the '07 Spurs, and I went with the '05 Spurs, which means '05 gets the nod since I'm the one spending over 3 to 4 hours typing this post. Langston marked the '05 team down because their road to the Finals was the Nuggets, Sonics, and Suns, which I'll admit wasn't the Spurs stiffest competition ever. Still, the '05 squad dominated on both sides of the ball because of their versatility. They could outrun the Suns, and they could out defend the Pistons.

The 2005 team gets the nod over the 2007 team because they were younger, and they were the first Spurs team to win a title without David Robinson's presence on the floor and in the locker room. They also featured the Spurs best starting five because this is the only championship team that Ginobili started games for, and some feel that he may have deserved the Finals MVP award .

They also played the only Finals this decade that featured two teams that had previously won championships. The teams split the first four games, which were all blowouts, played an all-time classic in Game 5, and then split games 6 and 7. This Finals is the only time the Spurs actually had to put in work past the Western Conference Finals to win a championship. This series proved the team's mettle.

#6: 2007 San Antonio Spurs

Here's Langston's argument for the '07 Spurs, "Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili were at their best this season. I believe that says a lot, considering they are one of the best trios of all-time. The numbers for this team are an SRS of 8.35, an offensive rating of 109.2, and a defensive rating of 99.9." They were clearly one of the most well-rounded teams of the decade, winning 58 games in the regular seasons and sporting a 16-4 record in the playoffs. What I remember most about this team is that in the Finals it felt like Duncan didn't even need to try. It felt like he wanted Tony Parker to take home the Finals MVP trophy, so he just kept clearing space for him in the lane and setting him up on pick and rolls to the basket. In hindsight, it's like Duncan was thinking, "You know, I'm not as young as I used to be, so maybe I should give the little guy the confidence to carry this team into the future."

#7: 2009 LA Lakers

I'll let the Laker speak up for this team: "They were good when they needed to be, averaging a 10+ point differential in close out games. They were above average offensively with a rating of 112.7, and an average defensive team with a rating of 104.6. I would love to rank them higher, but i don't want to take my playoff high and overrate them. They took too many games off, giving their fans some gray hair in the process--I'm only 25. If they had showed up every night, they could have been a dominant team that you compare other teams to. Still, as a Laker fan, they were easily my favorite Laker team of all-time. Kobe is Kobe. Pau is one of the most enjoyable big men in the League to watch, especially after he stood up for himself against the Magic, at the end of Game 5 when Pietrus hacked him, and Lamar kept things interesting while boosting candy sales. "

Thanks, Langston, but now for the non-Lakers perspective. Bill Simmons is right. The media sold this thing all wrong. The storyline shouldn't have been about Kobe; it should have been about the supporting cast. I used to think Pau Gasol should quit basketball and run a wine vineyard. I don't think that anymore. Lamar Odom went Wonka on the Magic, showing that he is the candy maker we all thought him to be after years of being a recluse inside of the chocolate factory. Phil Jackson was rewarded for his patience with Kobe's egotistical vision quest, and Trevor Ariza became one of the most important role players of the decade. Still, I can't rank this team any higher because KG, Yao, McGrady, Ginobili, and Duncan were all hurt this postseason. The Lakers were clearly the best team in the postseason, but injuries cleared the way for them to go on one of those dominant 16-2 or 16-4 stretches, and they didn't; however, they could still make that kind of run next year.

#8: 2004 Detroit Pistons

Langston wanted them a notch lower because he feels that the Lakers infighting gave the Pistons their championship. He also kept pointing out that, while they were great defensively, they lacked offensive punch. Personally, I think they had the best starting lineup of the decade: Rasheed Wallace, Ben Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, Rip Hamilton, and Chauncey Billups. I also think their return trip to the Finals in '05 validates their '04 championship. Plus, they're the Atlanta Braves of the NBA, and I'm a Braves fan. I have to be impressed by the fact that they went to the Eastern Conference Finals every year from 2003 t0 2008, and one more thing, they made title belts.

#9: 2002 LA Lakers

Langston and I both agreed that this Lakers team was clearly the worst of their 3-peat that started the decade. Each year of that 3-peat the team got a little older, a little more disgruntled, and lost a few more pieces. All of the veteran players, like Glen Rice, AC Green, Horace Grant, Ron Harper, and Brian Shaw, were gone, and their replacements were Samaki Walker, Stanislav Medvedenko, Mark Madsen, and a completely washed-up Mitch Richmond. In other words, Horry, Fisher, Rick Fox, Devean George, and Lindsay Hunter really had to earn their worth, and they did against in the Western Conference Finals against a strong Sacramento Kings team. Of course, that series is why I have this team ranked #9. A lot of NBA fans complain about the playoffs being fixed, and I think that Kings series is the one that keeps such outlandish conspiracies alive.

#10: 2006 Miami Heat

Langston wanted them higher, but then he looked at the numbers. They were not an efficient team, allowing 104.5 points per every 100 possessions and only scoring 108.7 per every 100 possessions. The main reason Langston did want this team higher is because D-Wade's theatrics in the Finals may have made Mark Cuban's head explode multiple times. He also wants to thank Miami for taking Shaq off his Lakers' hands and paving the way for them to build their road to the '09 championship.

My main reasons for putting them this low are simple. They really were a patchwork team. When I look at their roster, I just feel like they were held together with duct tape and glue. They are a paper airplane in a fleet of fighter jets. Wade was amazing during the playoff run, scoring 28 a game and dishing out 5.7 assists. Shaq only scored 18 a game in the playoff and played only 33 mpg. The only other Heat player in double figures was Antoine Walker. Jason Williams started at the point, which I'm not sure is ever a great idea, and the only consistent role players were Alonzo Mourning, James Posey, and Udonis Haslem.

This team was by far the thinnest of all the championship teams over the last ten years. Then there's the fact that they haven't been past the first round since, and that 2 years after the title they only won 15 games. The Bulls without Jordan went to the 2nd round of the playoffs. The Spurs rebuilt while continuing to contend, not once but twice, and the Lakers were back in the playoffs two years after losing Shaq. The Pistons even continued to make the Eastern Conference Finals after dumping one of their cornerstones in Ben Wallace.

The Miami Heat clearly had the weakest foundation of all these teams, which may make what Shaq and D-Wade accomplished even more remarkable. Personally, I just wish Ginobili had kept his hands off of Dirk Nowitzki because I guarantee you, Mark Cuban, that the Spurs would not have blown a 2-0 lead against the Heat.

Later in the week, we'll review some of the more trivial items of the last decade. Thanks for reading.

Lakers-Pistons recap

The Los Angeles Lakers were the last team in the NBA without a loss, that is until they ran into the new look Pistons. Allen Iverson and his new squad took it to the Lakers early and often, shooting the lights out all night. In the first half, the Pistons shot a ridiculous 62 percent while the Lakers struggled to make shots, that combination was all they needed to beat the Lakers. They finished the game with 51 percent shooting while the Lakers shot only 42 percent.

Rasheed Wallace playing the five coupled with his ability to shoot the three, seemed to be the main factor in their dominance of the Lakers. It pulled Andrew Bynum out of the lane and to the arc, leaving the lane open for driving guards like Allen Iverson and Rodney Stuckey.

Rasheed was 4-9 from three point range, scoring 25 on the night and grabbing 13 rebounds. Iverson matched Sheed's scoring output, with 25 of his own. However the player I was the most impressed with was Rodney Stuckey, his rare mix of speed and power at the point guard position helped him dominate Derek Fisher for the entire night.

The Lakers fall to 7-1 thanks to a 106-95 slaughtering, while the Pistons move to 7-2. The Lakers next game is tonight at home against the Chicago Bulls, and can be seen on NBATV. The Pistons head to Phoenix to take on the Suns and Steve Nash on Sunday.

Denver Nuggets-Detroit Pistons Trade @ a Glance and highly unfocused

I understand why Denver and Detroit decided to swap Allen Iverson for Chauncey Billups (McDyess isn't staying in Denver). I understand how the trade benefits both teams in the long term and possibly both teams in the short term. I understand why a lot of reporters are now excited to theorize about the future of the Detroit Pistons. I find myself doing the same, but for all the positive spin this trade is receiving, I'm not sure I'm willing to buy all of it.

I'm hearing a lot of the discussion focus on salaries, playoff seedings, consecutive year streaks in the conference finals, championships, consecutive years of losing in the first round, points per game, years in the league, and ages of the players involved, but I'm hearing very little about the emotional impact of this trade on both teams, which is especially important to the Detroit end of this deal, but not limited to the men who reside in the Motor City.

Three key players for both teams have been featured repeatedly in interviews on ESPN, sharing their initial reactions to the trade, and all three of these players seem very reluctant to embrace it. In fact, I would say all three would like to take a trip with Marty McFly and kidnap Joe Dumars and Rex Chapman. Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, and Carmello Anthony do not like this trade, and that matters.

Carmello, when talking to reporters, sounded like his childhood hero had just been murdered. If Iverson was his Superman, then this trade was his Doomsday. Carmello seemed to dwell more on the fact that a future Hall of Famer and close friend of his was sent to the Eastern Conference than he did on the fact that his team received a Finals MVP in return. Iverson and Carmello, while friends off the court, never really complemented each other well on it. Yes, they put up some huge scoring nights, both individually and as a team. No one will forget the night they blew out the Sonics(R.I.P.) by a score of 168 to 116, and they did amass 50 wins last season, the most ever for an 8th seed; but this team was never going to win a championship.

The front office conceded this point this past summer when they traded Marcus Camby away, possibly the only player on the team who played consistently good defense (Najera and K-Mart I offer my apologies). Iverson and Carmello both needed the ball in their hands to be effective. The only way either one impacts a game is by scoring, so it's no wonder that both look to shoot first and that young players like J.R. Smith sometimes get lost in the shuffle. Iverson and Carmello are not ballhogs, but they never complemented each other well. J.R. Smith is 23. Carmello is 24. Iverson is 32 and in the last year of his contract. Iverson had to go. Camby's exit, in hindsight, foreshadowed this departure.

Enter Chauncey Billups. He solves a lot of the problems that have belittled this franchise's efforts over the last few seasons. He's a better floor general than Iverson. He has a better feel for getting his teammates involved, which will allow young scorers like J.R. Smith to develop into more consistent scoring threats, and while 168 point games will no longer happen, neither will the 168 point losses that follow (shortly after setting the record the Nuggets suffered an abysmal blowout of their own). Billups will come to embody the accountability a coach demands of his players on the floor, defensively and offensively. Iverson never did that for George Karl.

Iverson will average more points than Billups. He may even average more assists than Billups; he did last season. But Billups finally brings an Alpha Dog with championship credentials to Denver. Iverson was never that. His trip in 2001 to the NBA Finals was a fluke caused by geography, set in motion billions of years ago when Pangaea decided to make herself into a puzzle, and Carmello has always been the talent, but not the leader. At Syracuse, the heart and soul of the 2003 champions was Gerry McNamara. Carmello was the bone and the sinew. The issue at hand now becomes can Carmello admit that he's not a leader and let Chauncey Billups do the job. Carmello can take all the big shots and lead the team in scoring, but will he allow Chauncey to hold him accountable in the huddle. If so, then this trade works for Denver. If not, then the Denver Nuggets wind up like The Wonders in That Thing You Do., where Jimmy was the talent and Guy was the brains, or the glue. Anyway, the combination didn't work. They broke up after one hit. I guess George Karl is Faye.

The more interesting part of this trade to discuss is on the Detroit Pistons end, which means I probably should have mentioned it earlier, seeing as most people probably stopped reading three or four paragraphs ago. Rasheed and Tayshaun are clearly not thrilled with the departure of their teammate Chauncey Billups. Tayshaun said it himself that it's hard to watch a guy one's played with for six years leave, especially if he was the leader of the team. Imagine the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles without Leonardo. Now, imagine the Ninja Turtles replacing Leonardo with Casey because that's what Detroit just did by trading Billups for Iverson. Casey's awesome with a golf club to the face, but he's never been part of an ensemble cast; and it's likely he hits as many turtles as foot soldiers, but I digress.

The problem goes beyond the chemistry issues. They're just fertilizer to the weed I see growing here. Joe Dumars came out and said to the media that this trade has huge implications on Detroit's cap space for this summer, and it does, which has caused all sorts of ridiculous theories about Detroit making serious efforts to pursue Lebron James. Let's get one thing clear: Lebron James will never wear a Detroit Pistons jersey. Detroit is not a step up from Cleveland. Lebron becomes a free agent in the summer of 2010, not 2009, so the Piston supporting cast, whose window may have already closed, will be another year older. Rip Hamilton will be 32 then. Rasheed Wallace will be 36. Tayshaun Prince will be 30. The guys on this team with championship experience will be old by 2010. Now, I'm not saying that Joe Dumars is not seriously trying to hunt down the King, but he will not be successful; and it doesn't matter if Lebron's agent represents the entire Pistons locker room, which brings us to the issue of chemistry.

Most trades that are made to free up cap space take place much closer to the trading deadline because one team wants to rent a player for the playoffs and another team wants to dump payroll and rebuild. One team focuses on today, while the other looks towards tomorrow. Denver just traded for a 32 year old point guard. Denver is clearly focused on this year and next year with the move. While Denver seems intent on the here and now, Detroit seems intent on the here, now, and everywhere. Joe Dumars is like the eye on top of the pyramid, a Masonic symbol.

Joe Dumars made this move three games into the season because if Rasheed and Tayshaun come around on the move emotionally and Rip Hamilton can come off the bench, then perhaps this move keeps Detroit competitive in the East. The problem is Joe Dumars showed his hand. He let everyone, including A.I. and Rasheed, know this deal was to clear cap space, which makes one wonder will either of them invest themselves into a one year project. Don't be surprised if either one finds himself on the move when the trade deadline approaches.

Rasheed's emotional state about the trade is not just a result of how he feels seeing his army lose a loyal soldier, but because he knows what it looks like when entire armies surrender. He felt a Russian winter when he was still a Blazer. He can see the writing on the wall, just as Iverson should have seen it in Denver when Camby was sent packing. Teams don't rebuild one player at a time; whole platoons are sent packing and withdrawn when the occupation has stretched six seasons.

Detroit just folded up their tents and started saving for tomorrow. Now, all we do is watch, wait, and listen. tck tck tck tck tck tck tck tck tck tck tck tck.............explosions can be the end or the beginning of something