A Distraction

Well the basketball in Detroit is bad right now. However it is not quite as bad as the football. A new trade idea just hit me. How about we trade Allen Iverson to the Lions for Calvin Johnson. Sounds like a plan to me. Iverson has to be better at passing the football than a basketball. Look below, he's tackling Randy Foye (who probably deserved it.) The Lions could use a hyrbid QB/CB. Plus, with his leaping ability, you know Calvin Johnson can ball. He probably took a few lessons from Javaris Crittenton and Thad Young when they were all at Georgia Tech

Here, watch Allen play!

We need a bench quick!

After realizing that our team usually only plays 3 guys off the bench each night, I had an epiphany. This is going to screw us over later in the season. Right now, we usually only have Maxiell, Rip, and and McDyess come off the bench in games. Occasionally we will see Kwame, Afflalo, or Bynum get some good minutes, but we don't blow anyone out anymore, so this is barely happening. What we need is to rest our guys so we can do something in the post season. I don't see Joe D. making a big move at the deadline. But I think we may see him bolster the bench. The Pistons do not have a good backup PG or SF. We need to make a deal. There are plenty of teams willing to trade PG's right now (Hello, Earl Watson.) SF's are a bit more difficult, and that isn't as big of a need, because Tayshaun is younger and capable of going with less rest. However, the question remains, who would we have to trade? If we are not going to play Afflalo or Hermann, I think they should be sent elsewhere. We could package them together and get a decent PG, and that would create room for us to give a shot to Alex Acker or Walter Sharpe. If you have ideas, send me a link to the ESPN trade machine

Good Stuff

If you need a laugh, check out the new comic at Garbage Time All Stars (Well, technically go there, then follow the link to Ball Don't Lie.) It really has nothing to do with the Pistons, but is still funny.

The One We Call Amir

The blog on MLive just posted something quite interesting. After some quantitative analysis, they found that the Pistons are a much better rebounding team when Amir gets more minutes. This is news to me. Besides McDyess and Sheed when he is motivated, Amir is the best rebounder, but I think I would still rather see more Dyess. However, the numbers don't lie...always

Change we can believe in?

You know how when we traded for Allen Iverson things were supposed to change. He was supposed to be the missing scorer that would finally unlock our offensive potential and combine with our stellar defense to create a team that would dominate the universe. Yeah, that didn't work out so well. Well Iverson really isn't a premier scorer in the NBA. Oh yeah, that Chauncey guy we traded, he was pretty good. Especially defensively and in clutch situations. Well, stop your whining. Both I and Baron Davis know it is too late to call backsies. But what should we do know. We have lost 7 of the last 9 games, generally leaving us fans feeling like the feline below.

What should be done. I believe if a team is going to play together, they will at least show signs through their first 25 games. We really have not. I don't see us winning a playoff series, but as always, we are one piece away. I believe that piece is a defending center, just like Ben Wallace used to be. A center is not obtained easily though. So who should be the trade fodder. Let us go through the starting lineup...

Rodney Stuckey-He was one of the main reasons we traded Chauncey. He has lived up to his potential so far and trading him is out of the question.

Allen Iverson-If Stuckey has filled part of Chauncey's shoes, then AI has left the other part unfilled. He can still score 15-20 per night, but he creates bad matchups when he has to defend a 2, and he doesn't play that hard defensively. In my mind, he should be traded. So what if we just got him. The Hawks did the same thing when they traded for Rasheed. The question is who would want him

Tayshaun Prince- No, he will not be traded. He is the current face of the franchise

Rasheed Wallace- He is the second part of the problem. He has become indifferent to going for rebounds, and doesn't post up much anymore. He is very capable of doing this, he just doesn't think he should. He can be traded

Amir Johnson-He has still has not reached his full potential, so it wouldn't make a lot of sense to trade him right now. If he was requested in a reasonable trade offer though, I don't think the Pistons could refuse, especially because we have Jason Maxiell

Here are some of my potential trade ideas. If you have a better one, send me a link on the comments:

• Rasheed Wallace for Sam Dalembert and Jason Smith

• Pistons get: Andris Biedrins, Marcus Williams, Hamed Haddadi

Warriors get: Hakim Warrick, Marc Gasol, and Kyle Lowry

Grizzlies get: Rasheed Wallace

• Allen Iverson and Will Bynum for David Lee and Stephon Marbury

So what do you think?

An Analysis Of Centers

What we really need right now is a good center. We do not have one on our team. The problem is that most teams also have the same dilemna. I have been mulling over several trades in my head and it is very difficult to find a quality starting center that a team would even consider trading at all. I am not ripping on Sheed. I just don't think he is a center, or a great post player. To begin, here are centers I would like to have starting for the Pistons, or players who think could develop into good starting centers. There are several borderline players that are hybrid 4-5's, and I don't consider them all centers. For instance, Nene Hilario is a center, but Emeka Okafor is not. Anyways...

Kendrick Perkins

Nene Hilario

Andris Biedrins

Yao Ming

Marcus Camby

Chris Kaman

DeAndre Jordan

Pau Gasol

Andrew Bynum

Marc Gasol

Brook Lopez

Tyson Chandler

Dwight Howard

Sam Dalembert

Shaquille O'Neal

Robin Lopez

Greg Oden

Spencer Hawes

Brad Miller

Kosta Koufos

Javale McGee

Now we need to start putting these guys into categories. First, we have the untouchables, or guys viewed as franchise players. You call a G.M. and mention that you want to trade for them, you will get hung up on.

Yao Ming

Dwight

Next are the guys on good teams that aren't in trading mode right now

Kendrick Perkins

Nene Hilario

Pau Gasol

Andrew Bynum

Tyson Chandler

Shaquille O'Neal

Then there are the guys who teams won't trade because they just got drafted or are young cornerstones

Andrew Bynum

Marc Gasol

Brook Lopez

Robin Lopez

Greg Oden
Spencer Hawes

Javale McGee

Who does that leave us with:

Andris Biedrins

Marcus Camby

Chris Kaman

DeAndre Jordan

Sam Dalembert

Brad Miller
Kosta Koufos

I would love Camby, Dalembert, or Biedrins, but I really don't think they are very available either. I think we should start bugging Clippers about Chris Kaman. He would provide an interior presence we haven't had since Ben Wallace left. Miller could also be a good player, but only for a few more years, and he isn't that great in the post. Jordan and Koufos are two guys who I think have good futures in the NBA.