This is truly a conundrum for me picking who’d I’d like to see win this series. I wish their was a way for them to eliminate each other and we go straight to the Finals.

So, if I have to pull for a team, it’s the Cavs. I’ve not made it a secret that I don’t care for the Celtics. I don’t like the Cavs either but they’re the lesser of two evils in this case. I also find myself pulling for Ben Wallace. In addition I’d like to see the Pistons get a measure of payback against the Cavs en route to the Finals.

It’s not that as a Pistons fan I fear the Celtics, just the opposite. I think they’d be a better matchup for us than the Cavs. I just want them to GO AWAY. It’s just too much too soon. I’m sick of their ESPN commercials. I’m sick off all the promos with Garnett shouting/jersey popping/chest pumping/basket-support head butting. I’m sick of their loose gums and faux tough guy ways. I’m sick of them period.

Last night’s game was entertaining. I love the fact that the front running Celtics can’t get it done on the road in the Playoffs. I felt weird getting pumped when LeBron threw down the windmill jam on Mr. DPOY Kevin Garnett, but it was pretty sweet.

That’s more like it.

You had to have a good feeling about this one right from the outset. The Pistons caught the Cavs off guard to start the game getting run out transition buckets. It wasn’t the lathargic jump shooting team that played the Cavs back on the 19th. This time it was Detroit getting to the hustle plays and beating Cleveland on the boards (43-37).

Rip Hamilton was still nursing a sore hip, but this is a game he wanted to play in. Rip led the Piston scoring with 14, but more important were his contributions to defending LeBron James.

Rip and co. held Cleveland’s King to a season low 13 points on 4/17 shooting. That’s a good 17+ points below James’ season average. This loss probably shut the door on LeBron’s candidacy for league MVP as the Cavs can no longer have a 50 win season. Without looking it up I can’t remember a player in recent memory winning the MVP when his team is sub-50 wins.

Getty

Antonio McDyess recorded a 12 point, 10 rebound double-double, 7 of those boards came in the first quarter alone.

Chauncey Billups scored 13 and it seemed like they were all on Damon Jones. I don’t think there’s a player more ill-equipped to handle Mr. Big Shot defensively than Damon Jones. DJ just needs to stick to being LeBron’s personal cheerleader and leave the game stuff to everyone else.

I don’t think this was a statement game any more than the Cavs win over us in Cleveland. The Cavs are battling through a host of injuries and still trying to find out what the net gain of their big trade is. So, no, I wouldn’t say we sent any kind of message but it’ll give Cleveland something to think about.

NOTES: The Pistons honored the Jack McCloskey, the architect of the Bad Boys teams, at half time by raising his name on a banner to the Palace rafters…Pistons announcer, and living legend George Blaha emceed the banner raising ceremony, it was also Blaha’s 63rd birthday….The Pistons finally own a regular season win over Ben Wallace this year, Ben left the game in the third quarter with back spasms….Box score

The Pistons (51-21) will be hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers (40-32) Tip off is 7:30 pm est from the Palace of Auburn Hills and will be televised locally on WDIV Detroit

Cavs’ Snapshot
Road record: 16-21
Last game: 3/26 (Weds) L 100-99 vs. Hornets
Last 10: 5-5
Last game vs. Detroit: Mar. 19th - Pistons (73) @ Cavs (89)

In my mind this game could go one of two ways; either it’s a competitive matchup of two divisional rivals or a game where the Cavs outwork us because they still feel the need to measure up. I’m kind of leaning towards the latter since the Pistons probably aren’t going to take any chances in getting involved in a smash mouth matchup with 10 games left in the regular season.

I think perhaps the last game of the season (4/16 @ Cleveland) the Pistons might look to send a little more of a message as they lock in for their title run.

I would however like to see the Pistons look more comfortable when the Cavs go to their trapping defense, especially Chauncey Billups. Win or lose if they look as if they’ve worked out that kink I’ll feel good about the game.

It looks as if Rip Hamilton will be listed as questionable with his sore left hip. On Cleveland’s side Ben Wallace (back spasms) and Daniel Gibson (ankle sprain) are also questionable for tonight’s game.

Pistons (73) Cavaliers (89)

[Box score] The Pistons played pretty well in the first quarter scoring 25, but it was uninspired from that point out as they never got to 20 points in any of the 3 subsequent quarters.

Two totally different types of games but 17 assists compared to 42 the night before?

LeBron James (30 pts) seemed unstoppable when he wanted to score he got solid contributions from the guys around him, namely Zydrunas Ilgauskas (20 pts, 8 rbs).

The Cavaliers played sound defense on our guys. Good rotations by Cleveland turned us into a jump shooting team, and you can’t win if you’re the Pistons shooting 40% from the field. You know you’re team isn’t playing aggressively when they only attempt 7 free throws.

The clanking jumpers gave the Cavs a 46-39 rebounding edge, 14 of which were on the offensive and that points to a lack of effort and concentration on the Pistons end.  I guess if you want to make excuses you could point to the 3 games in 4 nights but I still expected more effort.

The usually sure handed Pistons turned the ball over 11 times. That isn’t a very staggering number except when the other team gets 15 points off those 11 turnovers. That stings a little. The Cavs on the other hand took relatively good care of the ball only committing 7 turnovers.

I expected a little more out of Rasheed in this game. He usually plays bigger on the road in hostile environments. His 16 points came off 6/17 shooting, and was 2/8 free beyond the arc. It seemed our old buddy Ben was pretty familiar with what Rasheed wanted to do and for the most part neutralized him defensively. Down on the other end Big Z easily got the better of that matchup.

Going into this game we had won 7 of the last 8 regular season meeting with the Cavs. I guess the guys just feel sorry for Ben? This game combined with the 3 games against Ben this year as a Bull and he’s 4-0 against us.

In closing I thought I was sure I disliked the Celtics more than the Cavs but I’ve come to realize it’s which ever of the two that has beat us last is who I hate the most. That “Detroit sucks” chant is really getting under my skin, but I also like it that way because it adds to the rivalry.

The Pistons (49-18) will be in Cleveland to take on the Cavaliers (38-30) Tip off is 8:00 pm est from the Quickens Loan Arena and will be televised locally on TV20 Detroit

Cavs’ Snapshot
Home record: 22-10
Last game: 3/17 (Mon) L 90-104 @ Magic
Last 10: 6-4
Last game: Jan. 28th - Cavaliers (74) @ Pistons (109)

The Pistons are going to take on their doppelgänger rivals down in Cleveland looking to get win #50 on the season. The last time we played Gilbert’s Pistons we thrashed ‘em by 35, but to be fair they were without LeBron James who suffered a nasty hang nail in the second quarter.

A lot has changed since then. The Cavs were involved in a last minute three team swap at the trade deadline acquiring the King some new pawns. Gone is bearded mouth breather Drew Gooden. In his place is a familiar face around these parts. In addition to #3 #4 they added Delonte West, Wally Szyrklpnebsiaivgbiak, and Joe Smith. The Cavs have gone 8-6 since the trade.

How does Rasheed feel about King James?

Anyone else catch Rasheed’s post game comments tonight? When asked by Fox Sport’s Trevor Thompson about the impending matchup with King James, Ben Wallace and the Cavs Rasheed replied, in classic Rasheed fashion:

“I don’t know if there’s a king, that’s something ya’ll labeled him”

Although Wallace isn’t going to concede LeBron as NBA royalty, he did say he’s one of the league’s “better players”.

How unnatural does this pic look? Makes you wish it was photoshopped, but sadly it’s not. I got used to Ben in the Bulls red and black pretty easily, but this is stomach turning. He’s not even wearing his trademark 3 (that’s being worn by Aleksandar Pavlovic).

Big Ben put up pretty respectable numbers in his first game as one of King James’ pawns. Wallace had a 12 point (5/6 FG), 10 board double-double. He also had a pair of steals and a block in a 89-109 win over the Grizz. It was Ben’s first double-double in 21 games (sorry Chi fans).

We’ll get our first look at the new-look Benny Paychecks on March 19th when the real Pistons travel down to C-Town to take on Dan Gilbert’s bizarro Pistons.

More interesting though might be the game on March 6th when the Cavs go to Chicago to take on the Bulls where Ben got booed as a member of their own team. Some are even calling him the biggest bust in Chicago sports history. Thankfully it’ll be nationally televised game on TNT.

So, we didn’t quite make the splash Cleveland did (see below) but here’s what we did do. The Pistons sent Priomz Brezec along with cash considerations to the Raptors in exchange for Juan Dixon (6′3″, 165 lbs.). I didn’t quite get why the Pistons would pick up another guard and trade away our only true center. Then it was cleared up a little for me after reading this on Pistons.com:

The Pistons have the option of cutting one of their spare guards and adding a big man currently a free agent. The likeliest scenario? Flip Murray, who hasn’t played in two months, could be bought out of his contract at little cost – it’s due to expire at the end of this season – and Dale Davis, who played for the Pistons last year and is free to sign with any team, could be signed as veteran big man insurance.

My wish for the Pistons was to pick up a large foul eating big man. Not so much for the East, but whom ever we might meet out of the West in the Finals. While I love Double D, I wonder what he’s got left in the tank? He hasn’t played since last season and even then it looked like he really labored up and down the court.

Juan can be a nice guy coming off the bench especially in favor of Flip Murray who is just too free lancing for our team. Dixon has not come close to the collegiate success he enjoyed leading Maryland to the 2002 NCAA Championship and being named the Final Four’s MOP. This season he’s averaging 4.3 ppg, 1.8 apg in 12 minutes per, with career averages of 9 ppg and 1.7 apg. The Pistons are the 4th team for Dixon since being drafted 17th overall in 2002 by the Washington Wizards, yes, ANOTHER Wizard’s retread. Juan, like Brezec, is in the last year of his contract. If we end up re-signing Dixon, Joe D. must go after Desmond Mason, the marketing possiblities would be through the roof!

Ben went where??

The Cavs were involved in a 3-team, 11 player deal that netted them former face of the franchise Ben Wallace. They also got Wally Sczcberbiak, Delonte West and Joe Smith. They sent Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Cedric Simmons, and Shannon Brwon to Chicago. And, Ira Newble and Donyell Marshall to Seattle.

Dan Gilbert’s Piston’s envy knows no bounds.

LBJ wanted some turnover and he got it.

When I first heard about the deal I just heard Ben Wallace & Drew Gooden and I was happy because it was another chance to get back at Ben for bolting, and the Cavs, already hurting for someone not named James to score a bucket, just down graded. But, then there’s Delonte West..solid, Wally Longlastname…solid, Joe Smith…savvy thorn in the Pistons’ side solid. All the sudden the Cavs have nice complimentary pieces to take some scoring pressure off Elvis.

Who would have thought the Bulls could move Ben’s contract? Maybe the same people who thought the Cavs could move Hughes’ big bank.

The rivalry just got a little more raw. You think Chi figured if they couldn’t overthrow us they’d help Cleveland do it? I’m not looking forward to seeing Ben in that nasty Cavs jersey. While I’ll miss hating that big gumpy mouth breather Drew Gooden, I think Delonte West is plenty ugly enough to get under my skin.

Buckle up Pistons Nation.

….Oh, also, former Piston pit bull Mike James was traded from Houston to New Orleans.

Donyell Marshall is so rusty after being out the whole season with injury that he forgot you need to be wearing a team issued jersey before you check into an NBA game.

That was the highlight for the LeBron-less Cavs who lost to the Sonics 101-95

Roll film…

After Cleveland’s loss at home (110-108) to the Suns this past Friday. Take that trash can!