Oh yeah, T-Mac's a Piston

Beware

Buzz

[buhz] - noun

Slang

a. a feeling of intense enthusiasm, excitement, or exhilaration.

b. a feeling of slight intoxication.

Is there an opposite of buzz? Anti-buzz? An anti-buzz surrounds the Palace these days. Coming off two dreadful seasons, a ho-hum offseason, and with a maxed-out salary cap and a no-confidence owner trying to unload the team, the Pistons in 2010-11 are a tough sell. Nobody is excited about this team (except perhaps Rodney Stuckey).

Those, like myself, who waited patiently for Dumars to thin out the herd at the 2 and 3 spots, found Joe Dumars actually adding another 2/3 hybrid in Tracy McGrady. Just so everyone has their facts straight, the Pistons can now go five deep at the 2 (Hamilton, Gordon, McGrady, Stuckey and Terrico White), five deep at the 3 (Prince, Daye, Summers, McGrady, and Jerebko), and zero deep at Center. Poor 6'7 Ben Wallace and his 35 year old knees will have to once again bang with Dwight Howard and the other behemoths.

This is not a team built for success. It's a team built for competition for playing time... and, if I know the NBA, in-team squabbling. How did it get to this point?

It started the summer of '09. Dumars felt he landed the gem of the free agent class with Ben Gordon. Gordon was coming off a star-making performance in the '09 playoffs, where he almost single-handedly lifted the Bulls past the Celtics in a dramatic seven-game series. Then Joe D signed fellow UConn Huskie Charlie Villanueva, who would give the Pistons the inside scoring threat they've lacked since Buddha Edwards.

The strange thing about the Gordon signing is that Gordon plays the same position as the Pistons best, most consistent, most expensive player - Rip Hamilton. So, either Joe thought he'd be able to trade Rip, or he figured Rip and Gordon could play together in a 3-guard set. Neither happened. Both Rip and BG got injured, and, when healthy, neither resembled an All-star, posting career lows in points. Villanueva was an even bigger disappointment. Instead of providing much-needed inside scoring, Charlie V, like Rasheed and Memo before him, inexplicably fell in love with the 3-point line, where he finished 86th in the league in 3pt FG%.

Rodney Stuckey struggled mightily in his second full season as point guard. He had little difficulty driving the lane, but the dude could not finish. He quickly earned a reputation as an out-of-control player and rarely received the bail-out calls from the refs. Stuckey's frustrations grew as he saw younger, less-established guards march to the line, while Stuckey was stuck on the paint. To further complicate matters, Stuckey seemed to excel when playing as a 2-guard.

The Pistons one pure point guard - Will Bynum - was a breath of fresh air during the '09 playoffs, and he opened the '09/'10 season with a bang. Bynumite averaged 15.0 pts and 5 assists per game in October. Most of his points were of the crowd-pleasing, dramatic, circus-like variety. Then the injury bug hit, and Bynumite became just regular ol' Bynum.

Thankfully, there were two positives from last season - Big Ben and his sidekick JJ. Jerebko came out of nowhere to display an NBA-ready aggressiveness and nose-for-the-ball. Not since The Worm have the Pistons had such a tireless rebounder, defender, and unconventional scorer. Jerebko was often forced to defend the opposition's top player, which exposed his weaknesses. Yet, for a rookie, Jerebko fared well, and he was rewarded with an invite to the Rookie/Sophomore Challenge during All-star week. Big Ben, meanwhile, proved his tires still had tread. Perhaps the best veteran-minimum signing of all time, Ben was the Piston's MVP. When he was in the game, the Pistons could compete with any team. The problems began when Ben sat. Nobody could match his defensive acumen. The drop-off was tangible and painful.

And the man forced to oversee this circus was rookie coach John Kuester. Coach Q displayed both a savvy offensive acumen and a deer-in-headlights ineptitude... often in the same game. Perhaps not wanting to continue his coaching carousel, Dumars allowed Coach Q to return for a second season. Barring a dramatic Carlisle-esque rebirth, I doubt he'll be back for a third.

So much went wrong for the Pistons last year. From injuries to sheer bad luck, the season was just a train wreck. Nothing illustrated this more than the final few games. With the Pistons clearly in the lottery hunt, they finished the season winning four of the final six games. With those wins, the Pistons jumped the Wizards and tied the Sixers in the standings. To decide their place in the draft order, the Pistons and Sixers had an old-fashioned coin-flip. The Pistons lost. So, in a matter of days, the Pistons went from fifth spot to the seventh.

What happened next just added salt to the wound. The Wizards won the lottery, and the Sixers won the second pick. The Pistons were forced to wait until pick #7. Thanks to their late season surge, the Pistons took themselves out of the top two picks. No John Wall. No Evan Turner. No DeMarcus Cousins. The Pistons did land Georgetown's Greg Monroe, who could contribute. I just don't know if he's ready to contribute any time soon.

Later that summer, Joe D added Tracy McGrady to the mix, to zero fanfare. While T-Mac is still quite young (31), he's got the knees of an AARP member. If T-Mac could've signed anywhere else, I'm sure he would have.

Those are your 2010-11 Detroit Pistons. They've got significant talent still but zero chemistry. I still don't know how Rip and Gordon can coexist. With Gordon's prolonged salary, many fans want him to start. I just don't know how you can sit the best, most experienced, most accomplished player. Makes no sense. Instead of shopping Hamilton, perhaps Joe D should shop Gordon. He might actually find a taker.