Anomaly (Trial Blog for Sports Fans)

My blog will primarily be devoted to updating my travels abroad in the upcoming year. I am not abroad yet, however, and feel that it would be valuable, and (hopefully) entertaining to write about a different subject. This subject does indeed relate to my travels, though. I'm going to be gone for nearly a year, potentially slightly more. There are a lot of sacrifices I'm making in doing so. My family, my friends, school, life as I've known it for 20 years. One thing that I will miss terribly is one of my true loves - American sports - the subject of this blog, with a focus on the Detroit Pistons off-season moves (so far).

(Please forgive me: Red Wings, Tigers, Lions, Wolverines, and Spartans. I love you all like children. *Quick props to the Tigers all-stars; I'm proud that Brandon Inge got the nod he deserved. Sadly, I predict that he gets one at-bat and strikes out. I hope he proves me wrong!*)

Last season, only two games in, Joe Dumars turned his organization on it's head. I don't think even he knew what he was giving up in trading Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson. No one could have. Obviously Chauncey was the leader of the team, living up to his nicknames of Mr. Clutch, and, the one I feel most accurate, Smooth. Boy is so smooth. But we'd hit our ceiling. Six straight years of getting to at least the Eastern Conference Championship, reaching two Finals and winning one Championship was an incredible feat, but it was clear that the era was declining.

Having a nucleus like we had stick together for such a long time and reach such success is rare. Even the six championships Jordan won in eight years were with radically different supporting casts (albeit only two). Chauncey became the foundation of this nucleus (but props to Chucky Atkins for leading us to our first 50-win season in my memory). As it were, everyone, literally everyone, on the team structured their game around Sir Smooth. With him out of the picture, there was a vacuum. He was the anchor, not only of the offensive system, but of everyone's individual game. This aspect was, I think, underestimated. Even more so, though, was Chauncey's anchoring of the defense. D was the Pistons' identity, and he was a cornerstone.

So Joe D's gamble was an even bigger one than he realized. Add in the fact that he was throwing in a score-first "me, me!" point-guard to run the once-well-oiled machine, and the odds were stacked against us. Throw in a rookie coach with minimal experience and you've got the potential for a disaster. And that is what we got. A disgraceful 39-43 record and a deserved sweep out of the playoffs. Joe was able to make the gamble with an ace in the hole, though. $$$$$. It's power. And he exercised this power by signing Benny G and Charlie V to 5-year deals. Meanwhile, we lost 34-year-olds 'Sheed (who was dunzo with the Pistons a while ago), 'Dice (easily our best player last year, deserving of a championship and in a good position to get one with the Spurs), and AI (douche). We are young, can shoot the rock, and have a couple gaping holes. But I have hope.

When Joe first took over, he brought in a couple no-names in Chucky Atkins and Ben Wallace. Pour a few more ingredients in, mix rigorously, and voila, we've got a championship contender. These two signings eerily remind me of such moves. Joe D values character and teamwork. I think that's what we're getting. Plus two pretty sick players.

Benny G is arguably the best shooter in the game. He's wetter than rain. With starter's minutes and as a focal point of an offense, it's not at all a stretch to say he'd average 30 points per game. Did you see what he did against Boston in this year's playoffs? He's got ice in his veins. Throw in a fart joke and we've got the three elements of matter in one player. We're paying him $11 M a year - no small sum. Joe thinks he's worth it. At this point I think we may have overpayed, but I don't regret it at all.

Charlie V cannot grow hair. Can you ask for a smoother player? (Quick props to the other universal alopeciatic Detroiter, the forgettable Tigers [!] pitcher Nate Cornejo). Seriously though, Chuck has the ability to put up superstar numbers, and he's done so sporadically. He can play inside and out, something which I think matches up really nicely with Rodney Stuckey, who also has superstar potential, and made it easier for Joe to give up Chauncey. Plus, I think we're getting him for a good price at $7 M per year, especially when you compare him to Toronto's offer of $10 M per year to Andrea Bargnani.

We've got two problems. One is a lack of a big man. We have one center. He is Kwame Brown. I'm not exactly down with having the quintessential draft-day bust lead us back to prominence. But when you consider that, if he starts (gasp!; curse), he'll be surrounded by Charlie V, Tayshaun, Rip, Benny G, and/or Stuckey, that's a sexy lineup. We won a championship playing 4-on-5 offense with Big Ben. Even Kwame is better than he on that end of the floor.

This brings us to the second big problem. That is the starting backcourt/bench. We're still recovering from post-Chauncey syndrome, and it's not clear what our direction is. Stuckey seems to be the man of the future, but in reality he seems like more of an off-guard than a point-man. Apparently Benny G thinks he can run the point. Rip is a player. The consistency he brings is coveted by every team in the League. Honestly, I prefer giving the reigns to Stucky at PG, putting Benny G at the starting 2-guard spot, and letting Rip thrive as the sixth man. I just hope he's cool with that. His past wouldn't suggest otherwise, but he is the oldest player on the team and arguably still in his prime, so it may be a difficult role for him to accept.

I don't love our bench. Who would? I do love our backup guards. In addition to the one of the three aforementioned studs who will be left out of the starting lineup, we've got Afflalo and Slick Willy Bynum. Maxiell needs to step it up. The rest of our bench is completely unproven, but for whatever reason I've got a feeling that our newly acquired Swede, Jonas Jerebko, will do big things. Swedes tend to do well in Detroit.

Perhaps a trade is in order. One of our guards for a big man? But can we get a legit center? Do we really want another 6-9ish rock i.e. Brandon Bass? Let's not forget that Big Ben was only 6-9, though. Maybe we can get away with it. But my guess is that, if the roster is left as is, this will come back to bite us.

If we don't move anyone, I see us getting the 4- or 5-seed, maybe making it to the conference finals, but more likely falling in the second round. With Orlando, Boston, and Cleveland all improving, I'm not so sure we've done enough. But in Joe I trust.

I will be away for the entire Pistons season. I will miss them. Hopefully I will be able to catch some of them on TV. Either way, I'll certainly be following their every game via internet.

So this was my first run as a sports columnist. Pretty cool job. I'll let you know where to send my checks to.

Anyway, if you've read this far, I appreciate it. If you're hoping for more sports talk, you may get it, but the majority of my blog will be dedicated to writing about my travels and posting pictures and commentary.

Much love.