Iverson In His New Duds

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

I must say, it's pretty unreal to see AI in a Pistons jersey. I've always been an Iverson fan, every since he a high-flying phenom at Georgetown. He may not be the spectacular dunker he was for the Hoyas (don't believe me? Check this out), but the man still can put the ball in the basket. Iverson may be on the decline, but he still brings more superstar power to Detroit than anyone since Grant Hill.

I loved watching him play during his Sixers days, when he single-handedly carried terrible teams way further than they ever should have gone. Remember, Aaron McKie was Philly's number two scoring option when they made the NBA Finals in 2001 (I guess you could argue Dikembe Mutombo was, but he mostly just cleaned up what AI missed...it's not like they ran the offense through him). Iverson's step-over on Tyronn Lue remains one of my favorite highlights from my lifetime.

It's going to be fun watching AI suit up for Detroit Friday night at New Jersey, and for the rest of the season. Now that he is not burdened with carrying a team, or the growth of another superstar, we may just see a reenergized Iverson. If we do, this Detroit team will be one to watch out for deep into the summer.

Rip Signed to Extension

From ESPN via DBB: Detroit has just signed Rip Hamilton to a three-year, $34 million extension.

I'm going to wait for someone who knows more about the salary cap to break this one down. I'm still recovering from the AI trade. My initial reaction is relief that there won't be a total overhaul of the roster after this season. Now if you'll excuse me, it's time to eat lunch. Um, dinner. I need to get away from my computer now.

Now That It's Official...

Lost in all the hoopla of whether the Chauncey/Dyess/Samb-for-AI deal is good for the Pistons is the fact that, well, Detroit is trading Mr. Big Shot. This may seem dumbfoundingly obvious, but it seems that the fact hasn't sunk in yet that Detroit is trading a fan favorite, as well as a superb basketball player.

I have to get this off my chest: I don't believe in clutch. There's a multitude of reasons, but here's my argument boiled down in to a couple of sentences. Check out 82games.com's "Clutch" statistics (they use the quotes too). Notice something about the top of the leaderboard? It's just the league's best players, with almost no exceptions. To me, "clutch" falls in to the same category as "grit" and "being a winner" as terms thrown around by sportswriters because they're easier to say than it is to actually break down why a player is good.

However, I never had a problem with Chauncey's "Mr. Big Shot" moniker. Why? Because the dude had cajones. Detroit did not have a go-to scorer during its run to six straight conference finals appearances, but Chauncey was always the man in big-time situations. Whether he made the big shot or missed it, a Pistons fan was never unhappy to see the ball in Billups' hands with the clock winding down. Many will call that clutch; I prefer to say that Chauncey just has no fear.

I've already said I love the trade, from the standpoint that the Pistons have a brighter future and a great present as well. Still, there's a heavy feeling in my gut, one that knows that number one in the Red, White and Blue won't be suiting up for the D again. "Allen ... I-I-I-Iverson" just doesn't have the same ring as Mason's "B-B-B-Billups" introduction. And so, I'll be pouring out a beer for Chauncey tonight (and probably drinking a couple as well).

They say the mark of a great GM is the ability to make personnel moves without letting sentiment get in the way. Good think Joe Dumars is our GM, because this is a trade most Pistons fans would have a really hard time making.

Just look back and appreciate some of Chauncey's finest playoff exploits:

Breaking Pistons News: Iverson to Detroit

Stephen A. Smith is reporting on Sportscenter that a HUGE deal is near completion in Detroit. The Pistons will reportedly send Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess to Denver in exchange for Allen Iverson.

My first instinct is to say I like the trade. AI is still a go-to scorer who is as hungry as anyone in the league for an NBA title. He can play both guard spots, and with Rip Hamilton and Rodney Stuckey will form one of the most potent backcourt rotations in the league.

The trade, if it goes through, is bittersweet. Chauncey has always been a fan favorite, and it's always tough to see an NBA Finals MVP go. However, he is going to his hometown team and a playoff contender, so as a Pistons fan I'm happy for him.

This is definitely a huge vote of confidence for Stuckey, Amir Johnson, and Jason Maxiell, all of whom are in line to play even bigger roles with the team if this trade goes through. Losing Ben Wallace to free agency was one thing, but trading Chauncey really signals the beginning of the end of the old guard (the core of the team that won the 2004 title) and the start of the youth movement in Detroit.

More on this later, after it is (and IF it is) confirmed.

UPDATE: Tom Ziller at the Fanhouse posts another reason why this deal makes a whole lot of sense for Detroit:

This deal isn't about tomorrow or April, though: it's about July. Iverson is a pending free agent, while Billups and Antonio McDyess will take up $19 million of cap space next season. If Dumars lets A.I. flee and fails to re-sign aging forward Rasheed Wallace, the Pistons will be looking at upwards of $20 million in cap space in the summer of 2009. The free agent crop is solid -- not replete with superstars, but solid. Lamar Odom, Shawn Marion, Hedo Turkoglu, Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur, Ben Gordon ... there's a chance Dumars could pick up two of those guys with all his space. (UPDATE: Rip Hamilton could also opt out this summer, if he wants to pass up $11 million in exchange for long-term security. That'd give Dumars more than $30 million to play with.)

Or -- and here's the scary thought for non-Pistons fans -- Dumars could let the freedom ride til the summer of '10, when Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Amare Stoudemire hit the market. Atonement for the '03 draft debacle, perhaps?

Don't doubt Joe D. This move doesn't severely cripple the Pistons' chances this season (in my opinion), and gives up a hell of a lot more flexibility down the road. If we pick up a superstar or two in a couple of years, this will be looked at as possibly the best personnel move Dumars has ever made.

UPDATE 2: Damn, take a nap, and things get all official. Yes, this trade is actually happening, and there's seemingly hundreds of reactions out there on the internets already. True Hoop loves the deal for Detroit. So does Ball Don't Lie. Kevin Sawyer at DBB is less enthused (still waiting to see what Matt thinks). ESPN's Chad Ford and John Hollinger weigh in, as does Keith Langlois at True Blue Pistons. Also, Dave Dial at MLive's Full Court Press blog has a great breakdown of the salary cap ramifications of the deal, as well as a list of potential free agents for next offseason, if Detroit chooses to use its cap space on the class of 2009.

Quick Link Drop: Mac Back in the Fold

Sorry for the lack of content today ... got a test tomorrow. Hate it when real life gets in the way of the important stuff. Here's some links to hold you over:

• Slightly old news, but Darren McCarty agreed to a one-year, two-way deal to remain a Red Wing. I personally hope the guy retires a Wing, and I'm sure practically every Detroit fan feels the same. The only issue will be whether he can crack the regular lineup.
• Michigan just picked up another big commit in Arizona DE Craig Roh, who committed on ESPNU tonight. Roh is a Rivals250 player who fills a huge need for the Wolverines.
• The Pistons will look to bring Antonio McDyess off the bench this season, meaning Jason Maxiell, Amir Johnson, and Kwame Brown are competing for a starting role this season. The favorite has got to be Maxiell, but I'd love to see Amir step up and allow Mad Max to continue to bring his energy off the bench.
  

Bill Davidson Drops the Gloves

Beneath this gentle, wrinkled exterior is a feisty man with a distaste for the men in the gray shirts.

The Detroit Free Press has posted an interview with Hall-of-Fame bound Pistons owner Bill Davidson, covering a wide range of topics from his relationship with Isiah Thomas to his distaste for loud music. Davidson is one of the great owners in sports, and is widely respected in the NBA, but he clearly is not afraid to throw out some zingers.

On Larry Brown: "Well, Larry Brown is not what he appears to be. And he's built a reputation for himself based on his own PR people. He's not what he appears to be."

He also said he decided he would fire Larry Brown after half a season of him coaching the Pistons, and was forced to stick it out with him for two years because he won the NBA title in 2004. He even blames Brown for the loss to San Antonio in the 2005 finals:

We were the better team, but Larry Brown was not the right coach. Now that you can say.

Beneath Larry Brown's slimy, opportunistic exterior is, well, more sliminess and opportunism, probably.

Davidson definitely comes off as a player's owner. In fact, here is his reasoning for the firing of the last three Piston coaches:

Brown: "The reason I get rid of a coach is if he's lost the players. I don't want to subject my players to a coach they don't want, basically and in whom they have lost faith."

Rick Carlisle: "Yeah, he had lost the players. He had a certain style, which wore off after a certain amount of time. But he was a good coach, on kind of a short-term basis. He knows the game, did all the right things, but he didn't have that personal touch with players."

Flip Saunders: "He had definitely lost the players."

Davidson saves most of his venom, however, for the NBA referees.

Well, I look for certain things, which are mainly fouls ... and, unfortunately, the referees are not what they should be -- although they're getting better. So I watch the referees. I watch who they are. There are certain referees -- when they come to our game -- you know you're gonna lose. And that should never be.

Wow. Don't go so easy on them, Mr. Davidson. Wait, there's more?

Q: What do you think of the whole Tim Donaghy scandal?

A: That's the tip of the iceberg with referees.

Bill Davidson is officially one of my favorite people on Earth.

Detroit Athlete of the Decade Tournament: The Finals

POLLS CLOSED: Lidstrom wins 73% to 28%

In what should come as a surprise to no one, Chauncey Billups and Nicklas Lidstrom have advanced to the finals of the Detroit Athlete of the Decade Tournament. Billups advanced to the finals with a resounding 82%-18% victory over Lions kicker Jason Hanson, while Lidstrom took down Tigers outfielder Magglio Ordonez, 84%-16%. Who will be crowned the king of the D? That's up to you. Polls will stay open through the rest of the week, with final results posted on Sunday.

Final Round: Billups vs. Lidstrom

Chauncey Billups (Sam Weiss, The Ace of Sports)

If Ben was the heart, Rip was the legs, Tay was the arms, Sheed was the soul and Darko was the appendix, then Chauncey Billups was the head of the 2003-2004 World Champion Detroit Pistons. David Thorpe, Executive Director of the Pro Training Center at IMG Academies, called Chauncey arguably the smartest player in basketball and most Pistons fans would probably agree. In addition to Basketball IQ, Chauncey brought good defense, unselfish play and a cool head to the world champions. One can use descriptions ranging from the vague terms of amateur sportscasters to numbers that only a stat-geek could appreciate. (Examples: unlike most players given the label from nimrod Sportscenter analysts, Chauncey is ‘clutch’. Also, a stat-geek might point out that his Free Throws Attempted per Turnover Committed is outrageously high, tops in the NBA year after year, demonstrating the ability to operate in traffic without losing the ball).

For the last 30 years, the team with the best individual player has always won the NBA finals. Except for the 2003-2004 Pistons. Because of their unique accomplishment, it is difficult to pick any one of them as most responsible. Any one of the starting five could have won the Finals MVP. Were someone to argue that Tayshaun, Rasheed or Ben was more deserving of this honor, his or her argument would certainly have merit, so I’ll keep mine very simple:

A. No sports accomplishment of the last decade meant more to the people of Detroit than the 2003-2004 NBA Championship.
B. By almost any statistical measure, Chauncey was the best player on that team and has been the best player on the Pistons ever since.
C. As a fanatic who has watched the team play (and who loved/loves all Stones equally, even Carlos Delfino and Ronald Dupree), I agree. Chauncey was the most valuable player.

Chauncey doesn’t need to become a symbol of the entire Piston’s team or the city of Detroit itself; he’s got a ring and a Finals MVP Trophy.

(Of course, he could go out and win another championship next year just to make my argument a little bit better. Just a thought.)

Nicklas Lidstrom (Dave, Gorilla Crouch)

Nick Lidstrom is widely considered to be one of the top 2 or 3 defensemen to ever play the game. He has been awarded the Norris trophy as the league's best defenseman six of the last seven seasons. He trails only Bobby Orr and Doug Harvey for most Norris trophies awarded to an NHL defenseman. This would be comparable to a pitcher winning 6 out of 7 Cy Young awards or an NBA player winning Defensive Player of the year award that often. It's an incredible feat that has been accomplished by a remarkable and rare talent.

While awards help to make the point, statistics show what a player actually did on the playing surface against his competition. Over the past 10 regular seasons, Nick Lidstrom has averaged playing in 80 of his team's 82 games, and averaged 14 goals and 49 assists per year. That comes out to 63 points per season with an average plus/minus rating of +24. Night in and night out he's faced the absolute best talent in the league and the Red Wings have outscored the opposition by 24 even-strength goals on average every year for the past 10 years.

Regular Season:

Lidstrom's 142 goals is the 3rd most by a defenseman over the past 10 seasons.
Lidstrom's 489 assists are the most by a defenseman over the past 10 seasons.
Lidstrom's +237 rating is the best by a defenseman over the past 10 seaons.
Won 6 of the last 7 Norris trophy awards.

Playoffs:
Lidstrom's 26 goals is the most by a defensemen over the past 10 seasons.
Lidstrom's 76 assists is the most by a defenseman over the past 10 seasons.
Lidstrom's +20 rating is the 4th best by a defensemen over the past 10 seaons.
3-time Stanley Cup champion over the past 10 seasons.
He was awarded the Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP in the 2002 playoffs.

Olympics:

Lidstrom has averaged just under a point a game in Olympic competition over the past three winter competitions and scored the gold-medal winning goal for Sweden in the 2006 winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Nick Lidstrom is the best athlete in Detroit over the past ten seasons. He's been acknowledged as one of the best defensemen in the history of hockey and his regular season and playoff stats bear that out. He's also a three-time world champion over the past 10 seasons, once winning the playoff MVP award in addition to an Olympic gold medal.

Dumars: Expects Pistons to "Go to War" with the Current Roster

After Detroit was ousted by the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals last season, everyone, including Joe Dumars, expected big changes this offseason. The closest the Pistons have come to a big move was signing Kwame Brown, and those holding out hope for a big trade late in the offseason should probably give it up.

True Blue Pistons interviewed Joe D on Thursday afternoon. The money quote:

“I would be very surprised if anyone called at this point to offer the type of deal I was open to and had been open to doing,” Dumars said. “I don’t expect that call. I expect us to go to war, if you will, with the guys we have on this roster we have right now, with the 14 guys we have now.”

While I'm sure many Pistons fans are disappointed that Detroit land a player like Corey Maggette, Josh Smith, Josh Childress, or even James Posey, Dumars' unwillingness to make a trade for the sake of moving players is a good thing. This team has made the Eastern Conference Finals six straight seasons, the starting lineup is among the best in basketball, and the young bench will only get better. Maybe new coach Michael Curry is the guy to lead Detroit to its second title of the last six seasons. No matter what, this team still has the players to be a championship contender, and the lack of a panic move on Dumars' part will keep this team competitive in the East.

Bullet Points Are Handy: New Michigan Hockey Jerseys

Today's links include the revealing of the new Michigan hockey jerseys (above), several injuries for Michigan football, and more:

• I'm way late on this, but Hoover Street Rag found the new Michigan replica hockey jerseys in the MDen catalog. Everyone agrees: those whites are awesome. Check out HSR for a pic of Red Berenson wearing a very similar uniform in his playing days.
• Varsity Blue breaks down Michigan's injury situation. Guard Corey Zirbel is probably out for the season with a serious knee injury, Terrence Robinson is out at least few weeks with a knee injury, and several others are dinged up as well.
• Tom Kowalski dispels any rumors that Roy Williams is jealous of Calvin Johnson's new role as the Lions' go-to guy. The money quote: "I wasn't mad when Mac (Shaun McDonald) was catching more balls than me last year and I wasn't mad when Mike Furrey caught more balls than me the first year Mike Martz was here,'' Williams said. "As long as we win, I swear to God, that's all I care about, is winning. If I don't get the ball, then that's fine. If we lose and I don't get the ball, then that's a problem.''
• Need4Sheed relives some great moments in Piston basketball, YouTube style.
  

Detroit Athlete of the Decade Tournament: Round Two

POLLS ARE CLOSED: Chauncey Billups and Nicklas Lidstrom advance to the finals.

Round One is complete, with your winners from each team being Jason Hanson, Chauncey Billups, Nicklas Lidstrom, and Magglio Ordonez. Let the festivities continue!

Semifinal #1: Jason Hanson vs. Chauncey Billups

Jason Hanson (Big Al, SideLion Report)

When [Ace] asked me to pick the Detroit Lions player of the decade as part of his "Detroit Athlete of the Decade" project, I knew it would be a tough assignment. Pro football is a meat grinder, where short careers are the norm. The Lions grind up players like cheap hamburger. The Lions are in the midst of their worst decade ever, with players and coaches coming and going through Matt Millen's fast spinning revolving door. Players come and players go, most of whom make little impression.

But there's one player who's been a Lion seemingly forever, and is likely to retire with the same team who drafted him, an exception to the NFL rule. Even today, after 16 NFL seasons, he is still at the top of his game. This Lion has survived several regime changes, playing for 7 coaches, and has had countless teammates. Despite the constant adversity, he's persevered to become one of the franchise's All-Time greats.

I'm sure you've figured out by now who is my nominee for Detroit Lions player of the decade. Kicker Jason Hanson. Yes, a placekicker. But one of the best placekickers ever.

The stats speak for themselves. Hanson is in elite NFL company: 10th overall in scoring NFL history, 6th overall in field goals made, 16th overall in field goal percentage, along with playing in a pair of Pro Bowls (1997, 1999). Hanson has missed only 12 kicks inside the 40 in those 16 seasons. 12!

In many ways, the Lions' elder statesman is the face of the franchise. Hanson is one of the few players fans can point to with pride. In what's been a decade of disappointment, and full of more ugliness than we care to remember, Hanson has never wavered. The man is money, a big time player on what's been a penny ante franchise.

I've often jokingly called Hanson the Detroit Lions' Most Valuable Player. Thinking about it, it's no joke. As bad as the Lions have been over the past 10 years, it would have been much, much worse without Jason Hanson wearing the Honolulu blue and silver.

Chauncey Billups (Sam Weiss, The Ace of Sports)

If Ben was the heart, Rip was the legs, Tay was the arms, Sheed was the soul and Darko was the appendix, then Chauncey Billups was the head of the 2003-2004 World Champion Detroit Pistons. David Thorpe, Executive Director of the Pro Training Center at IMG Academies, called Chauncey arguably the smartest player in basketball and most Pistons fans would probably agree. In addition to Basketball IQ, Chauncey brought good defense, unselfish play and a cool head to the world champions. One can use descriptions ranging from the vague terms of amateur sportscasters to numbers that only a stat-geek could appreciate. (Examples: unlike most players given the label from nimrod Sportscenter analysts, Chauncey is ‘clutch’. Also, a stat-geek might point out that his Free Throws Attempted per Turnover Committed is outrageously high, tops in the NBA year after year, demonstrating the ability to operate in traffic without losing the ball).

For the last 30 years, the team with the best individual player has always won the NBA finals. Except for the 2003-2004 Pistons. Because of their unique accomplishment, it is difficult to pick any one of them as most responsible. Any one of the starting five could have won the Finals MVP. Were someone to argue that Tayshaun, Rasheed or Ben was more deserving of this honor, his or her argument would certainly have merit, so I’ll keep mine very simple:

A. No sports accomplishment of the last decade meant more to the people of Detroit than the 2003-2004 NBA Championship.
B. By almost any statistical measure, Chauncey was the best player on that team and has been the best player on the Pistons ever since.
C. As a fanatic who has watched the team play (and who loved/loves all Stones equally, even Carlos Delfino and Ronald Dupree), I agree. Chauncey was the most valuable player.

Chauncey doesn’t need to become a symbol of the entire Piston’s team or the city of Detroit itself; he’s got a ring and a Finals MVP Trophy.

(Of course, he could go out and win another championship next year just to make my argument a ittle bit better. Just a thought.)

POLLS ARE CLOSED

Semifinal #2: Nicklas Lidstrom vs. Magglio Ordonez

Nicklas Listrom (Dave, Gorilla Crouch)

Nick Lidstrom is widely considered to be one of the top 2 or 3 defensemen to ever play the game. He has been awarded the Norris trophy as the league's best defenseman six of the last seven seasons. He trails only Bobby Orr and Doug Harvey for most Norris trophies awarded to an NHL defenseman. This would be comparable to a pitcher winning 6 out of 7 Cy Young awards or an NBA player winning Defensive Player of the year award that often. It's an incredible feat that has been accomplished by a remarkable and rare talent.

While awards help to make the point, statistics show what a player actually did on the playing surface against his competition. Over the past 10 regular seasons, Nick Lidstrom has averaged playing in 80 of his team's 82 games, and averaged 14 goals and 49 assists per year. That comes out to 63 points per season with an average plus/minus rating of +24. Night in and night out he's faced the absolute best talent in the league and the Red Wings have outscored the opposition by 24 even-strength goals on average every year for the past 10 years.

Regular Season:

Lidstrom's 142 goals is the 3rd most by a defenseman over the past 10 seasons.
Lidstrom's 489 assists are the most by a defenseman over the past 10 seasons.
Lidstrom's +237 rating is the best by a defenseman over the past 10 seaons.
Won 6 of the last 7 Norris trophy awards.

Playoffs:
Lidstrom's 26 goals is the most by a defensemen over the past 10 seasons.
Lidstrom's 76 assists is the most by a defenseman over the past 10 seasons.
Lidstrom's +20 rating is the 4th best by a defensemen over the past 10 seaons.
3-time Stanley Cup champion over the past 10 seasons.
He was awarded the Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP in the 2002 playoffs.

Olympics:

Lidstrom has averaged just under a point a game in Olympic competition over the past three winter competitions and scored the gold-medal winning goal for Sweden in the 2006 winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Nick Lidstrom is the best athlete in Detroit over the past ten seasons. He's been acknowledged as one of the best defensemen in the history of hockey and his regular season and playoff stats bear that out. He's also a three-time world champion over the past 10 seasons, once winning the playoff MVP award in addition to an Olympic gold medal.

Magglio Ordonez (Blake, Spot Starters)

I've heard the argument that the Pudge Rodriguez signing back in February on 2004 was the turning point for the Tigers over the past decade. I think there's some truth to that, but I think there was an even bigger signing and turning point than Pudge's arrival.

The Tigers were hardly contenders in Rodriguez's first season with the team, they went 72-90. They were way better than the year before when they lost 119 games, but still a long ways off. In February of 2005 the Tigers made another free agent splash with the signing of Magglio Ordonez. Ordonez was a four time All Star with the White Sox. While Magglio was coming off of some injuries, he still could have signed with most teams as a free agent. He decided (with some help from a huge contract offer) to sign with the Tigers.

Since joining the Tigers, Magglio has been an absolute beast. He hit the biggest home run by a Tiger since Gibby went yard back in 1984 in the World Series. Magglio's home run off of Huston Street in the 2006 ALCS still gives me goose bumps when I see it. I have a beer cozy (I got it as a wedding gift) that plays the audio of Dan Dickerson's call of the home run, it's seriously chilling stuff.

On top of the big home run, Magglio has a chance to become the first Tiger to win back-to-back batting titles since Ty Cobb won three straight from 1917-1919, not bad company. His .363 mark from 2007 is the best average by a Tiger since Charlie Gehringer hit .371 in 1937. Again, pretty impressive company.

Above all, Magglio helped bring respectability to Detroit Tigers baseball again. The Tigers picked Pudge up at the tail end of his career, they nabbed Magglio in his prime. Just watching him take a change up to the opposite field makes a guy feel lucky to have him on his team.

Whenever you doubt how much this guy has meant to the Tigers, try to remember exactly how you felt when you saw him rounding the bases with his fist raised high as he sent the Tigers to their first World Series in 22 years. Feel those goose bumps?

POLLS ARE CLOSED

Detroit Athlete of the Decade Tournament: Round One

UPDATE: Polls are closed on round one

The results:

LIONS: Jason Hanson wins 79% to 21%

PISTONS: Billups wins 67% to 33%

RED WINGS: Lidstrom wins 60% to 40%

TIGERS: Ordonez wins 67% to 33%

Round Two can be found here.

For some reason, blogger is flipping out, so some of the post below may not display correctly. I hate blogger sometimes.

Detroit has become known as one of the best sports cities in the country, supporting four major franchises (three of which have been very successful recently). In the past decade, the city has brought home two Stanley Cups, and NBA Title, an out-of-nowhere AL Pennant, and, well, a lot of top-10 NFL Draft picks.

My question is, who is the best Detroit athlete from this prosperous decade? Several Detroit sports bloggers have graced the site with their answers, and now it is up to you to decide who you think is worthy of the title of Detroit Athlete of the Decade. In the first round, each team will be given two nominees, who will face off for the title of their franchise's athlete of the decade:

Lions: Hanson vs. Williams

Jason Hanson (Big Al, SideLion Report)

When [Ace] asked me to pick the Detroit Lions player of the decade as part of his "Detroit Athlete of the Decade" project, I knew it would be a tough assignment. Pro football is a meat grinder, where short careers are the norm. The Lions grind up players like cheap hamburger. The Lions are in the midst of their worst decade ever, with players and coaches coming and going through Matt Millen's fast spinning revolving door. Players come and players go, most of whom make little impression.

But there's one player who's been a Lion seemingly forever, and is likely to retire with the same team who drafted him, an exception to the NFL rule. Even today, after 16 NFL seasons, he is still at the top of his game. This Lion has survived several regime changes, playing for 7 coaches, and has had countless teammates. Despite the constant adversity, he's persevered to become one of the franchise's All-Time greats.

I'm sure you've figured out by now who is my nominee for Detroit Lions player of the decade. Kicker Jason Hanson. Yes, a placekicker. But one of the best placekickers ever.

The stats speak for themselves. Hanson is in elite NFL company: 10th overall in scoring NFL history, 6th overall in field goals made, 16th overall in field goal percentage, along with playing in a pair of Pro Bowls (1997, 1999). Hanson has missed only 12 kicks inside the 40 in those 16 seasons. 12!

In many ways, the Lions' elder statesman is the face of the franchise. Hanson is one of the few players fans can point to with pride. In what's been a decade of disappointment, and full of more ugliness than we care to remember, Hanson has never wavered. The man is money, a big time player on what's been a penny ante franchise.

I've often jokingly called Hanson the Detroit Lions' Most Valuable Player. Thinking about it, it's no joke. As bad as the Lions have been over the past 10 years, it would have been much, much worse without Jason Hanson wearing the Honolulu blue and silver.

Roy Williams (Ace)

Will someone please give this man a decent quarterback? The Lions grabbed Roy Williams with the 7th pick in the 2004 draft, and all the man has done since then is catch 245 passes, find the end zone 28 times, and become the first Lions wideout to make the Pro Bowl since Herman Moore in 1998.

On a team with few spectaular (or even half-decent) players, Roy Williams has been a standout since joining the Lions four seasons ago, and has been a consistent weapon on a team that goes through running backs and wideouts like Matt Millen goes through coloring books. He has a knack for making the ridiculous catch, gets open more than any other Lion (though Calvin Johnson will certainly rival his skill in the near future), and even finds time to deliver a pizza or two.

Besides the ageless Jason Hanson, Roy has been Detroit's only reliable source of offense these past four years, and in a decade this miserable, that earns him my nomination for Lions Athlete of the Decade.

POLLS ARE CLOSED: Jason Hanson wins 79% to 21%



Pistons: Wallace vs. Billups

Ben Wallace (Natalie Sitto, Need4Sheed)

Talk about making a team relevant, Ben Wallace brought his hard nosed work ethic and attitude to a Pistons team that at the time was simply dreadful.

The undersized, un-drafted, center from Alabama landed in Detroit in 2000 via a sign and trade for the then face of the franchise Grant Hill. While plenty of Pistons fans scoffed at the deal Big Ben proved his worth and importance.

Ben racked up NBA Defensive Player of the Year Awards in 02, 03, 05, and 06 the seasons, and was selected to six All-Defensive teams. In the 02 and 03 seasons, he led the league in both rebounds and blocked shots. And don't forget about the All Star appearances. Starting in 03, Ben was voted by fans to the first of his four NBA All-Star Game appearances as the starting center for the Eastern Conference.

If that's not enough to convince you that Ben is The Pistons player of the decade let's talk about how he helped add another NBA Championship to Detroit's trophy case in 2004.

Chauncey Billups (Sam Weiss)

If Ben was the heart, Rip was the legs, Tay was the arms, Sheed was the soul and Darko was the appendix, then Chauncey Billups was the head of the 2003-2004 World Champion Detroit Pistons. David Thorpe, Executive Director of the Pro Training Center at IMG Academies, called Chauncey arguably the smartest player in basketball and most Pistons fans would probably agree. In addition to Basketball IQ, Chauncey brought good defense, unselfish play and a cool head to the world champions. One can use descriptions ranging from the vague terms of amateur sportscasters to numbers that only a stat-geek could appreciate. (Examples: unlike most players given the label from nimrod Sportscenter analysts, Chauncey is ‘clutch’. Also, a stat-geek might point out that his Free Throws Attempted per Turnover Committed is outrageously high, tops in the NBA year after year, demonstrating the ability to operate in traffic without losing the ball).

For the last 30 years, the team with the best individual player has always won the NBA finals. Except for the 2003-2004 Pistons. Because of their unique accomplishment, it is difficult to pick any one of them as most responsible. Any one of the starting five could have won the Finals MVP. Were someone to argue that Tayshaun, Rasheed or Ben was more deserving of this honor, his or her argument would certainly have merit, so I’ll keep mine very simple:

A. No sports accomplishment of the last decade meant more to the people of Detroit than the 2003-2004 NBA Championship.
B. By almost any statistical measure, Chauncey was the best player on that team and has been the best player on the Pistons ever since.
C. As a fanatic who has watched the team play (and who loved/loves all Stones equally, even Carlos Delfino and Ronald Dupree), I agree. Chauncey was the most valuable player.

Chauncey doesn’t need to become a symbol of the entire Piston’s team or the city of Detroit itself; he’s got a ring and a Finals MVP Trophy.

(Of course, he could go out and win another championship next year just to make my argument a little bit better. Just a thought.)

POLLS ARE CLOSED: Billups wins 67% to 33%


Red Wings: Lidstrom vs. Yzerman

Nicklas Lidstrom (Dave, Gorilla Crouch)

Nick Lidstrom is widely considered to be one of the top 2 or 3 defensemen to ever play the game. He has been awarded the Norris trophy as the league's best defenseman six of the last seven seasons. He trails only Bobby Orr and Doug Harvey for most Norris trophies awarded to an NHL defenseman. This would be comparable to a pitcher winning 6 out of 7 Cy Young awards or an NBA player winning Defensive Player of the year award that often. It's an incredible feat that has been accomplished by a remarkable and rare talent.

While awards help to make the point, statistics show what a player actually did on the playing surface against his competition. Over the past 10 regular seasons, Nick Lidstrom has averaged playing in 80 of his team's 82 games, and averaged 14 goals and 49 assists per year. That comes out to 63 points per season with an average plus/minus rating of +24. Night in and night out he's faced the absolute best talent in the league and the Red Wings have outscored the opposition by 24 even-strength goals on average every year for the past 10 years.

Regular Season:

Lidstrom's 142 goals is the 3rd most by a defenseman over the past 10 seasons.
Lidstrom's 489 assists are the most by a defenseman over the past 10 seasons.
Lidstrom's +237 rating is the best by a defenseman over the past 10 seaons.
Won 6 of the last 7 Norris trophy awards.

Playoffs:

Lidstrom's 26 goals is the most by a defensemen over the past 10 seasons.
Lidstroms's 76 assists is the most by a defenseman over the past 10 seasons.
Lidstrom's +20 rating is the 4th best by a defensemen over the past 10 seaons.
3-time Stanley Cup champion over the past 10 seasons.
He was awarded the Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP in the 2002 playoffs.

Olympics:

Lidstrom has averaged just under a point a game in Olympic competition over the past three winter competitions and scored the gold-medal winning goal for Sweden in the 2006 winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Nick Lidstrom is the best athlete in Detroit over the past ten seasons. He's been acknowledged as one of the best defensemen in the history of hockey and his regular season and playoff stats bear that out. He's also a three-time world champion over the past 10 seasons, once winning the playoff MVP award in addition to an Olympic gold medal.

Steve Yzerman (Christy Hammond, Behind the Jersey)

After 22 seasons in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings, Steve Yzerman epitomizes the definition of a world class athlete. Not only does he have impressive statistics like 692 career goals or the most playoff points in the franchise history (185), but he was also the heart and soul of Hockeytown leading the team to three Stanley Cup titles in five seasons. If you were going to pick the Detroit Athlete of the Decade based purely on statistics, Yzerman might not be your guy. If you were to base your decision on the player's leadership, character, skill, and what they did for their city, Yzerman should be the easy winner. He became captain shortly into his career and eventually became simply known as The Captain. Under the eye of Scotty Bowman, Yzerman transformed into one of the best two-way forwards to play the game. By sacrificing the big numbers, Yzerman demonstrated that he bought into the system and that helped transform the team from being known as the Dead Wings into a dynasty. His willingness to not only sacrifice statistically speaking, but in terms of his knee was incredible as well. Yzerman played during the 2001-2002 postseason essentially on one leg. His courage and perseverance was inspiring to his teammates. What amazed fans even more was that they saw him struggling to get up after being checked to the ice, yet he led the team in offensive points (23) that postseason and averaged over 21 minutes of ice time each game. The glory that he brought to the city of Detroit without demanding much in return combined with his sparkling statistics and incredible leadership and perseverance should make Yzerman the Detroit Athlete of the Decade.

POLLS ARE CLOSED: Lidstrom wins 60% to 40%

Tigers: Ordonez vs. Guillen

Magglio Ordonez (Blake, Spot Starters)

I've heard the argument that the Pudge Rodriguez signing back in February on 2004 was the turning point for the Tigers over the past decade. I think there's some truth to that, but I think there was an even bigger signing and turning point than Pudge's arrival.

The Tigers were hardly contenders in Rodriguez's first season with the team, they went 72-90. They were way better than the year before when they lost 119 games, but still a long ways off. In February of 2005 the Tigers made another free agent splash with the signing of Magglio Ordonez. Ordonez was a four time All Star with the White Sox. While Magglio was coming off of some injuries, he still could have signed with most teams as a free agent. He decided (with some help from a huge contract offer) to sign with the Tigers.

Since joining the Tigers, Magglio has been an absolute beast. He hit the biggest home run by a Tiger since Gibby went yard back in 1984 in the World Series. Magglio's home run off of Huston Street in the 2006 ALCS still gives me goose bumps when I see it. I have a beer cozy (I got it as a wedding gift) that plays the audio of Dan Dickerson's call of the home run, it's seriously chilling stuff.

On top of the big home run, Magglio has a chance to become the first Tiger to win back-to-back batting titles since Ty Cobb won three straight from 1917-1919, not bad company. His .363 mark from 2007 is the best average by a Tiger since Charlie Gehringer hit .371 in 1937. Again, pretty impressive company.

Above all, Magglio helped bring respectability to Detroit Tigers baseball again. The Tigers picked Pudge up at the tail end of his career, they nabbed Magglio in his prime. Just watching him take a change up to the opposite field makes a guy feel lucky to have him on his team.

Whenever you doubt how much this guy has meant to the Tigers, try to remember exactly how you felt when you saw him rounding the bases with his fist raised high as he sent the Tigers to their first World Series in 22 years. Feel those goose bumps?

Carlos Guillen (Ace)

Guillen is the forgotten Tiger. He goes out there every year, hits .300, cranks 20 homers, and still gets overshadowed by the bigger name hitters on the team.

When the Tigers acquired Guillen from Seattle before the 2004 season (in exchange for Ramon Santiago and Juan Gonzalez...pretty good deal if you ask me), Detroit was a moribund franchise coming off a 119-loss season. We all know about the Tigers' meteoric rise to the AL Pennant in 2006, but few give Carlos Guillen the credit he deserves for that rise. Yes, Pudge Rodiguez was a huge pickup, but he was on the downslope of his career when we signed him. Guillen, on the other hand, was 28, just entering his prime, when Detroit traded for him in 2004. In that magical 2006 season, Guillen was the Tigers' best player, finishing 10th in MVP voting and batting .320 with a .400 OBP and 19 homers. He led all major league shortstops that season with a .919 OPS. Nobody remembers this, including me (thank you baseball-reference.com).

Even this year, in a down year for the Tigers, Guillen is hitting .284 with 9 homers while playing a new defensive position (third base). He was the Tigers lone All-Star this year, and deserved the honor (especially after being robbed of that distinction in 2006).

Why is Carlos Guillen the Detroit Player of the Decade? Because he just does his job, with no fanfare, and does it extremely well. In a blue-collar city like Detroit, there is no player more blue-collar than Guillen.

POLLS ARE CLOSED: Ordonez wins 67% to 33%

Tayshaun Watch: Game Four

Not Tayshaun, obviously, but the only picture from the game I can find right now.

Tayshaun had his best game of the tournament this morning. So did Team USA. Coincidence? Yeah, probably. But Tayshaun had an excellent game, entering in the second quarter and quickly hitting a three and throwing a beautiful oop to LeBron. He is one of the players really positively affected by the shorter three-point-line and shot three for four from three today (his only miss came on a long three as the shot clock expired). Coach K used him a zone buster, placing him in the middle of Spain’s 2-3 and letting him use his long arms to quickly distribute from there, which he did very well. And, as always, he played excellent defense.

As for the game, not too much to say: Team USA forced 28 turnovers, they finally started making their three-pointers and Jason Kidd even took a shot. It was their second very impressive victory in a row. LeBron and Wade were amazing again and the team is looking like it will coast through the medal round, something of which I was very skeptical of before the tournament started. The only possibility for a Team USA loss is if it faces an opponent who takes very good care of the ball and cuts way down on turnovers. I thought with Calderón and other NBA quality guards, Spain might be that team. I was very wrong, at least today. Spain had 16 turnovers in the first half and the game was over by then.

A few other points:

Rudy Fernandez is supposed to join Brandon Roy and Jarred Bayless next season as the Portland Trailblazer’s trio of dynamic combo-guards. Like most NBA fans, I think Fernandez is an excellent prospect who will contribute immediately, but he certainly didn’t play like it tonight. Terrible game.

Jose Calderón was invisible. The guy made the all-star game last year and his game seems suited to international play. What happened today?

Nobody held Team USA’s poorly played second half against Angola because everyone conceded that the game was over and USA had essentially shut itself down. Spain did the same thing today, starting the second half with its third string point guard and spending the final quarter screwing around with weird substitution patterns trying to get a better read on Team USA for a potential rematch in the medal round. That doesn’t excuse their terrible first half in the slightest, but its worth nothing that Spain did not play to win in the second half and the final score would’ve been a little closer if it had.

I thought 17-year-old point guard Ricky Rubio played pretty well. He had a few embarrassing moments (a couple of sloppy turnovers and one very ugly finish against Chris Bosh) but he made a few beautiful plays as well. I maintain my view on him: average player, excellent prospect. My fellow blogger Joe referenced the ‘Second Great Wall’ he built, shooting bricks with his quirky looking jump shot: he took four shots and scored eight points. Cut him a break. He also finished with three steals, three assists and three rebounds in 18 minutes. Anyone expecting more from the 17-year-old was kidding himself.

Next up is Germany. Doesn’t take a crystal ball for this one: Team USA wins in a blowout. In fact, while you’re letting me make completely obvious predictions, I’ll make a few more: Jason Kidd plays very poorly, Dwyane Wade has an outrageous dunk (despite just starting to lift weights and never eating vegetables) and Dirk Nowitzki makes a bunch of very sad faces. Enjoy the rout.

Tayshaun Watch, Game 3

The only photographic evidence I could find that Tayshaun was involved in the Greece game. I'm pretty sure he's the guy second from the left. (Getty Images)

Tayshaun first entered the game when it was well in hand, with just over six minutes left in the fourth quarter. He immediately had to hoist up a shot, which he missed, because of an expiring shot clock and spent the rest of the game putting up straight zeros on the scoreboard. He didn’t take another shot, commit a foul, or get a steal, block or rebound. The most invisible game in a string of them for Tay, though through no fault of his own or of Coach K, who did an excellent job managing substitutions.

Tay’s one moment of attention came from the broadcast, when Craig Sager explained that in practice, Coach K asked Tay to explain defending the pick and roll to Dwight Howard, using the anecdote as an example of Tay’s value to the team. As a Piston fan, it’s reassuring that Tayshaun knows how to defend the pick and roll and it’s reassuring that Dwight Howard doesn’t. A nice story, although it was probably the producers throwing Tayshaun’s game a bone, knowing he wouldn’t play much.

As for the team: this is the best Team USA has played this year, and maybe the best it has ever played. LeBron was exceptional, as he has been all tournament, but Dwyane Wade was the best player on the floor, displaying far more inspired defense than he has ever shown in Miami. Chris Bosh was terrific as well, particularly on defending the pick-and-roll. The team defense and rebounding was exceptional and, except for Kobe Bryant, no one was settling for mediocre shots. I’ve been skeptical about the ‘FUCK YEAH, USA, THOSE EUROPEAN PUSSIES CAN’T FUCK WITH US’ attitude most basketball fans have adopted towards these games, but if Team USA plays this way four more times, they will coast to the gold. Next up is Spain, probably the best team in the tournament outside of Team USA, but one that has not been playing particularly well recently. Also, in anticipation of playing the Americans again in the finals of the medal round, I wouldn’t expect to see too many bells and whistles from the Spaniards, as this game technically doesn’t matter for either team. The game will probably be a solid American victory, if a slightly closer one, but don’t be stunned by a very tight game or an American blowout.

Quick note on the Spaniards: my fellow blogger Joe had this to say about Ricky Rubio:

“Remind me what's so special about this kid? He's young and...what else? They compare him to the Pistol (which is ridiculous in the first place), and then say he can't shoot. Makes no sense. I can't wait to see this kid NOT live up to the hype. early prediction: 2 points, 9 turnovers against the U.S. And I'm being pretty generous with the 2 points”

As this blog’s designated Ricky Rubio supporter, I have a few quick rebukes:

1. Predicting that Deron Williams and Chris Paul are going to destroy a 17-year-old point guard is not particularly brave. We'll see how he does three years from now, when he's OJ Mayo's age.

2. What’s so special: He’s taller than Derrick Rose, a better shooter, a better defender and a much better passer, all while being two years younger. So there’s that. Alternatively, Rose is much stronger and a little quicker. There’s no such thing as a can’t-miss prospect (well, except for LeBron), and I’m not promising that Rubio will be better than Rose, or anyone else for that matter (I’ll leave the crystal ball nonsense to the assholes on Around the Horn and Mel Kiper). But the kid is the best 17-year-old basketball player on the planet, by a lot, which Euro busts like Darko, drafted only on promise, were never close to. People aren’t raving about his potential; they’re raving about how good he is now. Although all-world guards Paul and Williams will probably push him around on Saturday, if he gets substantial minutes I will be surprised if he doesn’t show you a couple of flashes of his ability. We’ll see. And lastly, it’s probably worth noting that most critics of Rubio have never once seen him play.

--Sam Weiss

Bullet Points Are Handy: Zumaya's Exploding Arm

Today's links discuss Joel Zumaya's arm injury, another Lions training camp fight, RichRod doing pushups, and more.

• After Joel Zumaya was lifted from Tuesday's game against the Blue Jays with an apparent injury, he was placed on the DL for a "sore arm". His MRI came out fine, but the Free Press reports that Zumaya was worried his career was over.
• ESPN's Kevin Seifert gives us the full story of Jon Kitna's confrontation with linebacker Buster Davis at Lions training camp yesterday.
• Two more articles on Michigan football: The Ann Arbor News' John Heuser details Rich Rodriguez's plan to revamp the walk-on system, while the Free Press' Mark Snyder reports on yesterday's practices, including RichRod losing a bet and having to do pushups.
• Dave at Gorilla Crouch looks at how the top two scoring lines could shake out for the Red Wings next season.
• Detroit Bad Boys takes SI's Marty Burns to task for losing all semblance of logic and sense in his preseason NBA rankings.
  

Tayshaun Watch, Game 2

Tayshaun played quite a bit more against the weaker Angola squad, registering seven points, one rebound and one steal. True to form, he played a mistake-free, if unremarkable game.

As for the game itself: it's hard to take too much from the outcome, although a bigger win would have been more assuring against the undersized Angolans. This is the one game in the tournament Team USA had no chance of losing and they played accordingly. No blame there. A few points:

-Perhaps this is too long of a topic to address in bullet points, but this tournament is giving the first glimpse of the player LeBron James could have been if he had gone to, and developed under, a good team with a strong supporting cast. He's been a wrecking ball on offense, defense and transition. He plays off the ball beautifully, is a force in the passing lanes and does a hundred other little things that he can't do for Cleveland, because in Cleveland he has to play 42 minutes and score 30 points for the team to win. In this tournament he looks like he could have been a 22 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists, 2.5 blocks, 2.5 steals kind of stat-stuffer, a Magic Johnson meets Lawrence Taylor that the NBA has never seen. Instead, it'll probably never happen. Sad. He's still a once-in-a-generation type player, but Olympic LeBron is more fun to watch than the one we see in the Eastern Conference. So far, he's been the best player in the tournament by a lot.

-The team shot 5/21 from three. It wouldn't be surprising to see the numbers bounce back up, regression to the mean and all that, but this is pretty disappointing.

-Kobe was 0/8 from three. The best player in the world was a wreck on offense for the second straight game. Obviously, one has to expect his numbers to bounce back, but between his poor shooting and the occasional unadvised charge into a crowded lane, he's been a real weak spot for Team USA (how unlikely would that sentence have seemed last week?)

Next up is Greece. They haven't played very well recently, but they are the first legit international team that USA will play in official Olympic competition. Expect a solid American victory but don't be stunned by a tight game. If Greece can keep it close, it will be because they outrebound and outshoot the Americans, and keep the gap in transition points somewhat reasonable.

--Sam Weiss

Bullet Points Are Handy: Tom Brady is Surprisingly Grounded

Photo from Esquire, via The Sports Point

Today's links include Tom Brady talking about God and football (not in the way you think), Jason Maxiell still burning up the Floor Burn Tournament, and more.

• The Sports Point has the highlights from Tom Brady's article in Esquire. They are surprisingly awesome:
• "Look at the attention I get: It's because I throw a football. But that's what society values. That's not what God values. God could give a shit, as far as I'm concerned. He didn't invent the game. We did. I have some eye-hand coordination, and I can throw the ball. I don't think that matters to God."
• "What the hell you gonna do about it? Sit there and bitch and complain and ruin the next two months of your life because something didn't go right for you? Or do you say, you know, Fuck it, let's learn from it, let's accept it, understand that it didn't happen and move on?"
• (Ed. Yes, Tom Brady just cemented his place in the pantheon of my favorite athletes. It's a personal pet peeve of mine when players always thank God for their performance in a game. Brady clearly feels the same way, and isn't afraid to take some heat for saying some inflammatory shit. Fuck. Bitch. TOM BRADY!)
• Jason Maxiell continues to dominate Hoops Addict's Floor Burn Tournament. Mad Max is currently leading his second round matchup with Indiana's Jeff Foster by a count of 151-10. Get out there and vote!
• DBB's Matt Watson wrote a piece on former Pistons' first-round pick Rodney White for AOL's Fanhouse. Not surprisingly, the article was part of their countdown of the biggest draft busts of the 2000's. White clocks in at #3, after being drafted ninth overall in 2001 ahead of Joe Johnson, Richard Jefferson, Gilbert Arenas, Tony Parker, and several other players who panned out much, much better. Yikes.
• Dave at Gorilla Crouch has put together a breakdown of the Red Wings minor league prospects, and which players have the best shot of contributing in the near future.
• Gary Sheffield said some things to the Boston Globe. Gary Sheffield does this kind of stuff all the time.
  
• Not Detroit-related, but I saw this headline on SI, and couldn't help but think of this. My mind remains firmly in the gutter.
• Varsity Blue gives us the Barwis for President campaign commercial. Its beauty brought a single, solitary tear to drop from my eye. The movement grows...
  

Tayshaun Watch: Game One

Tayshaun (14), about as close to the action as he got all night (Getty Images)

After a tie game through 18 minutes, Team USA blew out China at the end of the second quarter and the entirety of the third, as Wade, Paul and James destroyed China’s slow backcourt. Tayshaun didn’t sniff the game in the first half. Even when the camera cut to the USA bench, most of the time Prince was off the screen, as he was seated, appropriately enough, in the last seat on the bench. He was the last USA player to enter the game, coming on at the start of the fourth quarter. Tayshaun played most of the fourth quarter, very uneventfully. He played good man defense, though once Yi Jianlian posted him up for a nice basket, and rarely touched the ball, as Deron Williams spent most of the quarter racing up the court, leaving Tay behind. Nothing happened that changed my mind that Tayshaun was named to the team to stay out other players’ way. He should see more action against Angola on the 12th, as the rout shouldn’t take 18 minutes to get started against the weak African team.


Other observations:

On a team made of the best basketball players in the world, LeBron James is still so clearly the best athlete on the floor. He played a terrific game.

Wade is back. He was arguably the best player on the floor, along with LeBron, Michael Redd and Deron Williams. Throw in Chris Bosh, and that might be a better starting line-up than the one that sputtered in the first quarter.

Team USA started the game 1/12 on three-pointers, a troubling sign considering China’s slow defense. Poor three-point shooting has been an Achilles heel in the past for Team USA. If they get off to a slow start against Angola, a team even worse than China, then it is officially cause for concern.

--Sam Weiss

What the Selection of Tayshaun Prince Tells us about Team USA

The United States Basketball Team has lost in the last three major international tournaments in 2002, 2004 and 2006. Critics blame the losses on a lack of preparation, a lack of effort, and, most of all, a team inadequately assembled for the international game. These same critics now seem certain that Jerry Colangelo has remade the team in a better mold and the USA should cruise to gold these next few weeks. A common example given is our own Tayshaun Prince, a team-first role player who, presumably, would not have been considered for a roster spot in 2004. But what does the selection of Tayshaun Prince really tell us about the USA's mindset?

Any Pistons fan can quickly recite Tay's strengths: he's an excellent on-the-ball defender who rarely gambles; he's a decent long-range shooter, shooting over 36% from three last year, better than LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and even Kobe Bryant, one of the team's designated three-point specialists; he's unfailingly unselfish; he rarely turns the ball over, with an assist-to-turnover ration of 3:1, remarkable for how often he handles the ball; he barely ever fouls, committing one a game last year while averaging 33 minutes; he's a great teammate.

An optimist would argue that Tayshaun is the perfect example of Team USA's evolution into an international style team. A closer look at the roster, however, reveals that this evolution never took place.

The USA has Deron Williams, a perfect international point guard because of his passing, shooting and strength, third on the depth chart. He's behind Chris Paul (the best NBA point guard in the world but not the best FIBA points guard in his conference due to inability to stretch zone defenses) and Jason Kidd, a point guard who can't shoot and can't keep up with quick, small international points like Jose Calderón. Dwight Howard is starting at center, a big who can't shoot, can't pass, and will spend most of his time on defense twenty feet from the basket chasing around seven-footers with higher three-point percentages than most of USA's starting line-up. Kidd and Howard are both going to be in trouble on offense going against zones with cluttered lanes (which all be almost always) and on defense when playing man against quicker players (which will be almost always). Carmelo Anthony and Lebron James are slotted to get major minutes at power forward, when they are drastically undersized to do so. Compare their NBA rebound rates (Carmelo Anthony: 11; Lebron James: 11.1) to the type of 'soft' international bigs that play the four in the Olympics: Pau Gasol: 13.1; Mehmet Okur :14.2; Luis Scola: 14.6). Carmelo Anthony and Lebron James can't guard Pau Gasol in the post, they're simply too short, (any NBA fan who disagrees thinks James Posey deserves the contract he just got; there are more than six games a year) and Dwight Howard can't come swooping in with backside help if Spain's starting center is 21 feet from the basket and USA is playing man.

Which brings us back to Tayshaun. He could be an elite international player, with the long arms guarding a wing in a harassing 1-2-2 and his reliable jumper helping to stretch out opposing zones. Ultimately, however, we won't see Tayshaun playing much zone or stretching out defenses and probably won't see Tayshaun at all, except at the end of the bench. At heart, Colangelo selected Prince for what he doesn't do: he doesn't turn the ball over, doesn't make mistakes on defense, doesn't foul, doesn't shoot unless ordered to, and, perhaps most importantly to Colangelo, doesn't complain when he doesn't play. He doesn't get in the way of Lebron James and Kobe Bryant, on the court or in the locker room.

These next few weeks, Detroit Pistons fans won't see much of Tay, but we will see another NBA All Star Team running isos and full court presses in an effort to crush our opponents (most of whom will be better shooting, better passing and better disciplined; all will be taller) with our outrageous athleticism and individual talent. Given that LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Kobe Bryant are probably the three best basketball players on the planet at the moment, the strategy will probably lead us to gold, especially considering that Colangelo and Coach K's preparation and seriousness will be an improvement on years past. Still, it's a shame that we can't better adapt to the FIBA rules, producing a team with the height, shooting, and unselfishness of the other elite teams in the world while retaining our huge advantage in quickness and athleticism. Such a team would cruise to gold in a way that this team, win or lose, surely will not.

Tayshaun Prince is exactly the type of player who could have been part of an elite international team. These next few weeks, Team USA fans won't see much of either.

Note: After every game, you can check back in to The Ace of Sports to see analysis of Prince's performance, or lack thereof, and general observations of the game.

And Thus the Josh Smith Pipe Dream Endeth

So much for a potential Pistons sign-and-trade for Josh Smith (which was mostly a fantasy of Detroit fans like myself, and not any substantiated rumor). Smith just signed a $58 million offer sheet with the Memphis Grizzlies, which the Atlanta Hawks now have a week to match. Regardless of which team Smith ends up on (smart money would be on the Hawks), he will now certainly not be a Detroit Piston next season. Damn.

Despite all of Joe Dumars' talk of making a big move this offseason, and the myraid trade talks surrounding Detroit this summer, nothing major has happened yet. Personally, I am doing my best to trust Dumars to do the right thing, and stay patient while he waits for the right offer to pounce on. At this point, however, it looks more and more like Detroit will be going into next season with essentially the same team. Make your own judgments as to whether or not that is a good thing.

Bullet Points Are Handy: ¿Michigan?

I just really don't know anymore. Michigan is either a) going to suck terribly b) going to shock the world, mostly thanks to Barwis or c) fall somewhere in between. Today's links don't do anything to help alleviate my confusion, which is now expressing itself in Spanish punctuation.

• Varsity Blue previews the offensive backfield. His first words about the quarterback situation: "Uh, crap." Uh, crap.
• Maize n Brew Dave takes a look at the incredible transformation of Terrance Taylor into from an inconsistent, doughy man into a slender (relatively) beast who will live in the nightmares of opposing quarterbacks.
• The Lions kick off their preseason tonight against the defending Super Bowl Champs (that's the Giants, if you live in a satellite-free cave). Pride of Detroit has some notes up in anticipation, as does Big Al over at Sidelion Report.
• Need4Sheed has the highlights from the Sporting News' interview with Coach Curry. He is certainly saying all the things Piston fans want to hear.