Trouble in the Motor City PLUS KG's New Low

2010-11-03T12:48:00.000-07:00

By: Alex Derickson

After their 23-point loss to the Celtics, Pistons coach John Kuester criticized his team for not having any locker room leadership stating, "We have to collectively someway or somehow find another voice besides my own that is going to lead us." While I do think the Pistons, much like the rest of Detroit, are a complete mess, the problem isn't the players. At some point Joe Dumars needs to step in and tell them, "This is how it is. I made this mess, I screwed up."

Dumars was awarded GM of the Decade this past season and deservingly so. He made the Pistons relevant again with a bunch of blue-collar hardworking players similar to that of the Bad Boys era. After six consecutive Eastern Conference Finals appearances, two NBA final appearances, and one title, he decided that the team needed a shake-up. For any other NBA franchise, you would think what the Pistons had accomplished would've been ideal. They maybe could've added one extra player, or maybe drafted Carmelo instead of Darko (I had to say it.) But this by any stretch of the imagination, should be considered a successful NBA franchise.

At some point though, Dumars decided this wasn't enough. He fired Flip Saunders, hired Michael Curry, traded Chauncy Billups to Denver for Allen Iverson, fired Michael Curry, hired John Kuester, signed Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva to ridiculously oversized contracts and then sat idly by as his once great team fell slowly into irrelevancy with a team riddled with a logjam at the guard position and what seems to be a perpetual selection of lottery picks for years to come.

Joe Dumars, replace the captain of your brainship. He's drunk at the wheel.

In other NBA related news, Charlie Villanueva tweeted post-game that NBA resident asshole Kevin Garnett called him a cancer patient during the Celtics pummeling of the Pistons.

What?

I understand that Garnett is one of the most intense and focused players to ever play in the NBA, but this is too much. It's one thing to make of CV, but to call him a cancer patient is just a new low for KG. Given the leagues recent loss of Maurice Lucas to bladder cancer, the fact that George Karl is returning to the Nuggets bench this season after a bout with cancer, and the fact that Celtics coach Doc Rivers just had throat surgery to get traces of cancer removed shows what a tactless move on Garnett's part this truly is. I really wish there was something the NBA could do about it, but it's all hearsay.

I look forward to flooding your internetz with more NBA news, rumors, and opinions as the season progresses. Take care!

The Outlet Pass

Trouble in the Motor City PLUS KG's New Low