My favorite NBA player is Chauncey Billups. Not because he’s a Detroit Piston (though that certainly helps, and contributed to my interest,) but because of the player that he is. He’s so damn cool, collected and talented at the same time. He’s “Mr. Big Shot,” the guy you wanted with the ball in the last seconds of the game. When he went to the free throw line, you knew he was money (he was the best in the NBA last season.) He could knock down a 3-pointer with the best of them. He could drive to the basket and either put up a sweet layup or dish out a behind the back pass like he had eyes in the back of his head.

One of the best parts of Billups was how he acted off the court. In interviews he was calm and collected, and always respectful of other players and the game itself. He had a great poise about himself as he encountered different situations, and he had that walk and demeanor about him tha said “I’ve got it figured out.”

I own two Chauncey Billups Detroit Pistons jerseys. Unfortunately they are now collectors items. On Monday, Chauncey was traded to the Denver Nuggets along with Antonio McDyess and Cheick Samb for Allen Iverson.

I first became a major fan of the NBA in the summer of 2003. I had caught some glimpses of their playoff battle with the Orlando Magic, and their stunning comeback in that series. Who was this guy with the ‘fro? Who was this lanky guy named Tayshaun Prince? And who’s the guy with the funny name of “Billups?” THen they drafted Darko Milicic (who fascinated me for some reason,) and hired Larry Brown. This seemed very interesting. Then they went on to win the NBA Championship. This was the first team I ever followed for an entire season and they won it all. It was amazing.

So began a wonderful relationship. I’ve followed the Pistons intently over the past four seasons since. I’ve studied the rosters, read the blogs, attended the games and bought the merchandise. It’s been really fun. And despite the disappointment of losing in one NBA Finals and 3 consecutive Eastern Conference Finals, I’m still excited about the Pistons.

But trading away my favorite player? Why’d they have to do that? It does take a little of that away from me. I think as you get more into sports, you begin to like players more and franchises less. I’ll always like the teams around my area, it’s natural. But I’m starting to appreciate watching players like Tim Duncan, Chris Bosh, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Chauncey Billups, Tayshaun Prince and Rasheed Wallace more for the names on the backs of their jerseys than on the front. It’s why I liked USA Olympic basketball so much and why I like the NBA All-Star festivities. It’s just cool to see so many of my favorite players all at once.

Anyways, while the oming of Allen Iverson to Detroit is better for the team in the long run (he has an expiring contract that, combined with Rasheed’s coming off the Piston’s books next summer, provides Detroit with the ability to bring in some huge stars,) it just sucks to see the official end of an era. Billups, Prince, Hamilton and Wallace had about 20 more games to go to break the record for most games started together. It would have been nice to see that, but it’s no longer a possibility.

I’ll still be a major fan of the Pistons, but it might ake me a while to find a local player that I enjoyed as much as Chauncey. Who’s jersey will I buy next? Anyone’s? We’ll have to see.

Well, the brand-spanking-new, just out of the box 2007-08 NBA season is upon us. Aren’t you excited? I know I am. A full six+ months of watching games (though we don’t get ESPN or TNT, so I’m screwed there,) reviewing stats, arguing on basketball blogs, checking my fantasy team, and worrying about the Pistons. Oh, what a fun time this is!

As you’ll recall if you’ve been by here in the last couple of years, I like to set up NBA Playoffs brackets. Why? I don’t know. I did it the first year and was able to use Photoshop to move the little Pistons logo all the way to the center, so maybe that made it more fun! Since then I’ve moved two Spurs logos and a Heat logo there. Not so much fun :(

Anyways, last year the bracket updated itself as the season wound down. This year, it will be live all season! Check it now! As I write this, the Spurs and Raptors are leading the way in each conference! What significance does this have? Well, absolutely none right now. But it’s fun to see how much it will change over the course of the season. Maybe if I ever get time I’ll log it all and chart average seeds, or something like that. Nah, that’s too much work.

Anyways, here it is in all of it’s XHTML and CSS-positioned background-image glory: LIVE 2007-08 NBA Playoffs bracket

With a few quick changes to the already-brewed recipe of NBA Playoff bracket goodness, I’ve concocted an ongoing live preview of what the NBA Playoff picture will be throughout the 2007-08 season.

Kind of silly? Of course. Fun to see where your team is at during the season? Maybe. I know I’ll be gloating in my mind when the Pistons reach the #1 seed in the East, even if it’s in week 5 or something.

So check it out: 2008 NBA Playoffs bracket

PS. I’m still considering doing an NCAA bracket of this same nature, but that will take a lot of time which I don’t have right now. Maybe?

Immediately after the Pistons lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals this year, Detroit fans all felt the same thing, disappointment. We started asking ourselves what was wrong with our team, what can be done to fix it, who should be fired, traded, etc. I think it’s been way too easy for us to forget the really great things that happened this season.

So I thought I’d put together a list of some of the milestones and events that transpired as I remember them from the past season. I still think some changes need to be made, but a disappointing loss shouldn’t overshadow a great season.

• Ben Wallace leaves, but we get a good contributer in Nazr Mohammed. He played some good minutes for Detroit in the first part of the season.
• 6th consecutive 50-win season
• Antonio McDyess turns in a spectacular 2nd half to the season
• Developed Jason Maxiell into an offensive force (still looking for that defense, though)
• Got some good looks at Amir Johnson
• Signed Chris Webber and had a great stretch after he joined the team
• Swept a team in the Playoffs for the first time since 1990
• Defeated the Ben Wallace Bulls!
• Got to the Eastern Conference Finals for the 5th consecutive time
• Rasheed Wallace’s half court shot to force overtime!

There’s a bunch of stuff I’m leaving out, for sure. Statistical happenings and on-court accomplishments. If you know of any more, please let me know because I want to add them to the list.

I remember last year around this time, I wrote a post marking the end of the Detroit Pistons season after a game 6 Playoffs loss to eventual NBA Champion Miami Heat. In it I made a few remarks that I’d like to echo this year after another game 6 loss, this time to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Jesus Christ himself, Lebron James. Let’s go down the list: (last year, this year)

1. Congrats to the better team, the Miami Heat, 07: Congrats to the better team, the Cleveland Cavaliers
2. Seriously consider not re-signing Ben Wallace, 07: Definitely don’t re-sign Chris Webber.
3. Seriously consider not bringing back Flip Saunders, 07: Please don’t bring back Flip Saunders. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. (*cough*Larry Brown*cough*)
4. I think it’s time to break up the starting 5, 07: Maybe this was a bit dramatic last year, and I don’t feel that way this year. I think they should re-sign Chauncey. Rip and Tayshaun should stay. But Rasheed? Not so sure…
5. Flip, play some reserve, 07: Wasn’t as big of a factor this year, but Maxiell needs more playing time. He’s Ben Wallace 2.0
6. Pistons, check your egos, 07: Nah. Just get better guidance from a better coach.
7. Start backing up your words with some action, 07: Or just get a better coach.
8. How about trying to bring it, even if just for the fans (135+ straight sellouts?), 07: Again, effort wasn’t that big of a deal this year. They just need to be motivated and organized better, I think.
9. Hmm, let’s see, walking the ball up the court, having Rasheed and Tayshaun finally catch up to you with 12 seconds left in the shot clock, and you lose games. Gee, maybe it’s time to start running some fast break plays? Ever? Once in a damn series??? Flip??? Hello????, 07: yes, definitely need more fast break plays. But you need guys that aren’t 35 and can actually run to do that.
10. Get some rest. Heal up. Make some changes. Earn my attention next year. I’ll follow. I’ll support. But I won’t be as adamant, because I don’t feel like championing lackluster effort., 07: Again, a little harsh. I’ll definitely be watching next year, because things should be a little different. If they bring Flip Saunders back, I’ll be pissed and might not be very excited. But I’m hoping they don’t do that.

It’s just a sad day because unfortunately after two years I’ve finally realized that this isn’t the same team that won it all in 2004. And I’m realizing that the window of opportunity for another championship has most likely closed. Now Cleveland, Chicago and Miami are gunning for the top spot in the East. I still don’t understand how Detroit can dominate Chicago like it did, and then just ge trounced by a tam that’s not as good as them or the Bulls. I just hate not knowing what to expect from the Pistons. It really doesn’t matter if they’re horrible or great or just middle of the road, as long as I know there’s consistency there. Oh well.

Go Spurs (it better be a sweep,) and please bring back Larry Brown to the Pistons. See you next year.

I’ve made a few improvements under the hood of my 2007 NBA Playoffs Bracket, just in time for the games to begin on Saturday.

I looked into having it update on it’s own, but that was a little too much work for the moment. So instead, here’s what’s new:

• Little green arrows that show how many games each team has won on their path to the ‘chip.’
• Hover over that little arrow with your mouse and you’ll see what game they won and the score. (Oooo…)
• I add the past years’ brackets to the menu at the top, so you can cycle through those and see how things went.
• Coming soon due to special request: A print stylesheet, with hi-res images! The hi-res print stylesheet is live!

Umm, yeah, that’s it. Maybe I’ll add more later, but i want it to be clean and nice and the prettiest 2007 NBA Playoffs bracket there is! (and there’s some horrible ones out there)

And yes, I’ll be fixing some alignment issues for IE7 (you should be using Firefox or Safari.)

With the surprising possibility of an MLB championship from the Detroit Tigers on the horizon, it made me think about how good sports around Michigan are. Take a look at the accomplishments our major college and professional teams have done over the past 5 years:

• Detroit Pistons – 2003 NBA Champions
• Detroit Shock – 2003,2006 WNBA Champions
• Detroit Red Wings – 2002 Stanley Cup Champions
• Detroit Tigers – 2006 American League Champions
• Michigan State – 2000 (ok six years) NCAA Men’s Basketball Champions

Left out: the Detroit Lions, but at leaast we got a Super Bowl in Detroit in 2006, that’s probably as close as we’ll come with the Lions as long as Matt Millen is President of that team.

Michigan won a football national championship in 1997 and an ice hockey championship in 1996.

There’s also been a handful of college championships in sports like gymnastics and golf that no one really cares about haha

So if we can get the Red Wings and Lions back into the mix either this or next season, we can continue the glory! (I’m using the term “we” because of course I am supporting the teams via television ratings!)