With the NBA Playoffs winding down (I only say it that way because the Pistons aren’t in The Finals,) updates have been few and far between on my NBA Playoffs bracket. But that doesn’t mean I’m ignoring my little baby.

As the LA Lakers and the (ugh) Boston Celtics battle it out to see who will defend their title against the new and improved Detroit Pistons next year, I’ve added nice little Larry O’Brien trophy indicators to show who wins what games — with handy-dandy ABC logos that tell when the next game is, and where.

Watch for LA’s to fill up fast

Usually after each season I write a little post about the Detroit Pistons season and after the last 4 years, it’s been one of disappointment. We all know the story about how the Pistons won the title in 2004 and despite being minutes from repeating 2005, haven’t gotten back to the Finals. They’ve been eliminated in each of the last three seasons by Miami, Cleveland and Boston.

Usually emotion would get the best of me and I would start calling for heads to roll. Trade Ben Wallace! Trade Rasheed Wallace! Fire Flip Saunders! Read for yourself: 2006 and 2007

Well, I waited just long enough for the dust to settle, because Joe Dumars is doing all the venting for me.

Today he fired Flip Saunders. He also announced that no player on the roster was safe from being traded. The formerly “sacred” starting 4/5 of Billups, Hamilton, Prince and Wallace were now on the market, as penance for their lackluster effort and for not getting it done 3 years in a row. Joe’s words, not mine.

I imagine that veterans like Antonio McDyess (who actually did play hard) and Lindsey Hunter (expected to take a Pistons Assistant Coaching job) won’t be moved. I also expect that budding rookies and 1-2 year players Stuckey, Afflalo, Johnson and Maxiell can feel pretty safe. They all did what they were asked to do.

But this is truly the beginning of the end for the 2003-08 Detroit Pistons. They’ve reigned over the Eastern Conference for 6 years, have only 1 NBA title and 2 Eastern Conference titles to show for it — more than most teams yes, but we’re speaking relatively here — and it’s time for a change.

I can’t say what I would do if I were in Dumars’ shoes. Probably exactly what he is doing. Getting a new coach, and letting the NBA know that he’s open to a deal. Guys that have been off the market for 6 years are now being shopped. I think anyone of them can still contribute given the right atmosphere that a new coach can potentially provide.

I think Flip Saunders can be a great coach. He made the Detroit Pistons a great regular season team. But he wasn’t the right kind of person that this team demanded. In the Playoffs they needed a hard-ass. They needed Larry Brown to not take any shit and tell them exactly what to do. Flip’s not that kind of guy, that thats not a knock on Flip. He just belongs somewhere where his talents can be utilized in a much better way. I would not be surprised to see him in Phoenix next year.

I was really down on the Pistons after they lost this year. But now I’m excited because it’s a new era. It will be exciting to check the sports news and see if anything has changed in the D. It will be exciting to see how a new coach will run the Pistons of tomorrow. It will be exciting to see if they can maintain the level of excellence they are now synonymous with.

It should go without saying, but I’m still a Pistons fan through and through.

New thread to house any comments or suggestions concerning the 2008 NBA Playoffs bracket.

Many people know that I’m a big Detroit Pistons fan. Shannon asked me what the one thing I wanted to do on my birthday was, and I said go to a Pistons game. I’m not really sure why I like them so much, or why I like following the NBA so much. It’s not really a sport that a person like me (or people in general, I guess) can relate to. A lot of rich guys play a game where most of the time it seems like money comes before the love of the sport. But I like the match-ups, I like the stars, and I like the coverage. I like how it had that edge to it, and I love watching big plays happen.

Right now the Detroit Pistons are playing the Philadelphia 76ers in round 1 of the NBA Playoffs. In game 3 and the first half of game 4, they were looking pretty bad. They were giving up the ball a lot on mistakes, taking bad shots, and losing their cool. So at halftime the coach said to them “Are you having fun? Because it looks like you’re not having fun.” That and a little speech by Antonio McDyess (fresh off a broken nose) turned things around and now, a game and a half later as the Pistons are on the cusp of winning the series, they’re having fun. They decided to not worry so much about winning and worry more about whether they are enjoying their work.

I found this to be in common with the sand volleyball team I played on last year. It was me and a bunch of my buddies. We thought it would be fun to get together every week and play some volleyball. We were all pretty capable players, and we all liked playing. But a lot of the times, we sucked. Bad. We made mistakes, we got in each other’s way, and tempers flared. A few times we left after the games without saying much at all to each other. We’re all pretty competitive, and things weren’t going the way we’d like.

But I think the thing that got us the most is that we didn’t have fun with it. We worried so much about winning, about getting every point we could and beating each team that we forgot to just have fun playing ball. I’m definitely one of the biggest culprits, because I want to win so badly. I wanted to prove to my friends and the people around me that I could be a winner, and that I could be good at volleyball. And it’s tough, man. You want to have fun, and maybe things start out that way. But there’s always a score, and that feeling of embarrassment when the ball hits the ground in front of you and you were supposed to hit it. So fun gets thrown oout the window as you get a little more serious about things.

I don’t know, maybe I’m not good enough to have fun and do well at the same time. But I’ve done it before, somehow. And I know it’s much easier, and a much better time, to just have fun. So I’ll try to remember that in the future.

I’ve added a couple of new features to my now ever-present 2008 NBA Playoffs bracket!

Now, located at the bottom below the bracket itself, is a bar showing just how far into the NBA regular season we are. Also located on the graph are a couple of indicators showing off events like NBA All-Star Weekend, the trade deadline, and the 75% mark. Again, not really anything too spectacular, but it was a quick thing to throw up on there that I thought was pretty cool.  Seeing as how the playoffs bracket doesn’t really mean much until the regular season is over, this will show you how far we have until then!

The second new feature is the presence of win-loss records for each playoff team. Now you can show or hide them as you please, and see how your team is doing with a glance. Just another feature that I wished was there so I made it so.

Let me know if you like or dislike the new features, and if there is anything else that you think should be added (or taken away!) I’ll be returning to my little-green-arrow system of showing wins in the Playoffs once they start, so if you have a better idea I’m all ears.

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.

So we’ve reached the semifinals of the Playoffs. Thanks so much to everyone who has left a comment or suggestion about my 2007 NBA Playoffs bracket. Approximately halfway through (lets just call it that,) and things are running smoothly.

Here’s some stuff that’s changed recently:

• I finally noticed that Internet Explorer users weren’t seeing the bracket as it should be. The green arrows have been moved down into their correct positions (thanks to a special CSS sylesheet just for IE7. Using IE6? Then get with the times and upgrade, or do even better and GetFirefox.)
• Hmm, other than a whirlwind week of updating for the first round, that’s it!

Here’s some stuff that needs to be fixed, added or changed (and either will, might or won’t!):

• Print stylesheet corrections for the first round
• Green arrows to link to individual game recaps
• That’s it so far. Any suggestions?

So there you have it. I still think we’ve got the smoothest and at least one of the most up-to-date and quickly updated brackets out there. Your suggestions are definitely welcomed and encouraged, because I’d like to refine this process and maybe even make a run at the NCAA tourney next March. We’ll see.