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.

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.)

As you may have been able to decipher from the title, my 2007 NBA Playoffs Bracket (the 4th annual, by the way) is now updating ON IT’S OWN, LIVE. Yes, it’s true. Oh my. It is currently pulling the standings playoff positions from a major sports website which will remain nameless because I don’t want to draw too much attention in case they don’t like me stealing their info. But big ups to them.

I even made it look a little prettier to celebrate. So, make sure you check it constantly.

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!)