Pistons vs Lake Show: not ready for prime time

March 26, 2:31 PMDetroit Pistons ExaminerLuke Filar

Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Detroit Pistons Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Carnac: 25 points. How much will the Pistons lose by? 

Usually, a late game in March between the Pistons and Lakers is a nationally televised match-up, between two teams battling for home court advantage in the playoffs. This year, the Lakers are holding up their part of the bargain.  Meanwhile the Pistons are limping their way out of the postseason.

What’s worse, the fact that the Piston are only 3.5 games ahead of the Charlotte Bobcats for the right to be in the playoffs? Or that the Bobcats, who’ve never made the postseason, are coached by Pistons castoff Larry Brown?  Sure, injuries have crippled the Pistons recently, but should we still not hold Michael Curry accountable?

The Pistons have seemingly upped their effort while being shorthanded, but rarely has it resulted in a win, as the Pistons have now lost five of their last six games. Now, there are two main questions facing Curry dead on: One, why wasn’t the team playing with that type of effort all season? And two, once the team gets back to full strength -- if it ever does -- can he get Allen Iverson and Rasheed Wallace to finally buy into his system?

Everyone says that Iverson, especially A.I. himself, plays every game like it’s his last. I agree, he plays hard, no 165-pound player can take a night off in the NBA and still score the way he does. However, playing hard and playing team basketball are totally different things. Not to mention, Iverson will be coming off the bench for the first time in his career.

Wallace is an entirely different breed altogether. He is a great teammate, but he mails in games when he feels like it.

What do these two have in common? Both were at their best while playing under Brown.

With Kobe and Co. coming in tonight, the Palace should be a rockin’.  But for how long? In all likelihood Detroit will again be without A.I., Rip and Sheed, leaving the Pistons again with a ragtag starting lineup, as the Lake Show counters with one of the deepest teams in all of basketball.

We don’t need Carnac the Magnificent to prophesize that this one could get ugly quick. And it’s a shame, too. Detroiters have so little to cheer for these days, that when a mega-star like Kobe Bryant makes his only appearance at the Palace, it could be for just a few minutes. Kobe played just 29 minutes in the Lakers blowout win over the Thunder on Tuesday, and his 36:17 minutes-per-game is his personal lowest since his second year in the league. This is not attributed to Kobe’s diminishing skills -- there are still no signs of slowing down at age 30 -- it’s due to the Lakers dominance. In the normally tight-at-the-top Western Conference the Lakers have a commanding 9.5 game lead over the Spurs for the top spot in the west, and are challenging the Cavaliers for the best overall record in the NBA.

With two teams driving in opposite directions, all signs point to a quick stay in Detroit for the Lake Show. Well, at least Jay Leno will be stopping by for two shows in April.