My reflections from the Palace and game 5: Pistons lose to themselves and that just hurts.

Pistons lose to themselves and that just hurts.

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There I said it. It hurts but I was able to make myself utter those words. Well not really utter them but type them. I said before the playoffs that the only team good enough to beat the Detroit Pistons was the Detroit Pistons. We are seeing that and frankly it makes me sick.

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I took huge criticism from Pistons fans (of which I am one) for even typing such a sacrilegious thought before the playoffs and sadly I look more like a prophet then a man covering it for a living. This team is struggling. Many players (read Ben at the top) are tired of Sheed and his act. They tolerated earlier in the year but back when daylight savings time kicked in and he was late to a game (2 hours late when clocks only went back 1) and Flip “let it go” Sheed has showed little or no self control. In that very game he got a technical that even made him serve a mandatory NBA one-game suspension. After the game, one of his disgusted teammates told me: “that is Sheed I guess, he wanted a day off so when he didn’t get benched, he made himself one.”

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This team is not operating on all systems and Flip Saunders is guilty only by not having more discipline in his squad. They stand around at the three-point line trying to play horse and seem to lack any motivation. Sure I love the GURANSHEEDS but they are worthless if you don’t deliver. It would be as foolish as buying a car on your credit and expecting you to make the payments. Sheed took a leadership role and that was great, but he mouth wrote a check that he forgot to show up and cover.

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Should the Pistons win the next two and advance? Yes. Will they? Who knows? The point is that this team has too much talent for this. They have toyed with these Cavs who aren’t playing. They do not realize that the do not belong here. They think they have a shot. Flip said at practice yesterday: “all the pressure is on them, they think they can win now.” Flip, great quote, but that was dumb. The Cavs don’t want you to give them anything, including respect. They just want to kick your butt and take it. If the Stones lose, this will be the greatest collapse in NBA playoff history.

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I asked Dan Gilbert the owner of the Cavs tonight, (also a member of the Spartan Nation and a life long fan of the Stones) how this felt. His answer? I don’t know we haven’t won. The Cavs are hungrier then Mr. T waiting for a title shot in Rocky III and they like being disrespected. In the locker room I asked the Spartan Nation’s Eric Snow about the lack of respect and he told me: “I don’t want nothing, if we win, we’ll take it.” When I was leaving I passed LeBron who put his hand out for a high five from me, and he said “we want it bad.”

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Maybe LeBron did take something from the Pistons that the next game will tell us if they found it, hunger to be a Champion. Being King of the regular season is like getting a date with the hottest chick in school for prom; only to find out she’s your sister. Anything less then a championship is a failure. I have said that this is the best team in basketball. If they fail to win the title, then we will have to say that they were the best five individuals on a starting squad, because the last three games they forgot they were on a team.