Lol, yeah all is good now that Mitchell is gone. Magically, Calderon will develop a defensive game. Magically, you guys will get a SG and SF. Magically, your bench will find guys who can play consistently and bring toughness/shooting. Magically, you can now rely on O'Neal's weak legs.
Bro, you know you guys have crazy problems that NO coach is going to fix. These issues are serious, and when your D is that bad, no way do you get past the 1st round. O'Neal is not going to be healthy for you, nor is he going to be consistent. He missed 4 games, played 13 mins in another, and 18 in the most recent. The guy is not healthy. And he wont be. As the season progresses, his strength will only diminish. He has a history of knee problems and ankle issues which are coming up again. As far as the best frontcourt, who exactly is your backup big? Kris Humphries? lol.You guys lack so much, and are not that young. I don't see much hope for you guys at all. Like I said, be happy with 6 or 7 seed.
About the Pistons, they started 3-0 with Billups then beat your Raps without AI or Billups. Dont exaggerate. I think your cred for basketball is slipping when you told all of us your Raps and Sixers would end the season better than the Pistons this year. ANd when you said the Raps would win the East last year. Billups has done great in Denver, and I and most Pistons fans are happy about that. He was a good guy, and everyone here loved him. I still check his stats after every game to see how he is doing.
But I think you know AI is the hardest player to implement into a system. The hardest. And when you have guys like Stuckey, Rip and Afflalo all in the backcourt looking for minutes, it will take time. But I think the win on the road against LA to hand them their 1st loss, win @ San Antonio and others prove this team can win and will not go away. Last year we werent a threat. But surprise surprise, we ended up in the ECF. If you think we arent a top 4 team in the East, you are kidding yourself. The Magic don't scare anyone...I think the way we have handed them losses every year in the playoffs proves that. If you think the Cavs, Celtics, Magic, Hawks, Sixers or ur Raps are happy to play the Pistons, don't kid yourself. I am confident this team would make a series out of any team they play in the East. Right now, the Celtics and Cavs are clearly better. But I think we come in at 3 or 4 with Orlando in the mix. But this is early, and when AI gets acclimated, watch out.