
Not too long ago I was praising Joe Dumars for recognizing his team wasn’t good enough to beat the elite teams in the East and that he needed to change it up. What I didn’t envision was him using the available cash he freed up under the salary cap to spend on Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva. By most accounts, the Pistons have agreed on a five-year $55 million deal with Ben Gordon, and a five-year $35 or $40 million deal with Villanueva (there are differing reports).
Maybe it’s just because I’m not a Ben Gordon guy that I don’t like what Detroit’s doing, or maybe it’s because they spent $10 million a season on a sixth man who’s a gunner and not a ball-handler and doesn’t play much defense. Maybe it’s because I prefer Rip Hamilton and can’t envision them paying Gordon $10 mil per and telling him he’s coming off the bench meaning Rip’s probably gone. Now Villanueva’s a decent deal because he can score and board and he comes at a reasonable price as a Rasheed Wallace replacement. The thing I’m missing is the size issue. Where’s their inside presence? Don’t they need one? Maybe I should be patient to see what they add next year before I completely judge because this has to be a work in progress.
The Pistons coaching situation also needs to be determined. They took way too long to fire Michael Curry. It seemed pretty obvious that his decision-making skills were lacking when he kept Iverson in the starting lineup and brought Rip off the bench for as long as he did. I know they’re recruiting Avery Johnson and I like him as a coach, but I just can’t imagine the new personnel really buying into Avery’s defensive mindset. I don’t see that as a great fit. They need to get tougher inside and Dumars has to recognize that. At this point, they remain a non-factor in the East.

Craig Robinson led Oregon State to an impressive turnaround season this past year. The team went 18-18 and 7-11 in conference play which was quite an improvement from their hideous 6-25 and 0-18 showing the previous year. With many head coaching openings out there, his name was tossed around, but never seriously considered for the major jobs such as Arizona, Memphis, or Kentucky. Outside of a few years at Brown, he only has the one season of experience at Oregon State. But a few more steps in the right direction and you never know what might happen. Robinson’s brother-in-law, President Obama has the same mentality and has already
I really don’t understand what the appeal is with being an agent. Sure, you get a percentage of a multi-million dollar contract, but you also come out looking like the jerk. Take baseball’s version of the devil, or Scott Boras if you will. The guy wanted to use Jorge Posada’s contract as a baseline for 
This story is pretty cool and not one you see every day so I figure it’s definitely worth mentioning. The World of Isaac via
Brandon Marshall received a Darwin Nominee here at LBS back on October 22nd, 2007 after he was 







