The Basketball Has Gone Flat

I shouldn’t be mistaken for Chicken Little, but the Pistons sky as we know it is falling. Sure, the sign of Michael Curry on the bench could have been one sign of a demise of this current Pistons team. The same could have been said when the team considered the Kwame Brown signing as being significant. Today’s latest news served notice that we’re about to begin rolling faster down that steep slope toward mediocrity.

The Pistons are the last team on everyone’s mind at the moment, and with that comes the inauspicious opportunity to only hit the headlines when a major piece of news comes around. Today, Coach Michael Curry made it clear that he is expecting Rasheed Wallace to get into playing shape. The latest I checked, Rasheed Wallace doesn’t listen to anyone other than someone he trusts for any reason. That means if your name is not Assistant Coach Pat Sullivan, and you are on the bench in a suit this season, do not expect Rasheed to even consider your feedback.

This news also came with the second piece of info that Antonio McDyess’ fifth spot in the rotation is “up for grabs” this offseason. That means that players like Amir Johnson and Kwame Brown will make this training camp even more heated than it should be. Players should never have the sense that their job is “safe” in any way. The fact that Rip Hamilton can do tv shows in the offseason and Rasheed can gain 20-plus pounds is part of this same thinking. Maybe Curry has finally caught onto something here – time will only tell.