05/06

Oh boy, I called the Frank Thomas homer in the 13th inning just minutes ago. No witnesses though, except the dog. Man do dogs have bad gas. Though maybe the Tigers will come back while I'm finishing this.

Heck, I'm stuck on the game now. The bases are loaded, wonderful. The White Sox just walked Nook to set up the double play with 1 out. Shelton has impressed me. I say he's the replacement for Dmitri in a year or two.

Polanco, it's up to you buddy.

Well darn, just darn, the Tigers just can't do it. Their decent, but not playoff worthy. Indians are much better, yep, I said it. White Sox are wicked, especially with Thomas hitting his dingers, along with their other reliable hitters and their very solid pitching staff. Solid is an understatement. Some team from Minnesota is also in the AL central, there not bad either. If the Tigers get 5 games over the .500 mark, then I'll start thinking playoffs, until then I'll just keep it realistic.


I was bummed after Thursday night's Game 7 of the Finals. But I'm not going to blame the refs, or blame coach Brown, or the players who played well all year. I don't blame anyone for this. I give it up to the Spurs. They played the better 12 minutes when it counted and it showed. Duncan stepped up and the team proved it's straight up the best team in the league. But barely, just a tad. I would bet that this will not be the last time these 2 teams meet in the Finals in the near future.

One stat I can't quite come to grip with is the 3-8 fg shooting from Billups. Gee, he's our 4th quarter guy! I would rather Billups have been 3-18 than 3-8. You got to shoot to score.

I will say, if Larry "I'm Stubborn" Brown coaches the Piston's next year, he's has got to develop a bench. The guys have been playing since October and there going to wear down. A 7 man rotation was ignorant on Brown's part. I'm not saying Darko deserved minutes throughout the year, but guys such as Delfino, Dupree and Arroyo are quality guys, Brown just didn't give them a chance. But, the Pistons showed how good their core guys are. 1 12 minute stretch though, that will stick with them.

However, I hope Brown the best at the Mayo clinic. I like him very much as a person and somewhat as a coach. He does know how to improve a team. He's done it everywhere he's been. But not getting the young ones good experience puts the future in doubt.

No Flip, please Laimbeer or McMillan. What has Flip really done? He had Garnett, but he could never mesh the other talented but difficult personalities together and make it work, which is really a lot of what NBA coaching is about. Brown made it work.

The draft was cool, right? Nah, unless your like me and read up on the 30 -40 players that are high schoolers or Euros. If you didn't, then god bless you, because the names you are expecting to see are not popping up. Instead Roko blah and Andray rah are being picked and you have no idea.

These highschoolers and early entry guys are receiving bad info on their draft status. I'm guessing their were at least 60 guys guaranteed to be picked in the first round by an agent or somebody and the players bought in. Nobody leaves early from college or never (HS), to be picked in the 2nd round or not get drafted at all! There are too many guys who made that mistake and will pay for it, too many to mention. But a nice living overseas earning 6 figures is not all bad. But I know they were not dreaming of playing for AC Bologna.

Boy am I glad for the 19 year old age limit. I'm optimistic the NBA will focus more on the NBDL and sort of work something out that could be like a farm system that baseball has. Definitely not each team having their own minor league team, but just being able to send a player down to the NBDL for a length of time that might not be able to crack the rotation with the big boys and then be able to bring him back up whenever they want to because they still have the rights to him. I think the NBA is moving in a positive direction and I'm a monster of a fan, so I'm pumped.

Maxiell was a safe choice. He's an effort guy who has some offense. He's nasty. He will likely end up has a more active Corliss Williamson if this guy pans out. If he totally freaks, hey, another Big Ben with more offense would be quite welcome here. I'm being optimistic.

Amir is an athlete. Well see where his game takes him. NBDL time would be great for him. Then the Pistons can have him on the roster ready to contribute in 2-3 years. Joe D is not stupid, Alex Acker must have been impressive, Joe must of wanted him to be in his possession because there will be hosts of guys being signed to summer league teams as free agents in the coming days and weeks. And of all of the masses left, Joe chose Acker.
Keep in mind,
Jawad Williams, Deng Gai, Gigli, John Gilchrist, Rawle Marshall, Chuck Hayes, Randolph Morris, Alan Anderson- there's so many others as I stated earlier, just too many.

I really feel for the guys who played four years in college like Anderson, Hayes, Williams and Marshall- the new draft rules will help guys like this starting in next years draft. Unfornately, a year too late, actually, years to late. But hey, some of these high schoolers will turn out to be sensational.

"An that's all I got to say bout that." - Forrest in Forrest Gump

DSS has a new forum!

DSS and TigersTalk have parter ways, and DSS's new forum will be hosted by an up and coming site called The Sports Desk. www.thesportsdesk.com we have ur own forum covering all sports. Be sure to check it out and post! thanks.

Plus, I have a writing job once a week for Tribe talk. Its a Indians fan site, and I write the A.L central update, and say how much I hate the Tribe. Be sure to check that out also. Each issue comes out every sunday, just like a real newspaper.http//tribetalk.rr.nu/index.php? Thanks again.

Pistons down but not out

Are the Pistons chances of repeating the NBA title over? I am one of the few people I know that believes the Pistons still have a chance. If the regular season stats matter at all now, the Spurs only lost 3 road games all year. Why is this game different then the other road games in San Antonio? The Pistons. I’m not saying the Pistons have more chances then the Spurs to win, because they don’t, I’m just saying they gotta shot. The Pistons have proved that they work best under the pressure, just look at game 3 of this series. Down 0-2 they needed a win, and they got one.

If the Pistons win game 6, I expect game 7 to be completely different. Home court advantage won’t matter as much because both teams will be giving it there all. Frankly, I have no idea what will happen these next two games. But I know if the Piston team shows up hungry, and wanting to prove the media wrong, they can win these games. GO PISTONS!

Jones looks to break out this season with the Lions

I have been watching the Lions since Barry came to town. Since he left the Lions and retired from the NFL, the Lions have been missing the running game that made the team competitive in the 1990's. The year Barry left, I can not even remember who took over at RB. Then we went into FA and got James Stewart from Jacksonville. He was servicable but was nothing special. He got 1000 yards rushing for 3 or 4 seasons, but really did nothing for the team. He scored a few Td's and got the job done, but just was not special. I dont know if it was his fault or the teams, because we did not have much offense durring the time either. After Stewart the Lions were left with Antrose Pinner and Shaun Bryson. Again not much talent there, just servicable players on a team that did not have much offensive talent. Now the Mr. Kevin Jones. A injury early last season cost Jones to miss a few games and took over the starting job at Rb halfway through the season and ended up with 1100 yards rushing and 5 Tds. That was basically in eight games. That is pretty amazing. With more depth and the offensive line and hope to be three legit Wr who can catch a pass the running game might be our strongest part of our offense. Teams are going to have to respect the pass which will enable Jones to run free. All of this soley rests on Joey Harrington's shoulders. If he can step up and lead the team like I think he can, the Lions could have an offense like the Colts. I am not saying it will happen but they can come close if players play to potential or beyond.

I am predicting Jones will have 1800 yards rushing, 250 yards receiving and a total of 13 touchdowns. I dont think that is too much to ask for considering what he did last year as a rookie. Jones will be playing in his first Pro Bowl along with Roy Williams.

DSS unleashes new site!

Detroit Sports Squad is excited to unleash sister site www.detroithookup.blogspot.com Ryan the writer of Alamo town vs. Motown is writing for that site, along with former DSS writer Johny. The site is still under construction, we are working on a new banner. But for now there will be writings. Be sure to check it out, it has amazing coverage of the finals, amazing. www.detroithookup.blogspot.com

Motown vs. Alamotown

6-9-05 This article was written by Ryan, future Detroit Sports Squad writer, he should be writing once we get his account set up.






The sexy teams are now gone and the big boys remain. The Pistons want respect; the Spurs want the title back. No teams could be so different, yet be so much alike. Put your hard hats on folks, no more pretty boy basketball.





Match ups people, match ups. This series will heavily depend on players adjusting from game-to-game schemes these teams will throw at each other. Ben and Rasheed will take the task of covering the MVP type player Tim Duncan while McDyess will also have his opportunities. Rasheed’s on the ball defense is better than Ben’s, so Rasheed should see the bulk of the time on Duncan if he stays away from foul difficulties. This would allow Ben to roam the lane, which he does so well. Ben was really worn down during the Miami series; look for him to have much more energy and to get that somewhat sporadic scoring mentality back. It is vital that Ben and Rasheed stay out of foul trouble. Horry, Mohammed and Nesterovic are all solid contributors, but their athleticism is not that of the Pistons front line.



The talented backcourts of these two teams is quite similar. Parker and Ginobili will have to be contained and vice-versa for Billups and Hamilton. The Pistons should really look to post up Chauncey frequently because of the strength advantage he has on Parker, or all the other point guards in the world for that matter. However, Mr. Big Shot isn’t the quickest and that’s were Parker could wreak havoc on the defense with his superb penetration and shot making ability in the paint.



If you want to discuss shot making abilities, well, look it up in the dictionary. The definition will read, Ginobili drives past defender and flings a shot up to the rim that’s not too pretty and isn’t supposed to go in. Shot most always touches glass and is known to bounce around on the rim until finding the net while descending toward the floor. The play is usually followed by a visit to the free throw line by the shot maker. Call me crazy, but the results have shown themselves this year. Ginobili has solidified his spot as a top ten player in the league.



Ginobili is a good defender too, and he will have to prove it even more so with the match up with Rip and Tayshaun. Prince is maybe the most talented player on Detroit, but his lack of aggressiveness gets him in trouble at times. He needs to toughen up and help D up Ginobili and make him work both on sides of the ball.



It’s probable that Bruce Bowen will guard Rip the majority of the time. Bowen’s lack of offensive skills is overlooked because of his hardnosed defensive mentality. I think Rip could have a huge series though, but I shouldn’t underestimate undrafted NBA scrap players such as Bowen.



Detroit’s bench is not what it was last year. The bench this year is about two, two and a half strong. The ball hawking he displayed and hustle plays provided by Lindsey Hunter against Miami last series was a major plus. Hunter will need to make life miserable for Parker as he did against Wade. McDyess is either on or off. His offensive skills are very important for when he is matched up against the slower and older Horry down low.

Speaking of Horry, he’s a clutch playoff player. He hits big shots and is really the only big man the Spurs will play off the bench consistently. Udrih and Brown are decent spot players who can shoot. I’m not going to forget Brent Barry, he’s real key for when the double comes on Duncan or when Ginobili and Parker are dishing off. He still can flat out stroke it from three land. Obviously, the Spurs have a real advantage on Detroit with their scoring minded and more flexible bench.



If the Pistons can limit their turnovers and get Prince and Rasheed good shots throughout the game, I like the chances of Detroit at the end. Mr. Big Shot always comes through. They will also have to limit the Spurs fast break that starts with the defensive play of Parker and Ginobili. Of course eliminating games of 30+ points and 15+ rebounds from Duncan is a must too. Both teams like the somewhat slow and methodical pace and that will give the casual basketball fan all the boredom they can handle. Free throws and coaching could end up being the difference. Popovich and Brown are both quality coaches, but who will make the smarter moves?



An evenly matched heavyweight fight compares to how I think this series will end up. It may get ugly and slow in spots, guys will have to get back on their feet and suck it up, but at the end the determined will win. The question is, who wants it more?









6-9-05

Polanco to the Tigers

The Tigers have been shopping around Urbina for a year plus, but finally they pulled the trigger. Dombrowski decided to aqquire 2nd baseman Placido Polanco from the Philles, for Urbina as I mentioned earlier and infeilder Ramon Martinez was thrown in. What does this deal mean? It means the managemnt doesnt want Omar Infante being the everyday guy just yet. This move also means that Dombrowski and Illitch believe the Tigers have a chance to contend this year so they are entering the buyers market, unlike last years seller market. I like this deal a lot, Polanco is having a great season with 3 homeruns, and a 3.13 batting average which is good for a 2nd basemen.

As for Urbina, the signing of Percival indicated that the Tigers didnt want him. For him to stay would have been an overload for the bullpen. I'm pretty sure they were going to trade him earlier, but then Percival got hurt they kept him untl they were sure of Percival's health. Overall this deal may put us over the top.

Must win game 5

All of the hype about this match up between the Heat and the Pistons has come down to this. The winner of game 5 has the upper hand . Expect the Heat to be hott from the field tonight, but also expect the Pistons to match them. Wallace x2 will have to find a way to stop Shaq by standing behind him instead of fronting him. Fronting him would give Shaq the easy dunk. Rip is an offensive genious running off picks constantly. If he could have the same vision on defense I think he would do a great job shutting down Wade. The Pistons want to give Larry Brown one last championship even though they claim they have heard nothing about Brown leaving. The Pistons, I think will have the drive and the heartt to pull this game and series off. The media says the Brown news is a "distraction" I say it is motivation.

Notes: The Tiigers have won two straight games, all against the 1st place Rangers. Keep an eye out for the streaky Tigers.