Unlike McCloskey, Dumars Has To Retool AND Satisfy -- All At Once

Which of these statements is most true?

a) The Cleveland Cavaliers are finding out the hard way that, in the NBA Finals, these aren't the Pistons they're playing.

b) The San Antonio Spurs are finding out, to their delight, that in the NBA Finals these aren't the Pistons they're playing.

OK, it's actually a trick question. They're BOTH true, and therein lies the enigma wrapped in a riddle that is the summer 2007 edition of the Detroit Pistons.

Watching the Finals, I couldn't help but think that the Pistons would never have fallen behind by 28 freaking points in the first half, as the Cavs did in Game 2 last night. Yet I also acknowledge that the Pistons, by the end of the Eastern finals, were outclassed by the Cavs and didn't deserve another trip to the NBA Finals. Weird, huh? But also true.

Again, let me reiterate my point from Friday: there's no way the Pistons beat the Spurs in a Finals rematch from 2005. Absolutely not. But they sure as heck would have put up more of a fight than the Cavs have for seven of the eight quarters played thus far.

Oh well -- too bad, so sad. Water under the bridge, that ship has sailed -- all that.

But what does it say about a basketball team in the NBA when both of the above A & B statements can be true -- at the same time?


Dumars leads a pit crew; McCloskey operated a garage

This promises to be one of the most intriguing off-seasons the Pistons have experienced since the days of Trader Jack McCloskey, when the grizzled GM was forever burrowed in his laboratory every summer in the 1980s, trying to find the right concoction that would thrust the Pistons into title contention.

A little Dan Roundfield here. Oops, lose the Roundfield and add some Rick Mahorn. Toss in some William Bedford. Wait -- ixnay the Bedford -- too volatile and I think it's making the elixir turn sour. Inject some John Salley and Dennis Rodman -- two little-known secret ingredients. Too much Kelly Tripucka; get rid of it and give me that Adrian Dantley over there. Hmmm -- still not quite right. What say we jettison the Dantley and replace it with Mark Aguirre?

BINGO!

But current team president Joe Dumars doesn't necessarily have the luxury of time, as McCloskey did, when Jack took a team at expansion-like status in 1979 and used most of a decade to turn it into a serious championship threat. Dumars, stung by some recent personnel decision hiccups, must retool on the fly, attempting to manage that tricky balance between respectability and lottery in the process. He might have to take one step backward, so to speak, to take two steps forward. While McCloskey tinkered, it was largely shrugged off. The Pistons had never been truly good. The Tigers were a division contender every year. And the Red Wings, led by Jacques Demers and their young captain, were beginning to fascinate again during the winter months. So it was easy to smirk and shake your head while McCloskey worked behind the big blue curtain inside the Silverdome.

No such luck for Joe D nowadays. His Pistons are in a pitstop -- not on a hoist in a garage, as McCloskey's Pistons were. Dumars has to change tires, check for backfires, and keep the engine fueled -- and he has to do it in 30 seconds, comparatively speaking.

Perhaps never before has the Detroit basketball club been more aptly named than now. Pistons wear out over time, as you know -- unless some are replaced.