The Pistons did not trade for Pau Gasol, although that would have been nice.
The Pistons did not trade for Jason Kidd. No knock on Kidd, but Chauncey is here and much younger.
The Pistons did not trade for Shaq, although for 1 year that would have been fun.
The Pistons did not trade for Chris Weber. He did talk to Joe Dumars, but there was no roster spot for him.
The Pistons did not trade for Kyle Korver and Kyle fits better with Utah than Detroit.
The Pistons did not trade for … well you get the picture.

Later though, the Pistons signed Theo Ratliff.

The biggest weakness for the Pistons was low post defense. You did not want to waste Rasheed fouling out under the basket all alone. Amir Johnson is not quite ready for prime time minutes and Jason Maxiell does not match up with centers. This is where Theo comes in.

Theo Ratliff, early in his career, does a Vulcan Mind Meld with Doug Collins

But the beauty of that signing shined through the Pistons’ win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night.

The Pistons used Ratliff to guard Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who scored 20 points when the teams played earlier this month. Not this time — with Ratliff fronting him and pushing him out of his spots, Ilgauskas shot 5-for-16 from the floor and scored 11 points.

source

It is not a perfect deal, because Theo is recovering from a knee injury, is getting up in years, and does not always contribute a lot of offense.

The Piston Way

The important thing for the Pistons is defense. The Pistons thrive on being tough and playing tough defense. They are modeled in many ways like general manger Joe Dumars.

Playing tough defense is hard to do when the opposing team’s center has free reign. Ben Wallace used to stop that sort of thing, but he left for the green, maybe not the pastures.

Theo will be even more important in the playoffs.

“We’re not trying to wear him out too much,” coach Flip Saunders said. “We’re trying to keep him for games where we think we need some big people. And of course, everyone knows how professional he is. He’s always ready when called upon.”

In the playoffs, he could be called upon to check guys like Boston’s Kevin Garnett, Orlando’s Dwight Howard or Ilgauskas, and that’s when the payoff for acquiring him will really come. He represents the Pistons’ most physical, veteran big-man option off the bench — an important cog on most championship-caliber teams.

Yeah, Theo will become the giant slayer, just making the Pistons that little bit better.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Did you even notice this deal?

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Chris Weber wanted to play for Detroit again

Chris Weber is going to announce his retirement. His knee just could not make it go.

Webber played only nine games this season in his comeback attempt with the Golden State Warriors before being sidelined by a bum knee that has hampered him in recent years.

Webber was the most prominent member of the Fab Five at Michigan and played for Golden State, Washington, Sacramento, Philadelphia and Detroit in his NBA career.
source

Weber wanted to play for the Pistons this year, but no roster spot opened. Joe Dumars spoke to him.

“It was the same thing I told him and told everybody else. Listen, we’re not going to sit here and just eat $2-3 million and sign Chris back at a minimum contract. And I told that to Chris and I told that to (agent) Aaron Goodwin. I said that to the media. I consistently said that. If we could find a home for one of these guys towards the end of the bench and create a roster spot, then we would have a spot. And even then, we’re talking about the fourth or the fifth big man.
source

The bad knee left Chris with options.

Poor Chris Weber, with all that talent, will be remembered as a great Fantasy Basketball player and a player that played most of his healthy career with bad teams.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Did you get to see Chris Weber in his prime?

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Who are these guys?

Deron Williams? All everyone talks about is Chris Paul of the Hornets, or the arrival of Jason Kidd in Dallas, but Deron Williams is off to a great career with that hidden team, the Utah Jazz. Deron had 14 assists by half time. Half time!

Mehmet Okur? All everyone talks about is Shaq going to the Suns, or Dirk Nowitzki lighting it up for the Mavs, or the return of Andrew Bynum, or Pau Gasol gaining new life with the Lakers, but Mehmet has some of those European style components to his game, learned in Turkey, that make him tough to guard and he rebounds well in a crowd. Just ask Joe Dumars, he wanted to keep him a Piston, but the price was too high.

Carlos Boozer? Hey, what is he doing on the Jazz? Carlos is a 20/10 guy that weighs 266 pounds. 20 points and 10 rebound season average that is and the 266 pounds on his 6′ 9″ frame makes him tough to handle inside.

Andrei Kirilenko? He may not be a 20/10 guy, but he does everything else with steals, blocked shots, rebounds, points, and just plain excellent defense. In 2005-06 he was on the NBA all defensive team. This year he has suffered a lot of injuries and did not play most of this most recent game.

Utah played most of the game without forward Andrei Kirilenko, who was knocked out of the game with 7:04 left in the first quarter after taking a flagrant foul from Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki. Kirilenko went crashing to the floor and bruised his right hip bad enough that he was taken to the hospital for X-rays, which showed no break. source

NBA Basketball Andrei Kirilenko factoid – Became just 4th player in NBA history, and first since 1993-94, to average 15+ points, 8+ rebounds, 4+ assists and 3+ blocks in single season (Abdul-Jabbar six times, Bob Lanier – 1973-74, David Robinson – 1993-94) source

Kyle Korver? The least heard about trade this side of Golden State picking up old timer Chris Weber. Kyle gives them the big time bench scorer they needed and had 17 points in this game.

Utah won over Dallas 116 – 110.

The Jazz went on a momentum-changing fourth-quarter run in a 116-110 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night, coming back after blowing a 21-point lead. Utah made all 18 free throws in the fourth quarter and stayed near the top of the congested standings in the Western Conference. source

Dallas

Josh Howard scored 25 points and Nowitzki finished with 23 for Dallas, which fell to 4-4 since acquiring Jason Kidd.

Kidd finished with nine assists and 19 points — 10 of which he scored in the fourth quarter. Jason Terry scored 21 for the Mavericks.

It appears the Jason Kidd experiment will take a little time to get going.

Anyway, Utah is fighting for their life in the tough Western Conference.

Back to Utah

“It was a playoff atmosphere,” Boozer said. “You had people diving for loose balls, scrapping for rebounds. That’s what the playoffs are about. That’s what the last 20 games are going to be like as we try to position ourselves for the playoffs.”

So who is Utah and why aren’t the New Orleans Hornets called the Jazz? Hmm, that does seem a bit strange.

Utah is the hidden team loaded with talent and a good record. Look out Western Conference!

NBA Basketball Fan Question Were you aware of how good the Jazz are looking?

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Tim Duncan says “You have to stop me to get to the finals

The Lakers picked up Pau Gasol, so they would not lose any momentum when Andrew Bynum was injured. When Bynum comes back, you have a front court of Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, and Lamar Odom to go with Kobe Bryant. Arguably a powerful lineup.

The Phoenix Suns dealt the Matrix for Shaquille O’Neal. The Suns needed a center to get past the Spurs and because the Gasol deal had moved the Lakers ahead of them. If Shaq can turn it on one more time for the speedy Suns with Amare Stoudemire moving to power forward and Steve Nash wanting to win a ring before he retires, then the deal will look brilliant.

Even the San Francisco Warriors picked up Chris Weber, because they have playoff potential and are seeking any edge they can find.

So the Spurs looked around and decided to take…no one.

Yeah, that is right. No one.

“I never feel pressure to make a deal,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “We talk to everybody, just like the other 29 teams. If something makes sense, we’ll do it. But making deals because you feel pressure is a recipe for failure.” source

Now the San Antonio Spurs did sign Damon Stoudamire to fill in for the injured Tony Parker, but that is it.

Their record does not look quite as sparkling as usual due to various injuries, but come playoff time you still have to knock off the Big Fundamental if you want to win the West.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Are the Spurs still the team to beat?

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Least they forget who has ruled the Pacific Division in recent years; Phoenix brought their ‘A’ game.

The Phoenix Suns have won the Pacific Division title in each of the last three seasons, due in part to their success against the Los Angeles Lakers.

With the Lakers in the midst of their longest winning streak in nearly four years, though, the Suns’ dominance suddenly appears to be in jeopardy. source

Could Chris Weber soon be a Laker?

It was, of course, a game without Andrew Bynum, but this is not the time for excuses, since Phoenix plays without a true center all the time anyway.

LA and Kobe have been red hot lately and fully expected to win this game.

Phoenix outshot the Lakers 51.9 percent to 37.9 percent and that was pretty much the story. If you allow the Suns to shoot over 50 percent, you are in deep trouble.

Leandro Barbosa scored 22 points, Shawn Marion added 20 points and 16 rebounds, and the Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Lakers 106-98 on Thursday night to regain the Western Conference lead.

Boris Diaw scored 19 points, Amare Stoudemire and Raja Bell added 16 each, and Steve Nash had 13 points and a season-high 20 assists for the Suns (27-12), who won for the eighth time in 11 games to move a half-game ahead of the Lakers. source

20 assists? Just a thought here, but is Steve Nash puts up 20 dishes for hoops, you are going down! 20 assists? Unreal!

The Bynum-less Lakers

The Lakers without Bynum looked out of rhythm to start the game and later Kwame Brown, the Bynum replacement, looked terrible and drew the fans catcalls.

In fact, they looked like a group of guys who just met for a pickup game at the park, rather than the cohesive unit that had won seven in a row. Their confidence was absent and their momentum was lost in a maze of unsteady play.

Shots clanged off the rim and backboard.

Passes missed their mark.

Rebounds went unclaimed.

Defensive plans crumbled. source

Chris Weber

There was speculation that Chris Weber might soon be signing with the Lakers to fill in for Andrew Bynum. Don’t forget Chris Mihm is also out with an injury for at least a couple of more weeks.

Webber told a Sacramento television station Monday that he expects to sign with an NBA team within two weeks. He said he has received plenty of offers, but is determined to take his time and find the best fit.

“I have three teams in my head (but) I don’t want to (name them),” Webber said, “but I know I’ll be back.”

In fact, the 34-year-old Webber might fit nicely in the Lakers’ high-tempo offense. He was a shooter, passer, rebounder and defender of some renown during a well-traveled 14-year career. He has not played since last spring, however. source

Other players mentioned are P.J. Brown and DJ Mbenga.

The Lakers need to find some solution as the schedule get a whole lot harder right now with a series of winning teams coming up.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Will Weber sign with the Lakers?

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