THE PISTON ERA IS OVER

April 24th. A date which will live in infamy.

I’m not predicting a loss in this round, part of me still thinks they will probably do just enough to get by. But “just enough to get by” won’t work against a better team. It won’t work against the Celtics. Hell, it may not even work against the Magic or Raptors.

And now, the Pistons must move on. It was a good run, not great and certainly not legendary but a run Pistons fans will be proud of years down the road.

But even a casual observer will notice that this team just doesn’t look right anymore. They lack a fire. They take playoff games off and hope they can come back from 3-2. They blow leads at home and so on and so forth.

So what should the Pistons do in the offseason? I was able to listen to a lot of other peoples comments this weekend both in person and on the radio. Everybody who has ever watched even one Piston game has an opinion.

“Fire Flip”
“Trade Rasheed”
“Let Dice go”

And if it was up to me, this is the five step plan I would follow

1. Trade two starters-This team needs new blood. An injection of guys who are willing to play hard every night. The players with the most value seem to be Rasheed and Rip. But trading Rip means trading the guy who carried you in the playoffs. It also means trading a guy who has a unique skill-set not seen in the league. That leaves Sheed, Tay, and Chauncey. Sheed is a must-go in my opinion. He was the emotional catalyst for the 2004 and 2005 Final Teams but his “emotions” have also been a major reason they faltered. Not a lot of teams will take a flier on an older pg like Chauncey who can’t play D and who can’t penetrate and create shots for guys. If you can sucker a team into taking him, do it. That leaves Tayshaun Prince, a guy who can’t perform in the playoffs when you need him. A guy who only grabbed 26 rebounds in a series where you were struggling on the boards. A guy who couldn’t hit a wide open baseline J when the going got tough.

Tay is a good player, but he’s not someone this team needs. They need an athletic small forward. A guy who is willing to take the ball to the basket and draw fouls and grab rebounds when the big men are struggling

2. Keep Flip for one more year-I’m pretty sick of Flip Saunders being the scapegoat for this teams problems. And because of the coaching carousel that the Pistons have employed since the Chuck Daly days, I think its about time they stuck with a guy. Now, this doesn’t mean Saunders wasn’t at fault. But this year, in this playoff, I can’t really put it on him.

3. Hire Lindsey as an assistant

Terry Porter is a goner. The team needs a guy who will command respect. The players love Lindsey but most of all, they respect him. And considering that Flip seems to have a lack of respect in the lockerroom, its a good bandaid until a better coach becomes available or when the Pistons can get beyond the ECF

4. Move Dice to the Bench

You aren’t going to get more athletic if you have Dice on the floor. He is a good player but he is just a jumpshooter now that will occasionally give you a lift on the boards. Consider starting Maxiell or Amir depending on what you can get in return for Rasheed. Either way, you need a guy who won’t get outhustled by the likes of the venerabe Kendrick Perkins.

5. Play guys who play hard

I know that seems stupid but guys who play hard deserve to be rewarded. I think many fans would have been happy if we just got consistent effort from this team night in/night out in the playoffs. If Afflalo is giving you better minutes than Rip, sit Rip down. If Stuckey is working his ass off on both sides of the ball, put the fake Mr. Big Shot on the pine.