End of an Era?

Throughout the past decade of the new millennium the Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs were a sure bet to go to the NBA playoffs, make some noise and in 4 cases win the NBA titles. Back to the present we see the Pistons barely make the playoffs at #8 and then get swept by the Cavaliers. Last night the Spurs who have been down lost 4-1 to the Dallas Mavs at home. These teams have had a GREAT run but the question is are they done?

The Pistons had made to the playoffs 7 years in a row and 6 of those years they made it to the Eastern Conference Finals. They were a defensive minded team that everyone in the East feared and that swagger finally won them a trophy in 2004.
With the loss of key reserve players and of course age the Pistons made some moves to ignite the team even though they were still winning. The biggest move was trading Billups to get Allen Iverson (in his elder years). This move ended up hurting Detroit as Lebron and crew swept through the proud organization and Iverson didnt play one minute in the playoffs. So now the Pistons have an aging Wallace, Hamilton, bench players like Kwame Brown (LOL) and need to find out where its going this off season. On the bright side they will have $20 Mil in cap room from Iversons expiring contract.

The Spurs are arguably the best team of the last 10 years (besides the Lakers). They have won 3 titles (even won back to back years) this decade and a staple team in the Western playoffs...enough said about their accomplishments. Again we come to the present and we have Tim Duncan missing an open dunk last night, and the Spurs losing at home in the playoffs for the first time in 8 years. In game 3 Duncan actually ended the game with 4PTS and 2REB. Sure the Spurs big 3 can still do it, but at age 33 Duncan will start to slow down soon and he already has 2 bad knees. Manu is getting up in age but still solid. The only problem is that he keep getting hurt. No problems with Tony Parker but besides those 3 the team cannot maintain on a consistent level. The thing that could really hurt the Spurs is the fact that they are still pretty good and should make the playoffs but this will prevent them from getting a high draft pick to continue dominance in the future.

So again I ask is this the end of an era for 2 dominating teams, or will management and coaches be able to keep the teams in the running over the next couple of years? Whatever happens hats off for a great run in the 2000's.

Billups>Iverson?

A few months ago the Denver Nuggets traded Allen Iverson to the Detroit Pistons for Chauncey Billups. On the surface, many would say that giving A.I. was a bad move eventhough the Nuggets werent winning many games and the Pistons were running in mud. But the months since the trade have shown differently. Billups has lead the Nuggets to the #2 seed in the West and had an astounding Game 1 in the playoffs against the Hornets where he had 36 pts with 24pts coming off of 8 3-pointers going against Chris Paul at that. On the other hand, "The Answer" has been benched, cried back problems so he didnt have to play and has even been banned from gambling spots in the Detroit area. A.I. is unquestionable one of the greatest players to play in the NBA but are we seeing his demise right in front of our eyes. I hope not.

NOT LOOKING TOO GOOD IN DETROIT...

After Detroit's 88-76 loss to Boston -- and really it wasn't that close -- the tendency will be to look at the Allen Iverson trade and wonder whether the Pistons would have won if Chauncey Billups were still here. Here's the answer: NO. The Celtics are just that good. Last years finals is starting to look the same. Celtics -vs- Lakers