Le Basketbawl

There is an old saying that sometimes truth is stranger than  fiction. New York Vinnie has only one problem that that idea; in today’s day and age most times truth is stranger than fiction. When New York Vinnie saw the following report from the “Detroit Free Press” I had to check my calendar to make sure it was not April Fools Day! Because that is how Frickin ludicrous this idea that the Detroit Pistons have of possibly going with their starting rotation for the upcoming season; at least in the eyes of New York Vinnie.

According to the paper rookie Pistons head coach John Kuester is intrigued with a starting front line of Tayshaun Prince, Ben Wallace and Kwame Brown. Yes you read that correctly and no you were not having a flashback from some substance you used who knows when Ben Wallace and Kwame Brown would be your starting power forward and center. That is what Detroit is thinking of going with a has been crippled up old man and “El Busto Supremo.”

Ben Wallace was on the verge of retiring when the Pistons offered him a contract. When we last saw Wallace he looked like he was ready to do one of those “I’ve Fallen and I Can’t Get Up” commercials playing in the Eastern Conference Finals for the Cleveland Cavaliers. You know that old man in the walker who tells Barkley he’s going to take him to the hole? He most likely could against the Ben Wallace we saw against the Orlando Magic.

What more can New York Vinnie say about Kwame Brown that I have not already written? Without a doubt the biggest bust at the number one pick in the NBA Draft this decade; the Pistons for some Frickin reason signed Brown last summer to a Free Agent deal. It is true that you can’t teach size, but if you don’t have any skill or any desire you could be 9 Frickin feet tall and it still would not matter.

So what is the reasoning of Kuester having this inspiration of using these three players as his starting front line? Kuester believes that Wallace and Brown “set a tone defensively for you.”

The rookie head coach believes that Wallace and Brown are two players that know “what it’s going to take for us to be successful defensively.”

Kuester thinks that having Wallace and Brown as a tandem in the starting lineup will be a source of strength for his club. He told reporters “Then you say you got a lot of defense. I think you’ve got to have a mind-set going into the season that we’ve got to defend to be successful. Ben has had some outstanding practices where he’s really felt very comfortable on the offense. He already knew it ahead of time, and Kwame has really stepped up and played extremely well.”

That is John Kuester’s view point however New York Vinnie sees things much differently. New York Vinnie sees a player in Ben Wallace who used to be one of the strongest rebounders in the history of the NBA. That player however stopped playing when he put on a Chicago Bulls uniform and though he has an occasional night that shows what he used to be able to do they are the exception not the rule.

New York Vinnie sees a player who has been a disappointment in every aspect of his game since he entered the NBA in Kwame Brown. Kwame went into the Pros straight out of high school and soon became the personal whipping boy of his teammate with the Washington Wizards Michael Jordan. Whether he has never been able to overcome that or the skills were never there to begin with is up in the air; we shall never know. But what we do know is the guy is a Frickin bust.

So why did the Pistons sign Charlie Villanueva and what happens to Jason Maxiell who in New York Vinnie’s opinion may be the best player they have at power forward? Is this team that disorganized; or are they trying to tank the season. Because this idea makes as much sense to New York Vinnie as putting Frickin screen doors on a submarine.

Pistons fan you had a great run for most of the decade. However the way things are looking right now New York Vinnie would have to say that the party is officially over.