migya wrote:

TMC wrote:I'm sure Detroit would do it... They're not contenders anymore, and I doubt they consider themselves as such. Things changed a lot since Larry Brown left.

Like they won more games than ever before the first season after he left

TMC wrote:

migya wrote:

TMC wrote:I'm sure Detroit would do it... They're not contenders anymore, and I doubt they consider themselves as such. Things changed a lot since Larry Brown left.

Like they won more games than ever before the first season after he left

They haven't been close to a title since Larry left. That's all that matters.

Or do you think people remembers the Sonics for the season they ended with the best record just to fall to Denver in the first round? (They do, but as a mockery...)

The only record that counts is the one you have in the playoffs.

migya wrote:That Pistons never won a championship before Larry Brown either but doesn't mean they weren't a contender. That team remains a contender and doesn't look like falling any time soon. I thought they would this season but they are still winning

TMC wrote:

migya wrote:That Pistons never won a championship before Larry Brown either but doesn't mean they weren't a contender. That team remains a contender and doesn't look like falling any time soon. I thought they would this season but they are still winning

Before Larry they barely were a playoff team. Stackhouse was his best player, for god's sake.

Larry and Dumars built a champion, and that team is still the reason they're winning. They even play in a similar way. Flip has done nothing to change that team.

I'm pretty sure that, if you make a poll between the players, most of their starters (if not all of them) would want to have Larry back.

migya wrote:The Pistons were on the verge of making the finals three years in a row before Brown arrived. The were beaten by the Celtics one year in the East finals and the Nets the following year in the East finals. They were always going to be the best in the East for a while and they have been at or near the top for over six years now

32 wrote:The only reason the Pistons are still contenders is because Larry & Joe built a beast to begin with... and the East is wide open. In fact, I'd call every one of the following teams "contenders" in the East:

Boston
Orlando
Detroit
Cleveland
New Jersey
Toronto

Hell, if they get on a roll, Miami would still be proclaimed a title contender in the East. Detroit "still being a contender" means nothing to me when the first 6 or 7 seeded teams can also say the same thing.

32 wrote:The only reason the Pistons are still contenders is because Larry & Joe built a beast to begin with... and the East is wide open. In fact, I'd call every one of the following teams "contenders" in the East:

Boston
Orlando
Detroit
Cleveland
New Jersey
Toronto

Hell, if they get on a roll, Miami would still be proclaimed a title contender in the East. Detroit "still being a contender" means nothing to me when the first 6 or 7 seeded teams can also say the same thing.

32 wrote:Boston and Orlando missed the playoffs last season. They can't lay claim to anything right now more than Jersey, Detroit, and Cleveland can.

32 wrote:Well, "right now" is the real trick. If the season ended now, of course those would be the two teams in the East. What I'm saying is that by the end of the year, every one of those teams I listed can lay claim to being among the East's best. There will be a run by the Nets where Carter goes crazy for 5 or 6 games. The HEAT won't suck forever (especially with Ricky Davis and Dwayne Wade holding them down). Detroit is ALWAYS in the mix. And as long as Cleveland has 'Bron, they're in the mix. Right now, Dwight is on a huge tear and Boston looks unstoppable. Cue an injury to Howard OR Garnett and that all changes.