Rip gained respect in Detroit.  Rip became a champion in Detroit.  Rip became an All Star in Detroit.  Rip was asked to be a man, a leader, and a professional in Detroit…but the lost of his good friend was more than he could bear.  He pouted and whined like a child.  His behavior was identical to Stevie Francis behavior when Orlando traded Cutino Mobley.  Francis whined and said he contemplated retirement.  Huh?

After repeated playoff flame outs, Joe D said there were no more sacred cows.  He said he would trade ANYBODY.  He said he would look to put together a team that could win multiple ways (similar to that Spurs team we should have beat back in ’05). 

So what happened?  A declining Ben Wallace overvalued himself and decided to sign with the Bulls.  Billups told Joe D he didn’t want to be a part of a rebuilding project and he didn’t want to mentor someone to take his spot.  So Joe traded him to Denver (which is where he wanted to go).  Joe then extended Rip to show him the franchise was committed to him.  AI came in with declining skills, increasing off court issues, and lacking championship pedigree.  He said he was willing to do whatever to be a part of a winner but he became such a headache that he was paid to stay home.  Rip played the good soldier leading the team in scoring from off the bench, then he took up the mantle of immaturity.  Rip feuded with the Curry and Kuester.  Rip gave up on the court racking up multiple techs (getting tossed) and fouling out multiple games.

The ownership put a freeze on building a good team in favor of putting together a team with paper clips and duct tape.  We are now in a new era.  We have some pieces to play with.  We have an outstanding coach.  We have an owner who wants to win and wants to hold people accountable.

There’s hope on the horizon.

Um…yes…in fact, the entire Pistons organization handled the trade of Billups. the presence of AI, the development of Stuckey, and the prescence of Gordon and the last two coaches poorly.  That’s why the Pistons have been terrible for the last few years, isn’t it?

I couldn’t care less what Rip yelled at Kuester.

I would love to see Rip end his career on an up-note in Chicago, by going deep into the playoffs for the next few years.  In fact, I’d love to see Rip play for another 4 or 5 years.  He’s in such great shape, he just might be able to do it.

I think you’re right to an extent. Dumars had success early. Any person that has success early inevitably ends up getting more decision making power and maybe listens to others less. I really do think having less influential voices in the room have hurt over the years. Hopefully, with Lawrence Frank and some of the other basketball hires they’ve made, that begins to change.