http://news.aol.com/article/misfiring-p ... -to/857334Misfiring Pistons: Dumars might trades to fix team
Joe Dumars broke up the Detroit Pistons when he was convinced they were no longer an Eastern Conference power. Now that Detroit's record is among the worst in the league, the team's president of basketball operations sounds like he's ready to make more moves over the next month. ``We will not be averse to being active before the trading deadline,'' Dumars said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press. ``But we're definitely not going to be active just to be active. At this stage, it has to make sense for us going forward. We're not looking for a short-term fix.'' One player could not cure all the Pistons' problems, even if he was a desperately needed point guard or a low-post scorer. ``We are not a finished product,'' Dumars said. ``We have some holes to fill and we will go about doing that.'' Detroit was expected to endure a rebuilding season after dealing Chauncey Billups last season, then losing Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess in free agency during the summer. Few predicted the Pistons would be this bad. Detroit (12-25) has lost 13 of 14 and barely avoided a franchise-record losing streak earlier this week. Adding to the franchise's woes, it usually has thousands of empty seats for home games and those in the house for an uninspired loss last week did as much jeering as cheering. ``I would boo, too, the way we played,'' forward Charlie Villanueva said. ``I don't blame them.''
Not long ago, the Pistons' arena was regularly filled as the team advanced to the conference finals six straight years - the league's longest streak since the Los Angeles Lakers' run in the 1980s - and won the NBA title in 2004. Now, it takes a visit from Kobe Bryant to have a true sellout. The Pistons are announcing an average crowd of 18,523 this season - 3,000 fewer than last season - after boasting a sellout streak over four straight seasons. Motor City fans haven't been this disinterested in their NBA team since the Pistons averaged 14,813 fans during the 2000-01 season, back when Dumars was in his first season in charge after starring for the team in the Bad Boys era.``It's been a major challenge to get people to come out to watch our team in transition in this economy,'' Pistons CEO Tom Wilson said. ``People are looking for bargains, like our four-for-$44 promotion. Even if we get 15,000 warm bodies in the building, they're not paying what they did a couple years ago because the price they're willing to pay is reflective of our team being down.''The Pistons were upbeat during Thursday's practice, two days after winning at Washington and snapping their losing streak at 13 - one away from the franchise record. ``It's amazing what winning can do,'' Villanueva said. ``You could tell by the vibe with everybody that the pressure is off.''
Not quite. The Pistons are so focused on getting better for the future that they might part ways with standouts from the past, 31-year-old Richard Hamilton and 29-year-old Tayshaun Prince, if they can move either or both past-their-prime players. Hamilton insisted he will not follow the rumor mill before the Feb. 18 trade deadline and wonder if the eighth season in Detroit will be his last. ``The question I ask myself is, `Do I think we can win here?' and my answer is, `Yes,''' Hamilton said.``It's just been tough with all of the injuries. Once we get everyone on the floor playing together to find a rhythm, we'll be fine.'' The good news for the Pistons is that there are a lot of bad teams in the East. Detroit was just 4 1/2 games out of the final playoff spot on Thursday and eight of its last nine games this month are at home. ``Absolutely, this is definitely a chance for us to make a push,'' Villanueva said. The affable forward did not take that cue from first-year coach John Kuester. ``I'm just concerned with the next game,'' said Kuester, referring to Friday's home game against New Orleans. Even if Detroit fails to make the playoffs for the first time since 2001, don't expect one of Dumars' changes to involve Kuester after firing Michael Curry following only one season. ``I think John has done a good job, given all the adjustments he's had to make with an unprecedented amount of injuries,'' Dumars said. ``He's incorporated rookies and free agents in what we knew was going to be a transition year. ``We were so easily identifiable for so long, but that only after we built our core up at the beginning of the great run we just finished. When you're building, it's hard to have an identity.''
