After losing three straight years in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals, you hear the same thing over and over about the Pistons: "Time to blow it up."
No, it isn’t. It’s obvious, though, they need major changes.
If the Pistons remain as they are, with Flip Saunders as coach and Rasheed Wallace as the primary inside force, they have little chance of reaching the NBA Finals next season. It’s unlikely they would even get to the Eastern Conference finals again.
However, this is not a team that needs to totally tear down and build from the ground up, especially with the rapid development of a young talent such as guard Rodney Stuckey.
There are mixed reports about Saunders return, but I have trouble believing he will be back. You don’t have a lame duck coach in this situation. Saunders is entering the final year of his contract. The Pistons would either have to extend him or release him, particularly with one of the major issues against Saunders being lack of respect from the players. I doubt they will extend his contract.
Michael Curry is the most likely option if there is a change. Not a lot of "Wow" appeal there. I like Lindsey Hunter as the future Pistons coach, but he has no coaching experience at this stage. Avery Johnson seems less likely because he had many of the same issues - playoff failures - in Dallas as Saunders has had in Detroit.
If the Pistons do retain Saunders, and don’t start quickly, they could release him during the season. But it will be a topic from Day One, casting a cloud over the season. If the Pistons do have a solid regular season, how much confidence should there be in Saunders for the playoffs? His reputation as a very good regular season coach, and mediocre playoff coach, has been earned over an extended period, both in Minnesota and with the Pistons.
Those who have read this blog regularly understand how I have defended Wallace in the past. But it’s time for a change. His body language, in addition to his performance during Game 6 vs. Boston, was deplorable. Put that together with his meltdown during Game 6 in Cleveland during last season’s Eastern Conference finals - and the writing is on the wall.
In the last year of his contract, Wallace should have decent value. But even if Dumars doesn’t get equal value in return, he has to move him. The key will be re-tooling the Pistons inside game so they don’t become even more guard-oriented.

Random Thoughts

- I know his numbers aren’t spectacular, and that he has had his share of disappointing starts, but it seems like Jeremy Bonderman has been the Tigers’ starter coming closest to matching expectations.

- Magglio Ordonez is suddenly second in the American League in batting average and seventh in RBI. Not a bad season. He is still the Tigers’ best hitter as far as I’m concerned, although I do expect Miguel Cabrera to heat up soon.

- It’s quite a homestand the Tigers have coming up this weekend - Cleveland, White Sox, Dodgers. If they don’t get through that homestand in at least respectable shape, this season could be over before it’s over. There’ll be big crowds at Comerica Park, too. And all the attention will be on the Tigers with the Red Wings and Pistons seasons concluded.

The greatest benefactor of the deep playoff runs by the Red Wings and Pistons may be the Tigers.
Their season, which began with such high hopes, is turning into a bitter disappointment.
But it has been moved off center stage. There are some calls to sports talk radio trickling in about the Tigers, and I still get e-mails about them on a consistent basis, most wondering how this could happen.
I think it’s combination of these factors:
- The Tigers have too many of the same type of players - right-handed batters who are hitters first, but lacking on other areas.
- I don’t think they have a bad clubhouse in the sense the players don’t get along, or don’t respect manager Jim Leyland, but it does seem like the Tigers lack urgency, a sign too many of their players are too comfortable with their cushy contract status.
- The starting pitching has been horrible. The Tigers starters needed to live up to the track records they established during their best seasons, not in 2007. It’s been just the opposite, though, and has been compounded by Justin Verlander’s woes.
- The defensive struggles of Carlos Guillen (surprising) and Miguel Cabrera (not surprising) have been costly.
- Gary Sheffield and Kenny Rogers apparently have hit a wall with their careers. Their stats say it all.
I still can’t believe the Tigers are this bad. I have to think they will pull out of this tailspin at some point relatively soon. For their sake, they better hope it’s before all the attention focuses squarely on them again.

Don Cherry was at it again on ESPN Monday night.
Oh, he thinks the Red Wings are going to win the Stanley Cup title, but showed his true feelings when asked about Pavel Datsyuk throwing a couple punches during Game 2.
"He was saying ‘Stop it,’ Cherry said, while impersonating a lisp and flicking his hand forward.
What is wrong with these people? They just don’t get it. The Red Wings are dominating the playoffs. They deserve credit for it, not being mocked .
The Red Wings are a study in brilliant player moves down the line by their front office. It hasn’t just been the European players they have drafted, but also their free agent signings that have panned out.
You’d think the entire team was from European, but it’s not - only about half.
The Red Wings’ best players are from Europe, sure. What’s wrong with that? And the Red Wings aren’t stupid enough to let the Penguins - or any team - goad them into penalties.
Isn’t that the smart, disciplined hockey?
It’s not just Don Cherry, either. A lot of the media covering the Stanley Cup Finals - particularly those from Canada - feel that way. They’re just not as open about it, but talk about it all the time behind the scenes.
Seems like envy to me.

Random Thoughts

- What kind of team scores 19 runs one night, one the next and zero 12 innings the night after that?
A losing one. Enough said.

- I was wondering when Jason Maxiell would emerge in the Boston series. He is too good of a player to be as quiet as he had been on the floor. So what transpired Monday was a great sign for the Pistons.

- If Chris Osgood pitches four shutouts in a row during the Stanley Cup finals, does that make him a certain hall of famer? I do believe it would.

...I was in the hospital for a few days because of an infection in my leg. That is why there have been no posts on this blog recently, nor an audio podcast, nor did I record "The Book and His Boss" video feature with sports editor Jeff Kuehn last week. I am out of the hospital now and appear on my way to recovering fully. While my ailment will prevent me from traveling to Pittsburgh for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals, I will be posting on my blog per usual starting Tuesday and I have resumed writing my column. I will write a column every day until the end of the Red Wings and Pistons playoffs, per usual at this time of the year. You can read my columns at theoaklandpress.com by clicking "sports columns."That is the plan, anyway. Health willing, of course.

Thank you for supporting this blog and The Oakland Press. It is sincerely appreciated.

Pat Caputo

Normally, I’m not a big believer in addition by subtraction. But I do believe it might be time for the Tigers to shake up their house.
First of all, I don’t believe they can go much longer with Gary Sheffield and Kenny Rogers not performing well at all. The Tigers might be wise to bite the bullet - and swallow an enormous amount of money - by releasing both of them.
Sheffield is hitting .189 with two home runs and eight RBI in 106 at bats and contributes little defensively. Rogers has had nine starts with an ERA of nearly seven.
It’s not an easy decision to make. These are great players. Or should we say, "were" great players. It’s obvious father time has caught up to them.
The only time the Tigers seem to have an energy is when they turn to younger players such as Matt Joyce. Or Clete Thomas earlier in the year.
The idea is to win games. To this point of the season, Sheffield and Rogers have only help lose games for the Tigers.

I admit, I wanted to see a Red Wings-Montreal Stanley Cup final above all else.
But now that it appears as if it will be the Red Wings and Pittsburgh, it does seem like the next best thing.
I had somebody ask me the other day if I would trade Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk for Penguins stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
The answer is yes, if for no other reason than Crosby and Malkin are not only incredibly talented, but considerably younger than Datsyuk and Zetterberg.
But entering a seven-game series with so much at stake, Datsyuk and Zetterberg would rate an edge over Crosby and Malkin. They are just about their equal offensively - and are much more proficient at backchecking and penalty killing.

Random thoughts

- I find the trend in the NBA playoffs where the home team always wins to be annoying. I understand the benefits of the home court advantage, but it has gotten to the point of being ridiculous during the conference semifinals.

- Yeah, I can see Chris Osgood going into the Hockey Hall of Fame if the Red Wings win this Stanley Cup title. But only if Mike Vernon goes in first. Wasn’t Vernon a better goalie than Ozzie?

- I know they haven’t been hitting, but the Tigers woes are still related to pitching. It is what gets teams over the hump when they are not hitting. Pitching is baseball’s one constant. Hitting is not. That is why the Cleveland Indians will likely be taking off in the next month or so - because their pitching, especially the starters, is so good.

And so Jim Leyland is standing by his man, pitching coach Chuck Hernandez.
Leyland said all the right things before the Tigers lost - again - Tuesday night in Kansas City.
About how Hernandez was a great pitching coach in 2006 - when the Tigers had the best pitching staff in baseball.
And how he is being perceived as a horrible pitching coach by many fans and pundits these days - because the Tigers have the worst pitching staff in baseball.
It’s about the pitchers, Leyland said. When you have good pitchers, the pitching coach is a genius. When you have struggling pitchers, he is a bum.
I agree that right now the primary objective of many Tiger fans is to find a scapegoat for the club’s horrible play - and Hernandez is a convenient one. And I’m not a believer in scapegoats.
That, however, doesn’t preclude making a change. Leo Mazzone, who coached Atlanta’s brilliant staff for so many years, is available. Erik Bedard also thrived under him in Baltimore. It’s also true the Tigers’ young guns, Jeremy Bonderman and Justin Verlander, have regressed under Hernandez - not made progress.
Mazzone was fired by the Orioles with a year left on his contract and is making $1.5 million - a staggering amount for a pitching coach - for essentially doing nothing. But, honestly, could he help the Tigers? At the very least, that’s a question Leyland and Dave Dombrowski should be asking themselves. And it’s not an unfair one in regard to Chuck Hernandez.

Random Thoughts

- In truth, there weren’t many empty seats at The Palace Tuesday night for Game 5 of the Pistons series with the Magic. It was about equal to the number of the empty seats at Joe Louis Arena for the first two games of the Red Wings’ series with the Stars, which weren’t many. Seldom has so much been made about nothing regarding the Red Wings attendance for the playoffs. The crowds have been terrific. This area has nothing to apologize for - it drew more than 400,000 for Red Wings, Tigers and Magic over an eight-day period ending Sunday. All venues were essentially sold out for each game. People nationally, and in Canada, just love to pound us about everything, especially the economy. Seems like the way the Red Wings and Pistons are playing is poetic justice in that regard. Could it be jealousy?

- This is the best basketball I have seen Richard Hamilton play since 2004. The Pistons needed him to amp it up with Chauncey Billups out of the lineup. The question now is whether he will be able to sustain it when Billups returns.

- Seems like only a matter of time until Cleveland breaks open the American League Central race because the emergence of Cliff Lee has made the Indians’ starting pitching easily the best in the division.

It was a trade for the ages, right? It was the biggest in Tigers history, that’s for sure.
And I will begin this by stating, like virtually all baseball fans in Detroit, I was all for it.
But so far, the Tigers blockbuster trade that was supposed to bring this town a world championship, has only brought a headache for the organization and heartache for its fans.
Not only do the Tigers have a sputtering 16-22 record, which they fully deserve based on the shoddy baseball they have played, but the Marlins have baseball’s best record at 23-14 - 7.5 games better than the Tigers. And the Marlins have compiled this record with a player payroll of roughly less than $115 million than the Tigers.
While Dontrelle Willis is still floundering to find his control on rehab assignment in Triple-A, Andrew Miller is 2-0 with a 1.30 ERA in his past two starts. Miguel Cabrera has slumped as much as he has hit.
Throw in the Edgar Renteria trade with Atlanta and Jair Jurrgens ‘ 4-2, 2.84 record for the Braves, and consider the woes of the Tigers’ starting staff in its totality, you have a recipe for a baseball disaster.
It’s still early is one battle cry for the Tigers. Another is they are still very much alive in the American League Central race. Both true.
But it is also true, at least to this point, the Tigers’ season has been more than a mere disappointment.
It’s been an utter embarrassment.

Random Thoughts

- Mike Ribeiro should have been suspended for his two-handed slash on Chris Osgood near the end of Game 2 of the Western Conference finals. The Stars were trying to "goon it up," but the Red Wings couldn’t afford to put their fighters on the ice because they were protecting a one-goal lead. It put the Wings in a precarious situation and the worst-run league in professional team sports acted predictably with just a slap on the wrist.

- Count me among those who didn’t think Lindsey Hunter had anything left at all in the tank. Count me among those who wrong.

- A factor that could play in the Stars’ favor as the Western Conference finals shift to Dallas are the ice conditions. They weren’t good for the Stars series vs. San Jose. They figure to be at least as bad for this series. It could be factor in slowing down the Red Wings.

There are a number of factors about the Tigers’ struggles that can be explained.
Gary Sheffield, Ivan Rodriguez and Kenny Rogers are older players, and it is entirely possible - perhaps even probable - they have nothing left in the tank.
Dontrelle Willis struggled mightily for the Florida Marlins last season. This is probably a continuation of it, making it the wrong decision to put so much faith in him.
But what is Justin Verlander’s deal? He is healthy, enormously talented and has proven to be competitive in tough situations. Who could have anticipated a 1-6 record with an ERA over six?
Carlos Guillen played first base well for the Tigers in the past. He played third base on a club in Seattle that won 116 games - and played it well. Who could have anticipated his defense would have such a negative bearing on the Tigers?
They need their starting pitchers to come through. They haven’t. The Tigers have a great lineup on paper, but they keep getting shutout.
I’d lambast Dave Dombrowski for his off season moves, and it’s his job to get it right, and apparently he hasn’t. But that would hypocritical because I agreed with them at the time - and strongly.
So did virtually all of the Tigers’ fan base, who couldn’t purchase tickets fast enough despite a flagging economy.
Call me a knucklehead. I probably deserve it for this...but I still think the Tigers are going to win 90 games. There is too much talent there for them not to turn it around at some point.
The question is, though, will it be too late?

Random Thoughts

- To all national media: Niklas Kronwall’s big hit Thursday night was Vladimir Konstantinov-like, not Scott Stevens-like. Get it right. This is the Red Wings you are talking about. Show the proper respect to one of the franchise’s all-time greats.

- Barry Melrose called the Red Wings "a finesse team" again Thursday night. What surprise.

- People who are writing off the Cavaliers are wrong. The Celtics have yet to win a road playoff game. Despite his struggles in the first two games of the series, LeBron James knows what it is like to steal a Game 5 on the road. Remember last year? If the Cavs win Game 3, this series will take on a completely different tone.

I have a theory about Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood. It’s that he’s like the football quarterback, who isn’t expected to make the big play, but complete the routine throws, not fumble the snap and make sure the handoffs are clean. In other words, do not lose the game. But he isn’t necessarily expected to win it.
Just don’t let in soft goals. That’s Ozzie’s job. The Red Wings otherwise - because they are so solid - will take care of business.
But having watched - mesmerized - all of Dallas’ four-overtime victory over San Jose Sunday night deep into Monday morning, I’m not so sure my theory will apply during the Western Conference finals against the Stars.
I have never seen better goaltending - ever. Marty Turco was beyond brilliant. He WON that game, and the series for the Stars. He literally refused to be beaten.
San Jose’s Evgeni Nabokov was nearly as great (how about that glove save on Brad Richards?).
Sixty-one saves. Fifty-three saves. Are you kidding me? And so many of them were testy it was mind boggling.
Ozzie is going to have to be better than good in this series. This is a much different scenario than Colorado’s Jose Theodore, the sieve, presented the previous series.
Throw Turco’s spotty performance against the Red Wings in the past out the window. He seems like a goalie possessed right now.

Random Thoughts

- Look, nobody is willing to defend Carlos Guillen more than I am, but he has been awful defensively at first base and third this season. He is killing the Tigers with his glove. And it’s puzzling because he has played well both at first and third in the past. The Tigers need all the thunder they can get in their lineup. They don’t need Brandon Inge force-fed back to third base. But that may be necessary if Guillen doesn’t pick it up in the field. He has been that bad.

- I’m starting to feel about Zach Miner the same way I did about Jason Grilli. He has an ERA over eight. Haven’t the Tigers seen enough?

- Everybody, it seems, has been clamoring for a Celtics-Pistons Eastern Conference final, but I think the Cavaliers and Pistons would be more interesting. The last couple series between the two teams have been closely contested. The Ben Wallace factor is there. And LeBron James always make things interesting. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if the Cavs knock off the Celtics.