First, let’s get this out of the way. Say goodbye to Tommy Amaker after tonight’s game in Ann Arbor. UM is on the verge of yet another NIT berth (whooppeeee) and missing the NCAA for the ninth year in a row. Go Green! Adendum 11:20 p.m. UM wins to keep their slim NCAA hopes alive. MSU played poor, but Drew Neitzel, Raymar Morgan and Luke Walton all were battling the flu, Neitzel the worst. Still think MSU is a tourney lock, but it will be nice for them to get a Big Ten Tournament Win to solidify it.
Last year, both the Red Wings and Pistons were the best teams in their respective leagues in the regular season. And both teams bowed out before reaching the Finals of their sports. Will it happen again?
The Wings
The trade deadline came today, and the Wings made two moves: aquiring Kyle Calder from the Flyers and Todd Bertuzzi from the Panthers. I don’t know anything about Calder, except that he was having a poor season thus far. Bertuzzi is infamously known for his sucker punch a couple years ago that ended Steve Moore’s career. Lately he’s been hurt.
Do these moves help the Wings? They essentially gave up Jason Williams from the everyday lineup for both players, along with some picks. I’ve always thought the Wings lacked toughness in the playoffs, maybe these moves help. Maybe someone can now protect Pavel Datsyuk so he can score in the playoffs. If these two stay healthy, it should make for a great stretch run between the Wings and Predators.
The Pistons
I will admit I didn’t think the Chris Webber signing would work out. He’s old, slow, oft-injured of late. I will now light my words on fire and eat them. They are looking like a better team right now than they did at this time last year. I do not miss Ben Wallace, nor did I worry when he left. As his stats show, he’s past his prime. His numbers in rebounding, blocks and points have all gone down each year for the past 4.
With their best-in-the-league starting 5 and solid bench (I love Jason Maxiell) I think they are clearly the class of the East. Cleveland isn’t there yet, and Lebron seems uninterested in getting them there with the current roster. Washington won’t win a long playoff series because if you stop Agent Zero, you beat them, and he can’t win four games alone.
That leaves the West. Dallas looks stacked, and San Antonio is tough as well. The league top three is probably Dallas, San Antonio and Detroit right now. If Dallas and SA beat the tar out of each other for seven games, that could bode well for Detroit in the Finals.
The verdict
I think the Pistons have a better chance than the Wings of getting to the Finals. If I had to pick right now, I’d say Wings out in conference finals, Pistons lose tough, hard-fought Finals to Dallas.
Your Daily Phil 