They gave up 70 points in the paint in an opening night home loss to Milwaukee.

They culminated a Western trip with a 32-point L at Golden State.

They're 26th in the league in offense with 93.7 points per game.

And they're 13th in the L in defense, allowing 96.4 ppg, behind defensive stalwarts such as Atlanta and New Orleans/Oklahoma.

No, I am not talking about some middle of the road team like Orlando or Denver. These are the Detroit Pistons. This is the team that has gone to the last four Eastern Conference Finals. This is the same squad that has been in two of the last three NBA Finals, winning the chip in 2004.

I'll admit: I thought getting rid of Larry Brown and Ben Wallace leaving would be beneficial to this group. But I'm not so sure now.

With both Brown and Wallace, Detroit had an identity. The Pistons were thought of as the roughest, toughest "team" in the League. They "played the right way" as Brown, the traveling man, used to say. Detroit was able to grind out games and get key defensive stops whenever they needed them.

Then something happened.

They won the title. Detroit toppled the heavily-favored Lakers in five games to bring a third championship to Motown-the first in 13 years. The Pistons were able to play the "no respect" card throughout the playoffs. And the chip on their shoulder wasn't heavy enough to deter them from the ultimate goal.

Goin' to work continued to play the no respect card even after they won the title. They felt that they weren't getting respect nationally, what with only one all-star (Wallace) making the 2005 squad. Detroit was nine minutes away from back-to-back titles.

Then something happened.

The Pistons finally got their respect. They earned it, too, going 35-5 to start the 2005-06 season. Four of their five starters flew to H-Town for the '06 mid-season classic, even putting their stamp on a 122-120 East win. But that respect brought about a certain arrogance that wasn't there before.

Rasheed "T" Wallace and crew continuously b&tch#d and moaned about foul calls. Arms flailed and groans were heard after every whistle. The defense went down a  few notches-which I refuse to put on new coach Flip Saunders. They struggled to outlast a young, non-playoff tested Cleveland team in the East semis. Then Miami ran roughshod over them in the conference finals.

The bad vibes continued as Wallace was wooed away by the Windy City Bulls.

$60 million over four years. Yea, Detroit offered $48 mil; and, yea, Big Ben was the King of Motown. But, you work hard early to get paid later on. And that's what Wallace did. As Mike Epps says, "Get ya money, mane." That's what Wallace did.

Pistons point man and Finals MVP Chauncey Billups appears to be on his way to doing the same thing. Billups is reportedly being courted by the Bucks and his hometown Nuggets. But he and his mates are playing far from wanting to get paid.

Detroit went 1-3 on its recent Western swing. The only close game was a two-point loss at Utah. They lost in Arco by 15 and 111-79 to the Warriors. The team that played 81 of 82 games last season with the same starting line-up has already played a game without two-guard Rip Hamilton (22 ppg) who is nursing an elbow injury.

Things are bad right now in Detroit.

If the playoffs started today, The Pistons would be on the outside looking in. People are even beginning to call them Etroit, as in "no D." But things could be on the upswing. Eight of Detroit's next 11 games are against 2006 lottery teams, with the remaining being against Miami and two with Washington.

The 3-4 Pistons could be 12-5 before the first real snowfall. But judging by body language and play on the court, they're more inclined to finish the swing at 10-7 or 9-8. I figured they wouldn't be able to duplicate their 64-win total from a season ago, but, damn, I didn't see this happening.

It's still early, but maybe Chauncey and his mates need to put an APB out on those chips.

Disclaimer: I graduated from Michigan State. You know, the first power conference school to fire its head coach this season. So I could give 28 @&*!# about Michigan or Ohio State. However, I do realize the ginormousness of their impending battle on Nov. 18, so I took the liberty of sending an e-mail to both head coaches before their games this week against Northwestern (OSU) and Indiana (UM).

To: Lcarr@umich.edu, Jtressel@osu.edu

From: Jason Davis

Subject: Don't screw up

I've never been a fan of the Boston Celtics. Lets get that out of the way right now.

But I am a fan and avid studier of basketball history, so I understand how important this storied franchise is to the game I love.

That's why I can't stand to see the organization with the most championships in league history-16-mired in the sorry state it's currently in.

Yes, I realize Boston won a division title in a (bad) Atlantic Division in 2004-05. But before that, the Celtics hadn't won a division crown for 13 years. Boston hasn't been to the Finals in a score. And they haven't won a title in 21 years.

It could be a little early to be saying this, but Red Auerbach has to be spinning in his grave. A week into the season, and a little more than week after his fatal heart attack, Red's Celtics are 0-3 and allowing 105.3 ppg-good for 25th in a 30-team league. Swingmen Paul Pierce and Wally Szsklsdklfhsiak average a combined 50 points a night, while the other 10 guys who suit up score 47.3 ppg. Pierce, a small forward, is currently second in the League with 13 boards a night, while the C's two big men-Kedrick Perkins and Michael "I can't BE-LIEVE I was the first overall pick" Olowokandi-combine for 7.2 rpg to go along with their robust 3 ppg.

I like the youth movement Boston has implemented with guards Sebastian Telfair, Rajon Rondo and Tony Allen and forwards Perkins, Gerald Green and Al Jefferson. But how is this fair to Pierce-a top-five guard-who goes out and goes hard each and every night?

Yes, it's early, but when you combine that youth movement with one of the worst in-game coaches in the League and a seemingly clueless GM, Doc Rivers and Danny Ainges, respectively, you get the ugly situation the Celtics have had since Reggie Lewis passed away.

Who knows what would have happened had those ping-pong balls fallen in Boston's favor in '97. Tim Duncan could be donning a green and white 21 jersey instead of his silver and black. Boston had two lottery picks that year and used them on Chauncey Billups and Ron Mercer. Billups lasted in Beantown for half a season, while Mercer played two under his coach at Kentucky-Rick Pitino. That draft is admittedly one of the thinnest in history, but, if they had it to do over again, I'm guessing Boston brass would have selected Tracy McGrady and, I don't know, Brevin Knight?

Almost 10 years later, all the Celtics have to show is a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2002.

I don't claim to know everything about basketball, but Ainge needs to do one of two things: trade Pierce and Sczerbiak for more young guys or picks and go full on with the youth push, or trade some of those young horses for gritty vets-a la Pat Riley in Miami-and get his team back to the playoffs.

No, Ainge wouldn't be able to bring a huge name on board since his young guys are still on their rookie deals. The money wouldn't match up. But I'm guessing Donald Sterling would at least listen to a Pierce to the L.A. Clippers for Shaun Livingston and Corey Maggette deal. Or to Denver for J.R. Smith and Eduardo Najera.

I'm hoping something gets done before the Atlantic Division becomes home to two of the worst-run franchises in the League.

And New Jersey, Toronto or Philly isn't the other one.

Good job, Zeke!!

Stats can be very misleading sometimes, so I'm just gonna hit you with some quicks thoughts from what I saw, not what I read in a box score, from the first big night of the 2006-07 NBA season

-Chris Paul wil be the best point guard in the League by season's end

-Dwight Howard is a younger, meaner David Robinson

-I hope Kobe's paying attention to what "the others" are doing

-It was good to see Grant Hill actually look healthy against the Bulls

-Sam Cassell looks comfortable coming off the bench for the first time in almost a decade

-Rudy Gay is The Truth

-So is Brandon Roy

-Al Harrington and his mohawk did nothing to warrant him getting paid over the summer

-Washington should have beaten Cleveland

-Gilbert Arenas won't shoot 2-12 for the rest of his career

-For Flip Saunders' and Joe Dumars' sake, I hope the loss to the Bucks was an aberration

-Don't get it messed up, the Knicks/Grizzlies triple-OT game was not a good contest. Those are two bad teams

-Michael Redd sure can shoot

-Damn, I missed basketball

WOW! That's all I can say after those two games last night.

The Bulls beat the Heat, 108-66, in the worst loss every for a defending champion. Almost made the ring ceremony a moot point, huh?

I had no idea Chicago would come out like that. Hinrich showed how much playing with the best in the League at the World Championships improved his game. He won't shoot like that all season, but his 26-point performance gets him off to a nice start. The Bulls ran and played with energy for a full 48 and made Miami look, well, old. Dwyane Wade, the youngest guy in the Heat rotation, was the only Miami player who looked like he wanted to be out there. Shaq looked awful in his 24 minutes of action. You'd think that, after an entire summer off, he would have come out with some zeal. Gary Payton looked slow and was killed repeated by Hinrich and Chris Duhon-20 points off the bench, inclduing 3-3 from three-point land. Ben Wallace looked solid in his Bulls' debut, pulling down 11 boards and converting his only free throw attempt. Yes, it's only the first game and Miami is supposedly built for the playoffs, but if they can't put in a good effort against a team like Chicago, visions of back-to-back titles will fade quickly.

How about them Lakers!!!

It was announced shortly before tip that Kobe was going to sit out the game and he may miss the first week of action, too. L.A. subsequently came out and gave up 41 to Phoenix in the first quarter. The Lakers gave up just 65 the rest of the way, on their way to a 114-106 win, and got a superb showing from Lamar Odom-34, 13, 6, 3 steals-and a career game from second-year man Andrew Bynum-18, 9. Maurice Evans and Luke Walton chipped in with 17 and 11 points, respectively, in what could prove to be the best win for the Lakers all season. Phoenix didn't look bad, although Amare Stoudemire didn't do much in his 12 minutes of action. Two-time MVP Steve Nash had 15 and 13 dimes and Leandro Barbosa torched L.A. for 30 off the pine. I say this was an important win for the Lakers because performances like that of Odom and Bynum could have finally shown Kobe that he can trust in his teammates to get the job done and help him out. If  he's not too stuborn and pig-headed to see that, the Lake Show could see a lot of air time come the second season.