Here's to the Pistons for representing the "weak" Eastern Conference. Yes, I am the genius who picked the Pistons to win the series against the Lakers in 6 games, which I could have been called absolutely crazy for, but they did it in 5. Let's go Pistons. I have up for auction on eBay all of my Nets stuff including my ball signed by everyone but Kidd, my other Nets autographs, and my authentic jerseys. As soon as they sell, I will be able to start buying authentic Pistons jerseys starting with Chauncey Billups. Or not.

I can't figure out why the Pistons were such underdogs though. I mean look at the matchups.

Rip Hamilton vs. Kobe - This is pretty much a draw because we all know Kobe is talented and more of a superstar than Rip by far, but he 1 on 5 style of play will not work against the Detroit Pistons as he winds up settling for crappy shots and becomes less productive than Rip. Besides, that 1 on 5 style of play makes his teammates worse while Rip's penetration and creativity makes his teammates better. Matchup is even or a slight edge to Rip.

Chauncey Billups vs. Gary Payton
The playoffs have already proven that the glove is no longer a threat. There is no need to even analyze this any further than to say Payton is no longer any more valuable than is Brandon Armstrong of the Nets. Edge goes easily to a much improved Chauncey Billups.

Ben Wallace vs. Shaq
Finally, the Lakers have an advantage. Or do they? Shaq is a better post player and more powerful than Ben Wallace, no duh. Only problem is the other Wallace. Rasheed will be there to double-team Shaq because he won't be guarding anyone. He will be assigned to Karl Malone, so he won't be guarding anyone (that takes care of that matchup). Since Malone is worthless, Shaq is forced to match up against both Wallaces. Even Shaq isn't an advantage for the Lakers. Edge goes to the Wallace duo.

All thats left after these guys for LA is Derek Fisher (if he decides to show up), and then of course the superstars found in Karim Rush and Luke Walton. Unfortunately for them, the Pistons still have Tayshaun Prince and Corliss Williamson.

Larry Brown vs. Phil Jackson
Again, this is a no-brainer. Larry Brown, although he has never won a championship, has never had a team worthy of competing. His sixers did go to the Finals to lose to the Lakers back in 2001, but that team only made it there because of him. The team was barely a playoff team, but Larry Brown can and will always win a title if given a team jus capable of reaching the playoffs. Phil on the other hand is a joke. The man has 9 of the last 13 championships. Unbelievable, I'll admit, but they are all garbage. He was supervisor of the Bulls that won those 6 championships in the 90s. Jordan was the coach, Phil just watched and nodded.

Well it's over now. The Pistons are the 2004 World Champions. They only play nationally with the exception of playing the Raptors, yet it is a "world" championship nonetheless but that's a whole different matter that can be discussed later. I just don't understand why these guys haven't been given any respect against the Lakers. Even still, I hear people saying the Lakers didnt show up for this series or they played so much worse than usual. This is frickin stupid. The Lakers showed up. The Lakers played just as well as they did throughout the playoffs before the Finals. The Pistons are just better and the Eastern Conference is not nearly as weak as critics say. The whole weaker Eastern conference is such bullshit and I'll argue that point til the death.

Yes, the teams in the West are generally more exciting, but only because they all fail to play decent defense, allowing a large amount of points. Everyone laughs at the Eastern Conference games when each team finishes with scores in the seventies or even sixties. Now that the Pistons meet up with the Lakers, look who is scoring only in the seventies and eighties. The Pistons had no problem approaching the century mark in their points totals. The teams are built differently in the East. They are built on defense. Doesnt that phrase go "Defense wins championships?" The Pistons are just the first team to prove it, and for that, I won't trade in my Nets stuff, but you just might see me sport a new authentic jersey this year from the Motor City rather than the swamps. Just maybe.

Anyway, I just don't understand why no one was picking the Pistons. I could see the Lakers getting more picks just because of their recent dominance in winning championships, but it should be obvious those days are over. Oh well.

This is going to be a very interesting off-season for the Nets. They had to leave Kerry Kittles unprotected for the expansion draft so he may wind up in Charlotte. Bobcat officials claim they are not interested in veteran players with heavy contracts, which would rule out Kerry Kittles, but I still wouldnt be surprised to see them take him. He is in his last year of his contract so they'll only have to pay for him for this one year, and he is very tradeable so they could sign him at least just to trade him away for someone else. Who knows.

All I know is Kenyon will be resigned because now that his buddy Jay-Z is a part owner, he will get the contract he wants. Kidd is a big question mark because he is probably going to have to undergo the same surgery that ruined Allan Houston last season and I am calling right now, write this down, that Alonzo will be back playing in a Nets uniform in October. He also was left unprotected but the Bobcats would not pick him up because of his contract, his age, and probability he won't even play again. So he will be left in the Nets' lap to be forced to pay him for this season and Zo will not just sit around for another season. He will play, believe me, he will play.

As for Kittles again, if he is not picked up in the expansion draft, the Nets will probably trade him because they have already called a few teams trying to set up a trade. They called up the Sonics to try and make a deal that would bring Ray Allen to the Garden State (just because they know Cristi would enjoy that) and they've also tried to make deals for Shareef Abdur-Rahim among many others. I don't know how they are going to do it, but they need a shooter and a quality backup point guard or the 2005 Nets will be no better than a 5 seed in the playoffs before being kicked out early.