Luke Waltons Forehead presented by the Sports Dude.

Well, I am back, but I am not happy. I posted over a week ago about my prediction for this Heat series and I called it just like this, 2-2 after four games. I had the win-loss sequence off, but I still got the the 2-2 right. However, I say I am not happy because the way the series has all but turned against the Pistons. All the good feelings I had about this series, all the excitement I felt coming in, it has all been erased by the crap I am seeing on TV in these games. Yes, I know the Pistons won last night, but they are fighting way too hard for these victories. Say what you will about the next thing I am going to type, call me a whiner and a baby if you must, but it is clear to me that if the Pistons are to win this series they are not only going to have to beat the Heat, they are going to have to beat the officials as well. That statement right there is why I am so upset.

Look, I grew up a Pistons fan, always have been and always will be. I started getting into basketball right around when they won there first title. I wasn't old enough then to understand a lot of things, but I am old enough to see a lot now. What I am talking about is the damn phrase that has be coined here in Detroit for years - "The Michael Jordan Rules". Call me a baby, call me a typical whinny Piston fan if you want, but watching the Bulls eliminate the Pistons in the 1991 playoffs and the Bulls run of three straight titles, you get a bad taste in your mouth being a Piston fan. In fact, you get a bad taste in your mouth whenever the word "Jordan" is muttered. Is Dwayne Wade the next Jordan? Who knows, he is a good player though. But I will be damned if the refs aren't trying to anoint him just that, and would you be surprised if the league isn't pushing it? David Stern's last "poster boy", a.k.a. Kobe Bryant, all but tarnished his image last year with the rape trial and all. Innocent or not, whatever your opinion may be, he still did something with that girl and he was no longer "poster boy" material for David Stern and his NBA. In comes conspiracy theory, in comes Dwayne Wade, and I think David Stern is trying to hype "Flash" as the second coming and get him into the NBA Finals as the NBA next heir apparent to the Jordan Throne. Look, maybe it is a stretch, but damn I saw the "Jordan Rules" night in and night out for years. Shit, last night alone I saw it twice for sure with Wade - he all but tackled Lindsey Hunter and it was let go. He got caught in the lane trying some stupid turn around jumper and was caught in the air with nowhere to go. What happens? Bail out foul by the refs, that's what! Shit, in game three Billups gets sandwiched and raped on a lay up attempt by Mourning and Jones, comes up with a bloody nose and a busted lip, and all he gets in return is a technical called on him? How could the Pistons not lose their composure? All you have to do is look at Wade the wrong way and the refs put him on the free throw line! Anytime the Pistons put a run together, anytime the "D" starts to clamp down, the refs use the whistle to slow the Pistons momentum and put the Heat at the line. I'm sorry - 'Sheed fouls out, Ben has five, McDyess has five, the guards all have at least four - can you not see the crap in there? It is a disgrace, that is what it is.

Look at game one - the refs swallowed the whistle and let the players play. They called only what needed to be called and the Pistons won easy. Games 2 & 3 the Pistons lead in both games with minutes left and what happens? The Heat get the calls, the Heat get the free throws and the Pistons get out of their flow. It happened again last night, but this time the Pistons stayed the course and realized that in order to beat the Heat they need to beat the refs as well. I will say it again, call me a baby, but I look at it more like the truth. Oh, and one last thing, there were less fouls called in the Pacer series then this one. You mean to tell me that this Heat series is more physical than the Pacers series? The same Pacers who felt that the Pistons ruined their season? The same Pacers fighting for redemption? Revenge? For Reggie Miller? Those two teams are the scrapiest, best defensive teams in the East and you throw all the other crap on top of it, you mean to tell me the Heat and Pistons is more physical? Hell no, there is no way I am buying that. The point is David Stern is looking for someone to hand the crown to and I think he has found his guy in Wade. Also, I think he still wants the Pistons to "get a little" for the brawl that tarnished his league. What better way then to stick it to them against the Heat? That is all I have to say about that.

As far as the series goes, I really don't know what else to say. I am tired of that thug Alonzo Mourning and the gnarl faces he makes. I am tired of Stan Van Gundy and his voice - have you listened to him talk in a post game press conference? The dude has only one tone to his voice - annoying! I am tired of seeing the best defender in the league, Ben Wallace, all but dejected after games, especially last night after a victory, because he too realizes "What the hell else can I do?". I am just tired of the series, tired of the garbage and sick to my stomach that the Pistons are being forced out of their game because of David Stern and his agenda. I was once confident that the Pistons would win, but now there is too much standing in their way. I hope I am wrong, but what the hell do I know? I am just a whinny Piston fan!

All I can say is, to me the Pistons already won this series - the freaking refs just gave the Heat a couple games for the hell of it! Unfortunately, I think they will give them another two as well! Later - the whinny sports dude.