Former Detroit Pistons forward Antonio McDyess returned to Detroit tonight as a member of the San Antonio Spurs, where the Spurs won 112-92 to hand Detroit their 11th straight loss.  McDyess was with the Pistons for 5 years and he said the Pistons’ current situation “is sad.”  McDyess, along with most, blame it on the November 4, 2008 trade that sent Chauncey Billups to Denver for the past-his-prime, shoot-first Allen Iverson.  With Billups as their team leader the Pistons had great chemistry and won the 2004 NBA Championship.  They also made it six straight Eastern Conference Finals, winning it twice.  For some odd reason, Pistons’ team president Joe Dumars thought that the Pistons needed to rebuild, despite their success, and the Pistons have been going downhill ever since.  They lost all of their chemistry and their winning ways, with McDyess speculating that he and Rasheed Wallace would probably still be Pistons if Billups had never been traded.  Their current 11-game winning streak is the worst since the 1993-94 season.

The Pistons were smart to bring back 35-year old Ben Wallace as he can still rebound and play defense. Wallace has played in 32 games (all starts) for the Pistons this season and he is averaging 29.7 minutes, 4.3 points, 9.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.0 blocked shot per game. Wallace might not help much on offense but he is doing just what the Pistons wanted from him this year so far.

The Pistons gave Charlie Villanueva a nice contract as a free agent over the summer but he has the look of a bust so far. He has played in 31 games (16 starts) for the Pistons this season and he is averaging 27.1 minutes, 13.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Despite being a big guy Villanueva is about as soft as a roll of charmin as he plays with little heart. This was a big mistake giving Villanueva a lot of money as GM Joe Dumars could have got a better player for that kind of cash.