FanHouse Bengordon

Even though Ben Gordon has played a handful of preseason games in front of lackluster crowds at the Palace and one regular season game on the road wearing Pistons red, white and blue, it wasn't until his name was announced to a sold-out crowd at Detroit's home opener Friday night that he was officially welcomed to the team by the fans.

And as fate would have it, Gordon's introduction came with all the fanfare and pyrotechnics befitting the arrival of a budding star, as he was introduced along with the rest of the starters, filling in for the injured Rip Hamilton. It's a nice start for his Pistons career -- and should provide a fitting conclusion for a documentary seven months in the making.

In the tradition of Kobe Bryant's Doin' Work and LeBron James' More Than a Game, Gordon is the subject of a forthcoming documentary, A Scorer's Aura, which will tell the story of his final months as a Chicago Bull up until his first home game as a Detroit Piston, offering fans an insider's view of what it's like to be a coveted NBA free agent signing with a new team for the first time in his career.

FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.

Everything that could go wrong for the Pistons did last year, from front-office blunders (the Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson trade), indefensible coaching decisions (three guards and Tayshaun Prince as a power forward?) to a rash of injuries (only two starters played more than 67 games).

We could rehash the depressing nitty-gritty details, but why bother? It's a new season, and this year's squad looks very little like the one swept out of the playoffs in front of a turncoat Palace crowd.

Instead, let's focus on the changes, which should destroy your outdated notions of what Dee-troit Basket-ball is all about. First and foremost, the Pistons went from being one of the oldest teams in the league to one of the youngest -- and not just because four rookies will make the roster.

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On this episode of the Young And The Cap Flexible...

In our last episode, we clued you into a potential deal that would send Carlos Boozer to Chicago, Kirk Hinrich to Portland, and Tyrus Thomas to Utah, among other moving pieces. The deal was refuted by several sources, but ESPN's sticking to their guns that the deal is on the table, but has hit a snag.

That snag? The Blazers insistence on keeping a phenomenal young player so that they can ... not play him?

According to Stein and Ford (the newest cast members of Dragnet), the snag is Jerryd Bayless.

You're not really tired of all the offseason rumors, near-deals, unnamed sources, and "whispers." (Who whispers in these conversations, anyway? Couldn't you just make the call on your way home in the car? Does anyone think Pritchard has his employees' cars bugged?) You're loving all of these deals that don't happen, the signings that never arrive, and all the inside information. And it's a good thing, too. Because there's more. Lots more. Like this!

ESPN's got the scoop on a rumored deal that either makes a ton of sense or none at all, depending on your point of view. Long story short?

Carlos Boozer to Chicago, Kirk Hinrich to Portland, and Tyrus Thomas to Utah. Ta-da! So how real is this thing? As usual, that depends on who you talk to.

The Pistons have been tied to Bulls gunner Ben Gordon for ages, it seems, with pundits constantly bickering about how little or much sense a pairing made. Detroit, after all, traded All-World champ Chauncey Billups precisely to free up time for buckin' Rodney Stuckey while also inking former All-Star Rip Hamilton to an extension.

The assumed pursuit of Charlie Villanueva -- now confirmed by Yahoo!'s Adrian Wojnarowski -- makes more immediate sense. Rasheed Wallace is gone, Amir Johnson will vie for Villanueva's old job in Milwaukee, Antonio McDyess can probably find greener pastures.

But regardless of how it looks now, these are two pursuits that make bundles of sense together.

One of the most exciting series in playoff history ended with mostly a whimper on Saturday. There were no last-second shots, no game-saving blocks, and no overtimes. And there are some people in the league office who are likely breathing a huge sigh of relief because of it.

Game 7 between the Celtics and the Bulls was tense throughout, but the game was decided long before its final possession. Which is excellent news for those who aren't into controversy, since you can bet there would have been truckloads of it after a point was added by the officials to Chicago's total with just under six minutes to play in the fourth quarter.

BOSTON (AP) -- After a record-setting seven overtimes in the first six games, the Celtics made an early night of it with a dominating stretch in the second.

That's second quarter, not second OT.

Ray Allen followed his 51-point Game 6 performance with 23 on Saturday night, Paul Pierce added 20 and Boston spurted away from Chicago just before the half to finish the Bulls off 109-99 -- a rare regulation victory in what might have been be the best first-round playoff series in NBA history.

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CHICAGO -- It was a primal scream, delivered with all the rock-star force and decibels that Joakim Noah could muster in a half-raucous, half-exhausted arena. "AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" he yelled, or something like that. After another three hours and 56 minutes of psychoball, part of an epic series with four overtime games, seven overtime periods, 65 ties, 105 lead changes, 16 stitches, a claw to the face and a slammed body into an NBA Cares advertisement, what else would The Greatest First-Round Series Ever do but produce a Game 7?

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CHICAGO -- To all the prejudices and biases that complicate our tangled world, today we add "oafism." Rajon Rondo, as you probably know, all but defaced Brad Miller in the final frenetic seconds of Game 5 in the Best NBA First-Round Series Ever Played. Rondo leaped, popped him in the mouth, drew blood when Miller's tooth cut his lip, forced him to get a stitch job and left him so woozy that his eyeballs were peeking out of his eardrums.

It took a few extra minutes to pull it off, but the Celtics are once again in the driver's seat, defeating the Bulls 106-104 in overtime to take a 3-2 lead in their first-round matchup with Chicago. If you're surprised this game went down to the wire, well, how's that rock you've been hiding under? Four of the five games have been decided by three points or fewer, and three have gone longer than 48 minutes.

Rajon Rondo was once again phenomenal, coming just two boards shy of a triple-double (he finished with 28 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds) but it was Paul Pierce who put this game on ice for the Celtics, scoring 14 of his 26 points after the third quarter, including Boston's final six points in overtime.

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