An Open and Honest Plea to Joe Dumars

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The other player visiting Detroit right now is Ben Gordon, the undersized, high-scoring yet turnover-prone, poor defensive effort and terrible dribbling combo guard from Chicago.

Okay Joe, stop it already. You are killing me! 

For the longest time, I felt as though I was the one little Dutch boy with his finger in the damn that is your reputation, beating back the critics with a ferocious fervor. But I can't justify these choices.

At least Villanueva is a big man and that fills a need. But Gordon would be brought in just to deal Rip Hamilton. The two can not co-exist; Gordon is essentially a younger, slightly bigger version of Allen Iverson, and we all know how well that worked out here.

Joe, please, remember what got us to the promised land: tough, strong-willed cast offs that put on a hard hat and "went to work."  They played the best defense in the league, and the fans loved them (and you) for it. 

We love defense, and those that love to play it. Do not bring two guys here that have the warning signs of "does not play defense" tattooed on their foreheads. You are begging for the fans to revolt.

I have stood behind you for this long, Joe, and I have drank the Kool-Aid and defended your methods with every last breath I possess. But please, I beg you, do not sign these players—they will lead to your dismissal. 

If you follow through with these players, you will be fired within two years. I guarantee it.

I know this has been a tough year for you with the deaths of Chuck Daly and Bill Davidson. I know how much you loved those men, and how much they meant to the development of you as a person and a player. 

But this is not the way to honor them.  These players are everything they would hate.

When a friend is in trouble, it is up to those that love him or her to pull them aside and plead with them to think things through. If your friend is a drunk, take the drink from their hand.  If your friend is a gambler, grab the dice.  If your friend is a wife beater, take their hand.

If your friend is the president of the Pistons, grab their cash. I am grabbing your cash right now, Joe. 

Please, think this through.

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