Locked and Loaded: The Detroit Pistons Hope to Erase Memories of Last Year

It's showtime.

After one painful year of mediocrity, the Pistons are back and better than ever.

Well, maybe.

With the added firepower of Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon, in unison with the ever-so-steadily improving Rodney Stuckey, ferociousness of Will Bynum, and solidity of Rip Hamilton, the Pistons are set to light up the scoreboards on a nightly basis.

The question is: Where's the defense?

The new and "improved" Pistons totally lack the thing that made them champions in 2004. The remedy to the problem is in the form of 34 years of age and experience.

Ben Wallace.

Wait, 34 years? OK, maybe more of a temporary fix. Of course, the addition of Chris Wilcox and fearlessness of Jason Maxiell will ease this problem also.

As of now, it's still a glaring weakness in this otherwise solid roster.

One of the biggest strengths of the "newly refurbished" Pistons is the support they get from their rookies: Austin Daye, Dajuan Summers, and Jonas Jerebko.

Of the three, expect Jerebko to get the most minutes. His energy and willingness to get it done will help spark comebacks and will get the crowd going.

Austin "Taller Tay" Daye is possibly the most unique player on the roster. He is nearly 7'0", but his game resembles that of a guard. He is definately a player to look out for in the future.

Dajuan Summers has not shown much, and is running out of time to prove himself.

This roster has a chance to be something special if everything pieces together well.

As for now, in the words of Coach Kuester...

"It's a work in progress."