How quickly the mighty have fallen. Like the auto companies, Detroit Pistons basketball has gone from a model of efficiency to a barren wasteland. The exodus of aging stars will help their salary cap, but new additions Ben Gordon & Charlie Villanueva will not add wins.

Remember when you could write-in the Detroit Pistons to the Eastern Conference Finals? That was just a few short years back. The nucleus of Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace, and Antonio McDyees (and one-time All-Star Ben Wallace) made the rough-and-tough Pistons a force in the East. But now, the team has gone in a different direction.

Ben Wallace didn’t feel the love and left for Chicago in 2006. The Pistons held it together as guys like McDyees & Jason Maxiell stepped it up. But desperation (and the beginning of a rebuilding effort) was apparent when team president, Joe Dumars, traded Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson. The move was “supposed” to be for salary cap purposes. Iverson would hang for a year, then be released to free up cap-space for the 2010 bonanza. The unintended effect was that Chauncey was the glue that held the Piston’s ship together. Iverson was an unmitigated disaster and Chauncey spearheaded a revival in Denver.

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Yahoo! Sports is reporting that the Boston Celtics have agreed in principle to a one year contract for Shelden Williams.

I find it interesting that Adrian Wojnarowski decided to say that the Celtics “land” Shelden Williams. Really?!? Land is the word you use? I was thinking something along the lines of “begrudgingly sign” or “throw in the towel and sign” Shelden Williams.

Two years ago the Atlanta Hawks made their second worst draft choice of this decade (not counting the Chris Paul pass-up) by drafting Shelden Williams ahead of Brandon Roy (and Rudy Gay). Shelden played sparingly and was an undersized center and timid power forward. He was shipped to the Sacramento Kings (with some other throw-aways) for Mike Bibby and Atlanta never looked back. Shelden barely cracked a young, injury-riddled rotation in Sac-town, and Bibby went on to lead the Hawks to the 4th seed in the East.

So what is in store for Shelden in Boston? Front row seats to one of the most competitive teams in the NBA. I see him getting 8-10 minutes if the Celtics are able to re-sign Big Baby, and maybe upwards of 18 minutes if the Big Baby goes elsewhere. Shelden can still rebound, but not from the C spot. He needs to play power forward and his offense is very limited.

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With the Miami Heat, LeBron James finally accomplished what he could not with the Cavaliers: beat Boston in a seven game series.

The once-savior of the Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James went turn-coat exiting the Rust Belt for South Beach last summer. Since his arrival and pairing with Superstar Dwyane Wade and (now exposed to be rather pedestrian) Chris Bosh, LeBron James has been under the microscope and expected to deliver a title to Miami. His performance throughout the season suggest and uneasy partnership with Wade, as the two often struggled to closeout games. Interesting to note that even during the playoffs, the worse lineup for the Heat (in plus-minus terms), was when the ‘Big Three’ were on the court together. On Wednesday, the Miami Heat defeated the Boston Celtics to close out the series 4-1. Unlike last year’s meltdown with the Cavaliers, LeBron James led a furious comeback and helped Miami score 18 straight points(10 of which were his) to win the game 97-87 on their home court. Afterwards, it was clear that a weight had been lifted from LeBron. For all the tough talk he had this summer about winning multiple titles, LBJ knew that he would have to defeat Boston if he wanted to win anything.

The ‘Big Three’ of Miami beat the original ‘Big Three’ of Boston in a series where health and in-season trades contributed greatly to the outcome. Danny Ainge, GM of the Celtics, curiously traded staring center Kendrick Perkins and spark-plug guard Nate Robinson for Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Ainge, not wanting to see the current Celtics suffer from the same problem of age that his Celtics did in the late 1980s, made a bold move to get younger and more athletic. Unfortunately, injuries and age at the center position — along with Rondo’s wrist injury — were the ultimate undoing of the Celts. Would they have won with Kendrick Perkins? Hard to say. For sure, they would have challenged Dwyane Wade and LeBron Jamees more at the rim. But truth be told, this Celtics team had chances and didn’t close. Blame the Rondo wrist or a few off games from Ray Allen, but this team still had a chance.

LeBron James and company will wait the winner of the Chicago-Atlanta series, in what will prove to be a more athletic encounter. But having already defeated experience, you have to like their chances against youth. For LeBron to truly exercise his demons, he’ll need to win it all. Remember, he’s been to the NBA Finals before, only to get swept. But this year, there will be no LA Lakers.

Rajon Rondo is powering the Boston Celtics again. Held out for 6 games with lingering injuries (hamstring, ankle sprain, plantar fasciitis), Rondo returned on Sunday to help Boston cruise past the Toronto Raptors 93-79 in Canada. Though his performance was anything but stellar (4 points, 8 assists, 5 turnovers in 33 minutes), the calming influence of Rondo makes this Celtics team go.

Another night, another win with Rondo back in the starting lineup. Monday’s victim was the Minnesota Timberwolves. Though a hard fought battle that came down to the wire, the Celtics eeked out a 96-93 victory, despite the monster 12 point, 24 rebound performance from Kevin Love. Rajon Rondo did his playmaking thing with 6 points and 16 assists in nearly 35 minutes of action. Paul Pierce apparently had forgotten that Rondo was back. In the first half, Pierce was passing up shots to try to get other players involved. Doc Rivers had to remind Pierce that Rondo was back.

Paul Pierce and Ray Allen were huge for the Celtics when Rondo was out. Pierce transitioned to playmaker and Ray Allen put more of the offense on his shoulder. Kevin Garnett was a beast, but his injury prompted Rivers to bring back Rondo — ready or not. Rajon Rondo still leads the league in assists and is showing his MVP-type value to Boston. With Rondo (and a healthy Garnett), few teams if any are better than Boston. Sans Rondo, Boston is a team that struggles at times to create a flowing offense. Nate Robinson has done his best, but he is simply not the same point guard as Rajon.

Little Nate Robinson may only stand 5 foot 7 inches, but he saved the city of Boston from a humiliating loss.

Nate Robinson scored 13 points in 8 minutes of the first half as the Boston Celtics eliminated the Orlando Magic in the pivotal game six of the Eastern Conference Finals. The former New York Knickerbocker energized the aging Celtics off the bench, scoring in bunches. The veterans, most notably Paul Pierce, followed suit and bombed the Orlando Magic who failed on their attempt to become the only team in NBA history to win a 7-game series after going down 3-0.

Instant offense is exactly what is expected of Nate Robinson. Like Jamal Crawford in Atlanta or Vinny Johnson of the Pistons years back, Nate is there to do one thing: score. Tonight, on the biggest stage of his career, Nate delivered. The Celtics had all the pressure on them going into Game 6. A comfortable 3-0 series lead had been swept away by aggressive play from the Magic. Dwight Howard looked like a new man and the Celtics were having trouble containing the spritely Jameer Nelson. A loss tonight and all the momentum would be with Orlando, and the deciding game would be on their court.

The Celtics took no chances and came out aggressive. Early foul trouble on Jameer and Dwight, horrific three point shooting, and a renewed commitment to defense by the Celtics gave the Magic very little hope of winning this game. Credit the Celtics for regrouping and delivering a championship-caliber performance, even though Rondo still hasn’t found his groove since Game 3.

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No team in the history of the NBA has ever lost a 7-game series when leading 3-0. But the pressure is on the Boston Celtics to win tonight at home, or risk failing in historic fashion.

Blown out by the Orlando Magic in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday, the Boston Celtics return to Beantown and try to regroup. What was once a laughable series dominated by Boston, Wednesday’s impressive victory by the Orlando Magic has made this series a near coin flip. Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis have yet to earn 10% of their bloated salaries, but the performances of All-Star Dwight Howard and the resurgent Jameer Nelson are driving the Magic back into the form they enjoyed during the regular season.

Dwight Howard was a man among boys in Game 5: hammer dunking, fly-swatting shots, running the break and even hitting a few free throws. Boston lost its best big man, Kendrick Perkins, after two dubious technical fouls in the 2nd quarter. His backup, Big Baby Glen Davis, was leveled by an errant Howard elbow, dropping him like a stone. As Davis stumbled and faltered about the court, suffering the effects of a concussion, he was a the perfect image of the Celtics last two games: unbalanced and unable to execute the most basic of plays.

The good news, if there is any, from yesterday is the Kendrick Perkins had a technical rescinded, so he will be able to match up against Dwight. The key for the Celtics is Rondo. His tentative play has taken them from world beaters to rec center backups. He must improve and energize the Boston crowd. The pressure is squarely on the Celtics tonight in Game 6. Lose and they must travel back to Orlando, where despite losing twice in this series, the Magic are normally very difficult to beat. Add to the Celtics woes that no team has ever lost a 7-game series after leading 3-0 and any Game 7 scenario may be too much.