Rasheed Wallace Thinks This is Still 2004

by Marcel Mutoni

The Detroit Pistons of the recent past are famous for sleep-walking through large patches of the regular seasons (and even Playoff series), only to turn it up various notches when things got really real. Rasheed Wallace, it appears, believes that he’s still playing on one of those squads.

The Detroit Free Press has Wallace’s thoughts on the Pistons’ fate this Spring:

His team may be struggling for their playoff lives, but center Rasheed Wallace thinks the Pistons still will regain their playoff swagger — and have a shot to win the NBA title.

“We’re still trying to win that championship, even though most people don’t think that we can. But we still believe that we can,” Wallace said.

“For the last few (years), everyone said, ‘Oh, oh, Pistons, Pistons, Pistons,’” Wallace said in a mock plaintive tone. “But even then, honestly, for the last few they counted us out. They never said we won’t be there and this and that, but we’ve always been there. So now we definitely have to prove to it, that we will be there.”

Though his statements lack the sexyness of a “Guaran-sheed”, Wallace proves that – at the very least – there’s still some form of faith in that locker room.

And as an eighth seed virtually guaranteed to bow out in the First Round, that’s really all you can ask for.

(Thanks to self-loathing reader TADOne for the heads up.)