I carried the same lack of enthusiasm into this round. Second round, LeBron James, a budding rivalry, and a bunch of fans in ‘Witness’ t-shirts. Yet I was still coasting as a fan. Just like the Pistons were on the court. I didn’t think that the Cavaliers had even half a chance to win this series. Games 1 and 2? The Cavs didn’t even look like they unpacked their gym shoes. The Pistons noticed, the Detroit fans noticed, I know that LeBron James noticed by the look of bewilderment on his face as he sat on the bench during game 2. But most importantly, David Stern noticed. He noticed that King James, the chosen one, only had a few more games left before his face and jersey sales would disappear until October. Stern noticed that the Pistons are actually that good too. That they’d most likely wrap this series up in a nice little four game sweep, causing the NBA to lose out on all those ticket sales and TV revenue. After all, how can you have “Forty Games in Forty Nights” if you don’t actually have forty games?

Now, I’m not going to say there’s a conspiracy against the Pistons or anything. I don’t think that Stern actually wants the Pistons to lose the series (or the championship for that matter). I don’t think he necessarily wants LeBron to win this series either. He just wants as many games played as possible. So he summoned his minions and said “Hey! You know all those tickey-tack fouls that have gone uncalled until this point, the ones that destroy the flow and balance of the game? Call ‘em.” And that was it. His minions knew what to do. They knew. So we watch a Game 3 that looks like NBA 2K6 with all the rules turned off for the home team and turned way up for the visitors.

So, we get a Game 3 loss. No worries. The Pistons are notorious for mailing it in for the third game of the series. But now everyone started saying “Oh, see? LeBron can play and he’s soooo good, the Pistons better watch out.” But guess what? He didn’t play that good. Sure, he played like a star in the NBA should, but 21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists aren’t the kind of numbers that warrant the greatness that the analysts are giving him. He’s no Michael Jordan, he’s no Magic. He’s not even a Kobe Bryant. But whatever, he’s ‘Next’. Fine.

Then we get a Game 4 loss. Hmmpf. Ok, now I see where this is going. “LeBron James is sooooo good. I mean look at him. Look at his greatness!” Yeah, I’m looking. Looking right at his stat line in the box score. Guess what? It’s not even as good as Game 3. 22 points, 8 rebound, 9 assists. Wow, let’s give him the championship right now.

Now it’s Game Five. It’s time for the Pistons to put the kids to bed. It’s time for Stern to just let the game be played the way it should be so that we can see who the real superstars are. We might all be witnesses, but those 12 guys on the Pistons bench are the jury. Now I’m interested.

Jeff Hatline is finally back on the staff as Sports Editor, columnist, and general contributor. After spending a year with the Sherpa in the mountains of Nepal, he’s gained more knowledge than one man could possibly possess and is willing to share it with you. He can be contacted at jhatline@detroitbuzz.com.