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There's no shame in the Raptors losing 100-93 to the Pistons — even at home. I picked Detroit to win the East this season and they're a formidable foe even without Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess or Allen Iverson. The Pistons' power comes from their depth of talent — a few of their bench players could start on other NBA teams.
Having said that, the Raptors could have won this game. They're going to lose more than a few games they have a chance of winning if they continue to treat Jermaine O'Neal like the secondary offensive option after Chris Bosh. Frankly, O'Neal shouldn't be an offensive option at all. As I pointed out before J.O. had even played a minute as a Raptor, he's not an efficient offensive player in spite of the production he put up in the past. He forces plays on the offensive end, he's converted less than 44 percent of his scoring attempts in the last two seasons, and he has averaged at least 2.5 turnovers per game in each of the last four seasons.
This isn't a matter of O'Neal getting his groove back after a series of injury-riddled seasons or blending in with his new teammates. He's simply not quick enough nor does he have the coordination to be the type of offensive force that deserves the number of touches he's been getting this season. I know people like to say that diligence on the defensive end (and O'Neal is unquestionably the best defensive post player in franchise history) should be rewarded with scoring opportunities on the other end. I'd like to think that the 20-plus million dollars he's getting paid this season are a sufficient reward for his defensive effort.
Reputation goes a long way in this league and it could be that Jermaine's teammates and coaches still view him as an elite player on both ends of the court. Do they think he's just rusty and will play himself into a scoring machine as the season goes on? That's not going to happen and every time he forces a shot instead of passing to far more offensively adept teammates like Bosh, Jose Calderon and Anthony Parker, he's hurting the team. Consider this: Calderon scored 24 points on 12 field goal attempts tonight while O'Neal scored eight points on 10 field goal attempts. I think we can all agree that Jose could stand to be a little more selfish with the rock.
Anyway, I want to return to my original point that it's no tragedy to lose to a team as talented as the Detroit Pistons. As far as I'm concerned, the real tragedy was that Allen Iverson didn't get to make his Pistons debut at the Air Canada Centre — I was really looking forward to that, regardless of who won. 
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