Rick Carlisle said all the right things at halftime Saturday.
  The Pistons had clearly lost their composure. Cliff Robinson was slapped with a technical foul. Jerry Stackhouse got two and was ejected. Dana Barros and Corliss Williamson were visibly frustrated on the bench.
  The game was lost, but Carlisle pulled the players together and they got through it without anything more embarrassing than the final score (117-89).
  He also said the right things afterward, making it clear that the Pistons' play and effort had degenerated to unacceptable levels during the course of an 0-5 West Coast swing.
  "There are a lot of excuses we could make," he said. "But this was an effort that is beneath the dignity of what this team has been about."
  Those are strong words -- words that should and will sting the Pistons.
  Effort and competitiveness are the lifeblood of this Pistons team. It's what these guys -- Stackhouse, Robinson, Ben Wallace, Williamson, etc. -- pride themselves on.
  No doubt that when practice resumes on Christmas night, Carlisle and his staff will have the team on lockdown, looking to reinstill the toughness and controlled aggression it played with in November.