Blue Collar Blueprint

2006 “A Wasted Season?” Hardly!

One of the first great athletes I befriended in Detroit was Hall of Fame Lion cornerback Lem Barney. On his first series as a rookie in the NFL, Lem intercepted a Bart Starr pass on the Green Bay 20 and raced into the end zone for a touchdown, something many players don’t do in an entire career.

As Barney flipped the ball to the referee he thought to himself, “Man, this is gonna be easy!” It didn’t take him much longer to realize the truth about life in pro sports: It’s never easy for long, and as soon as it seems easy and you let your guard down, you’re done. It’s exactly that absence of certainty in pro sports that makes them so immensely popular.

After losing Game Six in Miami, Ben Wallace said, “This was a wasted season.” That’s how champions should feel. Ben didn’t want the public thinking he was satisfied with finishing second of the 15 teams in the east. He knows that once his team settles for second, it’ll never win a championship. But the season wasn’t a waste for you, was it? Didn’t 22,000 of you every night at the Palace and millions more watching on television, not love this season to death? Wasn’t starting 37-5 and dreaming of 70 wins and another championship a lot of fun?

The Pistons were perfectly prepared in 2006. They had an established veteran lineup that meshed precisely. And their new coach made as seamless a transition as could be hoped for, respecting the winning situation he inherited, energizing the offense and empowering his all star-laden lineup to contribute in decision making.

Fans tend to only see things from the perspective of their team. They tend to overlook that there is a fine line between winning and losing at this elite level, and others want it as badly or more. The Pistons encountered the same thing that took down San Antonio. Other teams have you in their sights and want what you’ve achieved as badly as you wanted it before you got it.

In the Pistons case, Miami had their hearts cut out when the Pistons beat them in games six and seven last spring. Pat Riley, one of the greatest coaches in history, returned to the bench and brought in four proven players to mesh with his two superstars. He also motivated Shaquille O’Neal to lose 25 pounds and nursed him to health the first half of the season. The Heat had just one mission – dethrone and avenge the Pistons, and their established stars and the new players all bought into it – willing to sacrifice in any way they were asked in order to achieve the greater goal.

Piercing the aura of invincibility

I’ve always believed that nothing of value ever does or ever should come easily, and as the Pistons climb another mountain this year, we tend to forget how difficult things were in the past.

• In 2003, they were down 3-1 to Orlando before fighting their way to the Conference Finals against New Jersey
• In 2004, they were down 3-2 to New Jersey, before fighting their way to the championship
• In 2005, they were down 3-2 to Miami before fighting to a seventh game in the Finals
• In 2006, they were down 3-2 to Cleveland before surviving

And now they’re in up to their necks with Miami. Adversity and long odds are always part of what it takes to win. The players know it, but the rest of us always seem to forget.

Admit it. After two games against Cleveland you thought it was going to be a rout. Admit it again, after Game Five, you went to the dark side, wondering how the Pistons could ever find themselves in such a position of vulnerability.

Flip Saunders has said many times, “After we started 8-0, we’ve been expected to win every game.” He’s right, and when the Pistons don’t win, people start looking under rocks for explanations.

True story: We get back from Cleveland after the Game Three loss to the Cavaliers. I’m walking my dog and the lady next door says, “I heard that the Pistons lost the game on purpose to make the series longer because they want more games and more revenue.”

She was serious, and I understand the fan mentality that never wants to give the other guys the credit. They feel that if their team loses, it’s something they did wrong rather than accepting that sometimes the other guys just play real well. After all, Cleveland won 50 games and may have the best player in the league.

Dead Team Walking

After getting home from Game Two, the 97-91 win over Cleveland that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated, I tuned into the TNT broadcast of the Spurs – Mavericks series. Magic Johnson was a guest analyst and said that the Cavaliers comeback from 22 down to get within five points in the late going would “Give them confidence for Game Three,” and Magic was now willing to concede them one victory in the series.

Kenny Smith disagreed, calling the comeback an illusion that doesn’t fool anybody. In either case, Game Three becomes the Cavaliers World Series and Super Bowl. If they lose again, they’re looking at getting swept. If they win even one game against the Pistons they’ll feel much more strongly that their season was one of great growth.

In much the same way as Michael Jordan 20 years, LeBron James has given his team hope for a bright future. But he faces the same prospect Michael did in trying to overcome the dominant Bad Boys: How do we get past this 800-pound gorilla that looks to be a powerhouse for the next five years? It’s a discouraging thought. The Cavs know that one man can’t beat five, and making it to the second round still represents a major leap for the franchise. Like the Bucks in round one, the Cavaliers know what they’re up against – a team on a mission that will not be yielding ground to any upstarts. Forgive me for not being cold-hearted enough, but I hope the Pistons don’t totally humiliate them.

As the Pistons were on their way to a 30-point lead while clobbering the Cavaliers in Game One, I mentioned to the guys sitting next to me that this was bound to be the biggest blowout in Pistons playoff history. Eddie Rivero, a member of the basketball staff quickly said, “No, the Pistons once led the Bullets by 46.”

“You’re right,” I said. “I remember writing about that in “Blue Collar Blueprint.” On April 26 1987, the first year the old Bad Boys were of true championship caliber, they swept the Washington Bullets in the first round. In Game Two at the Silverdome, they led 73-36 as time was running out in the first half. The Pistons raced up court and with a second left, Isiah Thomas heaved a shot some 50 feet, from beyond mid-court, that swished in putting them ahead 76-36 on their way to a 128-85 victory.

After the game, Bullets coach Kevin Loughery was asked to share what he’d said to his team at the half. His gallows humor answer: “I don’t have a speech for 40 down.” Bullets guard Jeff Malone said of the Pistons that night, “They’re at a level we’re not even close to.”

Exactly a month later, in the Eastern Conference Finals, Isiah threw the worst pass in Pistons history – into Larry Bird’s hands in Boston, and the rest, as they say, is history.

The climax nears

The 122-93 Game Five elimination of Milwaukee was our last TV 20 game of the year.  It’s feels a little strange because our role in the excitement ends just as the playoff energy gets a big boost with round two right around the corner.

Milwaukee wasn’t likely to win the series under any scenario, but it was still the fourth quarter of Game Four that changed the dynamic. Milwaukee had blown out the Pistons in Game Three and had made up a 15-point deficit to tie Game Four at 80-all. The Pistons led, 87-86, with 4:19 left, when Chauncey Billups hit a three-pointer.  Next time down the court the Pistons moved the ball brilliantly and Billups found Rip Hamilton alone in the left corner. Rip was just 2-12 on the night, missing from everywhere. But he drilled the three-pointer to make it 93-86 and they never looked back. Billups went 8-8 from the line in the final minutes and the series was over except for the inevitable Game Five victory.

Before Game Five I asked Tony Delk to assess Billups scintillating performance. “We needed Chauncey to take over the game,” said Delk. “That’s what you expect from your best player.” The Bucks Charlie Bell went a step further. “Chauncey deserved the MVP over Kobe, LeBron and Nash. He’s the leader of the best team in the league.”

As I watched Rip Hamilton pour in 40 points in Game Five, I thought of his 4-14 in the previous game and how great shooters minds work. When they have off-nights they don’t say to themselves, “Uh-oh, I’ve lost my shot.” Instead they think, “I’m a 50% shooter, so keep firing, the makes are coming.” With his 15-23, Rip’s two- night total was 19-37, better than 50%. Obviously, his ankle is also feeling better which is key to their title hopes.

Hamilton has the most effortless form I’ve ever seen up close. He’s so fluid that for the first half second of every shot he takes I think,  “It’s short,” before it floats through the hoop with minimal arc. He’s the Ernie Els of basketball. He’s so smooth that it’s looks like he isn’t putting enough behind it. If Game Five had been a close one, Rip would have broken Dave Bing’s team record of 44 points in a playoff game.

And now the time has come

The regular season is over and on we go to the playoffs. Our final TV 20 games were with the Magic, Knicks and Milwaukee and there were thought provoking elements in each of them.

What got me about Orlando was the change in Darko Milicic. He stopped by the hotel the day of the game to see his old teammates and seemed so utterly happy. It was a stunning change. I rarely saw him smile at all in Detroit. He brooded here, unable to accept his role on a championship caliber team. He’s still a kid, and he needed to earn his playing time. I believe he was treated fairly here, but lacked the maturity to accept the situation.

It was also sad to see Grant Hill hobbling again. The hernia operation he had before the season didn’t hold and it’s been another terribly frustrating season in which he missed 60 more games. He’s had a shocking six operations since leaving Detroit in August 2000 – five on the ankle and then the hernia. He said that more surgery was recommended and he’s had enough. I get the impression that if he can’t rehab it without surgery, he’ll call it quits. After the game, he walked in pain, holding his daughter’s hand, as they headed to his car. He’s only 33 and in the six seasons since he left the Pistons, has played only 135 games.

As Grant, Darko and Carlos Arroyo chatted with Piston players after the game, it struck me what a small world these guys are in. Each NBA game is like reunion. Some of these players have known each other since high school All-American games, or played against each other in college. They are in an elite class, and after attacking one another for 48 minutes on the court; you see afterward how they share such profound professional respect and friendship.

Larry Brown’s absence was powerful when the Knicks came to town. He had it made in Detroit. He could have retired here and won more championships before he did. Instead, he followed his maniacal wanderlust and created an unnecessary professional hell for himself. We’re aware of some of Larry’s oft- discussed demons – like the fact that he can never sit still and is always grasping for something else. I don’t doubt that his flare-up of acid reflux caused him to miss this game. I just wonder if it was the thought of coming back to Detroit that contributed to the bout with acid reflux.

I quoted the age-old adage of the discontented on our broadcast: “Be careful what you wish for – it just might happen.” That’s Larry. He couldn’t maintain the status quo with a great franchise here in Detroit. He felt compelled to go to New York and just recorded the worst season in Knick history – and got a stomachache the size of Manhattan to go along with it.

In Milwaukee, a guy from La Crosse Wisconsin approached me and wanted me to be aware that he’d given Flip Saunders a videodisk that morning. It was footage of Flip’s 1992 La Crosse Catbird celebration video after they won the CBA championship.

Of Stars, Egos and Emotional Ties

It was the summer of 1991 and I was driving around Detroit with Pistons Hall of Famer Bob Lanier. We found ourselves talking about Isiah Thomas who had recently turned 30 and had been NBA Finals MVP the year before. Bob explained that what’s interesting about superstars is how they adjust to the later stages of their careers. In other words, are they willing to become a support player or will they quit once they can no longer play at All-Star level? He suspected that Isiah would arrive at that point in his career in a few years and he wasn’t sure if he would be emotionally willing to become a support player. Bob said he was certain that Michael Jordan wouldn’t (he was right!) and he also doubted Isiah’s willingness to eventually check his ego at the door.

Turns out Isiah was beset by injuries a few years later and retired. It wasn’t until recently that he revealed that he regretted leaving so soon, but it all makes sense in light of Lanier’s insight into the mindset of great athletes.

Compare it, for example, with Antonio McDyess. Antonio was an all star, but not a superstar, and he is thrilled to be able to contribute off the bench. He’s so accepting of his role that he refused a starting assignment recently when Rasheed Wallace forgot to set his clock ahead and showed up late to the Phoenix game.

It all raises an interesting proposition we’ve heard lately. 

Grant Hill is 33, and has managed to play only 135 games in five years in Orlando. This year, a succession of hernia problems will cause him to miss some 60 games. But if his rumored trade here comes off, it could close the book on a Piston parting that pleased no one. He’d be a perfect compliment off the bench and possibly get his championship ring. He could also ensure his Hall of Fame credentials

Hill may be one of the more selfless stars of this generation. His interests in art and charity give him character and depth well beyond the court. I think he’d be able to be a sixth man if it meant winning a championship and helping him soothe the pain and anguish six years of injuries has caused him. I find myself rooting strongly for this story to happen.

Ordinary Moments

We were in Denver in early March. The Pistons were practicing at a field house on the campus of the University of Denver before flying to Seattle. There was a side gym and I was leaning up against the bleachers talking with our TV producer Stan Fracker. At one point, I looked over to the practice session a hundred feet away on the far court and was struck by the classic ordinariness of the scene: Players standing at ease listening to their coaches and then jogging through plays as the coaches positioned them and explained things. I said to Stan, “If a stranger walked in, I could point over there and say, ‘by the way, those guys in the wrinkled practice shorts and randomly colored practice jerseys – see them over there -- that’s the best basketball team in the world.” The guy would have said, “Right, and I’m the pope.”

The point is, that without 20,000 people on hand and the trappings of the world’s great arenas; without the famous and familiar red, white and blue uniforms, this could have been any team from anywhere, USA. The Pistons were simply practicing and refining their craft, implementing the wishes of their coaches, just as they’d been doing since they were little kids. Take away the plush surroundings and the hype and excitement of the “show” –  strip it to its bare basics, and you have a bunch of guys playing ball, just as they’ve done their entire lives.

Where are we and when does the bus leave?

I was lying in bed late Wednesday night making some notes for this blog when I looked up from my pad and did a double take. I had my Toronto hotel room in mind’s eye and it took me a second to remember that I wasn’t there anymore. This was New York and that other room was yesterday.

Life on the road is a world unto itself.

The Pistons do everything in their power to give the players and the rest of us in the traveling crew the best of the best, and that’s why nobody complains. Things run like clockwork and many of the thorny logistics of travel are eliminated for us. But when you arrive in a city a 2 am after a long day and a game that night, it can be disorienting. We all wonder what travel must have been like years ago, when teams flew commercial, stayed in mid-range hotels and had to share rooms.

We took five bus rides in Toronto yesterday. True story. Back and forth to the Air Canada center for practice in the morning. Then it was back to the arena for the game and then back on the bus to go to the airport. We had to stop at US Customs in Buffalo – that blew an hour and a half -- and then after we landed in Jersey, we took the fifth and final bus ride to the hotel in New York City.

It was a nice win over the Raptors to start the road trip. The players were all pleased to see Mike James and congratulate him. James was on the title team in 2004, but like many reserve players, it’s hard to stick with a champion. James finally came into his own this year in Toronto, his 6^th NBA team in five years after kicking around in Europe and the CBA. His is a classic tale of passion and determination. When team after team gave up on him, he never wavered in his self-belief. He’s also better off where he is. Chauncey Billups makes every point guard an automatic second stringer and James wouldn’t have been able to emerge here.

New York is always a fascination and the Pistons loss there was unexpected. Rasheed and Rip got tossed in the third period, letting the emotions of inconsistent officiating get the better of them. Everyone knows how tough it is to officiate an NBA game with all the contact and fast paced action. You get a bad call in the heat of the action and lose your composure.

Flip Saunders told me that Raheed and Rip need to play with a little edge. But you can’t step over that edge. Over 82 games, everything will happen at least once, and on this night, two guys got tossed.

The Knicks were emotional that night. The Larry Brown / Stephon Marbury dispute was spilling over in a very public and ugly way and the Knicks played very hard in an effort to take attention away from it. They wore green uniforms in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day and utilized the motivation of playing the NBA’s best team to their advantage.

The Pistons haven’t played as well as they can for about a month or so, but in a strange way, I think that’s a good thing. Flip keeps saying that the key is to be playing your best after 82 games, and no team can be expected to play like the Pistons did the first half season when they went 36-5. Although they are in a virtual tie now, The Pistons will crank it back up and edge Dallas for the best record. The key is that the Pistons have 11 home games left to the Mavs seven. Can’t wait for them to come here March 28.

We flew to Charlotte Friday night after the Knick loss and beat the Bobcats Saturday night. Again, the Pistons played poorly but still pulled it out in the end to finish the trip 2-1.

David Thompson was at the Bobcats game and that was a trip down memory lane for some of us. In April, 1978, in the last game ever played at Cobo Arena, Thompson scored 73 points before a sparse crowd. He was battling George Gervin for the scoring title and Gervin got 63 in his final game to edge Thompson 27.21 to 27.15 points per game. I was a radio reporter on WJZZ-FM, George Blaha broadcast the game on WPON in Pontiac because WJR carried a Tigers game instead, and our director, Pete Skorich was a ballboy.

Thompson did an interview with me in the 4^th quarter and remembered every detail of the game. He would have been an all-time great but succumbed to cocaine addiction. He’s written a book, “Skywalker” about his life and recovery and is also a motivational speaker.

"Psyched" to be Home

I'm writing this flying back on Roundball One, reflecting on a week-long trip with America's most celebrated sports road show. For reasons I can't explain, time feels so extended on the road. One day feels like three and a week feels like month. Although it's a privilege to travel with the world's best basketball team, we're all ready to get back to our own beds and our families. I can’t even wait to walk the dog again.   

I last wrote to you on Tuesday from Cleveland after the Pistons swept back-to-back games with the Cavaliers. We arrived in Denver later that day and I soon realized that Western Conference teams view the Pistons differently. Whereas Cleveland sees the Pistons as a direct rival and an ongoing roadblock to their success, western opponents look at the Pistons moreso as a celebrated guest. On Wednesday, a columnist in the Denver Post asked fans to give Chauncey Billups a standing ovation that night for all the good deeds the Denver native has performed in his hometown.

Before the game that night, Nuggets coach George Karl said, "They're a basketball team, not an ESPN team," in praise of the Pistons pure and ego less approach to the game.

You just don't feel love for the Pistons like that over in the east.

Friday in Seattle, coach Bob Hill said, "They've gotta be one of the ten best teams ever, don't they?" And in LA on Saturday, the headline in the LA Times read, "Team Come True," lauding the Pistons as a group of oft-traded and released players who found commonality and success in Joe Dumars grand scheme.

A recurring theme in each of these cities was deep concern about how the season would play out for the home team. Cleveland was worried about another free fall that cost them the playoffs on the last day last year.

Denver had come off a humiliating home court blowout loss to Milwaukee. Kenyon Martin said, "If we play like that against the Pistons, we'll lose by 50." The Nuggets then played their best game of the season and held off the Pistons down the stretch. It was a tremendously entertaining game with the Nuggets making nine alley-oop dunks and catching the Pistons surprisingly flat-footed.

Karl is a veteran coach capable of great insight and perspective after his decades in the game. He had said before the game that each NBA team has a particular "psyche" that can rapidly and unpredictably change. His team's "psyche" was that they'd been playing well on the road and stinking it up at home. Sure enough, that all changed over the next three hours as the Nuggets played like killers against the best team in the league just two nights after getting booed off the same court.

Karl's description of his teams "psyche" prompted me to reflect back to Cleveland and realize that the Cavs had been in the throes of an inferiority "psyche."  Were they good enough and tough enough to back up the cocky attitude they showed when they beat the Pistons on New Year's Eve? They didn't stand the test.

Seattle had a different "psyche." They'd just shorn so-called bad apples named Potapenko, Evans and Radmanovic who were considered detrimental to the team esprit de corps, and acquired Chris Wilcox and Earl Watson. Both played well as new arrivals, and along with team leaders Ray Allen and Luke Ridenour, the Sonics put on a spirited performance punctured only by Rip Hamilton's last second winning basket.

Then there was the Lakers "psyche" Saturday night. Earlier in the week, after an ugly loss to the worst in the west Trailblazers, Phil Jackson described his team by saying, "They stink." Smush Parker said, "Our problem is team chemistry and I don't know how to change it." They changed it with an 18-0 run late in the third quarter and into the fourth, as the Lakers beat the now extremely road weary Pistons by 11.

A Double Dose

The road show moves on today, having concluded an immensely entertaining mini-series with Cleveland.

With about nine minutes left Monday night, I interviewed Flip Saunders parents, Kay and Walter at the back of section 101 at Quicken Loans Arena. The score was 68-67 Pistons, and when I made it back to my seat at the scorer's table, Rasheed hit a basket to make it 70-67. When the Pistons got another stop, Chauncey was fouled by Eric Snow as he shot from the 3-point line. It was then that I said to myself the same thing you were thinking as you watched back home: "It's over."

I'm not big on things like, "You could see in he Cavs eyes they knew they couldn't stand up to the Pistons from there on in." We don't ever know what anybody else is really thinking. But when the the Pistons get into crunch time and the same thing happens game in and game out, you figure that the opponent also suspects that the Pistons are about to cook their goose.

Lindsey Hunter made a great hustle play to save a loose ball from Lebron James; Ben slapped one away from Lebron; Rip got open on a few curls and hit three straight hoops, and it was over. With a display of stifling defense, the Pistons held the Cavs to nine points the entire fourth quarter.

Back when the Bad Boys were the scourge of the league, John Salley, a master of sports symbolism, told me that their mind set on the road was, "We're like the Vikings of old. We come to your town and you better be ready. We're there to beat you up, take your fans, take your arena and then cut your heart out before we go."

At this point, it's hard to imagine any sort of praise that hasn't been accorded the Pistons. It's all been said before. But it doesn't mean that their efficiency, consistency and knowledge of how to win is any less impressive every time you see it. Cleveland has a pretty nice team, but sweep of back-to-back games was yet another reminder for the Cavs that they have many miles to travel before they can start getting delusions of grandeur about having any elevated status in the East.

From Rasheed's whack on Ilgauskas moments after the tip on Sunday, to the crushing 20-5 stretch in the fourth quarter Monday, the Pistons got their message across. And Wallace's bad guy role these two games was classic "Sheed." He's the Laimbeer/Mahorn of this group, an enforcing presence for his choir boy teammates. I think it was brilliant that he admitted hitting Ilgauskas on purpose after Ilgauskas had elbowed him. Why be wishy washy? His technical for smiling at Ilgauskas late in Monday's game was also perfect. And I'm sure the old Vikings smiled and sneered at their victims when they sailed off after stealing all their stuff.

After Cleveland beat the Pistons on New Year's Eve and celebrated, the Pistons had another lesson to teach here. It's the old cliche, "Act like you've been there." The Pistons modestly congratulated each other last night and quietly walked off the court after Monday's fourth quarter punishment.

Now we're off to Denver, Seattle and LA where more adventures and more arenas quake in anticipation of basketball's deadliest road show.