Blue Collar Blueprint

Picking a “Podolff” is Tricky Business

On our WB 20 and WDIV telecasts, I get to pop in for 30-40 seconds from time to time during the game. My favorite bit all year took place in the second quarter against the Lakers last night.

Here’s what I said:

“So, who will win the Maurice Podoloff Trophy? That’s the trivia question to throw at your NBA know it all pals. The MVP Award is called the Podoloff Trophy named after the league’s most influential founder.

Kobe is the favorite because it’s really an individual award only based loosely on team accomplishments. Only 3 of last 10 MVPs played for the league champion.

How much better are the Pistons because of Chauncey Billups? How many fewer games would LA win without Kobe? The writers and broadcasters interpret what “Most Valuable” means.

And in its 50 years of existence – No Piston has pocketed a Podoloff.”

C’mon, admit it. You didn’t know what the Maurice Podoloff Award was. Podoloff founded the Basketball Association of America in 1946 and negotiated a merger with the National Basketball League to form the NBA in 1949.  He became the NBA’s first commissioner; negotiated the league’s first TV contract and had the MVP Award named after him.

What nobody has done in the NBA, however, is define what the criteria are for determining who wins the award.

Baseball has brief guidelines, calling it, “An award given to a player in each league by the Baseball Writers Association of America for overall contribution to a team's success.”

The NBA leaves the interpretation up to the voters, a select group of writers and broadcasters.
Kobe’s Lakers are 23-20, a bit above the middle of the pack, while the Pistons are 37-6. So, how much of the Pistons success is attributable to Billups, and how awful would the Lakers be without Kobe? No one can answer those questions, and since there is no formula, picking the Podoloff Award winner can be very curious proposition.

In dominating the Lakers and moving to 37-5, Piston fans had their most visual example of how their team contrasts most teams in the league. Since Rasheed Wallace arrived in February 2004, the Pistons have had the same starting five for 198 regular season and playoff games, while Kobe is the only remaining Laker from the team that lost to the Pistons in the 2004 Finals.

It’s also ironic that the man mainly responsible for shadowing Kobe the last few years is also his mirror opposite. Unlike Kobe, Tayshaun Prince occasionally has to be asked to shoot more and play a bit more selfishly.

That’s exactly what hurts Chauncey’s chances against Kobe. He can take over a game, but will always acquiesce to the hot hand. Flip Saunders likes to compare the unselfishness and teamwork of his Pistons to the Knicks teams Flip loved to watch as a kid -- and Chauncey is the Walt Frazier of this Piston 5. The Knicks won the titles in 1970 and 1973, led by the great point guard, Frazier, who never won an MVP Award. 

It’s easier selecting an NBA Finals MVP because now you’re talking about a seven-game season with two teams that are already Conference champions. The team that wins usually has an obvious MVP and Joe Dumars in 1989 and Billups in 2004 generated no arguments.

Meanwhile, Podoloff died in 1985 at the age of 95, so we can’t ask him how he’d like to define his award.  But as a basketball purist, born in 1890, a few years before James Naismith invented the game, I’d guess he’d always go with the guy who put the team above personal goals.

Judging that way, who’d be your Podoloff for 2006? 

Numbing numbers and possibilities

Although you can’t escape the need for numbers to explain things in sports, leave it to us in Detroit to compare a baseball team and a basketball team. We find ourselves doing that in the wake of the Pistons dramatic overtime victory over Milwaukee.

With pitching as the great equalizer that doesn’t exist in any other sport, the Tigers’ 35-5 to start the 1984 season may never be surpassed in baseball. On the basketball side, the 1972 Lakers started the season 39-3 after winning their 33^rd in a row and finished 69-13. Nobody has ever come close to sniffing numbers like that in baseball.

Take the 35-5 a step farther. Since Rasheed Wallace arrived here almost two years ago, the Pistons are 119-39, a rate of over 60 wins a season.

The 1996 Bulls started 41-3 and wound up 72-10. And like the Lakers, the Bulls also won the NBA Championship. And whenever there is discussion about the best teams of all time, those two are always included.

Were the 17-0 1972 Miami Dolphins really the best football team ever? Probably not, but they have to be included in any discussion along those lines.

For us, 35-5 is a great story in its own right. But for the Piston players and coaches who produced it, it’s only part of a bigger story that hasn’t yet been written. The rest of the story is how this three month blip in history will fit into the legacy of these players and the franchise as a whole. How long will this group stay together? Will Ben Wallace and Chauncey Billups make the long-term commitments that Rip Hamilton, Rasheed and Tayshaun Prince have made?

If they follow through and win this year’s title -- which all teams with stunning starts like these have done -- it’ll give them two titles in three years. Will they win more? Will they do what Jordan’s Bulls did in the 90s? Do they even think about that?

We watch, enjoy and speculate about their greatness and what they’ve done and might yet do. But what are their goals? Are they as committed to each other as we’d hope? Do they talk among themselves about surpassing the “Bad Boys” two titles or about winning seven titles to surpass the Bulls?

I remember Magic Johnson years ago saying, “All I wanted in high school was to get a college scholarship. Then as things happened for me, I set my goals higher and higher.” Magic won an NCAA championship, five NBA titles and an MVP award.

Look at the Pistons that way. Five or six years ago, Tayshaun was in college, Rip was in the doghouse in Washington, Ben was largely unrecognized and Chauncey was just trying to win a starting job and stay in one place.

Now, they’ve all found redemption, great success and a happy home with endless possibilities to achieve long-lasting legacies. It’s been fascinating and thrilling for us to watch this ride – and speculate on what role 35-5 will eventually play in the bigger story – the one that may very well go far beyond this season.

Goin’ Home

Exciting win last night over Houston, wasn’t it?  Tracy McGrady is always a pleasure to watch and for a change lately, Piston fans could remain engaged until the final moments. Blowouts are fine, but late game tension is thrilling.

Meanwhile, I’m excited to do our telecast in Minnesota Tuesday to experience the return of Flip Saunders. The Timberwolves fired him a little less than a year ago, on February 11, 2005.

The Timberwolves stood at 25-26 when Flip’s boss and old University of Minnesota teammate Kevin McHale canned him. This year, under new coach Dwane Casey, the T’Wolves remain a mediocre 19-18.

I asked assistant coach Sidney Lowe, who followed Flip to Detroit, what he thought the reaction would be when Flip is introduced Tuesday, and Sid said, “I’d be surprised if he doesn’t get a standing ovation. People loved him there. Flip’s humble, worked in the community and gave the Timberwolves the best years in franchise history.”

Don Zierden has known Flip for 30 years and has coached with him for 13 years in college, the CBA and Minnesota. Like Lowe, Zierden also came with Flip to Detroit and was reflecting on the wacky world of NBA coaching, where the T’Wolves win 58 games, most in the West, make it to the conference finals, yet they all get fired half a season later.

“I’d be lyin’ if I didn’t admit that we talk about it,” Zierden says smiling. “We are the same coaching staff that we were in Minnesota. Flip is the same coach coaching the Eastern All Stars that he was coaching the Western All Stars two years ago. A lot of times it’s situations and circumstances out of our control. Turned out to be a blessing for us.”

The Pistons have great players and the perfect coach, who allows them creative freedom while maintaining their ultimate respect. Flip manages to be extremely likable and flexible while still maintaining control. If it comes time to pull in the reins on the free-flowing offense, he knows he can do it. The maturity of his squad, along with Flip’s well-deserved respect, has the league desperately groping to crack the Piston’s code.

Back in the day, I really liked the Bad Boys because they dripped with swagger and personality, and had that intimidating toughness that so angered everyone outside of Detroit. They were the ultimate “Us against them team” – loved at home and hated everywhere else.

Contrarily, I really like this Piston team because they are the polar opposite personality – they act like gentlemen – never taunt, preen or put on attitudes and airs. The Bad Boys intimidated with elbows and flagrant fouls and won with consummate skill. Unlike the Bad Boys, these Pistons are soft-spoken, lack show bizz aspirations and are impossible to dislike -- and maybe that’s why they still feel they aren’t taken seriously despite a 33-5 start.

My first pop on Tuesday’s telecast comes right around introductions – right after Minnesota fans will have told Flip how much they miss him. Will he smile? Will he wave? Will he be choked up?

Feeding the Beast

I was talking with a frustrated young broadcaster seated by me at courtside in Atlanta last night and asking my advice. His problem was finding new ways to cover a bad team like the Hawks, which continually lose and fail to generate excitement among local sports fans.

He said, “They’ll blow a fourth quarter lead three games in a row, and I wonder how to tell the same sad story over and over again.”

I told him that the true test of a journalist is to find stories when they aren’t obvious and when the deathly emotion of apathy threatens to destroy a team and its fans. If a player rips a teammate, or complains about a lack of minutes or a coach gets fired, the story almost writes itself. Otherwise, you’re on your own, and you’ve got to be creative.

He listened with curiosity when I told him that the Pistons had generated similar sentiments among their media people – that when you win game after game so easily, as they have done, it’s also a challenge to find new angles to what appears to be the “same old story.”

Today’s local newspapers are a good example. At practice in Atlanta, Krista Latham of the Free Press and A. Sherrod Blakely of M-Live were getting into the “Ben Wallace as free agent” story. Gimme a break. That’s a six-months-down-the-road story, but with no headline making events taking place, that’s the topic they picked. Krista asked Flip Saunders the first Ben related question; Blakely asked a follow up to it, and Voila, another non-story is born.

I’m not knocking the writers. The simple point is that when the status quo is maintained and you have space or airtime to fill, sometimes you have to grope. The media beast needs to be fed every day, and some days there aren’t many scraps sitting around. Try doing talk radio on a slow news day if you want to know what a tough media gig really is.

During the merciless blowout of the Hawks, I also found myself feeling sorry for more than just the men and women who try to cover that team. They’d be down by 30; a Hawk would score, and the PA announcer would try in vain to get the discouraged fans to react as they slowly trudged towards the exits.

I also felt for Dominique Wilkens, Vice President of Basketball, who I interviewed in the second quarter. ’Nique wants to succeed in the Hawks front office but may never even sniff a fraction of the success his old rival Joe Dumars has. His arena is half-filled and his young players don’t play well together.

They say that there is no room for sympathy in sports, and as far as management, players and coaches are concerned, it’s true. Flip Saunders had no qualms running up the score so that he could feel comfortable playing his bench. It’s his job to do that, as it’s also Chauncey Billups job to have no qualms about bombing three-pointers even though the game was already decided. 

The beauty of sports is that it’s a zero-sum game. In other words, for every win, there must be a loss. For every team in first place, there must be one in last. For every player making a roster or being added to a lineup, another must be taken out. It’s the law of the jungle and those in the sports business accept it and live by it. When you start feeling sorry for your opponent, you can get in big trouble.

It’s different for the people who cover teams. I reported on the 16-66 Pistons of 1980. I felt sorry for myself then, as I did the kid in Atlanta last night. But I told him that I also reported on the World Champion Pistons of ’89, ’90 and ’04, and that he should remember the lessons he learned during the tough times. He’ll be a better reporter and a much more appreciative one when the Hawks finally turn it around. 

As I said that, I also felt much more appreciative of my situation as well as yours as Pistons fans. This team has a chance to be one of the greatest “Fives” that ever was. In fact, that’s one thing that Flip said during his comments on Ben. He equated these Pistons to the great Knick "Fives" of the early 70s – with five equal stars in Walt Frazier, Dave DeBusschere, Earl Monroe / Dick Barnett, Willis Reed and Bill Bradley. His point was that Ben appreciates a winning situation and the opportunity to be part of something bigger than yourself, where you can find true fulfillment and can share the experience with people you truly care about.

And, unlike the sad state of affairs in Atlanta, the Piston players can also share it with the rest of us.

Road Warriors

All road trips should be like this: brief, successful and uplifting. The Pistons flew back from San Antonio after two impressive road victories, and if there was anyone remaining who still doubted this team’s championship abilities … then the heck with them, because they know not what they see.

Actually, I would hope that many still aren’t convinced that the Pistons 28-5 record is a true indication of their ability. When people fail to give you your props, you are more likely to take on an “us against the world” mentality, and that can be a good thing in sports.

Rasheed Wallace, after dominating Tim Duncan in a 27 point, 10-rebound performance in the Pistons 15-point rout, said, “We still don’t get the respect we deserve.” Well, that’s okay ‘Sheed. Really, who cares what fans and media think outside of Detroit? What value is it to have sportswriters and fans in San Antonio or Oklahoma City praise you? The most you can expect in life is to give and gain the love and respect of your family – the people who truly know and care about you. And here at home, the Pistons feel all the love anybody would ever want or need from the media, co-workers, friends and thir millions of loyal fans.

One of the reasons the Pistons have been so dominant on the road (14-3) is because they are such a self-respecting, self-motivating band of road warriors. Getting booed as you take the floor in enemy arena is a bonding experience for people who are confident and trusting of each other. That’s why I’d like to see everyone outside of Detroit remain skeptical and continue to question and doubt the Pistons worth -- all the way until the final game of the season – right up to when they hoist another championship trophy.

Back to the road trip. As it was, I enjoyed the Oklahoma City part of the trip the best. Every American sympathizes with the plight of New Orleans, and as they take their first, painful steps to rebuild, the last thing that city needs is to worry about getting its basketball team back. It’s just too bad that all the refugees from New Orleans couldn’t have gotten the same heartwarming welcome the Hornets experienced in Oklahoma City.

After an 18-win season last year, they have already won 15 and the season is barely a third over. The Ford Center, built in hopes of someday attracting an NBA team, got an unexpected break with the Katrina disaster, and Oklahomans have showered the Hornets with love. In return, the city has gotten a much better product than it could have realistically expected.

Rookie Chris Paul returned from ligament damage in his thumb, only to have Ben Wallace reject his shot four times. Piston guards Rip Hamilton and Chauncey Billups ate Paul and Speedy Claxton alive in an awesome display of shooting and floor generalship. The Hornets have a nice young team and a fine coach in Byron Scott, but they’ve got a long trek up the food chain before they can play on a par with the Pistons.

I enjoyed making what I hope was a good point during the game: That it is was ironic to have the top two coach of the year candidates, Flip Saunders and Scott, opposing each other considering that both were fired less than two years ago. Scott had taken the Nets to the Finals two straight years before getting canned with a 22-20 record in 2004. The first time he took them, in 2002, was in just his second year of coaching at any level.

Bill Laimbeer and I were walking to the Hornets locker room because I was going to interview Scott and he was going to do a pre-game piece with Chris Paul. Byron was just arriving for the evening and the two former rivals from the days of the “Bad Boys” and Scott’s “Showtime Lakers” talked warmly for few minutes, and it was something that any fan would have loved to listen in on. No matter how competitive they are and no matter how heated their shared history may be, NBA players have great respect for each other and it’s a pleasure to see it up close.

Working with Bill and George Blaha on the broadcast team has been a unique experience in my 30-plus years as a sportscaster. In an upcoming blog, I’d like to share some of those with you.

The league; the life

Although I'd covered the NBA as a general reporter for decades, this has been my first opportunity to witness life in the NBA somewhat from the inside: To fly on the team plane; ride on the team bus and stay at the team hotel. Just my luck -- I'd have to get hooked up with a bunch of choir boys. I hate to disappoint you or blow your illusion, but I have yet to see a single groupie -- hear of or see any late night carousing -- or witness anything but the basic business of the road: eat, sleep, fly, ride, get ready and play.

Now, that's not to say I don't find that exciting enough. Staying at a Four Seasons is normally way out of my league.

When I wrote "Blue Collar Blueprint" a few years ago, Piston President Tom Wilson explained how the NBA lifestyle evolved. He said that when the Pistons started flying their own plane, the other teams had to follow suit. The NBA teams are all competing for the same players, and "If Detroit gets a plane, then the others are all but obliged to follow along." He also told me, "When Pat Riley was in LA and decided to go from nice hotels on the road to the Ritz and Four Seasons, the rest of the league had no choice but to follow."

We'll fly to Oklahoma City today to play the Hornets tomorrow, and will enjoy a hassle free flight on Roundball One, where the players can stretch their legs, read, relax, play cards and socialize. The plane is divided into three compartments: Coaches up front; players in the middle, with the bulk of the plane's space, and the broadcast crew and team officials sit in the back. The food and drink (no booze!) is plentiful and the time flies along with you. You deplane and walk right into the bus and drive right to the hotel. It's amazingly easy, compared to commercial airflight. The regular media doesn't fly or stay with the team.

I went back and read, "Life on the Run", a great book Hall-of-Famer Bill Bradley wrote in the mid-70s. The Knicks stayed in Holiday Inns and had roomates. Bradley roomed with the late Dave DeBusschere and didn't complain about walking through airports, waiting at gates and grabbing quick meals in snack bars. Back then, they couldn't have imagined how player friendly the NBA lifestyle has become. Travel can be extremely taxing, and the Pistons were the first team to invest in making travel as seamless as possible to decrease the physical and emotional burden for their players.

This team of Pistons actually likes the road because of its unifying elements. When you all get along, the road helps you bond. And when you get along, it's exciting to enter an enemy arena and know that you're role is to spoil the evening for 18,000 people who have paid to see the home team win.  It's trilling to continually see it happen. It's also very cool to see how the Pistons react -- they smile for a minute, get dressed and walk quietly to the bus and drive to the airport.

Just another successful night at the office, with another smooth, difficulty free flight to the next stop.

Did the future just happen?

Perhaps a bit of irony, Piston fans, but the last 4 games may have provided your perfect playoff preview, wrapped in a neat holiday bow.

Let me explain.

If the season ended today, the Eastern conference would have this playoff order:

1. Detroit; 2. Miami; 3. Nets; 4. Cleveland; 5. Milwaukee; 6. Indiana; 7. Philadelphia; 8. Orlando

Starting Christmas Day, the Pistons played San Antonio, followed by Miami, Cleveland and they will play Orlando tonight.

If the playoffs began today, the Pistons would face #8 Orlando in round one; #4 Cleveland in round two, #2 Miami in round three and the Western leading Spurs in the Finals.

Hmmm -- same four teams, all in a row. What did you think?

I think that the Cleveland and Miami series will be brutal battles. Cleveland is fascinating prospect. LeBron James is 21 going on 30, and Larry Hughes, Donyell Marshall, (finally with a good team), and Drew Gooden scare me a little. The Pistons may never shoot that poorly again all year, but Cleveland likes the way they match up with Detroit and certainly isn't intimidated, especially after Saturday's 97-84 pounding.

Many are still doubting the wisdom of Pat Riley's off-season acquisitions of Antoine Walker, Jason Williams and James Posey, but it's given them impressive depth. I like the Pistons starting 5 better than Miami's, but Dwayne Wade and Shaquille O'Neal are both amazing, and what do you think about playoff depth on the bench in numbers 5-8? Its McDyess, Arroyo and Evans for the Pistons vs Walker, Mourning and Payton. Riley played 3 guards much of the night with Payton, Wade and Williams and that forced major minutes out of Arroyo, maybe more than Flip Saunders wanted to give him. Come playoff time, the soon-to-return Lindsey Hunter needs to be in top form again if they go up against the Heat.

The Pistons easily handled the Spurs Christmas day, but everyone realized that it's too early to project that San Antonio will be any less formidible than they were last year, should they make it out the West yet again.

And now that Grant Hill is back, you'll want to look closely at this game tonight also. Grant against the Pistons in the playoffs would be terrific. Orlando could turn out to be the first domino to stand up to the Pistons -- another team that wants to say, "A 24-4 start -- we don't care. We'll take our chances this spring."