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.
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