Blue Collar Blueprint

A Reminder of What's Basic

Now that we’re into the “second half” of the season, I’d like to point out a few things about how Pistons put the first half behind them.

I particularly liked Chauncey Billups comments after the All Star weekend. He said, “It was beautiful. Non-stop from the time I woke up to the time I lay down.”

Doesn’t sound like much does it? But how many others have said or implied, “It was too busy. I got no rest. The game doesn’t really mean much and I would have liked to be with my wife and kids. But I had to do it.”

Winners find joy in what they do and have and never-ending appreciation for the recognition and gifts they’ve been given. 

Rasheed Wallace said, “We don’t see ourselves as four All-Stars. We see ourselves as one unit – like five fingers on a hand.” The cynic in me at first I thought that the tribute to Tayshaun Prince by writing #22 on their shoes was corny. But when I heard Rasheed say that, I thought the opposite. For the Pistons to triumph in the best league in the world, they must constantly remind themselves of how they have gotten this far. Prince was content to take the time off. But the minute you lose sight of the team concept, you’re done. The shoe tribute was the kind of affirmation people who appreciate each other, make to each other.

I was watching the game against Atlanta, the first they played after the break, and another thought struck me. How come it’s so hard to make the team concept work? From the first day any of us ever played on a team, we were told about teamwork. We were told to pass the ball, find the open man, talk to each, don’t be a hog, cheer for each other, and on and on it goes. Teamwork is as fundamental as putting air in the ball.

The fact is, that as simple and essential that the concept is, it’s still the most difficult thing to achieve and sustain. From the first day that our first coach told us about teamwork, forces began coming into play to break it down. It’s either one or two players being better than the others; selfishness to score points and get ego gratification; or simply not having the collective skills to mesh with each other.

Watch some nine-year-olds play soccer. The lack of teamwork can make you pull your hair out.

I’m looking forward to the upcoming west coast trip that I’ll be taking for our games on WB 20 in Denver and LA on March 1^st and 4^th. It’s a tough stretch and will test the Pistons concentration and endurance. They have been exemplary in remaining even keeled through the epidemic winning as well as the few bumps in the road.

Which brings me to the final comment that I found entertaining and enlightening. When Ben Wallace threw the air ball at the All Star game and Lebron James said, “What’s that?” Ben matter-of-factly answered, “It’s what I do.”

James almost fell over laughing at Ben’s deadpan honesty and relayed it to the guys on the bench. True teamwork takes unwavering honesty. When you are like “five fingers” as Rasheed said, there’s no fooling anybody. We accept the other guy’s faults as well as honoring his strengths. Ben knows there’s no point in hiding the fact that he needs to improve his free throw shooting. But he also knows how much he’s appreciated for the asset of his game that more than makes up for everything else – it’s being the great team player that he is.

A Little Rain Must Fall

It’s so hard to always keep the big picture in mind. That’s why the events of the last few weeks were bound to alarm some Pistons fans.

• The Pistons went 5-4 after a 36-5 first half of the season

• Eastern rivals Miami and New Jersey have beaten them in the last few weeks

• San Antonio is threatening to overtake the Pistons for the best record in the league

We must all remember that there is ebb and flow with all athletic performance and that all things are in flux in big time sports.  The Pistons created such outsized expectations by performing nearly perfectly first half of the season that there had to be a leveling off. By the same token, teams like New Jersey and Miami had under-performed, and were bound to come together at some point.

Remember this time two years ago? The Pistons were 33-21 at the All-Star break and made the trade for Rasheed Wallace before streaking to the finish line with a 20-6 mark. These next few weeks will be very interesting. The Pistons may make a move, as may any of their rivals and send us all into wild frenzies of speculation.

When the Pistons reached 35-5, we made all the obligatory comparisons to the 1984 Detroit Tigers and tried to compare the performances. What we couldn’t compare is what happened after that. The Tigers went just 69-53 the rest of the way, and although they wound up winning comfortably, the Toronto Blue Jays threatened to overcome them several times.

The Pistons may encounter more choppy waters or they may streak ahead again. That’s the beauty of sports. It’s been a fascinating 3 ½ months to this point and we’ve still got over four more months until a new NBA champion is crowned. My guess is that from start to finish, this will be the most continually entertaining and intriguing season in franchise history.

If I could share something with all of you, I’d let you be a fly on the wall at times when the skills of these players may be even more stunning than what we observe in the games themselves. For example, I was standing on the court about two hours before the Pistons played at Indiana on February 4^th. Assistant coach Kevin Wilson was feeding Carlos Arroyo the ball so he could work on shot after shot just inside the three-point line, about a 21 foot shot. With machine like precision and the softest touch, Arroyo calmly sank 18 in a row. It was unbelievable. He barely missed one and then hit another 7 or 8 without a miss.

I’ve watched coach Don Zierden do the same with Darko Milicic at practice and seen Darko hit 15 or 20 in a row. I find the accuracy of these players astonishing in the absence of game time pressure and being defended by another great player. Do you ever wonder why desperation heaves from half-court and beyond as a quarter ends often come so close? It’s because at non-game day practices, they have contests shooting from half-court and actually sink a fair percentage of them.

Assembly Required

It would have been nice to win at Indiana and move to 40-6, but that’s life in the NBA. The Pacers had some injuries but were rested and ready, and the Pistons fell victim to tired legs from playing the night before.

Flip Saunders told me before the game, “The more aggressive team will win.” He was right. Indiana stormed the boards and deserved a victory. That’s why this is a great league. The Pistons are a superior squad, but on a given night, with a rabid crowd behind them, the Pacers were able to beat the best team in the league.

The headline in the Indianapolis Star that morning had a big article on the Pistons. The headline read, “Assembly Required – Pistons build amazing team out of castoffs and spare parts.”  It talked about Joe Dumars vision in piecing together players who had yet to become household names (with the exception of Rasheed Wallace) and enabled them to become stars by playing so beautifully with each other.

Joe, ever the modest one, answered the Indy Star headline by saying, “It would be insincere for me to say that this happened out of some master plan.”

Good for you, Joe. You do have a certain genius about basketball, and a particular gift of perceiving true character in people, but no man could have seen just how remarkable this team would have become, or have been in control of some fortuitous elements that enhanced the process.

We are lucky that Grant Hill wanted to leave. We are thankful that Chris Webber turned down the money. And we are blessed that Matt Geiger nixed the trade for Allen Iverson. But given those unpredictable events, Joe did all the rest on his own. Trading for Rip Hamilton and Rasheed, and drafting Tayshaun Prince were tremendous moves. And his hiring of Rick Carlisle, Larry Brown and Saunders played perfectly into his ever evolving and changing plan.

Just like the Pistons couldn’t control the schedule and arrive in Indiana with enough rest to subdue the energetic Pacers, Joe can’t control every factor in his job. You always have to remember when judging these Pistons:

• All NBA players work hard, have great skill and want to win

• Other team presidents want to build championship teams just as badly.

• Luck – good and bad – will always play a role.

It’s all the more reason to be impressed with what the Pistons have shown us these last three years.

Addressing the Dressing

Although I’m not really a member of the media anymore, I still play that role as the Pistons sideline reporter on our WB 20 and WDIV telecasts. Like most members of the medi, and like all of you out there who love the sport but never played at the top levels of the game, I’m also no expert on basketball X’s and O’s. But we all do the best we can to understand the complexities and intricacies of the NBA game. That’s why I’ve always loved being the conduit for the fans – being able to ask questions of coaches and players to help us all deepen our knowledge and appreciation of this great sport.

While I can’t pretend to be an expert on the game, I can still claim to be an expert on something. And that “something” is how the media functions. Even though I’ve seen it all in 30 years of holding a microphone, I was still struck by an experience I had in the Piston locker room after the win over Minnesota last week.

We were nearing the end of the WB 20 post-game show and our director, Pete Skorich, was asking me in my headset if I’d be able to interview Rip Hamilton before George Blaha and Bill Laimbeer signed off the air. I knew the timimg would be close because Rip was getting dressed, and he prefers to be fully clothed (can you blame him?) before handling the onslaught of questions.

Let’s step back again. I began sportscasting in the mid 70s, and  it wasn’t until 1979 that Melissa Ludtke of Sports Illustrated became the first female reporter to demand equal rights and force her way into the locker room. Back then, players in all sports routinely walked around the locker room naked and would often do interviews as they were dressing. It’s a different world now, and it should be. All the hysterical kicking and screaming about how females would ruin the established workings of locker rooms was grossly exaggerated. After a period of adjustment, there have been virtually no conflicts, and many excellent female writers and broadcasters have worked in our town over the last quarter century.

But it has made a difference, and as Rip meticulously dressed, it all rushed back to me that night. The first thing I thought about was how locker rooms are much more civilized with women present. Yelling, swearing and throwing things have all but been eliminated as protocol is followed, and as Rip dutifully followed protocol, I also started feeling sorry for him.

Let me put you in his shoes. Or, in this case, his towel.

He’s finished with work and he’s tired. He’s just taken a shower and wants to get dressed and see his friends or simply go home. He leaves the shower, dries off, wraps a towel around his waist and enters a room where 15 people are waiting for him in front of his locker. He must work his way through the group, then face his locker and get dressed while people stare at his back. Imagine for yourself what it would be like for you: You get out of the shower and there are 15 relative strangers anxiously watching you put your clothes on.

In my case, I’m watching Rip’s every move: He has to put his pants on without dropping his towel, and that’s a tough move with an embarrassing price to pay if you fumble. While this is going on, I’m trying to relay to Skorich at what state of dress he’s in, so he can tell Bill and George what to do next.

Finally, Rip can turn and finish his final task for the evening. Unfortunately, by then, our show is over. And it’s nobody’s fault. Women have a right to work; Rip has a right to dress at his own pace, and I have a right to stand there and reflect on the whole enterprise.

We all have a role in working in the media or for the Pistons, and the role is to entertain and inform all of you. It just so happens that we’re in a business where the performers are changing clothes all the time, and we have to accept it, just as the athletes have to accept our intrusions. The way to do it properly is to understand why it has to be this way, embrace its uniqueness and not complain about it.

But sometimes, like Wednesday night, I stand there with that microphone in my hand and think, “What a wacky business this really is.”

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.