“If you look at our team, we’re more like the real. The grind,” said Shooting Guard Hamilton. “When you look at us, our braids, the way we dress, I think that’s the reason why they made a dress code. We made it to the Finals and we were still wearing [authentic] jerseys and everything like that. So I think we represent the real.”
It’s no secret that the Pistons, despite being an NBA contender for the past four seasons, haven’t had the "politically correct" image that the NBA has strived to present itself as. Many people felt that the San Antonio Spurs - the team that the Pistons lost to in the NBA Finals - which features clean-cut international stars like Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, were the league’s preference for the title. Writer Dave Zirin had an apt way of describing the situation in his Edge of Sports column.
“A Pistons win would have been a delicious slap in the face to what was becoming a well-orchestrated Pistons backlash,” Zirin stated. “The Pistons had become a team that people hated, and seemed to enjoy hating, a little too much. The vibe was not dissimilar to how some people talk about the city of Detroit itself: a little too 'street', a little too 'hip hop', a little too 'urban', all of which are code words for a little too Black.”
right In a league that seems to prefer individual feats, such as Lakers’ guard Kobe Bryant's 81 points against the Toronto Raptors, Detroit’s collective grind-it-out style of play doesn’t seem to be the preference of neither the league nor its sponsors.
“We just have guys that just go out there and play as a team and play together,” Pistons power forward Rasheed Wallace said. “A lot of people don’t want to watch that. A lot of people just want to watch one guy score 40 or 50 points against another team. We aint got no poster boys, we just go out there and hoop, [which is the reason why] we’re under the radar.”
That said, the NBA can’t argue against the team’s success. Over the past six years, they have compiled four central division titles, two NBA Finals appearances and one NBA championship win (2004). Their starting five play as a unit, without any traces of ego. They aren’t your usual suspects in terms of NBA stars, but Pistons’ general manager Joe Dumars’ blueprint has lead to the Pistons winning over 300 games (a 56 percent winning percentage) since his arrival in 2000.
“Win, lose or draw, we're going to give it everything we've got every night. That doesn't happen every night in our league, but it's going to happen every night with this team,” Dumars told The Associated Press at the beginning of his tenure with the team. Dumars, who was a member of the Bad Boy Pistons’ championship teams of the late 80s, wanted a team that mirrored that image. So far, this Pistons team has lived up to his lofty expectations.
It wasn’t an easy transition to their success. Ben Wallace, arguably their most popular player, wasn’t even drafted by any team in the league and had to scrape and claw his way on to several rosters before becoming a dominant defensive star in the NBA. Billups was a work in progress due to his initial inabilities to find a niche in the NBA, a search which lasted almost 8 years. Hamilton, now one of the most lethal weapons on the perimeter in the NBA, had his critics pondering about his long-range shooting and suspect defense. Tayshaun Prince, who is presumed to be the Pistons’ most versatile player, was deemed too thin to make it the NBA, as 27 teams passed up on the chance to draft him. Rasheed Wallace, while being one of the league’s most talented "big men," had his share of eye-opening comments as well.
As with any other championship team from a professional sport, when the Pistons won the title in 2004, they were invited to the White House. While this gesture is normally seen as an honor, Rasheed Wallace was nothing short of brutally honest about his opinions of President Bush, which is what most assume lead to the upsetting of NBA commissioner David Stern.
“I don't have shit to say to [Bush]. I didn't vote for him,” Wallace told the media. “It’s just something we have to do."
Even in the pinnacle of winning the NBA championship, everyone looked for reasons - outside of the obvious, which includes having an outstanding roster - to explain this achievement. “The Lakers were injured,” or “they couldn’t have won it without Larry Brown’s coaching,” were the common explanations for their win.
“Coach Brown would be the first person to admit that he needed us as much as we needed him to win his first championship,” said small forward Prince.
But one of the secrets to the Detroit’s success is its harmony off the court, where the squad is one giant family. That bond provides a sanctuary that shields the Pistons from the harsh opinions being thrown at them. Every member of the team attributes their selfless compatibility to their relationships off the court.
“I think it’s very important to have a rapport with your team,” said point guard Billups. “Our team is super tight all the time. On the court, off the court, our families hang out. I’ve never been in a situation like this. I think it definitely reflects on our play on the court.”
“If we go out, we’re going to call everyone first. That just lets you know the chemistry and the camaraderie of the team,” added Prince.
The road to the NBA championship will not be an easy one. The Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks and the defending champion Spurs would all present various challenges for the Pistons’ title aspirations.
While each of those teams have no shortage of talent, the Pistons have an endless supply of determination and desire to win. With their new head coach, Flip Saunders, working towards his players’ strengths, a title seems very plausible for these Pistons. This time, they’ll have all of the responsibility on their shoulders.
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December 10, 2006 at 11:24 am