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Darko Milicic, weird teammate

Patrick Hayes — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:07:39 +0000

Former NBA player Casey Jacobsen writes a pretty entertaining occasional column for SLAM. In his latest, he mentions a couple former Pistons who he played with.

Congrats, Darko Milicic, you are the weirdest:

Weirdest teammate… in a bad way: Darko Milicic

It’s nearly impossible to explain the weirdness that is Darko, but he told me one time that he did not keep his money in any bank, nor did he invest in stocks or bonds. “I just keep it,” he told me and then turned away. Looking back, I should have asked a follow-up question. I don’t know if I believe him, but he was making over $6 million that season. That’s a lot of cheddar to stash underneath a mattress! On another note… that was easily the longest conversation we ever had, and that was how he preferred it.

Jacobsen also says exactly what you’d expect anyone to say about Antonio McDyess:

Most Likely to Succeed (after basketball): Antonio McDyess

I played with “Dice” during my second season in Phoenix. He was a good player and teammate. He is smart and humble and treats everyone with respect. If he can’t succeed after basketball, there’s no hope for me.

Several former Pistons make list of 35 all-time McDonald’s All-Americans

Patrick Hayes — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:15:40 +0000

The annual McDonald’s All-America game is often a showcase for future NBA stars. To celebrate 35 years of the game, McDonald’s released a list of its 35 greatest All-Americans of all-time. Six former Pistons (a couple of them only Pistons for a moment) made the list. ESPN’s Ronnie Flores decided to rank them 1-35. Here were his thoughts on each of the former Pistons selected:

9. Isiah Thomas, St. Joseph’s (Westchester, Ill.), 1979

A two-time prep All-American, Thomas ventured more than an hour from his home every morning on Chicago’s West Side to play for legendary coach Gene Pingatore. Somewhat overshadowed by Chicago guard Raymond McCoy of Bloom Township as an underclassman, Thomas improved enough to make the 1979 Pan-American team (with Ralph Sampson) after averaging 20.9 points as a senior for Pingatore. He also was a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic team, which wasn’t able to compete in Moscow.

I wasn’t quite old enough to watch Thomas in his young years, but any time you catch highlights of him at Indiana or in his early Pistons career, they are insanely fun to watch. He’s one of the quickest guards who ever played.

13. Danny Manning, Lawrence (Lawrence, Kan.), 1984

Manning was national junior of the year in 1983 when he led Page (Greensboro, N.C.) to a 26-0 record and No. 2 national rating. When Kansas coach Larry Brown hired Manning’s dad, Ed, to his staff, Manning spent his senior season at Lawrence (Lawrence, Kan.) where he was a national player of the year candidate. Before leading the Jayhawks to the 1988 NCAA title, he was one of two preps to earn a tryout for the ’84 U.S. Olympic team along with guard Delray Brooks (Indiana).

Manning was a Piston late in his career, playing 13 games for them in 2002-03.

19. Jerry Stackhouse, Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.), 1993

This North Carolina native was often compared to Michael Jordan as a prep and their careers had many similarities. Stackhouse, like Jordan, was a college All-American at North Carolina and was an all-state player as an underclassman. Jordan obviously had the stronger pro career, but Stack was the more highly regarded prep. He actually earned All-American honors his junior season at Kinston (Kinston, N.C.) before transferring to Oak Hill his senior season. He was the ringleader on arguably the finest Oak Hill team ever assembled, averaging 25.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4 assists for the 36-0 mythical national champions.

Stackhouse’s most memorable Pistons season came in 2000-01 when he chased a scoring title and ultimately finished second to Allen Iverson..

24. Grant Hill, South Lakes (Reston, Va.), 1990

The smooth wing wasn’t the most hyped player in his class (7-6 center Shawn Bradley of Utah was), nor was he the No. 1 prospect (that honor went to Ed O’Bannon of California), but there was no doubt Hill was an immense talent in high school. He joined a star-studded Duke team and proved to be the missing link the Blue Devils needed. Without Hill, UNLV beat Duke by 30 points in the 1990 NCAA title game but with the 6-foot-7 freshman in the lineup the next season, they upset an even better Rebels team in the national semifinals.

I was actually surprised to see Hill so low on the list, but I guess he didn’t become a legit star until later in his college career.

31. Christian Laettner, The Nichols School (Buffalo, N.Y.), 1988

If this list was solely based on college accomplishments, Laettner would rank near the top with NCAA greats such as Ralph Sampson and Danny Manning. The class of 1988 is considered one of the greatest, but truthfully, Laettner wasn’t a consensus top-10 player when he entered Duke. He was as brash as he was talented, and developed into a clutch player for the Blue Devils. He participated in four Final Fours, leading Duke to back-to-back NCAA titles in 1991 and ’92.

My favorite moment of Laettner’s Pistons career also involved Stackhouse. Great work, Jerry.

35. Kenny Smith, Archbishop Malloy (Middle Village, N.Y.), 1983

Smith wasn’t even the best of the four New York City prep All-American guards during the 1982-83 season, but he continued to develop at North Carolina. He was an All-American in 1987 and later helped the Houston Rockets win two NBA titles.

Smith was signed by Detroit after Houston released him and the Pistons lost Allan Houston to free agency. Smith was supposed to provide some 3-point shooting. He played nine games with the team, clashed with coach Doug Collins and was eventually released.

Rasheed Wallace on the Lakers would be interesting

Patrick Hayes — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:43:09 +0000

The Los Angeles Lakers need a veteran big man, and if they don’t get Kenyon Martin after he returns from China, Yahoo!’s Marc J. Spears reports they could be interested in Rasheed Wallace:

If the Lakers don’t sign Martin, they could have interest in adding Rasheed Wallace, who contacted the team several weeks ago, a league source said. Wallace retired after the 2009-10 season, but has told friends he’s interested in returning to the NBA.

That would be fun. If Wallace really does make a comeback, I can’t deny that I would probably become a fan of whatever team he signs with.

Thirty years ago, Pistons had a great bench, but not so much anymore

Dan Feldman — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:46:00 +0000

Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus, using a formula he created, ranked the best NBA benches of all time. It certainly didn’t surprise me the Pistons were included, given how strong their Bad Boys-era reserves and the Alternatorz were. But I was surprised which unit actually qualified, even if it was on a technicality:

10. 1981-82 Detroit Pistons (33.5)
The 1980s featured few deep benches, and this Pistons unit ranks as the decade’s best. Perhaps the problem was that some of the best reserve talent ended up playing for teams like the Celtics and Lakers, who had relatively few minutes to offer. Early in the 1981-82 season, Detroit picked up Vinnie Johnson from Seattle, but Johnson was still about a year away from becoming "the Microwave." The group was led by Terry Tyler, an excellent rebounder from the wing, and also gets credit for Bill Laimbeer. Laimbeer started all 30 games he played with the Pistons, but came off the bench in Cleveland.

This year, the Pistons’ bench ranks 29th, according to Pelton’s formula – ahead of only the Lakers.

Maurice Evans compares Wizards to 2006 Pistons

Patrick Hayes — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:27:19 +0000

The Washington Wizards are easily the most entertainingly dysfunctional team in the league. After yesterday’s latest JaVale McGee showboating — he did an alley-oop to himself while the Wizards were down by double figures — Flip Saunders lost it. Via Mike Prada of SB Nation, former Piston Maurice Evans had an interesting comparison for his current team:

Veteran Mo Evans also agreed with Saunders, saying the experience reminded him of when he was with the Detroit Pistons and they kept losing in the Eastern Conference Finals.

“I’ve been on a team in the past where we kind of showboated a little bit, and we were winning and in the playoffs. As a result, we went to Miami that year and got beat the heck up,” he said. I think that’s something people will look at. We already are struggling to get wins and we don’t need to try to get someone else back.”

Interestingly, Evans (who may or may not have had the best relationship with that 2006 team) doesn’t mention a little important footnote in the equation — that Saunders was the coach in both of these scenarios. Probably wouldn’t have been the best idea to mention that — “I remember this other time playing for Flip Saunders when our team would also play undisciplined.” I don’t remember Saunders being that publicly vocal when his Pistons teams would get complacent, but I guess it’s easier to forgive when your team is a title contender rather than a bottom feeder.

Rasheed Wallace’s game with the Hawks

Dan Feldman — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:02:47 +0000

Jared Dubin of Hardwood Paroxysm has a great post about about Rasheed Wallace’s lone game with the Atlanta Hawks in 2004, before the Pistons traded for him:

Everyone in NBA circles knew Wallace was headed out of town sooner rather than later, but he didn’t care, because for that night at least, the Hawks were cutting the check. Check out his quotes to reporters after the game, and it’s like you wouldn’t even know that this was his first – and likely to be his only – game with the Hawks. When asked about being the first team in the Nets’ 10-game win streak to not lose by double-digits, Sheed responded:

“Everybody thinks that just because we’re the Hawks we’re going to roll over and die. Maybe that was the thing before, but not now.”

Rasheed Wallace, 2/18/04

That, to me, does not sound like a guy who just got there, nor like a guy on his way out of town two days later. But Sheed took immediate ownership of the team and the situation, because that’s what Sheed did, everywhere he went. When he was with you, he was with you, whether it was for one day or for five years. He’d play for whomever cut the check, but as with everything, he’d do it on his terms.

I still remember interviews during future seasons where Hawks players praised how great of a teammate Wallace was.

Sadly, Pistons aren’t playing on Martin Luther King Day for first time in 11 years

Dan Feldman — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:54:59 +0000

For the first time since 2001, the Pistons aren’t playing on Martin Luther King Day.

This isn’t a fluke of the shortened season. Even in the 82-game schedule the NBA released, the Pistons didn’t have a game today.

I wish they did.

The Pistons don’t need an MLK Day game. It’s certainly not a tradition on the scale of the Lions’ Thanksgiving game.

But I enjoyed the game, because it presented a great opportunity to celebrate the Dream that King worked to make reality. Detroit’s racial history, especially involving sports, is mixed, but there are plenty of things worth celebrating, and the Pistons always did a great job doing that on their MLK Day broadcasts.

My favorite: It’s absolutely fantastic that we live in a time and place where two guys from the Chicago area – one a black kid raised in the inner-city, the other a white brat from the suburb of Clarendon Hills – could come together and give entire company its identity. In some ways, it’s good that we take for granted how Isiah Thomas and Bill Laimbeer created the Bad Boys together. But at times, we should take a moment to appreciate that those two could come together how they did.

Without a Pistons game today, many of us won’t have a ready-made excuse to celebrate examples of King’s Dream, but I urge you to take a few moments to do so anyway.

Former Pistons coach Michael Curry playing key role in Philadelphia’s defense

Patrick Hayes — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:08:02 +0000

The Philadelphia 76ers have become one of the league’s top defensive units and, according to coach Doug Collins, former Pistons one and done coach Michael Curry is playing a big role in that. From Dei Lynam of Comcast Sports Net:

“The thing that (associate head coach) Michael (Curry) does so well is that he gears our defense to our personnel and what we can do,” Collins said. “There are certain limitations that are big guys have defensively that he has done a great job putting the scheme in that we can be successful. We don’t have a great shot blocker at the basket or a great defensive rebounder but our wings rebound well and we know that we have to pressure the ball.”

The Sixers’ success defending the three-point line is a credit to scheme as well, but discipline plays a big part, too.

“We aren’t running all over the floor,” Collins continued. “Guys have responsibilities and Michael grades guys every game and we post them so there is individual accountability as a team. The one thing in this game, if you’re scrambling you are not going to be able to defend the three.”

If Curry loves defense so much, why did he bury Arron Afflalo and Amir Johnson on his bench? Sorry, that was out of line. Honestly, good for Curry. I think it’s clear to everyone he was ill-equipped for the head coaching job in Detroit, but that also shouldn’t define his coaching career — remember, he only had one year of experience as an assistant before getting that head job. Working with a great veteran coach like Collins and a good young team like Philly could earn Curry another chance down the road.

Former Piston Darvin Ham a factor in Andrew Bynum’s hot start

Patrick Hayes — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:30:49 +0000

Darvin Ham, a member of the Pistons 2004 championship team, is currently an assistant coach with the Lakers. According to Mike Bresnahan of the LA Times, Ham has been one of Andrew Bynum’s primary tutors:

Ham, 38, and Bynum can be seen jostling under the basket before every game, Ham sticking his arm into Bynum’s back as if it’s a crowbar, cajoling Bynum to stay centered in the post as a ball boy feeds the 24-year-old down low.

“He has touch, but the balance, that’s the thing we work on day in and day out,” said Ham, who was a 6-foot-7, 245-pound power forward in the NBA. “He won’t find his body in awkward positions. He’ll be used to me being heavy on him.”

Bynum is averaging 18.8 points and 15.7 rebounds per game (which leads the league). Both of those marks would easily surpass his career best if he keeps it up.

Chevette to Corvette: Summary

Dan Feldman — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:49:48 +0000

Our Chevette to Corvette series, which ranked every season in Pistons history, is complete. Here’s a graphical look:

And our complete rankings: