The Backcourt Of Dreams...

Here is an article I read the other day from the detroit free press. It is about my boys Rip and Chauncey. I could watch them ball all day long. Also, Tim Hardaway used to be one of my favorite players. His killer crossover was something I often tried to emulate when I was 9 and he was the shit. Now, of course, he is a piece of shit. His comments about gays are some of the most ignorant, bigoted things I have ever heard. Stern did the right thinig by not letting him ever be associated with promoting the NBA.













AUBURN HILLS -- If you ask Chauncey Billups or Richard Hamilton about their place in Pistons history, they both look first to the rafters.
"It's not anything we really talk about," Billups said. "But when the season ends and you get a chance to reflect and talk about our place, I mean, you look up and see Joe and Zeke (Hall-of-Famers Joe Dumars and Isiah Thomas, whose jerseys hang in The Palace). I feel like we are putting our place down, too, as second best to those guys."
In a separate interview a few minutes later, Hamilton addressed the same issue.
"When you are talking about all the great backcourts that have played here, you look up and see Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars with both of their jerseys in the rafters; that's what matters. Me and Chaunce came here together to win as many championships as possible."
Billups and Hamilton will represent the Pistons at the All-Star Game on Sunday in Las Vegas, their second straight appearance. Dumars and Thomas went together as a tandem three straight years, from 1990-92.
Hamilton and Billups currently trail Dumars and Thomas in championships, as well, 2-1.
"But those guys are still young," said assistant Terry Porter, who formed a dynamic backcourt duo with Hall-of-Famer Clyde Drexler for six seasons in Portland. "Hopefully they are going to be playing together for a lot more years."
Billups and Hamilton are in their fifth season together. They have won 69 percent of their regular-season games (236-105). They are 49-34 in playoff games, with one title and two Eastern Conference titles. That alone, in Porter's view, makes them worthy of inclusion in any talk of great backcourts.
"They have to be in the talk because of the success they've had individually and as a team," Porter said. "They have to be in that discussion. You are talking about two All-Star appearances (apiece), an NBA Finals MVP (Billups) and a championship."
Flattering as it is, truth is, neither Hamilton nor Billups care much about historical comparisons. Their concern is being the best now, on a nightly basis.
"The first thing we talked about (when they came to the Pistons in the summer of 2002) was that we could be the best backcourt in the league," Billups said. "Before every game, before we go into the captains' circle, we say, 'Let's do what we do and keep proving ourselves.' We feel like we're the best on this court, and we try to prove it every single game."
Better together
The duo's on-court chemistry has been well-documented. What's less known is how little the two have in common in terms of personality and temperament.
Billups is solid, steadfast, a picture of poise and control. Hamilton is a rambunctious ball of energy, non-stop motion, sometimes contained, sometimes unrestrained.
"It's like I'm an older brother to him," Billups said. "When he gets out of control, and he gets wild, there's not a lot of guys who can say the things I say to him and have him look back humbly and say, 'You're right,' and vice-versa. It's a very balanced relationship."
It's not unusual to see the two hollering at each other on the court or during timeouts.
"Oh, yeah, we cuss each other out all the time," Hamilton said. "That's what people don't realize. When I am out there going too fast, he tells me something. And when he's out there jacking up 3-pointers, I will tell him to drive the ball. I cuss him out. That's the type of relationship we have.
"We know we both want the same thing, and that's to win."
It's gratifying to both that they are thought of as an All-Star tandem, especially after a couple of years where they seemed to cancel each other out in the process.
"Making it two years in a row shows that we just keep being good," Billups said. "They couldn't hold us down forever."
This time, both are allowing themselves to take some individual satisfaction, as well.
"This is special for me because I feel they picked me because of my talent and the things that I am doing, as opposed to being picked because of our team's success," Billups said.
Said Hamilton: "I think people are recognizing what I am doing out there on the floor, and that's a great feeling."
They both admit, though, that neither is as good alone as they are together.
"The reason any duo works is, one guy's weakness is the other guy's strength," Porter said. "Their ability to play off each other and balance each other out is a big part of their greatness."

All Star Form...

So it finally looks like the Pistons are back to playing Deeetroit Basketball. We are starting to lock down on D which is a beautiful thing to see. I always said that the Pistons play harder and have more fun (making them that much more fun to watch) when they get defensive stops and highten the intensity. Maxiell makes me smile everytime he steps out on the court. Watching his hussle is one of the joys in my life. Delfino is playing up to his potential and appears to rapidly be gaining Saunders' trust as he's been getting more and more playing time. He does need to work on his shot off of curls though; while he can usually hit the open jumper, I notice that when he comes off a screen a la Rip, he usually has a tough time making the shot. This will get better with time I'm sure, but I hope that he doesn't stop trying the shot. He could be another fantastic mover without the ball.

Webber has done wonders for this team. He truly is making everyone play better basketball. I was worried about his slowness on defense, but it actually seems as though we are playing better D. Perhaps that's just because Nazr sucks, but I think that Webber actually found a team that plays tight D so he has help around the basket, and Flip's zone works great with his limited mobility.

Rip and Chauncey are all stars. I couldn't be happier. It's nice to get some superstar recognition on a team with no superstars. I mean really, can they keep saying that about us? Since we got Webber, we are back to having the best starting 5 in the NBA. Recently Chauncey was asked what he thinked about playing along side the other starters and he replied that if you told him that just a few years ago he would have thought he was playing on an All Star team. I am sad Tay Tay didn't get the nod, but he will only be getting better over the years and will surely go soon.

I am also very proud and happy for Memo who David Stern picked today to replace Iverson in the game. I loved him as a Piston, as I'm sure everyone else did, and I'm happy he's doing so well in Utah. Can you imagine how good we would be with him and Dyess coming off the bench. He deserves to be a starter though and I'm glad he is happy as a Jazz. I voted for him as much as the boys in blue and it's nice to see him get rewarded for have the best season of his career thus far. I will be giving him a standing O for sure when he checks in the game.

Anyways, thats all for now but I will be updating the site more frequently I hope.

See you at the Palace
-M

Welcome Home.

So we got C. Webb. I am not sure what I would have done if we didn't. I honestly couldn't think about anything else for about 4 days. Literally, nothing else. I checked espn.com every 10 seconds to see if he had announced the team he was choosing. There is nothing but good that can come from this. Webber is so talented and exactly what we are missing. Nazr sucks, no question about it. I am surprised he remained the starter until only a week or two ago. He will be gone soon, hopefully not for Marko Jaric, but anything is better than having Nazr.

I also hope to get rid of Flip Murray. Delfino is much better and should start tonight if Saunders does the right thing. If we could shop the two of them together we could get a pretty good swingman in return. I am glad the Pistons have a lot of nationally televised games coming up. I hate watching the game cast on espn. For some reason people think Nazr and Murray are solid players (these people must have also believed "Score-less" Corliss Williamson to be good) and will probably be willing to give up someone decent to get them. We don't even need someone that great but if we could get Mo Pete from toronto that would be awesome. I have a pipe dream of bringing Jalen back still, and lets not forget about my never ending dream to see Grant Hill back in a Pistons uniform. Can you imagine having him and Webber on this team. I know, my heart flutters too.

One thing people are wondering is how Webber will fit in. Easily. When replacing one center who sucks donkey balls with a five-time all star, the answer is simple. Webber is a great passer, a great scorer and a great teammate. Whatever they say he may lack on D cannot be worse than what Nazr lacked at everything. Admittedly, I was a little worried about whether or not we would get back to the conference finals, but with C Webb I have no doubt that we will win another championship.

See you at the Palace
-m