by Patton on June 8, 2011
Bill Laimbeer is a Detroit legend. He spent nearly his entire career with the Pistons, and he won two titles with them. I mean, he was the bruiser that everybody identified with. He’s the biggest face of 80′s basketball–when we speak of how the game was SO much more physical back then. Isn’t that who you imagine when we talk about physical basketball from the 80′s?
He’s also a proven coach. The WNBA’s Detroit Shock were his team for many years, and he won three titles with them. Now, I don’t care what you call it, winning three titles in a pro sports league is hard. So, he’s got the mettle to coach a team and to win with his own team.
by Ben Millikan on April 1, 2011
Dennis Rodman was always known as a guy who wore his heart on his eclectic sleeve.
But the emotion expressed on Friday night while his No. 10 jersey was being raised to the rafters of the Palace in Detroit was a side of Rodman that the public is not accustomed to seeing.
“It surprised me,” Rodman said, before pausing. “I felt like I didn’t deserve to have my number retired because I didn’t do as much as I should have here,” he said, choking back tears.
Rodman’s jersey now hangs with former teammates Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Bill Laimbeer and Vinnie Johnson as well as mentors Chuck Daly and Bill Davidson.
by Ben Millikan on February 11, 2011
The Detroit Pistons aren’t fooling around.
The club has announced that they are going to Dennis Rodman’s No. 10 jersey with a celebratory event April 1, April Fool’s Day.
The date has no humorous significance, but it is ironic that the Pistons will be taking on the Chicago Bulls that night. People forget that before Rodman landed in Chicago with his wild hair colors and unusual tattoos, he was just a scrawny-looking kid when he began his career with the Pistons back in 1987. People also forget that Rodman was one of the greatest rebounders to have ever played the game. The last two years with the Pistons he averaged more than 18 rebounds a game, grabbing 26 percent of the available rebounds when he was on the floor. (Kevin Love leads the NBA this season at 23.4 percent).
by Ben Millikan on January 15, 2011
Under regular circumstances, the benching of Detroit’s Richard Hamilton for the second straight game would have raised some red flags. But since Hamilton is involved in the Carmelo Anthony negotiations––the most unprofessional trade in sports history––his benching is really just preparation for his inevitable departure.
Hamilton didn’t see the court on Friday night in a 101-95 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. Since Hamilton has been the Pistons scoring leader for the past seven seasons, many are questioning the decision of second year coach John Kuester to bench his star player.
One of those players is Ben Wallace.
by Ben Millikan on January 11, 2011
In the history of major trades in professional sports, the deal surrounding Carmelo Anthony is unprecedented it is unprofessionalism. Now that Anthony has been getting booed in Denver (what took ‘em so long?), the Nuggets have told the New Jersey Nets to quiet the public trade talk. But even that request was supposed to be private and yet, here it is in this blog and all across the Internet.
by Ben Millikan on November 3, 2010
Trash talking on the court is as old as the game of basketball itself. But everyone knows that there are certain verbal boundaries that should never be crossed––namely, disrespecting someone’s mother or someone’s wife. There isn’t too much else that is considered taboo or off limits. Unless you are Kevin Garnett and you decide the best way to get inside an opponent’s head and really tear him down is to rip him for being a cancer patient.
