Pistons Throw Blame Around To Explain Fading Fortunes

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

It’s a truism in sports, and in life for that matter, that when people start looking for scapegoats, it’s usually because they’re about to need one.

The Detroit Pistons are the latest example of this trend. Although they’re down 3-1 to Miami in the Eastern Conference finals and facing elimination tonight, they’d like you to know that it’s really not their fault.

Maybe it’s the refs’ fault. After the Heat handily defeated the Pistons in Monday night’s Game 4, Detroit’s Rasheed Wallace implicated the zebras. “We did a couple of good things tonight,” he said. “When it got close, that’s when the powers that be turned into some [blank], but we’ve got to fight through it every game.”

This is nothing new. Even during the pinnacle of their two-year reign over Eastern Conference, the Pistons got a reputation for persistent whining to the refs. Wallace is obviously the most chronic complainer – he led the league in technical fouls again this year with 16 – but the Pistons all seem apoplectic any time a whistle doesn’t go their way.

Making Detroit’s focus on the officials doubly ironic is that the Pistons were called for the fewest fouls in the NBA this season. In fact, they were called for 173 fewer than any other team.If anyone shouldn’t be complaining about the refs, it’s these guys.

Mind you, acting shocked at every whistle was part of the Pistons’ personality during their conference-title runs of the past two seasons, but there was a difference. Back then, it was part of a larger,us-vs.-them mentality. The Pistons felt they didn’t get enough respect – from the league, the press, the fans, you name it – and they were hell-bent on proving everybody wrong. This year it doesn’t have that same twist to it. It’s just part of the larger hunt for an excuse.

If it’s not the refs’ fault, then it’s Flip Saunders’ fault. He’s the new guy, after all, and while Detroit won more games in the regular season than it ever did under Larry Brown, Saunders wasn’t hired to win games in January. That makes him an easy target, and several Detroit players seemed to go out of their way to throw him under the bus after the past two defeats to Miami. What’s funny is that all of them, in attempting to deflect blame, have avoided the primary reason for in their failure in the series.

Let’s start with Ben Wallace, who complained bitterly after Game 4 about the “night and day” difference at the defensive end between this year’s Pistons and the group from a year ago.This is kind of funny, considering that Detroit hasn’t allowed more than 100 points in 13 consecutive games, and has only allowed as many as 90 five times in that span … and yet has a record of 7-6 to show for it.

Rasheed Wallace, meanwhile, felt he didn’t get enough touches on the block. “That’s a question I think y’all should ask Flip more than me,” he said after Game 3. “Because I guess it’s more a coaching call.”

Then again, perhaps that coaching call was influenced by Wallace’s 4-for-11 shooting, or his zero assists, or the fact he’s only exceeded his season average of 15.1 points per game twice in the past nine games.

Rasheed also found time to openly question Saunders’s hack-a-Shaq strategy at the end of that game, and has taken the Rodman-esque approach of sitting outside team huddles periodically. He’s complained about lesser stuff, too, like having to go to the bench with two fouls early in Game 4.

Wallace said (rightly) that the hack-a-Shaq has never worked, but he’s missing the point.The only reason Saunders was forced to use it was because the Pistons were losing handily by that point. As for playing with fouls,perhaps Wallace doesn’t recall this,but the suddenly fondly remembered Larry Brown was even more draconian in dealing with foul trouble. He would routinely keep starters with two fouls out until halftime.

Even mild-mannered Tayshaun Prince dished on the coach. “I was pretty disappointed we didn’t give Lindsey Hunter any action in the second half,” Prince said after Game 3. “Obviously, he’s our best suit for Dwyane [Wade], as far as putting pressure on him. I know Dwyane can shoot over him, but at least he has the quickness to be where he’s at all the time. We didn’t give him the opportunity [in] the second half.”

Once again, we have a case of a Piston coming up with the answer to the wrong question. Hunter is an excellent defensive player, but inserting him into the game requires removing either Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, or Tayshaun Prince – Detroit’s three best postseason scorers.

Saunders couldn’t take any of these three out,because the reason the Pistons are losing isn’t any of the complaints above. It’s that they can’t score. They haven’t scored more than 92 points in the past nine games, and four times it failed to clear 80.With the Pistons averaging a paltry 81.8 points per night, it’s nearly impossible for them to win – which explains why, of late, they haven’t.

At some level, the Pistons’ players have to know this. But subconsciously knowing something and openly accepting it are two very different things.

Thus, the real cause of Detroit’s discontent isn’t Saunders, or the refs. It’s that they know they can’t win, but can’t quite figure out why. They have the same starting five that beat the Heat last year, and they had a better record this year.So it must not be them, it must be somebody else.

But it’s just a twist of fate. Detroit caught a break last season when they played against a diminished Dwyane Wade and a sore Shaquille O’Neal in the conference finals. This year, the tables have turned. Miami is the one peaking at just the right time, while the Pistons are the ones wobbling from injuries (ankle sprains to both Rasheed Wallace and Hamilton) that make them a shadow of their top-seeded selves.

The question now is whether the blame game will continue and take Saunders’s job with it, or whether Detroit can summon enough dignity to realize it was beaten by the better team. The Pistons seem all but resigned to the idea that their Eastern Conference reign will end tonight, and based on recent results it’s hard to argue with them.If that happens, they should fell no shame in what was another fantastic season – as long as Wallace, Prince, and company limit the finger-pointing to the guy in the mirror.

Mr. Hollinger is the author of the 2005-06 Pro Basketball Forecast. He can be reached at jhollinger@nysun.com.


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