Tayshaun Prince of the Detroit Pistons has been selected to play for the United States in the Olympics.
What a nice choice.
Too often in the past U.S. Olympic teams have simply been a collection of stars with little or no thought to how the pieces would fit together. Every team needs a player like Prince - a guy willing to do the dirty without worrying about being in the spotlight.
What a night it will be for Detroit sports Saturday!
The Pistons, Red Wings and Tigers all will be playing at home on the same night. I am certain that all three will draw good crowds. Parking will be at a premium in downtown Detroit and the sports bars will be packed.
But it is a shame that all three are playing at basically the same time. At least they could have staggered the starting times a little bit.
It is a good problem to have. No other city can boast the kind of basketball and hockey success that Detroit is enjoying.
Personally, I will stay home an soak it all in on TV. I’m lucky enough to have the night off. My TV clicker will get a workout.
Rasheed Wallace played it off as no big deal, but the Pistons completed a very impressive stretch last night.
The played four times in five nights and won all four, including three of those on the road. They have won five in a row overall.
Granted, the teams they beat during that stretch aren’t the greatest – Cleveland (without LeBron James), Milwaukee, New Jersey, Atlanta and New Orleans — but to survive that brutal stretch without a blemish shows the Detroit is once again one of the top teams in the Eastern Confernce.
And, they won impressively. The closest contest during that four-game stretch was 11 points.
Piston fans are a unique breed. They rarely give much credit to the opponent, saying that their team was disinterested, had a bad shooting night or was robbed by the refs.
But Thursday night the only reasonable response to the game against Cleveland was “Wow!”
LeBron James put on a phenomenal show. I thought the Pistons actually played very well, but James refused to lose this game. As I said in an earlier post, we are watching a superstar grow up in this series.
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the Detroit Pistons’ series against Cleveland is the game-by-game development of LeBron James.
The young superstar is growing up right in front of our eyes.
In Game 1, he passed up an opportunity for the winning shot to pass off to a teammate. In Game 2, he took the shot himself, but was unable to finish. In Games 3 and 4, he took his team on his shoulders and carried it to victory.
It will be interesting to see how he fares tonight when the Cavaliers return to the hostile environment of The Palace of Auburn Hills.
The Pistons need to find a way to stunt the growth of this rising star.
The Pistons are one of the NBA’s elite teams, but their radio network is second to everyone.
If you live in Monroe County and are trying to follow any of the playoff games at night, forget it. Flagship station WDFN in Detroit powers down after sunset and is just about impossible to pick up beyond a 20-mile radius to the south.
There is an alternative for the Cleveland Cavaliers series. Cleveland’s WTAM (1100-AM) is a 50-watt, clear-channel blowtorch station that can be heard in 38 states and Canada. It can easily be pulled in on most radios in Monroe County. It also hosts a pretty good postgame show until 1 a.m.
Cavaliers announcer Joe Tait, who used to be the voice of the Cleveland Indians, is one of the best in the business (better than George Blaha). It’s a nice alternative if you’re in your car and can’t follow the Pistons.
So the Detroit Pistons now know their foe for the Eastern Conference finals.
They will take on LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in a rematch of last year’s semifinals where Cleveland stretched Detroit to seven games. We could have a nice little rivalry brewing here with a young Cleveland team trying to claw their way past the Pistons, who will be playing in the conference finals for the fifth straight year.
Some people have told me they get sick of the constant attention paid to James. But that really doesn’t bother me. He deserves it. For all the pressure he endured coming into the league as perhaps the most heralded high school player ever, he has remained amazingly well grounded.
For some reason the guy who bugs me is Anderson Varejao. Maybe it is the wild hair or his aggressive style, but for some reason he rubs me the wrong way.
Is there are player on the Cavs, the Pistons or any other team that you love to hate?
The Red Wings are headed to the conference finals after Monday night’s 2-0 win over San Jose.
The Piston might not be far behind. They have dominated Chicago in the first two games of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Which team do you think has the best chance to bring home a championship?
The Detroit Pistons seem to be toying with Orlando.
The final score of both games appeared relatively close, but neither was ever in serious doubt. The job the Pistons have done on defending Magic star Dwight Howard has been phenomenal.
What a great day for sports in Detroit!
The Tigers taking on Central Division foe Chicago at 1 p.m., then a playoff doubleheader with the Red Wings at 3 p.m. and the Pistons at 7. And all three are at home. Detroit (and Auburn Hills) will be jumping.
I’ve got to make sure I have fresh batteries in my TV remote.