Two Teams; Two Stories

There are two distinct franchises in Detroit, and they are the two that seem to be fighting for a championship around this time of year, every year. The Pistons and Red Wings have always seemed to define Motor City sports, but in the past decade or so, they’re stories have differed greatly. With both in action over this weekend, I’ll tell you this difference after a recap of both teams’ games:

First, the Pistons. They played Friday night, down 3-2, and trying to send the series back to Boston for a game 7. Fighting for their lives in Auburn Hills, the Pistons came out a bit sluggish while Boston took an early lead in the first, but once the second quarter came, we turned it on and held a substantial lead into the 4th. But Boston wouldn’t quit and ended up going on a 20-13 run, making key shots and free throws, and evidently took the game, the series, and our hopes. Boston won 89-81 and secured their first spot in the NBA Finals in 21 years. So most classic NBA fans got what they wanted in an old time finals rivalry of Celtics and Lakers, great. But why were we so poor? Well I had mentioned in a previous article that in order to contend, we needed to up our defense and especially our rebounding, which we did. But another thing I mentioned was the individual efforts of a few players, and they once again did not show up for Friday night’s crucial game. Rasheed Wallace had just 4 points and Antonio McDyess had just 6 and 6 boards. Now this is how this whole series has been going, and this is not the kind of effort that you expect from your center and power forward in a playoff series and I don’t give a crap if Kevin Garnett is guarding you! That is now excuse. Somebody needs to get in his face and say “Get down on the block where you belong, Sheed!”. I mean my gosh. That’s supposed to be the center’s job for gosh sakes. But this whole ordeal may lead to something important, and I predict that Friday night was Flip Saunder’s last night of coaching in Detroit. And I’m also not so sure about Rasheed’s future their either, he just seems to be a distraction with a big mouth.

Now that that’s out of my system, I’d like to address to ‘actual’ contenders in this city and that would be the Wings. They were in Pittsburgh for Game 4 last night, and we needed a win to avoid the Penguins from tying the series. They scored in the opening period to strike first, but Osgood never let another one in. We scored two more goals and killed off one of the most grueling penalty kills I’ve ever seen, I mean that was heartburn just sitting there watching it! But we managed to pull it off and pretty much put the series away with a 2-1 win and a 3-1 series lead. We played fantastic, better then we were in Game 3, by shutting down Crosby and Malkin, and getting shots on Marc-Andre Fluery, which is really what we’ve been doing this whole series and it’s why we’re on the brink of another Stanley Cup.

Now to the contrasting stories. The Pistons have, yes, been consistent in reaching the Eastern Conference Finals for 6 straight years, but we’ve only managed 2 Finals berths and 1 title in those 6 years. That 2004 team is really looking to become the biggest fluke championship of all time because just plain old can not doing anything else. It’s like we win one and that’s good enough. Well guess what, for this sports town, it’s not. I hate to clamp down on the Pistons like I am, but this is ridiculous. We’re too good for our own good and that’s the way we think. We’re just a cocky team who thinks we have something to prove, but really we just choke in the playoffs every single year! We are way to over confident and we think of ourselves as the best, when really we haven’t been at all! Just talk to the Spurs, they know they’re limits and that’s why they’re the greatest team of the decade. Or better yet, talk to your own city mates in the Red Wings, here’s their story. They know their limits, they know how good they really are, and they know what they’re up against. Sure we’ve had a few tough series losses in the past to the Ducks and the Oilers, but at least we bounce back and do something about it unlike a before mentioned basketball team! It’s just surprising at how different these two teams can act late in the post season like this. But, it just goes to show ya. We have two great sports teams in Detroit, and while one is too cocky for their own good and doesn’t decide to exceed their limits this late in the year, the other is 1 win away from their 4th championship in 11 years, and this is because they know their limits, come back from adversity, and play their hearts out. Two teams, two very different stories. Simple as that.

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