Detroit Pistons: The Best Five Alive
The 2003-04 Detroit Pistons were the X-Men of basketball with head coach Larry Brown connecting this unorthodox jigsaw of personalities like he was Professor Xavier.
The Fro aka Big Ben, the man in the mask, Mr. Big Shot, Sheed, and Tay “the compton kid” all sound like a group of misfit youth whose powers are paired perfectly together in order to save the world from impending doom.
Sounds like something straight out of a Marvel comic. Only this is a real group. A real team of misfits with unappreciated individual talents, but together forged one of the greatest defensive units in NBA history. This is the story of the 2004 NBA champion, Detroit Pistons. The Best 5 Alive.
Most people know that the 2004 Detroit Pistons were a great team. They won 54 regular season games, finishing 2nd place in the Eastern Conference, before going 16-7 in the postseason in route to one of the greatest David vs. Goliath sports victories ever, dismantling the Shaq and Kobe Lakers.
But I want to first introduce the improbable unit and take you through the journey that it took to get to that magical ’04 squad. Then we will break down the numbers as to why this Pistons’ team is one of the greatest defensive teams to ever be assembled.
I was drafted 3rd overall by the Boston Celtics in 1999. 51 games into the season, Rick Pitino and those guys traded me to the Raptors because they didn’t know if I was a point guard or if I was a two guard. Either way I wasn’t ready to lead a team to wins like coach needed out the gate–I understand, but I was frustrated. I was also rockin’ this zig zag part that had me looking like i was a member of New Edition. ’99 was a wild time.
As a result, I would end up on four different teams in five years, including the Orlando Magic in 2000 who I never played a game with, but still found myself in the team picture–and my future big man, Ben Wallace (#4) is pictured too.
(2000) Happy birthday to Chauncey Billups aka Mr. Big Shot!
— Timeless Sports (@timelesssports_) September 26, 2017
Fun fact that almost nobody knows is that he was on the Orlando Magic roster! pic.twitter.com/j7S3l0yfBM
My breakthrough came in the 2001-02 season when the Minnesota Timberwolves’s starting point guard, Terrell Brandon was unfortunately lost to the season with a knee injury, allowing me to step in for the guy who taught me the sophistication of the point guard position.
I averaged 14/3/6 over the last 49 games, shooting 43 percent from the field and 38 percent from 3-point range. And in the playoffs that year, I stepped it up another notch, scoring a smooth 22/6/5 on 45 percent shooting.
After my contract was up I wanted to return to the Wolves, but the waiting game to see if Brandon was going to recover, led me to join my fifth NBA team and permeant home for the prime of my career, the Detroit Pistons. Where I signed a 5-year $35 million deal to be the teams’ floor general. The rest is history.
It was my turn.
Before I was the man in the mask, I was just a skinny kid from Coatesville, Pennsylvania, who was trying to find footing in the NBA on a Wizards’ team that put me alongside the goat himself, big bro, Michael Jordan.
I improved my scoring in each season, going from nine per game to 20 per game by my third year in the league. In fact at the end of my second year, they finally let me hoop. I was lettin’ cats know who I was by the end of the 2001 season. For the final 19 games, I was averaging 25 on 50 percent from the field, including my first 40 point game against Detroit of all teams. Crazy.
Then before the 2002 NBA season I was traded in a six-team deal for the Pistons’ star wing at the time, Jerry Stackhouse. One of the NBA’s leading scorers–like, I’m still a young pup myself. He was the best scorer on a team that was coming off a 50-win season and in 2000 he was puttin’ up 30 per game. Some fans were upset that the team had traded a star for an unproven guy with potential, but little did they know, I was like that too. As my boy Kob said to me when I came into the league, “come in [and] hit first.” “Be you.” And that’s just what I did.
I was the young guy on the team when i was drafted 23rd overall by the Pistons in the 2002 NBA draft out of Kentucky.
Skinny light skin dude with freckles who didn’t say too much. I only played about 10 minutes per game in my first season with the Pistons.
But by the playoffs i became a fixture in the rotation. I averaged nine points per game in 25 minutes a night.
And one of the highlights of my young career came in game 7 of the 2003 playoffs after coming back from down 3-1 to the Orlando Magic. I had the assignment of guarding superstar forward Tracy McGrady. This was the year he led the league in scoring (32.1), his best scoring season of his career, and up until that game was averaging 34/7/5 in the series.
But that night, with me guarding him, he scored 21 points on 7-for-24 with four turnovers.
And it was just the beginning.
I am Guaransheed, Mr. big mouth, or whatever label makes you feel good, because I don’t give a damn. I just wanted to win. That was all. Go home to the family a winner.
I was drafted 4th overall by the Washington Bullets in 1995. I was traded to the Blazers before the next season and that’s where I played for seven seasons.
I was a member of those JailBlazer squads of the late ’90s – early ’00s. I was never a numbers guy, but i averaged 18 points and 8 boards from 1999-2003, earning two All-Star appearances during that time.
Down 3-0 to the Mavs in 2003, I was a focal point on the only team to ever come back from 3-0 and force a game 7. But we lost.
Don’t ask me what happened in game 7. Just know, “Both teams played hard my man.”
I also have the most technical ever recorded in an NBA season (41) in the 2000-01 season. And I only played 77 games.
Look, if you cus at me, imma’ cus at you, period. These clowns, I mean refs, were out there profiling–these cats had it out for me. Yeah some techs were on me, but they were trippin’.
Anyway, in 2004 I was traded to the Atlanta Hawks and then moved after one game to the Pistons in a 3-team deal.
I had finally found my home. The place that embraced who I was. And who I would be. A champion.
I am the epitome of grind, hustle and determination. Work ethic was engrained in me by mother, Sadie Wallace.
Born in Alabama, I went to up north to play college ball at the D-2 school Virginia Union, an HBCU in Virginia. I went undrafted and then got picked up by the Washington Bullets where I spent my first three seasons. My defensive prowess steadily gave me more minutes, and by 1998 i averaged six points, eight rebounds and two blocks.
I was then shipped off to Orlando in a multi-player trade and in that season I started 81 games, averaging 5 points, eight rebounds and almost two blocked shots in just 24 minutes.
The very next season I was moved again in a sign and trade for superstar forward Grant Hill. In 2000 I had become a Detroit Piston. And like Logan when he became Wolverine, Big Ben was born and so was the new millennium’s first Bad Boy.
This was a nearly perfect roster construction of castoffs, underdogs and misunderstood talents that jelled at the right time with the right head coach.
Larry Brown had a resume as a champion at every level in basketball. An ABA champion, NCAA champion and he sought to become an NBA champion, coming close in 2001 with the Allen Iverson led Philadelphia 76ers who lost in five games to the Lakers.
He was a player’s coach who was known for taking the under regarded teams to the promised land. Like the 1988 Kansas Jayhawks nicknamed “Danny and the Miracles” due to their improbable NCAA Tournament run led by star Danny Manning, went from an underwhelming 12-8 start to an NCAA championship as a 6-seed.
Coming off of back-to-back 50-win seasons, president of basketball operations Joe Dumars, fired the 2001-02 NBA coach of the year, Rick Carlisle–one of the top young coaches in the league. The Pistons were coming off a division title and an Eastern conference birth in 2003. So firing your best head coach with the most team success since the Chuck Daly Pistons of 1990, raised plenty of eyebrows.
Nonetheless, Larry Brown became the head coach. The Pistons started the season off 14-6 and 7-2 at the Palace. The Pistons picked up where they left off defensively the previous season. And they went on a 13 game winning streak, not giving up a single 100-point game until January 11th (game 37).
Detroit was a solid team, but not yet a great team. Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton combined for 36 points, seven rebounds and nine assists as a backcourt. But they needed someone inside to take pressure off of them. Someone to help open up the offense for the guards and provide the team with balance on offense.
So as the clock on the trade deadline struck midnight, Joe Dumars pulled the trigger on a deal that would bring 6-foot-11 ultra skilled post player, Rasheed Wallace to the team with 26 games left in the regular season.
After dropping the first two games with Wallace by a combined two points as he got acclimated, the Pistons went 19-4 to close the season. During those 23 games the Pistons went on two separate 8-game win streaks and they held seven teams below 70 points, including four straight.
For the final 25 games of the regular season, the Pistons with Rasheed Wallace, held teams to the lowest points mark in the shot clock era (’99 Hawks).
But the final 25 games of the regular season was just an appetizer for what the “going to work” Pistons would serve up in the playoffs. In the playoffs their defense would become that of legends–never to be replicated.
In 23 games in the postseason
They had 20 games holding teams under 45% (record-tying ’03 Spurs) and 12 games holding teams under 40%.
The Pistons had 18 games where they held teams under 90, 11 games under 80, six under 70 and two under 60, only the ’98 Bulls had two games held under 60.
The Pistons’ title run was a roller coaster of events in route to their third NBA title. In the first round they faced the Milwaukee Bucks. They held them to 85.6 points per game and 9 of 12 players on the Pistons’ roster had a defensive rating under 100 points allowed. Led by Ben Wallace’s 87 rating.
Ben Wallace won Defensive Player of the Year four times–a record he shares with Dikembe Mutombo. Wallace went to two NBA Finals and in 2004 he had his highest defensive rating (84). Higher than any Tim Duncan, Dennis Rodman, Scottie Pippen, Mutombo or Gary Payton postseason. According to FiveThirtyEight’s RAPTOR player metric, which measures how a player impacts his team on the floor, Wallace had a +6.1 Def RAPTOR, making him the best defensive player in the league from 2001-2006 by a decent margin.
Wallace was a 6X All-Defensive selection
Wallace was a 4X All-Star and 5X All-NBA selection. 2001-02 block champ and 2X rebound champ.
He had five straight seasons in the top-5 in blocked shots.
Shout out to Illustrator, Yann Dalon for the art. Dope.
In the second round, the Pistons faced a New Jersey Nets team that was coming off back-to-back NBA Finals losses, but still held the title as the 2X reigning Eastern Conference champions. A team full of talent: future Hall of Famer, Jason Kidd, Kenyon Martin, and Richard Jefferson was primed for a run. They made a coaching change from Byron Scott after a disappointing 22-20 start and Lawrence Frank took over, subsequently rejuvenating the team to a 25-15 record the rest of the way.
This series was also revenge. The Nets swept the Pistons off the floor in the Eastern Conference Finals the year before. The hunger to avenge was salivating.
In game 1 the Pistons defeated the Nets 78-56. Yes, they held them to 56 points. And not only that, they held them to 27 percent shooting from the field and 28 percent from 3-point range. Talk about putting a team in a straight jacket. The Pistons shot 48 percent in that game and had 21 assists. Ben Wallace had 13 and 11 boards with three blocks. Oh, and a crazy defensive rating of 52.
This series went 7 games, including a wild double overtime game 5 that the Pistons lost, 127-120. Detroit would go on to win games 6 and 7 after going down 3-2. In game 7 the Pistons won 90-69.
In the ECF, the Pistons would face their arch nemesis, the Indiana Pacers. Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle, the coach that Detroit let go before the season, had joined the lone team that mirrored their identity. The Pacers won 61 games that year, finishing as the best record in basketball. They had a top-10 offensive rating and the no.3 defensive rating.
There was plenty of subplots and matchups that would be observed closely. Richard Hamilton was the Karate Kid, the protégé. And Reggie Miller was Mr. Miyagi, the Hall of Fame guard who had all the tricks–both players ran marathons around the court, used elbows to create space, and had a silky jumper as they faded off screens from the baseline.
Rasheed Wallace would face off against budding superstar, Jermain O’Neal, who he spent the first four years of his career starting in front of when O’Neal was still a teenager.
Ron Artest was the Ben Wallace for the Pacers. Artest had just wrapped up a season as the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year. He was a stalwart on the defensive end of the court and much like Wallace, he brought an invaluable toughness that spread throughout the team.
The Pacers were the perfect storm for the Pistons. It was like when the Super Friends faced the Legion of Doom. And game 1 was proof of that.
The Pistons lost game 1 78-74, promting the classic guarantee from Rasheed Wallace that the Pistons would win game 2.
Sheed delivered on the guarantee and the Pistons won game 2 by five points, behind a big time defensive effort from Wallace, totaling10 points, eight rounds and five blocks.
Sheed led the team in rejections on an evening where they had 19 blocks as a team. The Pacers and Pistons combined to set the record for most blocked shots in a playoff game (26).
But it was TayShaun Prince who would have the highlight denial of the night. Up 69-67 as the shot clock ticked down in the fourth quarter, the Pistons turned the ball over, leading to an outlet to Reggie Miller who stutter stepped enough to lay the ball in and tie the game, but creeping in his peripheral was the elastic limbs of Prince, gliding across the hardwood.
Striding in as he caught up to Miller, he reached his arm out, swatting the ball away like he was Mr. Fantastic or something. It was a momentum turning event that catapulted Detroit to victory in a defensive slugfest where scoring didn’t come easy. None more evident than Prince’s picture perfect chase down block of Miller in game 2.
The Pistons went on to win 3 of the next 4 games, sending them to their first NBA Finals since 1990 when the Bad Boys were going for back-to-back titles.
This team and that team shared the same principles of toughness. And this sequel was beginning to get really good.
David v. Goliath by Miguel Robledo
David vs. Goliath
The Pistons had vanquished all of their opponents in the East, but now they were set up to play the bullies of the west, the LA Lakers. The Lakers had won 3 of the last 4 NBA titles, coming off of a 3-peat the year before last.
It was a dynasty anchored by its most combative divo superstars, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. But this team had added future Hall of Famers, Gary Payton and Karl Malone as well. And although they weren’t the superstars that they were in their prime, Payton was coming off his fourth straight All-Star appearance and Karl Malone was fresh off a 20/8/5 season that saw him play 81 games.
Despite the drama, injuries, and style of play differences, the Lakers finished the year 56-26. They also scored the third most points per game (98.2) with the sixth best offensive rating (105.5).
They beat up on Yao and the Rockets in round 1, sending them home in 5, then they beat the defending champion Spurs in 6, before defeating MVP Kevin Garnett and the top-seeded Timberwolves in 6 in the WCF.
Many experts saw this bout with the Pistons as a mismatch that was nearly not even worth watching. The overwhelming majority of writers and commentators picked the Lakers to sweep.
Frank Isola, formerly of the New York Daily News said, “The mental advantage is Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant.” “Those are the two best players in the series. That’s the mental edge they have in every series.”
Isola’s assessment was a preconceived notion that made sense with the pedigree the Lakers had built up, but the dismissiveness of their opponent was coming from almost everyone.
Los Angelas Daily News published a column that said, “Make this quick, please. Make it painless as possible..” “This figures to be the Lakers’ least interesting series of the post season. The NBA deserved better than this. The mothers of the pistons deserved better.”
REALLY?!
Well he was partially right. The Pistons would make it as painless as possible and, even better, it was the most interesting of the Lakers’ finals trips, because they were completely and utterly dominated. Despite having the two best players in the series, homecourt advantage and the NBA’s coaching guru, Phil Jackson.
It didn’t matter. The Pistons started off by winning game 1 by 12 points, controlling the second half by winning both quarters with stifling defense in the fourth quarter. The Lakers shot just 37 percent and shot two free throws.
The Piston’s philosophy was simple: guard Shaq one on one and force Kobe into difficult shots with different defensive looks throughout the night. Shaq would see Ben Wallace, then Rasheed and then Elden Campbell. Kobe would get Chauncey, Rip, Tayshaun or even Lindsey Hunter. They threw every look at the Lakers’ superstars in order to keep them off balance.
The Lakers would steal game 2 thanks to a clutch triple, sending the game into overtime by Bryant at the end of regulation. He heated up big time in that game, scoring 33 points on 14-of-27, including 14 points in the 4th quarter and overtime. But with the series going back to The Palace of Auburn Hills for game 3, the Pistons were prepared to reclaim their dominance.
The Pistons hopped out to an early 24-16 lead and never looked back. They held the Lakers to 68 points, beating them by 20 in the process.
The Lakers shot just 37 percent for the game and went 6-for-27 from beyond the arc. It was a trouncing. Shaq and Kobe were a minus 39 and Bryant shot 4-for-13.
Richard Hamilton outplayed, Bryant, his hometown friend and teammate, scoring 31 points six rebounds and three assists.
The Pistons were suffocating Bryant who they’d treated like he was America’s most wanted and the entire Pistons’ team wanted the bounty.
The Pistons’ defense all night has been terrific … In this game tonight, anywhere Kobe Bryant has gone, there’s been 1, 2, to 3 players covering him out on defense. Pretty much like the Jordan Rules.
The Pistons’ ability to share the hot hand game to game made them such a dangerous unit to cover. And unfortunately for the Lakers, it was Rasheed Wallace’s turn in game 4.
You know how the saying goes, “don’t poke the bear.” Well, Slava Medvedenko did just that. With the game deadlocked at 49 in the 3rd period, he elbowed Wallace after a loose ball foul. And then Wallace shared a sweet nursey rhyme with Medvedenko that I can’t type. From the 5:37 mark forward, Wallace went into his bag.
Next possession down Wallace created position on the block, caught the ball with his right hand, faked right and hit Medvedenko with the lefty jump hook from about nine feet as he bleepidy bleeped him down the court.
Then they went back to him again, catching it on the block, hesi shoulder fake to the right, turn left and one off the glass.
Rivers said after the consecutive makes, “You should let sleeping dogs lie.”
Well, he wasn’t lying. Wallace scored 17 points in the second half, including 10 in the 4th. He also added 13 rebound and two blocks.
Game 5 would be the coronation. The Pistons had five different players score in double figures. Ben Wallace had 18 points and 22 rebounds and they broke the century mark for the first time all finals. The Pistons blitzed them in the 2nd and 3rd quarters 57-35, creating enough separation to seal the game. Chauncey Billups was the steady hand all playoffs. Calm and never rushed, he knocked down timely basket after timely basket. He also led the playoffs in assists (328)–the guy who was deemed incapable of running a team, had found the right balance between filling it up and dealing, that would silence the critics’ misguided judgments. The former journeyman averaged 21 points and five assists on 47 percent from deep in route to a finals MVP.
The masses were shocked and couldn’t believe it. How could this dynastic pairing fall to a team with no superstar–a team without championship DNA.
It was a surprise to everyone, but the Pistons.
#Pistons #BadBoys #LilLakerBoy #BigBen #ChaunceyBillups #ChrisDavisSpeaks #CD #Kobe #Shaq #Best5Alive
