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Pistons notebook: Dumars extols team's philosophy
Web Posted: 06/23/2005 12:00 AM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
Joe Dumars, the Pistons' president of basketball operations, spoke Wednesday about the secret to his team's success being a team-first philosophy that has allowed players such as Chauncey Billups, who struggled on other teams that expected him to carry too big a burden, to become a standout in Detroit.
Billups, Dumars said, is the greatest clutch shooter in club history because he has had to hit more big shots in the Pistons' two le runs than he or Isiah Thomas did when they were helping the Pistons win two les in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Why have the Pistons been in so many close situations in their two le runs?
"I think everybody will agree the New England Patriots are a great team in football," Dumars said, "but they've had to kick field goals to win two of those Super Bowls. It's not like they went out there and did like the Bears did to New England back in those days. This is a great team that we're playing.
"It goes back to some of the struggles some of them had when it was just on them. But bring them together and it's different."
Rippin' on Bowen: Pistons guard Richard Hamilton said he has grown more accustomed to playing against Spurs defensive specialist Bruce Bowen throughout the Finals, explaining the best way to handle Bowen is to "learn to laugh."
But when Hamilton lost his protective facemask after Bowen swiped at it midway through the fourth quarter of Game 5, Hamilton didn't exactly have a sense of humor about the incident.
"I wanted to throw that ball at (Bowen)," Hamilton said.
Even though Hamilton has played well over the past week and scored 23 points Tuesday, he was still angry about some of the tactics he said Bowen is using against him.
"I'm not going to be a cheap-shot dummy," Hamilton said. "I told the ref that if you allow him to do it, he's going to keep doing it."
Bowen, as has been his custom this postseason, didn't seem too upset by the accusations.
"It is what it is," Bowen said. "There are times where I get away with things, and there are times where I feel that he gets away with things. So with that, you have to just play."
McDyess McSick: Now that the Pistons have forced a Game 7, forward Antonio McDyess finally felt comfortable enough to talk about just how tough it was to endure their loss in Game 5 from the bench.
"I was pretty sick to my stomach watching the whole situation," McDyess said. "In regulation I didn't watch the last minute, in overtime I didn't watch the last minute. But we hung in there (in Game 6) and got a win, but emotionally it was just hurtful to watch it."
No big deal: Tonight's game will be the first Game 7 in the NBA Finals in 11 years, but Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace said it won't be the biggest moment of his professional career.
What does he consider the biggest game he's ever played in?
"When I was younger, my first championship," Wallace said. "Ain't no comparison (to tonight). Because that was my first one, and this is not my first one."
