Last year, I literally ran out of things to talk to my girlfriend about. Eventually Chris Rock was right, you can run out of conversation once you have been with the same person for so long. At the same time, I needed to get out and do something outside besides the usual yard work that I detest, and since you really don’t need a partner or expensive equipment, to play basketball, I started shooting free-throws at the local school court, while my kids ran around in the park area. Basketball is a young man’s sport. It requires a lot of jumping, running, and most of all what a lot of NBA announcers refer to as “athleticism”. I’m not known for any of these, but I can shoot baskets I thought at least. After some pointers and plenty of practice during the summer months, you tend to appreciate what basketball players do on the court.
Playing the game in real life is of course what it is all about, but watching elite players like Tracy McGrady is something which started to grow on me. I don’t ever see myself ever dunking like Shaq or Ben Wallace, but I do think that with practice you can develop a decent jump shot, nothing that compares with Dirk, but I sure wish I had his wrists. Getting the ball to arc and spin is the secret to great shooting.
This brings me of course to the Detroit Pistons which are my favorite team to watch at the moment. Not only do the Pistons represent everything that an average guy would like to be, meaning a champion player, but they also are entertaining to watch, and that is what the NBA is really about. It’s about putting on a very entertaining game that fans can watch and get into. Unlike other teams, Detroit does not have superstars like Shaq that can make their game easier, nope they have to work to win their games, by having every player put in his best efforts. This makes the Pistons one of the best team oriented teams in the NBA, of course it is even more interesting that their primary game is defense oriented, cause that means a lot of their opponents get pretty pissed off at them sometimes.
My favorite Piston is Prince. He is tall and thin, but this guy can defend some of the most elite players in the league cause of his long arms. His dunking and fast breaks are also improving this year and it’s always fun to see an unselfish player get his points in.
Since I have a couple of kids of my own, I feel that Rasheed Wallace is probably the Piston I can most identify with. I could see myself talking about my kids with Rasheed over dinner and I’m sure we would get along fine. It’s not that Rasheed is a bad boy, it’s that he’s too honest, probably one of the few players in the league that does not hold back on the court, nor in the press.
Then there’s Ben Wallace, the big man who blocks and rebounds off the glass. All I can say about Ben is that I would be proud to have my kid grow up and be half the player that Ben is. Big Ben has worked for everything he’s gotten and that is something I want my kid to learn.
Probably the most criticized players are Richard Hamilton and Chauncy Billups, cause they are the guards who have to score big numbers on a team that is primarily known for their defensive game and not their scoring. That is a lot of pressure for them, but Hamilton is the quickness and Billups is the clutch shooter for the team, and if Prince and Rasheed have a good game, the Pistons are unstoppable.