Detroit Pistons: 2004 NBA Champs!

When I was in college, my roommate Kevin was a big Michael Jordan fan. This was back before the Bulls under Jordan won all their titles, and Jordan hadn't quite made the mega-stardom levels that he did in the mid-to-late nineties. He was also a fan of Dominique Wilkins, and all the big "dunking" stars.

I, myself, was never a fan of flashy players. I always liked the Grabowskis - the players who got down in the dirt and ground out wins. Hence, I liked the Detroit Pistons of the late 80s and early 90s. The "Bad Boys" were what I wanted to see - a tough, defensive minded team that took no prisoners and shut down the flash in favor of working for a win. So, to combat Kevin's Jordan and Wilkins posters, I threw up my own poster of Bill Laimbeer and Rick Mahorn wearing black and silver Pistons jersies and crushing basketballs in their bare hands.

Kevin HATED it. The Pistons style of play wasn't what basketball was supposed to be about, he'd say. But he left me alone when they won two straight titles in 1989 and 1990. And he'd especially leave me alone when I made the point that Jordan couldn't do anything against Pistons guard Joe Dumars.

Well, Dumars is back, as the director of basketball operations for the Pistons, and he's still finding ways to win. The Pistons throttled the L.A. Lakers for the NBA Championship last night, and I stayed up to watch a pro basketball game for the first time since... possibly 1990. :)

This team was, in many ways, just as exciting as the old Bad Boys were. But in a way, I like them more. They're even less flashy and more hard-nosed than the Bad Boys, but without the propensity for violence. They just get in there and get the job done.

The player who impressed me the most was Ben Wallace. Wallace pulled a horrific duty in having to cover the big man, Shaquille O'Neal, and he did it so well that Shaq was held to ten points less than his career playoff average. And the guy just saw the court and moved to rebound the ball better than just about anyone I've seen in a long time.

I'm never going to be a huge basketball fan, as soccer is my first love sports-wise. I'm not a fan of a sport where you pretty much have to be some sort of genetic freak to play - and basketball players are simply too damn tall. I like sports that anyone can play.

But this team certainly did grind out the win by taking the league's most storied franchise to the hoop and showing them how it's done. My hat is off to the 2003-4 Pistons - NBA Champs.