21
Apr
| PISTONS OR PISSED-OFF? |
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| Written by Jack Ebling | |
| Monday, 21 April 2008 | |
 It was a great weekend to watch games and get away from the Pennsylvania primary insults. It took a while, but “The Barack and Hillary Show” has managed to blend the worst aspects of “Monday Night Raw” and “The View.”
If we’re looking for leaders, let’s talk about Nick Lidstrom and the Detroit Red Wings. If the idea is change, why not mention Michigan State’s new wide receivers? And if the goal is to win, will someone please tell the Detroit Pistons? Moving from the sublime to the ridiculous: Osgood is good, and so is his team: A super-courageous osteo-sarcoma patient and pal, Brandon Gordon, told me last Sunday that the Wings were playing the wrong netminder. Apparently, it took a little longer for that message to reach Mike Babcock. When the Nashville Predators beat Detroit twice last week to draw even in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, something was wrong. His name was Dominik Hasek. That doesn’t mean a 42-year-old goalie is too old to win a championship. And it certainly doesn’t mean a two-time winner of the Hart Trophy and six-time recipient of the Vezina Trophy is incapable of stopping the puck. It means the size of a player’s heart matters more than the size of his paycheck. It means when Chris Osgood has been the Wings’ best goalie all season, he has to be between the pipes now. And it means two W’s in the last two games. The Wings have more firepower than a blowtorch and shouldn’t blow games when they get nearly three times as many shots on goal. With “The Wizard of Os,” that didn’t happen. ’Tis better to receive than give up: Devin Thomas did amazing things for the Spartans last year after the biggest one-season leap in program history. And, no, that wasn’t John L. Smith’s fault. Twelve months ago, his teammates would’ve laughed out loud at the idea Thomas could be a top-15 pick in the NFL Draft this weekend. He’ll also become a very rich man. And we’ll talk with Thomas on his way to the bank Saturday morning on “The Jack and Tom Show” from 8 and 11 on 1320 WILS. But lest anyone think MSU will be bankrupt for wide receivers in 2008, the Green and White Game dispelled those notions. Four X’s and Z’s had excellent days, and perhaps the top catch in Mark Dantonio’s second incoming class wasn’t even in uniform. Sophomore-to-be Mark Dell looked much more confident. Redshirt-freshmen B.J. Cunningham and Chris D. Rucker showed big-play explosiveness. And surprising junior Blair Whites was good enough to give his Green team a 23-21 victory. Incoming frosh Fred Smith might not have to be a star from Day One. He might not even start in Game One at California on Aug. 31. That’s a good thing. Pistons stop firing in stunning loss: When the No. 2 seed in the NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs has a 15-point lead at home against a seventh seed with almost no post-season experience, it should have been “Game Over” Sunday night. Instead, it was “Team Over.” Detroit found a way to lose 90-86 to Philadelphia and make the Sixers look fabulous. It was tough to tell which team was the title pretender. Rasheed Wallace had an excellent game at both ends. He also had a technical foul and the focus and maturity of a hyperactive 2-year-old, crashing the Philly huddle, joking with Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks and finally missing a critical layup. Rip Hamilton, who knew about cheesesteaks before he won championships, must have felt compassion for Philadelphians. He did as much for the Pistons as Ben Wallace Sunday. Meanwhile, the Sixers stopped playing like Ben Franklin. Chauncey Billups, “Mr. Big Shot” himself, shot his team into trouble by missing three free throws at just about the time Reggie Evans, “The Human Airball,” swished two foul shots and a turnaround 18 footer. Will the Pistons win the series? Yes, and probably in six games or less. But were they embarrassed as professionals and potential World Champions? Absolutely. Thank goodness for Flip Saunders and his flip players, Game One might mean as much for Philly as a win in the Iowa Caususes did for Mike Huckabee. |
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