"Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now."
My Boog Pages
Sunday, June 13
And That's The Way It Is
The Lakers came out and played much better tonight, but it wasn't enough as the Pistons pulled away in the fourth quarter and won to all but seal a championship.
Shaquille O'Neal played the best game I've seen him play in literally three or four years. He scored, he rebounded, and he was very active under the basket. Unfortunately his teammates didn't contribute much and Shaq can't do it all himself.
By the way, who kidnapped Rasheed Wallace and replaced him with his mild-mannered twin brother? Since coming over to Detroit, 'Sheed has been on his best behavior, no ranting or raving and very few technicals. Until tonight, of course, when Slava Medvedenko gave him a little extracurricular elbow to the ribs. 'Sheed took exception and proceeded to school the Lakers power forwards for the rest of the game. Don't make him angry. You wouldn't like him when he's angry.
(Best banner spotted on TV: "Let It 'Sheed".)
And how good would Detroit be if they hadn't taken Darko Milicek with the second pick in the draft last year? Darko is a young European with "tremendous upside potential" (the Hubie Brown hat trick), but he contributed exactly zilch this season, and probably won't do anything for at least a year or two more.
The player taken immediately after Milicek was Carmelo Anthony, who may not get much better, but is already playing very well. On the other hand, if they have Anthony the Pistons probably wouldn't have traded for Wallace, so Detroit general manager Joe Dumars (MVP of the '89 Finals) gets to win now and build for the future at the same time, and generally end up looking like a genius.
Dumars was one of the classiest players in the league (only he and John Salley stuck around to shake Michael Jordan's hand after being eliminated in '91), so it's nice to see a good guy finishing first for a change.
