May 2006 Detroit Pistons Wiretap

Free-throw Disparity Has Pistons Crying Foul

May 30, 2006 9:28 PM

It looks as though the Detroit Pistons are turning their frustrations from their coach to the officials, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel is reporting, with forward Rasheed Wallace complaining about the free through disparity as his team now faces elimination, down 3-1.

Wallace pointed out the Heat's 47 free-throw attempts to 22 for Detroit and Dwyane Wade's 19 attempts.

"You know that was some B.S." Wallace said. "They doubled us on free throws. He had 19 and we had 22. We have just got to stay together. We did a couple good things in this game. We got close and then there was some B.S. But we have got to fight through it. We've done it this long, so we just have to keep doing it."

Wallace, who spent most of the game in a dialogue with official Bob Delaney, fouled out with 3:30 to play. Ben Wallace, Chauncey Billups and Lindsey Hunter all were in foul trouble at some point.

Pistons forward Antonio McDyess, who had five fouls, said, "Breathe on [Wade], it's a foul. You back off, he makes shots. You can't really play physical with him."

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Tags: Detroit Pistons, Miami Heat, NBA

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Saunders Reacts To Pistons Negativity

May 30, 2006 3:21 AM

Before Monday's game, Pistons coach Flip Saunders reacted strongly to his players questioning him for assorted things after Game 3.

On Ben Wallace suggesting that Saunders doesn't emphasize defense as much as ex-coach Larry Brown: ``This is the same group that said we did more defensive drills than we ever did. . . . You want to talk about lack of defense? Yeah, there's a lack of defense because guys aren't doing what they're supposed to do. If I gave up 50 points in the paint and I gave up 13 straight drives to the basket when I'm supposed to be guarding someone, I mean these are things you learn in the sixth grade: Stay between your man and the basket. If you can't do it, you are right, there's going to be a defensive lapse.''

On Tayshaun Prince questioning why Lindsey Hunter, who has had some success defending Dwyane Wade, did not play in the second half of Game 3: ``The reason we couldn't put Lindsey on the floor was . . . because Tay wasn't scoring. That was one of the things that went into it, so it's pretty ironic.''

Saunders made it clear that players would not dictate his decisions: ``As a coach, I make decisions. I have to live by the decisions. As players, they play, and they have to implement. . . . [But] we're better when we're irritable, and we're feeling fat cats about ourselves.''

Belleville

Tags: Detroit Pistons, Miami Heat, NBA

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Wade, Miami Take 3-1 Series Lead Over Detroit

May 30, 2006 1:59 AM

The night belonged to Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat.

With one more win, so will the Eastern Conference crown.

Wade scored 12 of his 31 points in the final quarter Monday night, leading a late charge that carried the Heat to an 89-78 win over the Detroit Pistons and a 3-1 lead in the series. Miami is on the cusp of its first trip to the NBA Finals.

Yahoo!

Tags: Detroit Pistons, Miami Heat, NBA

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Nine-Figure Deal Would Likely Be Needed To Lure Wallace Out Of Detroit

May 28, 2006 12:10 PM

In all probability, Ben Wallace?s agent, Arn Tellem, will be negotiating for a four-year deal for his client this summer.

If the Pistons elected to give Wallace a full maximum, they could pay him as much as $132.5 million over six years.

The most any other team could pay him over six years, possibly Atlanta, Chicago, Toronto or Charlotte, would be roughly $126 million.

In reality, a competing team may be able to lure his away with a package just over $100 million.

Detroit News

Tags: Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Toronto Raptors, NBA

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Miami Takes 2-1 Series Lead

May 28, 2006 12:52 AM

The 12-point lead Miami held minutes earlier was whittled to a single point, and Antonio McDyess rose for a dunk that would have given the Detroit Pistons the lead and all the momentum.

Dwyane Wade chose that moment to take over.

"Guys look at me and say, 'It's your time," Wade said. "That's all you need."

He blocked McDyess' dunk try, then had a three-point play 8 seconds later to end a huge Detroit run. The Heat went on to beat the Pistons 98-83 on Saturday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.

"Play of the game," Pistons coach Flip Saunders said.

Heck, it might have been the biggest play of Miami's season.

AP

Tags: Detroit Pistons, Miami Heat, NBA

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Flip: 'We Have To Get Back To Having Fun'

May 27, 2006 1:08 AM

The Pistons, who lost Game 1 and nearly blew a double-digit lead in the final minutes of Game 2, are looking like a team that has yet to recover from facing elimination games twice in their previous series.

"Let's face the fact," said Pistons coach Flip Saunders at the team's practice facility Wednesday. "We had two elimination games in 6 and 7 (against Cleveland). You're playing pretty much every other day, and as the series progresses, it does become kind of a grind.

"We have to get back to having fun and we have to get back to playing the way we were playing as far as moving the basketball, being more aggressive offensively and making basketball plays."

Journal Sentinel

Tags: Detroit Pistons, Miami Heat, NBA

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Heat Look To Duplicate Late-Game Rally Intensity For 48 Minutes

May 27, 2006 1:04 AM

Miami's outburst of 17 points in the final minute and 47 seconds of Game 2's loss showed the club that they will need to play with that kind of intensity in Game 3.

"The only thing we can take from that (rally) is we've got to have that same aggressiveness (in Game 3)," said Dwyane Wade.

"We have to go to that offense," Pat Riley said with a laugh. "I'm going to that offense at the beginning of the game and find out exactly what we were doing to score 17 points."

Journal Sentinel

Tags: Detroit Pistons, Miami Heat, NBA

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Pistons Hold On To Defeat Heat 92-88 In Game 2

May 26, 2006 12:10 AM

Tayshaun Prince had 24 points and 11 rebounds, Richard Hamilton scored 22 and the Pistons bounced back -- as usual -- and held on to beat the Heat 92-88 Thursday night in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Detroit got off to a great start after an awful one in the opener. Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade's supporting cast was lackluster following its outstanding performance.

But the Heat still made it close with a frantic rally -- scoring 17 points in the final 1:46 after trailing by 12.

"I'm going to go to that offense in the beginning of the night," Miami coach Pat Riley joked.

The conference finals rematch is now a best-of-five series, with Miami headed home to host Game 3 on Saturday night.

Yahoo!

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Pistons 'Swimming Upstream' In Loss To Miami

May 24, 2006 1:24 AM

The Miami Heat were well rested after their layover from the Eastern Conference Semifinals and beat the Pistons in Auburn Hills on Tuesday night by a final score of 91-86

The Pistons, who just finished off the Cavaliers in Game 7 of the Conference Semifinals, appeared sluggish.

"I don't think we had consistent energy," Pistons coach Flip Saunders said. "It's like we were swimming upstream the whole time.

"We've got to get rejuvenated quick."

Sun-Sentinel

Tags: Detroit Pistons, Miami Heat, NBA

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Rip And Hunter On Wade, All Hands On Deck For Shaq

May 23, 2006 3:30 AM

Rip Hamilton and then Lindsay Hunter will be responsible for guarding Dwyane Wade for the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals. Carlos Delfino, a rarely used reserve, might also be used to defend Wade, said Flip Saunders.

''We just try to play him like we do anybody else, make it tough for him,'' Hunter said. ``You can't stop him. It's impossible to stop him, so we just want to make it tough every possession.

``It's hard when a guy like that is playing because he does so much, and you don't really notice his struggles as much as you would a guy who was one-dimensional. He could have a [bad shooting night] and still break down our defense and then Shaq [O'Neal] gets easy offensive rebounds. That still makes a difference. For us, we want to keep him out the lane and we don't want him to have any feel-good shots, dunks and stuff like that.''

Guarding Shaquille O'Neal will require a combination of Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, as well as Dale Davis and Kelvin Cato when necessary.

Miami Herald

Tags: Detroit Pistons, Miami Heat, NBA

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LBJ: "Our Team Has Grown More Than Any Team In This Playoff Run"

Detroit News

Miami Prepping For Detroit

AP

Pistons Return To Eastern Conference Finals

RealGM

Hughes Will Be Ready To Play In Game 7

Detroit Free Press

Pistons Force A Decisive Game 7

ESPN

Hughes Rejoins Cavaliers

Globe and Mail

Chauncey: ''I'm Not Concerned''

Detroit Free-Press

There Will Be A Game 6 For Spurs

ESPN

Pistons On The Brink

RealGM

Cavs Even Series With 74-72 Win Over Pistons

ESPN

Rasheed Guarantees Pistons In Five

AP

Ben Wallace Hires New Agent In Tellem

Michigan Live

Hughes Remains With Family, Misses Game 3 Win

ESPN

LeBron Says A Sweep Is A Reality

Detroit News

Hughes Not Expected To Play In Game 3

Detroit News

Perceived Knee Injury Actually An Injured Shin For McDyess

Detroit Free-Press

Pistons' Perry Mentioned As Candidate For Denver

Detroit News

Bowen, Kirilenko, Wallace, Artest, Kobe And Kidd On All-Defensive Team

Press Release

Marshall Clarifies Remark About Cavs' Chances To Win

ESPN

Pistons On Cruise Control; Lead Series 2-0

ESPN