First, it's a lot harder to get into the Palace than it used to be. This was compounded by the fact that they were retiring Ben Wallace's number. I was going with my dad, and our plan was to arrive around 30 min early. This would've been possible if there were no other cars on the road going to the same thing. Unfortunately for us, there were several thousand cars on the road all on their way to the Palace. It took us about 30 min to go 1 of the 2 miles we needed to get to our exit, after which we would've needed to get through 2 lights on Lapeer Rd and then navigate the parking lot. In that scenario we might've made the 2nd quarter, but it's tough to say. It was REALLY backed up. At that point we decided in a change of strategy, got over 2 lanes and drove down to the next Palace exit on Jocelyn, 2 miles past the first Palace exit. It took us about 5 minutes to drive the last 3 miles and park. We managed to take our seats right after the National Anthem, which was a HUGE relief.
The atmosphere was "rocking", as George Blaha likes to say. Most of the 2004 championship team was sitting courtside, and it was fun picking guys out. I noticed during the intros that Drummond came out and gave 'Sheed a handshake ('Sheed was formerly an assistant coach for the Pistons), although I couldn't tell if he shook anyone else's hand. They showed the different former Pistons on the jumbotron during commercial breaks. Ben Wallace got a HUGE standing O, which brought some tears to his eyes. The other starters got lesser ovations as well, with 'Sheed and Chauncey tying for next biggest.
As you can see, the Pistons handled their business in this one. KCP and Aron Baynes were the stars of the 1st half, and then it got a bit chippy in the 2nd half. Andre Drummond should've had a 20-20 game, but he missed a bunch of tip-in attempts. Reggie Jackson had a bad day from the field as well, AND missed 3 of his 4 FT attempts, but still ended up with a 20 & 8 line, no turnovers, and decent defense on the other end. Stanley Johnson was bad in the first half but great in the 2nd, and Steve Blake had a decent showing as the backup-backup PG.
On the other end, Curry struggled against Detroit's D in the first half, but had better luck in the 2nd half getting free on some illegal screens and dropping some shots that weren't falling earlier. Draymond Green had a totally bad game in general. He got some assists, but he couldn't get his shot to fall and nearly got himself kicked out of the game at one point. I think the officials probably favored the Warriors a little bit, but less than they were used to, and that got them flustered. I was surprised how effective the D was against their ball movement.
The halftime show of course was Ben Wallace's jersey retirement (full video here). During the first half, they had video clips of various players and coaches congratulating Ben on the jumbotron during commercial breaks. Kobe, Jason Kidd, Pat Riley, Stan Van Gundy, and a couple of others. They also showed the members of the 2004 team that were present. That led to a pretty cool crowd response during timeouts and the like. Other former players like Buddha, Mahorn, and Vinnie Johnson (who has even less neck than he used to) were there.
George Blaha gave a great into, and then handed the mic off to Tom Gores, who proceeded to talk FOREVER without saying much. My favorite line from Gores' speech was, "you don't deserve this, you've EARNED this." Uh, what? I like how he said that what Ben Wallace was about is what the Pistons are trying to build now, but most of what he said sounded like he made it up on the spot and didn't have a lot to draw from. Larry Brown gave a good speech AND drew attention to the fact that Dumars wasn't there, a glaring omission. 'Sheed gave a great speech as well, and then Ben spoke.
It made very little sense to have Gores talk, although it's his team so he calls the shots (big difference between him and Bill Davidson as owners). I think it would've been a more fitting tribute if they had canvassed the fans prior to the game with a video camera, asked them what Ben Wallace meant to them, and then mashed together their responses on the jumbotron. Here's what I would've said, if they had asked me that question:
Ben Wallace was the soul of that 2004 championship team and the centerpiece of the 'No Fly Zone', an historically great defense. But to Detroiters, he meant so much more. The level of effort and energy he expended on the basketball court, all the adversity he had to overcome, and his competiveness and determination went beyond the game and inspired us all. His style of play uniquely matched his fan base, where we could appreciate what he did on the court better than any other fan base in the NBA. Ben Wallace transcended the game.
My dad and I saw our fair share of Pistons games when Ben was on the team. We went to a game in the 2004 regular season and saw him block a hook shot from Shaq. We saw watched him on TV put vintage Kevin Garnett in a phone booth and close the door (KG gave him daps for that too. Respect.). We saw him basically block Shaq into his grave in game 5 of the ECF (jeez, that block still amazes me. It's Shaq, he's going up with 2 hands, Ben is coming down with one, it's Shaq, Ben Wallace is like 6 inches shorter and 100 lbs lighter, it's Shaq...). In fact, let me close with the Fear the Fro clip:
***ESPN came out with mid-season grades for all 30 NBA teams. If you don't have an ESPN Insider account, here are the Cliff's Notes:
Overall grade: B+
The Pistons are on pace to make the playoffs and beat ESPN's forecast by 10 wins. SVG's offseason moves have paid off, the starters are playing well as a unit, and the defense looks a lot more like what we've come to expect from a team helmed by Van Gundy. They have enough youth and good building blocks that this group should be able to grow together. They're not ready to be considered "contenders", but they'll be in the fight for a spot in the playoffs.
***
I would be remiss if I didn't talk about the Tigers' big move. On Monday night they signed Justin Upton to a 6 year, $133M deal. Upton has an opt-out clause after the first 2 years of the deal and a partial no-trade clause, so while the price isn't exorbitant in the current market, Upton has a lot of control. Also, that salary should push the Tigers over the luxury tax threshold once everyone else is signed. That only impacts the owner, and he's stated that he's willing to pay, so no biggie as long as Mike Illitch is alive.
Upton is a pretty solid batter. He's only slightly above average defensively, but he does fill a need in LF. One thing that many have brought up is his right-handedness, which makes the Tigers pretty righty-heavy. Also, he's not better that what they got last year from Cespedes, who would've been more expensive and supposedly didn't want to come back because Ausmus didn't get fired. So that's a lot of money to give a guy that most would describe as "better than average, but not by a whole lot."
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