The national media meets the Zoo Crew

by Matt Watson on Feb 25, 2008 2:58 PM EST

Yahoo's Johnny Ludden has the play by play:

Johnson exploded off the court. O’Neal met him in mid-flight, extended his right arm into Johnson’s chest and sent the Detroit Pistons forward back from where he came. As he hit the floor with a thud, Johnson felt the wind suck out of his chest.

"Sorry young fella," O’Neal said.

"I figure I might as well get it," Johnson would later say, "while I’m young."

That's the highlight everyone seems to be talking about, but obviously the Zoo Crew had plenty of other plays where, you know, the ball actually went through the hoop:

Jarvis Hayes, a 26-year-old free-agent pickup from Washington, scored a season-high 18 points while the 20-year-old Johnson and 25-year-old fellow forward Jason Maxiell combined for 11 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks. Rookie guards Rodney Stuckey, 21, and Arron Afflalo, 22, helped hold down the backcourt.
[...]
"We learned some things the last couple of years," Saunders said. "Two years ago, we played at such a high level and it took an emotional toll to keep it going. Last year, again, I thought we got fatigued."

By expanding their rotation, the Pistons have significantly reduced their starters’ workload. None are averaging even 35 minutes. Prince and Billups have each seen their minutes drop by an average of three a game. Over the course of a season, that’s a savings of at least six games. The decrease has been even more pronounced of late with Stuckey, who missed the first 1½ months with a broken hand, now entrenched as the backup point guard.

We've obviously read similar accounts all season long in the Detroit papers, but it's nice to see the national media catching on with what's easily been Detroit's biggest storyline of the year: the stereotype of the Pistons as aging and slow no longer applies, as there's a group of young and talented reserves making their mark in just about every game.

Young guns power Pistons / Yahoo (via JackDutch)

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Comments

That’s one thing I don’t understand about the perception of the Pistons, even by Pistons fans. These are the “New Look Pistons,” even though the starting lineup only has one guy different and he was on the team last year. The bench is totally new, with a completely new attitude, and while teams like Phoenix and Dallas are beginning to get desperate and mortgage their futures, the Pistons look to be set up very well when the starters being to move on.

by Taco John on Feb 25, 2008 7:16 PM EST reply actions

Taco John: It can be explained quite simply like this: Joe Dumars is a G. His only majorly bad move, drafting Darko instead of [insert any current all-star from the 2003 draft class except LeBron], occurred in the season we ended up winning the title. And that move isn’t even that bad when you consider that Darko (and Carlos Arroyo) were later traded for cap space and a draft pick that ended up being Rodney Stuckey.

Joe will make his share of not so good decisions (waiving Bobby Simmons following the trade he came over in when we acquired Rip, drafting Mateen Cleaves, drafting Rodney White), but none of these moves have produced a significant detriment to our team like say a John Paxson (horrible GM) did by signing Ben to a 4-year/$60 million deal. Joe always maneuvers his way out from under his bad decisions, and he does it quickly. This is what sets him apart from other GMs in the league, and this is why the Boys in Blue look to be in good shape through the turn of the coming decade.

by LawyerBoy on Feb 25, 2008 8:09 PM EST reply actions