The talk around the Pistons (and around Detroit Bad Boys) has been the proposed trade of Darko Milicic to the Orlando Magic. But if Tuesday’s night’s victory over the Nets is any indication, the Pistons are undeterred by the mini-media frenzy surrounding the deal.
The Pistons dispatched of the Nets last night with an element absent in their recent mediocre stretch: namely tough defense and control of the boards. Detroit’s shooting was off–only 38.6% from the field (24% from three)–but forcing the Nets into 16 turnovers and limiting them to only 4 offensive boards resulted in 14 more shot opportunities for the Pistons. Even on the worst of shooting nights, defense like that will keep them in any game.
So who get’s the gold star and smiley face for the night? Ben Wallace–struggling as of late–returned to form after being victimized by Kazaam and the Heat on Sunday. Last night’s double-double was Ben’s first since the win over Mamba and the Lakers on January 29.
Also, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the spark that Carlos Delfino gave the Pistons off the bench. He has established himself as a defensive presence, having followed up his great D on Dwayne Wade Sunday night with another shut-down performance on Vince Carter last night. Given the hetero-mancrush that we at Detrot Bad Boys have on Delfino’s game, I can’t fault my fiance for developing her own crush on Carlos. And she made a good point during last night’s game [ed. yes, we watched the Pistons on Valentine’s Day]–Carlos Delfino lacks an appropriate nickname. Have a suggestion? Post it in the comments.
[P.S.–Sadly, if the trade with the Magic goes down, it would be a most appropriate ending to the Darko era if the airball he threw up late in the fourth quarter of last night’s game was his last shot as a Piston. Has such a high-profile player ever offered so little for fans to remember him by?]
sheed and the other guys were calling delfino ‘miami vice’ on sunday, because of his white pants and brightly colored jacket.
Insteaded of taking such a big risk on selecting Darko in the draft, they should of taken the sure thing with Carmelo Anthony. It would have been easy to deal anthony for a decent center if that was the reasoning behind picking Darko. Of course no one expected Dwane Wade to turn out to be what he is now, but damn this would be one amazing team with either anthony or wade coming off the bench.
How bout Delf? Perhaps C-Del? Del-tastic?
How about “D-lite” for a nickname?
Think of all the connections it has with Delfino:
his name,
the city (he plays for ‘tha D’),
his suffocating D on Wade and Vince Carter,
his love of early 90’s pop music (”Groove is in the Heart).
Okay–I made up the last one, but so what.
Carlos “The Fiend” Delfino. He’s a predator on defense and offense.
Carlos, “Dude, you’re getting a” Delfino
“Skipper”
http://www.eurojerseyimports.com/product/Player/09050201.html
Whoa–Pat brought his A-game today. Skipper is a good one! We may need to collect the best of the best and put it to a vote during the All-Star break downtime.
I thought that his teammates called him thumbs because he runs with his thumbs sticking up.
What about Del- FINE-o ? (oh man, i can’t even write that with a straight face)
I just found a few more ideas — these aren’t original, though, I just found them using Google:
According to the Detroit News, Sheed nicknamed Delfino “Top Model” and “Antonio Banderas” last year.
I have not clue what this website is or where they got it from, but InterBasket seems to think Delfino’s nickname is “Magic”.
We’ll definitely have to put this one to vote — personally, my favorites are D-Lite, Skipper and Thumbs (I’d love to see an article saying that, it’s so odd it’s funny). Carlos “Dude, you’re getting a” Delfino made me laugh out loud, but it’s a little too Chris Berman-esque for me to use it all the time.
I’m sorry. Your list of Delfino nicknames doesn’t suit me. I’ve always been partial to ‘Playstation’. It seemed fitting after hearing summer league reports about his seeming uninvolvement with seroiusly working his ‘game’. The ‘Playstation’ moniker WAS mocking initially. After seeing Delfino elevate his game so far this season, I hold the nickname Playstation more fondly.