There’s being confident, and there’s being cocky. Even I’m willing to admit that Chauncey Billups toes the line between the two. From the Detroit Free Press, talking about tonight’s meeting with the NBA champion Miami Heat:
“We want what they’ve got,” point guard Chauncey Billups said. “As everybody does. We’ve been an elite team for a long time, and they’re starting to become that. It’s a good rivalry.”
Starting to become that? Starting to become that? Don’t mean to wake you up, Chauncey, but they’ve been that ever since June 2, 2006 when they knocked off the Pistons in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Cripes.
(In any event, the YAYsports! post making fun of Chauncey’s ego will appear in 5… 4… 3… 2… )
Pistons fired up to take the Heat [Detroit Free Press]
Definitely an odd choice of words. Not only are they the reigning champs, but they probably peaked last year given the age of their roster. If anything, they are starting to become more like the rest of the East (middling) than “elite.”
Cripes. What is Chauncey thinking? If Chauncey and the Pistons didn’t consider the Heat an elite team last year, is that why they lost to them? The Heat are the defending champs and it took Detroit 7 games and a prayer to beat them in the playoffs the year before. Shaq has hardly played so far this season which is no surprise as he usually seems to take most of the regular season off to save himself for the playoffs. But with Shaq and Wade on the floor together come playoff time, I still consider them an elite team until proven otherwise…at least in the East.
Poor choice of words.
I don’t get the commotion. He said the Pistons have been elite for a long time, and the Heat want to get there. Do you guys think the Heat want to stop at one title, or get back to the Finals again like Detroit did?
The Pistons have been at the top of the conference for a couple of years longer than the Heat. If Miami slides back down this season, their run will not be regarded as well as Detroit’s. N’est-ce pas?
hey, can anyone locate this dwayne wade quote that saunders is referencing in the papers today about how wade “hated” detroit and wouldn’t have wanted to come to motown and play if he was drafted by the pistons? seems like something i would have noticed/remembered…
not that i need more of a reason to hate d-wade. simply his ability to drive past and score over our players is infuriating enough.
On June 1, the Freep had the following quote from Wade. Remember, he’s from Chicago so he probably grew up watching the Pistons bounce Jordan around.
“I never wanted to be a Piston,” Wade said. “There was never nothing there. I grew up not liking the Pistons.”
Just to revisit the main topic, it’s worth remembering that fans around the league were using the F word in 2005, calling the Pistons a fluke until they got back to the Finals and came within an inch of crumbling the Spurs. Same conditions pretty much apply now with Miami. If they don’t get back to the championship round, they become the hoops equivalent of the Florida Marlins.
Why is this blog becoming the “Hey look Chauncey said something cocky” report? And why is it a bad thing that Chauncey over-estimates the Pistons rep? If you look at the LEastern Conf right now, he’s not that far off.
LanierFan, I don’t think it is just this quote that raises hackles.
I think the Pistons tend to be an arrogant lot, sink or swim, and rely heavily upon 2004 to support their self-confidence. I personally don’t have a problem with it — i’d rather them be confident than self-conscious.
But referring to the Heat as “just getting to elite status” after playing them in the Conference finals two years in a row (and splitting the two series) makes it sound as if the Heat are aspiring to reach the Pistons’ level. Unfortunately for us (as Pistons fans), I think the opposite holds true. I’m sure it is the Pistons who are wishing they held the Heat’s title of “defending champs.”
Sidenote: I think the Heat loss in the ‘05 Conference Finals prevents them from being viewed as the NBA’s Florida Marlins, since they did climb the ladder rather than appear from nowhere. But, staying with the comparison, both the Pistons and Heat run the risk of being viewed as the NBA equivalent of the Atlanta Braves (one and done), especially if San Antonio grabs another title!
pistons and heat have the same number of titles in the past few years…
with that said, i love chauncey and his comments.
Ian, being likened to the Braves might bother me if basketball had as many different champs as baseball. But when you count the number of franchises who’ve won it all, even one title raises you up. (So does getting there, IMHO. Count how few franchises do. Only a bonehead weaned on Nike commercials would believe that “29 teams tied for second.”)
I’m not a major Chauncey apologist, and I’m not saying the Heat stink. But stringing four good years together is a real achievement these days, and there’s reason to withold extravagant praise until the Heat show what they can do with that bullseye on their backs.
LF, you’re right that basketball experiences more repeat winners than baseball today.
But, to nitpick, back in the Braves heyday, when they were repeatedly getting to (and losing) the World Series, baseball was in a very similar situation as the NBA of today. I remember reading a while back that in ten World Series from 1991 to 2001, only ten teams played in the World Series. (Admittedly, I had to go back and double-check.)
Again, drawing this comparison of leagues out further than it probably needs to go, you always want to be the Yankees (or even the Blue Jays) instead of the Braves. That’s my point.
I understand your point to be that the Heat have only been a .500 team for three years in a row and so are not at the Pistons’ level of sustained success. I’ll cede that, but I do think they climbed the ladder a bit faster than Detroit and (before the season started) were a favorite to be right back in the mix this year.
Are they a dynasty? No, of course not. Neither team is. But, based upon recent history, are they already elite? I think so.
Thanks for bringing up the baseball comparison — that was an interesting angle.
I was just reading a quote from Isiah Thomas this morning, as he remembered the game that Bird stole the ball, and what a chore it was to get their first win in Boston Gardens.
At the time, it seemed insurmountable, and as close as that team got, the Celtics seemed to always have one more level of effort (and home advantage) in their house.
Zeke put it as “young kids, trying to carve out their turf” when describing those wars.
I miss the days when the players didn’t hug and text each other. When you shook a man’s hand after he beat you, and not before because he didn’t want your pity, and you made him earn your respect.
I couldn’t agree more, Micro. And it adds to the impression that today’s players care less about winning (or, maybe a better wording, “beating their opponent”). (Whether that is correct or not, I have no idea.)
I like that McHale — as much as he disliked the Pistons — passed on the “Now go beat LA” message to Isiah after the Pistons won in ‘88.
I always get a laugh when such a big deal is made out of sniping in the media. Remember some of the things Barkley used to say about Laimbeer? The Lakers about Parrish and McHale? The entire league about Rick Mahorn? That was an everyday occurrence. That was fun.
You know what else I just remembered? Mahorn and Barkley fighting with Laimbeer when Mahorn went to the Sixers.
I wonder what they think of Ben calling Chauncey and co. all the time now that he’s with the Bulls.
Mahorn left by force (expansion draft), and he still came back swinging.
Spectator: I’m a huge fan of Chauncey, I’d just like to see a little more humility, especially since this team is a shell of the team that won in 2004, let alone got close in 2005. Over-confidence suggests there’s not a need to improve, but anyone that watched the playoffs and the early games so far knows that there is a HUGE need to improve if they’re going to get out of the East and win another title. Just my two cents. But really, this is just the second time that I can remember that we’ve touched upon this.
It’s a fine line between over-confidence and swagger. In my opinion, the criteria is winning.
“They laugh who win.”
— William Shakespeare