Tag Archive for ‘Rasheed Wallace’

Tag Archive for 'Rasheed Wallace'

Pistons namesakes

Published by Matt Watson on August 18, 2008 in Around the Internets. 19 Comments

This is hilarious — from Ryan Pretzer at Pistons.com:

Clifford Wade and Latanya Bussell had an agreement about the naming of their first child. If Latanya had a boy, Clifford would name him; a girl, and Latanya would have the honor.

Clifford, a lifelong Detroiter who says he comes to five Pistons games a season on average, knew precisely which name he wanted to go with. And it definitely wasn’t Dwyane.

“Rasheed is my favorite [Piston] and I also wanted as the middle name somebody off the bench so I chose Amir Johnson,” said Clifford, who named his son Rasheed Amir Wade.

And you thought some DBB readers took the Free Amir movement too seriously …

Rasheed present at Curry’s presser

Published by Matt Watson on June 10, 2008 in Alley-Oops. 2 Comments

Rasheed Wallace was apparently the only Pistons player to show up at Michael Curry’s introductory press conference. There’s no reason to attach any meaning to that, but all things considered I still found it interesting.

The other side of Rasheed

Published by Matt Watson on June 4, 2008 in Around the Internets. 27 Comments

Rasheed Wallace didn’t drop any controversial bombshells about Flip Saunders or his future in Detroit during his appearance at SNYX Sneaker Studio last night, but he also didn’t leave those fans who came out to see him empty handed. From Terry Foster of the Detroit News:

The millionaire stood in the rain for 10 minutes with rain snapping into his face, signing red-and-blue T-shirts for boys and girls who sang his name.

This wasn’t part of the bargain for Rasheed Wallace. The deal was for him to come to the Derrick Coleman-owned Synx Sneaker Studio, promote his new Rasheed Wallace Air Force 1 gym shoe, talk to a few youngsters and then be driven back home, where he would celebrate his son Nazir’s fifth-grade graduation.

The rain and autograph session in a weed-choked alley was not part of the bargain. It happened because kids waited in the rain to meet him and Wallace felt an obligation to make their drenching wait worthwhile. […]

“Sheed, can you sign this,” young kids begged.

“Hang on,” Wallace said. “I ain’t going anywhere.”

And he didn’t.

“Y’all know I grew up in a neighborhood just like this,” he said.

Earlier during the appearance, he participated in a Q&A session inside the store:

“You know people say I got an attitude problem,” Wallace told his audience, which drew laughter. “People think that I am the same way off the court that I am on the court. That’s not true. On the court, I am at work. When you are at work or at school, you don’t want people bothering you. You’re at work. You got a job to do.”

But he does not want people knowing much about good Sheed. I ran into a man the other day who told me about all the wonderful things Wallace does in the community. And his charity work comes with one small price.

Don’t tell anybody.

He wants the world to see him as big and bad, sometimes unapproachable and tough.

That’s why he tries to keep things like his impromptu autograph session in an inner-city alley under wraps. This is his human side. This is Rasheed Wallace feeling comfortable in an environment where he got his start.

“Is that it?” he said as the final autograph was signed.

For what it’s worth, I’ve heard the same thing Foster has from various people who’ve interacted with Wallace off the court. Some guys only show up for charity events with lots of cameras, other guys only do it when the cameras are turned off. I’m sure it drives Rasheed’s agent crazy, but I can respect that.

Buy shoes, meet Rasheed

Published by Matt Watson on June 2, 2008 in Around the Internets. 12 Comments

Rasheed Wallace will apparently greet sneaker heads tomorrow. From the Freep:

Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace is scheduled to make an appearance Tuesday at SNYX Sneaker Studio, 8961 Linwood in Detroit, to promote the new Nike Air Force 1’s that he designed. He’ll have a private Q&A with high school athletes at 5 p.m., then greet shoppers at 5:20 p.m.

SNYX, if you don’t recall, is the sneaker shop Derrick Coleman opened up last year. But considering Wallace didn’t talk to the press after Game 6 and didn’t show up to clean out his locker with the rest of his teammates the next day, I’m thinking the store might want to emphasize this is a scheduled appearance.

Flip Saunders apparently won’t be fired

Published by Matt Watson on June 2, 2008 in From the news and Rumors. 39 Comments

From Chris McCosky in the Detroit News:

We were all wrong. All of us who speculated that the Pistons’ loss in Game 6 to Boston spelled the end of Flip Saunders’ coaching life in Detroit were wrong.

Saunders met briefly with Pistons president Joe Dumars on Saturday and all indications are that he was told he will be back.

Understand that with the Pistons, a coach’s job security can change in an instant, but as of today, the plan is for Saunders to finish out the final year of his contract. He’s already working on next season. He will supervise a workout of draft candidates at the practice facility Wednesday.

If true, I’m not disappointed — there aren’t any available candidates to replace him that would make this decision a no-brainer, and he did exceed everyone’s expectations by developing the bench in the regular season (he just forgot to use it in the playoffs …)

As I said before, though, I’m nervous about a lame duck coach sharing the locker room with Rasheed Wallace, so this might seal the deal that Wallace is on his way out. That said, I’m wrong a lot, and Dumars tends to buck conventional wisdom in favor of staying trained on the big picture.

The Pistons won 59 games, the third-best record in franchise history. This isn’t a time for rash decisions, and if teams interested in Wallace are only offering 50 cents on the dollar because they think Dumars is backed into a corner, well, it’s just not going to happen. Either way, stay tuned. This will be interesting.

Other opinions:
Brian Spencer from Empty the Bench
Kelly Dwyer from Ball Don’t Lie
Marcel Mutoni at SLAM

Update: Matt Dery of WDFN remains convinced Saunders is gone (via Full-Court Press):

I was online this morning and read Chris’ piece in the Detroit News today about the Pistons and Flip Saunders. It stated that Flip may be back after all after meeting with Joe Dumars over the weekend. I just don’t see that happening. I know Flip may have told Chris that, and heck, maybe Saunders believes it, but I would be so stunned beyond stunned if he returned as coach. Whether you like Saunders or not, he has failed to get the team to where they need to go and Joe knows it, Scott Perry knows it and Mr D knows it. We all know it. Maybe Dumars told Flip he is not going to make a change right now and for him to continue on with drilling draft prospects in the next few weeks, but that still does not mean anything. It happens all the time in sports, the dreaded “vote of confidence” or “no move means status quo” bit..

Granted, it doesn’t look like Dery has any sources, but WDFN is the flagship station of the Pistons, and unlike most talk radio guys spouting off from afar, Dery is at the arena every game and is as plugged in as most reporters.

2nd Update: A. Sherrod Blakely also remains unconvinced:

This season had a disappointing ending, just like Carlisle’s final season did. Despite racking up a bunch of wins, Saunders found himself being second-guessed all season by fans publicly and players privately, just like Carlisle. And when Saunders left for the summer, he felt as though he would be back, just like Carlisle.

Not only did Carlisle expect to be back, but there were preliminary talks about a contract extension.

It’s unclear if such discussions have taken place between the Pistons and Saunders, but returning without one would be difficult and awkward for all involved.

The difference, as Blakely goes on to note, is that Larry Brown, an unquestionably superior coach, became available. No such option exists on the market to replace Flip … yet.

Rasheed’s last days?

Published by Matt Watson on June 1, 2008 in 2008 Playoffs, Around the Internets and Videos. 118 Comments

(Be wary of Sheed’s salty NSFW language)

If these really were Rasheed Wallace’s last days in Detroit, they haven’t been pretty.

Video via BallHype, Awful Announcing

Brief thoughts

Published by Matt Watson on May 31, 2008 in 2008 Playoffs. 76 Comments

The season ended much earlier than I thought it would, so I’m going to let this marinate a little bit and try to enjoy the rest of the weekend before posting some kind of grand finale. But first, some brief reactions:

Congratulations to the Celtics, who convinced me they’re the better team. Even when Detroit got going on all cylinders, the Celtics always found a way to hang around until the very end (Game 4), keep the Pistons at bay (Game 5) or weather the storm and seal the deal (Game 6). There’s no quit on that team from top to bottom. I don’t appreciate the way the team came together in just one summer, but you can’t argue with the results.
Antonio McDyess is taking this hard. Really hard. I implore you to read this.
This was easily Flip Saunders’ best year on the sidelines, and Tayshaun Prince did his best to deflect criticism from Flip after the game, but I think he’s probably gone — even if for no other reason than the fact that he’ll be entering the last year of his contract next season. I don’t think Dumars/Davidson wants to can him before his contract is up, but I don’t think they want to extend him, either, and bringing back a lame duck coach who’s allegedly struggled to earn the respect of everybody in the locker room doesn’t make sense.
Who do I think will replace him? Michael Curry or Avery Johnson are my guesses. Plus, Curry would be dirt cheap as a first-time coach, which would offset the expense of paying Flip to leave.
Did Rasheed Wallace play his last game as a Piston? I’m leaning toward yes. He can still produce and is an underrated defender, but he’s not consistent and (most importantly) will be entering the final year of his contract. That said, I don’t think Dumars will give him away — it’d have to be the right package, and it’s difficult to get full value on one of the most misunderstood players in the league.
Another guy who might be moved: Rip Hamilton. Not because he doesn’t fit this team, but because his trade value is still sky-high and the Pistons could probably enter next year with Rodney Stuckey playing next to Chauncey Billups and still expect to compete for a title.
If the Pistons do start making trades, they better not block Amir Johnson. I know it’s easy to scoff at the hype (though even I laugh at the “Amir LeKobe” nickname one of you came up with), but he’s absolutely the team’s best rebounder and shot-blocker. Even if that’s all he ever will be — and there’s no reason to think it is — that’s worth 25-30 minutes a game.
I’ll weigh in more on all of this later this weekend and throughout the summer, I just wanted to get some quick thoughts up lest you think I’ve abandoned ship.

Last but not least, thank you.

This site exists because you guys read it, and I never expected in my wildest expectations that it would draw such an intelligent, loyal and respectful community of readers. It’s extremely humbling to see so many of you guys to claim this little corner of the internet as your preferred destination to talk hoops and watch games. I hope you all stick around this summer — things should get really interesting.

“It’s all (bleeping) entertainment”

Published by Matt Watson on May 29, 2008 in 2008 Playoffs, Celtics and Sheed said it. 106 Comments

Rasheed Wallace wasn’t impressed by the officiating last night:

“All that bull(bleep)-ass calls they had out there. With Mike [Callahan] and Kenny [Mauer] — you’ve all seen that (bleep),” Wallace said. “You saw them calls. The cats are flopping all over the floor and they’re calling that (bleep). That (bleep) ain’t basketball out there. It’s all (bleeping) entertainment. You all should know that (bleep). It’s all (bleeping) entertainment.”

If I had to guess, I’d say the David Stern will be giving him a (bleeping) fine. It’s too bad, because Sheed is (bleeping) right.

Update: Need4Sheed found video of Sheed’s comments.

Update 2: Nice (bleeping) moving pick, KG.