Key Points

Disclaimer – This will be a Bynum filled recap.

• Things just started good in this one, Will had a handful of assists in what it seemed like a few minutes and Rip was on fire.
• Regardless of the fact the Washington is not a great team, this team looked great and Will just dominated.
• One of those pretty Rip to Tayshuan alley oops that reminded me of the good old days.  You can thank Maxi for it too!

Video Courtesy of the NBA and the Detroit Pistons

• Speaking of Maxiell, he seems to be back! A double-double with 10 boards, 12 points, a steal and 2 blocks.
  Haven’t had that much fun at the Palace in quite a long time, thank you Will.
• Tay and Rip both finished the game with 18 points.
• I’m amazed every game with the amount of fans gained by Jonas Jerebko.  18 points for the Swede with 3 steal, 8 boards and a heck of a lot of swagger when Singleton got in his face.  That’s the kind of technical foul I like.  Jonas = he anti Sheed.
• Will just looked like he had eyes in the back of his head and made a point of getting the ball to his teammates in any manner that he good.  The career high 20 assists where the most from a Detroit Piston since Isiah Thomas on April 12th 1985.
• “That means a lot to me,” said Bynum, a Chicago native like Thomas. “I grew up watching Isiah play, and to do something that he did is huge.” Via The Detroit Free Press

Photo/Getty Images

• Will’s Bynumite Highlight Reel.

Video Courtesy of the NBA and the Detroit Pistons

• Can’t tell you how excited the crowd was, we knew something special was going to happen as soon as he hit his previous mark of 14.  The crowd went nuts after each one…I almost lost track.
• Even the few points Bynum did score were pretty.
• When will was at 18 the bench never sat down and when he kept feeding DaJuan Summers and he was missing it we all could feel the pain.
• I really didn’t think he was going to pull off 20, but Ben Gordon finally made Pistons fans smile when he knocked down the last shot.  Here is the last play of the game, Will’s 20th assist.

Video Courtesy of the NBA and the Detroit Pistons

• Love how Maxiell handed him the game ball.
• Will Bynum post game interview.

Video Courtesy of the NBA and the Detroit Pistons

• At the end of the first quarter, I thought I had a chance to get Kevin Porter’s (team) record of 25, but I don’t think the coach and I had the same mindset,” Via The Detroit Free
• A meaningless game just turned into something special for Will and a whole lot of Pistons fans. Something tells me if you leave Will a message in the comments, he might just see it.

It seems like just yesterday that Pistons fans were celebrating a Championship.  It doesn’t seem that long ago that Detroit had a starting five that were familiar, solid, loved and envied league wide.  It really was just a short time ago that we continually got ready for a long playoff ride filled with joy and anguish.

There are highs and lows with every team, in every league, but as Pistons fans we have come to expect excellence and comfort.

Comfort in a style of gritty play, comfort with the one of our own running things,  and comfort in an owner that we knew loved his team above all else.

Last night I sat in wonderment at the Palace of Auburn Hills as my team took on the Boston Celtics.  This would normally be a huge game, even without the fact the Rasheed Wallace was returning to Detroit, in green for the first time.  Instead the place was littered with empty seats and quite a few that were occupied, were donned in green.

I watched my ailing team, in heart and body, pull off a pretty inspiring win.  A win that they not only dearly need for the sake of moral and pride.  I watched a reborn Ben Wallace take charge on the defensive end and Rodney Stuckey do what he needed to do to lead his team to victory.

The highs of the big game come with bittersweet sadness as I watched Mrs. Davidson have a mini press conference at halftime in front of her very familiar courtside seat and announce that she’s looking for a buyer for the team.

It’s her team and she can do with it what she wishes.  We as fans shouldn’t judge her, we just have to hope that she hands over the team to someone who loves it as much as Mr. D did.

I may be a bit sentimental, but I can still see him sitting in his seat with his beige windbreaker enjoying his team.  I see him with a mini television in front of him watching his hockey team on their way to a Stanly Cup, while he was watching his Pistons win a championship.  I can see him standing on court with Ben, Rip, Chauncey, Tay and Rasheed as they raised his banner in the rafters at the Palace.

I can still see his face as he was getting doused in champagne in the locker room by Isiah Thomas during the Bad Boys Championships.

I watched him embrace Isiah on court, when it was clear his health was failing at the All Time Pistons Ceremony.

One of my favorite memories is looking at his face in 2004 when they were presenting the team with the Larry O’Brien Trophy.  He may not have been able to hold that beautiful gold piece of hardware over his head, but his team made sure he could.

And how can we forget his very “Detroit” styled parade speech.

He may not be with us anymore, but he will always be remembered.  The Hall of Famer was a pioneer in professional sports and in love for his team.   If the new ownership has one tenth of the love that Mr. D had for The Pistons, things will be just fine.

Here I go with another blast from the past.

Life was simple….mullets, acid washed jeans and florescent clothing were acceptable and the Bad Boys ran the show.

The most fabulous Old School blast from the past Pistons video. Anytime you have Fennis Dembo, Scott Hastings and Chocolate Thunder in a single video clip it’s sure to be an instant classic. Enjoy your old school Friday.

Video Courtesy of The Detroit Pistons

I Remember the game vividly because I was at the Palace that night. I remember Johns Salley’s performance and I distinctly remember the celebration of being the eastern conference champs getting ready to head off to the NBA Championship for the second season in a row. (Back2Back I still have that t-shirt)

I also had a memory of two player that you may or may not remember. William Bedford and the Bulls B.J. Armstrong.

Bedford turned out to be of the biggest disappointments, a 7 footer with much potential and two NBA championship rings (thanks to Detroit) who sadly squandered his talents because of a drug problem.

B.J. Armstrong was Michigan bred and went the Birmingham Brother Rice high school.  I will always remember how small he seemed to me (6″2)  on court and always amazed in the fact that he was right across the way while I attended school.

Any special moments you remember distinctly?

Will Bynum was nice enough to answer some questions for Pistons fans to give us a little insight on who he is when he’s not Thrilling us at The Palace.

N4S: Greatest Basketball Moment?
WB: I would have to say the buzzer beater shot against Oklahoma state in the final four to advance to the championship.

N4S:Favorite NBA player past or present?
WB: Tim Hardaway/ Earl Monroe both had a flair and style that I loved in their game but I could go on and on with the list of players…..

N4S:Favorite NBA Team Growing up?
WB: Pistons because of Isaiah and Joe, they were tough minded small guards that dominated the game and that’s what I always dreamed of doing.

Photo/Getty Images

N4S: Thing you are proudest of?
WB: My daughter Laila and my family.

N4S: Something you wish you could do but can’t (for most of us it’s dunk but you have that covered)?
WB: I’ve never felt like there’s nothing I couldn’t do …that’s weird but it’s true. I feel like I can accomplish anything. I am driven by people telling what I can’t do

N4S: Coke or Pepsi?
WB: Water

Photo/Getty Images

N4S: Favorite Food?
WB: Baked Chicken and Macaroni

N4S: Favorite Color?
WB: Green…lol

N4S: Favorite article of Clothing?
WB: Polo collared shirts.

Photo/Ralph Lauren

N4S: Favorite TV Show or Shows?
WB: Martin, Dave Chappelle, The First 48 and The Wire.

N4S:Favorite Movie?
WB: I am an avid movie watcher so I have a lot but If I narrow it down 8 mile,Training Day and Harlem Nights.

Photo/Universal Studios

N4S: Something you do to unwind?
WB: Watch movies/ play with Laila.

N4S:Favorite Car?
WB: I don’t have a fave, but anything that can get me from point A to point B from my house to the gym.

N4S: One thing you wish you could change about yourself?
WB: Why would I want to do that. I am a firm believer in making the best out of your God given abilities

N4S: If you could meet anyone in the world dead or alive who would it be?
WB: Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, I’d love to talk with them now in the aftermath of their sacrifices.I’d love to see what their next steps would be in today’s world. Also, Pistol Pete Maravich because I’ve watched his film and he is someone to whom I can really relate to. He had a great basketball mind.

N4S: Favorite place?
WB: Chicago

N4S: In Detroit, we think you can Dunk over YAO….can you?
WB: I would definitely try…lol

Photo/Getty Images

N4S: Thing that surprised you most about The Pistons?
WB: The organizations family atmosphere.

N4S: Thing that surprised you most about living in Michigan?
WB: Being from Chicago the weather shouldn’t have surprised me but after going to college for 4 years and living in Israel for 2 years I forgot about the winter hawk.

N4S: What (CD) is currently playing in your Car?
WB: Tupac (Old Skool)

N4S: Will the Thrill or Bynumite (I think I know the answer to this one)?
WB: Will The Thrill

I just want to thank Will again for taking the time to answer some questions that he normally wouldn’t get asked in the locker room. He was not only a good sport, he wanted to make sure that Pistons fans know how much he appreciates the love he gets from all of you and that your cheers and comments serve as motivation.

If it’s possible to root for “The Thrill” more than I already do, I will after getting to know him a bit more this Summer. In addition to doing this for Need4Sheed he sent me one of the nicest email’s I have gotten in my years of doing Need4Sheed. Will is truly one of the good guys on and off the court.

Next step….I’m trying to convince him to come join all of us on Twitter so we can get to know him even more. Come on Will, you know you want to. If you need some help, I’m sure your new teammate @CV31 will give you a hand.

I have also been going through old footage I have saved on the hard drive.  I found possibly my favorite little clip ever.

Add some cowboy hats and a classic soundtrack and you would swear you were in the old west. Bad to the Bone…that’s what they were.

Looking back…Dumars wears the white hat, Isiah, Laimbeer and Mahorn would be donning black.

That team of journeymen who soared to great heights over accomplished according to NBA standards. Chauncey, Rip, Wallace X2, Prince, Memo, Elden, Corliss etc… started something that didn’t suddenly come to an end.  A little bit of that special something died when the Pistons lost to the Spurs, when it looked like they were going back to back.  A little more so when Ben Wallace bolted for Chicago and the final straw was the Chauncey Billups trade.

We should have seen right then that it was over, but that’s what we do as fans.  We root and hope and we stand by our team even though we know the ship is sinking.

I remember another sinking ship called The Bad Boys.  It first started taking on water when the Pistons lost to the Bulls in the first round of the playoffs after winning back to back championships.  The release of Vinnie Johnson started the take down, and the rest is what it was, the end on an era in Detroit Basketball history. This video will bring it all back….

As we hope NOT to repeat history of years of mediocrity, we have a common thread that may keep us afloat.  Joe Dumars was there through it all, let’s hope he will do whatever he can to right wrongs and start a new trend instead of following an old one.

We don’t have much longer to wait to see just what we as Pistons fans have to look forward to.

You may know by now that I received a trivia request for a Rap song that made mention of Isiah, Dumars, Laimbeer…ect.  Well I am not sure if this is it, but it’s a gem. Thanks to good friend and Need4Sheed reader Kevin Antcliff (a fellow Detroit blogger) who did all the dirty work for us.  He remembered the song, dug up his VHS (yes he still has it) of Pure Pistons: 1990 NBA Championship and took care of the rest.

A Motor City Classic

Pump it up Pistons

As we watch the Playoffs from a different angle this post season we can only hope that our old friend Mr. Big Shot keeps doing what he’s doing.

We said goodbye to two great men in Pistons owner Bill Davidson and Bad Boy legend Coach Chuck Daly. Which is not just sad for everyone who knew and loved these great men, but it reminds us of their legacy.

I started on the Pistons bandwagon at a very young age (pre Bad Boys). Now I didn’t follow the team the way I do know in the early stages, come the time Trader Jack drafted Joe Dumars I was completely hooked. Isiah and Tripuka may have sparked my basketball love, but The Bad Boys birthed my addiction.

So when I was thinking of the loss of Davidson and Daly instead of mourning, I looked back at the good times they gave us. Two true innovators that cemented what we know now as Detroit Basketball. I was looking though old Pistons specials I had taped (since it’s May and I not used to not seeing the Pistons play) and I came across some good times.

Good Times, and more to come.

Dave Bing Mayor of Detroit / Photo AP

Now that Dave Bing is The Mayor of Detroit, it’s only fitting that I work on a Cartoon Bing.  I got quite a few suggestion via Twitter as well as Facebook on weather to go Old School Bing or Present Day Bing.

It looks like what I was leaning toward won out, you should see a Present Day Cartoon Bing shortly.

All that got me to thinking, I have to start Tooning “The Bad Boys”.  I did Dumars and Isiah so I think the logical one that comes next it Laimbeer but I’m open to suggestions.  I will get to them all sooner or later but does Laimbeer come first?