Chris McCosky
The Detroit News
Category: Pistons
Posted by Chris McCosky (The Detroit News) on Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 3:08 PMRip takes one for the team
I don't want to hear anybody bad-mouthing Richard Hamilton any more. I think a lot of fans, and media members, made a lot of premature assumptions about Hamilton. I think people assumed he would be a diva and not accept coming off the bench. I think people assumed he would be a bad teammate or a distraction.
Turns out, he's willingly made a tremendous sacrifice for the Pistons. He doesn't love the fact that he's coming off the bench and, honestly, he probably didn't have any choice but to accept the decision. But from the sound of things, he's willing to do everything in his power to make it work. And that's what matters. He's not going to sulk. He's not going to be a distraction. He's going to try to make a tough situation manageable. I think he deserves a lot of credit for that. He's the captain of this team and he's making the biggest sacrifice for its success.
Give some credit to Michael Curry, too. I think a lot of us thought he was wimping out on making a decision, hesitant to tell either Rip or Allen Iverson that they would have to come off the bench. That wasn't true, either. He was wisely collecting evidence. He wanted to have enough evidence to back his decision.
"The only way something like this could affect a player's psyche is if you just do it and not give something a chance to work," Curry said. "If we would have just made the call (after Hamilton came back from the injury), it would have looked like we were just giving up on that person. We didn't do that. We gave the small lineup a chance and it wasn't successful."
The best news of the day, though, was that Curry planned to stay with this big lineup now and let the team find some rhythm and continuity. That's what really has been missing through the first 40 games.
One last note -- Tayshaun Prince missed his first practice since being drafted by the Pistons in 2002. He needed to take treatment on his strained groin. He said he will play against the Raptors Wednesday.
Comments
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The new Microwave
Let this play out. Hopefully successfully. The normal game plan has been for huge regular season successes. (Not too late for that). Hope here is we are watching building blocks for a big-time stretch run that takes us into Mid-June. Good luck Rip and thanks.
Another thought. Next year how is this for a scenario...no AI (if), Rip back in the starting lineup with this roster addition......#7 from the University of Connecticut.....Ben Gordon
Rip off the bench?
I am glad that Rip has seemingly taken this "demotion" to the bench well, as I always expected him to. However, I can't help but think that the wrong decision was made. Keep in mind that last year in the playoffs when Stuckey and Rip were on the court together, there was almost no drop-off in production from the Billups-Hamilton pair. In the two games after Billups/before Iverson, the Pistons continued to play good ball. Iverson should be the one coming off the bench. He is the guy that can come off the pine and make a significant contribution, but in the opening moments of the game it is CRUCIAL to get the team into a good rhythm--which Stuckey and Hamilton can do. Keep in mind that Hamilton was the guy on the court when Detroit won the championship in 2004, and again when they barely lost in the finals the next year. Iverson is a great star, a great talent, but just does not fit in this team well enough to be on the court right from the get-go.
You're still the MAN, Rip!!
:>)
GO PISTONS!
GO RIP!
At least a decision was made....it's all good.
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