BAD BOYS

"Bad Guys" were reunited 10 days ago in Detroit and tomorrow will be broadcast a documentary film dedicated to this many-unique team.

Center that spurs the trophies and does not know how to play back to the basket. Beekeepers who mostly play on cuddly. A low wing that only plays back and only occasionally opens for a shot from distance. A winged center that jumps in attack and plays defensive. 10-Player Rotation. Rhythm control and offensive jump. Faul's and after judging ads. Tripping. Strikes in the face. Elbows in ribs. Hitting the hook. Provoking. All these were Detroit Pistons from the late 80s ...

The pistons were the first team in modern basketball that you could not describe through the statistics. A look at the archers' list did not offer an answer why they won. Their eyes were then trained to look for two, possibly three, who had 20 to 30 points. We got used to the head of the cells and the auxiliary staff. Detroit has changed that. The pistons were the first team in which the "carriers" of the game sacrificed their time and the number of silences in favor of the rest of the team. Ten players were threatened by the attack, and this team became a pesky strange statistic, where everybody gets 5 to 18 points, and the wins end up with 20 differences, even though the record does not offer anyone who is knocked out or is particularly in the mood.

The "Bad Guys" was made out of the field by the ingenious team manager Jack McClosky, who in the mid-80s could not make a mistake when the choice of players was in question. On the ground, Isiah Thomas was in charge of their mentality with the "small" support of Bill Laimbeer.

My best friend was the Pistons fan and especially Isiah Thomas. From Trieste he got a pair of Detroit Piston shirts dominated by Thomas's head. So we started to notice Thomas beside Magica, Bird and Jordan. Later, we also got a video cassette on which Isiah explains the secrets of his dribing. I do not have to point out that his dribing arsenal was perfect. We were trying to imitate it with the compelling commentary of "Thomas's promises !!" while Isiah throws on another parquet floor ...

"Tomas, you are a desperate player!" Next day comes Dan Dakich. Remember that name !!! Double is better than you !!! "

That is how Isiaha formed the Bobby Knight at the college. No matter what Isiah destroyed all opponents and that Dan Dakich in any universe would not be able to carry his handbag. Knight was a basketball perfectionist whose very often maestral performance of his player was not good enough. Bobby could always have been better.

Isiah Thomas had a competitive spirit very similar to Jordan's. In the sense that any opponent in the field would be killed if this meant a victory for his team. Thomas many say he was prepared to sell the soul of the devil just to be the champion. In the end it did, but he lost a lot of companions on his way to the title.

Thomas Pistons survived two heavy knockouts until the final conquest of the title. There are few teams that would stay all over after all. The defeat of Celtic in the final of the 1987 East. The fifth game in Boston. The pistons had the advantage of five seconds to the end and the ball. Thomas's addiction to Laimbeer was cut off by Bird and assisted Dennis Johnson for the winner basket. The pistons were fired in seven games. Boston went to the finals.

A year later Detroit finished the finals. They had 3: 2 lead and two games in Los Angeles to try to win the championship title. Isiah hardly hurt his ankle but refused to leave the game in one of the slimmest moves ever. He dropped to one leg and scored 25 points only in the third quarter, 43 in total for the match. The pistons had the title in their hands for 45 seconds to the end of the match. They did not endure. Loss 103: 102. They lost the finals in seven games.

Thomas watched the match for the first time only 15 years later. Earlier, he simply could not. He grinned in tears as he watched the match. He was the one who got the Pistonse's desire to win. He was the one who raised their aggression to the limit of scorn that felt to them the rest of the league. Isiah's tears 15 years later because of the defeat and the victim he has submitted, and his teammates speak of the desire of a man and a team to be the best ... at any cost ...

The title was the driving force of the entire Piston Team. They were so blinded by winning trophies that they went to the extreme.

Still, one thing nobody can ever argue with. They were really a team definition. Much more than any basketball team I know in the last 30 years. The unselfishness of this team was unreal. Almost altruistic. They were ready to kill each other in the field. Who did not think so had nothing to look for in that locker room. Thomas deliberately sacrificed his minute for Dumar and Vinnie Johnson. He sacrificed his number of silent consciously. An example was followed by others. Mahorn made Space Salley, Laimbeer James Edwards. Only Adrian Dantley was angry because he had to give up his minutes in favor of Dennis Rodman.