Detroit vs Los Angeles 2004 NBA Finals Game 5 June 15, 2004

and kiss her goodbye hello everybody and welcome to the Palace at Auburn Hills where it is game five the Pistons and the LA Lakers this isn’t just an NBA Finals game it’s a game in the finals in which you can win the NBA championship chuck Daly joins me as he always does he won two NBA championships so he knows what he’s talking about describe to me if you can put into words the atmosphere the feeling in a game such as tonight when you can win it all in attention well I think from a coaching standpoint just your trepidation because you never quite know what’s going to happen between shootound and how your guys are going to respond this is the final and the biggest stage and a lot of things could go wrong and I keep saying this but you got to play the games this club over here the Lakers are embarrassed uh number one number two they are unhappy frustrated and so you can’t tell what kind of an effort they might get and if they get the third score it’s going to be a dangerous game is it safe to say that they could be more dangerous tonight than in any game so far even the one they won i think very definitely because I got a little cough in my head Yeah i think Kobe and and Shaq will have huge games and try to respond to the pressure and then the other night I thought they found something in that Kobe start to get in the lane and dish off and got some good shots for other people make the shots they can make it interesting we just saw some video from when you won NBA championships here the special aspect of winning at home you had a win in Portland in Los Angeles well we we never experienced the good part of staying at home and doing it i’m not sure how wild it’ll be i’m a little nervous about what might happen in this building and what might you know that’s that’s okay way i’m just hopeful that this community really handles himself well because there’s going to be some Let’s celebrate but enjoy it the right way yeah let’s hope we do get a chance to do that all right well Larry Brown has been in the league for 21 years seven different teams trying to win his first NBA title let’s go to Dave Lwell and had a chance to explore that part of this story tonight with the Pistons dave all right Don thank you very much larry Brown took the 76ers to the NBA finals two years ago that team couldn’t beat Kobe and Shaq and company but tonight Brown is in a position to win a title larry Brown has taken more teams to the NBA playoffs than any other coach now he’s on the verge of a championship and it’s new territory for him what did you tell the team afterwards about being in the situation up 3-1 and only needing one more game to clinch it i hadn’t been there i uh I told him how proud I was of him brown was brought in after Joe Dumars decided Rick Carile wasn’t the coach to take the Pistons to the next level it proved to be one more brilliant move by Joe D he’s kind of met my expectations and I thought he was going to be a great innovator great motivator and he’s uh he’s lived up to all of that I should say so the Pistons players want this championship for themselves of course but they also hope to win it for the consmate coach the man who stresses his teams play the right way it would validate a lot of things I think in his career for him to have the ultimate goal i mean that’s what everybody that’s what you know that’s why he’s in this and uh I think for him it will validate a lot and really put him at ease about a lot although he probably wouldn’t say it but I I’m sure it’s true unlike other stops during his career Brown took over a very good team here in Detroit one that achieved backtoback 50 win seasons and competed in the Eastern Conference Finals he earned respect immediately with his approach what we had in place was working and and when he came in you know he just he just worked from there you know he didn’t you know lose everybody by trying to change the whole system you know anytime you can um go to a coach and and and have him ask your suggestion on on running a play you know that that make it comfortable for everybody to go out there and relax and play basketball and and it definitely you know help ease the transition and you gain a lot of respect for a coach like that he’s demanding no question especially of his point guards you can talk to Chanty Bilips about that but he also helps make all of these guys better players and it’s definitely a combination that has clicked here in Detroit don all right Dave thank you very much uh all the years in the league in the Hall of Fame never won an NBA title considered a genius this is a huge moment in Larry Brown’s life as close as he’s ever been you know you’re right but I don’t think he feels that way he’s a kind of guy that just coaches much like myself and I’ll never forget a great story after we wanted I go to Pinehurst we played golf with Jordan Jerry West Dean Smith a bunch of Carolina people we were sitting next to each other at dinner and he said pointed at me he said “You know you haven’t grasped what you just accomplished.” He said “You’ll be riding down the road someday this summer and you’ll just start smiling and feeling good about You know what?” He was exactly right and I had moments when I was alone when you say “Hey we were the world champions.” Not like you can ever say there’s a void in your life considering everything he’s done but that really fills it if there is well it caps it off makes him one of the all-time great coaches but there’s no other honor he can get he’s in the Hall of Fame coach of the year everything so consequently he just loves to coach he’s a coach’s coach for sure all right he’s a players coach too the guys like him the guys really do like him we got a lot more coming up on Pistons Game Day kobe with a rather strong statement a promise not a guarantee about tonight’s game you’ll hear Kobe on that and some other Pistons as well please stay right with us channel 7’s Rock Financial Pistons Game Day is brought to you in part by Rock Financial the mortgage experts by Wallside Windows most preferred most preferred by the Metro Detroit Ford dealers think Ford first by McDonald’s i’m loving it and by Meyer higher standards lower prices [Music] [Applause] let’s get it started i got 24 seconds to live and 200% is what I’m going to give so I push through the pain and raise my game a victory is the only thing to gain even though I’m playing the game I ain’t playing the trophy is the reason I came let’s get [Music] started and welcome back to the Palace of Auburn Hills you might remember when the Pistons played Indiana that Rasheed Wallace made a guarantee after they lost that first game that the Pistons would win the second game and they did well Kobe made a promise it’s not a guarantee to an LA writer it appeared in the LA paper that basically said he promised that they will win tonight’s game but when he was asked about it yesterday he sounded a little surprised i promised I’ll go with that man that’s fine with me no we don’t have a choice we got to win got to get it done you know I think uh we came up here best case scenario was to get three the next was to get two um step down from that is to get one we still have an opportunity to get one the worst possible scenario is to drop all three of these uh but I don’t think that’s going to happen by the way a number of Kobe’s teammates have indeed backed him up saying “Sounds good to me that’s exactly what we need to do.” Well do you like that do you not like that when you make a promise to win such a crucial game well I think when you’re in a situation where they’re down three to one and they have to win all of the next three games what difference does it make we make the statement if you don’t do it so what say so I don’t think as a coach it would bother me why does a guy pick a moment to do that though why does he I mean he he’s under a lot of pressure and a lot of scrutiny just by the way he’s played why is he the one that comes out and says something like that well I think he really feels that he’s going to be able to do something tonight i think he has that much confidence but the Taan Prince and the fact the way they play offensively in the triangle that is facing he doesn’t have the ball in isolation but as I said earlier he discovered the other night if he comes off pick and rolls he can get in the lane he may get shadowed again by Rasheed but he kicks the ball gets other people very good shots all right he is being criticized Kobe has by everyone because he seemingly and I haven’t charted this is the one guy who’s not getting it into Shaq as much as everybody else and the Lakers don’t like that you know I I don’t really see that i I see the fact that he’s caught a lot of times with the ball at the end of the shot clock and we talked to uh uh Wallace the other night and he bed Wallace you know they they topside him they front him so you can’t always get the ball to the guy you want to get to it because back out to Kobe and he’s the one guy that could go get a shot and he has to get a very tough shot all right Rashid Walls played great the other night uh I assume he has it in him to repeat that or is that hard to back that up with another good game you know he’s a peculiar player i mean he’s a great player but peculiar he’ll go a lot of nights and not score very many points the other night when they got the matchup they went to him inside he was able to take advantage of it make some big shots and when he got in the little frecus then it really motivated him i think somebody in his own team ought to hit him tonight get him excited and you know what everybody’s talking about how the Pistons have a hard time guarding Shaq as everybody does they’re having a hard time guarding Rashid yeah they are they don’t have a match up for him with Malone being who he is he was the guy to play him but right now he’s a shadow of himself we don’t know where he is in terms of minutes and how they’re going to play him tonight all right David Hall of Rock Financial has joined us in each and every show and he’s going to join us here again and David uh welcome to the show once again let’s talk about you and Chantzy and what’s going on there and your commercials and your promos and things like that well I’ll tell you what the uh it’s going to be exciting this year because Chanty has been driving me crazy about doing more and more charity work and we’re going to do more stuff next year he gave away a lot of tickets this year we were very very proud to be a part of Chanty and everything that he’s done he helped us give away so many tickets next year we’ve got bigger plans for the Chanty’s charity and you’re going to see an unbelievable stampede of charity work not only from Chanty but I’m going to try and help him out with it we’re going to give away a lot of tickets we’re going to do a lot of charity stuff it’s very exciting this is a very community-minded guy that I’m excited about being involved with and it’s just fun to be here tonight i’ll tell you it’s a blast you know the Pistons have always done a good job with that getting their guys involved and out into the community it’s nice to see Chanty playing so well and doing that at the same time feeling like this is home me so comfortable here yeah I’ll tell you what he he told me he plans on playing his entire career now in Detroit he did stuff in every city he’s been in in regard to charity and this is going to be no different he’s going to do more and more every year and we’re very proud to be involved with him in terms of his charity work and he was talking to me the other day about what are we going to do next year how are we going to give away more tickets so it’s very exciting to see a superstar player who wants to be so community-minded and involved with the community not only the read to achieve stuff that the Pistons do but he wants to branch out on his own and do some of his own stuff so it’s just fun to be a part of it and we’re glad to be here all right David thank you so much for joining us and telling about all the things going on with Chanty Bips coming up next Phil Jackson crying like a crybaby talking about the officials you’ll hear from Phil we’ll talk about that coming up next stay with us [Music] heat heat [Music] [Music] welcome back to Pistons Game Day you saw Dr j behind us both teams getting ready chuck and I getting ready couple of things we want to talk about here first and foremost I want to talk about Phil Jackson and the way Phil Jackson is dealing with the referees listen to what Phil Jackson said yesterday when talking about his team and the referees they don’t feel it’s over they want to shake these guys want a an even shake out there in the floor so that’s the part that you know is my sales job is is convincing them to go out there and play a game that you know they get an even break on the court and uh you know feel like they’re not playing from an uphill standpoint the crybaby sound effects behind Phil Jackson as he’s there your thoughts i mean that’s what he’s done now for two or three games complain complain complain about the officiating well that goes back to when he was in Chicago he’s a psychological master hoping that one official will read it and say you know I think they’re right maybe you’ll get one or two calls but you know what you never hear when you’re leading in a series so consequently it’s it’s when the team’s behind they get frustrated that’s the struggle when you say you hope the officials hear it and they might get a call do you think officials might hear it and say he’s not going to tell me how to officiate these games yeah they sure do they come in they’re going to make the calls because they’re on a huge stage everybody in the league everybody in America is scrutinizing what they do and they want to do a good job and we have the best officials in the world you rarely see the Lakers lose their cool in these kinds of situations kobe got a technical lost his cool jackson lost his cool a little bit signs of incredibly frustrating moments they’ve never been here before they’ve never been behind in a series and so they don’t know quite how to handle it it’ll be interesting to see how they respond tonight but they just haven’t had that and and again it’s embarrassment frustration that’s what happens when you get behind them all right what can they do if anything you think one do you think they’ll make any changes in the lineup to counteract what Chanty and Rip are doing to their guards i don’t sense they’ll change the lineup if they do they might make quick substitutions they’ve got to find the third guy to score and they’ve got to get Kobe off of something offensively when he can get more touches and they may move the big guy a little bit more set a screen for him let him come off when they had Malone they were doing some cute things high low but they’re not able to do that without Malone but in my case I’d go flat 14 give Kobe the ball and say “Let him play me i’d attack you and try to get easy shots.” Even the way he’s playing not hitting those outside shots you’d say give it put it in his hands not Sha’s hand absolutely because he when he has space he’s going to be able to do it all right there’s a whole lot more to come here on Pistons Game Day chuck and I are back with some final thoughts right after this [Music] best way [Music] channel 7’s Rock Financial Pistons Game Day is brought to you in part by Rock Financial the mortgage experts my Wall Windows most preferred most preferred by the Metro Detroit Ford dealers think Ford first by McDonald’s i’m loving it and by Meyer higher standards lower prices well Chuck and I have touched on this topic of closing out this series but what do the players say about game five tonight let’s go to Dave Llewellyn on the court for that angle dave and Don how about Joe Dumar joe knows all about closeout games he played a key role when the Pistons won their back-to- back championships tonight all he can do is watch and he’ll do so nervously you’re trying to close a team out maybe you’re a little uptight because you know what’s at stake the other team is desperate so usually that’s what makes it a very tough game you know you’re uptight really wanting to close them out the other team is like fighting you tooth and nail not to be closed out and that’s why that’s why it’s so hard to do uh cuz those those are the two forces that you’re fighting against yourself and the other team being desperate definitely if we just go out and play the way we’ve been playing and um you know definitely this our last home game so we got to we got to make a statement here and try to end it here that is obviously the objective take care of business tonight don’t let this thing go back to Los Angeles pistons playing great we’ll see if they can continue it and wrap up an NBA championship for the first time here at the Palace donnie all right thank you Dave chuck uh Joe Dumar said he’s tired of people calling this an upset if they win it’s an upset if you win one game and you’re the big underdog in an NCAA championship you got to win four games in this series isn’t this an upset or not is Joe what’s Joe saying there well I think everybody nobody including Joe I might add thought it would be quite this easy so is it an upset n not really they’re and I said early on in one of these shows that they had to play the game so the they’re the best team and they’ve proved it thus far series should be over we should be sitting at home watching TV or having dinner or something but they they absolutely are the best team and have it proved it every night i think you touched upon this in our postgame show the other night but some of the Laker veterans went to Phil Jackson and said “We think that Pton Malone should sit the other guys should play they don’t get it they’re hurt they’re this or that.” He said “Think about it.” Then didn’t do anything about it good bad or indifferent as you read that well it’s very difficult to make changes like that you know players come up with suggestions and some of them are pretty good and some aren’t so good uh I don’t think they really do i don’t think they have the people to put in there it was different if they had a different kind of bench but their bench hasn’t responded in this series in particular at all what does your gut tell you do the Pistons win this thing and close it out tonight i say the Pistons win it tonight because because they’ve going to have more energy i think they’re going to play a lot of people early i think they’re going to pressure down court make it very difficult for him to get up there into their offensive set and I think they’re just going to have more energy if the Lakers fall behind 8 10 points and this crowd gets into it that makes their job even that much more difficult doesn’t it yeah it’s brutal that’s why when we talk about seven game series having the seventh game at home it’s the same thing that’s going on here because this crowd with these bonkers and all the thing that’s going on it’s very difficult to respond or even hear yourself all right we certainly hope you’re right on this one coach all right that’s it for now chuck and I will be back after the game for the postgame story right after this game ends thanks for watching we’ll see you after the Pistons and Lakers play game five [Music] [Music] nba finals over are we going back to Los [Music] Angeles this is the home of the NBA Finals abc Sports Championship Television it is a beautiful night in the northern suburbs of Detroit this is the Palace of Auburn Hills last NBA game to be played here this season is it the last game of the season the Detroit Pistons have won two championships both were on the road the home fans have a chance to see something they’ve never seen before the Pistons win the title at [Music] home so this is the night you dream of it’s your chance to be a champion sure there are thoughts of holding the gold trophy but that must be held off with the reality of their desperation the team has held off the big two for four nights do it on this night and they’ll join the other Motor City legends with these guys overcoming some of the longest odds in finals history it’s their first chance and maybe their last boogie said drop the boogie with the ball drop the boogie with the ball the boogie with the ball it’s game five of the NBA finals on ABC [Music] is this the last time Carl Malone comes to an arena as an NBA player shaquille O’Neal has kept his team in it will he have another herculean effort to get it back to LA this is Phil Jackson’s last dance as the Lakers head coach ben Wallace was undrafted he’s 48 minutes from being a champion rasheed Wallace came via trade in February could he find his first ring richard Hamilton’s won a college ring can he win an NBA championship tonight so many storylines as we welcome you to the Palace of Albert Hills for game five welcome back to the NBA Finals on ABC mike Tico with the coach of the New Orleans Hornets Byron Scott and Tomber tip time comes after the top of the hour well the Pistons are on the verge of doing something that hasn’t been done in three decades an upset of this magnitude in the NBA Finals they were 5 to1 underdogs when the series started huge numbers Byron now they’re here it’s a party atmosphere all day in Metro Detroit it’s got to be dangerous when you’re up 3-1 and everybody’s waiting for a party and you’ve got to throw the best party ever yeah that’s true and the Detroit Pistons are in a position to win a championship if I’m Larry Brown I’m telling them look 27 teams have been in this position 27 teams have won we don’t want to be the one that goes all of a sudden 27-1 so we want to come out with an aggressive mindset put the party and everything behind us let’s make sure we come out here with business to take care of and do it right from the start because you know the Lakers are going to come out ready you know you’ve been behind 3-1 before as well yes I have what is it like in the locker room what’s it like in the locker room going into a situation like that how important is it early to keep the game close keep it arms length so you don’t start thinking about stuff that you shouldn’t be thinking about while you’re on the court well Tom like you said I’ve been there before and the one thing that we tried to do is come out with a very aggressive mindset and try to jump on that team right away thinking that they might be already partying and getting ready for the next night but if you don’t do that early and it kind of gets away from you then guys start thinking about other things like vacation umbrella football in the summertime you know and all that other good stuff that’s right and you don’t want to start thinking about that too early so you want to come out of an aggressive mindset and the Lakers their backs against the wall they have no choice but to come out hey when I was with the Clippers I got to think about that in February and you did it quite well one of the reasons that this Pistons story is so amazing and such long odds they don’t have a superstar we bring in Al Michaels and Doc Rivers guys it’s been a quarter century back to Seattle in 79 till you find an NBA champion that didn’t have a superstar on its roster you know what I’m thinking about right now Mike how fans can attach individuals to teams of course it’ll always be Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls with Scottie Pippen in a supporting role it’s David Robinson and Tim Duncan winning two titles with the Spurs it’s the Shaq and Kobe Lakers winning three titles doc if the Pistons win in 25 years what will be the attachment with the Detroit Pistons well I think it’ll be several it’ll be a working class team i mean it’ll be a team and I think that’s key i think everyone’s going to talk about defense and I think everyone’s going to talk about playing the game the right way i I think this is going to be one of the first things in the history that a coach will be attached to the team before a player i think they’re going to talk about Larry Brown’s defensive Detroit Pistons basketball team hall of Fame Larry Brown who would win his first NBA title to go to his NCAA championship but I guess it’s the right way to spell a city Detroit because it will be defense that I think people will really think about back to you guys and as you guys have been talking about during the series it applies to the goalie in hockey and the pitching in baseball if you have defense you have championship foundation but we’ve seen this team a lot why have they been able to come together on this championship level Tom well well certainly the whole is greater than the sum of the parts in this situation i I don’t mean to diminish how good these guys are because Phillips both Wallace’s Rip Hamilton and they’re very good players but they all do a specific thing you got your floor general in Chanty Phillips you got your great mid-range shooter Rip Hamilton defensively you got Taan Prince on the perimeter you got Ben Wallace on the interior you need you need points down low you can go to Rasheed Wallace you got a guy that can run the team off the bench and in Corus Williamson you got a guy that can come in and score off the bench they got a lot of different things that may not spell great players although they are very good but certainly put them all together and it’s a great team the complete antithesis of what’s happened with the Lakers especially the additions of Gary Payton and Carl Malone together 33 years of NBA experience two great players Hall of Fame pay fame players who have come out and tried to get their championship ring here this season with the Lakers who sacrificed a lot of money what has happened specifically for their frustration in this series well for Carl Malone it’s been the right knee injury and for Gary Payeyton it’s the plain simple fact he is a square peg in the Laker triangle i fit to a different style of coaching and a different style of system and that’s just something that just happened you know it’s it’s nothing you know bad against the against the system that we have here or nothing bad against uh Phil Jackson it’s just that me myself I I really don’t fit into this because it’s not comfortable for me i think the worst part that I felt when Shaq needed a a a breather for a couple minutes and we I couldn’t do that not being able to do that for Shaq really bothered me more than gimping up and down the floor you can see it in Carl Malone’s eyes and hear it in his words how much it hurts the McDonald’s NBA finals summary talks about those role players beyond Shaq and Kobe you want to add it up in the finals that first column 21 points the regular season the second column about 42 points they’ve gone from super size to kitty meal here pretty quick car Malone that pain you can see it you can feel it well I I just hope that you This may be Car Malone’s last game he plays in the NBA and if he doesn’t win a championship ring there have been great players before him that haven’t john Stockton Charles Barkley Patrick Ewing wouldn’t go over to Barry Bonds who hasn’t won one in baseball and Dan Marino in football i don’t think people should diminish his legacy if he does win a or doesn’t win a ring and if he does it shouldn’t really add to it he’s been a great player let the legacy let the years that he’s played in the NBA stand for themselves great great career now what happens with the Lakers cuz if they win tonight they go back to LA 3-2 i think a lot of people think they might be the favorites to win the title so don’t write them off just yet how do they get in the game tonight well obviously they got to get some help from the supporting cast and if I’m Phil Jackson it’s as simple as this because this is a third let’s see let’s make a pick let’s see which one of these guys have oh my god brian Cook brian Cook brian Cook if this is who we’re depending on Brian step up and make some W you want to try one more try one more let’s see let’s see let’s go one more oh my goodness brian Russell phil you might be done baby well that’s the point that’s the way it’s been for Phil Jackson he’s been grasping for anything and that’s rare to see with the Lakers it is rare to see but you hope that these guys can come up and play big tonight because their backs are against the wall stupid hat-ticks coming to an NBA pregame show near you there’s more ahead on Chevrolet NBA hang time as we get closer to tip time richard Hamilton hopes to get a ring so does Rasheed Wallace two guys with Philly in their background he’s got a world be freeze throwback jersey kobe another Philly guy he’ll answer the wake up call ben Wallace with thoughts of his late mom before what could be a special night in his career chevrolet NBA Hang Time on ABC Sports brought to you by the new Chevrolets 10 new cars and trucks in 20 months an American Revolution and American Express the official card of high Flyers well a nice look at suburban Detroit Michigan 8:44 on a Tuesday night in our aerial coverage provided by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company reminding you to enjoy the drive on Goodyear’s new Assurance Tires behind the scenes with Phil Jackson some final thoughts maybe looking at Byron’s list of players that he pulled out of the hat trying to find the right one to be the right mix here tonight well this building has been crazy throughout the playoffs and one of the reasons the excitement of the Pistons gave a lot of energy and the main player for that is Richard Hamilton a college champion 5 years ago at the University of Connecticut a chance here to win an NBA ring not many players have won both college and professional championships in their career hamilton has been a differencemaker in this series not just on the offensive end but defense as well he visits with our Jim Gray who talks with Rip about the job the Lakers have done against the Pistons and maybe more importantly the situation the Pistons find themselves in tonight rip no one has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA finals but if you were probably to walk around the streets outside of Detroit if any team had the belief of the public that they could come back and win this series it would be the Lakers what is your thought to that uh probably so i mean uh we believe that you know we get another game at home you know that’s the only way we look at it you know we got another opportunity to play in front of the best fans in the world and we believe that you know with that energy and with the energy that we possess from ourselves you know we don’t worry about anything but this game that’s ahead of us kobe Bryant has not shot the ball well at all in games 1 three and four and he made the big shot in game two what specifically have the Pistons done is there such a thing like there was the Jordan rules with Joe Dumar’s are there the Kobe rules well you know the one thing about Kobe you know you know he can score a lot of positions on the court you know we try to make it tough for him you know he’s a guy that you just can’t worry about one person to guard him you know you got to guard him as five you know you got to I think Tay’s doing an excellent job of you know trying to use his limp and things like that and you know Lindsay come in we’re just trying to keep a body on him you know because you know he they they need him to score have you spoken at all with Michael Jordan since you all have parted and and are you kind of upset or or disappointed in the way that things have gone between you and Michael well I I haven’t spoken to him since probably like 4 days after I got traded and we had a great relationship you know uh I respect him to the fullest i learned so much you know at a young age that you know you can’t ask a kid to get a a better be in a better situation than that you know and it hurt at first you know like I said but you know that’s when you realize that the NBA is is about business too and uh I had to get over with it and you know I’m happy that I’m in the situation I’m in now do you look at yourself in the mirror as a superstar yeah every day every day i mean my dad been telling me that since I was six seven years old son you’re a superstar i don’t care what anybody say you’re a superstar he He raised me to believe that so regardless what situation I am or ever ever since I was a little kid I always believe [Applause] that he has certainly come into that role as the Detroit Pistons come on to the floor here at the Palace with the boisterous crowd slapping those thunder sticks richard Hamilton’s one of the guys who has fired this crew up here is Hamilton who coming into this series was going to be opposite Kobe Bryant two guys who went up against each other in high school well thus far Bryant’s only scored three more points than Hamilton it’s been team defense for Detroit that has done a great job on Kobe Bryant first Hamilton and what he means Tom to this team on the offensive end with all the movement he does well he tires out the defender and the defender is going to chase him all over the place and what he’s such he does such a good job at you watch him throughout the course of this game he knows how to set up the defender if the defender’s playing one way he goes over the top he’ll fade if the defender chases him he’ll curl and he’s great at getting the ball one dribble and hitting mid-range jump shots before you go you just saw that shot of the Lakers live down in the tunnel carl Malone was in civilian clothes not in uniform there was some talk earlier that Cara would not be playing tonight he did not come out for warm-ups in uniform which is not uncommon he was getting some treatment a couple of uh nights ago before the game but as you see Car Malone in street clothes as the Lakers get set to take the floor byron you surprised by that at all not not really i I think right now Carl is at a point where he’s really hurting so it’s probably the best for his for himself and for the Laker team to not have him out there lakers are just going to have to pick it up without him or the hopes for LA that he can get some rest and get a chance to contribute to the team when we go back to Southern California if there is a game six speaking of Hollywood this weekend the movie Dodgeball will open nationally one of its stars one of the big stars in Hollywood Ben Stiller he joins us for tonight NBA Finals Minute hey hi hey i’m Ben Stiller and this is my NBA minute favorite Piston i have to say Ben Wallace just for sheer coolness vibe i like the look i like the double armbands on the biceps it’s a look I wear at home i sport that look just when I’m walking around the house um yeah I like him [Music] ah is that bad that I did that okay um I used to love to hate Bill Lame Beer because he was the guy you love to hate and he was a Piston but I’m showing my age now i’m 53 shaq you want to sometimes you want to just squeeze him and just say you know just make that free throw and it’s kind of lovable when he misses he just kind of cuz I think he makes us feel like we could be him because that’s how we would shoot but yet he’s also like the superstar of the world so it kind of makes us I think he does it on purpose i think Shaq misses on purpose to make us feel closer to his greatness that was my NBA minute wasn’t it incredible felt like an hour didn’t it was actually one of the funnier ones of the year ben Stiller’s movie opens Friday the Lakers take the floor again without Carl Malone the feature Hall of Famer not in the lineup tonight amad Rashad will visit with some of the bad boys chuck Daly Bill Lambir and Rick Mahor in a shock he’s smiling and laughing the Jack Nicholas fake Jack Nicholson fake the Kid Rock real and so far Kid Rock has had the better of Jack’s team so far [Music] for you bad boys the Chevrolet Courtzside Report is brought to you by Chevrolet 10 new cars and trucks in 20 months an American revolution welcome back to the Palace of Auburn Hills where the deep red pistons will be trying to close out the LA Lakers and try to win another championship i guess that would have shackle have something to say about this but our guest today are the bad boys from the 8980 the Pistons during that time had the most wins and allowed the fewest points in the NBA over those two seasons they lost total of seven playoff games over those two seasons and joining me now is coach Chuck Daly Rick Mahorn and Bill Lambir now coach you have been in these finals before how tough is it to close a team out well it’s very it’s extremely difficult because You really don’t know what’s going to happen between shoot around and what happens in the game and you say well my guys will be all right but sometimes things change you got to play the game and it is a tough game to get accomplished now Lamb a lot of people predicted it’d be a fivegame series but they predicted the other way not me I predicted 4-1 before it started uh the Pistons have gone through a really hard road with New Jersey and with Indiana a very tough knockdown dragout defensive series and they’re Harden right now they’re very mentally strong which is what is carrying them right now plus LA can’t match their defensive effort you know one of the things I’ve noticed is watching this series the body language between the two teams the Lakers body language has changed the Pistons body language has not changed at all they have that swagger Amada they had that swagger when we had it back in ‘ 89 and 90 that swagger you feel like nobody can beat you and right now they want to finish the job they’re one game away 48 minutes away it’s just going to be exciting game chuck it’s a different era but do you see similarities between uh the bad boys and these this team absolutely deja vu they have the same work ethic they can defensive rebound and that’s really their strength plus there’s some tough-nosed guys hard-nosed guys these two guys you know the Olympic tire where you get your check from they paid for the building with fines they set the tone for that club everybody was scared to death all right can I get out obviously it’d be a tough Is it over with tonight or do we go back to LA i think it’s going to end tonight because I think they’re going to pressure down floor i don’t know if uh Shaq and Kobe and their group can respond with only one day off i think it’s going to be an energy game and if they have the if they have enough energy at the end of the game i think everybody in the country wants this game to end right now i think the people in this building the media all want this to end right now la Bill the only the only ones that don’t think that the Lakers can win right now the Pistons are the better team pistons right now should take it home tonight and if they want you don’t want to go to LA that’s a long flight might as well take it home tonight you got a shorter ride home the best thing I saw in the paper today was that a full house beats a pair does it ever thanks you guys this has been the Chevrolet Courtside Report back to you Mike all right Amad thank you great to visit with those guys all are involved in the media in some way shape or form and Bill Ambir is the coach of the WNBA championship who won their title in this building with Carl Malone’s daughter Cheryl Ford playing such a key role and Carl Malone as you see not in uniform tonight we believe it will be Slava Med Video who will start in hisstead but we will keep an eye on that now and Doc will let you know just before tip tom so many people have talked about the fouls and the free throws in this series give me your read on the numbers that have been one-sided with Detroit going to the line and the Lakers always in foul trouble well it’s been amazing i mean the numbers are 91-78 la shot 78 free throws detroit has made 91 free throws they’ve made 13 more than Lakers have shot why because they’re more physical they’re more aggressive and they’re more athletic tonight it’ll be interest the Lakers can get to the hole get to the free throw line a few more times you got to do that if you want to win on the road byron Kobe Bryant did not look anything like the Kobe Bryant we’ve come used to see especially in the first half of the last game and sometimes he tries to get everybody else involved is this a night where he just tries to get as many baskets as he can well I think so Mike i think the only other person he’s going to try to get involved in this game is the big fella other than that I think Kobe’s going to come out with a real aggressive mindset he understands that our backs are against the wall we want to go back to LA with another game in mind not to go back with our summer ahead of us well the Detroit Pistons have won titles twice before and as mentioned on the road will they win one at home tonight predictions huh yeah my prediction is if I find the guy that made Thunder Sticks I’m going to beat him down in a hurry that’s it i’ve had it with these things okay Pistons tonight oh I got to go with Tom i think the Lakers haven’t shown me anything in the first four games i don’t see why it’s going to change i got to go with Detroit closing it out tonight that Larry O’Brien trophy on the finals tour has been to over 40 games and over a 100,000 miles it might end its journey tonight the Pistons have won titles on June 13th and June 14th this is June 15th we’ll see if they close out tonight see you with the commissioner at halftime slava Med Videeno will start for the Lakers in Caramelstead enjoy game five of the finals live on ABC and try to love shot [Music] one the boogie [Music] Chevrolet NBA Hang Time on ABC Sports brought to you by the new Chevrolets 10 new cars and trucks in 20 months an American revolution and the DVD handy cam camcorder from Sony like no other when you’re down three games to one the math is simple tonight’s the night for a star to shine ever brighter to draw every ounce from your reserve it’s about staying alive to keep a dream alive the stars are assembled but can they get aligned when you’ve been there before it’s about looking inward for the [Music] solution on the flip side when you’re up three to one can you deal the final blow you’ve been quicker and more resolute and big numbers have come from lesser knowns can your late winter move pay off on the eve of [Music] summer your mantra is do it the right way and you’ll try to prove once again it’s not who you are but how you play that matters [Music] most lakers Pistons in the NBA Finals tonight game [Music] five welcome to the Palace of Auburn Hills outside Detroit will a third championship banner hang from the Raptors after these NBA finals the bad boys from the two championship teams the coach Chuck Daly Bill Lambir is here tonight john Sally is here tonight so is Rick Mahorn carl Malone would have made a great bad boy but he has a bad knee and is not in uniform and gets embraced just moments ago by Piston coach Larry Brown and we are set right now for game five of the NBA Finals the Los Angeles Lakers taking on the Detroit Pistons i’m Al Michaels with Doc Rivers michelle Deafoy and Steuart Scott will work the sidelines can the Pistons pull off one of the great upsets in NBA Finals history right now they’re on the verge of that the Lakers are just trying to take the series back to LA for a sixth game on Thursday and if necessary a seventh game on Sunday off times when there’s an upset in the making there’s a lot of mystery there’s a lot of luck involved not so here it’s simple the Pistons have just played better including in the second game when the Lakers needed a miracle to put up pull out a victory in fact the Lakers are the lucky ones they’re lucky they haven’t been swept doc Phil Jackson first the Laker coach we talked to him earlier what can a guy who’s never been in this situation with a veteran team down three games to one what can he do what will he do well I think the first thing he has to do is make his players believe he has to tell them that the solution is in the locker room it’s not about change it’s what we do we have to do it better more importantly he has to let them know that if they win this game the rest of the playoffs are at home but more importantly he has to get more than just Cabil O’Neal and Toby Bryant playing he needs one more guy i don’t know who that guy will be but he has to get one more guy to help the cause they’re the only guys in double figures for the Lakers in each of the four games now there’s Larry Brown we both know him very well he’s a fredder he doesn’t want to think ahead he’s in the moment and he keep his team in the moment yeah he has to he has to stand in now he has to get his team to understand if you lose this game this is your last game at home for the rest of the season stay in now and you’ll win the game kind of funny brown staying in the moment bill Jackson is a guy who loves to stay in the moment but he’s got to be thinking about Thursday getting there anyway right now to the public address announcer our man Mason of the NBA final ladies and gentlemen at this time we ask that you remain standing as we now honor America with the singing of the national anthem being performed tonight by Detroit’s own international recording icon the Queen of Soul Miss Artha Franklin [Applause] [Music] oh say can you see by the dawn early [Music] What’s so bright as the twilight [Music] dream and bright starless [Music] was so [Music] galling and the rockets red the First day and I through the night and our flag was standing oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] sh and the Amen [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] we are [Music] [Applause] the 22,000 pair of Thunder Sticks saluting that rendition get the game underway look at the starting lineups after this message and a word from our ABC stations getting started under pressure the words that bring it the ones that test you when we moving the rock when we make it a shot make magic with only one in the clock and the feelings irresistible when we all shine let’s get it started in here let’s get this started let’s get this started [Music] [Applause] the Palace of Auburn Hills already rocking it will throughout the evening as we get set to take a look at the Bud Light starting lineups for you and with Malone out a change for the Lakers up front they have Deon George Edeno places Malone O’Neal in the middle prince and the two Wallacees up front for Detroit the guards for the Lakers Gary Payton and Kobe Bryant for Detroit Chanty Phillips right now a primary candidate for MVP and Richard Hamilton and we go to Michelle all right well with Carl Malone out Phil Jackson said before the game Al that Slava Medenko quote has a game that he can bring to this matchup with Rasheed Wallace he also said that Medvenko is a far better player than what he’s shown in this series so far but Phil also said he has told every one of his players to be ready to play tonight as he plans to throw everything he has at Detroit and speaking of Detroit let’s go over to Stewart Scott michelle 14 years after winning their last title almost every Piston player to a fan said “The biggest challenge is focusing on one game without thinking about what happens when they win that game.” Chanty Phillips told me “My only fear is that we want it so bad that we come out and start individually trying to do too much nothing selfish.” He said no agendas just wanting it so bad Al and being that close right now Jack Nicholson is here to lend support to his beloved Lakers jack comes to town for the first time in the middle three games lakers trying to go home and take Detroit with him in each of the four games in this series we’ve had a jump ball violation to start the game the only jump ball the Lakers have won was the one in overtime in game two the most important So we get set to go tonight’s telecast available in high definition and Spanish on ESPN joey Crawford who will work the game with Bernie Frier and Bennett Salvador to put the ball in the air o’neal at the ready ben Wallace jumping forward Detroit wallace is 69 gives away about three and a half inches and that time a legal jump ball and the Lakers get it that means they will start the fourth quarter with a possession and if you’re a Laker fan every sign is important meaning that every possession is important is why Shaq didn’t try to steal the ball and Slava Medenko who got the ball from O’Neal dropped it on the baseline after Shaq was doubled and then almost tripled as Malone takes a seat on the bench well that’s a 3second violation yeah and the key will be with Slava Magcadeno is where they can space him out because what the Pistons are doing when he’s in the game they’re using his guy the double team Shaquille O’Neal not only with the ball but without the ball heavy pressure by George Medco is making his first start since March 10th over 3 months and one change you see early in this game is Kobe Bryant is starting the game out guarding Tony Bilips and that leads to an early foul now what did you see there Al right away the difference in this series in my opinion is that the Lakers have taken a ton of jump shots and the Pistons keep attacking the basket right there Chanty Phillips gets to the basket and now he gets to the foul line so Kobe Bryant picks up his first personal 35 seconds into the game the Lakers lever never let in game three here last Thursday had the lead from time to time in the fourth game on Sunday so Detroit up two nothing at the outset and Bryant with a foul gary Payton is guarded by Phillips george has Hamilton on him here’s Medeno he’s free and hits from 19 ft and that is significant every shot he can make makes Rasheed Wallace pay more attention to him that one shot does nothing but if he can make a couple of them it will payton is there got his hand on it out of bounds it’ll be inbounded with 11 seconds on the timer by Detroit i like this move by the Lakers for a couple reasons one I do think Gary Payton has the ability to stay with Rip Hamilton two Kobe Bryant has a bigger body to guard Phillips prince is free from outside in and out payton gets his first rebound pushes it up the floor medenko is free again and hits so the Lakers who’ve had O’Neal and Brian as the only guy in double figures in every game have another guy now with four points in the first minute and a half well the one thing we know about Slava Medinko he’s going to give himself a chance i mean he is not a unwilling shooter over Medeno and Wallace drops one in that’s where they miss K Malone car Malone’s ability to push Wallace off the block will be missed this evening too deep to O’Neal jack misses his first shot of the night after scoring 36 with 20 rebounds and a tremendous performance the other night that was wasted and Bilips has it knocked away stolen by the Lakers medeno again can he make it three in a row yes he can so Slava Medco replacing Malone you know he can give him the offense that Malone can’t and Doc as you pointed out the big question is against Rasheed Wallace yeah and the keeper Rasheed Wallace is will he stay on the post he has a habit of popping out off the block that’s where the Lakers would love to see him video tried to front him now he gets behind him and as Wallace works the ball outside there’s a foul here on the Lakers on Devin George yeah you notice that third one Rasheed Wallace came at him now this is the third team foul already for the Lakers and this is what they don’t want is to get the silly fouls Al that’s where they’ve been hurt so far the other night the Lakers committed 36 fouls as [Applause] O’Neal gets it over to Bryant so the Lakers coming out tenaciously on defense here’s Medeno again this time he’s going to dump it into O’Neal and O’Neal is going to softly put it over the rim to make it 84 Lakers well now you always saw you already saw the difference with me making shots when he caught it that time rasheed Wallace ran out to him that allowed him to drop the ball in the shot prince guarded by George works off a Rasheed Wallace screen can’t get it to drop but Rasheed is there puts it up nothing happening and O’Neal quickly gets it ahead to Bryant kobe’s first effort is good and the Lakers lead by a half [Applause] dozen and a half into the game and the Lakers at least at the outset come out as a team that knows exactly what’s at stake tonight and they’re doing two things number one they’re playing defense and by playing defense that’s allowing them to get in the open court and underneath going down hard and drawing that response from the crowd is the angular and very thin Taan Prince alison O’Neal that’s the first club flagrant I’ve seen you know usually they’re just flops and and he was hit hard but watch Taan Prince he’s going to lay down there for a minute to see if he could draw the flagrant foul and when he noticed that there was not enough whist so he kind of turned around and pumped right back up prince hasn’t made a free throw in this series he’s now 0 for four in this series lakers fouling the Pistons at for them an alarming rate and tonight already three including one each on Bryant and O’Neal and and those are huge not only because they’re three fouls uh but because of Brian and O’Neal the one thing Phil Jackson needs them to be is aggressive and when you get those early fouls you become passive anybody who follows the NBA knows if you get two early fouls the coach almost compelled to put you on the bench bryant fakes Prince out and with Hamilton in his face can’t get that to go and a whistle underneath and Bernie Fire is going to call a loose ball foul here on O’Neal and so that’s two already on Shaquille O’Neal four minutes and two seconds into the game exactly what the Lakers didn’t want two fouls on O’Neal more importantly 14 fouls now for the rest of this quarter they are in the penalty and in this situation Jackson of course minus Malone has to leave him in and then Wallace drives for the hoop and then gets the gong from the guys upstairs and he drops one in to make it 10-7 well Ben Wallace knew that Shaq couldn’t get in his way because of the two fouls here’s Medeno again o’neal trying to chip it up out of bounds it goes lakers will have it see O’Neal giving a piece of his mind to Bennett Salvador on the last foul yeah what they’re saying is you called the over the back on Shaq shaq felt like the Detroit Pistons just went over the back on him what a play as O’Neal got gave it back to Devin George he’s able to get under the basket and face it and put it in 12-7 well the one change already by the Lakers offensively is that they’re trying to get to the bucket tonight themselves they’ve been taking far too many jump shots and hitting very few three-pointers to this point crosscourt prince moves in for about a 12-footer that hits the side of the backboard o’neal gets the rebound la up by [Applause] five medeno to shack medeno again and that time his worst effort of the night so he starts out hot then he hits the rim on one and that one barely grazed it and the key for him is that he has to keep shooting hamilton and knocked away by Payton so Gary Payton got a hand in payton who’s been eaten up in this series by Bilips makes a good defensive play for the steel i got to tell you I like Pton’s look tonight bryant goes underneath loses the ball no foul is called and it winds up in Ned Bedenko’s hands for the basket this is the most engaged that I’ve seen Gary Pton in a long time that doesn’t mean he’s going to play well but he is engaged into this game medeno in this series had eight points total coming in to tonight’s game he is eight at the outset 14-7 Lakers [Music] the NBA Finals on ABC brought to you by Bud Light fresh smooth real it’s all here the new Chevrolets 10 new cars and trucks in 20 months an American revolution american Express the official card of High Flyers and Two Brothers on June 25th join two Tiger Cubs on their unforgettable journey [Music] home back in Auburn Hills Michigan Slava Medeno has already scored eight points amazingly Kobe and Shaq as we mentioned before the only Lakers in double figures in four consecutive games how unusual is that well this league’s been around 58 years that’s 42,000 plus regular season games about 3,000 playoff games it’s never happened never that’s an unbelievable number jack comes out of the game here and from the corner it is Tan Prince for a long two so O’Neal with two fouls out of the game they have Brian Cook in the game here’s Kobe now kobe draws a crowd boy he sure does yeah what else is new medeno trying to get into double figures and Medenko gets fouled as he works the baseline and that will be the first foul and that’s Rasheed Wallace now Wallace has been in foul trouble in this series in the first three games he barely played in any of the second quarters and then the other night he stayed out of foul trouble and had a great night yeah and that was why he had a great night because he was allowed to play the whole game cook missing see that’s the one thing Cook can do now you’re wondering why Phil Jackson takes check out well he has two fouls that’s number one i think the other reason is they have a five down three-point lead and he’s going to look at the scoreboard and watch it the Lakers have a lead or even get down just a little bit he can afford to sit shack that was Rasheed Wallace and that’s Bryant ball comes out to Devin George bryant again and Bryant gets pushed by Chanty Phillips we mentioned the other night the Lakers had 35 personal fouls in the last game the Pistons 20 that was the largest difference between the number of fouls for two teams in any game in the 58-year history of the NBA Finals albeit a lot of them at the end but still it’s been the story of the series yeah it really has been and and the reason it’s such a big story Al is because the Lakers led the league in free throws cook made it Cook made a terrible pass but it came back to Bryant and then the call is against the Lakers you know that’s why you don’t play rookies honestly and I hate to be so harsh uh but first the pass i mean you’re in the world championship game that that you can be eliminated you get on the floor and you throw a no look pass to another big i mean that’s number one and then to commit the foul after that you know Phil Jackson is thinking that’s probably why I don’t play young guys in finals phil’s also thinking how bizarre is this i’ve got four Hall of Famers in a fifth field to start the season i’m in an elimination game and I have to have Cook in the game early i have to have Medeno in the game early i’ve got Malone in street clothes and Shaq with two fouls yeah and that’s a tough situation but one of the things Phil Jackson talked about early in the year is how much he enjoyed working with Cook and Luke Walton he thought that they both would be an excellent player i don’t know if he knew that he would lead him this early six straight points for Detroit seven-point lead is now one bryant guarded by Prince shoots over him doesn’t drop big Ben high for the rebound now the Pistons can assume the lead here phillips puts it on his hip goes all the way got the bounce so Jack goes to the bench and the Pistons are on an eight nothing run and that’s not a coincidence they’re struggling scoring on one end and the Pistons are attacking the basket in the other end because they know there’s no shot blocker jack has been on the bench in this series 20 minutes in those 20 minutes the Pistons have outscored the Lakers 40-19 jackson takes a timeout pistons have a lead [Music] our club has been one of the most difficult clubs to project how they’re going to play of any team I’ve ever coached this particular year some of it so much of it depends upon Shaquille he expanded himself so much the other night we wasted one of the great games that we saw him play in this playoffs it’s going to depend upon him right now i think we’re feeling really pretty good about it uh Kobe’s guaranteed the fact that we’re going to win that in itself says something about it and I like the mental attitude of the ball club he just talking about Shaq and wasting that performance and they wasted their lead here 8 nothing run in a little over a minute and a half but Shaq was on the bench play resumes he’s back in yeah and I thought that what Phil was doing was right he was going to wait look at the score now they’re down he puts Shaq back in i think this is a huge key part of the game right now for Detroit they have Shaq in foul trouble they have the Pistons they have the Lakers in penalty they must keep attacking this basket and that was Devin George with the slam to make it 1615 meanwhile Kobe Bryant for the Lakers has started out cold again kobe 1 for five hitting only 38% from the field in this series prince all the way drops it in see they know that Shaq can’t help and if he does help they’re going to throw their bodies right into him so it’ll be interesting how Shaq handles this and that’ll make Prince very effective as well he loves that move goes to the lane and puts it in shaq misses gets his own rebound and stuffs it back in even a passive shack is aggressive even a passive Shaq is effective you know what I mean mhm and a passive Shaq who knows his season could be over with two early fouls payton guarding Hamilton it puts it in over Gary to make it 1918 leads that’s the one area where I think Rip Hamilton is going to have to take advantage of Gary Payton and that’s his size payton loses stolen by Wallace he’s out in front all alone 2118 on the steel by Big Bening O’Neal again med Benedeno can’t get it to drop rebound to Phillips pistons running the floor score it hamilton [Applause] 2318 crowd roaring five-point lead coming down to two minutes to go in the period this is 124 run here inside it comes and the foul here foul is on Corless Williamson and first the steal by Ben Wallace i was really surprised no one tried to track him down and get a foul and then you saw Devin George at the bottom of your screen with an opportunity to get in the spot and take a charge and instead he moved out of the way those are the little things that are really hurting this Laker team and one of the things Larry Brown said is we want to run on the Lakers as much as possible that was a non-shooting foul he started with 14 on the timer and Kobe Bryant pulls one of his paded moves by driving through traffic to the hoop 23-20 luke Walton has come into the game he provided the fuse that lit the Lakers in the second quarter in game two and right when Luke comes in Corus Williamson is in and they’re going to post him up o’neal gets the rebound [Music] bryant four points to this point [Applause] payton will drive jump hook from the lane lakers cut it to one gary’s first two of the night a drive by Kobe Bryant a drive by Devin Dor a drive by Gary Payton this Laker team right now is playing differently than they played all series has to [Applause] work it out to Hamilton six on the timer williamson would have counted he’ll go to the line you know I was thinking Doc in this series the four games you have four quarters in an overtime period there only two sections that I can remember the Lakers dominating one was the Walton part of game two late in the first half injecting the energy the other was the overtime period apart from that it’s been either the Pistons or neutral but the Lakers have had control of the pace and tempo so few minutes in the series yeah actually this is the only time as crazy as it sounds it’s a 24-22 lead by the Pistons but this is the first temple basketball that you’ve seen in this entire series so if you’re Phil Jackson you’re looking at the score you know you’re down but you got to think he likes this tempo much better there’s more driving to the bucket and there’s more running in the game and open court basketball that’s the way the Lakers actually want to play williamson drops two it’s the most points scored by either team in the first quarter in this series the 25 for Detroit bryant Prince on him kobe in the lane drives gets fouled bryant draws the foul the the foul is a two-shot foul the Pistons now have committed 14 fouls and the Lakers six i mean it’s obvious Al i mean it’s obvious watching this Lakers team play tonight that Phil Jackson has told them guys I can’t fight for you about fouls if you’re going to keep launching jump shots you have to get to the foul line you have to drive the basketball and eventually if you drive you will get to the foul line 2523 that’s their first free throw of the night shelley Brown Larry’s wife who is a lot more nervous than Larry i guarantee it i don’t know larry ties it larry Larry didn’t look too calm in that office before the game today but Larry Larry’s always Larry true that is Larry 252 24 Detroit elden Campbell walton comes over to help way back outside to Hunter now Campbell and Walton comes in there to provide the defense after he got by Shaq jack has to be very careful with the two fouls now the Lakers can run it down you know what was interesting luke Walton the rookie was running down the floor yelling “One shot one shot.” He’s a smart rookie he’s in the [Music] jeans with three on the timer Bryant can’t drop it and that’ll be the end of the first quarter and there is still time there’s well 4/10 of a second and you know what that means well Derek Fischer certainly knows what it means and Kobe Bryant is really upset because he thought he had Ta Prince up in the air and drew contact and he really wants to know why that foul wasn’t called they put two on the clock pistons will have to inbound from back court o’neal’s going to come out they’re not going to take any chances here team was 610 that would be a horrible third foul well there’s a lot of time we know that with 610 210 more than you need prince looking to fling it down the floor does down the baseline here hunter puts it up and at least he got the rim no foul called there bryant goes off the floor asking Bennett Salvador if he’s going to call any fouls when he’s shooting tonight larry Brown working Joey Crawford detroit good first quarter pistons leading the Lakers 2524 in game five you’re watching the NBA Finals on ABC Sports Championship Television aerial coverage tonight being provided by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company reminding you to enjoy the drive on Goodyear’s new Assurance Tires that’s the Palace of Auburn Hills it’s about 32 miles from Detroit kid Rock and Hank Williams hank are you ready for some hoops yeah boy that’s a heck of a combination right there I would say interesting duet they could provide us with 2524 second quarter al Michaels Doc Rivers Michelle Toya and let’s check in with Steuart Scott how interesting in the last time out Larry Brown did acknowledge to his team that Shaq has two fouls but he also said spread the offense meaning make sure you continue to run our offense he even looked at his big man and he said “Stop trying to get the fouls try to score.” Now thank you Stewart and that is really significant because what players of teams do they focus so much on trying to draw the foul on shot that it actually takes them out of their rhythm and their offense that was Williamson dropping in the first points of the period kareem Rush is in the game so is Derek Fischer and Kobe has the ball stolen pistons rush back hamilton drives in and Rush commits the foul pistons just forcing the issue in this entire series f moving the ball around getting through the middle forcing the Lakers to commit fouls yeah they really are they’re getting so deep with the dribble penetration that either you foul them or you give them an easy two and that’s been their game plan throughout now the only change so far in this game and in this series is today or tonight the Lakers are trying to do the same thing even that last shot Kobe Bryant got it stolen from him but he is trying to attack the basket i think that’s the right thing if you’re the Lakers [Applause] hamilton misses the first of [Applause] two phillips is the leading scorer with six the Pistons you talk about spreading it out and balance scoring they have six guys who have between four and six points the Lakers meanwhile have Bryant now with six beteno had a quick eight he’s on the bench right now [Music] walton in the corner feeds it to O’Neal five on the 24 back to Shaq and Shaq gets held as he’s going to the basket by Rasheed Wallace you know it’s interesting i don’t think Larry Brown wanted that you know because it was on it was Rasheed Wallace you know he needs Rasheed Wallace to stay in this game now Rasheed Wallace commits the foul because Shaq gets so deep and it saves him a bucket but it hurts him because Wallace has to come out of the game for the fourth time in five games Rasheed Wallace has to take an early seat with his two fouls jack tries to hand off to Kobe and Lindsay Hunter got in between them to commit the foul here’s Michelle well Al since the last game Phil Jackson spoke with Kobe Bryant about the things they wanted him to do tonight in this game and I’ll finish up after this play fisher for three al what what Phil wanted from Kobe tonight was the things that he did in game two the game that they won play off the ball get easy baskets move without the basketball be a distributor and when he does have the ball distribute the ball and then the game will come to him that’s what they’re looking from for from Kobe Bryant tonight guys michelle that last foul was on Elden Cable now Bryant nearly has it taken away and does in fact by the hands of Hunter leading to a can break and dunk see Kobe Bryant just did exactly what Phil Jackson didn’t want him to do i mean right there he tried to split between two guys which would be very difficult and he turns the ball over that’s his second turnover now for buckets for the Pistons because he’s trying to force the action six-point lead inside the Shaq puts it up and in but if you’re the Lakers again it’s a four-point game and now the Pistons have three team fouls early into the second quarter and the Pistons are hot after they were down by seven in the first quarter they scored on 12 of 14 possessions williamson is guarded by Kobe Bryant and reaching in is Derek Fiser and he’s going to get called for it [Music] back to the steal by Hunter and the Hamilton breakaway i mean again you can see Kobe Bryant trying to force the action and that’s the second time he’s tried to split between guys and that’s what Kobe Bryant does extremely well except for the Pistons now know that they’re playing them for that and that’s his second turnover for bucket that he’s caught hunter out of the corner and Ben Wallace in perfect position to grab the rebound he’s as good as it gets off the glass he is and those hands are like glue when they touch his hands it sticks williamson missing man I just love to watch the way Wallace sets up especially on those shots from the corner he knows exactly where to be for the rebound perfectly positioned fischer from deep outside got it three-pointer to Derek saluted by Malone it’s a one-point game and again great ball movement and on that shot Fischer didn’t hesitate [Applause] fischer one of those Lakers playing hurt half the roster playing hurt but playing nonetheless hamilton throws it away and now Kobe’s on a break and Kobe’s going to put this one in looking to see where Hunter was seeing if he could get a three-point play out of it and it’s 3130 Los Angeles i think he didn’t think Hunter could catch up to him and he did this is the big foul here again you know the silly fouls that Phil Jackson talked about away from the action that is what just happened and this is why the Lakers have been in penalty all season can’t stay out of their own way 3130 Los Angeles [Music] all right Doc i’ll see you i’ve got two jacks what do you have i have one right there one and a half well Jack on the right two the two Wallacees of sorts jack Nicholson hitting the road brave man Jack Nicholson is you know I remember he went into Boston one time and and braved the elements also my first Boston uh you know reference in a while i like that doc of course will be the coach of the Celtics next year game of runs right there lakers started hot and Shaq sat down for a minute and a half and the Pistons were off and going and now after Fiser committed the foul on the inbounds play which means Ben Wallace is at the line for two he makes the first fischer working on Jackson’s behalf with Bennett Salvatore and if you’re wondering why they’re shooting free throws Al is because the ball had not been inbounded so it’s an automatic two free throw and there’s Kobe Bryant again attacking the basket now that’s a good thing you want him to do that what you don’t want him to do is try to split and force the action and turn the ball over or come into an offensive foul that foul on Hunter game tied at 31.45 to go first half fischer gets it back into O’Neal can’t get it hunter comes away with it campbell Pistons love to force the ball up the floor one of the reasons is it makes Shaq work that much harder yeah it’s like chopping a tree down they they say it may not get him a make a big deal for the first three quarters but by the fourth quarter they don’t think Shaq can keep running hamilton gets free back door and that’s a rare sight that you’ll see Drip Hamilton driving towards Shaq and Shaq getting out of the way but that’s because of the two fouls bad pass and it results in nearly a piston basket but at least they go to the free throw line well I tell you talking the Philistine one of the things two of the things he said we couldn’t do is one we couldn’t make silly fouls they’re making them two he said “We cannot turn the ball over.” And it allowed him to get easy buckets and they are doing it at a high rate right now they turned it over seven times in the first 16 minutes of the game log on to the NBA storeba.com a lot of good stuff right there nba.com you know what Phil Jackson is saying is that he believes that his team has actually played good defense minus the turnovers which are easy buckets and the fouls payton comes back in kareem Rush departs gets the bounce and of course lead is four and if you if you’re Larry Brown you like the way your team is playing you know they’re just out there playing like they play and not thinking about anything else walton drives all the way can’t get it to to drop and then going to the floor was Elden Campbell well threeon two here fed underneath williamson misses it but gets it back juggles it keeps possession and Hamilton will now start to drive williamson shot clock in single figures hamilton fall away couldn’t get control of the ball but got hit and fouled payton jackson’s up arms folded in effect thinking to himself you know what that’s a foul but they did it to Kobe before and it’s not a foul that’s what I think uh the Lakers are saying right now now I will say that Derek Fischer and Peyton are the two trickiest defenders on the in this league and I think what Bennett Savatar is saying he saw them do something tricky and I think what he saw him do is tap him on the elbow fischer with three fouls now and Rick Fox comes into the game so Fox makes his first appearance and Detroit up by six again so after they had a six-point lead and the Lakers overcame it detroit up 37-31 walen too high for Bryant try to time it kobe got underneath another turnover and then Detroit throws it away but it was last touch by the Lakers yeah that was a fast ball lob you know usually you’re supposed to lob it nice and soft there was no one quick enough to jump and catch that pass that Luke Warden just threw larry Brown didn’t like that possession and if Larry doesn’t like a possession he doesn’t care how hot his team is he says timeout let’s come back and play the right way they’re playing the right way to this point in game five on a night that can win it all detroit 37 Los Angeles 31 [Music] the NBA finals on ABC brought to you by Miller vote Miller for president of beers good call the Toyota Tundra double cab not just big lifesize radio Shack you got questions we’ve got answers and Universal Pictures The Chronicles of Riddic now in theaters Palace of Auburn Hills about 10:00 local time the Lakers as play resumes on the short end of a 70 run in the last 147 the second such run in a short period of time for Detroit they’ll inbound with 19 seconds on the clock underneath Phillips reverse puts it in so Chanty Phillips got it in got it back and Chanty Phillips now has eight points biggest margin in the game o’neal’s going to drive too hard stolen by Bryant and Bryant as he’s moving down the court gets fouled fouled by Taan Prince [Music] i I think what they’re going to do Al is say that Kobe Bryant was ahead of everybody and they’re going to give him a shot and the ball out of bounds they were near close enough to a breakaway and there again on that last replay you saw another uncontested layup by the Detroit Pistons that is the height of frustration you get in effect a free free throw yeah and you can’t make it and here it is you know what they’re saying is he had a clear path to the basket no one was in front of him he led the pack so you can’t foul it’s a good call and then one of the best free throw shooters in the NBA can’t drop it the Lakers inbound it six and a half to go first half bryant working off an O’Neal screen goes all the way puts it up and it doesn’t go but it’ll go to the line see that’s what they want Kobe Bryant to do and that was terrific execution and they swung the ball to the left acting like the ball was going to go there and then Shaq came up from the bottom and gave a terrific pick which allows Kobe to split and get into the paint and you can see there the foul on the arm lakers are now three out of four from the line kobe Bryant is the only Laker who has been to the free throw line tonight you know what’s interesting is Kobe Bryant is the one Laker that has probably been the most surprising that hasn’t gone to the line in this series but to me the difference is tonight Kobe Bryant is not settling he’s attacking the basket attacking and of course the Lakers will tell you on the other side they’re just not getting the calls but the one thing Jackson didn’t do before this game is start to paint the referees through the media phil was pretty quiet about that over the last 48 hours or 40 anyway yeah you got to say after game four Hamilton misses medeno back in the game and takes it off the glass i think Phil Jackson likes this switch with Kobe Bryant guarding Phillips bryant too hard prince behind the back great move to get by Bryant does it again get it to drop it’ll go to the line two behind the back dribbles and again getting all the way to the bucket every long rebound every turnover the Detroit Pistons have pushed the ball up and if you don’t stop the ball they’re going to continue to go until they get all the way to the bucket [Applause] friends will grow up idolizing Kobe Bryant you know I say he idolizes Bryant as Okour and James come into the game there’s only a couple of years differential but Kobe’s been playing in the NBA so long and Taan French wound up going to college for four years i guess you become an idol yeah you do and Kobe became an idol pretty quickly in this league there are guys in their 30s who idolize Kobe seven-point Detroit lead 540 left in the half those two are guarding O’Neal who gets it back from Medeno puts it up gets fouled see again Shaq’s being patient they’re moving the ball they’re attacking the basket i think one point has to be made about this free throw discrepancy al you know the Lakers are led the league in free throw shooting most of the league all year because they led most of the games and teams went to Hackshack they’ve never had a lead in this series so the Detroit Pistons really haven’t had to go to half a shot and I think that’s one of the big differences in this series that’s anathema to a purist like Larry Brown as well he doesn’t want to do it free throw attempt differential as you can see the difference in the finals as opposed to the regular season in the first three rounds medeno got the rebound after two O’Neal misses now Bryant puts one up kobe stays cold bryant is three of 10 from the floor [Applause] and Payton tries to steal can’t keep it in bounds you know Brian is three of 10 but most of his shots tonight in my opinion have been pretty good the couple of forced opportunities have led to turnovers i think as a coach you have to live with those because he is so creative pistons meanwhile are hitting 57% from the field and since they’ve been going to the free throw line more often that’s a tough combo to beat and Ben Wallace is too tough to beat right there and the lead is nine and that’s huge and you’re Detroit and you can drop the ball into Ben Wallace and get points out of him that is huge whistle on the way to the basket i mean one of the things Larry Brown has done since coming to Detroit he’s made Ben Wallace an offensive option he tells his team to look for him when he’s on a post and he’s made Ben Wallace think offense ben Wallace a couple of years ago would have never made that move now when he gets the ball he feels pretty comfortable and you look tonight he’s three for three with seven points o’neal makes his first free throw here he’s now one out of three [Applause] lakers had an early seven-point lead there’s Wallace tipping it to himself great body control kept it in bounds his huge hands able to P and now Detroit tries to catch it wallace wow [Music] 4434 the lead is double digits jackson not calling a timeout phil believes in conflict resolution they got a lot to resolve right now and Kobe got blocked and fouled and boy I tell you that was close that was real close and Mike James almost got there and slid up under Kobe watch his foot and see if he was still moving at the very end he was that was an excellent call but boy that was close i think if Mike James didn’t try to draw the contact himself he would have had a charge bryant now five out of six from the free throw line [Applause] drops them both pistons up by eight fox picks up French back to it [Applause] james way outside he provided a big spark for him in just a very short period of time late in the first half the other night [Applause] okour Meour right now even though he’s given some offense is a defensive liability for this Laker basketball team he’s getting scored on from all angles and the call here on the Lakers that’s on that’s on Shaquille so that’s his third he picked up two early ones third one here away from the ball and so now we have a crisis time right now for the Los Angeles Lakers they have 336 they’re down 10 points and they probably will not see Shaq the rest of this half this is key jackson left O’Neal in in the last game of the Minnesota series the conference finals and he picked up a fourth foul in the first quarter from the corner in and out from French Medenko gets the rebound so O’Neal on the bench Malone and Strelos [Applause] fox posting Prince turnaround off the glass and Rick Banks it home to make it an eight-point game and Rick Fox has been begging to play you know one of the points he made it was pretty interesting he said “Hey everybody else is playing injured i would like to play injured also.” And you know when a player like him asked to come in it’s pretty smart that you see Bill Jackson play him in we’re we’re looking every every which way coffee safe water safe but the Lakers are in danger pistons lead by eight [Music] mike Tico Byron Scott and Tom Cobert upstairs ready to bring you the Verizon Wireless halftime report look at Ben Wallace going right by Medeno putting one in from about 10 ft and what Ben likes to do before the game as we know Doc is take the big ball take a bigger ball and try to make baskets with it it’s kind of like being out on the putting green you know you have those tiny little holes i knew where you were going of course like we we share the same Oh no doubt same passion you know it’s funny too because that ball was really invented for ball handling ben Wallace has turned it into a shooting gimmick but some guys do use it for that and it’s really paid off for him working tonight and there he is again big ball small ball and that was after they had about half of the 24se second clock to work with on the inbounds 10-point lead phil Jackson was telling us earlier today one of the things the Lakers had to do was hold their turnovers to eight or less the Lakers have already turned the ball over nine times in the first half and the reason he’s saying that is because he says that they play pretty good defense in half court what they can’t do is give Detroit easy buckets and that’s exactly what they’ve done cook gets doubled in the corner nowhere to go with it four on the shot clock out to Rush he’s got to shoot he does at the horn and makes it kareem Rush who was so big in the clinching game against Minnesota with six three-pointers that was a huge bucket and it was amazing how unrushed Rush was did that make sense perfect doc that’s why you can’t coach you got to come back here next year from the corner a three-pointer for Okour big answers big Bryant back to Cook minute and a half to go in the period well there is no spacing right now for the Lakers and Kobe is the line drive over four and Prince i mean their spacing was so bad you know the difference in the first half right now is it looked like the Detroit Pistons offense is executing to a T and right now the Lakers are scoring almost out of their offense shot is short rebound keeps getting tipped winds up in the hands of Prince he’ll drive all the way brings the house [Applause] down the Pistons in this series just eating the Lakers up on the offensive glass and that’s length and athleticism coming together at the same time on that last possession the ball stayed up in the air and they got both 20 second Laker timeout back in Detroit 10-point lead for the Pistons al this is what we’re talking about you know a good drive but watch the ball stays up in the air and if you’re longer quicker and more athletic usually you come up with the rebounds and that’s where the Pistons have taken advantage of the Lakers in this series night after night first time in this series either teams had a 50point first half [Applause] bryant puts one up well I think the Pistons love when he settles they love when he settles for that fade away jump shot even though it is one of his staple shots with Taan Prince’s limp they will take that shot all game pistons eating up the Laker defense drives puts it in and they lead by 12 with Jack on the bench malone and Civy and a game away from elimination okour has seven medeno will drive to the basket and get fouled on his way to the hoop you know in in a perfect world if you’re Phil Jackson you would have loved Medeno to back it out and take the final shot and just have a four point a 4second differential but you can’t pass up layups right now when you’re down 12 third foul on Okour needeno makes the first wnba coming up Saturday the Detroit Shock they are the champions and owned by Bill Davidson are seeking this title he has that title in the Stanley Cup the Tampa Bay Sacramento is the opposition saturday ABC well I’ve heard of the Tiger Slam i guess this would be the Davis slam if if he gets this needeno trying to become the first Laker apart from O’Neal Newan Bryant to go into double figures and that’s a small consolation to Phil Jackson right now because his team is going to go into the locker room really in the season in which they were built to win this title and this year only because it’ll be a different team next year and the Pistons right now trying to make it a dozen points if they and and James puts it up and doesn’t have it and there only a fraction of a second left on the clock it’s the largest halftime lead for either team in the series but Detroit fell behind by seven early they put Shaq on the bench they caught him the lead seesawed a little bit and now Detroit with a great run in the second quarter they outscored the Lakers 30-21 and Detroit leads 5545 at the half we go to Stuart Scott ben Wallace 11 points you guys are shooting over 60% you’re the Pistons you don’t shoot 60% what’s going on i mean that’s what confidence do for you you know we um got some stops we was able to get some clean looks and tonight the shots just falling for us why are fast break points and you guys got a bunch of Why are they so important for this game um because you know they got the big fella down inside and um if you slow the game down allow him to get position you know he going to bang you all night so we want to get out and make him run a little bit try to weigh him down 24 minutes away from what what could be a championship what’s your biggest concern at halftime um just that we don’t come out a little bit you know over aggressive you know we got to stay poised continue to execute our offensive set continue to get stops and allow the game to come to us all right Ben appreciate good luck in the second half al let’s go back to you thank you Stuart the Verizon Wireless halftime report comes your way the commissioner will be interviewed david Stern will be along to talk with the guys upstairs as the teams retreat to their respective locker rooms detroit is on top 5545 as they try to win their first title since 1990 halftime at Auburn Hills live from the Palace of Auburn Hills it’s the Verizon Wireless Halftime report from the NBA Finals now your host Mike Tico you look down at the palace of Auburn Hills where the Pistons may win a title in Detroit for the first time ever ben Wallace five of five from the field in that first half pistons as Al mentioned not only a series high but a playoff high in the first half 55 points some of the sounds of Mottown the great Temptations midcourt entertaining the fans who have uh seen some good moves in the first half from the other guys from Detroit here the Pistons welcome to the Verizon Wireless halftime report with the coach of the New Orleans Hornets Byron Scott and Tom Mike Trico shaquille O’Neal three fouls kobe Bryant in early foul trouble field goals not going again the Lakers came with the energy but the Pistons were able to match it by Yeah they did come with the energy but I think you got to give Detroit a lot of credit because Detroit came with energy as well and they executed their game plan to perfection offensively they executed extremely well and when that ball went up in the air and they got the rebound they tried to make Shaq get up and down the court got a lot of easy baskets and they can continue to be that aggressive the second half we’ll be celebrating the ball a Detroit Pistons championship tonight to that point with Shaquille O’Neal in the game the Pistons have scored two more points tom when Shaq’s been on the bench the Pistons are plus eight show me why well because there’s a hole in the middle i mean when Shaq is in the in the game he’s in the middle he’s commanding the paint carrier when he’s not in the middle you see guys taking advantage of that and getting to the rim right here Rasheed Walls where’s the shot blocker there isn’t one chanty Phillips knows that defense opens up take it in the middle there is no shot blocker desawn Prince again dishing it off to Ben W there is no shot blocker and interestingly enough if you watch Detroit in the Eastern Conference Finals this would be a fourth quarter score 55 points and you’re wondering how could they do that well it’s a Lakers problem they’ve had all season long they’re not a good defensive squad it’s the first time in six years in a day that a team from the Eastern Conference has been on the floor with a chance to win the title jordan and the Bulls 98 last time that was the case kobe Bryant four of 12 in the first half he and the Lakers down 10 the commissioner of the NBA David Stern joins us live next the Verizon Wireless halftime report brought to you by Verizon Wireless the only wireless provider that allows you to vote for the NBA Finals MVP can you hear me now good we welcome you back to the Verizon Wireless halftime report live from the Palace of Auburn Hills richard Hamilton had 11 he continues to be step forep scoring-wise with Kobe Bryant in this series the Pistons 24 minutes away from a third franchise title we are joined by the commissioner of the NBA David Stern for an annual visit it’s appropriate that we are in this building David the building that led the league in attendance in a year when the NBA had more people in the house than ever before it’s been a great year and there’s no question that Detroit has been at the vanguard and they have uh a very young group of fans here it’s it’s fun to see there are a million great stories in the NBA in our couple of minutes let’s just get to some of the hot button issues and let’s start with the comments made by Larry Bird to our colleague Jim Gray during an ESPN interview last week for those of you who didn’t see it Bird made this comment about white superstars in the league or a lack thereof i think it’s good for a fan base because as we all know the majority of the fans are white America and if you just had a couple of white guys in there you might get them a little excited but it’s a black man’s game you’ve always listened to your great players during your tenure to hear what they have to say they have their finger on the pulse of the league first your reaction to Larry St well I I listen to them i don’t always agree with them as great as they may be i think that was the conventional wisdom when Larry came into the league in 1979 if anything the last 25 years the years of Magic and Michael Kobe Sha this Piston team um our great American fans love winners and people of great talent you look at Tiger Woods and the like on this one Larry’s just flat out wrong so in your opinion does the NBA need a white superstar to help grow through the league i don’t understand how we could grow it our ratings are we’re up our attendance is up our sponsorship is up everything is up on this one again Larry is wrong great player and evaluator of talent though he may be speaking of ratings a topic we covered last year ratings for the finals have been great a lot of people are watching certainly the presence of the Lakers your flagship franchise for lack of a better word uh helps that do you worry though that when the Lakers aren’t in it’s a notch below in ratings in excitement for fans is this league too Laker dependent for success right now i don’t think so i think that the East uh you know ESPN set a an all-time basketball record with the uh Pacers and the Pistons the clinching game most watched i think that we’re really seeing a transition obviously people love the Lakers and love to hate the Lakers and maybe there’s a bump but this you don’t you don’t have the attendance that we have the overall ratings that we have and everything else that goes with success with just one team let me ask you about the Olympics eight or nine players for a variety of legitimate reasons have pulled out of the games in Athens in August you helped save USA basketball by the dream team concept do you feel in any way a responsibility to get more of your players to go to the Olympics down the line past Athens we didn’t save USA basketball they were doing fine the fact of the matter is is that FEA and the IOC asked us to release our players and we agreed to and we I think it’s great that our players have the right to participate in the Olympics and the right not to but the dream team certainly put Olympic basketball in a far different stratosphere absolutely but that was really one of a kind i think that we’re going to have a very good team i certainly think it’s up to the individual but obviously we would like to participate in fielding the strongest possible team but no arm twisting here no arm twisting from you no arm twisting age limit we talked about it last year you said in a great world you’d like to see an age limit of 20 perhaps in the collective bargaining agreement if that would have been in this year LeBron James who’s given the league as great a blip in interest as anyone wouldn’t have been in the league did it change your opinion at all if there should be an age limit or not no because I know that players can play at at a lower at a younger age but if that were the case then there’s a great 14-year-old player I know maybe we should have him it isn’t about the player who can play it’s about the impact of playing in the NBA on kids who are bouncing the ball at the age of 10 and 11 think they’re coming to us and the increasing number of youngsters who are going to declare because their friends are telling them how good they are and they’re going to fall out finally there’s a business reason in some ways teams are using their draft picks and I think they should also have the ability to make certain judgments on more than just potential last question and it’s been 13 months since Michael Jordan has been directly attached to an NBA franchise michael remember him michael 23 guy is there anything in the works do you think there’s anything that might happen in the next 6 months that Michael will be back with the team something that’s going to happen i’m not going to put a time limit on it michael is traveling the world uh doing quite well but also using his very practice eye on the business sense to see if there’s an opportunity for franchise ownership any places you’d like to mention with us right now no okay but thank you for asking no problem thank you for coming up great to see you David maybe we’ll see you at the trophy presentation if it happens after the second half ben Wallace has done his part to do that wallace went eight of 10 in the clinching game against the Nets in the Eastern Conference second round he’s five of five tonight detroit leads by 10 alan Dock have two coming up right after this [Music] this halftime report presented by Verizon Wireless we never stop working for you the second half is next after this message and a word from our ABC stations can you hear me now good the Pistons win the NBA title full coverage after the game second half ready to begin detroit up by 10 points at the Palace al Michaels with Doc Rivers Michelle Deoya Steuart Scott a lot of different things we can talk about but again one of the things Doc is the fact that the Pistons are having their way against that Laker defense lakers started out pretty good defending almost every shot and then all of a sudden they became a civ again and and that’s been a staple of this series all series long the Lakers have come out and played defense for you know a quarter or maybe a couple of possessions but they haven’t been able to maintain it throughout the games and this is what you see when the Lakers don’t play defense you see layup after layup after layup and this is not just this game it’s been the entire series they’re running on all cylinders 61% from the field 10 layups three of those are dunks 11 points for Ben Wallace who’s not an offensive player and they’ve had a ton of wide open shots that don’t even count as layups it’s 26 points from not only in the paint but you’re actually you’re in the easel I guess at that point i mean you’re right there layups dunks you know and the Lakers are right now in a lot of trouble yeah i will say this though um Shaq left they’re down 10 he comes back they’re still down 10 i think that’s significant back he comes at the start of the second half we go to Stewart al I asked Larry Brown what he told his team about making this just one simple half of basketball and he said I really told them just keep doing what you’re doing do your job and you’ll be fine but then he smiled and he said “But I did tell them enjoy this.” And I told them several times we report to the Lakers let’s go to Michelle to Storm as I was standing outside the Laker locker room during halftime something very unusual happened a Laker official came out of the locker room and shushed people in the hallway things were obviously getting tense inside that locker room kurt Ramis told me players were attentive were overplaying guys on D we’re allowing them to penetrate back to you guys and this begins the second half does with a Rasheed Wallace three-pointer boy and that’s a big one i know it’s early in the second half rasheed Wallace really didn’t get involved in the first half and Larry Brown came out of the halftime making sure that Rasheed Wallace touched the ball here’s O’Neal and the Lakers will need a lot of that i was going to say Jackson came out and he said “Make sure catches the ball jack had a little bit of rest because of the foul trouble in the first half [Applause] and again Ben Wallace takes the rebound away and he’s just quicker to the ball that’s what you keep seeing in this series the Pistons are just quicker to the basketball [Applause] prince Wallace has to come out wallace is going to drive all the way payton back of the Lakers medeno z Bryant in the corner medeno was open from inside the arc and misses you notice how Meeno came out he made those three shots and since then he has really struggled he’s starting to hesitate you know that’s the the difference between a great player and just an average player the average player will make a couple but when he misses he loses his confidence a great guy great player will keep shooting prince Short but again they keep it alive and Ben Wallace gets the assist on the Hamilton layup that was a great example of what I’ve been talking about that last play a loose ball shaq reacts so does Ben Wallace but Ben Wallace is quicker to the ball now Bryant and Bryant gets fouled that one is on Taan Prince that’ll be his first i mean I want you to look at this you see Shaq and Ben both go to it ben gets in quicker and that causes a layup second shots and free throws have killed the Lakers in this series devin George has that swaned out of his hands and out of bounds 11 on the clock as the Lakers inbound beneco started three for three he’s now four of eight [Music] peyton having trouble getting it in just does bryant seven on the 24 kobe goes all the way left hand stuck so Kobe Bryant has come this evening and done what he should do and that’s attack the basket shaquille O’Neal getting in foul trouble hurt the Lakers the key for the Lakers in this half is Shack Stan on the floor and playing some defense wallace working on Medenko puts it up and there again I have never seen anybody with the instincts of Ben Wallace he he knows exactly where to be and he’s quicker than everyone else on the floor i mean how far do you have to go back in the NBA annals doc to think of a guy who knew exactly where to be like that dennis Rodman yeah you have to go back that far I guess i was hoping you’d go back to you know like Arie Ryan or somebody here’s Devin George packed out george sending it around the rim a 360 the Lakers with a fresh 24 as O’Neal with Wallace on him turns on him puts it up doesn’t get the bounce but gets fouled and that one on Rasheed Wallace is his third and you can see this here what they’re saying is Rasheed Wallace hit with his arms and his body i think Rasheed Wallace is thinking right now i think I was hit with Shaq’s body and arms shaq one out of four he has nine points in the game now one out of five from the free throw line lakers have taken 14 free throws tonight made nine pistons 18 and made 14 misses two here and Larry Brown saying before the game you know we just have to we got to beat him at the foul line but tonight they’re beating him from the foul line and from the open court [Applause] oh beautiful pass to Hamilton and then Devin George comes in for the foul what a great cut by Rip Hamilton he created the entire play with his movement i mean just take a look watch him start it out he goes over he changes speed he stops payton goes over top he back up and he gets to the bucket i tell you he’s the guy that you would not enjoy guarding he’s like a hyperactive kid [Laughter] rland the Madison cabinet yeah yes i mean it’s like a parent chasing a precocious I know what you’re saying you can take him to the doctor but in the NBA you can’t right 12-point lead [Applause] now 13 825 remaining in the third and the Pistons have a double digit lead they are they’re as tough as anybody to beat because of their great defense and then Bryant loses it on his way to the basket and looks back at Joey Crawford the referee three-pointer coming up for Hamilton rimmed it out payton has two points tonight george passes up the three sends it into Shaq and he has the easy layup o’neal now goes into double figures with 11 points you know it’s an 11-point game and now I get the sense that the Lakers are still in this game doc my sense is 3 months ago they’d really be in the game but I’m not sure right now and a 24 second violation i say that only because of the dominance of the passes in the series the Lakers keep living on the edge they’ve taken themselves right to the precipice right now bill Jackson has to mix and match and play a makeshift lineup and Larry Brown is making all the right calls well he really has but when you look at this game right here I’m looking at the way the Lakers are playing they look like they’re aggressive they’re taking it to the bucket they’re drawing fouls in the half they might have a chance of getting penalty first in this quarter which would be different i tell you this game is becoming really dangerous for the Pistons they call that on Rasheed Wallace you saw Ben Wallace put his arm up as if to say call it on me and they’ve called it on Rasheed so that’s four on him because it was on Rasheed and what Ben Wallace was trying to do was sell to his team or to the ref that the foul was on me this is the first time now that Ben that Rasheed Wallace has got into trouble in the second half right so he picks up his fourth with 19 minutes and 5 seconds remaining in the game and O’Neal picks a pretty good time for the Lakers to make both single digits now nine-point game double teaming back court and Devin George runs away and goes “Come we had him.” They call it on George and Bilips goes down as George picks up his third foul you know it’s funny phillips looks down and said he slipped on the play yet the thought was coming [Applause] already still Jackson has never lost three playoff games in a row they’ll have to pull one out here to keep the series alive hamilton ben Wallace went high in the air prince couldn’t put it in and O’Neal fights for the rebound and has it and the foul is pulled on Taan Prince and now the Lakers are starting a mountain of fouls they’re going to have a chance to be in penalty that’s four so one more and the Lakers will go to the line for the rest of the quarter six and a half to play payton little fall away doesn’t go then Wallace with the rebound that used to be Payton’s staple move and you can see most of those shots now are front of the rim which indicates tired legs and Garden Rip Hamilton will do that hamilton can’t get there but Campbell does rip Hamilton calls that play with the dribble penetration o’neal ben Wallace cleans the glass again 10 rebounds for Wallace and that was not a good possession for the Lakers [Applause] prince Wallace is going to drive and gets fouled 5:35 we’ll go to the line when we come back on the other end of this break the Pistons up by 11 at Over Hill smiler than a lady you got to fight the powers that be this copyrighted telecast of the National Basketball Association may not be retransmitted reproduced rebroadcast or otherwise distributed or used in any form without the express written consent of the NBA the NBA Finals on ABC brought to you by Coors Light unleash the Rocky Mountain cold taste of Coors Light nike and Walt Disney Pictures around the world in 80 days starts [Music] tomorrow aerial coverage tonight provided by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company with New Assurance Tires down at the Palace NBA Finals MVP you at home can be part of the process there’s the deal 622 on your Verizon wireless phone crowd got into it with Jack Nicholson they would show him and then Chin Rock on the other hand yay Boo Yoo and all that stuff he might be the coolest celebrity on the circuit jack had a lot of practice yes he has and he’s a great guy now I’m I’m looking at the liquor lineup bill Jackson told us one of the things that he might do is go small and and and and I think he used the word ultra small and he’s done it brian Russell right now is in the game at the power four positions michelle what went on in the huddle well a couple things phil Jackson came right to the guys and said “You cannot give them rebounds.” Rest of the timeout he said “We’ve got to get stops.” And he reminded them “We have to play right through the foul calls don’t throw your arms don’t shoot looks don’t talk to the rest your only recourse is to play through the fouls play defense with your feet not with fouls guys that’s it you go to the You go to all of the fuel left in the tank brian Russell in the game and again this is where the Lakers have come in a situation where Malone can’t play in a desperation game you go to a guy Brian Russell who has played so little over the last two months brian drives jams one home point game yeah this is the first sign that this Laker team is looking for [Applause] something phillips open in the corner prince misses phil Jackson’s like a manager in an elimination game in the World Series as Devin George can’t hit what would have been a big one and Wallace gets the rebound if you’re faced with elimination in the World Series you go every you’ll use every pitcher every player and Jackson’s done that tonight they have 12 guys one is in Civies that’s Malone they’ve used the other 11 prince drives softly it i’m watching that possession their Lakers players didn’t know who they had they got mixed up because no one knew who was guarding who and that’s why Tesa’s wrist got all the way to the basket and that’s what’s going to happen when you play a quintet that has played so little [Music] together o’neal starts to go to the hoop bernie Frier calls a foul even if it’s not a shooting foul they’re still in the penalty here look at this look at guys running around they don’t know what they had two guys runs here shaq has to try to help i mean in a game like this when you come off the bench you must communicate with each other i have Chris you have him and you have to play that didn’t happen and that just gave up two points and the Pistons such heavy underdogs before the series of the team right now playing probably as cohesively as they have all season you know you’re right one of the things I’ I’ve noticed in this series is whenever you hear a Piston player talk he knows exactly what he is supposed to do when you hear a Laker player talk he sounds like he’s guessing and talking about what they should do o’neal missing both free throw attempts he’s three out of 10 the Lakers are 11 of 19 dan Wallace over Brian Russell that’s what happens when you go small brown open Kobe loses the ball there’s no foul in the lane here’s Phillips on a drive got it lewis to the line [Applause] the Detroit Pistons are smelling the voting ball and they’re going for it right now shelley Brown a 17-point lead [Applause] [Music] o’neal Bryant give and take with [Applause] Shaq did that on purpose he knew it was going in he wants to show the intimidation factor of the Detroit Pistons this reminds me of Patrick Yuan against Villanova just knock it out to scare him he didn’t care he got the gong anyway from upstairs the gang show phillips throws the ball away phillips is going to contend that it was touched by a Laker i thought it was deflected to be honest uh you know from our angle it it really looked like it was deflected also going to [Music] eradic Lakers now bryant outside payton has the ball looks Kobe’s way goes inside the shack slam dunk 72 to 59 under three to go in the third larry Brown a little nervous again well I think they’re going to be nervous until there was all zero on the clock but right now Larry will be yeah yeah they’re playing good basketball french up i tell you Taan Prince has been more aggressive than I’ve ever seen him and Devin George has just picked up a technical foul terrible contact in addition to a personal foul [Music] fourth foul on him 236 remaining in the third detroit by 13 [Music] [Applause] [Music] mcdonald’s NBA final summary o’neal tonight 17 Bryant 18 but the story has been Detroit’s defense again and Ben Wallace with 13 rebounds and 14 points so he’s done it on both ends the technical foul will come after the personal foul on George who looks over at Bernie Frier and gets teed up yeah and he earned the technical there’s no doubt about it and right now at this point in the game when your team is down 13 points now 14 points you can’t afford to give up any free buckets i don’t think Phil Jackson was real happy about that technical foul and that’s why you see Devin George but that’s how and sit him down but there’s nothing that Phil can do about it at this point he’s done all the politicking and all of the carrying on the manipulating that he could too late now here’s Stewart al Larry Brown is a consumate coach even with this team dominating the game a double-digit lead the last time out he told these guys “Hey this game is not over we got to finish this quarter the right way no wasted possessions out here’s O’Neal can’t get it larry Brown grew up in a Jewish family he was born in Brooklyn and grew up in New York his mom is 99 i think his mom taught him larry don’t give yourself a kennura which means don’t say something prematurely and so Larry has always lived that way and Larry right now is not giving himself a kara no he’s not and more importantly he’s making sure that his team knows that Hamilton was hit in the face on that last possession it was a accident but he was definitely hit in the face right in the nose it looked like by Gary Payeyton watch the arm [Applause] bam that’s why you wear that mask Steve it’s safer over here Al Doc is safer over here than on the bench that’s what he keeps telling you 7 seconds on the timer phillips here’s Campbell free got it with O’Neal coming all the way out on him campbell went down he thought he was fouled everything is falling right now and a double technical now hamilton and Payton carrying on with each other well that’s the next step you know when when you’re getting dominated the next step is to try to do other things verbally get into it see if you can throw him off this way because no other way has worked thus far and I love I love what Larry Brown is doing he’s going to take Hamilton off the floor because he wants him to get it together and he’s thinking listen this game is not over lindsay Hunter comes into the game kobe Bryant will bring the ball up the floor bryant 18 points tonight six out of 15 from the field o’neal into the corner three-pointer here russell misses lakers keep it alive payton fox now Shaq works it back out payton tries for a three nothing drops prince gets the rebound see that’s a sign of desperation you had guys who could have chosen to put the ball on the floor now they’re trying to catch up with the three-pointer that is not going to get the Lakers back in this game the Detroit Pistons are playing the right way they just continue to execute their offense move the ball be patient and get their shots and they’re killing the Lakers defensively right now with their offense fox picks up his first foul the Pistons this season holding 11 opponents in the regular season under 70 points fischer comes back in in Larry Brown’s 20year career coming into the season his teams have held opponents under 70 a total of 10 times he did it more in one year than in 20 years it’s been one of the more dominating performances of all time and in the playoffs maybe up on time and their backs were to the wall in the jersey series and they came back to win six and seven bryant from three that’s the third straight three now Bryant will drive hang in the lane nothing goes and Ben Wallace with the rebound the Lakers have the look of this we tried we couldn’t do it we’re not good enough and now you can see them slowly deteriorating in front of your eyes kobe Bryant with the foul [Applause] [Music] but I got to make the point again this is not the Lakers playing poorly this is the Detroit Pistons playing great it’s a big difference as we said at the top of the show when you have an upset of this magnitude people say “Well how did they do it?” And normally you know it’s it’s whether it’s baseball or hockey or basketball or football there’s always you know something that happens you get a break the ball bounces the right way the goalie makes a stop but with the Pistons it’s just that as we said at the beginning they’re playing better they’re the better team Bryant Miss Campbell Phillips look at the ball movement look at the patience everybody’s touching the ball even on the fast break and the Pistons right now look like a fresh horse well rested running flying down the floor and the Lakers look like they’re totally [Music] [Applause] innovated wallace has 10 rebounds in this quarter he has 15 in the game you know every single day there’s been a different guy tossy Phillips was dominated in one game rip Hamilton was dominated in one game rasheed Wallace was dominated in one game and now tonight is Ben Wallace you know when you start thinking about MVP I don’t know if you can give it to one person i think this should be a team MVP i don’t know if that’s possible but you have to think about it they got to give it to an individual according to the rules that I’m aware of do it to a coach too yeah they could they really could [Music] fourth foul on [Applause] [Music] four o’neal the line is three out of 10 [Music] stewart yours how rookie Hamilton just came back in the game you saw him he caught that blow to the face but that face guard he’s wearing it’s worth $2,500 the reason he’s wearing it he’s broken his nose twice this year already the doctor said if he has another one he’d have to miss the rest of the season what happens when he gets hit all of the blood of the blow goes against the forehead and the chin so he is okay wow coast to coast with no one stopping the ball before this series we said if the Lakers didn’t play defense they would not win this series the Lakers have not played defense and it’s so loud and they’re so inexperienced as a unit out on the floor they couldn’t even get a shot away at the end of three detroit on top 82 to 59 the whole Brown family brother Herb in the middle Shelly at the bottom and the Pistons are 12 minutes away from a title [Music] [Applause] [Music] al Michaels Doc Rivers Michelle Safoy Stewart Scott fourth quarter begins william Davidson whose WNBA team was shot won last season’s title who owns the Tampa Bay Lightning and they have the Stanley Cup that man’s had a pretty good year boy I tell you Lindsay Hunter starts the fourth quarter with a steal not one Laker cross half court shaq on the bench as we start the period if you watch right now Al if you watch the body language the movement who do you think is winning and losing right now the way the Pistons are playing if you turn the game on right now you would think “Boy they must be down they’re playing desperate.” But they’ve been playing at the same pace they have controlled the pace and it’s the Lakers who look always a step behind kobe goes to the hoop and gets fouled in the lane wallace for Larry Brown trying to become the first guy to do that he won the NCAA crown at Kansas in 1988 danny Manning was this key guy he also coached UCLA to the national championship game in 1980 he was here with the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA championship larry Brown everywhere he’s gone his team has improved the San Antonio Spurs he normally takes reclamation projects i mean this is a guy who got the Los Angeles Clippers into the playoffs hey hey hey i was despite Doc Rivers being on the roster he did it in Ben Wallace he’ll tip it back in himself over Brian Cook this has been a dominating performance this entire series and you’re right Al you can make the point that the Lakers are very lucky to be playing tonight you get the feeling the way this is going that these teams could play 10 more games and the Lakers might not win one i mean it’s been that dominant [Applause] walton to rush hamilton on [Applause] Fiser it’s almost like the party has started with 1032 still left in the game yeah the party has started there is no doubt about it every long rebound a Piston releases and gets a fast break and it’s been one-on-one fast break basketball for the Pistons and I said fast break basketball for the Pistons the party has started [Applause] doc you may be the last coach ever hired under 60 years old you know when you think about what’s happened since 2000 Dick Vermile at 63 became the oldest coach to win a Super Bowl scotty Bowman 68 the oldest coach to win a Stanley Cup he only won nine jack McKon 72 won the World Series last year and Larry Brown who looks about 50 but is 63 years old is on the verge of becoming the oldest to win an NBA title well all I have to say is I hope I don’t have to wait 23 years to win a title doc will keep this season baby [Music] [Applause] [Music] kobe goes Oh and Kobe’s hurt [Music] bryant this season of course in addition to Colorado was also hurt on a couple of occasions missed about 15 games at one point it looked like he wrenched his shoulder to the point he’d be out for a couple of months and stay he was only out for a week or so yeah I think he missed one game uh it’s still not healed you know when you talk to the team doctors you may have to have surgery they don’t know after the season is over the team is definitely going to have surgery the team is going to have major surgery talking to Mitch Cupshack the general manager today as Wallace comes back in Hunter goes out there will be no offse for the Laker Brass and what about Phil and what about Shaq now Shaq’s under contract so unless they trade him which will not happen ever they won’t be able to trade him they won’t trade him i don’t see that ever happening i think the number one thing is what Bill Cassid does number two is what Kobe does and you can put that one or two any way you want it and then it gets down to Carl Malone and Jerry Payton and what they do and then it gets to Cup Chuck and what is he going to do to change this basketball team [Applause] and that’s without even mentioning the most important matter in Kobe’s life yeah i mean it’s all moot unless he’s acquitted you know the first Malone too yeah carl Malone Jerry Payton wow the first thing that stands out watching this Lakers team play you know it was nice getting calm along and it was nice getting Barry Payton but what this team needs is outside shooting in the worst way because the Detroit Pistons have been able to sag and clog up the paint and haven’t been able and haven’t had to pay a penalty for it so I think what you’ll see with Miss Cupche is they’re going to go out and search for shooters they they got sporadic outside shooting this season i.e fiser rasheed misses a three and Rush’s big game but not consistently 841 it’s on ice in the back as Detroit leads by 25 in a Gatorade bucket go figure [Music] aerial coverage tonight being provided by Goodyear as you look down upon what from that angle is a very plastered round palace of Auburn Hills just sitting out there in the middle of a parking lot it looks calm yeah inside a different story we’re talking about the Lakers phil Jackson the first guy they have to talk about brian Peyton Malone and Fischer can opt out peyton can opt to stay i mean he’s already under contract so it’s his call there fox maybe retires you don’t know the other guys with expiring contracts you know Phil Jackson said something interesting cuz all along I have told you and I believe that he would not come back you asked him this morning if they lost would that change his decisions and he said yes it probably would yeah that makes you think if they lose which they are going to he may come back and try to get this right that surprise me as you know though in in every sentence you know Phil goes from here to there you know he’s like in I still moonlight on the ocean is swept around or whatever the the lyrics are but it’s like you walk away and you go “Huh?” I still think he he quits this year i don’t think retires though i do believe we’ll see him coach again but not with the Lakers again here’s O’Neal you know Phil he he understands he had a chance here to become the winningest coach not only in NBA history in terms of championships but eclipse all other coaches and managers in the four major sports is it huge to him i mean he can live without it but it’s it was important to him he made that pretty obvious as we talked to him throughout the course of the season it it absolutely was he also said something that surprised me i didn’t know he was keeping count that they could catch the Celtics in banners yes that upset me too doc you can do something about it yeah I’m going to try 1614 is the Laker Celtic rivalry right now with Boston up by two [Music] phillips using the clock meanwhile on the other side of the coin Doc Detroit a much younger team and as the Lakers will end their season unraveling in this series Detroit ends it on a high note and they just add exclamation point after exclamation point ben Wallace 20 rebounds for Wallace walton [Applause] missing so Detroit with a young team not that they’re not going to go out and try to revamp every team does i mean St antonio won the title last year changed six of the 12 minnesota had a pretty good year last year changed nine of the 12 and got better well you know the difference here is that Joe Dumar has done such a great job that this goes in my goodness i mean we would have had to leave the building doc the crowd has already rung out yes but Joe Dumas has done such a great job with this team he’s not going to have to make a lot of changes you know they have to sign Rasheed Wallace which I think they will the mimic is going to be a big thing whether they can keep him or not other than that this team will look very much the same and don’t forget about the rookie that didn’t play this year he will be a factor in the near future for this distance darko Milis talking about you know I couldn’t remember his name cuz he hadn’t played hard well there he is we just call him Darko yeah the one thing he has to remove is those band-aids from his ear he was piercing his ear in the Eastern Conference Finals they got infected so now he has to walk around with band-aids on his ear so he has to learn some things there’s no doubt about it he needs a valet is what he does oh my goodness or a good girlfriend you know Larry Brown says something really interesting about him you know he’s so young he’s only 18 years old does he know how important the world championship is he said he might know more about the World Cup than the World Championship wallace on a turnaround but I’m going to say this again i look at this Detroit team chelsea Phillips was was given up on Ben Wallace was said that he couldn’t be a factor rip Hamilton have been moved rashid Wallace they they remind you of the Oakland Raiders you know Joe Mars has looked at guys of of castaways and have put them together and has turned this group into a terrific team rasheed being one of the guys i mean he was the walking technical foul but he’s been a choir boy in the playoffs and a very positive influence with this team and a guy Brown wanted and Dumar’s as well larry still coaching every possession he’s the coach’s coach [Music] swim Cash and the reigning champion Detroit Shock take on the Sacramento Monarchs the WNBA on ABC Saturday at 4 Eastern [Music] the NBA Finals on ABC brought to you by Miller vote Miller for president of Beers good call and Nissan who invites you to shift the way you move through the world then we throw to you just get it down and get in our play we got a huge p i I want to run every time but we don’t have the break we got to use clock they can’t get a second shot that’s a man who has a championship wrapped up Doc in the fourth quarter of game five coaching every possession and you know it’s awesome to watch him because obviously he wants to win a championship but he’s so much about the game of basketball he’s a teacher he wants him to play the right way all the time he’s going to coach until 0000 is on the clock rush i’ll tell you a guy getting a big kick out of this right now dean Smith i’ll tell you another one red on [Applause] yes red’s lighting up his cigar if you don’t follow basketball you just want Red Hourback’s record was in jeopardy red is a very proud man red loves that record and Red and Phil have had long distance barb fest on the other hand we’re talking about Larry Brown playing for Dean Smith at North Carolina i’ve knowing Dean for all of those years in contact with him all the time never calls him Dean that’s the coach yes doc can I call you next year like during the week and you give me some lines and I can read them on the air anytime and I’ll be watching you i’ll tell you that [Applause] dean Smith dean Smith and John Wooden two of the kind of course look at that in in college basketball annals the young Larry Brown people forget Larry Brown was a hell of a basketball player for us and for Larry the only the negatives to Larry and there are some people who who don’t like him because he’s moved around so much and in Philadelphia that some fans felt he deserted them larry does have a little wander lust in him there’s no question about it it’s maybe the pursuit of perfection as Cook makes that shot it could be a lot of different things but he is a guy as his brother Herb said to me the other night you know we’ll be driving around they see kids playing on a playground he wants to get out of the car and coach them oh no doubt you know when I was with the Clippers and Larry Brown coached me we would play one-on-one games after practice larry would come back out on the floor and stop us because we didn’t pivot the right way so we left practice and we went somewhere else crowd looking for 100 and they’re going to get it sooner or later because they still have 344 to play but of all crazy things in this series could you have ever figured Detroit would win in a blowout the Lakers would need a near miracle to win the only game they win and Detroit would wind up in triple figures in a blowout deciding game you know all I’m going to go back to our first game here and we said in this series that if the Detroit Pistons scored 90 between 85 and 90 points they would win because they would never give up 90 points i’m looking up at the scoreboard right now the Pistons have 98 points and the Lakers have 72 so as great as the DJ Kiss defense has been it’s still been about the Lakers not playing defense in this series or maybe not able to play defense because everyone underestimated the Pistons offense they know now you saw Shelley Brown shelley and Larry will get about 11 minutes to exalt larry’s going to coach the Olympic team so he’s going to go into a draft situation next week with this team he’s going to have a parade and all of that then he’s got to start getting the Olympic team together then they have they have a camp then they go to Germany to play then they go to Athens of course for the Olympics then he comes back and he plays about two rounds of golf and he goes back to training camp yeah and and they’re in another as called it a half team situation you know a ho situation because he had to get this team to the finals after they made the switch to their car now he’s taken the dream team and he has to win the gold medal [Music] 256 remaining in the sports we’re counting down to a celebration in Mottown NBA Finals on ABC Sports let’s play when the battles begin you never know where the heroes will come from [Music] nba Finals Sunday night on ABC back here at the Palace with a reminder you can vote for the NBA Finals MVP by sending the text message NBA to the number 622 using your Verizon wireless phone or log on to NBA.com you better hurry cuz the MVP will be announced in the trophy presentation which comes up right after the game byron Scott Thompson who’s the MVP i think Chanty Phillips MVP hands down and I think if there were ever a year you’d want to give the MVP to an entire team this would be it chanty Villips a lot of the Patriots coming out before the Super Bowl we’ll be out on the floor for the trophy presentation the MVP presentation is the champagne is on ice and about ready to be open first Christians championship one here in Detroit al okay Mike and you know it’s well put about the MVP there is no clearcut guy i’d vote for Phillips too i think he’s been phenomenal ben Wallace has been fantastic tonight yeah you know what it’s such a tough vote and I’m going to vote for Ben Wallace because this team is all about defense and he’s the anchor and even though Phillips has had better offensive games Ben Wallace has been a factor throughout this series which is presence and I think I have to go with him this is the kind of election that’s so close there’ll be a bunch of dangling shads at the end of it because there’s no clearcut guys it should be a true MVP and we talked about it on the pregame show doc when you think about these Pistons there won’t be one guy who comes to mind you’ll think about a collection of guys it won’t be Michael Jordan’s Bulls or Jackson Lakers or Duncan and Robinson Spurs this is different actually it’s refreshing too yeah you could vote for Tokumar i mean the trade before the trade deadline bringing Rasheed Wallace to the Pistons swung to the Pistons that is I’m thinking about that you’re You’re right you are right i know i got to tell you this has been a great year for me i’m trying to stay composed i really am uh I’ve been a player i’ve been a coach for Celtics and now I can say that I’ve done the NBA Finals with Al Michaels michelle’s a player Scott and this is this is so amazing for me it’s been amazing it’s been awesome doc you’re so kind as Dayron comes off and Larry will bring the guys off one by one doc I look at it this way the way you started at Orlando we had to get you off the street thanks i had a blast this year with you thank you very much kobe Bryant there’s Chanty Bilips elour larry Brown doing everything he can now to get everybody to come off the come off the floor as they reach triple figures get the individual [Music] acclaim and why not the Pistons are going to wind down the playoffs with some good defensive play their trademark their [Applause] hallmark again those quick hands james Darkco i think he’ll get the rest of the shots the rest of this game fischer makes it from outside so this Piston team which has really captured this area and they love this side of play so Hockey Town USA is going to become Foostown USA in about a minute and 12 seconds but you know it’s such a bluecollar team that fits this the city all you heard from them is punching the clock you know one more shift paycheck time i mean this is such a blue collar basketball team that you can make the case like the Lakers and you know the LA Lakers fit LA really fits the system hamilton can take that mask off for the final time wallace is going to win his first title [Applause] what a bizarre just a bizarre end of the L i’m looking at the shots Bryant O’Neal Jackson Malone and Scree close 80 and of all crazy things this team which always seemed to come up with the crush play or the divine play when they needed it will end it like this well they live on the edge now and and against the Detroit Pistons you can’t live that way i will say this it would be ironic if Car Malone ends his career in street clothes since he played every day for the most part his entire career sure and if Phil Jackson ends his career losing for the only time in the finals he’ll be nine and one here [Applause] you know what I love though when they signed Carlo Hey everybody assumed that well they just had won a title if you’re a team sport guy it gives every kid in the world a message no matter who’s on your team you still have to earn it and that’s what this title is all about we started the first game i said to you you know you have to run the race you got to play the game the day before Bird Stone had beaten Smarty Jones we said that the Pistons have a better chance to beat the Lakers than than Birdstone had he’s still running [Applause] they’re going to win the middle three games something that no team has done at home since they went back to a 232 format in 85 there was actually a time in the mid50s believe it or not when a home team won all three games in the middle it was the Pistons they were in Fort Wayne but of all crazy things they played those games in Indianapolis and beat the Syracuse Nationals and the last team to win an Eastern champion from the East without Phil Jackson being involved with the Detroit Pistons in 1990 rick Fox ending the game hunched over his former teammate Lindseay Hunter and congratulating him as the clock ticks down and the Detroit Pistons Wow who won the who won the NBA championship in ‘ 89 and 90 and they the crazies just have to stop blowing up stuff in indoor buildings before we have a disaster thank you Commissioner but the Detroit Pistons have just shocked the Los Angeles Lakers 87 187 to win the NBA title the number two seed in the Eastern Conference and for the Lakers it truly will be the end of a particular era they’ve had the three championships they brought in the other guys we talked about how much they’ll revamp joe Dumars who was selected by Bill Davidson to run the team he can exult bill Jackson will contemplate his future and they’ll talk about that very shortly I’m sure in the next couple of days as the confetti rains down at the palace of Auburn Hills chanty Phillips a likely candidate for the MVP award and the Detroit Pistons is gritty gutty defensive oriented team plays phenomenally on both ends of the floor and beat the Lakers in five shelley Brown like a lot of coaches wives a lot of a lot of different homes you got to keep the family together and this was a very rough year for Larry because his family was settled in Philadelphia the kids in school he’s trying to fly back on off days living in an apartment back and forth they go the Kobe Bryant the biggest of question marks of course for him yes and so you the complete contrast and evidence here as the game is over [Music] well you just look at this entire season and this Detroit team always believed that they could they played the same way all year and you knew every time you played this team that they were going to come out and play hard play great defense and as we’ve said a hund times now play the game the right way there’s a lot of people smiling at this basketball team steuart Scott Tan Prince you guys did something that nobody outside your locker room thought you would it wasn’t just that you beat them but how what did you all know that nobody else did uh we just took it to them man we knew we could play with everybody in this league and I think we showed it today but uh obviously they came out gave it everything they have and we just we just kept fighting we kept fighting and uh it was just a allaround effort by everybody today everybody in your locker room was concerned about one thing coming into this game not to get so uptight that you try to do too much individually how did you blow them out like this hey this a situation where it was it was like a a last game for them we said the same thing for us it’s the last game look at it us being down 3-1 we took it we haven’t seen you smile the entire series man give me one you know what i’m feeling so happy right now it’s all inside but man I can’t even feel it i can’t even explain it right now one of your teammates said once that you don’t have a pulse i see your pulse in your heart congratulations thank you let’s go back to Al all right thank you Stuart coming up will be the trophy presentation bill Davidson will get another precious piece of hardware we’ll also find out who the MVP is larry Brown finally wins an NBA title in his 21st season 87 Detroit stick around working hard all year to bring a championship to Detroit chanty will drive him down the left side reverse glasser good we’re not there yet but we’re still counting on your support the curl hamilton nails the jump shot if we win celebrate our achievement with style and dignity remember we’re all in this together deep in a paint to ban another jam for the big fella this is Detroit’s moment to shine let’s show the world how we do it right [Music] there’s a chain around town that goes Detroit basketball and the guy who originated it is the PA announcer here he’ll take us to the ceremony Mason [Applause] and now Piston fans the Larry O’Brien Trophy [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] ladies and gentlemen ladies and gentlemen we welcome you i guess the address has changed here this is now four championship drive in Auburn Hills Michigan here to present the Larry O’Brien Trophy to the world champion Detroit Pistons the commissioner of the NBA David Stur against a celebrated and valiant effort by the Los Angeles Lakers your Detroit Pistons demonstrated that fairy tale endings do actually occur in sports as rare as they may be against all expectations but because of hard work very hard work and teamwork we serve on the world i’m delighted to congratulate Bill Davidson the owner of the [Music] [Applause] Pistons Tom Wilson Joe Dumars particularly coach Larry Brown and of course the city of Detroit who believed in this team and this team met their expectations even though no one else expected it so to your 2004 NBA champion Detroit Pistons congratulations and here’s the [Applause] trophy [Applause] [Music] let’s take that Ben Mr davidson now you have the WNBA championship the Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning i know all the championships mean so much but I’ve seen you in the practice facility seeing these guys this is your baby this one has to be super special to you absolutely it is and this is the greatest i always have to be a little careful that I uh say I like them both equal but this is a great night and the guys did a tremendous job congratulations Bill Davidson owner of the Detroit Pistons [Applause] we have to get Larry Brown over here coach Larry Brown [Applause] coach I know you inherited a very good team but they did figure out the right way to play it seemed like the right fit for the coach and the players tell us your emotions as your family’s here and you finally after the long journey become the first man to win an NCAA championship and an NBA championship as a coach well one uh I feel um fortunate that I inherited a team that Rick Carile coached he did a great job i’m sorry Chucky Atkins and Michael Curry and John Barry and Cliff Robinson aren’t here to enjoy it but there’s a great team Mr d and Joe and the whole staff assembled great guys that do play the right way and I’m proud to be part of that i know there are two people who are watching who you share great emotion forward with coach Smith Dean Smith your mentor and your 99year-old mom who has just watched you and your older brother Herb work together to win an NBA championship having your brother here your mom watching at home has to be special to you well I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for coach um a lot of a lot of us in this profession benefited by being around him and for my mom i babysitted my brother long enough and we finally got it done i love you Mom larry Brown coach of the Champion Pistons [Applause] now time for the presentation of the most valuable player trophy and once again Commissioner [Music] Stern you saw it 21 points a game over five assists the 2004 NBA Finals MVP number one Chanty Bilips [Applause] yes [Music] sir yes sir johny you just looked at that and said “Wow.” After after all the places you’ve been and the expectations when you were drafted high in the draft all the stops did you ever stop dreaming that you could find the right place for your talents i never stopped dreaming man god is good you know God is very good he put me here for a reason and that’s the reason you guys were as heavy an underdog as we’ve seen win the championship in almost a quarter century i know the guys believed tell me why this team was able to overcome the Lakers cuz we just believe in ourselves and we play team basketball we’re not just individuals we got individual good players but we’re a great basketball team and we know that that can overcome every time congratulations MVP of the finals Chanty Phillips [Applause] i would imagine you would like to hear from Joe Dumar joe Dumar’s finals of the NBA MVP or the finals I should say joins Jerry West as the only people to be finals MVP and the architect of a championship team i know it’s sweet as a player tell me what it’s like to be the boss it’s so much better here uh you put your heart and soul into it and to have this happen is just unbelievable joe as as I said this team was a heavy underdog when did you believe this team could do it i felt like we we could win this thing i really did even before the series started I thought that we I thought that we could win and um I knew we were underdogs but I never thought that these do these guys were I knew I just felt like these guys it was their year to win it joe Dumars and the rest of the world champion Detroit Pistons ladies and gentlemen and we send it back to Al Michaels all right thank you Mike so Phillips wins an MVP award in the finals before he ever makes an Allstar team who’s the last guy to do that joe Dumars yeah did it on one of the Detroit championship teams in 90 just a few moments ago what’s it like on the other side michelle talk to Derek Fischer derek Fischer obviously this is an incredibly emotional time what is your team going through in that locker room uh mixed emotions Michelle to be honest um extreme disappointment but um very resilient i’m I’m so proud of this team it we didn’t have to be here um we went through some things that I don’t think any other team could have gone through and still gotten to this point and you know we definitely have to tip our hat to the Pistons no question about that you have to win graciously and you have to lose graciously and we’re disappointed but uh the Pistons were the better team this year you guys came into this game saying all the right things that you believed you could get it done that you were confident that you’d been in this position before what happened out there tonight uh same things as have been happening this entire series you know uh second chance points you know offensive rebounds you know they’re beating us to loose balls um you know I think they wanted it more you know collectively as a group that doesn’t take anything away from anybody on our team i think we wanted it as well but um they were able to take you know emotionally what they desired and what they wanted and carry it over to the physical and we were a step slow too many times and um you know they deserve it phil Jackson had said many times this may be a last dance for this particular team what are your thoughts about the future of this team how likely is it you’ll be together next year you know who knows um you know the nature of this business has has really changed over the years and you know from year to year um when you leave that locker room for the last time you never know if you’re going to see that guy again and um you know I think we’ll all just you know enjoy the time that we have left together tonight and tomorrow on our plane ride back and uh you know just be thankful that we had this opportunity a lot of guys haven’t had this opportunity and um you know we we had a chance and we couldn’t get it done but we’re thankful derek classy move to come out here and talk with us thank you so much thank you send it back to you all right thank you Michelle kobe Bryant walking off at the end of the game a sight that not a lot of people expected to see but Detroit was completely dominant winning game five 187 and back will come after [Music] this the Pistons are the 2004 NBA champions and now direct from the NBA store on NBA.com you can own the Pistons Championship Pack the official hat and t-shirt the Pistons wore during their postgame celebration plus relive all the excitement with the NBA Finals DVD highlighting the 2004 NBA champion Piston log on to NBA.com or call 866NBA0823 get the official hat t-shirt and DVD for only $64.99 celebrate with your 2004 NBA champion Pistons over the last three years the team that represented the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals have won a total of three games the Detroit Pistons getting the four here and Shanty Phillips and Ben Wallace hold the hardware as the Pistons are the NBA champions back for final thoughts from Byron Scott and Tom with a reminder that your late local news night line and Jimmy Kimmel live follow our broadcast byron well you clearly Detroit is the better team in this series i think they’ve outplayed them all five games all five games and you know this might be the last we see the Lakers as we know it with Carl Malone Gary Payeyton don’t know the uncertainty of Kobe Bryant and uh and also Derek Fischer so you know we saw a great series as far as Detroit is concerned i think they totally outplayed him one thing I want to stop hearing is what happened to the Los Angeles Lakers i’ll tell you what happened to the Los Angeles Lakers the Detroit Pistons happened to the Los Angeles Lakers that’s what happened it wasn’t anything the Los Angeles didn’t do to lose this series it’s what the Detroit Pistons did to win this series it just turned after midnight on the East Coast 146 years ago now today June 16th Abraham Lincoln said “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” That describes the Lakers and Phil Jackson just in his press conference 30 seconds ago said “There is a quote slim chance slim chance he might return next year.” Well again you know like I said they’ve had problems all season long and you know this is no surprise to me and probably anybody else in Los Angeles laker team as we know it is done i mean and not done competing but done as we know it with the pieces they have in place right now tom pleasure again year two good luck in New Orleans coach always fun with it al Michaels and Doc Rivers will have their final thoughts remember to stay tuned for your late local news afterwards especially here in Detroit where there’ll be a lot of celebrations the Pistons are the champs alan Doc will wrap it up right after this [Music] some more celebration scenes as the players and coaches and staffs have repaired to the respective locker rooms the Detroit Pistons have won the gold ball at promotional campaign was very good and I guess Ben Wallace wins that great spot with him as the the barber you know Doc we we’ve both been around sports and I’ve covered a lot of sports for a lot of years in a 9-day period I can’t think of a turnaround like this in such a huge event i mean it’s almost as if in a World Series or in a Stanley Cup one team is expected to win and then not only does the other team win the other team becomes so dominant that by the end the other the underdog looks like it’s invincible and the favorite looks like it can’t win a game if he played until August and and it wasn’t just a couple of people it was most people I mean experts quote unquote experts saying five can it go four and when you heard that it was all about can this series can the Pistons win one game if they won one game it would be a good series i mean this this was a dominant performance and it was a great team performance uh before we go Al I want to say that Al Michaels here has just completed the Grand Slam he’s done hockey basketball baseball and football all the world championships and that’s pretty awesome and the world barrel jumping championship i wanted to leave that part out we’re not going to put it in there you know it was so interesting watching the teams walk off i mean the Lakers and clearly they’ll be broken up in some measure uh to a to a large extent in all likelihood and then Larry Brown and you know I’m just watching Larry and he’s talking about his 99year-old mother and you saw the way he was and it’s never been about Larry and by the way I saw his other wonderful moment in life his only hole in one on the golf course one of five people reviewed that exactly and and it’s it’s all it’s always about the others and and he is so elated for his players for the coaches that he’s worked with for the kids he’s brought along and I can’t think of a of a guy in that profession more respected than Larry Brown well he reminds you of the John Wooden of the NBA i mean John Wooden was a lot like Larry Brown that all the titles and all the accomplishments that he had and Larry Brown has he always talks about the greatness of the players and everybody else around him almost deflecting what he’s done larry Brown is a great basketball coach and he’s known around this league as the coach’s coach so it’s rare that other coaches because this is competitive competitive league but it’s rare that other coaches are happy for a coach when he wins a title but everyone’s happy for Larry Brown he’s helped turn the balance of power a little bit back to the East you’ll keep that going la man going to the Boston Celtics someday again i’ll come out of retirement when when you’re finished with the Celtics oh thank you Al great series great working with you Doc and a little look at some of the images from this series beginning in Los Angeles in game one and the Pistons were able to pull one off and people were shocked and then Kobe pulled that one off at the end of regulation they win in overtime the Pistons come back who supposed to be despondent they weren’t the Lakers couldn’t do anything defensively and Big Ben was phenomenal especially at the end whether it was the Afro or cornrows so the Lakers are finished the Pistons have won the title and that will do it from Auburn Hills al Michaels Doc Rivers Michelle Pavoya Steuart Scott for our entire ABC crew and they were magnificent good night from the home of the world champions Detroit Pistons so much work you’re watching WXYZ 7 now Action News at 11 the party is on pistons fans are celebrating an NBA championship for the first time in 14 long years let’s go live to Royal Oak where they started dancing in the streets after the Pistons finished off the Lakers with a blowout and here’s a look from the palace it’s only the beginning of a celebration to honor the new world champs way to go Pistons good evening everyone and thanks for joining us on this special night woo respect good evening Diana Lewis i’m Steven Clark you know it’s payday they got their respect not long ago they were branded the underdogs but tonight the Pistons are top dogs in the NBA game five left the mighty Lakers down and out team 7 coverage tips off with sports director Don Shane live at the palace on the floor with a postgame party just getting started don take it away it’s chaos down there don go ahead is uh you hear can you guys hear me hello [Music] want louder i All right and the Pistons are kind of scattered all over this floor right now chuck can we find Chuck chuck all right we’ll find Chuck talked a couple of guys 87 points for the Lakers 100 points for the Pistons as they win their first title in 14 years and really play marvelous basketball and what’s so good about it is they’re able to crush the Lakers and enjoy it as the fourth quarter is winding down and it’s just that’s just as good a feeling as you could possibly have let’s go to Dave Llewellyn can we go to Dave he’s got Corus right over here hey bring C come here come here hey Taya Sean right here cong hey Tay congrat Congratulations man can you Can you all put into words winning this thing finally means to you uh no i still can’t put it into words man definitely a great feeling though definitely a great feeling we beat a heck of a ball club our guys responded tonight being being up 3-1 you know we came in the locker room and said “Let’s play this game like we down 3-1.” And um you know we definitely took some punches from them in the first half but we we we made shots and uh we played defense in the second half why do you say you can’t believe it look up at the scoreboard look at the crowd man believe hey like I said man I’m speechless right now and uh believe it or not man if it wasn’t for these fans man did you hear how loud it was at the beginning of the game i did hear it i did hear that that was unbelievable man that that’s that’s great uh it started with them and uh they’ve been showing us great attendance all year long um and it definitely paid off for us and them you were not going to be denied here tonight were you no we we was leaving it all out on the floor uh like I said in the first half we took some punches from Kobe and Shaq slava stepped up and and uh Carl Malone spots nailed some jumpers and u you know they were playing big uh but we just stayed with it we stayed aggressive on the offensive end and uh we made plays all made plays how about Chance of getting the MVP oh man he deserved it man he deserved it big time yeah I guarantee you he’ll say the same thing everybody on this team the MVP uh especially them guys that had to guard Shaq you look at Elden Ben Rasheed all them guys coralus Memo they had the toughest job in this series but Chanty floor game in this series his offensive ability what he did it was unbelievable and uh we definitely got to give him a lot of credit you know you’re a young guy two years in the league you already won one you’re blessed some guys wait forever and never win one oh I’m definitely blessed i’m definitely blessed uh got to thank God for this opportunity unbelievable situation I’m in right now with a great great team great organization and uh definitely this is for the city as well as for everybody else congratulations Taan thank you all right let’s go over here and get Corless we got Corless here see what we got to move to these other that’s not an everyday thing it’s not an everyday thing you know we’re blessed that to have all the things going on right now we’re very thankful to God for that we talking repeat already well hey we we’re greedy now got a taste for one we want two thank you ncaa champ and now you’re a world champion in the NBA you can’t compare to NCAA you’re just the best in America but when you’re NBA champs you’re the best in the world there’s nothing like it tell me about uh Corus this feeling the chase is one thing but getting there getting there is a whole different story man we fought hard all season long just to get here and and to finally uh achieve that ultimate goal by being the world champs it’s it’s a great feeling i can’t even put it in words you guys look like little kids jumping up on the court as the clock is winding down and and that’s a good thing that’s a great thing you know it’s just a great feeling this team has really fought hard all season we played together and Coach Brown deserve this you know can you can you all you know you wait a long time you finally get here uh not many people get this opportunity so I guess you feel like you got to be one of the most blessed players and blessed guys around man God has truly blessed this team this year uh you know we got a lot of guys been in this league for a long time and this chance only comes around once in a lifetime and uh we’re very thankful to God for giving us the ability and letting us win this championship congratulations Cory thank you let’s bring Chuck in here and get some thoughts as we move along this was an annihilation they embarrassed these guys here tonight winning this title yeah you know after the first game I think we talked kiddingly about a sweep but there were some indications that this club was that good um then in the second game they proved it even more you know almost and should have maybe won that game and then uh to commit here to win three in a row that’s a pretty dominating feat to be able to do with this this during this age surprises you a little bit doesn’t it to be able to do that to these Lakers on I mean I know they’re good but almost like they won five games in this series yeah I think though in all fairness when Malone no longer became effective that changed their game because he was previous series he was a factor but that’s part of basketball and uh Pistons really stepped up in so many ways they they challenged on every possession their defensive rebounding was you know furious and uh they deserve to win does this uh bring back some memories for you a little bit a little nostalgia for you yeah a little bit but we always won in the other guy’s building and unfortunately everybody was very unhappy in that building we had to go to a party later to find any happy people when you win this when it’s unexpected I assume Joe won’t let these guys let up you enjoy it but I mean they’re all competitors once you win it once you want it the next time don’t you yeah you do and they’re deep enough and uh young enough that they could come back and do it again i truly believe that and they’ve got uh Darko sitting there they’ll make some moves in the off season uh they’re a team to contend with particularly in the East and in the NBA for I think years to come do you care if you win this on this team do you care whether or not people respect you or not you go I don’t care say what you want we got the title yeah you don’t worry about it i mean the hell with it it’s like with the Philly or the LA thing when two guys went down i could care less bottom line is you get the win you know as uh as you look at this celebration on the court the the fans in this city and the way people respond to this team in this organization not a bunch of stars just a bunch of real good basketball players kind of fits in with the image of the city doesn’t it yeah it really does workingass city and the best sports fans maybe in the country they’re incredible the way they support this team and it goes on forever i’ve been gone 15 years from this arena and it’s like I never left they they just don’t forget all right for the moment let’s throw it back to the studio we’ll get some more players and come back to us but let’s go back to you guys in the studio all right thank you Don okay we’ve got Ben Wallace I believe right now at the news conference going on or maybe this is this is a little bit earlier here let’s listen to a tape of Ben Wallace immediately after the win can you at all put into words what it feels like to be holding that trophy right now man it’s just a great feeling you know it’s hard to put it into words right now but I know you know we’re on the emotional high you know everybody came out played hard and um did what it takes to get it done i just hope everybody enjoyed this moment ben you know when you’re up by so many as the game’s winding down and you know you got it won that usually doesn’t happen you didn’t have to wait till the final seconds to kind of soak it all in um we came out you played hard you know from the start and u we was m able to make plays you know I thought we had on the heels a little bit we made plays and uh we took control of the game and we never let go so um once you win a game like that give everybody a chance to get out there and feel the excitement you know the chase is one thing but the feeling when you get there is another thing can you describe the difference all I can say is I finally got my hands on it you know I I spent about eight years chasing this thing and I finally got it a lot of credit goes to a lot of people what a team this is this isn’t Shaq and Kobe and stars it’s a lot of very good basketball players isn’t it i mean you know the team concept goes a long way you know um starting at the front office you know with Joe and Mr seeing those guys coming in making decisions getting the right right um right group of guys together right in the right coaches and everybody just going out there playing hard playing playing well with each other caring about each other caring about basketball that’s what happened when everybody play together i know you dream about these kind of moments when you’re a kid and first get in the league does does the reality come close to the dream or not um the dream don’t come close to the reality because I mean it’s one thing to dream and then you wake up and realize now I got a lot of work to do but um to actually be here you realize I did a lot of work to get here and it’s all worth it now great now we’re going to go back to Don Shane live on the floor of the palace Don you die with Chanty Phillips here congratulations that thing looks pretty darn good in your arms thank you thank you I mean it It feels great you know it feels great but you know I’m not the only one that deserved this you know we all deserve this i wish I could cut this down to 13 pieces and everybody take a beat on cuz we did it together we did it together what a rush huh can you Can you explain the kind of rush this was it’s It’s crazy man i’m speechless right now i I don’t I don’t know what to say how about How about a guy who was traded four times and ends up Does that tell you something about basketball and something about him thank you coach that’s That’s a great compliment coming from you but you know I just never gave up on myself although a lot of people gave up on me I never gave up i kept fighting and God put me in a great position john it’s it’s it’s such a long climb once the playoffs start it’s such a grind and it’s and it’s kind of thrilling as you’re going along but when the ultimate happens is it almost unescribable it is it’s unescribable man it’s all worth it you know all the aches and aches and pains you have you don’t feel them no more you know I don’t feel nothing no more i was halfway through the game i took my little patch off that I had on i ain’t feel nothing so it’s it is it’s unescribable you almost feel like a little kid again do you do I definitely feel like I’m a little kid and my mom said we going to Disney World or something you know in business in business they say we want 10% more next year hey hopefully we can give you that how will you celebrate this beside you know family friends definitely family all my close family and friends that you know been through the through the trenches with me you know that when I was down and getting traded and injuries that was there for me pushing me so that’s who you know that’s who I’m gonna celebrate this with you know the other day you and I talked and and I asked you when you were a kid if you counted down the times to shoot the ball at the end to win it you didn’t need that shot at the end of the game today you could relax and enjoy the last four five six minutes knowing it was in the bag right it was man we we just that that second half was that third quarter was unbelievable we just opened the gap and like you said we didn’t need a big shot you know from me or anybody else who are you uh besid You’re happy for yourself you’re happy for everybody else but I guess a comment on Coach Brown so many years in the league finally wins an NBA title i mean I think this is everything for coach Brown i mean he’s been in a lot of different situations a lot of years he’s a Hall of Fame coach and I think this really validates you know his Hall of Fame you know induction so you know he can be among the greats like Coach Daly and and and all the other guys Phil Jackson and I’m I’m really happy for coach well you could be among the greats too don’t you think or you’ve started it don’t you think Chucky he could be among the greats here hey if you’re MVP in the NBA Finals you’re one hell of a basketball player thank you coach you’d have to agree with that you’re a humble kind of modest guy but you have to be very proud of what you have done from an individual standpoint i am i’m definitely proud you know of myself leading a team to a championship thank you there it is there it is you said nothing better than that maybe maybe you ought to remember that line huh greatness so you know what can you say all right congratulations Don johny Bilips the most valuable player of the NBA Finals let’s go back to you guys in the studio thank you Don well now we’re going to take a look from Chopper 7 craig Smith is above the Royal Oak area and there are a lot of people partying down there craig what’s going on well I’ll tell you what there certainly is uh Stephen you think people aren’t excited just look at all the people down here there are hundreds and hundreds of people celebrating in the street this is Main Street downtown Royal Oak guess what you’re not going to get anywhere if you’re going to go through a Royal Oak by car no way no how everybody is down here partying could see some horses some police on horseback looks like everything is orderly and I don’t see any problems looks like everything’s good above Royal Oak i’m Craig Smith live from Chopper 7 back to you guys in the studio all right Craig that is what we want to hear everything is going well you know it’s time now to check in with a press conference and I think it’s Rasheed Wallace who’s talking all right let’s listen in moment in your basketball career well um you know the decision is not totally up to me i have to talk that over with my wife uh talk it over with my kids get their input so you know if if if it’s that situation or some something up here that they don’t like or they seem shaky you know I got to take all of that into consideration so but I think you know my family has the biggest say of it all um but don’t get me wrong you know I think they’re a great group of guys that I’m playing with but uh you know my family they they going to have that that last decision she right in front Willie May radio one Boston talk about winning tonight and uh getting that championship and does this kind of heal that wound from when the Lakers beat you guys in Portland well uh no not really i mean you know I don’t I don’t even think about that uh no more um you know since that that day that they beat us uh you know that was in the past and just got to play for the future now and it definitely feels good at this moment um you know just sit back and think about it Rasheed Larry Le Associated Press Larry Brown said there’s no way in the world he would have been up here or this team would have been here without you I can’t get that on the paper um what what does it mean to hear people say that that you kind of put this team over the top um you know there again I’m gonna say my favorite answer you know I I think I just added a little bit of defense to this team but they were already a great ball club um Larry was already a great coach even before he came to the Pistons so you know it was I I take the pleasure in in coming here and uh you know I thank Joe for bringing me here um and and you know it all worked out for the best everyone’s happy in the end rasheed this is Leland Stein with the Michigan Chronicle uh anytime you come with a team a new team like you did you always had to have a little trepidation about fitting in just tell me what that was like when you met the guys that just like the light went off said “Wow this is my team.” Or tell how that worked out well no I never I never I never thought of this Piston Ball Club as my team um you know it’s it’s a band of guys here it’s veteran guys and I think when you when you have veterans who are hungry and who are willing to sacrifice things to win then you don’t necessarily need no leader um because everyone knows what they have to do so we just went out there did it and and now you know we sitting on top of the world last question on the side rashid your own passport 5 Israel talk about the North Carolina connection uh winning it uh for Larry Brown uh you played under Dean Smith also now Larry has been saying that it the title belongs to you guys you players but it’s the first title for him uh I would give it to LB you know he’s he’s had a longer road than what most of us had uh you know Larry he he deserves it he deserve all the accolades he deserves everything you know cuz I think he’s been looked over for the last few years but you know he finally done it finally got over that home and this picture certainly caps off what Rasheed Wallace was talking about teamwork it’s all about teamwork and they did it what do you want for breakfast wedies wheaties we already have the team right there in the front only the second NBA team to be honored on a wedi package hardworking Pistons there for breakfast the breakfast of champions you know fans are leaving the palace right now they are happy they’re smiling this is exactly what they wanted to have happen tonight reporter Ray Sey is live in the parking lot right now with more ray stephen a magical season comes to a magical end with the Detroit Pistons doing what a lot of people didn’t think they were going to do a few months ago they are NBA champions and these fans have come out of the palace overjoyed thrilled ecstatic on Cloud9 and why not these guys have been working hard for this moment too the game ended about a half an hour ago and again fans have been pouring out we’ve seen pockets of celebration and the good news is everyone has been well behaved as always when there’s a big party like this there’s concerns that dance are going to get out of hand but again the good news so far these people have been extremely classy and well behaved and that’s a good idea on their part because security is tight tonight the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department Auburn Hills Police on hand tonight keeping an eye on everybody but again so far just a big party out here these guys are loving it and deservedly so the Detroit Pistons the NBA champions and the party is just getting started outside the Palace here live outside the Palace ray Sea Channel 7 Action News back to you Detroit basketball the stars out at the Palace tonight weren’t just in the sky tonight some very big names are celebrating the Pistons Championship action News reporter Heather Catalo joins us live from the Palace with the story heather Diana what a night it was full of stars and celebrities they were all here to cheer on the Pistons we talked to Bob Seager earlier he was very proud of the team he was extremely proud of Ben Wallace and his performance tonight we also spoke with Kid Rock and let’s listen let’s let’s fantastic you know I’m so happy for the team and Larry and everybody it’s the city it’s great it’s great what do you think this championship means for Detroit well you know hard work pays off you look at Ben Wallace the guy is in perfect shape nobody works harder on both ends of the floor there you go hard work pays off all the celebrities were so proud of Mottown for showing it up with uh Showtime as they say and I think Anita Baker said it best she said “The Detroit Pistons have really shown Detroit how to act like a team.” Live at the Palace back to you all right thank you very much Heather one of the biggest parties right now going on in Royal Oak we have Chopper 7 over the scene right now keeping an eye on things down there and that’s probably the best place to be in that mob huh Craig boy I’ll tell you what there are hundreds and hundreds of people down here and there’s a lot of traffic just north along Main Street here that’s trying to get south the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department Royal Oak Police Act the mounting division just moved the horses down through the crowd it is an orderly crowd i want to make that clear and we haven’t seen any trouble so far but they want to get the street opened back up so they’ve done that they’ve accomplished that although there’s still a lot of people in the streets celebrating the Pistons victory tonight over Royal Oak i’m Craig Smith live from Chopper 7 back to you guys all right Craig thank you very much we wish the celebration well my homeboy from Coatsville Pennsylvania Rip Hamilton is talking right now at the press conference let’s take on Rip quite an accomplishment that and the Stanley Cup in the same month wow that’s unbelievable i mean uh he got a Stanley Cup and a and a world basketball championship i mean that just tells you what type of confidence he has you know some people got a will to win he got a will to win you know I think he put a lot of confidence in Joey D and letting him do what he want to do and and when they put their two masterminds together it turned out something special and and you got he got two rings man i mean that’s crazy thank you Taan yes sir you see Kobe Bryant trying to force the action and that’s the second time he’s tried to split between guys and that’s when by the fourth quarter they don’t think Shaq can keep running taan’s coming up taan unfortunately didn’t get to hear much from Rip from from Coach Phil i’ll sing the song i’ll sing his praises let’s uh listen to Taan now the podium questions for Taan first one on that side dave Hog Associate Press tay it looked like you hurt your elbow or something on that fall when you hit a hard fall were you having problems with that through the game did it affect you against Kobe no it didn’t affect me at all until uh the first time I shot free throws right there cuz my kind of hit my funny bone a little bit but um after about a couple minutes it kind of wore off or whatever but um it wasn’t really a factor after that this side towards the back yeah Taan before the series did you even imagine that you could be such a decisive factor with your defense on Kobe and second question is how far do you think this team can go cuz you’re mostly pretty young if you keep Wallace you could get a couple titles um you know to the first question um I just um you know just try to you know take on a challenge um you know I really didn’t have another choice um I know it would be big for me to try to at least contain them in order for us to have a chance of winning um you know I think just throughout the regular season playing against all these you know the best wing guys in the league getting prepared getting me prepared for the playoffs and playing these other tough guys I think that was a major factor um you know as far as how the how far this team can go to your second question it can go a long way uh definitely you saw the chemistry in this team uh throughout the course of the playoffs uh the coaching staff really believed in us we believed in them um you know just we got to give a lot of credit to Joe and the rest of the organization putting his team together um definitely after making the uh the trade for Rasheed that everything just clicked right away so u it was definitely after that where we really just started rolling any other questions all right thank you Chanty Phillips to be right in two all right Taan Prince showing signs of a pulse tonight after winning a championship and Ray is outside the palace with a whole lot of happy folks right all right folks the headlines are already out we’re back outside the palace where the party continues and there it is the Detroit News payday the Detroit Free Press respect these fans are continuing to pour out of the palace we’re seeing a lot of sunroofs open and people popping out and just celebrating once again the good news is here the folks out here have been extremely composed very classy but they continue to party auburn Hills Police the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department has been on hand we did see one small incident but it was diffused very quickly by Auburn Hills Police which is a good indication that security officers do have things in control but this it’s a big party a lot of smiles a lot of joy back to you in the studio Ray thank you Ray all right let’s go now back to Royal Oak cheryl Chen is standing by there is a big celebration going on right now as the chopper showed us it is orderly but it is loud it is large cheryl well if you can see me right now I don’t know it’s kind of crazy i want you to take a look in the street on one side of the street you’ve got cars honking horns all through Royal Oak police are doing a really good job though keeping the people on the sidewalks because they were in the street earlier everybody’s very excited you can see and they’ve all gathered here they’ve got newspapers and they’ve got a lot of excitement but obviously it’s hard for me to hear you right now there are thousands of people here in Royal Oak they’ve been here since the end of the game having a good time getting a little bit rowdy but no trouble we’ve seen only one arrest right now police are keeping people out of the street that’s why I’m in it cars on one side people on the sidewalk thousands of people on both sides of the sidewalk and everybody’s really really excited about the victory i hope you saw the newspaper that says “Job done.” Let me have a hold of this take a look at this everybody’s holding this up oakland Press for tomorrow morning good job done Pistons lots of fun in Royal Oak back to you ah be careful down there Cheryl don’t get trampled by them and our sports director Don Shane still on the floor of the Palace with Chuck Bailey and also a former bad boy Piston John Sally indeed D Chuck and John Sally with me here uh you know for a guy that won two championship you come back to cover it for the best sports show and watch it your emotions as you were watching this well the day they got Rasheed Wallace I said Detroit Pitch was going to win the championship especially when they were holding people below 70 something Chuck used to want to do and everybody told me I should get drug tested and I guess now all those so-called experts should stop calling themselves experts you’re the expert now no I just know because I know what it takes it’s always better to be the guy that they don’t look at come up and smack in the head that’s how you get mugged hey John does this team remind you of anything yeah ben Wallace is me and Dennis Ramen in one first thing and the fact that Larry Brown was still yelling at him even when it was up 20 it reminds me of something sally don’t shoot that shot give it to the shooters you said that to him i said a lot of things to John john John was one of those guys that could take it you know so I had to pick on somebody as long as he didn’t yell at me when I was sitting down yell at me as I’m running by you i don’t care all right hey S thanks for joining us appreciate that back to you guys in the studio he’s still smiling what a delightful guy all right we have a lot more to talk about we’ve got a parade sometime this week we’ve got to get that nailed down for exactly when that’s going to happen stay with us for that next there’s the trophy look at this lar Bryan trophy that’s what this hooplaw has been all about playing for that trophy and man do they have it we’ll be right back feast your eyes on that for a moment some more celebration teams as the players and coaches and staffs have prepared back with our post postgame coverage after the Pistons have of course uh won the series in what we call a fivegame sweep that’s right it took him an extra game they should have won that one dave Len standing by right now with the vice president of operations for the Pistons go ahead Dave yeah exactly right Stephen this is uh Joe Dumar’s chief assistant the man helping to get this job done pulled you out of the celebration which I appreciate this is a good time isn’t it it’s such a great experience to feel something like this i’m so happy for our players the great effort uh they had all season the kind of people that we have in this organization happy for our coaches and and Larry Brown especially john as I was leaving Joe was getting dumped on with champagne you’re still dry at this moment anyway i like it that way and Joe deserves it you know you know the the leadership he’s provided um throughout the past few years in building this is absolutely remarkable you know people don’t realize how hard he works in this job how much he enjoys it and it’s a great payoff for Joe Dum Mars well and the pieces all fit and Rasheed maybe the final piece giving you a bit of an edge and and one more tremendous player yeah you know I think that we liked this team at the start of the year we thought we had a chance to be good we didn’t know how good but you know Dave after we got Rashid you know things started to fit he fit so well on both ends of the floor for us offensively and defensively we kind of looked at this team and said “You know what if we get a break we could have a real special year.” Yeah your guys believed it’s taken a while for others to believe in the Pistons nationally I’m talking they got to believe now oh no question i think we may believe it was everyone and and once again these guys deserve it they work very hard and most of I keep keep saying it but we have really really good solid people it’s fun to be around great people see great people win like this how satisfying is this though for the work you know because this franchise it wasn’t too long ago i mean you guys were at the bottom and now you’re absolutely back on top it’s you know it’s it’s so satisfying so gratifying never really dreamt that it could happen quite this quickly so that even makes it more special especially when a lot of people thought you couldn’t do this john congratulations enjoy this that’s great thanks so much Dave appreciate it all right John Hammond the vice president of basketball operations he’s going to enjoy the night you can be better at that uh for now Stephen and Diana we’ll send it back to you we are all reeling and enjoying tonight thank you so much Dave we’re going to go back to Don Shane now with assistant coach Herb Brown don all right thank you D the assistant coach Larry’s brother Herb congratulations you’ve been coaching for an awful long time as can you all put into words uh what this feels like it feels wonderful i’m so proud of my brother and I’m so happy for him i can’t tell you i can’t even explain it this is kind of the icing for Larry now i mean Hall of Fame career and all these years in the league but finally an NBA championship well somebody said that he was the only uh Hall of Fame coach had an NBA championship before this series began they can’t say that anymore but uh you know he’s a great coach he loves the city he loves his team they played very very hard for him and uh we’re just thankful that we were able to get a championship can you talk a little bit about the pressure that you guys all felt i mean it seemed like you know nobody expected at the start and then all of a sudden everybody expected you to win well the expectations were very high but Joe did a great job of assembling a team and we don’t go in I I I really don’t think as a coach and Chuck can attest to this you put pressure on yourself every time you go out on the court every time you go to practice uh it’s internal pressure you don’t worry about the external thing you just try to do the best job you can do and uh you hope that you’ll be successful all right before we go any further who’s this young lady you got over here this is This is Lauren Hammond John Hammond’s uh daughter lauren how are you station screen now look at that smile look at that smile huh she’s part of our championship she’s a bald girl indeed congratulations to you too Lauren that’s exciting chucky you got something for her how about when you were here how long ago was that i was here about 28 years ago right i had a great run i got fired for the first time in my life i got fired but the owner hired me back 28 years later and uh I’m thankful i really am what a great story huh yeah it’s wonderful i started my NBA career here and hopefully I’ll be able to finish it here what a uh what a long journey and a whole different kind of city and atmosphere from when you were here the first time no the fans were always great the fans were always great koba Hall wasn’t as big as this chuck brought some championships here he really he really gave the franchise a boost and uh Larry’s here now and what is it 13 14 years later 15 15 years later uh we’re part of history again congratulations thank you very much Brown all right i’m Don Shane live at the Palace back to you guys in the studio we’ll be back in a little bit with more all right thank you very much Don let’s move across the floor to uh to Dave Lu Allen who’s standing by right now with one of the more visible members of the Pistons and a Palace organization Tom Wilson go ahead Dave all right Stephen thank you very much i am here with Tom Wilson the president and CEO of Palace Sports and Entertainment we’re just talking about it what a year and you said what a week it’s a Stanley Cup and this in eight days uh it doesn’t get any better nobody’s ever done it before nobody’s ever going to do it again probably so you know it’s one of those things where I know everybody’s excited tonight but it’s better tomorrow and better a week from now and better a year from now it’s it’s one of those things that that you enjoy in the moment but you reflect on for so long and and the memories are the best you had back-to-back championships 14 15 years ago it’s been a long road back to the top but you’re there we are and and you know in many ways it’s almost as sweet because for those who are are really old farts like me you go back and you Yes go back to 16 wins with when Dick Vital was here and we had to build it up and win it and then you go back down to 22 wins or something like that and you come back again so I think the the the humbleness that comes from that you humility from taking a road down and then coming all the way back slowly but surely and getting here makes it very very special and we really got to thank the fans i mean I know everybody’s written about it and you guys have talked about it on the air but what an unbelievable atmosphere and if that isn’t going to carry you to a few wins and I don’t know what is and they were great again tonight and what a what a great group of guys too and you couldn’t be happier for a group of players than what you’ve got here these are good guys who play so hard to win that’s right and it’s no accident joe Dumar when he I remember the first meeting we had he said “As long as I’m here I’m going to bring in character guys who are going to put that uniform on with pride again who are going to move to this city and just like I did and Isaiah did and Lamir did and everything like that.” And that’s exactly what he pieced together not superstars just guys who have been discarded from other teams and piece by piece by piece he’s won it with good people and quality players who all came together in a perfect team scenario all right Tom congratulations enjoy this and I know you will it has been an awful lot of fun thanks so much thanks for everything all righty thank you tom Wilson the president and CEO of Palace Sports and Entertainment one happy man and you can understand why stephen Diana Dave thank you very much you know the party has started when Tom Wilson takes off the tie and we have much more Pistons coverage ahead stay with us we’ll be right back [Music] [Applause] welcome back we are now continuing our coverage of the championship of the Detroit Pistons that was Royal Oak one of the larger parties are going on right now and there are parties springing up all over the metropolitan area they are literally dancing in the streets hundreds of folks are still out like it’s 5:00 in the afternoon in Royal Oak let’s go to Peggy Aar standing by in Pontiac another party going on there Peggy well Stephen we’ve talked about the fans in many cities out celebrating this is the place here in Pontiac where the Pistons will be celebrating see that bar right back there Tonic we have been told that Rasheed Wallace and Chanty Bilips the MVP have booked out Tonic for the night and they are expected to come here do a little celebrating of their own you can see there’s a lot of cars along here the great thing that the Pistons have done is that there’s a lot of young people here they’ve given the young people a chance to actually celebrate a championship barely old enough to get into a Pistons party these fans have high expectations i’m looking forward to experiencing it for the first time the last time the Pistons won it all they were four years old i was 7 years old my parents went to the game and brought me the t-shirt back so I remember it so the Pistons won the final and all you got was this lousy t-shirt hey it’s not lousy i’ll take it now how times have changed and a new generation is ready to experience it all i’ve got butterflies in my stomach and I’m not even playing and you can see a lot of the traffic the cars we’ve heard that a lot of people are just now arriving in Pontiac from the palace takes a little while to get over there might take a little bit longer for the players but we have been told again the players are coming here to Tonic in Pontiac to do a little celebrating of their own live in Pontiac Peggy Agar Channel 7 Action News well that’ll be a hot spot here very shortly Peggy thank you very much and across the street from the Palace fans who watched the game at the post of Auburn Hills are just as excited about the win as if they had been inside the palace action News reporter Kristen Smith has been there all night and joins us now live with more kristen well the party continues just across the street the line is as long here as it was earlier today more of the same more of the same not only are fans very excited but they have big plans to celebrate tomorrow at the post tonight building anticipation for a big Pistons victory now Bad Boys is where they beat the Lakers and sweet repeat is when they beat the Trailblazers what do you expect uh tomorrow’s headline to say i don’t know that’s a good one what do you think pistons win pistons win yeah Pistons win but they’ll they’ll have a catchy phrase and from news to fingernails a championship design in the works we got a special nail a lot of glass a lot of glitz to show Hollywood detroit is the new glitch in basketball so a lot of bling bling a lot of bling bling la no more bling bling detroit the new bling bling now the big win of course has everyone celebrating but I want to tell you about a kind of a touching moment that this game meant to Tyrone here tyrone tell me what you you told me when you showed up here earlier my dad told me before he died a couple months ago he said the Pistons going to make it to the playoffs i did not believe him but uh to this day um I believe my stepdad i want to say all RIP to him hi to my mom and I really appreciate everything that’s going on i love you Dad and I’ll see you in the the next afterlife man i appreciate it and um my dad told me it was going to happen and it happened so uh let’s go P great story so fun time tonight back to you guys all right thank you Kristen it’s a very special story we have been tracking uh the celebrations all the way from Auburn Hills down into Pontiac and Royal Oak let’s keep going on out down into Detroit right now where fans have been crowding into places like the Hard Rock Cafe and our own Glenda Lewis is standing by there glenda take it away stephen I’m down here at Bloods Bar and Grill and did we send them packing or did we send them packing [Music] fans have been going crazy all night long in downtown Detroit and we have been everywhere from Floods to Hard Rock all the way down to Hockey Town and as you can see fans are so excited down here walking through the streets dancing in the streets and and I even think I’ve seen some tears of of joy baby so we have a young lady who has a message for the Pistons and what was your message tonight sweetheart you know what i think LA was in fantasy land tonight and the Detroit Pistons brought the Oscar home tonight you heard it right here detroit Pistons fans and Detroit Pistons brought the Oscar home tonight and we are certainly proud of them live in downtown Detroit with the fans Gwenda Lewis Channel 7 Action News all right baby thank you all right don’t go away we have much more Pistons coverage ahead remember we still need to talk about this parade let you know when it’s going to happen stay with us we’ll be right back okay we’re going to talk more about the parade in just a minute now the city is being a little reluctant I think to nail down details they’ve been on the phone all night long with none other than our own meteorologist Jerry Hodak to talk about what’s going to happen this week with the weather and Jerry what what’s the conversation this has been going on all day Stephen we’ve been talking ever since early this afternoon about what the weather’s going to be like on Thursday that’s the day that the Pistons really want to hold the parade the weather doesn’t look too good for Thursday but you know I wouldn’t bet against it at this point they’ve had a great run and maybe their luck will not run out 84 degrees the high Detroit today this is the scorecard on Tuesday’s weather 64 degrees the low and no rain we’ve had uh some clouds overhead tonight they’ll continue to be kind of scattered through the morning hours tomorrow is going to be a warm and a muggy day and then the rain moves in and it stays with us tomorrow night on into Thursday 70° our temperature right now 65% the humidity a steady barometer and a northwest northeasterly wind at 8 miles an hour it’s 64 degrees out at Pontiac right now where everybody’s parting 61 degrees up at Mount Clemens 57 at Port Heron that’s been the cool spot all day 71 now at Adrian and 70° at Monroe these clouds are kind of flowing up out of Indiana and Ohio right now no rain in them and we expect that we’ll stay dry all night long but the rain is out here to the west in fact you can see some thunderstorms beginning to pop up through the air ahead of Minnesota and also through Wisconsin and lots and lots of moisture coming up out of the Gulf as a storm system out here begins to pull up lots and lots of moisture and that’s really going to feed a heavy rain pattern that’ll last tomorrow night and into the start of the daytime on Thursday we expect that we’ll see some scattered thunderstorms tomorrow but the big story really is the rain we’re going to get warm moist air moving up out of the north clashing with cooler drier air that’s going to trigger these storms and then they’re going to continue to just sit here overhead through the daytime on Thursday and little impulses will bring uh at times some heavy rain across the metro Detroit area so we’ll look for these thunderstorms to come into the Detroit area tomorrow afternoon this frontal pattern will just stall over the city and then little disturbances will ride along this front from the west that’s going to bring rain in here tomorrow night and into the daytime on Thursday as I say and right now indications are that we could get well over an inch of rain before it’s all said and done maybe even closer to two inches 83 degrees the high temperature tomorrow here in Detroit 83 up at Troy 83 at Centerline 81 degrees down at Scoffield voters tomorrow will find the risk of some thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon so you want to listen to the weather radio easterly winds at 5 to 15 knots waves 1 to 3 feet on all the rivers and lakes scattered clouds overnight tonight is our forecast with an overnight low of 64 degrees tomorrow will bring us some sunshine in the morning but clouds will quickly increase as we go towards noon time 83 degrees will be the high temperature for Wednesday then during the afternoon showers and thunderstorms will develop and then continue on into tomorrow night and into the daytime on Thursday we’ll get an easterly wind at 5 to 10 miles an hour showers and maybe a scattered thunderstorm on Thursday but mainly our concern is going to be perhaps some heavy rain particularly early in the day and then late again in the day 76 degrees will be the high on Thursday friday looks like a much better day let me tell you but uh Saturday and Sunday also bring sunshine and temperatures will be in the mid70s but at this point I wouldn’t bet against the Pistons even if they wanted to hold the parade on Thursday you know there’s just they’ve had a run of luck that is just outstanding so thank you Chief all right believe it or not there is other news in the world going on and here’s a look at the headlines in tomorrow’s Detroit Free Press besides the obvious one a boy is in legal limbo after a bicycle tire tracks made a mess of concrete at least a billion dollars in taxpayer money may have been misspent in Iraq and of course special Pistons Lakers coverage includes Mitch Album and wall-to-wall Wallace pictures that’s all in tomorrow’s Detroit Free Press and Detroititers weren’t the only ones rooting on those Pistons tonight this was the scene in Coatsville Pennsylvania tonight as Rip Hamilton’s hometown watched him and the Pistons win the championship coatsville also happens to be my hometown so I know firsthand what that love and support feels like everyone is proud that one of their own is now an NBA champion and Rip definitely earned the honor with his positive attitude and tremendous play on the court in the finals his desire to play was always there and I’m real excited about it i’m proud i’m My heart is pounding i I almost feel like I’m there with him that was my cousin Francis Washington was that your cousin yes everybody in that town must be like 10 people in that town 11,000 to be exact that’s a good size put us in one corner of the silver dome all right congratulations to Coach Phil by the way here here are the details as we know them now we’ll say these now but who who knows the Pistons will celebrate their big win with a victory parade on Thursday this is the plan for now the parade will step off from Shane Park at 11:30 on Thursday morning it is expected to wind its way through the city all the way to Hart Plaza of course you know you can depend on us action News will be there we’ll have wall- to-wall team coverage of this exciting event we’re the place to turn to we will have the interviews we will have the pictures for you and we will have it all for you it’s a big giant smile on the face of Detroit the spirit of Detroit the Pistons we thank you so much we’re proud of you Pistons thank you for watching Channel 7 good night we’re going to watch it we’re going to send it on back to Don Shane at the Palace now for the Rock Financial Postgame show but we invite you to have a great night and a great celebration [Applause] [Music] [Music] and welcome to the Pistons postgame show don Chen along with Chuck Daly uh this is the headline in the paper payday with Ben on the cover that looks pretty good chuck’s got the hat to show off 2004 NBA champions we don’t have the Wheaties box but that’s already out believe me box the Coca-Cola can everything’s already out to celebrate the Pistons NBA championship and an unlikely championship when the season began i think uh ahead of schedule for Joe but as you said the deal for Rasheed and all of a sudden this team is is a contender and a real threat yeah they really were and I’m not sure the league recognized it but when they went on that streak where they were holding teams under 70 points that was a strong indication for me that this was a really solid team and I have uh some good friends uh out west some general manager I talked to on occasion and I told both of them I said I’m going to tell you something you guys are preaching or you’re worried about who’s going to win it out there you better be a little bit careful there are two teams in the East uh and I think Detroit is better than the Pacers cuz they made no move uh at the trading deadline and I said “They’re going to surprise you.” But little did you know that they would go this far yeah um they have so many very good players maybe not one giant superstar but the guy that was voted the most valuable player was Chanty Bilips and he certainly deserved it he absolutely dominated from the point guard position they really did he ran the show didn’t look to shoot only when he had to uh he he dished the ball out but I’ll tell you if I’d have been voting as much as I like Chanty I would have had a tough time as Ben Wallace was absolutely incredible uh I don’t know if I’ve seen a big guy play that hard and that brilliantly shot blocking huge rebounds offensive putbacks at crucial times uh I kind of wish it would have been co Yeah Chanty the choice of the media members obviously who voted been maybe the people’s choice uh from the coaches who know the game and from maybe some of the fans that were in here as well well they could have gone a lot of directions hamilton played well and I’ll tell you the X factor of Taan Taan Prince was superb yeah he he was and and talk about a guy who has come on so very quickly well you know you know all the problems it’s well documented what happened last year he finally got into the starting lineup uh at the end of the year in the playoffs and handled himself very well but he got bigger and stronger and he became a a guy that was counted on became more important in his own mind and he became an incredible defensive stopper and those guys are very difficult to find particularly at this three three spot and the fact that actually his offense isn’t anywhere near what I think it could be or will be i think he’s a great offensive player and a great shooter and I think that’ll come along but his defense I’ll tell you if you’re watching this series Kobe Bryant goes for 30 every night it’s not for him you know Larry Brown has been around this league for a long time 21 years to be exact and he finally gets an NBA title let’s uh let’s play for you the comments of Larry Brown at his press conference after the Pistons won this game tonight guys a foul Shaq because they never would have thought out there to handle the ball the guys who believe Larry Brown and the Pistons who tied with San Antonio for fewest points okay let’s talk about Larry Brown and uh the fact that he did finally cap his career i guess he’ll be here for a few more years we would think but with this NBA title well it does cap it off um you know he’s like a lot of players even if he hadn’t won it there’s so many great players that never win a title and they can exist with that and I think Larry could have existed with it but you know the timing of it all the right place the right time the perfect trade uh a lot of a lot of things fell in place but you know here’s a guy who is a coach’s coach he’s he’s developed a lot of coaches have played collegiately head coaches in the college ranks head coaches the pro ranks and uh he just loves to teach basketball and he’s a lifer and that’s what he’s going to continue to do and so uh it’s it’s great for him welldeserved I might add you he likes to say we did it the right way we played the right way what is the right way if you win a championship it’s not the right way i mean they did it the right way I guess well the right way to him is what all coaches think about basketball one they defend on every possession they box out and don’t give up second shots they run their offense they don’t go looking for shots they take shots that come to them all the fundamental things that really make teams very good and he had the right personnel responded to him he had the you know the the place the uh prominence to come in and be able to do that but I’ll tell you the remarkable thing I’ve said before when you coach a team you don’t learn anything about him till you coach him and you can watch him from the outside i think it’s would take a guy of his experience and only his experience who could come in in one year understand his players and I know that at one time in the season he said to this team they had went through a rust stretch he said “You guys go ahead and play and let me try to figure this out.” And that’s exactly what he’s doing but he did figure it out got to the right place at the right time with the right people getting the ball all right now we’ve got that interview all ready to go larry Brown at the podium after the Pistons won the NBA title tonight i haven’t in my life had disappointments too many times coaching this game [Music] um I told them you know before the game it would be a great statement if we had an opportunity to win because we do play the right way and we are truly a team but I left the team I just was with for six years that never ever you know disappointed me with their effort and I I don’t think there are many teams in my life that I’ve had the opportunity to coach and try to play the right way but since this is uh toward the end of it for me um and the way we did it against such a quality coach and a quality team um it’s pretty incredible feeling indeed it must be larry Brown somewhat emotional there at the end of his press conference we’ve got more coming up for you live from the palace chuck and I are back with more Pistons postgame right after this so please stay up don’t go away channel 7’s Rock Financial Pistons Game Day is brought to you in part by Rock Financial the mortgage experts by Wallside windows most preferred most preferred by the Metro Detroit Ford dealers think Ford first by McDonald’s I’m loving it and by Meyer higher standards lower prices started under pressure the ones that bring it the ones that test you when we moving the rock when we make a shot make magic with only one in the clock and the feelings when we got started let’s get it started in here let’s get it started let’s get it started in here [Music] they not only got it started they finished it as well and that’s what really counts the NBA champion Detroit Pistons chuck Daly with us as always i want to talk about this notion that the Pistons this year were called a team that didn’t have superstars and it’s the first time that they’re saying in a long time that a team won the championship without the Michael or the Jordan and the and the Shaq and whatever it it is true in a They got a lot of very good players but I don’t know if they have one guy in that kind of category truthfully I didn’t think it could happen i thought you needed and because of the history of the whole thing over the last 15 18 years has been you had to have an MVP candidate or two in order to win it you go back with Houston San Antonio LA Boston Lakers even ourselves and uh I didn’t think it could be done why were they able to do it then well TEAM you know that they were truly a great team and they all bought in defensively offensively all the things that we talked about that make up a great team and they just kept coming on and coming on got better and better and more and more confident and when you start to build that confidence I know in our case uh our guys couldn’t wait to go back to training camp because they knew at some point they had a great shot to win it we’re seeing some uh some Ben Wallace highlights from tonight’s game uh the big fella seemed like he felt it offensively tonight as well didn’t he he he hit a he had some jumpers hit a nice little hook uh and you know I know Larry started the season i remember in exhibition season talking about we’ve got to get him involved because you don’t want to play five on four we had a little bit of problem like that with Rodman and Rodman was really a pretty good offensive player but he went to a mindset I’m going to be strictly a rebounder and then teams play you five on four they don’t play that guy well as he developed it a little bit more of an offensive player they couldn’t do that all right rasheed got in some foul trouble again tonight but uh came back and made some big baskets in the second half yeah they uh he did what he had to do and and then he did get into foul trouble and you’re going to you’re going to pick up fouls against a team like this periodically and when you’re working the lane and working against Shaquille uh going to block shots rotating it’s going to happen but that’s a great luxury that Larry had he could go to that bench and they could handle it okay let’s uh Joe Dumar is the architect of this team and uh he’s the guy that put him together and got him going here’s what Joe had to say after the game when he got Rasheed did you think that that might be the step that’s why I went and got him i thought you know I thought we’re we’re a contender uh to go deep into the playoffs um without him once we got him I thought he could be the piece that puts us over the hump to win this thing you did it as a player but now you’re doing it as a front office type yeah two completely different things obviously but how do you feel uh much more gratifying Jay much more as uh in this particular role here as a player you’re young you’re 25 years old your perspective is not even there uh being an old man at 41 right now you understand it better you appreciate it better now and uh I’m so much you know not knowing if we’d ever get back here again you know if you win two 15 years ago you know you don’t ever know if you know what it feels like to win it again so to be here tonight and doing this is just uh incredible for me is that why your emotions after game two slipped away your thoughts and did you think what were you thinking then Joe yeah um because um the um because game two um I felt like you know what this thing could slip away from us and we may never get this back again i know how precious it is and how fleeting it is so uh that’s why I was so dejected after game after we gave the game away in game two joe how does this validate all the moves that happened and everything i mean because you know what I’ve said before though you know you win it all and you know the only thing left to do now is for people to acknowledge I’m going to keep it clean acknowledge the stuff that they said or not or be hypocrites and not acknowledge it and so it ain’t on me it’s on them now two rings as a player and now one as a guy in management chuck and I are back with more after this [Music] [Music] welcome back to the Palace the Piston guards were so dominating in this series of course Chanty the most valuable player i’m sure Rip got some votes as well here is Rip at the podium at the press conference his comments on this game in this championship wow i mean it’s crazy it’s unbelievable man i mean it still ain’t sunk in yet you know uh them guys in that locker room man our team you know we believe you know and thing we our motto all year is never scared and we going to go ahead and work hard and do everything possible and uh we got three opportunities to win games at home and our fans was unbelievable man if anybody believed that we was going to win it was our fans and you know we did everything possible to to prove them right you know and we didn’t worry about what people wrote in the papers or what people was saying on TV or what they was even saying in Vegas we said to oursel you know anything anything’s possible if you if you play together as five on not just on the offense end but on the defense end too i mean LB done did a great job of showing America how basketball is supposed to be played rip Willie May radio one Boston National Championship at Yukon now this one and you go back two years ago you’re in the Washington situation has that all sunk in yet and how how how much celebrating will you and she do back in Philly wow it’s crazy because like I said I got I got a ring uh in college and the thing about it when I talked to Coin when I was in college I said “Yeah you might got a state championship but I got a college.” And he said “Rip I’m about to get an NBA one.” He got an NBA one and then I told him right before we matched up I said “Look man you got what I want and once I get this one on you I’m gonna be one up on you i don’t care if you your second biggest shot was against me at high school but now I feel as though that coach feels one up on them.” Good for Rip Hamilton he credits Larry Brown with making him into a much better player this year well Larry is a guard’s coach as much as he is an overall coach he understands guard play he’s had guys like Iverson who he helped develop iverson was a great player but all players need help and they learn how to do certain things and I’m confident that he helped him particularly with areas you remember Larry coached Reggie Miller and this is like reincarnation the tricks of coming off screens how to get open how to push off all the little things that make you a great player yeah good for Rip Hamilton chuck and I are back with a little more right after this stay with us [Applause] channel 7’s Rock Financial Pistons Game Day is brought to you in part by Rock Financial the mortgage experts by Wallside Windows most preferred most preferred by the Metro Detroit Ford dealers think Ford first by McDonald’s I’m loving it and by Meyer higher standards lower prices [Music] uh they came out and you know they played with great intensity uh you know they uh played well you know they capitalized off our turnovers and they just played a little bit harder than we did uh congratulations to those guys they deserve it congratulations to Coach Brown he’s a great coach and he deserves it and they just uh played hard they played consistently hard uh they played consistently good defense they just uh u flat out beat us to everything a perfect assessment they flat out beat us at everything the Laker team that we saw in this series about to be completely broken apart i think there’s a good chance there going to be some major changes uh I think there’ll have to be uh first of all you don’t know where Phil’s situation is uh Kobe’s situation and uh they’ve got a lot of people there there’s something big going to happen out there maybe more than one big thing because uh you know LA won’t stand for a team that you know is mediocre that just doesn’t work that way so look out there’ll be some bombs bursting in LA yeah kind of a mini dynasty may be crumbling out there in Los Angeles let’s go to Stephen Clark right now in the uh in the newsroom stephen all right thank you very much Don and Chuck being very kind by the way mediocre I think is a very kind word uh the Pistons have been world champions about an hour and 45 minutes and so for about an hour and 46 minutes fans have been celebrating one of the bigger parties Royal Oak Chopper 7’s on party patrol Craig Smith is aboard Craig well I’ll tell you what Stephen party indeed and uh instead of all the folks in congregated one big wad on Main Street they’re sort of scattered about the city now i’ve just noticed uh police have blocked off the south and north end in fact in the east and the west end of the city as well they’re trying to keep people from coming down here right now there is still a lot of people down here but everybody’s just having a good time kind of savoring the moment over Royal Oak i’m Craig Smith live from Chopper 7 stephen back to you all right Craig thank you very much so far we haven’t heard of any major incidences and we would pass those along if we were ray Sey is standing by right now at the Palace and Ray all night long we were being told that the parking lot would be cleared immediately after the game is that the case yeah so far so good Stephen and a steady procession of Pistons fans continues to make its way out of the Palace parking lot and these fans are going home mighty happy because the mighty Lakers have fallen it was a remarkable scene here after the game of course directly after the game there was the trophy presentation inside almost everybody stayed inside and then after the game they started oozing out of the palace that’s when the celebration started there were pockets of celebration all over the parking lot as always when you have a big win like this this concern that some people are going to get out of hand but the good news is everybody has been well behaved these fans have been a class act and they have represented Detroit very well but what a way to end this magical season the Detroit Pistons are 2004 NBA champions and these fans are loving it and fans dwindling away right here outside the Palace right now let’s send it back to you reporting live from the palace and we know that the parties will be going on late into the night but right now they are winding down a bit in some of the further reaches which at this particular moment happens to be downtown Detroit where Glenda Lewis is standing by live glenda oh Stephen it’s been a long time since the city of Detroit has been this alive with so much fun and so much pride we are so excited down here about the Pistons big win all right we do we’re down here at Floods Bar and Grill and joining me now this is Lesie Nelson and she is the primary entertainer at Floods Bar and Grill and she says it has just been hot tonight hasn’t it all week all week been partying all week pistons fans big time fans all week just party we love just a beautiful time out here a nice calm celebration we are enjoying ourselves and we are celebrating in the Pistons big win live in downtown Detroit i’m Glenda Lewis we’re going to send it to my colleague Kristen Smith back to you all right Glenda Lewis thank you very much just the way we like to hear it that it is a calm celebration going on again we have heard no major incidences any place in the city uh of any kinds of celebrations getting out of hand the police have been very very tight on what’s been going on so far in places like Royal Oak but also pretty near the palace kristen Smith is standing by in Auburn Hills and uh are you the post still Kristen i know you’ve been around a little bit today give her some space man you know I couldn’t hear what you had to say there Stephen but you could tell that the fans here are having a pretty good time they’re all pumped up it’s much of the same as it has been all over town one thing that’s pretty interesting though is what you can’t see a party you can’t see going on is inside the Post Bar michael Jordan that’s right michael Jordan and a bunch of his friends are partying inside the post most of these fans don’t know it and they can’t hear me even saying that right now but he and his friends are inside having their own celebration i don’t know which way they were going on this game but they’re inside having a party and a celebration of their own but the celebration is out here because the Pistons won right guys and everybody’s pretty happy about it reporting live from the post Kristen Smith back to you all right Kristen if it was Michael Jordan they were probably celebrating in behalf of Phil Jackson but of course not much to celebrate there tonight we will have complete coverage again tomorrow on Action News beginning a little early in the morning at 4:30 please plan to join us then in the meantime that’s it from the newsroom we’ll send it on back to the palace and Don Shane don all right Stephen thank you uh great to see that so far that the city is celebrating responsibly your final thoughts on the third NBA championship for this franchise yours the first two yeah well a great organization needs a provider Bill Davidson an architect Joe Dumar and of course a leader in Larry Brown and along with that you’ve got to have a a group of young men who are willing to sacrifice give up some personal glory and and pay a hard price make a lot of sacrifices and this club epitomizes the word team we always heard the old cliche there’s no eye in team and this pretty much represents it and quite frankly I think it’s visionary for most of the league i think the rest of the NBA is looking at this and say “We don’t need a superstar because there aren’t enough around.” Okay as Chuck and I leave you we will show you Chanty Bilips getting his most valuable player trophy tonight and there he is the welldeserved muchraveled guard who has found a home here in Detroit what a great move by Joe Dumar and of course the team getting the Larry O’Brien trophy as well your Detroit Pistons the 2004 NBA champions for Chuck Daly i’m Don Shane congratulations i want to thank everybody for watching us throughout the playoffs good night everybody grand home may have broken federal regulations during a friendly wager over the NBA finals because the Pistons beat the Lakers in the finals California’s governor was supposed to wear a Piston shirt a Ben Wallace wig and eat Michigan pasties but apparently two of the three Michigan bakeries that shipped out to pasties aren’t authorized to send meat products out of state that’s against USDA regulations of course it was an angry Lakers fan who brought up the issue in the first

Pistons bring home the championship.

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