One of the things that personally drives me crazy about the NBA is the Pistons' and their penchant for whining and crying about calls. It's not even Rasheed that bothers me ... his tantrums are at least entertaining. Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince are the chief offenders, with their constant eye rolls, petulant gestures, and referee nagging.ESPN's Chad Ford had Joe Dumars on his podcast this morning, and Ford mentioned that the Pistons have a reputation around the league being whiners and complainers.
Dumars' response was a little wishy-washy. I was hoping for something like, "I never cried like a little pansy when I didn't get a call, and I wish my guys would remove their tampons and just play ball." But Dumars response was more like, "Some of them we deserve, some of them we get on reputation, but we still play pretty good ball." Which is fair enough, I suppose ... they do have the best record in the East.
I'm not sure I buy it, though ... I think it absolutely does affect how they play, and I think they'd be a better, more focused team if they all decided to stop crying. I can't say this with 100% certainty, as I don't have the ability to measure a player's level of focus at a given time ... I bet it doesn't help, though. And I'm damn sure it doesn't do the home viewers any favors.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-05-2007 @ 10:12PM
Tanya said...
Oh! Please they don't whine anymore than anyone else. If they feel the need to argue a call then let them. It's more then just Piston players who whine now let's be REAL!!!
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4-05-2007 @ 11:18PM
Jeff said...
Sounds like you don't actually watch the Pistons enough to talk, Tayshaun Prince is one of the quiet NBA players and he never even gets called for fouls to even complain... do you really think someone who averages 1 foul a game while playing defense as good as he does, is going to bitch about it? No, but if he does it's probably because of it actually being a bad call.
As far as Rip and the rest of the Pistons go, you see it with a lot of the good veteran defensive teams (Pistons & Spurs mostly). Why do they do it? Simply to put it into the officials heads that they are making to many calls that could have just as easily been no calls, usually the next time it happens they let it go.
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4-05-2007 @ 11:58PM
Keith Powell said...
Excerpt from your article: Dumars' response was a little wishy-washy. I was hoping for something like, "I never cried like a little pansy when I didn't get a call, and I wish my guys would remove their tampons and just play ball."
Who decided to let you write? You both need to be gone with tripe like this being put out.
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4-06-2007 @ 12:23AM
DM said...
This post is nothing but pure hate on the Pistons. I believe you have mistaken them for the Mavericks.
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4-06-2007 @ 9:01AM
Jeremie said...
O brother! The pistons aren't even half as bad as the Spurs. Tim Duncan is conctantly complaining to the refs about fouls that were never committed. This report should be on the Spurs, and I wonder how much they pay the refs to throw their games.
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4-06-2007 @ 10:24AM
msdeclarke said...
Sounds like you need a tampon, put one on next time you watch the Pistons play oh and some glasses, because Tay is not a complainer!! I'll give you Rip & Sheed but you can't put Tayshaun in that mix. He is a classic player all around! You need to put LeBron, D-Wade, AI and ever other elite player in your article who complains and makes all the ugly faces when the calls don't go their way. And when you add that to the mix, then Rasheed and Rip, well they have valid points. The Pistons will never be respected in this league, hence your article, the no calls. Let Wade or Lebron take the charges Rip does or just look at them hard and the whistle blows. The other night Richard Jefferson cussed out the Ref during a Pistons-Nets game, No TECH! But everyone knows, had that been Rasheed, TECHS would be flying from here to PHILLY!! Get out of here with your nonsense article. There are plenty of things for you to write about, think of something, but get out of the Pistons camp if you can't be positive of realistic at least. Signed, a True Hometown Piston Fan
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4-06-2007 @ 10:22AM
msdeclarke said...
You don't have anything else to write about do you?? Tayshaun's name shouldn't be in this article. And if you pay close attention, you shouldn't be writing about how the league differentes betweeen the players when making calls. Next time you decide to write anything, don't involve Detroit, we don't need your negativity!
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4-06-2007 @ 11:25AM
Julie said...
seriously, can everybody stop telling guys to get (or pull out) a tampon. it's really offensive. men have always wined and will always whine. whining does not make them a woman, nor should being compared to a woman be an insult. i am a pistons fan, and definitely wish they would shut up and play, but please get a new "witty quip."
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4-06-2007 @ 12:11PM
maya said...
You can't be a serious sports writer/viewer, can you? You don't watch every Pistons game like the fans do...all are televised here in Detroit...Tayshaun complaining is a rare occurrence.
Pistons aren't respected in the league which is why I wish they would get their act together, reduce their complaining, and get the respect they crave by winning.
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