The Pistons dispatched the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Monday, reducing their magic number for clinching the top spot in the East to one. And fortunately for Detroit, Rip Hamilton's magic number also remains one, as he still stands at 15 technical fouls, one away from drawing a mandatory one-game suspension. With five games left, will Rip survive without getting the hook? He thinks he will. From the Detroit News:
"It's not a concern," he said. "There are certain things that are a concern, that's not a concern. I know when I want to get a technical foul. I know every time I get a tech, I've wanted to get a tech.The fact he thinks he's in control sounds nice, and, boy, I wish it were true, but I have a hard time believing it. Rip was completely rattled against Chicago last Thursday, drawing his most recent two technicals after jawing with a rookie, no less (and one he wasn't even going up against for much of the day). No matter what you want to call it, an exercise in control it was not.
"It's all emotional stuff and I know how to control it. It's nothing to be concerned about at all."
Most of his other techs have come for complaining about calls -- either ones he feels should have been called in his favor or arguing against those called against him. And while Rip feels that he can just shut it off or tone things down now that he's at the limit, put me in Booth Newspaper's reporter A. Sherrod Blakely's camp that the damage is already done:
What Hamilton is failing to understand is, even if he's on his best behavior and tones down his ranting at officials, he still may wind up with the Rasheed Wallace treatment.Once you get the rep, you lose a lot of the borderline calls you used to get, which may make you want to complain even more, which simply reinforces the reputation ... it's a vicious cycle, and fair or not, the only way to snap out of it is to suck it up and play.
Wallace does enough to warrant most of the techs he gets, but at least a third of them are pretty bogus calls by officials, based in large part on Wallace's transgressions of the past.
So can Hamilton avoid getting the fateful 16th tech? Considering Detroit's schedule the rest of the way, I wouldn't be surprised. With Orlando coming to town on Wednesday, Detroit could have the top seed in the East wrapped up with four games to go, at which point you have to figure the team's intensity across the board will drop.
Plus, of those remaining four games, Detroit should have an easy win in Philly on the 15th before playing their reserves for most of the final two games before the playoffs against the Raptors and Celtics on the 17th and 18th, respectively. But Hamilton can only hope that when his technical counter resets for the playoffs, the referees give him a clean slate, as well.
Previously on FanHouse:
Joe Dumars Pontificates on the Pistons Pouting
Rip Hamilton, Stealth Whiner
