I'm 17. That Pistons team was around at the point of my life where I remember nothing. I have never really looked into to Pistons team of the 80s. The only players that I can think of that were on that team was I believe Bill Lambeer and Isiah Thomas.
That Pistons team was one of the greatest ever IMO, arguably the toughest too. Isaiah, Joe D, Bill Laimbeer, Vinnie 'Microwave' Johnson and Mark Aguirre could all toast you on any given night offensively, Rodman was one of the few guys that could toast you defensively.
That team gave Michael and Scottie fits, Pip was afraid to play them as he has stated in the past. Any given night would be a bar room brawl on the court. Classic stuff, you would not want to drive to the basket, because it could mean the end of your career.
Bill Laimbeer really was a warrior for the Pistons...You think Karl Malone is a dirty player then you really have to see Laimbeer play.He would do anything to win games...hense the nick-name "badboys" Rodman was an important member of the Pistons team no doubt about it...He did all the things that never showed up on the stat sheet.His defense and rebounding was great as ever.The balance of scoring within the team was truely great.The Isaiah Thomas/Joe Dumars duo was so deadly either one could simply destroy you on any given night.
Yea, I've heard multiple things about Bill Lambeers on the court play. His nice thought of do anything and everything to win. And yes, I've also heard of the "bad boys" thing about that team also. So, I'm not completely clueless about the team. It's just the roster that I don't know much of anything about.
Joe Dumars was a small 2 guard, about 6'4", but he could kill anybody. Had a deadly mid range jump shot, could drive and finish. Had top of the line defense, in fact, he would give Jordan mad fits, those 2 were rivals without question. Won a Finals MVP to boot. Later in his career he became a deadly 3 point shooter, and I mean deadly. He also helped bring Grant Hill along as well, making him a better professional. I will never question Joe D the GM either, even if he drafted Darko over Melo.
Every week I will highlight a player/team from the NBA's history and we will talk about them, to reflect, to help some of our younger member learn about the NBA's Past. This week I will highlight the Late 80's/early 90's Detroit Pistons, also knows as "The Bad Boys" All thoughts, opinions, and questions are welcome. Key members of this team Chuck Daly - head coach Jack McCloskey - general manager Isaiah Thomas Joe Dumars Dennis Rodman John "Spider" Salley Vinnie "Microwave" Johnson Bill Laimbeer Rick Mahorn Mark Aguirre James Edwards 1988-1989/1989-1990 back to back NBA Champions Retired Numbers By Detroit #2 Chuck Daly #4 Joe Dumars #11 Isiah Thomas #15 Vinnie Johnson #16 Bob Lanier #21 Dave Bing #40 Bill Laimbeer
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting VAs Finest:</div><div class="quote_post">who is Vinnie "Microwave" Johnson and why did they call him Microwave?</div> I believe he got the nickname because every time he came off the bench, he heated things up. He was the perfect 6th man who was sent into games to provide instant offense. Position: G Height: 6' 2'' Weight: 200 Born: 9/1/1956, in Brooklyn, NY, USA High School: Franklin D. Roosevelt, in Brooklyn, NY College: Baylor, McLennan CC Drafted: 1979, 1st round (7th overall) 13 seasons, 984 career games, 12 points per contest.
Yep, Vinny got his nickname because anytime he was on the floor he can heat up and just plain out kill other teams. This team is the epitome of being resilient. In the 80's they were constantly among the favorites to win it all, but the other dynasties during this period were able to hold them down. This team also provided some of the better playoff moments in history, especially Isiah playing on his bad ankle and having a careery playoff game. Though a lot of people think that what they played wasn't "basketball" per se, but they intimidated teams just by walking in the locker room. Moo2k, I'm 16, however there are mass amounts of things you can read or watch that display what this team was about. That's the best way to learn.
John Salley is the John salley that went to L.A. and is now on tv right? so Microwave was kinda like Boykins?
Yes that is John Salley that is on The Best Damn Sports Show Period. It's safe to compare The Microwave to Earl Boykins, the job is pretty much the same, both played crunch time too.
Their hard-nose defense is what intimidated other teams. They knew that if you even thought about going inside there would be four other people collapsing to hit the crap out of whoever is trying to challenge their defense. There were countless fights with Lambier (sp?) that went on during the Bad Boys period, and every single teammate would back him up. Team work, hard work, and heart. That's what the Pistons were all about.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting How_High78:</div><div class="quote_post">What did they do that was so intimidating? Were they dirty or was there something else to it?</div> It was just the way they went about it. They'd give you an elbow under the basket while going for a rebound, stick a knee out slightly if you got past them on the drive - in those days refs weren't as strict, no one dobbed anyone in etc. They set tough screens, boxed out like there was no tomorrow, dove for loose balls, gave a little shove if you went to lay it up, those sorts of nitty gritty things.
^ True. Back then mostly anything was legal. Its like allnet said, if you think Malone is dirty, you really havent see Bill Lambieer play. Thats what most people were intimadated by.
Laimbeer and Mahorn where the fighting machines of this team, they would clobber you if you can to the basket with anything. Thats fear.
Yeah, Isiah was known to trip opposing point guards when they tried to drive down the lane, he was so good at it that he did it without any of the refs noticing. How's that for clever.
Clever? Maybe. It still sounds dirty to me. Was there skill involved here or was it simply celebrated thugery? Would it be possible or desirable to have a modern day "Bad Boys"? What made this team work and did anyone get nasty back at them?
