Pistons Sharing Their Brand of Ball in Seattle

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">No one talks about Detroit joining the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls as the only team to win at least 70 games anymore, but the Pistons are still showered with superlatives whenever they take their unselfish brand of basketball on the road.

"Most teams have one All-Star, whether that guy made it this year or earlier in his career, and some teams have two All-Stars," Ray Allen said. "What they're showing is that a group of five guys that play together and play hard will always beat a team with two All-Stars and three average players."

Said Sonics coach Bob Hill: "They're a top-10 team in history, aren't they? I would think so. They've got a great core and they kept them together."

Six Pistons, including all five starters, remain from the team that captured an NBA championship in 2004. Detroit re-tooled slightly the next season, adding reserve Antonio McDyess, and advanced to the Finals.

The team underwent more changes before the start of this season. Coach Larry Brown left for New York and Flip Saunders, who was fired last season in Minnesota, took over. The Pistons have flourished under his guidance.

The Pistons' vaunted defense is slightly better, allowing 89.1 points this season, compared with 89.5 last season. And the offense is dramatically improved, boosting a 93.3 scoring average last season to 97.3.

"I had friends tell me before I took the job to not take it because of all of the pressure that would be on me," said Saunders, who coached the East in the All-Star Game nearly two weeks ago. "But my thing was, I wanted to go somewhere where I could win a championship, and there was no better team than Detroit.

"When you go to a team like that, a team that's been to Finals in the previous two years, your focus is getting back there and finishing the job. ... We don't worry about the other stuff."

Other stuff such as All-Star nominations, which four Pistons (Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace) received for the Feb. 19 game.

And other stuff like postseason awards. Billups is averaging 18.9 points and 8.8 assists ? both career highs ? and is an MVP candidate. Saunders will receive votes for the Coach of the Year award, and the Defensive MVP award will almost certainly land in Ben Wallace's hands for the fourth time in his decorated 10-year career.</div>

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