9905110090
DETROIT FREE PRESS
990511
Tuesday, May 11, 1999
METRO FINAL
1C
MITCH ALBOM
Copyright (c) 1999, Detroit Free Press
BISON DELE: BIG MAN PUTS OUT LITTLE EFFORT
ATLANTA -- Their big man, Dikembe Mutombo, was having the time of his life. He backed in
on one Piston, knocked him over and slammed home two points. He backed in on
another Piston, spun past him and banked home two more. He bumped in on
another Piston, then sliced a jump hook down the hoop's throat.
i>Their big
man, the Hawks' big man, scoring, blocking, rebounding.
And the Pistons' big man?
Sitting on the bench, his face in a scowl.
I'd like to be nice. I'd like to be understanding. But if someone can tell me
how Bison Dele earns his $6 million annual paycheck, I'd be happy to listen.
This guy, in plain English, is a waste of time. He lasted all of two minutes
in the most important game of the Pistons' season before going to the bench
with his second foul. Up to that point, he hadn't taken a shot or grabbed a
rebound.
He then sat for the next 16 minutes.
Is that what we call a contribution?
He came back for four minutes in the second quarter, picked up another foul,
didn't shoot once.
OK, you figure. Maybe halftime will shake him out of his doldrums. The Pistons
still had a chance Monday night, right?
Fat chance. Dele started the third quarter by turning the ball over. He then
fouled Mutombo, all but chopping him in half with his forearm. When the ref
whistled him, Dele -- who often puts more effort into complaining than he does
into playing -- walked off yelling, "How is that a foul?"
When the ref didn't answer, Dele mumbled a phrase that begins with "mother"
but doesn't end in "I love you."
The ref called him for a technical.
Dele sat the rest of the quarter.
Sorry, folks, but that's not what I call "helping your team." Other Pistons
played badly, but at least they broke a sweat. Here -- in the game that
basically buried the Pistons for 1999 -- was Bison Dele's line:
Eleven minutes, no points, no shots, no free throws, one rebound, five fouls.
The next time Dele sees Bill Davidson, he ought to write him a check.
I mean, come on. Enough about his moods, his eclectic tastes, his wandering
wave forms. When your team desperately needs a big man, and you are that big
man, and you don't bring your A game, your B game or even your P game, what
good are you?
I'll bet it's a question the Pistons brass are asking themselves right now.
The end seems inevitable
"Whatever we're doing wrong, we better fix it fast," said point guard Lindsey
Hunter, after the Game 2 loss.
Forget it. The time for that was after Game 1. The Pistons came into Monday
night swearing they would not repeat their 70-point effort from Saturday, a
franchise playoff low. They were right. They scored 69.
This was not a game the Pistons could afford to lose. They lost it anyhow,
89-69. They made bad passes. They forced bad shots. They not only repeated the
mistake from Saturday, when they went 7 1/2 minutes without scoring in the
third quarter, they bettered it. In Monday's third quarter, they went eight
minutes without a point.
"Mutombo had an incredible game," said backup Eric Montross of the center's 28
points and 13 rebounds, "but I think he took four hook shots and the rest were
lay-ups. That's inexcusable."
Then again, with all due respect, why are we going to Montross for that quote?
He played 21 minutes. He is not supposed to play 21 minutes. Not in a crucial
playoff game. He did what he could against the Mutombo mountain -- did a
decent job early on -- but it was Dele's job first and foremost.
At one point, in the third quarter, the Pistons were trying to save their
season with Loy Vaught, who has barely played; Christian Laettner, who is not
his old self; Don Reid; Jerry Stackhouse; and Grant Hill.
Come on. Does that sound like a playoff-winning lineup?
A terrible game for everyone
But then, Dele is at fault for much of that as well. When you can't count on a
big man, you have to use all kinds of weird combinations to compensate. The
Pistons tried everyone on Mutombo except announcer George Blaha -- and don't
be surprised if they ask Blaha for Game 3.
Now, it's true, basketball is a team game. And it wasn't like the rest of the
Pistons were lighting it up. Hill came off a great game Saturday with a
mediocre one Monday, only 5-for-16 shooting, although he did lead the team in
another of what should be Dele's categories, rebounding.
Hunter was an awful 1-for-11, and nobody, repeat, nobody could stop Mutombo.
"We were awful," coach Alvin Gentry said.
When asked about Dele, he bit his lip.
He has to. I don't. In two games, Dele has more fouls (nine) than points
(seven). I don't get it. What happened to centers who get up for playing the
opposing big guy? Isn't that what gave us Wilt and Russell, or Reed and
Cowens, or even Laimbeer and Abdul-Jabbar?
Instead, we have a disappearing act who slumped by his locker after the game
with his arms crossed, looking at his feet.
A reporter tried to ask something. "Did it make a big difference that--"
"It doesn't matter what makes a big difference," he said. "We have to make a
big difference."
Wrong pronoun, big man.
MITCH ALBOM can be reached at 1-313-223-4581 or albom@freepress.com. Listen
to "Albom in the Afternoon" 3-6 p.m. weekdays on WJR-AM (760).
THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION MAY DIFFER SLIGHTLY FROM THE PRINTED ARTICLE.
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