Pole Position

Good morning!

Well, the ol' Motown Steamroller was fine tuned and playing pitch-perfect last night. Los Pistones took care of the Charlotte Bobcats by about 25 last night, a day after they took care of the Chicago Bulls by nearly 30. Most importantly, they took care of Ben Wallace.

You may have heard Big Ben chiming in about how he didn't understand his role in the offense a few days ago. Ben's offense? The same Ben Wallace who is a career 6.6 points-per-game scorer? What gives?

Here's what: Ben is the leader. As much as Chauncey manages this phenomenal team on the court, Ben does so in the locker room and in the media. Maybe it's that he understands that the team has been winning games, but has not been playing up to the level they need to be. Maybe it's that he sees that every single team in the Central division is above .500, and that all of them are likely to make the playoffs. Maybe he knows that, despite Detroit's quick start, this race has a lot more laps to go before anyone crosses the finish line, and if they forget about playing Pistons basketball, they'll crash and burn ... just like everyone is waiting on them to do. They have pole position now, but if the Pistons don't power this run The Right Way (even without LB.-For-LB. on the sidelines), they can't win it all. And for a team of this caliber, nothing else will do.

Plus, it gives everyone something else to talk about besides the Angry Fan March. Go Lions!