AUBURN HILLS – Pistons president Joe Dumars spoke to his players yesterday to see if any had conflicting emotions about facing their former coach, Rick Carlisle, in the Eastern Conference Finals that begins tonight at Conseco Field House in Indianapolis.
Perhaps Dumars wanted to make sure the Pistons came at the Pacers with the same ferocity that enabled them to oust the Nets in seven games. In any case, he heard what he wanted to hear. If Ben Wallace is any indication, the Pistons haven’t thought twice about Carlisle’s shocking dismissal last spring after two consecutive 50-win seasons.
“I don’t miss him,” Wallace said. “Why would I miss him? I like playing basketball. If basketball was taken away, I’d miss it. But I don’t feel that much of a bond with Coach Carlisle that I actually miss him.”
Does anybody? “No.”
Dumars, who axed Carlisle in favor of Larry Brown, said: “I talked to some of them. It’s about taking the next step and proving to themselves they are the better team in the East. It’s not so much what Larry is doing better, it’s that the team has grown from last year.”
So have the Pacers, who couldn’t get out of the first round under Isiah Thomas in three straight seasons. With Carlisle and a maturing Ron Artest, the Pacers posted 61 wins, earning the top seed.
Carlisle has downplayed facing the Pistons all season. “My memory is programmed to last about as long as an egg-timer. I choose to remember the good things that happened, the opportunity,” Carlisle said yesterday. “I haven’t dwelled on it at all.”
There’s been talk in Motown that if the Pacers beat the Pistons, it will prove Dumars erred in firing Carlisle. That dismissal created speculation Carlisle was axed for not always saying hello to the owner and Pistons executives.
“If we beat them, we’re going to be in the NBA Finals,” Dumars said. “That’s more important than someone writing articles that you’re vindicated.”
Said Brown: “It would be foolish to think our guys didn’t respect what he did here.”
Wallace, who starred in Game 7 as Mr. Inside/Mr. Outside, suggested Carlisle took the Pistons as far as they could go.
“Joe and everybody else realized if you have a Hall-of-Famer like Larry Brown, he’s available and you’re trying to win a championship, it was an opportunity you couldn’t miss to take you to the next level,” Big Ben said. “I’m sure he’ll want a little payback.”
It’s a fascinating matchup, considering Carlisle’s Indiana playbook is not far off from last season’s Pistons. “The fact we know the plays he’ll run helps us a little bit; that he knows our personnel will help him a little bit,” Dumars said. “But when the game starts, it’s what happens on the floor.
“For Rick, the most important thing is if he can get to the NBA Finals,” Dumars added. “I don’t think he’s going to get into the revenge factor. He never displays that.”
Since the Pistons obtained Rasheed Wallace in February, the two clubs have met once. Detroit won, 79-61, on April 4, after which Chauncey Billups said he wanted the Pacers in the playoffs.
Billups said the Pistons struggle more against fast-break clubs like the Nets, but believes their half-court defense is the NBA’s best. “I said it during the season, it’s what we want,” Billups said. “Indiana is a half-court team. So we like our chances.”