|
http://i46.tinypic.com/nwar80.jpg
Aguirre Shaky In New Role
Scoring Sinks With Pistons
May 26, 1989|By Sam Smith.
Rick Mahorn peered menacingly at Mark Aguirre a couple of stalls down in the Pistons` plush locker room.
``This ain`t Dallas,`` Mahorn shouted, a smile edging away at the corners of his lips, but a scowl in his heart. ``Don`t go messing things up here.``
``Yeah,`` piped in Bill Laimbeer from another booth away. ``And no more of this wearing suits on the road. You dress like the rest of us or stay home.``
The Pistons got their message across to Mark Aguirre: Fit in or get out.
But the irony is that the behavioral straitjacket Aguirre has agreed to wear may work against the Pistons` hopes for a National Basketball Association championship.
That`s because Adrian Dantley, traded for Aguirre on Feb. 15, was one of the toughest players in the league for the Bulls to defend against. He`s gone and Aguirre, a great scorer, has been reduced to a supplementary role.
``Dantley gave us fits,`` Bulls coach Doug Collins says. ``Our small forwards were always in foul trouble, and they (the Pistons) were shooting a lot of free throws, which got them into the pace they wanted.
``Not to take anything away from Aguirre, who`s a great player, but I think we have more confidence playing Aguirre instead of Dantley. It`s like in baseball, where a guy might hit (Nolan) Ryan, but no one else can. A lot of it is mental.``
It may lead to some thinking for the Pistons.
One of the principal reasons they made the trade was to get Dennis Rodman in the game at crucial times. They believed Dantley would react negatively toward that. Since Aguirre arrived, Rodman has played extensively in the fourth quarter, with Aguirre`s key fourth-quarter play Tuesday an exception.
The Pistons were 29-4 with Aguirre as a starter, so the change has been hard to dispute.
Against the Bulls, the Pistons lose their edge at small forward because the Bulls feared Dantley, not Aguirre or Rodman. With the Pistons` scoring 88 points in Game 1, they clearly need more offense.
Yet, Aguirre doesn`t seem prepared to provide it, in no small part because of his reputation as a selfish scorer.
``He`s tried to fit in and has done it well,`` Pistons assistant Brendan Suhr says. ``But he`s a great scorer, and we do want him to be more assertive.``
Even his buddy Isiah Thomas once scolded Aguirre during a game, saying:
``Face the hoop more. At least give the impression you might shoot.``
Collins says he understands, if he also hides his satisfaction at the meshing of Mark Aguirre.
``It`s like when Julius (Erving) came to Philadelphia,`` Collins says.
``It was a new situation and we had some great scorers and he wanted to be accepted by the team. He wanted to fill a role, do what was asked.``
Just what Mark Aguirre has felt.
``I`m here for what we need,`` says Aguirre, averaging 12.4 in 10 playoff games. For his career, he`s a 23-point playoff scorer.
``I do what I`m asked to do,`` he says. ``I`ve always been looked at as a scorer, the guy to carry the situation. But this situation is not set up for me to score, to get a lot of points.``
After arriving in Detroit, he averaged 15.6 points during the season against a 24.9-point-a-game career average.
``With this team, I score when I get an opportunity or when things break down,`` Aguirre says. ``But that makes it tougher for teams. And I`m comfortable. I`m just playing basketball.
``When I came here, Chuck (Daly) didn`t put in any new plays for me. I didn`t detract from the offense any. I just came out and did all I can. I can pass the ball, rebound. I`m not great at defense, but I`ve been playing a little better. If anything, I added to this team. They didn`t look to go to me. I can get my points in the flow of the game.``
Yet against the Bulls, he has averaged 11 points in two games; Dantley averaged 23.5 in his four games this season against Chicago.
``Sure it was different coming here and not having plays run for you,``
Aguirre says. ``I was always a scorer, coming off screens, guys looking for you. Early on, I felt lost. But I`m playing the game the Pistons want me to play.
``We just play ball and we want to win. Because if you`re not winning, it`s not a lot of fun. I know I`m not the best basketball player in the NBA, but I can play the game. What I`m doing here might not look as good on paper, but it`s important to the team.
``Before, too much limelight came my way. And I think that caused me problems. Now I just want to win. There are no individual goals here. Everyone is dedicated to winning. I feel comfortable. I just want to fit in.``
Maybe right into the Bulls` plans.
and THEN...
Life As A Piston Hasn`t Been Easy For Aguirre
April 22, 1990|By Corky Meinecke, Knight-Ridder Newspapers.
AUBURN HILLS, MICH. — The Detroit Pistons have asked a lot of small forward Mark Aguirre since acquiring him from the Dallas Mavericks more than a season ago.
Change attitude.
Lose weight.
Play defense.
Shoot less.
Sit more.
No player wants to go from All-Star to seldom-star, but Aguirre has grudgingly accepted the plan. In January, he surrendered his starting position to defensive demon Dennis Rodman-a move that triggered the Pistons` 25-1 run but doomed Aguirre to his worst statistical year in nine NBA seasons.
With one game left in the regular season, Aguirre, 30, is averaging 13.4 points-4.5 points lower than last season and 10.7 points below his scoring average before the season. He has averaged 25.5 minutes and 11.4 shots-down from 33.8 and 20.4 in 1987-88, his last full season with the Mavericks.
``I`m trying to make it work for us,`` Aguirre said the other day after practice. ``And I hope it`s understood that I`ve been surrendering a lot of things.``
In his wallet, especially. About a month before the Pistons sent Adrian Dantley to Dallas for Aguirre, Mavs owner Donald Carter verbally agreed to double Aguirre`s salary to $1.4 million. But a formal agreement was never drawn up, and the Pistons are bound only to a pact that will pay Aguirre $738,000 annually through the 1996-97 season.
``I really don`t like talking contract during the year,`` Aguirre said,
``but I think something will be done after the season. Either way, something has to happen. As it is, I`m horribly underpaid.
``But Jack (McCloskey, the Pistons` general manager) knows basketball. If he feels he can use me, then he`ll go ahead and do something. If not, then he might trade me. But it`s a situation they have to look at next year.``
Still, McCloskey first has to make tough decisions concerning veteran guard Vinnie Johnson, who becomes an unrestricted free agent at season`s end, and power forward John Salley, who becomes a restricted free agent at next season`s end.
A lot also depends on how well Aguirre performs in the playoffs. He ended the 1989 NBA finals with a thud, going 1 for 11 and scoring just four points in the last two games of the Pistons` four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers. Worse yet, he tipped the scales at nearly 250 pounds.
``I played horribly the last two games,`` Aguirre said, ``and a lot was made of that. But before that, I did OK.``
In the first 15 games of the playoffs, Aguirre averaged 14 points and shot 51 percent from the field. Included was a 25-point performance against the Bulls in the Eastern Conference finals.
But when push comes to shove-and it usually does in the playoffs-Pistons coach Chuck Daly may have eyes only for Rodman, who can smother everyone from Michael Jordan to Patrick Ewing. Aguirre, at just 6 feet 6 inches, has trouble with just about every one of league`s starting small forwards.
``I`ll never be a great defensive player,`` Aguirre said, ``but I`m better than I was when I first got here.``
Daly may have given Aguirre a preview of things to come in a game against the Celtics on April 3. Aguirre never left the bench in the second half, mostly because Rodman had wrapped himself around Celtics star Larry Bird. The Pistons won by 11 points, holding Boston to just 82.
``Well, Mark wasn`t happy,`` Daly said, shrugging his shoulders. ``And I knew Mark wasn`t happy. But it`s my job.``
Aguirre insisted otherwise.
``Hey, `Worm` was doing a great job against Bird,`` he said of Rodman.
``He was on a roll. You don`t take him out in those situations. I was thinking about the win. Now, if I was thinking about my statistics and my contract, I would have been out of here last year.``
Aguirre has been a puzzle to many coaches, but Daly claimed to have ``a pretty good feel for him.`` What the coach sees is a ``multidimensional player who can do about anything he wants to do. He has amazing skills, and it`s only a matter of how hard he wants to work on a given night.``
Aguirre might be better off playing shooting guard, especially if Rodman remains healthy and productive. Daly has experimented with Aguirre at that position, with mixed results. He possesses the required shooting and ball-handling skills, but Daly isn`t sure how long Aguirre would be willing to chase the likes of Jordan, Hersey Hawkins, Byron Scott and Ricky Pierce.
``He`s capable, but his mentality would have to allow it,`` Daly said.
``When he really wants to work at it, he can do it. I`ve seen him do it. He`s very good at coming off screens and shooting jumpers, but he`s reluctant to do that because he`s never done it in his life. He`ll have space to shoot, but then he`ll take the ball into trouble.``
Said Aguirre: ``I can do it, but I`d probably mess it up for a while.``
Nor is he completely sure that the Pistons will come through with a new contract next year. He might mess that up, too.
``But I would never regret my time here,`` he said. ``I`ve had great fun. I`ve had the opportunity to play on a championship team, something not many people get to do. So far, it`s been totally worth it.``
So far.
The funny thing about all this...
If the Pistons don't trade Dantley, they may still win 1 of 2 rings if not both...
and considering how we could do NOTHING against the SF position with Dantley giving Pippen fits, if the Pistons let Rodman man the 4 with Laimbeer, Rodman, Dantley, Dumars, Zeke...with Microwave off the bench
the Bulls might not have been able to handle that squad in 91, 92....
Thanks for that trade!
†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††
http://s17.postimg.org/6r7bfqpnz/kyrieglass.jpg - They Call Him Mr. Glass
|
Printer-friendly copy 
Email this topic to a friend
Okay Sports
