Chuck Daly is worried. Which is not a good thing for those teams not named the Pistons.
”I`m concerned with the roster,” Daly was saying recently as he mulled replacing an injured Dennis Rodman in the starting lineup for the season opener. ”And with our opening schedule, with 10 of our first 16 on the road. ”And you`ve got to say Chicago`s better with (Cliff) Levingston. And Cleveland and Boston look like they`ve improved themselves, and then you feel like Goliath the way teams come at you after you`ve won. And if it`s taken too much out of them playing 330 games from October to June for three years. . . .”
Chuck Daly would sweat a coin flip if he got to pick first and knew it was a two-headed coin. He`d warn you off his horse if it were running in a one-horse race.
And while the Central Division is no one-horse race, Daly still has the thoroughbreds everyone is chasing.
”They`re still the team to beat,” says Bulls coach Phil Jackson.
And everyone knows that.
With free agent Vinnie Johnson coming to terms on a two-year deal late in the exhibition season, the Pistons return the best three-guard rotation in basketball with Johnson, Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars.
And rumors of the demise of Bill Laimbeer and James Edwards are more wishful thinking.
”He`s ornerier than ever,” Daly says. ”Billy seems to be enjoying himself more than he ever has.”
And that will be no fun for the rest of the division.
But for playoff insurance, the Pistons added Tree Rollins to block up the middle, and they could get a big year from John Salley, who will be a free agent and figures to be inspired all season instead of just in the playoffs.
Mark Aguirre supposedly has smoothed things over with Thomas. Aguirre allegedly named Thomas in a Detroit gambling investigation. Later, Thomas was absolved of any wrongdoing. And once Rodman returns, they`ll again boast the best defensive group in the game.
But there was that little matter about you, Chuck. Why didn`t you take that TV job with NBC?
”I didn`t think I was ready to give up coaching,” he says. ”It`s one thing I know something about.”
And that you can be assured is a sure shot.
