The Detroit news - Arroyo realizes he finally fits in
Guard gets a new lease on life under Saunders, and his creative play has been more steady.
By Joanne C. Gerstner
Sometimes, it's all about the little things.
Fitting in. Understanding your teammates. Getting a new coach.
Pistons guard Carlos Arroyo has been through all of that in the last year, and it's added up to positives.
Arroyo has gone from being cast off from the Jazz, to being under pressure from Larry Brown, to eliciting praise from his new coach, Flip Saunders.
Beyond the brawl
Year after: NBA fights to dress up its image
By Terry Foster
Indiana Pacers center Jermaine O'Neal doesn't care how harshly you judge him. He says he can take the heat. So if you view him as a morally challenged thug, he is fine with that.
O'Neal believes otherwise, but he cannot defend his actions last Nov. 19, when he and teammates brawled with Pistons fans at The Palace.
The Detroit Free Press - Arroyo is thriving in new system
by Chris Silva
He's smiling now.
No one has had to tell Carlos Arroyo to flash those pearly whites. But more often this season than last, Arroyo has been seen with a smile on his face whenever he's on the court.
Larry Brown: the anti-Phil Jackson
by Mitch Lawrence
Stephon Marbury can rest easily, and so can all of his Knicks teammates. When it comes to being an aspiring author with a bent for telling all, Larry Brown is no Phil Jackson.
There will be no diary from Brown off his first season as Knicks coach. No opening of the locker-room doors to reveal his team's innermost secrets, as Jackson did off the Lakers' 2003-04 season with his infamous tome, "The Last Season."
Billups takes his turn leading Detroit
Guard's big third sparks rally to 7-0
by Krista Latham
Last time, it was Richard Hamilton who broke Boston's heart. This time, the dagger belonged to Chauncey Billups.
Less than two weeks ago, it was Hamilton's buzzer-beater that gave Detroit a one-point victory over the Celtics. Tuesday night, it was Billups' continued brilliance -- most of it coming in his 17-point third quarter -- that brought the team back from a double-digit hole and helped secure a 115-100 victory at the Palace.
The Oakland press - Arroyo has brought spark off the bench
by Dana Gauruder
Carlos Arroyo wants another shot at running his own team. That will never happen in Detroit as long as Chauncey Billups remains in one piece.
Backing up one of the NBA's top point guards means that Arroyo has to maximize the minutes he plays. Arroyo's contribution during the Pistons' 115-100 victory over Boston on Tuesday night was a perfect illustration of how to achieve that.
Choice of Saunders is producing nice early returns
By Keith Langlois
They've yet to lose a game, never mind endure a three-game losing streak. No starter has suffered so much as a hangnail, let alone a sprained ankle or - horrors - a blown Achilles' tendon. And it's still too early for anyone to feel slighted about a lack of minutes in a seriously crowded rotation. Those disclaimers out of the way - wow. Flip Saunders has been nothing short of a home run for Joe Dumars.
Booth Newspapers - Arroyo comes up big off the bench
by Danny Knobler
Billups has a string of three consecutive double-doubles. He's averaging nearly 10 assists a game (second in the NBA), and not even 1.5 turnovers a game. When the Pistons were down 13 points in the second half Tuesday night against Boston, it was Billups who rescued them by scoring 17 points in the third quarter.
The thing is, the Pistons still trailed when Billups left the game. It was backup Carlos Arroyo who made the fast-break basket that put them ahead, Arroyo who made the steal that set up the next two points to put them up by three, Arroyo who assisted on three more baskets and scored another himself.
The Houston Chronicle - Rockets seek true identity
Team has two big answers, but lacks confidence
by Jonathan Feigen
The Rockets will face two teams that know who and what they are best, and best demon-strate the value of never straying far from themselves.
The San Antonio Spurs, whom the Rockets face tonight, and Detroit Pistons, who will be waiting for them in Houston on Friday, went seven games in the NBA Finals before the Spurs emerged. Between them, they have won the past two NBA championships and no matter what changes have come to their roster, almost never stray from what has made them the league's superpowers.