Coined by none other than Chauncey Billups not Rasheed this time. What an awesome name for the bench players;the reason why this name was given according to CB was; when they come on the floor they are like a bunch of wild animals. Wow, when they get out of their cages to hunt their prey, anyone who comes into contact with the floor, especially in the open court, they are on the attack, gnashing and gnawing of teeth, striking their foes with reckless abandon, I love it. I think the Zoo crew is appropriate for our bench consisting of Stuck, Triple AAA (Aaron Affalo, notice the three a's), JMAX, Super J, and whomever else we can find a nickname for).
Who got that name? i like it. Also, it wakens the animal spirit in the starters. CB has a dunk already !!!!
I call Jarvis Hayes- Jayes when his shot is falling. It combines his name in an effort to describe how he's draining J's. I call him Arvis when it's not falling.....Jarvis with no J. AA=Triple-A, I like that, AAA, to the resue. I also like "Spellcheck" as a name for him too, cause his last name is a doozy to spell. JMax-Maxey-MIP-Brahma-Beast-Monster, you can call Jason Maxiel alot of things, except soft and weak. Rodney "Dont call me lame a*% Hot-Rod" Stuckey aka Stuck, Lil-50, Fitty. AJ, aka DNP-CD, for now, but he'll be ballin soon enough stay tuned......... Primoz aka Gangsta per Sheed. There is absolutely no room for debate when Sheed issues the nick-name. Walter Herrmann, sorry, I cant help but call him anything other Fabio...but thas' Jus' Me-KG.
I would say, however, I don't want to step into your territory, undermining your authority as a trade pro. (TFD the trade MD).
If the players are caged animals being released onto the floor, then it seems like technically, Saunders, Cowens, and the other assistants are the zoo crew.
Even though I guess it was C-Bill who coined the term, personally I find it very derogatory and in very poor taste to refer to African American players as a wild animals from a zoo, even if there are now some pink skins who get a few minutes coming off of our bench.
From a scientific perspective you are correct, but that is not how the term is being used. When a parent refers to his/her child as an animal it hardly ever connotes a positive opinion of that child. When you combine it with the term zoo it becomes a disgusting phrase when used to refer to human beings. If human beings aren't any better than animals in zoo wanting to be uncaged like that Tiger was a week ago, that killed that zoo visitor then we are in a sorry state as a species.
Buddahfan, if you took away all of the animal nicknames, there wouldn't be anything left except the really, really lame names like the Lakers....Oops, maybe that was your plan....
I think animal names for teams has always been lame!! Do you know the only team in NBA HISTORY to win a title with an animal for a logo?
Actually, HQ, there have been three of them. Aside from Da Bulls, there were the Bucks in '71 and the St. Louis Hawks in '58.
It is the words zoo + animals + caged that is in my opinion distasteful. It is like chemistry. One chemical by itself is often harmless but when mixed with others becomes very dangerous. Look at this way How would it fly if we had a bench composed of Muslim players and someone dubbed them "The Terrorist Brigade". Not very nice in either case in my opinion.
That is also very bad. I guarantee you that if a pink skin news reporter coined that term for our bench he/she would probably loose their job the next day, which they should. This is like what Zeke said about women. It seems to me that a phrase coming from one culture directed at itself is just as bad as if the same phrase is being uttered by someone of another culture.
Well that would be offensive; but there is no comparison, IMO. I ain't met a caged up animal yet that didn't run wild when let loose. Some player's are often called "beast." That's a GOOD thing in my book. Besides....the players themselves can either accept or reject it. Not only is the nic cool, it also suggests a "lack of complacency."
i never saw it as offensive but then again i tend to take things for face value.... If you want to do it, you can take every saying.... every nickname.... ever reference to something as offensive in some way. It was intended as a compliment and praise for our new attitude that our bench is playing with and the starters have embraced them...
For what it is worth, my reaction was a gut one that engendered anger and disgust inside me. At no one in particular, but just because it seems to me that the Pistons players are something other than gaged animals in a zoo, more like talented, hardworking and energetic young professional basketball players. Only afterwards did I stop to analyze it.
