European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 4, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday March 4,1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 23 Thomas intent on hot pistons winning again by David Aldridge the Washington Post Auburn Hills Mich. A Brendan Malone an assistant coach for the Detroit pistons went to Isiah Thomas House a few Days after his team won the Aba championship in june. A i Only live five minutes away from him a Malone said. A a he a called me up several times. He has a gym in his House. And i went Over. We went through drills for about two hours. After Joe Dumars wedding in August we came Home at one of clock in the morning. He shot from 2 of clock to 3 30 in the  insomnia Isnit the Issue Here. Obsession is. Ten years and Isiah Thomas is still searching. There was Joy on his face when the pistons swept the lakers and won their first Aba championship but also Relief. He said he had found the secret what made Larry Bird and magic Johnson Able to Rise above the Competition year in and year out. What made them champions. He Wasny to sharing. It was a decade Long quest. Now that he son top he a not sharing just How he plans to keep the pistons there. They spent much of the first half of the season struggling to find their rhythm. Rick Mahon was gone Mark Aguirre was Here John Stafiey had to Start. The Bench suffered. Coach Chuck Daly has called the first three months of the season a a big fishing  now they be Ridden a recent 13-game winning Streak to the top of the Central division and Are playing better than Ever. And Isiah lord Thomas Iii is the Leader of this Bunch the unquestioned soul of what May no longer be the bad boys but simply the Best basketball team in the league. Do the pistons intimidate As they did last season probably not. Can you beat them four times Over seven games same answer. A a he a so competitive by nature a Daly said a that i done to think he could change he wanted to. But i think there is something that happens a its very Subtle when you win it. There Isnit that Nard Edge and there a a certain amount of Confidence that i know i feel. M i ont worry about what people think As much a writers Media owners .8 decisions a you make better decisions. And i think you have More Confluence in your players and vice  0-7 Hir its made him More mature a said Aguirre Thomas a Long time Friend. He really talks to me All the time about Gurhg out which direction what Emo Ion to do it again. He is in More of a pm Sopher Type situation figuring out How to do it again. He a really into it really into  Thomas was thumbing through his mail in the spacious pistons locker room an hour before Detroit played Washington recently. On the surface there was Little to squeeze from the game that followed a the pistons led by 20 at the half and won by 30. But this is All about motivations How to stay focused How to keep Sharp when you could mail it in against a bad team. That a the Beauty of the defense the psychology of being top dog. How do you do it a right now its still a learning process a Thomas said. A you have to learn from everything during the course of a basketball season. Its just like going to school. You have to Progress before they let you go to the next level. The teacher tells you something new and you can to go on until you More or less master that  his numbers Are Rock solid 18.5 Points per game 9.5 assists team High 952 steal unusually Low in one important area a Field goal percentage. A career 47-percent shooter he is hitting just .440 this season which if carried out would be his lowest percentage from the floor since his Rookie season. Part of the pressure of being the Lead guard on the defending world champions a a there a always pressure on me a he said. A a that a always the Way its been. That a just part of the responsibility of being a team Leader. That a just the Way it goes. Two and two is  when Detroit fell behind fast breaking Chicago at the Start of the season some people wondered out loud if the pistons could sustain the Effort to win consecutive titles. The obvious thing was to Point to the loss of Mahon and the subsequent vacuum it created at Power Forward. That was a problem but what May have dulled the pistons Edge was the weariness of the Chase. The had engaged themselves in a title Chase in Earnest for the better part of 36 months and when that goal was achieved they almost had to take a step Back. A a you re not As naive a Thomas said. A a you re not the Little kid on the Block. You re More or less looked at As the team everyone else reassessed itself against instead of the lakers and celtics. The experiences Are totally different. A when you win you re supposed to win you re supposed to play Good. When you lose its horrible. You re not patted on the Back and you re encouraged to improve As a basketball  but the pistons have found their feet. They held opponents to less than 50-percent shooting in Only seven of their first Detroit Star guard Isiah Thomas. Averaging 18.5 Points 9.5 assists 31 games then did it eight times the next 13. Everyone Points to the lakers game Jan. 21 As a turning Point. Los Angeles pushed Detroit around on the pistons Home floor and Thomas was ejected in the last two minutes after hitting Mychal Thompson on the head. After that game the pistons moved Aguirre to the Bench where he could concentrate on scoring in a sixth Man role. Dennis Rodman started getting the kind of minutes he probably deserves. He says he would rather remain a Reserve but the numbers done to lie. These pistons Are much better with him bringing his defensive complement to James Edwards offence. Just to show who a still top dog they went into new York sunday and dubbed the kicks on National television. Now they re battling the lakers for the Best record in the league. You have to get titles while the getting a Good. Detroit is a Young defending Champion but not a Young team. Thomas is 29, Bill Laimbeer 32, Aguirre 30. With playoffs a certainty for a few More seasons there will be no lottery pick types coming in. Which Means these Guys have to get it done. Which gets us Back to obsessions. Said Aguirre a the is so into that that he May have been More reserved to the Media so far As How he a approaching it. Because i get sick of talking to him about  and while he has Dumars Rodman and the rest of the group to give it a try this to Thomas will be his life a work. The science of repeating. A a. Players called for Casey to be clipped. A a a i i ii n. I _ _ a i Indianapolis lat a All but two Angeles Clipper players who at this a  year made Don Casey their Over Choice to become coach met ,3 owner Donald t. Sterling about three eks ago and asked that Casey be fired. He a was one of the things we talked r a a be player said Friday. Be petted to coach the clip Inni Ost for their final 26 games be Nas saturday night against the Indi a racers at Market Square Arena. Aid 0ne prominent team member a last year the Guys went and voiced an opinion in a very positive Way about Casey. This year i know at least in a not going to get involved in  Sterling said any personnel decisions would be made by general manager Elgin Baylor who could not be reached for comment Friday. But Sterling added there is no reason to believe Casey will not finish the season. A a in a convinced Elgin will review the entire program at the end of the season and that he a not going to make any changes before that time a Sterling said. Casey who has a 33-67 record said he has not received any indication from management that he will be fired but declined to respond to players criticisms. Sterling confirmed the two hour meeting at his Beverly Hills office saying it was initiated by players and moderated by Baylor. He called the talks a very Frank  it is believed that All but two players Benoit Benjamin and Jay Edwards attended. National basketball association Dumars Detroit flip Philly by the associated press Auburn Hills Mich. A Joe Dumars scored a season High 34 Points and Detroit came Back from a four Point deficit in the last six seconds of regulation to beat Philadelphia 115-112 in overtime Friday night. Dumars averaging better than 90 percent of his free throws made 13 of 14 from the line in regulation and All five in overtime As Detroit beat the mixers for the first time in three tries this season. The pistons improved to 26-3 at Home and have won 17 of their last 18 games Overall. Detroit trailed 103-99 on Rick a horns free throw with 10.8 seconds left in regulation. Isiah Thomas made it 103102 with a 3-Point Basket with 5.5 seconds remaining then stole the inbound pass by Mike Gminski and passed to Dumars who put the pistons ahead 104-103 with 2.5 seconds left. The mixers unbounded to Charles Barkley who was fouled by Dennis Rodman. But Barkley missed his first free throw and made the second to Send the game into overtime. Barkley led the 76ers with 26 Points but scored none in overtime As he was blanketed by Rodman. Lakers 124, Cavaliers 93 Inglewood Calif. A the los Angeles lakers parlayed High scoring second and third quarters and magic Johnson a 26 Points to their Victory. Cleveland playing without leading scorer Mark Price out with a hip Pointer sustained thursday against Denver was outscored 29-15 in the second Quarter As . Zipped to a 57-39 halftime Lead. The lakers outscored Cleveland 35-25 in the third period then scored the first six Points of the fourth period to Lead 98-64. The Cavaliers lost their third game in a Row on this seven game Road trip. Byron Scott and Orlando Woolridge each had 17 Points for the lakers. Larry Nance had 21 Points for the Cavaliers. Spurs 131, warriors 115 san Antonio a the spurs David Robinson scored 41 Points a his second straight season High performance against Golden state. Golden state got 30 Points from Chris Mullin including 14 in the final period. Mitch Richmond and Terry Teagle each had 19. Bulls 112, nets 91 Chicago a Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen each scored 23 Points As Chicago Defeated new Jersey for its seventh straight Victory and the nets 18th loss in 19 games. Mavericks 108, suns 102 Dallas a Derek harpers 3-Pointer with 1 54 left gave Dallas its 10th straight Home court Victory. Celtics 122, heat 110 Miami a Kevin Mchale scored 22 of his 26 Points in the second half including nine during a key third period run As Boston won its fourth straight. Hawks 132, Bucks 110 Atlanta a Dominique Wilkins scored a season High 44 Points and hit his last 13 shots in a 19-for-22 performance leading Atlanta to its fifth straight Victory. Supersonics 99, Timber wolves 83 Seattle a Derrick Mckey scored 12 Points in the third Quarter when Seattle broke open a close game in the teams first meeting since a 28-Point Minnesota Victory. Mckey finished with 18 to Lead Seattle in scoring. Rookie Pooh Richardson led the Timber wolves with 17 Points