Big Day

The newest Tiger
It was a big day for sports in the D.

The Pistons welcomed the Lakers and Kobe to town. The 1st place Wings took on the 2nd place Blues at the Joe. And the Tigers made a decent splash in free agency.

Pistons

Despite the final score, this game was not close. The Lakers took an early 11-2 lead. The Pistons fought back to within five, but the Lakers seemed to be toying with them. Two plays stuck out in the first half, both resulting in extended Laker possessions. The first was the Hamilton ejection. Rip was guarding Kobe near the baseline. It was fantastic, stick-em D by Rip. Kobe was forced into a difficult fadeaway that missed badly. Yet, the ref whistled Rip for a foul. Replays showed there was little, if any, contact. Rip was pissed. He must've said something quite disturbing to the ref because, seconds later, Rip was booted. Kobe got two free throws for the foul, and then two more for the double-technical.

These were four points gifted to the Lakers on a night when they didn't need any extra help. I'm not necessarily blaming the refs for this loss, of course. It's just another reminder of the main problem in the NBA - star treatment. Piston color analyst Greg Kelser offered some excellent insight during the telecast:

I can relate to his frustration. When I played, I had to guard Dr. J, Walton, and Bird. You want the ref to let you play them the same way they get to play you - which is physical and aggressive.

Kelser is always even-keel and objective. For him to have Rip's back in this says something - despite Rip irresponsibly losing his temper. Later, the refs called Austin Daye for a flagrant foul on Pau Gasol. It was iffy, but it gave the Lakers two more free throws and the chance to work the final shot in the half. The Pistons, with their sieve-like defense (especially without Hamilton), did themselves no favors.

It was a bit strange in that they played quite well on offense. Stuckey was aggressive going to the rim; Daye hit some deep jumpers; and Prince got hot too. But they simply could not compete on the other end of the floor. Big Ben is clearly not interested. He's still the team's best defender, but he's not dominating like last year. And nobody else besides Stuckey seems to have much interest in defense. Big men like Gasol have no trouble getting to the rim. In the 2nd quarter, it was painful watching the undersized Maxiell get abused every possession by Gasol.

The third quarter, as usual, was ugly. All season long, opposing teams destroyed the Pistons after halftime. It's strange because you'd imagine the players - who seem to hate Kuester so much - would be thrilled to get back on the court. But they play like they'd rather be in the locker room.

Red Wings

Watching the Wings was like watching the bizarro-world Lions. They didn't play that great and, during long stretches, let the Blues dominate. Yet, thanks to some lucky deflections, they found themselves tied 3-3 in the 3rd period.

With Jimmy Howard making some excellent saves to keep the game tied, the Wings decided to pour it on. In a span of 3 minutes, the Wings scored a shocking 4 goals. First Cleary, then Z, then Stuart, then Homer. It was astounding. Everything they touched seemed to go in.

As a fan, I felt a bit guilty. Why should my team be treated to such success on a night when they clearly weren't deserving? Perhaps it's karma for the Lions.

Tigers

With Phil Coke potentially moving to the starting rotation, the Tigers had a massive hole to fill in the bullpen. Dombrowski addressed it in a big way with the signing of Joaquin Benoit. The 3 year/$16.5million signing definitely turned heads. It's the biggest deal for a set-up man since the White Sox signed Scott Linebrink. Why such a rich deal for a guy with a career 4.47 ERA?

Benoit is not young. He'll be 33 next season. Yet, as a 32 year old, he posted startling numbers - 1.34 ERA and 0.68 WHIP - in 63 games of work. The guy gave up just 30 hits and 11 walks all season. For comparison, Joel Zumaya, who was having an excellent season before missing all of July, August, and September, gave up 32 hits and 11 walks.

The people that dislike this signing point to the fact that this season must be an aberration for Benoit. It's not that simple. Benoit spent his first five seasons as a starter, without much success. He moved to the bullpen and finally found success in 2007 with a 2.85 ERA. He sat out 2009 with Tommy John surgery, signed with the Rays, and had a career year in 2010. Just in time for a new contract.

So, yes, it's a gamble signing Benoit for three seasons. Yet, if he's able to continue on his hot streak (or at least come close to it), he'll be a savior in this town.