Singling out a triple-double

Sporting News, The, April 1, 1996 by Charlie Vincent

Doug Collins sent a message last week, but it was the wrong one.

When Orlando guard Anthony Bowie called timeout with 2.7 seconds remaining in the Magic's 113-91 victory over the Pistons on March 19 so he would have a chance for the first triple-double of his career, Collins -- incensed at the bushness of it all -- instructed his Pistons to stand at the side of the court when play resumed and not contest Bowie's pass to David Vaughn for a dunk that gave Bowie his 10th assist.

If Collins wanted to point out the classlessness of the timeout, he accomplished that.

If he wanted to cheapen Bowie's triple-double, he did that, too.

But he set a dangerous precedent by ordering his team not to compete. Commissioner David Stern did the right thing by fining him $5,000.

I wouldn't have done it Collins, way.

Instead of having my players stand passively on the sideline, I would have had somebody knock Bowie into the second row as soon as he touched the ball and see if he could get an assist from there. He would have been put on the free-throw line, and he would have been sore when he got there.

That is the way the game is played.

It is accepted to foul the opponent, to make him pay for a threat to your basket.

Grant Hill, who has established himself as a true superstar in his second season, has endured increasingly frequent hard fouls as this season has gone on and the Pistons have again become a factor in the Eastern Conference.

Hard fouls are a fact of life in the NBA.

If one of the old Bad Boys -- Bill Laimbeer, Rick Mahorn, Isiah Thomas or Dennis Rodman -- had been in a Pistons uniform at the end of the game, Bowie would not have been standing a nanosecond after he touched the ball.

To stand and watch seemed the easy way out. And it surprises me Collins chose it.

In less than a season with him as coach, the Pistons, pride has been restored to the point that they can say they are not to be trifled with, not to be taken advantage of, not to be embarrassed for the sake of a cheap personal achievement in the final seconds of a blowout.

But Collins should have allowed the players to do what comes naturally in that situation. Players keep track of what is going on, and seldom do coaches have to settle scores.

Bowie, who was making his second start of the season because Nick Anderson was injured, is one of those guys who lives life on the periphery of the NBA, more spectator than combatant in most games. Like the Pistons' Michael Curry, he has knocked around for a lot of years. Bowie has signed and been cut over and over in Houston San Antonio Chicago New Jersey, the CBA and Italy.

Entering that game, he was averaging 3.9 points. He had 88 rebounds for the season. He had 67 assists.

And he was unrepentant about the way he completed the most successful night of his career.

"I'll probably never have the opportunity to do it again," Bowie said, after 12 Pistons watched him finish his triple-double. "It was entirely me. Coach (Brian) Hill had nothing to do with the timeout. I knew when he gave me the board that it was up to me.

"You only get so many opportunities, and that's why I did it. Whether they,re going to move over or whatever they,re going to do, I'll take it. It's all the same.

"I ran over to tell Doug Collins the situation, that it was a great opportunity for me, but that I didn't want to make anybody mad.

"He didn't listen."

Handed the clipboard by his coach, Bowie diagrammed the play to set up his assist. Corky Meinecke, who covers the Pistons for the Detroit Free Press, said Brian Hill was "steamed" during the timeout.

Hill later tried to apologize to Collins, but Collins waved him away.

In his postgame interview Hill said: "I want to formally apologize to Coach Collins, his staff, the Pistons, organization and the Orlando fans for the timeout that was called.

"I thought it was totally uncalled for, and it's something I regret."

He did not explain, though, why he allowed Bowie to remain in the game, if he thought the whole thing was bush. He could have defused the situation by substituting for Bowie. Or by diagramming a play that would not involve him.

Instead, he tried to separate himself from the cheap act after the fact, a pretty difficult job for a coach.

Bowie's teammates supported him.

"I'm glad he did it. I don't care who gets mad;" Shaquille O'Neal says. "Because of the talent on this team, Anthony Bowie doesn't get a chance to play a lot.

"He was in the CBA. A lot of people thought he couldn't make it. He got a chance. He came over here, and that's his first career triple-double. I'm glad for him and could care less if Doug Collins got mad."

If the episode proves anything, it is that Hill -- who let his player do something the coach later said he disapproved of -- is not in control of his club, and Collins -- whose players silently accepted his decision not to let them compete -- is in charge of his.

Collins, move may have a positive effect on his franchise, but the next time someone wants to show up the Pistons, I hope he lets the players do what comes naturally.