Pistons honoring their all-time greats in ceremony tonight; some all-timers still active BY KRISTA JAHNKE ‧ FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER ‧ April 8, 2008 It will be party time at the Palace tonight. Starting at 7 -- one hour before the scheduled tip-off against the New York Knicks -- the Pistons will commemorate the team's 50th anniversary and present Detroit's All-Time Team. A panel of sports journalists -- including Drew Sharp of the Free Press -- and Pistons personnel handpicked the 30 players. In addition, former coach Chuck Daly and general manager Jack McCloskey will be honored. The team expects 25 of the honorees to be at the Palace. Three of the 32 are deceased: Dave DeBusschere, Jimmy Walker and George Yardley. And four -- Adrian Dantley, Grant Hill, Jerry Stackhouse and Ben Wallace -- are playing or coaching elsewhere. Pistons president Tom Wilson, who was on the nine-member selection panel, said about 20 of the players had at least seven votes and were shoo-ins. The rest came down to debate. "When you have 25 or 30 guys, there are always going to be people saying, 'What about so-and-so -- he's my favorite player?' Or 'Why did this guy make it?' " Wilson said. "It's inescapable.... But what we came up with is a good cross section of players from the past and the present." Bad Boys representatives include: Isiah Thomas, who will attend the ceremony before coaching the Knicks; team president Joe Dumars; Bill Laimbeer; Dennis Rodman; Vinnie Johnson; Rick Mahorn; Mark Aguirre; John Salley and James Edwards. Representing the current team are Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace and Lindsey Hunter. Pistons forward Antonio McDyess said he understands why the committee picked Hunter, whose numbers don't match most of the honorees. "Lindsey's been here through it all," McDyess said. "He was here before anyone was here, and he's still here. He won a championship with this team also.... Not because of numbers per se -- because of what he's given to this team. He's been here from the bad years to the good years, so he deserves it." The ceremony will include fireworks, video presentations and speeches. Never has such an illustrious group of Pistons been together in one place, Wilson said. "Guys have moved out of town and gone their different ways," Wilson said. "They might not be meeting each other for the first time, but they might get their first chance for extended conversations. They'll enjoy it -- it will be a great night for them. To be honored as one of the 30 best ever -- in any field -- is a great recognition." http://0rz.tw/163Rk "It's always good to go back to Detroit," Thomas told reporters in New York on Sunday. 笑笑汤：回底特律真好！ "It will be good to be honored with all my teammates and my ex-teammates," Thomas said. 笑笑汤：回底特律和队友聚聚很棒！ "To be able to see all those guys again and to see what they're doing now and the continuation of the tradition that we tried to start there will be nice. 笑笑汤：底特律球团赞！ "I think when you talk about the great franchises now in the league, in terms of championships, you include the Pistons in there now; whereas before you didn't." 笑笑汤：底特律最棒！ Jalen Rose is expected to be there, representing his late father, Jimmy Walker. Jalen Rose将代表过世的老爸Jimmy Walker参与这场盛会。 http://0rz.tw/3e3XP --

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