Billy D. and I prefer smooth, rich Colt 45.

Last night's Heat-Pistons game was riveting television on a number of levels...and the game was pretty good too. Stan Van Gundy gets a lot of credit for his enormous dong and his ability to spread a money shot over two, or even three, of his female co-stars faces but rarely do you hear people give him the kind of credit he deserves for the coaching job he's done each of the past two years. You couldn't pick two more different teams in personnel and style of play to coach than the last two versions of the Heat and yet he coached them both to just about the maximum of their ability. The reason I bring any of this up is that his decision to move Dwyane Wade (almost exclusively) to the point last night was fantastic. Damon Jones isn't the kind of point guard who needs the ball in his hands to be a factor, in fact he is much more effective spotting up for open threes. Wade, on the other hand, needs to be able to create his shot with both movement and the dribble. By moving Wade over to the point, Van Gundy allowed Wade to see double teams develop well in advance as well as the ability to push the tempo and find shots for himself and his teammates early on in the shot clock. It should be really interesting to see how Larry Browna nd the Pistons adjust to this wrinkle when the series resumes in two weeks.

Besides the game last night, their were quite a few happenings that raised an eyebrow on a seasoned veteran on playoff basketball viewing like myself, nothing earth shattering but interesting nonetheless. They are as follows:

-NBA referees make some of the latest foul calls that you could ever possibly imagine. It's begun to border on the ridiculous. These are the type of late foul calls that often end up sparking minor donneybrooks during pickup games in less than desirable neighborhoods. If it is a foul then just go ahead and make a damn call, don't wait to see if a shot went in or not. Whether or not a foul should be whistled should never be determined by the aftermath of the foul in question. It takes away from the feel of legitimacy of many of the referees' calls. In a league where conspiracy theories run rampant, this can't be considered a postive...can it?

- Have you seen the horrible Ford commercial where the young black man is showing off his new Ford 500 to a young black woman, only to have the car's actual owner (older more established black man) show up as the young man is forced to back pedal on why he's allowing somebody else to drive his car? Probably. It's not a very good commercial. My problem is that at one point in the commercial the young man describes the interior of the 500 as having "bookoo space"? Are you kidding me? People are still using the word "bookoo" in the urban communities of our nation? I may have not visiited the ghetto all that recently but I would be willing to bet my sweet virgin ass on the fact that the word "bookoo" isn't a regular part of the lingo of today's inner city youth. Jesus.

-Evidently Rasheed Wallace goes by the nickname "Rosco". Wait, it gets better. It's not because Rasheed has a love for Chicken and Waffles (who doesn't?) which may or may not be true. Rather, because none other than J. R. "Isaiah for the ladies" Rider said that Rasheed looked like a dude named Rosco. Mind you, not a specific dude named Rosco, just a dude named Rosco. What are the odds that Rasheed received this nickname from J.R. during a marathon blunt smoking session in one of their Portland area homes? 5-2? Even money? I swear that you can't even make up stories as good as the ones that the NBA supplies us with.

- During NBA Fastbreak last night when the highlights of the Pistons-Heat game were finishing up and Dwyane Wade was scoring his 40th point, Tim Legler uttered, "give him 40". To which Greg Anthony replied "give him an 8 Ball". There's nothing quite like a malt liquor reference on one of the networks in the Disney Television family to cap your night.