AGUIRRE THE TERRIBLE MAKING A NEW MARK
By Peter May
May 3, 1989 -
AUBURN HILLS, MICH. -- Haven't heard much about Mark Aguirre lately, have you? No obscene gestures. No pouting when he comes out of a game. No tantrums. No ultimatums. No phantom injuries. Aguirre has gone from enfant terrible in Dallas to Mother Teresa in Detroit. He's playing fewer minutes, scoring fewer points, being told that defense comes first -- and couldn't be happier. And, oh yes, since joining the Pistons, Detroit went a spiffy 30-6, winning 30 of its final 34 regular season games. So for those who expected Aguirre to derail Detroit on its way to the NBA title, he advises everyone concerned that there is a better chance of the Greater Hartford Open getting snowed out.
"Never. It'll never happen. Never, ever," Aguirre said after the Pistons' final workout before the playoff opener with the Celtics. "They won't have to use me as an excuse. In Dallas, I was a big excuse. A reason to get out of a lot of things. But not here. Not ever. It won't happen."
So far, Aguirre has fit in at Detroit like the proverbial hand in a glove. He averaged 15.5 points as a Piston in 29.7 minutes at the close of the regular season. He was shooting 48 percent from the field versus 45 percent in Dallas. And he laughs when asked if there were concerns whether he could fit. Or whether he was an unadulterated misfit destined to bring chaos and anarchy to every situation.
"Look at Isiah," he said, gesturing to Pistons captain Isiah Thomas, a longtime friend who vehemently denies engineering the Feb. 15 deal that sent Adrian Dantley and a No. 1 pick to Dallas for Aguirre. "There's a prime example. Why would a person such as Isiah want to be affiliated with such a person that you've read about in the papers? You figure it out for yourself. I think I might have been taking a little too much of the limelight in Dallas."
He took and he also gave in Dallas and, by February, the Mavericks had had enough. So had Aguirre, even though he scored 61 points in his last two games as a Maverick. There simply was too much bad blood already spilled. He had dogged it through a game in Portland a week earlier and asked out of a game against Utah the week before that because of allegedly sore heels. The combustible, eight-year relationship between the team and its leading scorer was turning into a conflagration. The Pistons were hardly unaware of the potential risks. But Aguirre was four years younger than Dantley. He was faster. And he was stronger. He was worth it, they ultimately decided, but the initiation they gave him indicated they knew they weren't getting Mr. Chips. First, Thomas, Bill Laimbeer, Rick Mahorn and Vinnie Johnson took Aguirre to dinner the day he joined the club in Sacramento, Calif. In almost an inquisition-like atmosphere, Aguirre was told what to do and when to do it. And told in such a fashion that there was no room for confusion. Or appeal.
"I felt kinda sorry for him, even though he is my friend. But it had to be done," Thomas said. "The purpose {of the dinner} was to lay down the rules and let him know how things go and how we operate as a team. If anyone was going to get shafted, it was going to be him. Not us."
Added Mahorn, "We just told him the way that we play, which is defense first and offense second. I think Mark learned that real quick. Everyone's his own individual. When I came from Washington, I had a reputation that I still can't shake today."
On the surface, Aguirre seemed a natural for the free-flow Pistons, any number of whom are known to be daffy or different and definite candidates for Saturday morning cartoons. Thus, as Thomas heard one of his teammates swear uncontrollably in the locker room recently, he said, "There was concern. But I knew he wouldn't be a disruption in terms of getting along with people. Especially these people."
Aguirre used the dinner to ask his new teammates not to prejudge him. He was willing to be a part of the Pistons and determined to make no waves.
"All I asked of them is don't know me from what you read. Know me from what you actually know," he said. "I'm no angel. I can't pretend to be. But I know 95 percent of the things said about me are blown up. "I know I can fit with these guys. They're men. They can accept responsibility. They're willing to come to you and talk to you. I'm a man like anybody else. If we need to change it, fine, let's change it. The biggest problem in Dallas was you didn't have people willing enough, man enough, to just walk up and discuss what was happening. You gotta be a man in this situation and understand the whole picture."
Coach Chuck Daly understood. The first night Aguirre joined the team, and was unable to play, Daly saw Dennis Rodman get 10 points and 15 rebounds against the Kings. He then reached over and tapped Aguirre on the knee, saying "I have the best backup three-guy {small forward} in the league." The following day in practice, Rodman butchered Aguirre. Then Mahorn. The unspoken message: don't mess things up. Aguirre kept his cool and, equally important, his tongue. Even when Mahorn knocked him down and told him the same thing would happen again if Aguirre started to act like the person he said he wasn't.
"He raised his hands and said, 'I have no rights,' " Daly said of Aguirre. "He wanted to blend in and he has done that."
In his first appearance as a Piston, Detroit lost in Oakland. He was three for 11. In his second appearance, Detroit lost in Denver. He was six for 11. Two games later, Daly made him a starter and the Pistons were 28-4 with him in that role.
"I think what was more important here was chemistry," Aguirre said. "It's a weird word to say in the same line with Mark Aguirre. But I think when I came here I added a chemistry and I was there to produce when needed and when it wasn't needed, I'd do the other things."
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