Chris McCosky: Pistons insider

Cavaliers net smiles, cringes

Cleveland

By now you have seen the skits and posing the fun-loving Cavaliers do before the game, during the game and after the game, right?

You've seen the picture-taking skit, the Mo Williams hitting a home run skit, the players huddled in a circle pantomiming starting a campfire.

All just silly fun, and that's how the Pistons view it.

"I think it's funny," coach Michael Curry said. "The thing is, you still have to get on the court and perform, and they've been performing.

"Whatever they do prior to the game doesn't matter."

Rasheed Wallace thinks it's funny, too, though he thinks the Cavaliers might have infringed on the Pistons' copyright with the picture-taking skit.

"We've been doing that stuff all along," Wallace said. "Rip (Hamilton) was the first to start doing all that picture stuff. That's where they got it from, but of course they (the media) are going to blow it up more because it's LeBron (James).

"But I don't worry about all that little stuff they do."

Rise of school ties

The trash-talking already has begun between Wallace and Hamilton. The question was, who would win between Wallace's North Carolina Tar Heels and Hamilton's Connecticut Huskies.

• Wallace: "UConn has to get there first. They've got the first (semifinal) game, and they've got to worry about 70,000 people wearing green and white (for Michigan State)."

• Hamilton: "In Detroit they are Michigan fans, not Michigan State fans. Get that right."

• Wallace: "Rip, how far is Lansing from downtown?"

• Hamilton: "It doesn't matter, everybody gets the same amount of tickets. You got to know that. Every team gets the same amount of tickets so it doesn't matter if they play in Michigan, Connecticut or South Florida. That's just the truth. I won one (NCAA title). You remember that. You didn't win one. I won one, I know what happens."

• Wallace: "Every time you bring that stuff up I try to tell you, if I went back for my junior year (like Hamilton did), I would have won one. But I had to move on to bigger and better things."

Bynum takes a Rip

Will Bynum has been playing so well that he has taken a regular spot in the rotation.

But let's not get carried away.

After the Pistons beat the 76ers on Sunday, I thought I heard Curry say the offense was going to run through Bynum late in the game.

He corrected me Tuesday.

"We don't want Will thinking he's going to be our go-to guy down the stretch now," Curry said, laughing.

No, the Pistons still will run their offense through Hamilton down the stretch, thank you. But that's not to say Bynum would run from the challenge.

"Oh, no, Will's got a lot of confidence," Hamilton said.

So much so that against the 76ers, he went to the free-throw line to shoot a technical. Hamilton immediately stepped in.

"I told him, 'Hold on now, no technicals," Hamilton said. "I shoot those."

chris.mccosky@detnews.com (313) 222-1489