Power for the Pistons

At the pro basketball draft two years ago, both the Detroit Pistons and the New York Knickerbockers had their hearts set on one man: Cazzie Russell, the 6-ft. 5 1/2-in. All America from Michigan. What's more, both teams had equal rights to him by virtue of their last-place tie in the National Basketball Association. So they flipped a $20 gold piece. The Knicks won Russell, and the Pistons settled for Syracuse's Dave Bing, 22, a college-ball hawk but a pretty small man at 6 ft. 3 in. to stand up against the giants in the N.B.A.

As of last week, Cazzie Russell was still trying to live up to his promise with the Knicks. And the Pistons' Dave Bing? Last year, in his first season, he averaged 20 points per game for a spiritless, last-place club and ran away with Rookie-of-the-Year honors. This year he leads the entire N.B.A. with 1,371 points in 50 games for a 27.4 average. Almost singlehanded he has pushed the Pistons into third place in the Eastern Division behind the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics.

Speed & Spring. Against Philadelphia and Wilt Chamberlain early in the season, Bing popped in 40 points to help the Pistons break a two-year, 16-game losing streak to the N.B.A. champions. Last month, on the night Bill Bradley was making his debut with the Knicks, Bing stole the show and the ballgame with 32 points. Last week, as the only second-year man chosen to start the N.B.A.'s All-Star game, which the East won 144-124, Bing contributed the gem of the evening. He stole a pass, drove in for a lay-up only to find his shot blocked; still in midair, he wrenched around, shifted the ball from his left to his right hand and sank it from a different angle.

That shot more or less typifies Bing's style. He is not a long-range shooter, lobbing them in from 20 to 25 ft. away. Piston Coach Donnie Butcher says that two or three other Piston players are more accurate shots. What Bing developed at Washington, D.C.'s Spin-garn High School and later at Syracuse, is the whippet-like speed and agility with which he slides past, spins around, or ducks under bigger, clumsier defenders, as he drives in for close-range lay-ups and hooks. He also has fantastic spring. When he uncoils and jumps, his hands reach twelve feet into the air, right up there with Chamberlain and Boston's Bill Russell. With such talents, Bing is inevitably in position for 25 to 30 shots per game--and though only 44% normally go in, he still leads the N.B.A. parade.

Stitches & Sponges. All the hot-rod-ding around in heavy traffic naturally has its perils. At last count, Bing has had 28 stitches taken in his face, and the fingers of his right hand have been jammed so often that he tapes a sponge above his knuckles for protection. But Detroit will keep him out there if they have to stick him together with Elmer's Glue-All. A couple of years ago, the Pistons occasionally had trouble luring 1,000 people into Cobo Arena to see them play. This year, attendance averages 7,500, and six times has topped the 10,000 mark. As Coach Butcher says: "We may not win it all, but we sure aren't going to be last any more."

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