--Going back to Minnesota will forever be an emotionally wrenching experience for Pistons coach Flip Saunders. It has little to do with him coaching the Timberwolves for 9 1/2 seasons.
Saunders witnessed the I35W Mississippi River Bridge collapse in Minneapolis on Aug. 1 and was lucky not to be on it when the tragedy occurred. Saunders was driving in the downtown area after a speaking engagement at Tubby Smith's basketball camp at the University of Minnesota. He and his oldest daughter Mindy, who was driving right behind him, would have been on the bridge at that time if not for a blocked ramp. They were detoured onto the adjacent 10th Avenue bridge. The 35W bridge collapse killed 13 people and injured approximately 100 others.
"You try not to think about that, but you do consider yourself lucky," he said. "As much as anything else, you think about people that went through that situation and the grief of the people that had (relatives or friends) that did die on the bridge."
Along with the basketball camp appearance, Saunders helped install an air conditioner at his daughter's on-campus apartment that afternoon. They were going to dinner on the other side of campus when the rush-hour collapse occurred.
"I don't have nightmares, but there's times when you definitely think about it," he said. "You wake up and think about it. There have been times when we've been on the road -- like for instance when we go to Portland, there's a lot of bridges in Portland -- where I've actually woken up or had a dream about a bridge in Portland collapsing.
"So, it's one of those things where it's never going to (go) away. When you see situations that might remind you of that, it kind of clicks in a little bit."
--The Pistons have beaten the Nets six consecutive times, including 118-95 and 101-83 blowouts this season when Jason Kidd was still playing there. Richard Hamilton is averaging 20.5 points against New Jersey this season.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "He still had some screwups tonight. Being an ex-point guard, I'm always going to be tough on him. But the biggest thing is he wasn't afraid to make plays down the stretch." -- Coach Flip Saunders on Rodney Stuckey's 27-point outing in Minnesota.
