Cheap Eats

Before the Pistons' successful close out in Indianapolis, the Freep ran a "Pistons are a close knit group story." Off the court mirroring the team concept on the court. Somehow, the Pistons have been pretty invisible in all the national playoff coverage, even though they are a real contrast to most of the teams in the round of 8 and now the round of 4. Anyway, there was a heartwarming paragraph about Carlos Arroyo, just emerged from the doghouse in game 5:

"Because he's frequently joined on road trips by his wife and family, Arroyo said he never headed out to dinner with the team -- although he knew the invitation was always there. But last Saturday in Indianapolis, Arroyo made an exception -- and he was glad he did.
He joined eight members of the team, including Billups and Tayshaun Prince, at the Cheesecake Factory. Arroyo said he spent the whole dinner laughing so hard that "I told them to stop."
Arroyo had such a good time that he picked up the check. "

http://www.freep.com/sports/pistons/pistonsoff19e_20050519.htm

So BrooklynDodger thinks, is this where 9 millionaires go when they are on the road? Cheesecake factory restaurants generally have a liquor license, which puts them above Big Boy, which also prides itself on dessert. Maybe 9 guys could get to $300 there? Hope Carlos left a tip when he grabbed the check.

http://www.thecheesecakefactory.com/menu.htm

So I checked out the reviews for the Indianapolis CF, which is in a mall somewhere:

truely a spectical
by Renz from Fort Wayne, IN
10/27/04
Overall:
The Cheesecake Factory in Indianapolis is awesome. The service, surroundings, and the food! Not to mention the astounding menu of cheesecake! It is truely an experience that everyone should take.

You have got to taste it and see it to believe it!!!
by Crystal Hacker from St. John, IN
09/30/04
Overall:
The surrondings were awesome the food even better! Definantly will visit there again when I am in the area.

Yahoo! User found the following review helpful:
LoViN IT
by Katie from Fishers, Indiana
04/11/05
I thought that this resturaunt was phenomenol! They had the best variety

[The Dodger will have to check out spelling on some other restaurant review sites; maybe Yahoo should put a spell checker into this site.]

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Anyway, the special positive about game 5 was that Larry Brown let Carlos Arroyo play for a while, he picked up 4 assists and some points, and he kept the Pacers' point guard out of the lane, something which Billups had not been doing so well. The latter was important, since the knock on Arroyo is defense, but Lindsay Hunter has been stinking up the offence. Not that you really need offence when Ben scores 19.

Anyway, Arroyo got to play again in game 6, he got 3 assists in about 8 minutes, at time when no one was particularly making shots. Game 6 saw both Reggie Miller and Jermaine O'Neill draining a bunch of well defended jump shots, which left the game hanging until the end. In the future, the Pistons will need Hamilton to hit shots in the first half.