Pistons-Blazers Pregame

The Pistons travel to Portland tonight to face the Blazers. After getting crushed by the Lakers' starters, Detroit is looking to rebound and steal a win here for the first time since 2005.

If the Pistons want any shot at winning this game they are going to have to correct a few mistakes from last nights let down at the Staples Center. First and foremost is their turnovers.

Detroit commited 17 turnovers against the Lakers. A lot of those came off of trap pressure on the Pistons' guards. The Pistons were unable to find the open man when L.A. would turn to the trap, and the Lakers used it judiciously, at least in the second and third quarters.

The fourth quarter was a different story when Kuester decided to play huge ball with a line-up of Will Bynum, DaJuan Summers, Jonas Jerebko, Jason Maxiell, and Chris Wilcox. On the backs of Bynum and Maxiell this crew closed a 28 point deficit to six with plenty of time on the clock.

They were unable to make the final push though, and came up short when Phil Jackson was forced to bring back Kobe Bryant.

If Portland was paying attention last night they will probably trap whoever the Pistons have bring the ball up the court. This could cause some trouble for Rodney Stuckey and Will Bynum who have both had turnover problems as of late.

The Blazers have instituted a more guard heavy line-up this year, which puts Brandon Roy at the small forward position. This should work out well for the Pistons as they have been forced to utilize their own small ball line-up with the injuries to Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince.

If the Pistons hope to be able to compete on the offensive end, Charlie Villanueva will have to find his offense again. He only managed two points against the Lakers in 23 minutes. The fact that he only played 23 minutes is a little bit of good news in that he will be rested for tonights game, but two points isn't going to cut it when facing LaMarcus Aldridge.

Look for the Pistons to try and get the ball moving to avoid traps and set up their shooters, otherwise it will be another ugly game for Detroit.

Pistons-Lakers Pregame

Late game tonight for the Detroit Pistons at Los Angeles, with tipoff taking place at 10:30 est. The game marks the start of hell week for Detroit with two back-to-back road games against the Lakers and Portland, then Utah and Phoenix.

Tonights game will be a battle of hobbled teams with Detroit and L.A. hit by injuries. For the Pistons Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton will be out again, while the Lakers will be missing Pau Gasol and Luke Walton. Also Kobe Bryant will not be 100 percent with a groin injury.

With Gasol out I expect the Pistons to utilize their small ball line-up quite a bit. This is going to put Rodney Stuckey against Ron Artest and Ben Gordon on Bryant.

Ryan Pretzer has a nice profile of the Gordon-Bryant match-up which you can read here.

Pretzer notes that Gordon has struggled in the past when going against Bryant. Gordon also had his worst outing as a Piston in their last game, going 1-16 from the field. With Bryant injured and probably unable to play 40 minutes, Gordon might be able to exploit him more than usual.

Stuckey on Artest looks to be a bruising match-up on paper. Both are small for the three position but are considered beefy at their more natural guard positions.

Stuckey might look to defer to Gordon early to get him going. Eventually though, Stuckey is going to try and blow by Artest. Ron doesn't posses the speed to contain Stuckey anymore, so Rodney should find some success.

The Pistons are underdogs going up against the reigning champs but they stand a fighting chance to walk away  with a win. If Detroit's guards can all keep the ball moving and Gordon can match the output by Bryant then the Pistons should get a much needed win. Those are big ifs though.

Pistons-Wizards Pregame

The Detroit Pistons travel to Washington tonight to tango with the Wizards. Washington is coming off a five game losing streak, while the Pistons are on their first win streak of the season at two.

Last year the Pistons won 3-4 meetings, but this years teams are very different. The Pistons have eight new faces in the line-up and will be without Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince once again. The Wizards finally have a healthy Gilbert Arenas but might be without Antawn Jamison and Mike Miller.

Jamison has been battling a shoulder injury since October, but was set to return tonight when he came down with an illness and has been unable to practice this week. Miller also has been dealing with a shoulder injury but is more confident he can take the floor tonight.

Rodney Stuckey and Jonas Jerebko are going to have their hands full trying to contain Arenas and Caron Butler.

Stuckey should be able to cause a few turn-overs with Arenas still getting used to new coach Flip Saunders' offensive system. Maybe he can get more than a few as Arenas coughed the ball up 12 times last game.

Jerebko, who has had a trial by fire so far this season going up against Vince Carter, Hedo Turkoglu, and Gerald Wallace, will be tested again as he tries to stop Butler. The rookie has done a much better than expected job of filling Prince's shoes, especially on the defensive end. I expect to see Butler relying on his jump-shot, as Jerebko has the physical advantage in the post.

The bonus for this game is the possible battle of the shorties. Will Bynum and Earl Boykins both measure in at under six feet. Bynum is coming off a game where he posterized 7'1'' Tyson Chandler. If the two do end up going head-to-head expect Bynum to try and overpower Boykins.

The game starts at 7pm est. and will be on FSN Plus.

Detroit Pistons' Rodney Stuckey Under Fire Already

The Detroit Pistons are eight games into the season and already some are questioning the progress of point guard Rodney Stuckey.

Stuckey came into the league relatively under-the-radar from Eastern Washington. He made a splash at the end of his first season with the Pistons in the playoffs when Chauncey Billups when down with a pulled groin. That performance led Joe Dumars, Pistons President, to trade Billups for Allen Iverson and his expiring contract.

Since then Pistons fans have had high expectations for the young guard, and rightly so. Stuckey seems to posses every physical tool to be a perennial All-Star, but has not yet reached that pinnacle. Coach John Kuester recently made his feelings known about Stuckey, saying "(Stuckey) has a chance to be one of the best defensive guards I’ve ever been around because he’s so strong, he’s got size and he’s athletic."

Sean Deveney of Sporting News acknowledged in a recent article, that it's not the tools he lacks but the "team-running instinct" that is missing. Here's what Deveney ultimately sees as the problem with Stuckey and the Pistons line-up:

At 6-5, with outstanding athleticism, there are times when Stuckey looks like a top-notch point guard. He has the size and speed to get into the lane and the strength to finish once there. But he is not an instinctive passer, and if he doesn’t show some improvement in running the offense this year, the Pistons will have to wonder whether he should be moved to shooting guard.

That would create a huge problem—the Pistons just gave a five-year, $55 million contract to Ben Gordon and awarded Richard Hamilton a three-year, $34 million extension last November. In other words, Detroit has too much money in their shooting guards for Stuckey not to be a point guard.

This seems like this would be a reasonable concern, but there are a few reasons that his assertions are overblown.

The biggest reason that Deveney is wrong to raise these concerns now is simply that he is premature. Detroit has played eight regular season games, six of those games have came without Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince, not to mention that the entire team consists of eight new players. So not only is he extrapolating from a small sample size, he is basing his conjecture on a largely incomplete and new line-up.

With the injuries that have hit the Pistons early, Kuester has been forced to fill holes creatively. This means that Stuckey has spent an extended amount of time playing wing positions, which has eaten into his time running the point.

Looking at his stats it's easy to see how that might be the case with his rebounds going up and his assist per game going down. So far this season he is averaging 16 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game. Last year he put up 13.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 4.9 assists.

When Hamilton comes back, Stuckey's role will change again and his stats will most likely reflect that change.

Actually it might change sooner with Kuester gaining confidence in his Jonas Jerebko and Austin Daye to stay on the floor in crunch time.

In the game against Charlotte, Stuckey spent much more of his time running the offense and it showed. He racked up seven assists and did a great job finding people open.

Stuckey is showing signs of improving, it might not be turning up in the boxscore just yet, but his game is moving in the direction the Pistons want.

This brings me to my second point about Sean's fears, Stuckey does not need to be a "true" point guard for Detroit to succeed. The way that the Pistons are constructed a primary ball handler who sets the offense every play is not needed. Between Will Bynum, Ben Gordon, Stuckey, Prince, Daye, and even Hamilton, there is plenty of distribution skills on this team that makes the absence of an elite passer not a huge concern.

Detroit is a team based on versatility, with almost all of its players able to play multiple positions. The idea behind this is that it keeps opposing defenses guessing where they are going to be attacked from.

The real question here is whether or not Detroit can keep the ball moving and not rely so heavily on one-on-one basketball, and if the game against Charlotte is any indication it seems that Detroit might be making progress with a season high 26 assists.

On a side note here's a video of Bynum's dunk on Tyson Chandler... I just can't get enough of it:

Pistons Crush Bobcats Behind Villanueva's Third Quarter Explosion

The Detroit Pistons trounced the Charlotte Bobcats 98-75 in Wednesday's game. The win puts Detroit at .500 and tied for third in the Central division with Chicago.

Charlie Villanueva looked amazing in the third quarter. The Bobcats were slow to close out on him early in the quarter and he made them pay by hitting his perimeter shots. Once they started to venture out, to more heavily contest his shots, he began burning people off the dribble. On his own he outscored Charlotte in the third quarter, racking up 18 points on 8-10 shooting while the Bobcats only managed 12. He seems to have put his sluggish start far behind him, averaging 22.5 points in the last four games.

Another great sign for the Pistons is their assist total at a season high 26. They all seem to be getting more comfortable knowing were to find each other on the court, especially Ben Gordon and Villanueva. Gordon dumped the ball off to the tune of 8 assists. Many of those were to Charlie, including a nice no-looker to set up a long jumper. He also was the second highest scorer with 22 points on 10-16 shooting.

Rodney Stuckey had a solid all around game with 16 points, seven assists, and five rebounds. The young point guard looked very poised against Charlotte, finding open shooters and controlling the tempo.

Their are two reasons, I think, that have led to low assists totals for Stuckey. For one, coach Kuester has been playing Stuckey for extended minutes at the three with Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince out. This might have caused his assists totals to be low as he took on more of a wing role. Wednesday saw much less of the small ball line-up than in previous games, allowing Stuckey to take on more of a distributer role.

The second reason is that with Villanueva now shooting well and the Pistons offense starting to click, Stuckey doesn't have to constantly force up shots in search of points. More games will be needed to see a real pattern as eight games is still a small sample size.

Will Bynum had an electrifying night that goes beyond the box score of 16 points and four assists. His most memorable play of the night was a drive from the perimeter straight through Tyson Chandler for a huge slam dunk. For reference Bynum is barely six foot, if that, and Chandler is 7'1''. He had a second dunk as well on a breakaway to cap his night off.

The unsung hero of night would have to be big Ben Wallace. He didn't score a single point but had nine boards, three steals, and three blocks. Not to mention the countless deflections he caused. He has been playing extremely well early on for the Pistons, but Kuester is going to have to watch the 35 year olds minutes to keep him fresh late in the season.

The Pistons don't play again until Saturday at Washington. This will be the second meeting of Detroit and its former head coach Flip Saunders. The first meeting saw the Wizards go home with a close win of 101-98.

Pistons-Bobcats Pregame

Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince will be out again for the game tonight against the Charlotte Bobcats. Hamilton, who has a sprained ankle, has missed seven games so far and Prince, ruptured disc in lower back, has missed five. There is still no definitive date on the return of either.

Ben Gordon will start in place of Hamilton. Gordon has looked very good this season, averaging 24 points a game and shooting 47 percent. His matchup with Raja Bell will be key in this game. Bell is a very good defender and has had success against some marquee shooters like Kobe Bryant. If Gordon is getting making his shots tonight, the Bobcats will be in trouble.

Jonas Jerebko and Austin Daye will be filling Prince's spot, with Rodney Stuckey getting the left over small forward minutes. All three have shown the ability to defend small forwards, but Jerebko seems to have the best build to handle Charlotte's Gerald Wallace.

Pistons coach John Kuester will be having his first meeting with his former mentor Larry Brown. The two coached together in Philladelphia  and when Brown took the Pistons to their third championship in 2004. Both coaches share the same defense first philosophy, so look for the pace to be slow tempo with very aggressive defense being played by both teams.

First team to 90 points, if either team can get that high, will have a very good chance of walking away with a W.

Pistons Down Sixers after Rally in Fourth

     The Detroit Pistons held off the Philladelphia Seventy Sixers on Sunday 88-81. The performer of the game had to be Ben Wallace. Here's what Dana Gauruder of Nba.com had to say about Wallace in his article:

     Wallace scored just two points in the Pistons' 88-81 victory over Philadelphia on a Sunday afternoon but he showed his team how it could win without Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton. Wallace grabbed a season-high 16 rebounds, including nine of Detroit's 21 offensive boards.

     He also had three blocks and three steals and spearheaded a defensive effort that held the 76ers to 43.6 percent shooting and forced 16 turnovers. "He's amazing," said Pistons forward Charlie Villanueva, who scored 16 points. "He's 35 years old. I have something to look up to now. When I hit 35, hopefully I can do the things he does."

     The one thing that gave the Pistons a decided edge in this game was rebounding, especially on the offensive end. They out rebounded the Sixers 51-39, and on the offensive boards Detroit beat them 21-14. It seemed as if everyone was reeling in boards, even Will Bynum collected a career high of eight.

     Austin Daye and Jonas Jerebko again had play the small forward position by committee with Tayshaun Prince sidelined for an unknown amount of time. Keith Langlois at True Blue Pistons has a good assessment on their performance on Sunday:

     He didn’t get on the floor in the fourth quarter, but Jerebko did enough in the first three to further the Pistons’ confidence in their ability to stay afloat for however long Prince needs to heal from the ruptured disc discovered by a weekend MRI exam.

     Jerebko finished with 10 points and five boards in 22 minutes, but the biggest thing was the rock-solid defense he continues to play. This time he was going up against Philly’s immensely talented third-year forward, Thaddeus Young, holding him to just 10 points and six boards on 4 of 13 shooting.

     “You see him get those extra possessions, those are key offensive rebounds and put-backs,” Kuester said. “They can change the momentum of a basketball game.”

     Perhaps even more surprising is how well Daye has held up defensively. Daye finished with seven points, missing all four of his 3-point shots even though he had good looks and most of the shots looked good in flight.

     “I was teasing with Austin – he had about two or three looks, I hadn’t seen him miss that many times all preseason and into the season itself. He’s done a great job for us.

     “Both of those guys are not afraid to mix it up. You think Austin is going to get broken in half, but he’s mentally tough and physically he’ll take the challenge.”

     This was a good win for the Pistons but some things might seem better than they are. Detroit's frontcourt looked very good in this contest but they were competing against a Philly front court that isn't all that intimidating.

     Elton Brand has not been the same player in the Sixers' Princeton offense that he was with the Clippers. In his defense he has been injured for a large portion of his time in Philly. Even when healthy though Brand has not put up good numbers, averaging 11 points and 5.6 rebounds this year.

     Philly's other big man Samual Dalembert has never been an offensive powerhouse, but can defend the paint with good effectiveness. He only managed to play 14 minutes though, as the Sixers tried to play the smaller Marreese Speights.

     Let's see if the Pistons front court can manage to put together games close to this against the bigger and better equipped front courts of the Lakers, Boston, and Cleveland.

Tayshaun Prince Out Indefinetly

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- The Detroit Pistons announced today that Tayshaun Prince will be out of the line-up indefinitely due to a small rupture of a disc in his lower back. The injury was confirmed following an MRI exam and evaluation by team doctors conducted this week.


     Prince will continue to receive treatment for the injury and further updates on his status will be provided when appropriate. The 6-foot-9 forward has appeared in three games this season averaging 12.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 38.7 minutes per game. (Courtesy of NBA.com)

Detroit Pistons Fail to Overcome First Quarter Deficit at Orlando

     The Detroit Pistons fell again last night to the Orlando Magic, 110-103. The Magic came out firing on all cylinders in the first quarter, hitting their first five triples. They rode that hot streak to a 40 point quarter and a 17 point lead over Detroit.

     Dwight Howard managed to stay on the floor much longer than his 17 minute stint on Tuesday, playing 38 minutes before fouling out late in the fourth quarter. He was also much more productive with 22 points, 12 rebounds, and two blocks.

     Charlie Villanueva had his breakout performance as a Piston, scoring 28 points, 22 of which came in the fourth, on 11-17 shooting. He looked unstoppable in the fourth, making highly contested shots, and drawing fouls when he missed, even drawing the sixth foul on Howard. His effort in the fourth is what kept the Pistons within fighting distance of Orlando. Every game Villanueva seems to get more and more comfortable, which is an excellent sign for the Pistons going forward.

     Ben Gordon struggled shooting for most of the game, at one point going 2-11 from the field. He did start to turn things around in the third quarter but never really got on track. He did get to the line more than any other Piston at 11 attempts.

     Missed free throws really hurt the Pistons in this one with the team total at 23-37. Those are points that you just can't leave on the court against a team as good as Orlando.

     Jonas Jerebko and Austin Daye again shared the vacancy that has been left with Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton out. They both put in very promising games. Jerebko was active all night on the defensive end, getting in lanes for steals and causing headaches for Orlando shooters with two blocked shots.

     Daye had his best performance yet, with 11 points, five rebounds, one block, and one steal, in only 18 minutes. He showed poise taking shots when open and passing when covered. He flashed his great shooting touch draining a three as well as a long two. Most of his points though came in the first half in transition.

     Rodney Stuckey topped 20 points again but battled with foul trouble early, which kept him off the court longer than Kuester was probably happy with. He is still not getting the benefit of the doubt calls that stars get in the paint, only managing to get to the line once. For example on one play Stuckey took it to the paint and pulled up for a shot only to be swatted with both hands by Howard who clearly made contact with Rodney's arms. The longer he is in the league and the more he draws that contact, the more often calls will go his way.

     Chris Wilcox appears to be on a short leash after dismal performances in the past few games. He was only able to stay on the floor for nine minutes before racking up two quick fouls. It seems Kuester is more comfortable playing Jason Maxiell extended time, giving him 21 minutes which he turned into five points and four rebounds. He played most of those minutes at the center position alongside Jerebko at the four and Daye at the three.

     The last two games have seen the Pistons give up 40 points or more in a single quarter. If the Pistons hope to make the playoffs this year they are going to have to find a way to stay focused on the defensive end. This might get easier with the return of Hamilton and Prince to the starting line-up. They are expected to return for the Sunday matinée against Philadelphia.

Pistons-Magic Pre-game Part Deux

     Just three days ago the Detroit Pistons handed the Orlando Magic their first loss of the season. They look to hand them their second tonight.
    
     On Tuesday, the game turned into a defensive slug fest that saw Will Bynum leave the game in the second half after getting poked in the eye. He later returned to finish the clinic he started earlier in the game.

     In that game Orlando shot a season high 35 three point attempts and made only ten. I don't expect them to hoist that many tonight, but I will not be surprised if they manage to make more than ten triples.

     The Pistons are again going to be without Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince. That means Jonas Jerebko and Ben Gordon will get the start for the third game in a row. Gordon has played extremely well in place of Rip, averaging 26 points per game while playing upwards of 40 minutes a night.

     Jerebko his having himself a very nice showing for a rookie as well. His first two assignments were to guard Vince Carter and Hedo Turkoglu, not an easy task for even salty veterans. He did an exellent job on both of them, holding Carter to 15 points on 6-16 shooting and Turkoglu to 16 points on 5-11 shooting. Turkoglu also had seven boards and six assists, so he was able to still produce but nevertheless Jerebko has more than made his case for playing even when Prince comes back.

     Detroit was able to negate Orlando's big men by consistently getting their guards to draw fouls in the paint. Look for Detroit to try that again tonight, but also look for them to try and get more than six three point attempts.

     Pace shouldn't be to big of a factor to much in this game as both teams are rested and can play up-tempo run-and-gun or grind-it-out defensive basketball. I expect Detroit to try and keep the pace slower and emphasize defense again as they have been for the past few games. Orlando might be looking to try and push the ball up the court and take a lot of early threes, in an attempt to out score what might be an offensively thin Pistons team with two of its starters out.

     This should be another exciting match-up, with Orlando seeking revenge for what Dwight Howard has called "A Really Frustrating Night!!"

Detroit Pistons Fall Short Against Toronto Raptors

     The Detroit Pistons lost Wednesday night against the Toronto Raptors 110-99. It was the Pistons' second game in two nights, and it showed in the second quarter where they were outscored 44-28.

     The Raptors' Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani killed the Pistons on the offensive end, with a combined 47 points. Detroit could not seem to keep Bosh off the line, as he went 15-20.

     The Pistons three guard combo saw heavy action again, with Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton out. Will Bynum and Rodney Stuckey both had some upsides and downsides. Stuckey got into foul trouble early and only managed 13 points on 18 shots, but he did snag ten boards.

     Bynum showed some more of his sensational moves as he burned the Toronto defense on his way to the basket multiple times. His plus minus might be a concern though as the Pistons lowest at negative 14.

     Ben Gordon rounded out the trio with another superb game totaling 30 points, four assists, and shooting over 50 percent. He scored in multiple ways, draining a few threes, hitting runner after runner, and setting up other players.

     Charlie Villanueva had his best game of the year posting 16 points, seven rebounds, and one really nice block from behind on Bargnani. He seems to be getting better and better with each game which is really good news, now we just need to see some consistency out of him.

     All three rookies played, and two saw significant minutes. Austin Daye was given his most playing time yet at about 17 minutes and looked good. He did make a couple rookie mistakes early on with a three second violation and a walk under the basket. He had a good fourth though, with a coldblooded three early, as well as two blocks, one of which he didn't even have to leave his feet.

     Jonas Jerebko got the start again at small forward. He had a hard time when matched up against Bosh, but that is to be expected from a rookie. He did turn in a decent offensive performance scoring eight points on 3-3 shooting and managed two blocks. He also made his first three as a Piston in the final minute of the second quarter.

     There was even a DuJuan Summers sighting. He only saw 40 seconds of play at the end with the game far out of reach. I'm actually surprised we haven't seen more of him with the injuries that have hit the Pistons.

     The Pistons just didn't have enough left to give in the fourth and hit a wall with six minutes left. They were able to tie it at 93-93 but Toronto went on an 8-0 run and Detroit couldn't come back.

     On a side note Coach Kuester might just be a mad scientist with his line-up combinations. At one point he had the three guards, Jason Maxiell at power forward, and Austin Daye at center. This group actually managed to give the Pistons the lead right before the six minute wall.

     The Pistons head down to Orlando Friday, for a rematch against the Magic. The Magic are going to look to break their Pistons curse thats seen them go 0-4 in the last four meetings. Hamilton and Prince still might be inactive for the game.

Pistons-Raptors Pre-Game

     The Pistons are coming off of a solid win against the undefeated Orlando Magic. For Detroit's big men it's not going to be any easier tonight as they face Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani.

     The Toronto twin towers have been pouring in points for the Raptors so far this season, to the tune of 53 points per game. That's about half of their offense in two players. Look for them to try and continue that as they hope Dwight Howard and co. wore out Detroit's front line.

     The Pistons are going to be without Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton again, with Prince battling a lower back problem and Rip still nursing a sprained ankle. Rodney Stuckey, Ben Gordon, and Will Bynum have been picking up the slack with the two veterans out.

     Look for Gordon to try and get his three point shot going after glaring lack of attempts against the Magic. It also doesn't hurt that Toronto's perimeter defense has been very suspect, allowing over 40 percent shooting from beyond the arc.

     Another match-up to watch is Hedo Turkoglu and Jonas Jerebko. Jerebko did a good job defending Vince Carter, but he had a significant size advantage. He won't have that luxury tonight as Hedo measures in at a towering 6-10. Tukoglu is a crafty veteran and might make this an extremely tough game for Jerebko.

     Tempo is going to determine the outcome of this game. If Detroit can keep the pace slow and continue its defensive presence then they stand a good shot to come out with a win, but if Toronto starts to push the ball the Pistons might lose their legs in the second half.

Detroit-Orlando: Pistons Stun Magic

     The Detroit Pistons live inside the Orlando Magics head. This was very apparent in Detroit's 85-80 win on Tuesday night at the Palace, and no Piston deserves more credit for this win than Will Bynum.
  
     Bynum finished with 20 points, on 7-15 shooting, along with 3 rebounds. Bynum took a "Three Stooges" poke to the left eye from Marcin Gortat halfway through the fourth, which left him gripping his face as he was led to the trainers room.
  
     He wasn't gone long though, and made his presence felt immediately when he returned. He took the ball right at Dwight Howard, showing no fear or memory of what happened last time he drove to the paint. He missed the lay-up but drew the sixth foul on Howard.
  
      Bruised and battered, Bynum showed Detroit that rough and tumble basketball hasn't left with the changing faces. Even without Bynum's bloodshot eye this game was very physical.
  
     At one point Rodney Stuckey fouled Howard who came up gripping his right shoulder and had a few words to say to Stuckey. A few minutes later Bynum was driving to the hoop and Jameer Nelson all but tackled him to the ground, which left Bynum grabbing his shoulder. It's hard not to see that foul as retaliatory.

     Stuckey and Ben Gordon also had great games. Stuckey almost posted a double-double with 20 points and nine rebounds, while Gordon put down 23 points and was a perfect 11-11 from the line.

     Gordon had a little back and forth with JJ Redick during the third. Redick got called for a tech after complaining loudly about his foul on Gordon. This seemed to light a fire under Redick, leading him to show some nice ball handling skills as he created his own shot and drained a long deuce. That wasn't the end as Gordon came right back at him and drove him to the paint then proceeded to drop a high bank shot over Redick's outstretched arms.

     Charlie Villanueva seems to be acclimating slowly but is making progress. He scored 12 points and eight rebounds but did it on 3-11 shooting and missed both of his three point attempts. His improvement is going to be a big key to the success of this team.

     Kwame Brown and Ben Wallace did an excellent job keeping Howard and Gortat in check. This was a very welcome sight as the Pistons front court has allowed some very high numbers to opponents big men. Actually Orlando's centers only managed 12 points, 12 rebounds, and four blocks combined.

     This was the first of back to back games for the Pistons as they travel to Toronto to face the Raptors on Wednesday. They will again be without Richard Hamilton and possibly Tayshaun Prince.

Pistons-Magic Pre-game

Here's a pre-game interview with Scott Perry, Pistons Vice President of Basketball Operations.

He's right when he says our success depended on being able to handle D-Howitzer without having to revert to the double-team. Thats not going to be the case this year as Kuester has said it will be defense by committee. I expect to see big Ben and Kwame together tonight, which might come at the expense of Chris Wilcox and possibly Charlie V.

Expect Vince Carter to see heavy doses of Rodney Stuckey and Tayshaun Prince with Richard Hamilton sidelined because of a lingering ankle sprain.

Jameer Nelson also bears some watching as he can put up some points and has tons of options to dish off to. Little Ben will probably get the start again tonight, and for once he wont have to guard a taller player as Nelson measures in at six foot nothing.

If the Pistons can't find a way to break their third quarter slump this could turn ugly in the second half. It should be an exciting game, with some great dunk highlights at least.


UPDATE:    Tayshaun Prince is out for the game, replaced by Jonas Jerebko in the starting line-up. It's the first start for the rookie from Sweden.

What's Ailing the Detroit Pistons?

It’s now three games into the season and the Pistons are 1-2. This isn’t as bad as it sounds, as the two losses came when the Pistons leading scorer for the past seven seasons, Richard Hamilton, was riding the pine.

It does raise some concerns though, as the Pistons have gotten beaten pretty badly in the post. Keith Langlois’ latest article talks about just how badly Detroit’s big men have done offensively and collecting rebounds.

The things that stand out to me are between six of the front court players, they managed to only put up 30 points in three games. Yes that means Kwame Brown, Ben Wallace, Chris Wilcox, Jonas Jerebko, and Jason Maxiell put up a combined ten points per game. That won’t cut it in the NBA plain and simple.

Another thing that’s going to have to improve is the play of power forward Charlie Villanueva. He is having a very hard time finding his legs with the Pistons. So far he has only managed to average 9 points per game and 4 rebounds. That’s far short of the 17 and 8 they had hoped for him to average this season.

He started to turn things around towards the end of the game against Milwaukee, but he needs to show some consistency for the amount of money he was paid. It hasn’t seemed like he has been botching plays or things like that but rather his shot hasn’t been falling and Detroit as a team has been getting pushed around under the basket, well everyone except Wallace.  

With the bad there is some good. Ben Gordon has been doing well over the first three games, averaging 24 points a game and shooting 48 percent. To go with that him and Rodney Stuckey seem to be playing extremely well together, at least in the first half of games.  

Which brings us back to bad things the Pistons are doing again, thus completing the bad-good-bad sandwich that is Detroit’s season so far. The Pistons have played horribly in the third quarter in their last two games. Combined they have been outscored 30-60 in the third quarter.  

To be honest I can’t explain why the Pistons have come out so poorly after the halftime break the last two games, but it seems similar to the mysterious Sunday curse the Pistons experienced last season. Hopefully Coach Kuester can find a way to keep Detroit warmed up through the break.

One more thing to look forward to is the return of Hamilton. It is a very small sample size but the lone win for Detroit this season was with Hamilton healthy. That game Detroit's offense had good ball movement, and the four guards were able to cover up the deficiencies of their big men. It could be a while, as the latest news has him out for two more games.  

Against Orlando its going to be interesting to see how Brown and Wallace handle Dwight Howard. Unless they can muscle up and keep all the big men that the Magic have, and they have some good ones, they won't stand a chance. The past few years Detroit has been Orlando's Achilles heal, but this a much different team with much younger players.

Pistons Bucks Video Recap

Detroit-Milwaukee: Bucks Kick Pistons

            The Detroit Pistons dropped their second game in a row to the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, 96-85. Brandon Jennings, the Bucks first round pick this summer, torched the Pistons for 24 points. Hakim Warrick was also able to exploit the Pistons to the tune of 21 points, thanks in part to taking 15 free throws and sinking 10.

            Similar to the game against Oklahoma City, the Pistons came out strong in the first half, yet fell flat after the halftime break.

The Pistons hot start can be attributed to a combination of Ben Gordon and Rodney Stuckey.  By the six minute mark in the first quarter the two guards had combined to shoot 5-5, giving the Pistons a comfortable 17-7 lead.

            As well as the Pistons played in the first half, they could not bring themselves back to that level after the break. Most notably was Stuckey, whose game resembled something out of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Although he looked good during the second quarter, he had a really nice series where he drove to the basket hard and missed a lay-up but managed to grab his own rebound. He then powered toward the rim again this time drawing contact and sinking the shot. He also ran the point well, racking up six assists in the first half.

His second half performance left much to be desired. He got burned by Jennings throughout the third quarter, which could just be attributed to Jennings being a streaky shooter. His lack of points and inability to draw fouls in the second half is much more concerning.

            Gordon also had trouble drawing fouls. At one point in the third he became visibly upset after drawing a heavy amount of contact on a drive and not getting a whistle. Gordon wasn’t the only Piston who displayed frustration.

Charlie Villanueva was looking to get his season on track with a trip back to his former team but came up lame in the first three quarters. He started to turn it around in the fourth, hitting two quick threes to pull the Pistons within fighting distance.

            It was all for naught though, with the Pistons offense unable to pull itself out of its second half stagnation.

            Detroit travels back home for a Tuesday match-up against last years Eastern Conference champions the Orlando Magic. Look for Richard Hamilton to be back in the line-up.