SB Nation - Richard Hamilton

Woes Out West: Rockets 107, Pistons 96

Packey — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 07:24:34 -0000

More photos » by David J. Phillip - AP

I was seen making this same face throughout the course of the Pistons game on Tuesday vs. the Rockets. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

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Trips out west have not been kind to the Pistons. After the 11-point loss to the Rockets on Tuesday night, they have now dropped all five away games in the western** part of the country by a combined margin of 59 points. I guess they can't fit 'defense' in their carry on luggage. In four of the five losses, Detroit has allowed 100 or more points.

No matter what the Pistons packed for the trip, you have to give the Rockets credit for coming out guns a blazing in the first quarter, making nearly 70% of their shots and taking a 10-point lead into the second quarter. Luis Scola had 11 of their 29 first quarter points and they were all made with relative ease. He ended the game with a team-high 23 points on 10-16 shooting and eight rebounds.

For the rest of the game, the Rockets never cooled below the still scorching 55% mark shooting (when rounded up) and a lot of it had to do with their 28 team assists (27 points coming on the fast break) . Ten of those assists came from point guard, and Chris Rock look alike, Aaron Brooks. He had a terrific game, also finishing with 23 points.

Detroit's team line didn't look all that awful. They finished with 44 rebounds (the same as Houston), 26 assists, 96 total points, turned it over only nine times, and shot a decent 44%. Unfortunately, you can't win many games when you allow the other team to shoot an easy 55% and score 106 total points. It's science, which Houston has come to learn and love.

Richard Hamilton led the Pistons in scoring after a red-hot start. He finished with 21 points, but cooled off, shot only 10-22 from the field, and tweaked a hammy in the process. His status is uncertain for tomorrow night's game against the Hornets.

More after the jump.

**Yes, I realize Houston isn't really that far west. Just go with it, okay?
Tracy McGrady made a Richard Hamilton surprise return to the lineup, but did not start. He saw seven minutes, hit a three-pointer, and pulled down three rebounds. I'm sure that's encouraging for Rockets fans.
Rodney Stuckey returned to frustrating form after being named Player of the Week. He started the game 1-10, while ill-advisedly forcing shot after shot. He finished with 17 points on 7-24 shooting. I understand the shots will not fall every night, but Stuckey makes his own bed with his shot selection. A majority of his misses tonight were in traffic when he should have passed or never even embarked on an attempt. Disappointing game from the youngster, regardless of his promising month thus far.
Rookie Chase Budinger made the start in place of Trevor Ariza tonight for the Rockets. If you recall, Budinger was drafted by the Pistons in the 2nd round and then traded to the Rockets (nevermind what was agreed to behind closed doors). Budinger lit the Pistons up for 16 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. That's not nearly as disturbing as is his blindingly pale complexion. Someone needs to bring some sunlight into his life.
The Pistons falling behind big allowed fans to see nine quality minutes from Pistons rookie, DaJuan Summers. He knocked down a three and had a driving score in that time. He finished with six points and two rebounds.
Austin Daye also made the most of his minutes. He played 18 minutes, shot 5-8, and finished with 10 points. He also grabbed three rebounds and one block.
Box score
Highlights
The Hornets are 8-3 at home this season and Chris Paul is back and in tip-top game shape. Let's hope Detroit can improve upon their 1-5 record in the second games of back-to-backs.

Game 24 Preview: Houston Rockets vs. Detroit Pistons - 7:30PM CST

UofTOrange — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:06:04 -0000

More photos » by David J. Phillip - AP

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This is going to be quick and maybe sweet. I'll be at the game in section 405 tonight with my 3 year old and we plan to have a blast.

Point Guard
Aaron Brooks - Last preview I asked if he is a top 10 PG, I think it is pretty definitive that he is. He's slotted number 9 on my ballot. Can he pick it up even more with Ariza out? Will the Rockets even ask him to?
vs.
Rodney Stuckey - Good player, fun to watch and always plays hard when I see him. He's the future in Detroit, and while he's one of the few bright spots in that future, it's a good start.
Edge: Rockets

Shooting Guard
Shane Battier - It is hard to say anything more about Shane Battier, we are at the saturation point with his awesomeness. Now it's time for Shane to back all that talk up (not his talk obviously) and get his shooting percentages north of Rafer-esque.
vs.
Richard Hamilton - Came back last game from an injury and had a solid game. He's still a really good basketball player but doesn't seem the same without Chauncey Billups. I know he still regrets signing that extension.
Edge: Pistons

Small Forward
Chase Budinger - I can only assume that he's getting the start at small forward to keep Landry doing his work off the bench. Obviously that's open to interpretation. But the future NBA rookie of the year has played well all season and should get this reward.
vs.
Jonas Jerebko - I didn't even know he was an NBA player. What is going on? That's three teams in a row that I honestly didn't know a player. I mean, I vaguely remember him getting drafted in the second round, but that's it.
Edge: Rockets

Power Forward
Luis Scola - There are a few guys in the NBA that I just enjoy watching, and Scola is clearly in my top 5 on that list. He works hard every single possession and much like Battier, you have to work hard to truly quantify his value. I'd love to see him get his scoring up 3-5 points a game, but that's not really in the cards given how strong Landry is with the second team and how the offense runs with the first.
vs.
Jason Maxiell - I expected more of him since Pistons fans have been touting him about as much as Lakers fans tout Andrew Bynum. Instead his production has dropped off pretty much across the board, and it really didn't have a long way to fall.
Edge: Rockets

Center
Chuck Hayes - If you asked me, given how they are paid, and their production, I'd take Chuck 100 times out of 100 over Ben Wallace.
vs.
Ben Wallace - Never have I been a fan of Ben Wallace making more than 5-6MM a year. Not because he hasn't been a hard worker, but because he is an extremely limited player. His rebounding and defense are still strong, but not what they used to be. The only reason the Pistons get the edge is because he is a better rebounder than Hayes because of his size.
Edge: Pistons, but not by very much

Injuries/Suspensions
Houston Rockets
OUT - Trevor Ariza is suspended for tonight's game and Tracy McGrady is still serving his penance.
Detroit Pistons
DTD - Tayshaun Prince looks to be out for tonight's game and half of the team is nursing some ailment or other.

My Prediction: Rockets win by 4

No Rip in the Chemistry: Pistons 104, Warriors 95

Packey — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 13:00:17 -0000

More photos » by Allen Einstein - NBAE/Getty Images

This was a friendly face to see warming up before the Warriors game. (Photo by Allen Einstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

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Last night marked Richard Hamilton's first action since the opening game of the season. After 21 games without the Pistons scoring machine and hearing originally he was not expected to return this month, it was a pleasant surprise to read about an hour before tip-off that he would be suiting up and playing against the Warriors.

Once I got past the general excitement about having Rip back in the lineup (and that I'd get to see it live at The Palace), I wondered how it would affect the team as a unit. After all, the Pistons have been rolling lately, winning four in a row and averaging 98.5 points in those four games. While his return to the lineup was certainly welcome, it wasn't at the most convenient time.

Luckily, Rip slipped back into the lineup seamlessly and the Pistons didn't miss a beat en route to their fifth straight victory of the season (and commenter Madpoopz Openwindow noticed this mid-game, as well). In the Pistons victory, Hamilton played a little over 36 minutes, dropped 18 points on 6-15 shooting, and was the Pistons leader in plus/minus at plus-17.

Rip's return wasn't all peachy, though. He was visibly rusty to start the game, as his ball handling was shaky (three turnovers), some shots were way off the mark, and he even missed his first two free throws, despite boasting a career 85% mark. I guess that can be attributed to him not being involved in any competitive practices since before the injury.

Once he got accustomed to actually playing basketball again, the ol' Rip started to show up down the stretch. He began knocking down the shots he was missing early on and his three-pointer with a little less than five minutes remaining in the 4th to put the Pistons up five was arguably the turning point in how this one would end for Detroit. Golden State didn't get closer than five the rest of the game and Rip extended the lead to seven the next time down the floor for the Pistons.

The best news, aside from his return itself and the Pistons winning, was that his return did not seem to have any ripple effect on Rodney Stuckey. Stuckey, who has been playing great basketball over the past six games in the two spot, moved back to the one to accommodate Hamilton's return to shooting guard. Stuckey responded by playing the best game of his latest hot streak, scoring 29 points on 10-18 shooting, dishing out seven dimes, and being plus-11 when on the floor. His only flaws were the seven turnovers (a few which were not his fault). I know this was just one game, but it's getting more and more clear that he's simply improving and his rise in numbers during his starts at the two spot were merely coincidental. In October, Stuckey averaged just 15 points per game. He upped that to 18 PPG in November and is now pouring in nearly 23 PPG in December.

All in all, it was a great night for the Pistons. They saw the return of one of the franchise's all-time leading scorers (Rip hit the 10,000 point mark to join just six others in Pistons history) and the rest of the Pistons took it in stride. There is no refuting that this team is better with Hamilton playing. As Chauncey Billups said about his former team the other night, the Pistons are a team nobody will want to face in the playoffs given all their weapons. If you had fun watching last night's game, just wait until the Pistons get their other three players back.

More musings after the jump.

I wanted to work this in above the jump, but oh well. Richard Hamilton's wife deserves high fives from all Pistons fans, as she was the one who ultimately convinced Rip to say "Yessirrr, I'll play" to Coach Kuester before the game.

At shootaround (Saturday) I told (Kuester) I wouldn’t be able to go because it wasn’t feeling right," Hamilton said. "I went home and talked to my wife and the one thing she told me was pretty much, ‘Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Go out there play. Go out there and give it a try. You never know how you’re going to feel till you go out there and try to play.

(H/T Pistons Point)

Charlie Villanueva, the other masked man on the roster, had 24 points on 9-14 shooting and pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. He also threw down a sick one-handed alley oop, which he pimped gloriously.

Ben Wallace continues to be Ben Wallace. Nine rebounds, two blocks (one that put Stephen Curry to shame), and two steals. Try to imagine this team without him -- they wouldn't be very good. Interesting read over at Wages of Wins about just how bad the Pistons would be without him. (H/T to MLIVE)

Chucky continues to provide strong minutes, despite not having the prettiest lines in the box score (or shots in the games). He brings gritty defense and leadership that doesn't really translate to the post-game offerings. However, he did have six assists last night. I feel bad that he'll essentially be without a job once Bynum and Gordon return.

Austin Daye saw a little over 11 minutes of action. He was matched up with the 6'3" Stephen Curry for most of those minutes and I was hoping the Pistons would let him exploit the height advantage, as he did on his only bucket, but they didn't. Daye played Curry in college when my alma mater, Davidson, defeated Daye's Gonzaga squad in the first round of the 2008 NCAA tournament. I was happy Steph had 19 points tonight, but I obviously, can't root against my beloved Pistons. I'm glad Daye was on the right side of things tonight.

Pistons will now head out west again for three games before returning to The Palace to face the Lakers next Sunday. This isn't the same string of difficult games they faced following their three game win streak in November, but it might create problems all the same. Let's hope Detroit can pack the energy they've displayed lately in their carry on bags.

Apologies for not linking the opposition in the game thread. Golden State of Mind has their take on the game here.

Slightly off-topic: Thanks are in order to Madpoopz and Openwindow for keeping the game thread on life support last night. SB Nation's platform is great for commenting and mingling with fellow fans, as they pointed out last night. More fans will realize this soon, but thanks you two for being leaders in trying to get this community growing at a faster rate than any other new-ish blog.

Box score

Highlights:

Another Masked Man in D-Town

Packey — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:04:35 -0000

Dr. Neuman, you say that everybody wears a mask?

That's correct. We all wear masks, metaphorically speaking.

Charlie Villanueva will wear a mask on Wednesday, and not figuratively.

That's right. Charlie Villanueva is probably going to play on Wednesday and will play with the Bill Laimbeer, Richard Hamilton (and don't forget Antonio McDyess!) special.

Charlie Villanueva plans to play Wednesday night at Chicago, wearing the same type of protective mask popularized by teammate Rip Hamilton.

Here's the video of CV31 getting his face fitted for the rally mask:

Goodbye West Coast, But Pistons Schedule is Not Getting Any Easier

Packey — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:31:43 -0000

With a blow out loss to the Suns last night, the Pistons fell to 5-9 on the young season and ended their first of two extended west coast trips this season. The next not coming until February and against an onslaught of teams a lot less imposing than what the Pistons faced this past week (Sacramento, LA Clippers, Denver, and Golden State).

Even though the Pistons are no longer in the west coast's death grip, and are returning home for a three game home stand, the schedule doesn't get much easier over the next eight games:

vs. Cleveland (10-4)
vs. LA Clippers (5-9)

vs. Atlanta (11-3)

@ Chicago (6-6)

vs. Milwaukee (8-3)

vs. Washington (3-9)

@ Philadelphia (5-8)

vs. Denver (9-4)

That's a combined record of 57-46 they'll be facing from Wednesday until December 10th (and thank Washington for making it seem less intimidating). Five of those teams are playoff teams and half of them are in the top half of their respective conferences. At 5-9, Detroit can't afford to drop more than half of those games.

On the bright side, Detroit plays six of the eight at home. One of the road games is against Chicago and that will be Ben Gordon's triumphant return to the Windy City where he will show the Bulls organization what they are missing out on, hopefully. The other is in Philadelphia, who the Pistons have already beat this season at home.

The other positive about this stretch is that the Pistons don't play another back-to-back until December 9th and 10th. Through the first fourteen games of the season, Detroit played five back-to-back games, and they lost the second game of all of those. In fact, the last six games have all been apart of back-to-backs.

If all goes well, and Detroit can knock off a couple superior opponents at home, they could walk out of this next stretch with a 6-2 record. That would be ideal. However, it's probably not realistic to expect more than four wins, especially if Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince aren't back yet. Without those two, it might not be realistic to expect even four wins.

November has been brutal, for sure, but the Pistons are looking more like a team that is not going to have many 'gimme' games on their schedule, no matter how it's all lined up. They either play hard for 48 minutes, without the single quarter lapses, or they'll get beat. It's as simple as that.

The Pistons can do themselves a huge solid by defending their home court the rest of the way. And it starts on Wednesday against Cleveland, who embarrassed the Pistons at the Palace twice during last year's playoffs.

Game 13: Detroit Pistons @ Utah Jazz [Game Thread]

Packey — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 02:00:51 -0000

NBA Regular Season Game 13
	@
5-7 (2-5 away)		6-6 (3-2 home)
Energy Solutions Arena Jazz Blog: SLC Dunk
November 21, 2009 9:00 PM ET
TV: Fox Sports Detroit PLUS Radio: 950 WWJ
Probable starters:
Rodney Stuckey	PG	Deron Williams
Ben Gordon	SG	Ronnie Brewer
Jonas Jerebko	SF	Wesley Matthews
Charlie Villanueva	PF	Carlos Boozer
Ben Wallace	C	Kyrylo Fesenko

You know how the Pistons kind of own the Magic over their last 25 meetings? Well, that's kind of how the Jazz own the Pistons in the Salt Lake City.

The Jazz have beat the Pistons in 17 of their last 19 meetings in Utah and the Pistons have not won there since March of 2005.

Hopefully, the new-look Pistons can put an end to the misery that exists for the Pistons when they step foot in the state. Luckily for the Pistons, they won't have to deal with former Piston, Mehmet Okur, who could have provided plenty of match up problems for the 'stons. He will miss his third straight game due to flu-like symptoms.

Detroit, of course, will be without Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince again. They've made slight progress in their recoveries, but it does not appear that they will be back this month. Will Bynum sprained his ankle in LA, but played in Portland and is expected to play tonight.

Detroit needs to take advantage of their couple days off and hop on Utah early by playing to their strengths. And it seems they aren't at their best until they get three guards on the floor.

Utah is averaging around 20 three pointers per game, so the Pistons will have to be conscious of the kick-back passes from the post and contest the Jazz shots. The Pistons have done a good job keeping opponents field goal percentages low (and rank 4th in points against), but the Jazz are top half in scoring and shooting 36% from beyond the arc and capable of lighting up on any given night with Williams and Kirilenko.

This should be a highly competitive game because these Pistons aren't going to walk into the arena scared and they'll be more focused on trying to end their current three game skid than any futility vs. Utah in the past. And with Phoenix tomorrow (Detroit 0-4 on back-to-back's), Utah is their best bet of winning on this west coast trip.

Tip off is 9 PM EST.

Preview - Detroit Pistons @ Utah Jazz

Basketball John — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:17:06 -0000

Deeeeeeeetrooooooit Basketball hasn't been quite the same this year. They lost Rasheed Wallace and brought back Ben Wallace. They may or may not have been going after Boozer depending on who you talk to and instead signed Be Gordon. His signing effectively ended any pursuit of Boozer due to salary cap issues as Boozer was looking for more than what they had left.

They've also had their share of injuries to key players with Richard Hamilton being injured in the first game of the year. Tayshaun Prince has also been out.

They're pretty inconsistent when it comes to scoring. Having two of your better players out will do that for you. They're averaging around 92 points a game. They're inconsistent at best though. They rarely score around 92 points. It's either mid-eighties or around 100.

They allow an almost identical 92 points per game as well. Right now, they're middle of the pack defensively. They do hold opponents to pretty low fields goal percentages. Even their opponents scores are inconsistent. They either allow around 100 points or they're holding them to the low eighties. At least they're consistently inconsistent on both ends of the ball.

For the Jazz to win tonight, and they should, they need to get out to a fast start and put some pressure on Detroit to score. Right now, and even with Prince and Hamilton, they're not built to score a lot of points. So while the Jazz have had too many games where they build a huge lead only to give it up, the Detroit offense isn't going to be able to do that on most nights.

What they will do though is play good D and if they're close late in the game, they could pull out a win. The Jazz aren't going to be able to take a lot of jumpers tonight and expect to have a good chance to win. They're going to have to move the ball and get a lot of assists.

Let's hope the Jazz play their game and not play to the pace that the Pistons want them to. And look out for this guy

Game Thread coming at 6:45

Other blogs,

Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince Practice... Lightly

Packey — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:23:15 -0000

With the Pistons currently on a three game losing streak, fans are naturally looking to the return of Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince. And there is progress, albeit slight.

Via the Free Press:

Hamilton took shots for the first time since he sprained his ankle in the season opener. But he didn't run nor jump, so it doesn't appear that he's close to returning.

Prince took some shots and also did some light jogging but said he wasn’t ready for contact yet.

And shockingly, Prince's recovery seems further along than Hamilton's. It's surprising because some believed Prince was going to miss the season with the ruptured disc.

Either way, I don't think anybody expected Hamilton to be out a month, or more, when he came down awkwardly on O.J. Mayo's foot in the season opener (especially when the x-rays were announced as negative).

Also, Will Bynum sprained his ankle against the Lakers, but played sparingly against the Blazers and is expected to play verse the Jazz tonight.

Tayshaun Feeling A Lot Better; Travels with Team

Packey — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:37:52 -0000

News seems to be getting better regarding Tayshaun Prince's health and not worse (which would be that his back needs season ending surgery):

Via the Free Press:

Tayshaun Prince, nursing a ruptured disk in his lower back, made his first trip with the Pistons since the trip to Milwaukee for the third game of the season [...]

Prince did say he's feeling a lot better and made the trip mostly because he didn't want to do without strength and conditioning coach Arnie Kander for a week.

As you can imagine for the guy who played in 496 straight games, it has been very frustrating for Prince to miss games.

Meanwhile, Richard Hamilton does not appear to be improving as much. He also made the trip out West, but he will not play any of the four games. His "sprained ankle" was re-diagnosed as a "severely twisted right ankle" by the Detroit News, which I thought was appropriate seeing as he's missed more time than anyone originally expected.

Richard Hamilton Injury Update

Packey — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:30:26 -0000

Itching to see Richard Hamilton back in the lineup? Don't hold your breath.

From the Free Press:

Rip Hamilton (right ankle sprain) likely won't play this weekend against Washington or Dallas and could be out until the end of the Pistons' West Coast trip next week.

It's looking more and more like the Pistons will need a re-adjustment period when Hamilton comes back as opposed to seamlessly plugging him back in the lineup.

Are we going to see the minutes divvied up the same way they were in Memphis for the opener or have other guys earned more playing time during Hamilton's (and Prince's) absence that will create problems for Kuester? It's going to be interesting to see.