SB Nation - Ben Wallace

Game 28: Detroit Pistons @ Charlotte Bobcats [Game Thread] Announcement

Packey — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:09:28 -0000

NBA Regular Season Game 28
	@
11-16 (3-11 away)		10-16 (9-4 home)
Time Warner Cable Arena Bobcats Blog: Rufus on Fire
December 22, 2009 7:00 PM ET
TV: Fox Sports Detroit Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Probable starters:
Chucky Atkins	PG	Raymond Felton
Rodney Stuckey	SG	Stephen Jackson
Jonas Jerebko	SF	Gerald Wallace
Jason Maxiell	PF	Boris Diaw
Ben Wallace	C	Tyson Chandler

Pistons are riding a four game losing streak into Charlotte where they have won six of their last nine. Unfortunately, I was at one of the losing efforts back in 2006 when I attended college in Charlotte. Let's hope Detroit does not make this season's road record any worse than it already is.

Detroit played Charlotte earlier this year in Detroit and whooped on their former coach, Larry Brown's team. Charlotte's a different team now than it was then, though. For one, they acquired Stephen Jackson from Golden State who has scored at least 22 points in six of his last nine games. He recently was injured (back spasms), but is expected to play tonight. Gerald Wallace (severe headache), who is playing much improved over the past seven games, is also supposed to play.

If only Detroit was so lucky with their injured gunners tonight. Ben Gordon and Richard Hamilton both participated lightly in drills on Monday, but Gordon is still considered questionable for tonight's game, while Hamilton is doubtful. Tayshaun Prince is also listed as doubtful.

Expect this game to be a slow paced, low scoring affair again. Charlotte and Detroit both rank amongst the best in opponents points per game and near the bottom in number of possessions per game. I think a key for Detroit here on out is to see at least a 20-spot in the assists column, as it seems it directly translates to their success (5-3 when they put up 20+ assists, and they should have won the Hornets game).

***Announcement***

And now for the big news I mentioned on Twitter earlier today. I won't draw out the suspense: Motown String Music is merging with Matt Watson and Detroit Bad Boys, which should be effective first thing tomorrow morning.

It was a difficult decision for me because I know I was just getting started at running my own community here, but ultimately, the goal was to have the best Pistons community on the 'net. Matt is a Pistons blogging legend, and I've long been a huge fan of his work, so when the opportunity arose to merge, I couldn't pass it up. Nothing will change on your part, other than the fact there will be more content for you to read, more commenters sharing their intelligent perspectives, and the name of the blog (with a killer new logo). Of course, I'll still be around giving you my take on things as the co-manager with Matt.

I'm going to keep Motown String Music's twitter account (with a slight alteration), so that my followers don't need to make any adjustments (you can also follow me @bpackey). You don't even have to change your bookmarks until you feel completely comfortable with the new look because we're having it automatically forward to Detroit Bad Boys. All prior content will still be here with the original content.

It's an exciting change that I've been looking forward to for a couple months. Don't get scared when you see the change, embrace it, and get ready to be a part of the best Pistons community on the interwebz.

UPDATE: Ben Gordon is on the active list. [H/T Pistons Nation]

Gameday Preview Charlotte Bobcats vs. Detroit Pistons

David Arnott — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:14:32 -0000

Pump Up Music: Third Eye Blind -- "Semi-Charmed Life"

The Big Picture: The Detroit Pistons have been doing something I love. They bring Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva off the bench, even though Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince have been out with injuries. Gordon has missed a few games due to injury, though, and both he and Hamilton are questionable for tonight's game.

But back to the lineup thing... John Kuester has completely flipped the energy unit idea on its head by starting those guys. By the end of the game, Villanueva is going to get starter's minutes, but by coming off the bench to start out, it deploys him in more valuable minutes. Think about it: As the clock ticks down, each second is slightly more valuable because there are that many fewer remaining in the game. The math is more complicated than that, of course, given the quarter breaks and the points situation, but, ultimately, I wouldn't be surprised if it's a more efficient rotation strategy to have the best players play their 36 minutes compressed into the final 42 rather than have them play those 36 spread over the whole 48.

Key to Victory: Don't get run down by the energy lineup that starts. Jason Maxiell has made a career out of outworking everyone on the boards, Jonas Jerebko is a fine swingman, another second round steal, Ben Wallace is trying to turn back time with everything he has, and so is Chucky Atkins. Against the Bobcats, though, and especially without Hamilton, expect the Pistons to unleash Will Bynum more than they have in recent games. He's torched Charlotte in the past.

For the Cats, it's a biggie: get Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson healthy again. If they're held out again tonight, that's okay, because it's best they come back healed for the rest of the season.

Detail That May Interest .08% of You: Jerebko has played the 5th most minutes of all rookies this season.

Game 25 Recap: Oklahoma City 109, Detroit 98

Zorgon — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 10:38:25 -0000

Ibaka: Yes, that ball IS mine!

We got to see Weezy once again, and successfully took care of the one easy game among this 7 game nightmare. I'd call that a good day at work.

But, it didn't start very well. Detroit's opening basket was made by our old comrade, Chucky Atkins. That eventually sparked them into a 14-6 lead, lead by Rodney Stuckey. Predictably, he had a great game, because the Thunder don't do well against good penetration. The Pistons got the lead all the way up to 10 points, as they lead 22-12 with 3:57 to go. But the Thunder responded strongly by recovering to get within 3 by the end of the quarter. Most of the points were made on penetration plays, but that's due in large part to the fact that Ben Wallace was out of the game.

The 2nd quarter was pretty even, as the Pistons managed to keep their lead until Jeff Green captured it from them with 6 seconds to go. In fact, he had 9 points in the last 3 minutes of the 2nd, largely accounting for our ability to take the lead.

From that point on, the Thunder only lost their lead once. The Pistons managed to tie it late in the 3rd, helped a lot by the fact that Ben Wallace was there to clog the lane again. The lead was only back up to 4 by the end of the 3rd. But, like a knight in shining armour, James Harden was there, making 7 points in the first two minutes of the 4th. After that, it was just a stagnant game of back and forth, with the Thunder running up the score at the end in order to make themselves look good.

As far as the analysis goes, there's really not much bad to find in this game. We had great shooting almost universally on our team, and those on the team who didn't shoot well made sure to take care of business at the line.

And, surprisingly....Jeff Green actually did a halfway decent job against some solid big men! Granted, he's undoubtedly played against Weezy many times, and Weezy is allergic to defense, but Jeff Green also had to fight through Jonas Jerebko, Jason Maxiell, and Charlie Villanueva. I know, they're not exactly the defensive all-stars, but they're all pretty legitimate, so it's definitely a step in the right direction.

As just one of that night's many festivities, Rumble decides to surprise a kid by giving him a....totally unusable model motorcycle? I'm as puzzled as you are. He can't ride it, and it's too big to store in his room. Hmmmm.... Still, a nice gesture.

It was also nice to see some of our old players again. I didn't hear many claps for them in the arena, but a few people seemed to remember Weezy quite well. He's since lost his braids, so he kept reminding me of Rasheed Wallace, which kind of freaked me out. But he met his old teammates and gave props to Rumble after the game, so you know he's a super cool dude. It's also nice to see him being semi-productive for once, getting 8 Points and 4 Rebounds in 18 Minutes of play. Chucky Atkins didn't do much but miss shots and commit fouls, going 1 of 5 and netting only 2 points in 22 minutes. But, he's in the twilight of his career now, and seeing as how he was guarded by Thabo Sefolosha, he didn't do terribly bad.

The Thunder Wonder....goes to Serge Ibaka. I know, he wasn't the best guy out there. There's just so many places in this game where you could say that x player saved us at this point or y player saved us at that point or z player helped us out through tough times. But Serge Ibaka has improved his game so much since the start of the season that I've got to give him this award at least once. I didn't even know if he'd be usable at the start of the season. Heck, I wouldn't have been surprised if he went back to Europe next year. But now, I realize that he's working his way into being an essential part of this team. A career-high 12 points and solid 5 rebounds in 22 minutes round out his fantastic night.

James Harden, furious at the ball, screams at it while telling it to "Get in there!" KD looks on, completely stunned.

The Thunder Down Under Award has to go to James Harden. I know, Kevin Durant had a great game, and Jeff Green helped us out of a jam towards the end of the first, but James Harden had an essential 7 points at the beginning of the fourth, and he has an insanely high plus/minus ratio (+19). He ended up with 14 Points, 3 Rebounds, and 8 Assists, which is the stat line that we all hope to see more often from this man.

The Thunder Blunder was, well....Shaun Livingston. I know he did an admirable job, but he's just about the only guy who put up a whole lot of zeros on this night. Hey, somebody has to win it! 2 Assists, 2 Blocks, and 2 Fouls in 20 Minutes recap his night.

Ben Wallace did help the Pistons out a lot defensively, but his defense didn't help a whole lot in the fourth. He did do a good job, and would get a Thunder Plunderer Down Under award if there was one, but the award has to go to Rodney Stuckey. The guy simply was the Pistons tonight. He's no Point Guard, and he's probably less valuable than Ben Gordon, Tayshaun Prince, Rip Hamilton and Ben Wallace. But through all of the injuries, he's been a nice shred of consistency for the Pistons. A season high 31 Points, 5 Rebounds, and 3 Assists in 37 minutes complete his superb outing.

Next Game: At the Rockets, Saturday, December 19th, 7PM CST

No Fight: Lakers 93, Pistons 81

Packey — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 07:16:57 -0000

More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP

Browse more photos »

About three weeks ago Lakers forward, Ron Artest came out and said that he wanted to fight Ben Wallace. He quickly retracted his comments and said that he'd like to fight him after they retire, in a ring, and just for show. There was no fight on Sunday night.

No fight at all.

The Pistons looked alive for maybe the first few minutes of the game, when they jumped out to a 9-4 lead, but were completely dominated the rest of the way by the defending champs. And to think it was the Lakers, not the Pistons, playing their last game of a five game road trip and arrived in Detroit around 5 AM Sunday morning due to the snow storms.

Aside from the Pistons being flat out inferior to the stacked Lakers team, their excessive turnovers played a major role in the way this one played out. Detroit turned the ball over 22 times in the game, seven of which came in the first quarter to help LA build a 31-19 lead after the first 12 minutes of play.

The Pistons' obligatory fourth quarter spurt (17-4 at one point) was enough to make the score look somewhat respectable in the end, but it was far from sufficient in digging the Pistons out of what was, at one time or another, a 21-point hole.

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 28 points. He also had five steals. Ron Artest had 14 points, nine assists, six steals, and five rebounds. The Pistons surprisingly shot better than the Lakers from the field (by 0.3%) and were led by Rodney Stuckey who finished with 16 points.

This is Detroit's fourth straight loss, their second losing streak of four or more games this season. They return to action on Tuesday in Charlotte vs. the Bobcats.

A few more thoughts after the jump:

Charlie V went without the mask and shot just 2-9 today, good for only six points.
Jonas Jerebko did all he could offensively, helping to carry the load with 15 points. In his post-game interview, while explaining the loss, he slipped and said, "shit happens." Better that then the 'Bad Santa' version of the quote. Either way, Fox Sports Detroit was quick to clip his interview short.
The nagging ankle injuries are really bringing out the worst in Will Bynum. He had yet another poor game (2-7 shooting), which included SEVEN turnovers. At this point he might be hurting the team more than helping it, so maybe he should just sit until he's 100% healthy.
Pau Gasol's middle name is Floppy. His acting on the court is a lot better than it is off the court, though.
Sadly, for the rep' of the Eastern Conference, the Pistons are still the 8th seed if the playoffs were to start right meow. For comparative purposes, Detroit would be 14th in the Western Conference. Yuck.
Box score
Highlights:

Game 25 Preview: Oklahoma City vs. Detroit

Zorgon — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:13:00 -0000

More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP

Kevin Durant won't get to shy away from Ben Gordon tonight, because he's injured! Instead, he'll have to deal with the ferocious Chucky Atkins.

Browse more photos »

This also counts as an open thread, so feel free to post your thoughts during the game here.

Time: 7 PM Central Standard Time

Place: The Ford Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

TV: Fox Sports Oklahoma, Fox Sports Detroit

Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1)

Enemy Blog(s): Motown String Music, Need 4 Sheed, Detroit 4 Lyfe

Backstory: Detroit is one of the league's enigmas. At times, they look like a quality team, able to put up wins against strong opponents like Orlando, Atlanta, and Denver. At other times, they drop a bunch of stinkers, losing to teams like Chicago or Toronto. Still, there is some reasoning for it, as Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, and Ben Gordon will all be gone tonight, and the Pistons have been battling injuries all season. Without those 3 players, I really can't see them beating us tonight, so I'm ready to throw out the celebration stuff.

And we all know the Thunder's story. They've been sliding because they've faced 3 of the leagues top 5 teams, and none of us want to see them slide below .500 and get into the muck of the West. Kevin Ollie is out through December, Kyle Weaver is out through March.

Matchups:

Center: Nenad Krstic vs. Ben Wallace

Last time, Nenad Krstic was able to break out for a decent game against the slow-footed Ben Wallace, and I don't expect this time to be any different.

Power Forward: Jeff Green vs. Jason Maxiell

When Jeff Green was faced Charlie Villanueva, he put up good numbers. But, this time, he'll have to face Jason Maxiell, and I think he'll have below-average numbers for yet another game.

Small Forward: Kevin Durant vs. Jonas Jerebko

That's right, Jonas Jerebko, a 2nd rounder the Pistons decided to use on the court. He strikes me as a European style forward, able to shoot and rebound, but not really able to get very gritty offensively or defensively. That being said, I've never seen him play, so I can only infer from the statistics. Still, Kevin Durant will undoubtedly have a better game, unless Jerebko is concealing a secret weapon that I know nothing about.

Shooting Guard: Thabo Sefolosha vs. Rodney Stuckey

Thabo normally closes out on scorers well, but last time, he had some trouble with Ben Gordon. And I have reason to believe that he'll have trouble guarding someone with the scoring style of Stuckey. So expect Stuckey to out do Sefolosha in every area of the stat sheet.

Point Guard: Russell Westbrook vs. Chucky Atkins

Yeah. Remember that ill-used guard we had last year? The one that was only good for shooting 3s? Well, he's starting for the Pistons now. Still, he is a decent scorer, so expect him to score around 10 while providing no defense whatsoever. This should open the way to a much better Russell Westbrook performance than last time.

Battle of the Benches:

Villanueva, Daye, Bynum, and Wilcox. Am I mistaken, or is that lineup far better than their starters? In any case, I'd say our benches are about even. We all have ample reserves for each position, and we're both missing a couple of guards.

Coaching and Intangibles:

Both teams have been on losing streaks, and both are well rested. I'll have to give it to the Thunder, because they're at home.

Bottom Line:

There is absolutely no reason we should lose this game. The Pistons are without their 3 best players, and they have to resort to secondary scorers and some of the Thunder's scrubs from last year in order to survive. We have the advantage at virtually every position. Let me say it again....we better not lose this game.

Prediction: Oklahoma City 95, Detroit 88

How do you think the game will go? Vote in the Poll!

And, again, feel free to drop any comments you might have during, before, or after the game below. I'll be in the Ford Center cheering the team on, but I'll be back to write a recap later tonight. Go Thunder!

Poll

Who's going to win tonight?

Assessing the Hornets Loss a Little Late

Packey — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 13:00:23 -0000

Surely, by now you've already read what went down two nights ago. The Pistons scored 55 first half points (28 in the first and 27 in the second) and only scored 32 points in the second half. They led by 13 at the half and were winning by as many as 14-points in the third quarter. Yet somehow they found a way to lose by eight in the end.

So how did it happen?

We can cop out and say that the Pistons simply wore down, which I guess, could have definitely beeen the case. The Pistons have three major players out with injuries (a problem all season) and were playing the second game of a back-to-back on the road. However, I'm not willing to go through an entire season letting them get off the hook on the "injury bug" and "tired (because of the injuries)" excuses when they've proven before that it's not crippling them as much as one might think it should or would. For instance, take a look at that Denver game a week ago. It was the second game of a back-to-back against a Western Conference powerhouse, minus four of the better players on the roster. The Pistons controlled that game and won. This was the same Pistons team that played that night -- plus Will Bynum.

What stood out to me Wednesday was the Pistons lack of ball movement in the fourth quarter. At the three minute mark in the third quarter, Detroit had a remarkable 21 assists. They were well on their way to 28-30 assists, which is unheard of territory for the Pistons this season. Want to know how many assists the Pistons finished with? 22. The Pistons had just six second half assists compared to the (doing the math in my head, uh) 16 assists in the first half. If that's not a glaring statistic, I don't know what is.

And then there is the play of Rodney Stuckey. It has become increasingly clear that the Pistons go as Stuckey goes. When he puts up a solid game shooting and doesn't need roughly 20+ shots to do it, the Pistons tend to do well (Pistons are 7-2 when he shoots 50% or higher on less than 20 attempts from the field. They are 2-5 when he shoots 20+ times at all). It's not some groundbreaking discovery that the Pistons have a better chance of winning when their starting guard plays well. However, critiquing his play continuously resurfaces because he, time and time again, resorts to the style of play that makes him play poorly and in turn, hurts the Pistons.

On Wednesday night, Stuckey took nine shots in the fourth quarter alone (he made three of those). In the final minutes, he forced three (missed) shots and had a bad turnover that led to a Hornets basket, which gave them a four point lead. This isn't a box score statistic, but I cringed all three times Stuckey went up with those final shot attempts.

In Stuckey's defense, the rest of the Pistons weren't really helping. The only source of offense was Charlie Villanueva, and he missed all of his shot attempts (four) in the fourth quarter (which was a double whammy because David West was still scoring on him on the other side). Even if Stuckey was feeling the pressure of needing to carry the offensive load, I still would like to see less painfully obvious, forced shots from him and more dishes after the initial penetration.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the Pistons were presented with serious match up problems the past two games in Luis Scola and David West. Take this bit from Patrick Hayes at MLIVE:

The frontcourt defense is broken. The simple answer is to put Ben Wallace on the opposing team's best big every game, which works great against back-to-the-basket players like Dwight Howard.

Having Ben guard players like West and Scola, however, pulls him out of the paint, takes away the shot-blocking threat and allows guys like Aaron Brooks and Chris Paul to get into the lane at will.

Patrick goes on to add that the "opposing PFs/Cs have shot a combined 42-for-65 (65 percent) against Detroit over the last two games," which has a lot to do with the opposing guards getting into the lane at will and creating easy baskets for their bigs. Scola and West combined for 55 points, more than Villanueva/Wallace combined for in both games (I used CV because he's playing the starter minutes).

The Pistons will finish off this three game road trip with the Thunder before going home to face Kobe Bryant and the Lakers on Sunday. Let's hope we see a steady game this time around and end the road woes. It would certainly help to get some guys back from injuries, but ultimately, this team is capable of winning regardless.

A few thoughts after the jump.

A large chunk of the assists (nine) came from Will Bynum on Wednesday. There's no denying his individual points production is sorely missed, so let's hope those new shoes are starting to feel comfortable.
After seeing what Jonas Jerebko is capable of putting up on offense, it's too bad he only scored six points (on 3-3 shooting) when the Pistons needed someone other than Stuckey & Villanueva to step up. J.J. was also a team-worse negative-16 (by six points), so it could have helped that number, too.
Chris Paul is pretty amazing and fun to watch. Blaha was comparing him to Isiah Thomas during the broadcast, and I couldn't help but feel the same way. He scored 16 points on just nine shots and had 12 assists in what was looking like an off game at the half.
Emeka Okafor is a guy I'd love to see in a Pistons uniform. In my four years of college near Charlotte, North Carolina I saw a lot of his games with the Bobcats and grew to be a big fan of his. He finished with 15 points and eight rebounds.
Austin Daye is earning himself more and more minutes. He saw 25 on Wednesday and scored nine points on 3-8 shooting. He was 2-5 from downtown and had three rebounds, as well. I've said this before, but I wouldn't mind seeing him get more looks.
As it hurt the Hornets in the first half, turnovers played a big role in Detroit's second half collapse, too. They had 16 and a few of them came at crucial points in the fourth quarter.
Highlights:
I apologize for not getting a proper recap up in a more timely fashion. I didn't think I would have been able to post a productive recap on Wednesday night and unexpected things came up on Thursday to prevent me from weighing in. If it's any consolation, I'm pretty sure that's the first time since I've started this blog that I haven't had a (legit) recap posted within 12 hours of the game ending.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on what you think went wrong on Wednesday or what the Pistons need to do differently on Friday. One thing is for sure -- freaking win !

NBA Eastern Conference: Taking Stock

tenaciousT — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:04:32 -0000

NBA –arama

After making my preseason predictions, I said I'd check how things were going from time to time. It's time. Let's take a look around the east, see what’s going on, and fess up to a few big misses. A number of predictions are on target...so far. Preseason predictions are in parentheses followed by current record

Atlantic Division

Boston Celtics (63-19) - 20-4
Thought they were going gently into their assisted living facilities, eh? Tut tut, my skeptical friends. The ‘assisted living’ comes courtesy of one Rajon Rondo, point guard extraordinaire. Rondo plays one gear higher than the rest of his starting unit.

11 game win streak says they are rounding into shape after starting strong, stumbling, then slowly righting the ship. The only major surprise was/is the lack of 48 minute intensity, and rebounding woes. They still look like one of the best teams in the NBA to challenge the Lakers. Back with a vengeance? They are back. Vengeance comes later.

Toronto (35-47) - 11-17
International crisis or communication breakdown?
Some expected more, but they are about where I expected and for the same reason – defense. Bargnani is part of the dilemma. He is a skilled big, but not an interior presence. With a domestic vs. international player rift surfacing recently, the Raps played their best defensive game of the season afterwards. Hedo’s not fitting in like they hoped…yet.

Jose Calderon has disappointed so far in what was supposed to be his big year. The rebuilt roster should be better later in the season, but aren’t built for prolonged defense. They are giving up 103.5 over their last 5 games, which 5 points better than before.

New York (31-51) - 8-16
After a 3-14 start, the ‘D’Antonies’ are 5-2 in their last 7 games. Another team without interior defense. They looked under every rock for a bona fide PG but the right one – the draft. Biggest current embarrassment is choosing Jordan Hill over Brandon Jennings in the draft. This was going to be a learning year anyway, right? Ty Lawson, Darren Collison, Eric Maynor, Jeff Teague were also still out there. Any of those better than Chris Duhon? Maybe some are already.

D’Antoni, frankly, has disappointed as well. I’ll confess, I thought Darko Milicic was a good risk for a team starved for bigs that block shots and play defense. Go figure. Jordan Hill may end up being a good player some day, too. Winning started by benching Nate Robinson. Coincidence? Sharp shooter Gallinari continues to impress, adds some board work.

76ers (41-41) – 6-19
Okay, this is one that’s not going as I thought it would. Oye.
Injuries are only part of the problem. Is Brand a lesser player now? Or is he just on the wrong team? Maybe it’s all bad karma for Elton leaving a good situation in Clipperland. (Yes, I did just say that.) Louis Williams (injured), Marreese Speights, and Thaddeus Young give hope for the future. It’s so bad that Iverson is back. Yeah, I know.

New Jersey (26-56) – 2-24
Say no more. Accident on the Jersey Turnpike. Tie up for miles, but not for years. No, they are not this bad. Bad luck continues with Yi Jianlian getting 50 stitches (yes 50) in his mouth courtesy of a Sean Williams elbow in a recent practice. The sooner this team can exit the swamp the better. Still, Brook Lopez will become an even better player if this season doesn’t kill him first. Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, Chris Douglas-Roberts are all good young talent.

Central Division

Cleveland (58-24) – 19-7
They are much better after starting 0-2 and 3-3. Not dominating like last season, but still a force. Shaq shooting a career low 49%, though they are now winning with him. Most lopsided team scoring distribution I have ever seen for a top team. Only three players in double digits and one of them is Shaq at 10.8 per.

Second best FG% defense and 4th best points allowed means they are still dangerous and in the hunt. Though Shaq is mostly a sideways or backwards move, if they get to the finals he helps against Lakers’ frontline. Shaq can’t slow down an already very slow team…can he? I feared this team more last year. Stop LeBron and you stop the Cavs. Am I wrong?

Stat of note: Cavs lead league in points in paint defense (34.1)

Milwaukee (35-47) – 11-12
Early season surprise coming back to earth lately. Many thought I had them too high. But Skiles always seems to get players to overachieve for a few years, until his tough guy ways get tired. Brandon Jennings makes a big splash with 55 point game but is tailing off since then. Still, he is the real deal and will figure things out.

Bucks are first in shot attempts and dead last in free throw attempts, which pretty much goes hand in hand. No one on this team gets to the line, except Jennings and Hakim Warrick.

Side Note: Toronto is known as the international team. But even they can’t compete with Milwaukee. Current starters are from 5 different countries: Turkey, Argentina, Australia, Cameroon, and U.S. Positively cosmopolitan for a city Shlitz beer made famous.

Detroit (36-46) - 11-14
I guess they are a bit better than I thought. Will this last? Even with key players injured, they put together a recent 5 game winning streak. They are still working a new system with a new coach. Loss of Tayshaun Prince hurts, Gordon is playing hurt, and Rip Hamilton is still in and out.

Still, the biggest surprise is the renaissance of "I’m retiring" Ben Wallace. Back up to 30 minutes and 10 rebounds a game, he can still defend, too. Detroit is 2nd best in points in paint defense. Can he do it all year and where is his help?

Pistons have the 3rd best total rebounding and 3rd best offensive rebounding differential in the league. Rodney Stuckey’s career year (19.3 pts) is offset by lower shooting %. He should stop taking three pointers altogether (21.4%)

Indiana (30-52) – 9-14
Danny Granger’s team is without Danny Granger for a while. With mediocre stats everywhere, just what do they do better than most NBA teams? Foul. They are 3rd in league with 2.2 foul differential.

Mike Dunleavy returns to a system that uses him to his best advantage and not a minute too soon. If the Pacers win 36 games, and that’s possible, that means O’Brien would have coached three straight 36-46 records here. Hey I have to find something interesting, don’t I? T.J. Ford is underwhelming again.

How are they doing attracting more fans? The past three years they went from 30th to 28th to 27th this season in attendance. They are a team with more integrity, but a few more wins wouldn’t hurt, would it?

Chicago (41-41) - 8-15 No one expected this meltdown. The loss of Ben Gordon’s 4th quarter points, Tyrus Thomas’ injury, Kirk Hinrich playing hurt, John Salmons’ underachieving season are all contributors, but all are secondary to Derrick Rose’s lack of noticeable improvement.

The chant for Vinny Del Negro’s head grows louder and I’m not against it. But I’d ask…who hired a rookie head coach for this team in the first place? That is where the blame should lie. Del Negro did reasonably well last season, but the wheels are falling off the wagon now.

Deng is playing well and Joakim Noah is continuing his rise up the food chain, but it’s nowhere near enough. I am fast becoming a Joakim Noah fan. Plays with passion, toughness, and heart.

Southeast Division

Orlando (60-22) -19-6
Fools go where wise men fear to tread – the paint against the Magic. They are crazy deep and probably Boston’s biggest problem in the East. Jameer Nelson returns soon and that’s not good news for opponents. Right now they are better offensively (5th rated) but worse defensively (9th rated) than last season, while giving up 2.2 more points.

This is a great situation for Vince Carter, who is playing 5 minutes less, but leads the team in scoring (19), while still hoisting up 17 shots per and will be a solid 4th quarter option for the Magic.

D. Howard is getting one less block a game, but shooting a career high in FG% (63.4%) While they probably over paid a bit for Mickael Pietrus ($5.3 mil), he continues to be a valuable piece to this team. Ryan Andersen has quietly been a nice addition. Marcin Gortat – the unhappy multi-millionaire.

Atlanta (48-34) - 18-6
This team is playing even better than I thought….and I thought this would be a good team. Woodson said the next thing is to learn how to win on the road. The Hawks are 7-4 so far this season and that is a huge step forward. Three of those road wins were against very tough home teams - Dallas, Boston and Portland.

For a team that could lose their leader (Joe Johnson) and their coach next season, they are moving from pretender to contender. Their youthful exuberance could make up for whatever they are missing. Al Horford and Josh Smith are unique young players and Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson provide the veteran leadership. They are pasting the lesser teams and are 3rd in the league in average winning margin at +8.4 points. Just behind the Celtics and Lakers. Hmm…

Miami (38-44) – 12-11
Dwayne Wade is to this team what LeBron is to the Cavs. Probably more so. Jermaine O’Neal is actually playing pretty well, but is a shell of his earlier self. We knew going in that the Heat go as Wade goes. Michael Beasley is improving and Haslem is solid.

They stretched the Lakers to a (lucky) Kobe Bryant banked buzzer beating 3 pointer over Wade’s outstretched hand. That probably defines their season as well as anything. With $50 million coming off the books in 2010, this team (hopefully) gets a complete rebuild. With a player option for $17 million, whether Wade stays or not remains to be seen.

Charlotte (33-49) - 10-14
Solid defensive team (2nd in points allowed) that has trouble scoring (27th). Deliberate offense (pace: 28th in NBA) helps keep opponents’ numbers down. 5-5 over the last ten, they added controversial, but multi-talented Stephen Jackson. It gives the team a focal point (and… gulp…leader) Larry Brown has great experience handling prima donna players and Raymond Felton is playing better since Jackson’s arrival.

Gerald Wallace, the last original Bobcat, was plucked from deep on Sacramento’s bench. Time to test him for HRH (Human Rebound Hormone). He has gone crazy boarding, up from 7.8 last season to 12.2 this year. I’d like to know the last time an established player made that kind of jump. He continues to ply his game for a team going nowhere.

Talented DJ Augustine has perplexingly gone backwards this season. Tyson Chandler, who could have been an earlier version of Joakim Noah, is showing how much Chris Paul helped his game.

But we forget just how bad this team was before Larry Brown arrived.

Washington (41-41) - 7-16
In preseason I wrote…. "everyone’s favorite ‘move up’ team." What I didn’t write was that it would take some doing to keep all these scorers happy with shots and minutes. Unfortunately, that appears to be the case. And things aren’t getting better. They are on a 6 game losing streak as I write this.

I never saw a happier, more hopeful team in the losers’ locker room than the one that ended its season against the Celtics last year. They all knew a much better year was coming. They had their version of a big three returning. But ubuntu doesn’t live here. Tragic because there is a lot of talent here. Flip Saunders has to sort this out, but I’m not sure where he starts.

I’ll end by (again) making my pitch for an unsung role player buried on the Wizards bench. Dominic McGuire would make a great (and cheap) Celtic.

There you have it. I apparently thought way too much of the Sixers. Comments welcome on all teams.

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:

Injuries, What Injuries? Pistons 101, Nuggets 99

Packey — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 07:09:12 -0000

Entering tonight's game the cards were not stacked in Detroit's favor (unless you believe in curses). The Pistons were missing not one, not two, but four of their better players (Hamilton, Prince, Gordon, and Bynum) and playing the second game of a back-to-back against one of the best teams in the Western Conference (0-5 in back-to-backs entering the game).

So it's realistic that Denver was overlooking Detroit and looking forward to returning home after a four game road trip. Charlie Villanueva thought so:

(Denver was) on the last game of the road trip. They might take us a little bit lightly, seeing all the guys out. But in this room, the guys believed we could win this game.

Pistons fans better believe it, too. We are 22 games into the season and despite all the injuries, falling behind (and sometimes big) in games, and having all odds against them, the Pistons continuously put forth 100% effort and scratch it out until the very end. Thursday night against the Nuggets was no different, and incidentally it also resulted in a hard-earned victory.

In addition to the injuries and any burnout from finishing a game less than 24 hours ago, Detroit also had to overcome a superstar performance from Carmelo Anthony. Anthony was essentially unstoppable tonight, dropping 40 points on 16-28 shooting.

Which makes one wonder why the Nuggets decided to give their final shot to tie the game, or win it with a three, in the hands of former Pistons guard, Chauncey Billups. Perhaps George Karl thought it was fate for Chauncey to come up big against the team, and in building, where he was coined as Mr. Big Shot. That's a noble thought, but 'Melo is one of the best clutch shooters in the NBA and just put up a career game. Why not let him finish it out right? Thanks, Coach Karl.

Big ups are also in order for Big Ben Wallace. He is averaging nearly 13 rebounds in the last seven games and without him tonight, the Pistons lose (by double-digits). He grabbed 16 rebounds tonight, six of those coming on the offensive glass. None were bigger than the tip in he had after an ill-advised Chucky Atkins shot around the two minute mark to put the Pistons up 99-96. He also had three steals, one which came with a minute remaining and led to a Stuckey layup to put the Pistons up 101-98.

More than those two huge plays and what the box score can tell you, he forced 'Melo to miss (when he did) a few times and created many other problems for the Nuggets that led to other Pistons collecting steals and/or rebounds.

Big Ben embodied Pistons basketball for all those years back around the time they won the championship, and he's doing it again. It's not really sexy to say a guy who has 16 rebounds to go with an ugly offensive game is our MVP, but then again, neither is the Pistons style of play, nor was this win.

Rodney Stuckey had his sixth quality game in a row, dating back to when he made his first start at the two spot. Tonight, he finished 7-14 from the field (11-15 from the line), which was good for 25 points. This was the first game of the season he did not have a single rebound. Charlie Villanueva added 27 points off the bench and had a team-high five assists.

More thoughts after you click.

Pistons are on a four game winning streak.
Denver has not won at The Palace since 1995. I didn't mean to dismiss that streak in the first paragraph, but I felt the way the Pistons continue to play was the bigger story. Denver Stiffs has an entertaining recap of what they think is a curse at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Being a die-hard Lions fan, I think I believe in curses.
Nuggets had a chance to gain momentum and possibly start to pull away when J.R. Smith had a wide open break to the basket. He tried to create a highlight reel double-clutch dunk and he missed! The Pistons then hit a three to tie the game on the ensuing possession. I think Ben Wallace was the game changer, but this was as close to a game changer as they come.
Harping some more on this team's hustle, it almost makes you forget that there are guys injured. While I'm watching the Pistons grind it out, I'm so encapsulated by what's going on, these Pistons don't give a fan much time to remember that they are missing key players. It's fun to watch, to say the least.
Austin Daye gave a solid 22 minutes of action, hitting three big shots (7 points). I sound like a broken record, but I love his shot.
DaJuan Summers hit a big time three pointer after a nice across court pass from Rodney Stuckey that gave the Pistons an eight point lead with 9:30 left in the 4th quarter.
Jonas Jerebko finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. Hustled, like woah, and turned in another noteworthy game. His night included this and-one, which was Number 6 on Sportscenter's Top 10 plays ("count that baby and a foul!"):
The Pistons got to the line 41 times and took advantage of it by knocking down 35 of them.
Chris Wilcox was the only healthy DNP.
Highlights courtesy of NBA.com:
Box Score
Quotes
Pistons return to action on Saturday against the Golden State Warriors. I'll be in attendance, let me know if you will be, too.

SB Nation - Ben Wallace

Game 28: Detroit Pistons @ Charlotte Bobcats [Game Thread] ***Announcement***

Gameday Preview Charlotte Bobcats vs. Detroit Pistons

Game 25 Recap: Oklahoma City 109, Detroit 98

No Fight: Lakers 93, Pistons 81

Game 25 Preview: Oklahoma City vs. Detroit

Who's going to win tonight?

Assessing the Hornets Loss a Little Late

NBA Eastern Conference: Taking Stock

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

No Rip in the Chemistry: Pistons 104, Warriors 95

Injuries, What Injuries? Pistons 101, Nuggets 99

Game 28: Detroit Pistons @ Charlotte Bobcats [Game Thread] Announcement