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Brian Packey is a die-hard Detroit sports fan currently attending law school in the dirty south. He thinks he may want to be an immigration lawyer to help bring in more blue-collared Swedes to play for the Pistons. He likes movies, his eReader, and once took a charge from Shane Battier. Follow Brian on Twitter (@bpackey) and reach him on email .

Matt Watson spent his childhood in the late '80s cutting out newspaper articles of the Detroit Pistons, which, now that he thinks about it, he's still doing on this blog. A professional editor and writer for the last decade, he created Detroit Bad Boys in 2005. Matt lives just outside Ann Arbor, where he works remotely as FanHouse's NBA Editor. Follow Matt on Twitter (@mattwatson and @detroitbadboys) and tell him to go to sleep, the internet will be there when he wakes up.

Kevin Sawyer was Bad Boy scarred for life one night in December of 1987, listening to the radio as some dude apparently named Jobery Caro torched Detroit to end a 10-game win streak. He now resides in Minneapolis, MN, exploiting the team's meager fan base for affordable seats when the Pistons come into town. He is the owner and president of Do North! Communications, and drives a Ford Focus. Email Kevin and find him at The Problem With Kevin.

Mike Payne is a hopeless NBA addict and Detroit Pistons fan who doesn't actually believe other sports exist. When he's not compulsively hitting the refresh button on Detroit Bad Boys, he's compulsively hitting the refresh button on his own websites. He's a web publisher by day, a beer snob by night and lives with his lovely bride and their three dogs. Mike makes his living as publisher of The Coolist.

Will Bynum Ain't No Schmuck

by Packey on Mar 14, 2010 9:46 AM CDT in News Comment 10 comments

Detroit Pistons guard Will Bynum, center, is congratulated by teammates, including Jason Maxiell, left, after dishing out a career-high 20 assists against the Washington Wizards in an NBA basketball game Friday, March 12, 2010, in Auburn Hills, Mich. Bynum became the first Piston to record 20 assists since Isiah Thomas in 1985, and just the third player to reach the mark in the NBA this season, joining Steve Nash (twice) and Darren Collison. The Pistons defeated the Wizards 101-87. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

More photos » Duane Burleson - AP

1 day ago: Detroit Pistons guard Will Bynum, center, is congratulated by teammates, including Jason Maxiell, left, after dishing out a career-high 20 assists against the Washington Wizards in an NBA basketball game Friday, March 12, 2010, in Auburn Hills, Mich. Bynum became the first Piston to record 20 assists since Isiah Thomas in 1985, and just the third player to reach the mark in the NBA this season, joining Steve Nash (twice) and Darren Collison. The Pistons defeated the Wizards 101-87. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

Browse more photos »

On Friday night the Pistons' faithful witnessed Will Bynum (aka MFWB) shatter his career assists record and accomplish something (20 assists) another Pistons player hasn't done in nearly 25 years. If you're not quite 25-years-old yet, like me, it's the first time in your life that you saw a Piston rack up at least 20 assists -- the last being Hall-of-Famer Isiah Thomas' 21 on April 12, 1985. Bynum's 20th assist came after Ben Gordon knocked down a long two with a little less than three seconds remaining in the game -- a game that was all but already won by Detroit.

Normally, teams with a 12-point lead run out the final seconds, but Bynum took a Charlie Villanueva pass after a missed free throw, dribbled past half court, and made a 20 foot, or so, pass to Ben Gordon in the corner. When Gordon made the jumper, it gave Bynum his 20th assist.

It also opened Bynum up to criticism to those who felt like the Pistons should have followed an unwritten rule and simply run out the final seconds rather than try to help Bynum reach a statistical milestone. Justin Rogers of MLIVE wrote that it reminded him of a couple of schmucks:

It was March 9, 1996 and the Orlando Magic were soundly beating the Pistons. [Anthony] Bowie was having a particularly big night starting in place of injured Nick Anderson. He had 20 points, nine rebounds and nine assists when he grabbed his tenth rebound in the final seconds of the game.

Despite his team having a 20 point lead, Bowie called a timeout wanting to rack up one final assist and net his first career double. Orlando's head coach, and current Pistons assistant, Brian Hill, refused to draw up a play for the stat-padding stunt. Possibly even more disgusted, Pistons coach Doug Collins told his players to not defend the play.

Bowie ended up with getting the assist and the triple double, but ended up looking like a schmuck.

In 2003, Cleveland's Ricky Davis shot at his own basket trying to get the final rebound necessary for his own triple double. Again, schmuck.

Rogers went on to say that Bynum's assist "sacrificed class" and that the moment of celebration afterward was "unnecessary" because Bynum didn't need the 20th assist to seal a "dazzling" night.

I'll admit I don't know why 20 assists is commemorated so much more than 19 assists undoubtedly would have been (It may be an "arbitrary milestone" because Bynum could also be the first Piston to have 19 assists in 25 years -- I don't know), but 20 is a nicer, easier number to keep track of in the record book, I guess. It's a milestone, nonetheless.

It's completely different than those other two players Rogers references, though. Bynum didn't do anything crazy, like call a selfish timeout or shoot on the wrong hoop (which is just ridiculous!), to allow him to collect that last stat. All he did was play out the clock with his teammates.

But Rogers wasn't the only one who thought it was classless, according to a Washington source:

The shot infuriated Wizards assistant coach Randy Wittman, who shouted toward the Pistons' bench.

However, it didn't receive any mention from the Wizards' head coach, Flip Saunders, as far as I know, and the players seemed to place blame, if any, on themselves:

Asked afterward if he was upset, [Andray] Blatche said: "You can be, but you can't be. Guys in this league, they got their own accomplishments that they're trying to meet. It's our job to stop them. If they make a play at the end of the game like that, that's our fault. We can't criticize them because of it. It's part of the game."

Mike Miller actually praised Bynum and the Pistons' ball movement after the game. We only hear something from a frustrated assistant coach. On the other hand, as Rogers mentions in his piece, Pistons' head coach at the time, Doug Collins, tried to make it a point that Anthony Bowie's tactic lacked class by attempting to remove his players from the court, but because he technically couldn't, he instead told them to not defend the play. In the Ricky Davis situation, Utah coach, Jerry Sloan, was irate after the game and said he would have fouled Davis harder than DeShawn Stevenson did to prevent the impure triple-double. If Bynum's 20th assist was at all classless don't you think we would have heard something from the Wizards' head coach or players about it? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't find anything that says that final assist was at the expense of the Wizards' dignity.

(This is probably the segue into a debate specifically about running up the score. Some feel that playing your starters and playing really hard late in a blow out is classless and others think that there's nothing wrong with it. I think the NBA is a little less cut and dry than other sports in these regards (like in the NFL when a team winning by a lot late, it's pretty clear you can run it or a baseball team up by a bunch of runs late isn't going to stretch out hits or steal). In any sport, however, some would argue that if the other team can't stop it, then it's their fault, and Blatche explicitly states as much. These are elite athletes (or coaches) with enormous, competitive egos and they're not mentally programmed to give in. In this case, Flip Saunders was more worried about criticizing his own players in his post-game comments than to concern himself with an otherwise meaningless assist.)

In addition to being accomplished in a far more orthodox manner, 20+ assists is arguably a much more prestigious accomplishment than a triple-double because it doesn't happen nearly as often. In the last five years, 20+ assists has been cracked just 25 times. There were 40 triple-doubles last season (54 if you want to include this season's totals). 20+ assists has happened just a little over 100 times in NBA history, while triple-doubles happen on the reg (Jason Kidd alone has 100+).

Factor that all together and ask yourself if this really makes Bynum (and his contributing teammates) anything at all closely related to Bowie and Davis. Personally, I have no problem with last second, meaningless shot attempts, unless they are emphatic, backboard slapping dunks. I don't think I've ever felt uneasy about a player, on the winning or losing team, throwing up a last second shot just for the hell of it. I'm even more at ease in this case because the Wizards appeared to actually defend it, somewhat, and Gordon still had to hit a shot he hasn't been making this season. If one is going to take off his/her bias tinted glasses and nitpick a feat that hasn't occurred in almost 25 years of Pistons' basketball, one should bother going in the other direction and actually try to figure out if all 20 assists were legitimate -- similar to the analysis done on Darren Collison's alleged 20-assist night just earlier this week -- because a schmuck Bynum is not.

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Can't Knock The Hawks: Hawks 112 Pistons 99

by Kevin Sawyer on Mar 13, 2010 10:59 PM CST in Recaps Comment 3 comments

More photos » John Bazemore - AP

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Let's look at the positives. This could have been a whole lot worse. The Hawks led by an astounding 28 points at the half, and the Pistons did manage to cut it to nine in the 4th quarter before an 11-4 run turned the game into a blowout yet again.

Not only that, but Jason Maxiell registered his third consecutive double-double. Hopefully, this proves once and for all that the guy deserves serious minutes. You especially have to appreciate the 7-9 performance from the free throw line. If the Pistons are going to move back into contention in the next couple of years, they are going to have to find a way to get more 19 and 12s out of Maxiell.

Oh, and Will Bynum continued to make the case that maybe he should start at the point with 16 points and 7 assists. But if Stuckey's a sixth man, what does that make Ben Gordon.

Outside of that, it was sheer misery...

Continue reading this post »

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Getting Down and Dirty for Lottery Balls: Pistons @ Hawks [Game Thread]

by Packey on Mar 13, 2010 5:57 PM CST in Previews Comment 32 comments

Game Tips at 7:00 EST

Detroit Pistons: 23-42 (7-24 home)

Atlanta Hawks: 41-23 (25-7 road)

Oppo Research

Given the make up of the Hawks' roster, it's no surprise that they are amongst the upper echelon in the league. They have a steady point guard in Bibby (who's actually having a down year), a reliable shooter in Joe Johnson, the human highlight reel and defensive prowess in Josh Smith, arguably the 6th Man of the Year in Jamal Crawford, and an All-Star* center in Al Horford.

They're efficient for how slow they play -- they are one of the slowest paced teams (26th) in the league but rank in the top 10 for scoring. To give you an idea just how efficient they are, the Pistons in the past seven years were never higher than 17th in the league in scoring when ranking near the bottom of the league in pace.

The Hawks went 1-2 on their recent three game road trip and return home for the first time in over a week. They've won four straight home games and if you take the Pistons road record and reverse it, that's about how good the Hawks are at Philips Arena (hint: It's pretty good). Factor in that the Pistons have lost five straight on the road and that the Hawks probably haven't forgotten how they were embarrassed at The Palace earlier this season, tonight could get ugly.

Keys for Detroit

Don't Let Crawford Go Off -- He's been the Hawks mojo all season. They are 19-5 when he scores 20+ and 7-2 when he scores 25+.

Pass the rock -- It allows us to see things we haven't seen in 25 years (last night) and the Pistons win more games than they lose when they have 30+ assists (one to be exact -- 2 wins and 1 loss).

Play Daye - I'm going to cut and paste this for the rest of the season.

Question of the Game

What will Will Bynum do for an encore?

Valuable Links

Peaches might give you the poops. But check out Peachtree Hoops.

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Just be glad they aren't the Caps: Wizards @ Pistons

by Kevin Sawyer on Mar 12, 2010 6:21 PM CST in Previews Comment 240 comments

Game Tips at 8:00 EST

Detroit Pistons: 22-42 (15-18 home)

Washington Wizards: 21-41 (9-20 road)

Oppo Research

The Wizards are in future mode, having unloaded Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood and with Agent Six on ice so he doesn't kill any teammates. That means they have had the chance to play their young guys, something they should have done a long time ago.

And they have responded to the challenge. The mercurial Andray Blatche is averaging a Jamison-like 20 and 8 over the last five games, while JaVale McGee is adding 2.4 blocks to his 13 and 7 in just 29 minutes per game. Unfortunately, Blatche turns the ball over at least four times per game, nullifying most of the positive things he does on the court

That said, this guard rotation was built around a guy who was supposed to need the ball 40 minutes per game. In his absence, the Wizards have had to make due with Randy Foye and Mike Miller, who combine for just 20 points per game. Miller, in particular, doesn't handle being the man very well. The 51% three point shooter has missed 10 of his last thirteen.

The Drama

Arenas is one false move from the Artestosphere. I could see him somehow rigging a hot air balloon, and flying into the Palace wearing a top hat hurling diseased opossums at fans.

Keys for Detroit

Mind the frontcourt -- Blatche may be turnover prone, but he can put up big numbers in a hurry. If the Pistons can make Foye and Miller the primary weapons, it will be smooth sailing,

Get something going early -- This is a game the Pistons can win rather handily. It's also a game they could lose. Get it over with in the first half, and then...

Play Daye - I'm going to cut and paste this for the rest of the season.

Question of the Game

Where are the reserves? Ben Gordon, in particular, has virtually disappeared after returning from injury.

Valuable Links

Go get shot at Bullets Forever.

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Bing hopeful that Pistons could return to downtown Detroit

Via The Detroit Free Press, a small article on Bing's "thoughts" of bringing the Pistons back to downtown Detroit.

2 days ago DBB Diablo 54 comments 0 recs

Utah Bebops Detroit: Jazz 115, Pistons 104

by Packey on Mar 11, 2010 12:55 AM CST in Recaps Comment 52 comments

More photos » Duane Burleson - AP

Detroit Pistons' Rodney Stuckey, right, walks off the court with teammate Ben Gordon (or a bunch of gatorade towels) after the Pistons fell to the Utah Jazz 115-104 (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

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I only caught the final six minutes of this one and, despite my best efforts to indulge the masochist in me, because the game was on NBA TV, I can't watch it on demand via my NBA League Pass.

Therefore, you're stuck with potent quotes from the mainstream media, who may or may not use less cuss words than I would have.

What Happened? The Detroit Free Press has the basic overview:

The Jazz had seven players in double figures as they posted their 10th straight victory over Detroit. Former Pistons center Mehmet Okur finished with 18 points, while Carlos Boozer had 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Detroit also had seven players score at least 10 points, led by Charlie Villanueva’s 19, but couldn’t avoid its seventh loss in eight games.

Cue people jumping into their DeLorean's to go back in time to re-sign Mehmet Okur instead of Rasheed Wallace. "Where we're going we don't need roads."

And it's not to the playoffs, as MLIVE astutely points out:

The loss was the 42nd of the season for the Pistons, who saw their streak of seven consecutive seasons come to an end when they finished 39-43 last season. The Pistons would finish 40-42 if they were to win all of their remaining 18 games.

Detroit's string of eight consecutive seasons with a playoff berth is all but certain to end this season. The Pistons trail Miami -- the No. 8 team in the Eastern Conference -- by 10 games with 18 to play.

Have the Pistons fallen so far that despite Utah's convincing win it still leaves the opposing coach upset at his team's effort? Yes, according to ESPN:

A night after putting up 132 points in a rout of Chicago, Sloan's Utah Jazz put on another offensive show, beating the Detroit Pistons 115-104 on Wednesday.

But the coach wasn't happy with the defense.

"I'm not focused on our scoring, I'm worried about our defense," Sloan said. "It's a matter of concentration, and there's no excuse for losing focus like we did in the second half tonight."

Utah was never seriously threatened after outscoring the Pistons 35-14 in the second quarter, despite allowing 61 second-half points.

And, boy, was that second quarter bad. Via SBN:

Detroit held a 29-28 lead after one quarter, but Utah dominated the Pistons, 35-14, in the second.

The Jazz began the frame on a 14-0 run, as Korver, Ronnie Price and Millsap each hit a pair of shots. Millsap's basket with eight minutes until halftime made it 42-29, and the margin escalated to 20, 61-41, on a pair of Okur free throws with 1 1/2 minutes left. The halftime score was 63-43.

Deron Williams described the win as "pretty flawless," according to the Salt Lake Tribune. I think "flawless" is the right word to describe the Jazz's record against the Pistons over the past five years, but "pretty flawless" was not the defense in this one. It might be the best way to describe the last time the Pistons beat the Jazz, though, which seems like a long, long time ago:

The Jazz beat the Pistons for the 10th straight time, now having swept the last five seasons series. Williams is undefeated against Detroit (as well as Toronto) since joining the Jazz. Their last loss to Detroit came March 13, 2005 in a 64-62 decision.

Stat(s) of the night (via NBA.com):

Running a pick and roll clinic, Utah shot 56.3 percent from the field and assisted on 35 of its 45 baskets.

A silver lining is always good (UPDATED -- I originally had Jerebko's tip dunk embedded, but it wasn't loading properly because NBA.com's embedding feature sucks. Instead, enjoy Jerebko hitting 13 of 19 three pointers at a Euro basketball camp):

Here are SportsCenter's abbreviated highlights.

Fill in all the holes in the comments, DBB.

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Breaking the Jinx: Jazz @ Pistons

by Kevin Sawyer on Mar 10, 2010 5:07 PM CST in Previews Comment 202 comments

Game Tips at 7:30 EST on NBA TV

Detroit Pistons: 22-41 (15-17 home)

Utah Jazz: 41-22 (16-14 Road)

Oppo Research

For five years the Jazz have been the bane of the Pistons' existence. In spite of numerous close calls, including three OT losses and two more losses of two points or fewer, Utah has managed to foil Detroit squads both big and small.

How have they done it? Blind luck. Small sample size. Recent mediocrity aside, there is no reason to believe that the Jazz are particularly well suited to emerge victorious.

That said, Utah is healthy, dangerous, and red hot. The team ranks 2nd in John Hollinger's power rankings. They have also been less foul-prone and more offensively efficient (shooting 49% from the field as a team) than usual.

The Drama

Detroit ended it's losing streak on Sunday against the Rockets. Can they end their losing streak against Utah.

Keys for Detroit

Stay alert -- The Jazz are +16.6 in the second half of their last five games. Clearly, they are feeling some fresh legs, so it will be important for Coach Kuester to keep the team from melting down, which has been a problem in this matchup

Let Bynum run the point -- We need Stuckey back, but Bynum is the best pure point on the team, and Detroit can take advantage.

Play Daye - Part of keeping fresh legs on the court means avoiding the temptation to keep the top of the rotation in the game.

Question of the Game

Has Maxiell been eating babies again? He seems to have found his mojo over the last few games, which shouldn't surprise anyone.

Valuable Links

Caught in a funk? Go to SLC Dunk.

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Stuckey Cleared for Exercise

The Detroit Pistons say three doctors have cleared Rodney Stuckey for exercise after a heart evaluation.

3 days ago Packey 1 comment 1 recs

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