Pistons host suddenly healthy Kings

I’m glad to see the Kings healthy again, they have a load of talent on that team (they need some big men) but other than that they are a really good team. IMO

Let me correct that, they COULD be a real good team.

A dunk by Mikki Moore?!? I remember that guy but I can’t remember who he used to play for…haha

He used to play for New Jersey, Diablo.. He’s a decent player IMO..

Haha this should be hilarious to watch Ron Artest play tonight..

“He used to play for New Jersey, Diablo”

He also used to wear that Teal style jersey the Pistons played in back in the 90s.

amir johnson vs. kevin martin. i want to see it. now.

And I agree with you Mikki is a decent player, he has definately come a LONG way since his “Piston days”.

Spencer Hawes was eaten alive by J-Max. :D

Kevin Martin injured again? This is not good for my fantasy team…

Damn.. I didn’t know he’s played for Detroit before..

Mikki Moore was a starting center pre-Ben Wallace.

Are we re-living the Knicks game all over again? Pathetic effort by the Pistons in the 1st half.

Yeah, not good so far.

That’s my in-depth analysis.

Although, we’re starting to come back. I think we were a step slow on D, looking a little better to start the second half.

Meanwhile, the Sixers look pretty good against Boston. And their announcers are pretty good, which should ease the pain when they’re inevitably the guys calling the game on Wednesday.

“Mikki Moore was a starting center pre-Ben Wallace”

I don’t think he was starting center, if I remember correctly, he was behind Jerome Williams in the Depth chart and Jerome was coming off the bench as well.

He wore #31 before Darko!

…We should probably never hand out #31 again.

Man, Ron Artest has been hitting some big 3s.

I swear to god if the Pistons play “Buddy Ball” against Ben and the Bulls tommorrow after this terrible defensive display Im gonna choke someone! They HAVE to win tommorrow!

Disappointing game, Piston could of easily won. The Pistons did not take advantage of their superior height at almost every position. I don’t think sheed posted up until the 4th. Not to mention rip should never be allowed to dribble the ball just catch and shoot. Also the refs calling fouls on a couple of great blocks in the 3rd and 4th didn’t help. Oh well hopefully the Pistons will stomp the bulls.

Nothing like wasting a great effort by Chauncey and Rip. We got a whole 5 points off the bench. Sigh.

Thanks for the birthday present, Pistons.

We spend a lot of time debating whether Chris Webber should return, or the merits of a merit-less Amir Johnson, but you know, for a region of 5 million in the metropolitan area, the number of votes for Pistons in the All-Star Game is pretty pathetic.

I understand the All-Star Game to be a joke, but the joke’s also on all of you.

People would actually vote for Eddy Curry. Does anyone see anything wrong with about 65k of votes for that guy? Or is it just me?

Only 400k for Chauncey, who leads the others on this Pistons club by about 200k, while guys like Shaq get about a million votes even in years they don’t even play?

The league’s got bigger problems, but it’s funny to keep using excuses like “being under the radar” in favor of giving some solid guys a better show in the voting.

big exposure in big markets is more important good basketball any day. thank you david stern, your legacy is secure.

the worst thing is, if sheed were acting all crazy and getting ejected from games, the whole team would be getting more votes. people depress me.

“more important than good basketball”

Sauce, Detroit is the eleventh most populous city in America. When my parents lived there in the ‘50s and ’60s, it was fifth (waves angry fist at the ’68 Riots). And now that basketball is filled with international stars (that don’t play in Detroit), coinciding with the birth of the internet, forget about it. The All-Star game is “for the fans” (in theory anyway), and while the Pistons probably have one of the more rabid fanbases, it doesn’t necessarily translate into All-Star votes in terms of numbers. Chauncey and Sheed (and maybe even Rip?) will probably get selected anyway. No harm, no foul in my book.

I gave my votes to the players that are having good years but have never been there: Joe Johnson, Caron Butler, Chris Kaman, etc.

QD, not that I necessarily disagree with any of those choices, but the reasoning confuses me. Didn’t Butler and Johnson play in last year’s all-star game as reserves (albeit Johnson made it because of an injury to Jason Kidd)? Obviously no one would confuse Chris Kaman pre-2007 with an NBA All-Star. Were you saying you voted for them because they’ve never been starters?

I would just repeat, five points from the bench. I know “developing” the bench in general and Stuckey in particular will mean some ups and downs. I’m hoping this is a “down” and not a “really worrying sign.”

Basically, voting for players that don’t get in on reputation alone even if they’re having off years or have been injured for three months. (Although I didn’t realize JJ and CBut were in the game last year, shows you how much I pay attention). I think I voted for Bosh too.

Okay, which Pistons team is going to show up tonight? I, for one, hope that Maxiell has an opportunity to give Noah a nice, hard foul. I can’t stand that kid. It says something when your teammates vote to give you a “time out” for a couple of games.

I agree. I can’t stand Noah and found this whole suspension thing the most enjoyable NBA story of the year. What would have made it better if he and BigBen got in a physical altercation. I think we all know how that would turn out.

Early in the year, I posted a comment asking people to put bets on who the first player to take a swing at Noah would be. My guess was Ruben Patterson, but he’s no longer on a team.

“I swear to god if the Pistons play "Buddy Ball" against Ben and the Bulls tommorrow after this terrible defensive display Im gonna choke someone! They HAVE to win tommorrow!” – prophecy projectz

I have to agree. I don’t really care about losing to a Western Conference team that we won’t see again until next year, but you’d think that after losing to a depleted Kings team earlier in the season, the Pistons would want to redeem themselves. Whatever though, this loss should motivate Detroit for their game in Chicago tonight.

The Bulls had to run up and down the court with Golden State last night in a game that they lost in the final minutes. This team is just itching for a whooping! Considering that they’ve already beat Detroit both times they’ve met so far, I really expect the Pistons to have a good game and win by at least 12 tonight.

Chicago has and will be one of those teams that I can’t stand seeing Detroit lose to. Let’s hope today’s game goes better than yesterdays’s!

SIDENOTE***
During the Bulls game last night, Jeff Van Gundy stated that he felt no team under .500 should be allowed to send someone to the all-star game. I couldn’t agree more. I noticed that Tracy McGrady is one of the top vote getters even though he’s done nothing this year and his team is struggling. Once this core group of Pistons players is gone, I have a feeling I’ll be over the NBA for a while. Thanks Mr. Stern!

Look at Shaq. How many games has he played? He is second in voting behind Dwight Howard and his team has done a freefall all season. How can you go from NBA champion to NBA chump in 2 seasons? Sheed ought to get the nod over him.

More Walter Herrmann please. The second unit is flat and Herrmann brings instant intensity.

waltonlikesmen1: Although I wish I could agree with the under-.500 thing, I can’t. Just because a team sucks doesn’t mean that there’s a player who is individually spectacular and worthy of the big stage at All-Star Weekend. Everyone should be eligible, but I don’t think the fans should vote because fans don’t know jack. Vince Carter hasn’t been good since 2001, yet people still vote for him? The fan vote should be for the alternates, or as a tie-breaker, or something.

WLM1: Generally speaking, I think we’re pretty solid on the 2nd night of back-to-backs as well as being solid after losses. This Pistons team just won’t have it some nights, and I look at last night as the perfect example. I expect us to bounce back very nicely tonight in Chi-town.

Garrett: Vince Carter is insanely talented. I’m not sure there’s a more capable scorer from the entire floor in the NBA. When his J is on, and it usually is to at least some extent, it’s pure silk. That being said, as an NBA player, he’s not so great. He’s lazy in every way possible, he’s not a good teammate, doesn’t play defense, etc. He’s the perfect choice for an All-Star because the “fans” want to see displays of wildly dazzling offense, not substance. It makes the All-Star game a spectacle. I’ve resigned myself to understand that most “All-Stars” are just glorified showmen in a Slam Dunk-like sideshow performance. If this is what the fans want, let them have it. I think being named a reserve is more prestigious since it actually comes from NBA minds. Apparently we don’t represent the majority of NBA fans in what we view as an “All-Star”, and if we do, our inaction creates these results. I don’t know about you, but I’m most worried about how the Pistons are doing in their games, not in contests determined by the voting public.

Sometimes the winner of American Idol doesn’t sell as many records as one of the runner-ups. Would you rather The Pistons win Idol or would you rather the Pistons sell the most records?

And also, joejoejoe: Couldn’t agree more, but I think we have plenty of time to see what Hermann has and I am hopeful/something just short of confident that we will. Flip Saunders has won 72% of his games as coach of the Pistons, and I’m starting to discover that maybe Kevin Garnett is the reason Kevin Garnett has never won a title. Everyone can feel free to push me in front of oncoming rush hour traffic on Woodward, but I actually find myself staunchly behind Flip Saunders’ coaching.

I’m with you LB. Flip is just an easy scapegoat. I trust JoeD and I believe that if he thought Flip was the problem, he’d be gone.

LawyerBoy: I agree with everything you said. I was just saying that fan voting sux0rz and needs to change, although I don’t exactly see how. Stern and his marketing machine loves them some fan votin’. All-Star Weekend is fun and all, but if Shaq is hurt and Tracy McGrady isn’t as unstoppable as he was those few years in Orlando, I wish the fans would pick players more relevant.

garrett, mad l33t post, and you’re right, NBA All-Star voting definitely sux0rz, as bad as when you download warez and then it has a corrupted file. Seriously though, it’s just a stupid showcase game that carries as much importance as an NFL exhibition game. when Vince Carter is on though, I love watching him play. He’s such a schmuck, but damn is he good. Re: fan votes, I always say Garrett, people are dumb. A person can be smart, but people on the whole are dumb, especially if you look at recent voting trends. Just look at the strategery of the American people when they picked their last president. And he’s supposed to be the penultimate representative of the good in American people. Like W and the crack staff @ perkisabeast, it’s not hard to find reminders of how people all around us are rather dumb.

“Although I wish I could agree with the under-.500 thing, I can’t. Just because a team sucks doesn’t mean that there’s a player who is individually spectacular and worthy of the big stage at All-Star Weekend” – Garret

You brought up a good point, it touches on what I think the NBA’s biggest problem is…

It promotes individualism over teamwork. The all-star game shouldn’t be a group of the best individual players, it should be the best team players. How should individual merit come before group success in a TEAM sport?

I don’t care if a guy can dunk from the three-point line. If his team is losing, how valuable is he? Basketball consists of five players that all have specific roles. Ever since Jordan, the NBA has done nothing but promote the best individual players. Dwayne Wayde winning a title in the fashion he and the Heat did was one of the lowest points this league has seen. Problem is, most fans don’t really care to try to understand the finer points of the game and only cheer for individual athleticism.

While they may not garnish a lot of attention (Boston excluded), Detroit, San Antonio and Boston are the only teams keeping this league afloat right now for REAL basketball fans. For the last decade, I’ve seen the all-star game and what it represents as counter-productive to the evolution of the game.