I was at this game, and I posted my impressions of it over in the DBB comments, for anyone who might be interested.

Here they are:

I was at this game, but I didn’t have time to post yesterday.

KS: Days after speculation arose that Ben Wallace might be in line for the starting job, Coach Kuester decided to throw Wilcox in.

Chris Wilcox DID NOT START THIS GAME!!!! Ben and Kwame started. Mason was there, and his introduction of Big Ben was just like old times — it was very cool. ESPN lists Wilcox as the starter, but that’s simply incorrect. B-b-b-b-ben Wallace started and got a huge ovation when introduced.

Anyway, here are my thoughts about the game:

The good:

MFWB is playing even better than last year. If I’m Q-ster, I’m considering making him a starter. If I’m Rodney Stuckey, I’m worried that I’m getting vastly outplayed. If I’m Joe Dumars, I’m trying to ink Bynum to a 3-4 year deal before anyone else realizes how good he is and makes a run at him. And not just because of his offense — and he literally looked unstoppable when he put the ball on the flor. Take a peek at the box score and notice the 4 steals. Yeah, he ripped four people. It was fun to watch … I said to my dad, "It’s like having a good Lindsey Hunter out there."

Kwame Brown is playing fantastic basketball for the Pistons. He’s low-usage, yes, but he’s playing very efficiently and very hard. He even knocked down two jump shots off the glass from the post (Tim Duncan style).

Rip Hamilton: scored ten of the first twelve points for us, and then hardly played the rest of the game. But he looked sharp and engaged while he was out there.

Jonas Jerebko: Jonas’ main weakness is his relative lack of athleticism. But he played harder than anyone on the court for the entirety of his minutes. It really is amazing how active this kid is when you see him in person. He rebounds the ball very well, and he moves very well without the basketball. His problem is that he got his stuff swatted around the rim twice. I think he can learn to use his body to protect the ball and become a better finisher with time, though. He also got to the line several times. I’m left wondering if he’s really a big SF, though, who simply needs to develop his ball handling skills. We’ve talked a lot about small ball; I’m wondering, though, if in 1-2 years Jonas couldn’t be a bit of a bruising SF who could work in a big lineup. When all is said and done, the kid just fits in Detroit. He hustles, runs the floor, and rebounds. He’s just got to develop some more.

Chris Wilcox: his minutes were limited, but it’s obvious what he brings to the table: athleticism (finish around the rim, block a few shots) and energy.

Max looked like he’s worked on his jumpshot. Everything else was just what you’d expect (energy, hard work, etc.).

The Bad:

I don’t see a way around this — on any given night, at least 1 big man is going to be the odd man out. Ben, Max, Wilcox, Kwame, and CV are all deserving of minutes — but I don’t see how there are enough to go around each and every night.

If we can get a consistent scoring punch out of our backcourt (Stuckey and Gordon are the question marks at this given moment), our frontcourt by committee ought to outplay the opposition on most nights. (which is really good, not bad).

Rodney Stuckey was much, much worse than the box score indicates. With the ball in his hands, he literally did not make one good play. I’m not exaggerating. He was as bad as I’ve ever seen him. He looked tentative and uncertain the whole time he was on the floor. Other than Nick Young, he was the worst guard on the floor. As I said, if I’m him, I see Bynum in the rearview mirror trying to move into the passing lane. Seriously, 3-15 with 1 assist and 1 TO. That doesn’t begin to describe how poorly he played …

Ben Gordon: His box score looks bad, and that’s because he was bad. However, it was more than obvious that he was playing at about half speed. I don’t think he’s fully asserted himself just yet. I’m beginning to wonder if a starting lineup of MFWB + Rip and a backup lineup of Stuck + BG might actually be more effective …

Austin Daye: I only say this under the "bad" heading because the box score is misleading in this case. He did drain a three, and he had a beautiful And One dunk driving down the middle. But, he also hit a three at the buzzer of the game, when the game was already over. His ten points exaggerate his impact. It’s obvious how skilled he is — and he is very, very skilled. But he put the ball on the floor 3-4 times and looked lost. He got swatted once and threw up a tentative up and under the other time he was challenged. Plus, he just gets pushed around under the basket. But, he just needs to get stronger, and in Arnie we trust.

The Takeaway:

Washington could be a scary team. Arenas torched us (except when MFWB was guarding him and picked his pocket), and he looked to be playing at about half speed. He was lightning quick, and his jumper was on. Butler and Jamison were both very good as well. Mike Miller is a very, very solid addition to that squad. He’s low-usage, efficient, and he grabbed 9 boards from the SG slot. It seems like the perfect fit in that offense.

Nick Young sucks. He is a black hole. I have no idea why Flip would ever play him again.

Also, keep an eye out for Javale McGee. He’s young, but he dominated the game while he was out there. 1 steal, 2 blocks, 5 boards, and 12 points on 60% shooting in only 17 minutes. If I’m Flip, he’s my starting or first-off-the-bench big man.

You’ll also notice that their starters played a lot more than ours did. We lost that game in the 4th quarter, and it was clear that Q-ster was more concerned about keeping the young guys out there and getting them experience than he was with winning the game. When our top-tier guys played, we looked pretty good.

Mighty Fine Will Bynum!