Black Friday, indeed: Ben Gordon sidelined
From Ted Kulfan:
Gordon went down hard during on his left ankle and sprained it during Wednesday night's game. He's listed as day-to-day, but it's unlikely Gordon will play tonight against the Los Angeles Clippers.
If that's the case, he will join Richard Hamilton (severely sprained right ankle) and Tayshaun Prince (small ruptured disc) on the sidelines.
"We're dropping like flies," Rodney Stuckey said. "We just have to fight through it. That's pretty much it."
The question is how?
Where will the scoring come from? With Gordon, Hamilton and Prince, that's 58 points per game out of the lineup.
Coach John Kuester wouldn't speculate as to who would replace Gordon after Wednesday's game -- the Pistons didn't practice on Thanksgiving -- but Austin Daye started the second half in place of Gordon against the Cavaliers.
Starting Daye would give the Pistons a ridiculously long starting lineup -- and considering how much success Big Ball in spurts against the Trail Blazers, I'm curious to see it in action, especially against L.A.'s brawny backcourt of Baron Davis and Eric Gordon.
Why not just start Will Bynum at point and slide Stuckey to shooting guard? Ignoring the fact that Stuckey seems to think he is a shooting guard ... I have a hunch those two will end up playing the bulk of the game together anyway, and starting the game with Bynum on the bench gives the rookies a chance to get going -- not to mention gives Kuester peace of mind that he has a bullet left in the chamber should he need a spark.
On a sidenote, Steve from Clips Nation amused me with this parallel:
Bad Shooting Point Guards. Among starting NBA point guards, no one shoots as poorly as Baron Davis and Rodney Stuckey. Both are under 40% for the season, with Baron a tick better at 39.7% compared to Stuckey's 38.8%. So neither is exactly putting on a shooting clinic this season.
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Pistons had some great, lengthly periods where they were virtually injury-free, there’s a couple other teams out there with some big holes in their rosters.
by Skylar on Nov 27, 2009 1:11 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
This situation really makes you appreciate that great run they had. I don’t think we had any major injury lasting for more than 2 weeks for any of those conference finals years.
by bmr on Nov 27, 2009 5:45 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Do these injuries mean Arnie Kander has to sacrifice another virgin?
by Garrett on Nov 27, 2009 6:34 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

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