It feels crazy typing this, but the Pistons kick off their exhibition schedule tonight with a game against the Heat … or at least, a cheap facsimile of the Heat. Dwyane Wade is sidelined and Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning are expected to sit, which means Detroit’s new-look starting five will be going up against the likes of Michael Doleac, Dorell Wright and Antoine Walker.
Still, it’s basketball, and if you’re like me, watching the second- and third-string battle it out for rotation spots is still 100x more interesting than Cowboys-Bills on MNF (although watching the Yankees lose to the Indians is a close second). Unfortunately, unless you’re headed out to the Palace, you won’t be able to watch the game — I’m almost positive this one isn’t going to be televised. If you’re local, tune into 1130 AM and follow along with an online box score …
… and in the morning, be sure to hit up HOOPSWORLD.com. I’ll be at the Palace covering the game for HOOPSWORLD tonight and should have a new article up tomorrow.
Update: Some of my observations are up at HOOPSWORLD:
The Detroit Pistons have long favored a slow and methodical brand of basketball, eschewing the fast break in favor of clock management, limiting possessions as well as mistakes. Quite literally no one put the brakes on more frequently, as the team ranked dead last in offensive pace in 2006-07.
While it’s too early to say that they’ve ripped that strategy out of the playbook, it was quite clear in the first preseason game against the Miami Heat the Pistons are trying to open things up.
“I think it’s something we’ve stressed in our training camp was our ability to be aggressive and not let teams take breaks,” Flip Saunders said after the game. “Push the ball up, and if you don’t have something, then get into a quick attack. Don’t turn down open shots when you have them, but make quick decisions with the ball and not hold the ball.”
Is there a good place to track the game online? ESPN.com seems to be pretending that there is no preseason.
Pre-season? What pre-season? Kidding…
Anyways, a buddy of mine sent me this youtube video so I can’t take the credit for finding it, and chances are it has already been found and posted on DBB long before I became a DBB loyalist, but I can’t see any better way to start the pre-season than being serenaded by the musical stylings of Bill Laimbeer and his rendition of Billy Joel’s Piano Man.
Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvwhULY-t_A
Kevin S.– last season, Yahoo had live stats available at http://sports.yahoo.com/nba
Let’s hope they’ve got it this season too…
I found Yahoo to be the best of the lot when it came to live stats.
Has anyone taken a look at the Hollinger pre-season rankings? There are some head-scratchers there.
First of all, he has Orlando gaining the equivalent of 12 games on Detroit. Most of this is presumably due to the addition of Rashard Lewis. But is the Lewis upgrade over Milicic AND Hill even 8 games better than the Stuckey upgrade will be for us, assuming we slide 4 games based on age?
If Houston wins 13 more games than Detroit, I’ll eat a milk bone dog biscuit. He loves the Rockets every year, largely because T-Mac and Yao are two of the ten most productive players when healthy.
However, Yao plays about 10% less than other star centers, and they have gotten an average of 55 games per player the last two season. Essentially, that means they have 1.28 star players, rather than 2. That’s a huge difference, given that folks like Nash, Stoudemire, Duncan and Nowitzki were logging 75+ games.
I’ll concede that Chicago represents the biggest threat in the East.
I know WDFN has an online stream, I don’t know if it’s for all their programming though. I would be fairly content to have the DFN stream running in one window and the Yahoo! box score running in another. I don’t really need to SEE preseason games, but regular season and beyond is a different story.
OT: How did I get better seats to the Lakers-Pistons than the Clippers-Pistons when I bought tickets within 2 minutes of each other on Saturday morning? NO ONE goes to Clippers games and Lakers games still sell out despite their joke of a squad. When I went to the Pistons-Clips last year, I went up to the box office a half hour before the game and got sideline section seats that were 3 rows directly behind Nazr where the sideline meets the baseline, (for only $125/pop! those seats for the Lake show are 200 minimum and probably $175 or more at the Palace, not to mention impossible to get at face value for either squad). For twice a year, definitely worth the splurge no matter what.
nba league pass audio is free right now. go here:
http://www.nba.com/games/20071008/MIADET/boxscore.html
click listen now! should work.
http://www.nba.com/games/20071008/MIADET/boxscore.html
click “listen live!” you should be able to hear the game.
sorry for the double post. firefox wasn’t showing it up there.
Our old friend Darvin Ham is working out with Dallas:
http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/48425/20071008/ham_will_make_dallas_tougher/
Nice find jackdutch, hearing it is better than nothing.
Really encouraging line for Stuckey tonight.
19 mins
15 points
5-7 from the field
5-6 from the line
1 block
0 assists
2 turnovers
Maxiell had 11 points and 10 boards in 26 minutes.
nice line from Stuck, yeah, but no dimes… i wonder how he looked trying to run the offense
From what it sounded like was Flip was running the offense but I only heard half of the game but that could explain the no dimes.
The bigs had a bit of foul trouble (Rasheed 5 in 20 min & Max 5 in 26 min). That worries me since we’ll have 5 bigs this yr instead of 6 unless Webber signs at some point.
I love how Stuckey gets to the line and shoots a high FT%. The Pistons should hold close leads late better than just about any team in the NBA with Billups, Stuckey, and Rip handling the ball and shooting FTs.
This is why Nazr won’t be a part of the rotation…
From nba.com stat it looks like he played the 2nd most minutes in the team and gave three rebounds and very little else. even if you can’t shoot the ball or pass it, you’re the biggest guy around and everybody on the team played less time than you and almost all the forwards got more rebounds than you.
where’s the hustle?
I know it was a pre-season opener, and the heat didn’t have the big weapons, but you had to be impressed at the palace last night. I (like most pistons fans that go to these things) weren’t neccessarily looking at how the starters played, but how the second unit guys played and worked with each other. Afflalo had his best showing so far. He play pesky D, and began to show Detroit why he was such a pivotal player in UCLA. He had several gorgeous drives and finishes, including a pretty spin and glide into the lane int he second. Stuckey does what he does, and looked great doing it. He needs to learn to pass, but Billups had a quote about how he would work with him to refine all of his point skills.
Maxiell belongs in the Detroit Zoo, he’s an animal. Great energy, great crashing of the boards and great put backs. His alley-opp in the first half was crazy.
By the way, I am not a nazr guy at all, but I think he is showing promise. Outside of all the articles talking about how hard he’s been working, he has been constantly playing well in the off season. For what we will be asking of him this year (be an anchor, don’t make mistakes, play consistent) I think he will have a solid year. He doesn’t need to be a spark (amir and maxiell will do that), but he will have to be a reliable rebounder and defender to fill in properly. I think he can do it. And trust me, it hurts me saying that. Go Stones!
I’m pretty sure Kevin S. would agree that Nazr’s impact can’t be measured in stats. He gives the intangibles.
There wasn’t a story this year about Nazi being weaker because of Ramadan. Has it moved back in the year? The story on him was that he was in good shape coming into camp and that he was competing. Anyone know: 1.) where the month of fasting fell this year (I could look it up in 4 seconds but I’m trying to get other people involved, yeah, that’s it) or 2.) If he decided to fudge a little bit so that he could be in better condition for the start of the year.
Okay, I looked it up. It lasts from September 13 until October 12th this year, so he might have been in great shape in mid-September. Plus, it’s somewhat later in the year, thus less sunlight per day, thus less fasting time. Still, abstaining from food and even water during daylight hours probably makes battling Sheed and Dyess on the block a special hell. I can’t help but admire Nazi for his professionalism and his commitment. There aren’t stories about Sheed fasting during Ramadan, although he’s listed as being Muslim, as well.
Still, the NBA isn’t graded on a curve. Nazi needs to step up this year, because there are plenty of minutes to go around down on the block. Unless Webber re-signs.
Double Post: Actually, Webber and Nazr wouldn’t really be fighting for the same minutes. But having him back would create a glut of players who deserve minutes, instead of a glut of minutes that deserve players.
“I’m pretty sure Kevin S. would agree that Nazr’s impact can’t be measured in stats. He gives the intangibles.”
Nope, but he did deliver 2 blocks and 3 steals is 23 minutes. I have every confidence that
If Stuckey is shooting 70% from the field and getting to the line, he should be looking for his shot, and not worrying about assists. His aggression is a great sign. His efficiency is even more encouraging.
are there highlights anywhere of this game?
The View From the Box Score:
Afflalo had a nice stat line. Especially during the first half.
Flip seemed to do a good job of mixing up the lineups. Every time I checked, there was a different combinations of players on the court.
Good rebounding games for Maxiell and Sheed. The general rule (I’ve read) is that a PF should get a rebound for every 4 minutes he’s on the court and that a C should get one for every 3.
By this guage, Nazr didn’t have a good rebounding game but 2 blocks and 3 steals isn’t bad.
All in all, a good showing against the Miami Heat’s D-League affiliate.
Only 2 Three-Point attempts for Sheed in 20 minutes. At 30 minutes a game, 3 attempts from beyond the arc is a good number. Let’s hope this means he stayed down low a lot more.
Rip: 11 pts. on 2 shots?
Whoever Marcus Slaughter is, he seemed to have had a good game. Whoever Alexander Johnson is, he didn’t.
why don’t the NBA just give the Championship to the Piston and skip the entire season right now. The Piston is going to annihilate every team each and every single night if this is the way the games are played.
“why don’t the NBA just give the Championship to the Piston and skip the entire season right now. The Piston is going to annihilate every team each and every single night if this is the way the games are played.”
Hieu, I wouldn’t get too excited just yet. It was pre-season, and Miami played w/o 7 of their top 9 players.
“Hieu, I wouldn’t get too excited just yet. It was pre-season, and Miami played w/o 7 of their top 9 players.”
Co-sign
I’m excited but there is still alot more games this pre-season. Miami wasnt willing to put their starters on the floor but other teams will feel the opposite. The only sign we as Piston fans should take from this pre-season game should be the chemistry shared by all the players, from the starters to the bench. And it should give you a good idea on how the match-ups will look this year and who will be playing in what positions.
I’m wondering how many more games the Pistons will have their starters play.
Work is kicking my butt but I gotta say that was pretty exciting. I didn’t catch the game for the same reasons nobody not paying/at the palace did but the impressions here and a quick study of the boxscore shows a much better “team” style of play and that’s what got Detroit to “annual title contender” status in the first place. It’s early but so far so good…
Even Flip Saunders seemed to find a way to divide the mins up well. Of course by December he’ll be finding a way for Chauncey to play 51 mins a night… but for now, good job.
51 eh???
Its too bad Amir is losing this time to get experience…I feel like this time is incredibly important in his development considering how worried people are about him not fully understanding the offensive sets.
Pre-season would have been a perfect opportunity for him to get some additional experience playing with the starters and the 2nd unis and hopefully pick up some more of Flips offensive sets allowing the team to be further ahead come the season opener.
Heheh, I pretty much assumed it was obvious I was exadurating since games are 48 mins
yeah it was a great game to listen to, lol. But did anyone go to the game, because i heard Afflalo said his energy came of the crowd and player introduction. Is the player introduction really good? And how was the crowd. Did anyone go to the game?
LET”S GO PISTONS AND LET”S GET THAT SHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111 2007-2008 IT:S OUR TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ALL BOUT DETROIT BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nazr is fine. Anyone quick to pass negative judgment on a tenured NBA veteran like Nazr Mohammed based on a night of preseason ball belongs on ESPN arguing with Skip Bayless in a fashion that can only be described as sensationalistic. Nazr has a solid (far south of stunning) skill set and he has height. For what is supposed to be/should be asked of him this year, assuming he’s healthy and Flip trusts him with fair mintues, he’ll do just fine and may even pleasantly surprise some people. When it comes to gleaning things from rookies or players during a preseason game who we otherwise haven’t seen consistently at an NBA level (Amir, Maxiell, etc.), that’s a different situation.
It’s definitely not time to go all Denny Green and be “crowning” the Pistons yet, especially since there’s always a chance for serious injuries that not even Arnie Kander can magically cure. But, this squad seems to have solid luck there *knock on wood*, and always finds a way to get back to the East finals. We SHOULD be able to get back to the league finals assuming all goes well, but that’s definitely not a given. We might even win it. Do we have the potential to field the most championship-caliber squad this year in the league and bring the a title home? Unquestionably. Is it a given? Farthest thing from it. Next time you start to sip on some Pistons 07-08 Larry O’Brien kool-aid, take a moment to catch a guy on ESPN or TNT (once the season starts) and listen to him slobber over Chicago, or LeBron, let alone the constantly (much more deserved) slobbering over the West. Kool-aid is kool-aid, whether it’s Pistons flavor or not.
P.S.: Anyone see the box score from the BEAT Dallas put on San Antonio yesterday? I know full well that it is beginning preseason ball where the Bucks can beat the Bulls and Ben can score 10 in 17 minutes, but how about the 13 points in 14 minutes from Jose Juan Barea? I have no idea if this came against scrubs or not (Manu did play 27 mins. though), but can we get him to take the Lindsey’s roster spot? Juuuuust kidding, we all love Lindsey, but he probably has kids that are older than me, and people his age working in the NBA probably belong in an office. I know nothing about Barea’s defense except for him getting a block on Barbosa during the regular season last year. If the scouting reports are any indication of what this guy can bring on the court, the Mavs may have a player comparable to Jameer Nelson coming off their bench and I’ve already begun to drink the kool-aid, or at least develop an interest in seeing what this guy will do on an NBA level.