At some point in time in the very near future, Detroit Bad Boys will once again be something more than just a series of game threads. Unfortunately, that point is not today. But here’s a nice, fresh comment section for you to enlighten with your thoughts about today’s tilt with the Bucks (3:30pm, FSN) as the Pistons go for their ninth straight win. I’ll be at the game for HOOPSWORLD, and then after that it’s off to celebrate New Year’s — have a safe and happy holiday, people!
Archive for December, 2007
The Pistons and Pacers are about to tip — here’s to hoping this one plays out exactly the same as last night. As usual, your thoughts –> comments, etc etc.
The Pistons host the Pacers tonight — here’s to hoping they remember to watch for Jeff Foster’s leg (kudos to Ballhype and PistonsNation for the clip). You can read my pre-game, halftime and post-game thoughts over at HOOPSWORLD, and of course, leave your thoughts in the comments.
At least, that’s what I gather after reading this from Krista Jahnke in the Freep:
Rookie center Cheikh Samb, who had dental work last week to repair two knocked-out teeth, went through full contact at Thursday’s practice. He likely will be reassigned to the NBA Development League.
Still no word on the status of his jaw, which was originally thought to be slightly fractured when Samb took the hit that dislodged his two incisors.
It seems there are fewer and fewer sports announcers I really dig these days, but Gus Johnson is definitely one of them. With that in mind, I got pretty excited to learn that for at least one night, he’ll be the voice of the Pistons, subbing for George Blaha, who will be attending his other duties as Michigan State’s play-by-play man as the Spartans play in the Champs Sports Bowl. (Johnson usually does radio for the Knicks, but fortunately New York is off.) From the Detroit News:
Broadcaster Gus Johnson has covered a lot of big events in nearly two decades — Olympics, the NFL, NCAA Tournament, play-by-play for the Knicks.
Despite all that, Johnson says broadcasting tonight’s Pacers-Pistons game (8, Channel 4) will top his career highlight list.
“I’m just a Detroit boy who grew up loving the Pistons, and now I get to come full-circle for one night,” said Johnson, who grew up in the Livernois and Davison area. “I’m nervous, excited, it’s getting me a little choked up, really.”
I’ll actually be at the Palace covering the game for HOOPSWORLD, but with Johnson on the mic, I’ll also be recording the game to watch on Saturday. Not that I expect Pistons-Pacers to match UCLA-Gonzaga (watch for a young Arron Afflalo), but I’m really curious to hear him call his hometown team.
From Chris McCosky’s blog:
Jarvis Hayes was sent home from practice today. He was sick. The Pistons think it was food poisoning. What that could mean, though, is our first look at Walter Herrmann. He hasn’t put on a Pistons game uniform yet, since coming over from Charlotte. With the Pistons playing Indiana back-to-back, the Pistons might let Hayes sit out and rest Friday.
Herrmann didn’t do much for Charlotte before being traded this year, but check out how he finished the 2006-07 season for the Bobcats. He’s kind of been tagged a three-point specialist (he shot 46% from beyond the arc last year) but is a complete player when he’s at his best. If he does in fact see the court, I’ll be very curious to see what he can do.
(Kudos to DBB reader Diablo for the head’s up.)
- I didn’t get to a recap of Wednesday’s win over the Nets as planned, but Natalie from Need4Sheed did, as usual.
- John Schuhmann of NBA.com looks at Wednesday’s game as an example of Detroit’s offensive efficiency. (courtesy of DBB reader Tim)
- From SLAM’s Ben Osborne’s Game Notes:
… Pistons trainer Mike Abdenour is nuts. I’ve seen him harangue refs plenty of times, but now his target is the bus company that shuttled the Pistons to the game; apparently, the driver left the arena while the bus still had some players’ belongings on board. He is currently cursing up a storm on his cell phone about this driver. Funny.
- You know how a strong third-quarter effort by the Pistons is becoming routine? Rasheed Wallace says it’s by design. From Chris Silva of the Detroit Free Press:
“We don’t want it to be close for the refs to try to call some crazy stuff in that fourth quarter. So we’ve got to go out in that third quarter, no matter if it’s the first part of the third or the middle of that. We’ve just got to try to open up at least a 10-point lead in that third quarter.”
- Chauncey Billups elaborates — from Chris McCosky of the Detroit News:
The Pistons have outscored opponents in 13 out of the last 15 third quarters and haven’t allowed a team to score 20 points in five games.
“That’s crazy,” Chauncey Billups said. “We don’t look to lock in like that, but we know that’s a critical quarter.”
- From the same link as above, Flip Saunders empathizes with Scott Skiles:
Saunders left a message on Scott Skiles ‘ phone after the news broke Christmas Eve that Skiles had been fired as coach of the Bulls.
“I told him he would be 82-0 if he just played us,” Saunders said. “His teams beat up on us pretty good. He took an organization that was on the bottom and made it respectable very quickly.”
Seriously — if Chicago got up for every team like they did Detroit, they’d be giving Boston a run for their money. Instead, they’re mired in Lottery-ville.
- Jonathan Feigen, who also writes for the Houston Chronicle, nailed the Pistons’ mindset in this recent column for HOOPSWORLD: “Pistons want to be slighted.”
- Last but not least, I’ve received a request for all Portland-based Pistons fans to out themselves in the comments. Between Q-Dog, PDXpistonsfans and piñon lopez, it seems DBB has its share of Rose City residents, so feel free to connect with any others in the comments if you’re interested in meeting up to watch a game or whatnot.
About two years ago, there wasn’t another team in the NBA I despised more than the New Jersey Nets. Now? I’m almost completely indifferent, and I blame it on New Jersey’s mediocrity.
Tonight, the Pistons travel to the Meadowl… um, I mean the “Izod Center,” where they’ll try to avoid playing down to the Nets’ sub-fivehundred-ness and take care of business (as opposed to me, who’s having a hard time realizing that I’m actually expected to work these last few days of 2007).
The game tips off at 7:30 on WDIV (Channel 4) in Detroit, and as usual leave your thoughts about tonight’s proceedings in the comments.
Need4Sheed digs up perhaps the most memorable minute and a half highlight in NBA history: Isiah scores 16 points in 90 seconds.
Here’s to hoping you get a better present than what John Paxson gave Scott Skiles, or what Rick Mahorn did to Rip Hamilton’s car on Sunday …
That’s just cruel — as most of you know, Sunday may have been the coldest we’ve had in metro Detroit this winter, especially with the wind. When I left the Palace and walked to my car that evening, I literally felt like my face was going to fall off.
Also, I totally blanked when picking a video for the Rockets preview — I totally should have went with this instead (which was at least topical to the season, if not quite as impressive as Rasheed and Co).
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