Coverage at 7:00 pm ET
Detroit: 4-4 (1-3 road)
Margin: +2.5
Washington: 2-6 (1-2 home)
Margin: -4.9
Oppo research
Flip Saunders’ start at the helm of the Washington Wizards has been a bit bumpy, but to no fault of his own. Once again, the Wizards’ greatest enemy isn’t the opposition, it’s their own health. Washington will be playing without Antawn Jamison and three of its guards, Mike James, Javaris Crittenton and Randy Foye. Having lost the last five games in a row, that stretch could extend to six tonight thanks to a Pistons team that is just starting to click.
That’s not to say that Washington can’t win this one. Gilbert Arenas is an x-factor, regardless of the condition of his sore calf. Brendan Haywood has returned to form, averaging 13 rebounds and 4 blocks per game across the last four. Andray Blatche has been a boon off the bench, having a breakout year averaging 14 points and 6.5 rebounds. Give these players four days of rest and anything can happen. So all injuries aside, Detroit should not expect an easy game tonight.
The Drama:
After losing to Boston in the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals, Detroit will come face-to-face with ex-coach Flip Saunders. Not to burst the drama bubble, but not a single starter from that playoff series against Boston will be on the court tonight against Saunders. Rodney Stuckey and Jason Maxiell were the only two players from that team on our current roster. In spite of his rocky relationship with a few of the Pistons players (and the fans as well), it’ll be interesting to see what Flip can do with a roster a bit more suited to his coaching style.
Keys for Detroit:
Crash the boards: I have the feeling I can just cut and paste this one for the remainder of the season.
Move the ball: Brendan Haywood and Andray Blatche are on a shot blocking binge of late. Our penetrating guards need to focus on distribution unless a layup is a sure thing. As a team, Washington isn’t a great perimeter defender, so let’s get Gordon, Villanueva, Jerebko and Daye some clean looks from outside.
Hit the damn free throws: They’re free. So take them and make them. If Washington hopes to win, they’ll do so in a close contest. In this scenario, the outcome can be swung by our performance at the stripe. 69.9% is absymal, especially from a team with better free throw shooters than last season’s roster.
Question of the Game:
Can Detroit get back over .500 for the first time since March 15th? It’d be great to take a winning record into next week, when we face the Mavericks, Lakers, Blazers and Jazz. Another win tonight could build confidence that will pay dividends against the playoff machines of the Western Conference.
I want to see Stuckey force Arenas to play some D while remaining under control and not pressing the issue.
I wonder how juiced ben, cv and okafor would be playing together again? And how much Rip would love having another huskie to play with?
@MP
Question is, who do we trade? Kwame? Won’tcox? Trade that actually makes sense is Kenny Thomas/John Brockman for Okafor. Gives the Hornets some serious cap relief.
Also, is anyone else surprised the Kings might actually be good? If they got Okafor to shore up their frontline, along with Martin back, they’d actually be pretty scary.
@Thom:
No doubt we can’t give them the financial relief that other teams can. We can’t trade Wilcox until December 15th, and he’s got a player option for next season (which he’ll use). Tay+Brown for Okafor+Peterson works, saves them another $4M and they get the wing they need plus $10M off the books next season. Our chances are slim to none, but man would I love it if Joe could somehow pull it off… It’d likely take three teams to get Okafor in Detroit.
I’d love it if we could somehow pull it off. He gives us everything we’ve been lacking: Rebounding and low-post scoring. Wonder what we’d do with Wallace playing so well, though. Maybe start CV at the 3?
mavs, lakers, blazers, and jazz….that is cruel.
I don’t see Ben Wallace having a problem coming off the bench.
If anything, he plays extra minute at the backup 4 and 5 spot…
best link but from wiz side
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ggc1
Wow, what a brutal schedule coming up. They really need to win this one.
I’d take CP-3 before Okafor any day. Okafor isn’t taking anyone to the ECF. Paul has 3 more years on his contract, but if this team starts to get really bad next year, look for him to demand a trade.
So Okafor is now available for peanuts…
Now Jod’s pointless dumping of Amir (and to a lesser extend, Spellcheck) is really biting us in the ass. Amir’s expiring contract and Kwame’s could have been combined into a similar offer to the one Sactown might nab Okafor with. Oh well…
forgot to say the pass is andromedanet
@TripOG,
thanks, best stream I’ve seen in a while!
its usually better but my connection is sucking so i had him limit it so i could view smoothly
give him a thanks in the chat there its ggc’s stream
Triple OG: THANK YOU! Awesome stream
pretty fast paced!
Not a bad start, Mike Miller is going to be a difficult match-up for us though.
Not enough resistance from CV on that post move by Blatche. But he just redeemed himself by canning a deep 3.
their pace is already given me goose bumps. so exciting!
Yeah, thanks for the feed TripOG.
I like offensive bebounds.
anyone else notice that Q probably has only called like 3 timeouts in his time in detroit?
I think it just sticks out to me because Larry Brown would call a timeout everytime the other team scored.
Villanueva is still hot!
@joe dip:
I’ve actually noticed that Q is quite good with timeout, uh, timing. Can’t really give any concrete examples, but overall I’ve been pleased in that department.
Joe dip,
Yeah I noticed that too. I like it he’s letting the players work it out for the most part. thats one thing I liked about Flip, although that may have had more to do w/ the players we had at the time. and yes, CV has found his game! him and BG good 1,2 punch.
BynumITE!!!!
Why is Summers in the game?
Nice to see the guys off to a good start.
I’ve had a very bad day, here’s hoping for a ‘Stons win…cause I need it.
Fender Bender
Earl left em hanging
ustream took the other link down, http://www.justin.tv/bigben3
Our bench hasn’t looked very good so far.
Stuck looks like he’s gaining some confidence, his decision making has been good so far and he’s picking his spots to be aggressive very well.
TripleOG: Thank you again, new stream is working great.
Has Bynum posted up Boykins yet?
WOW. Earl just hit an amazing shot, and drew a shooting foul on a 3 pointer. I still got love for that guy, he was a camp counselor at a basketball camp I played in when I was a kid, and he was an incredibly nice guy.
thanks tripog
boykins = fast
Damn this midget is killing us
Now would be a good moment to call a timeout.
About time for a timeout, yeah? I just complimented you on your timeout calls, Q.
@Gabe,
How tall was he when you were a kid?
Over-under on Stuckey tonight? 25?
Kwame and Max for Okafor works, although NO would have to take on Max deal for 2 more yrs @ 5mil
MFNBAJAMWB
P_p:
sooooooo short. That was back in his EMU days, he was a beast back then, a totally amazing athlete.
Jeez, a lot of palming calls. Weird.
Earl’s thrown off our offense, our guards aren’t used to their defender having a huge quickness advantage on them.
BG!
lol..Oh Flipper. How I miss thee
Serious turbo button on EB.
Nice pass Big Ben.
justintv feed died
Nice Stuck-dog
Gilly….
http://atdhe.net/7458/watch-detroit-pistons-vs-washington-wizards
yeah sorry i wont be posting anymore, someone keeps reporting them
Fack.
Since when is Boykins in the NBA?
Great half for Stuckey. 15 pts on 8 shots, 5 rbds, 4 asts, 1 blk/stl/TO and good defense on Arenas.
I want to see Mike Miller, Louis Amundson and Walter Herrmann on the same team.
@QD
On What team?
The Clippers?
*rimshot*
QD
The universe cannot handle such collection of awesomeness. It would explode.
@QD:
Tell Kaman to grow his hair back, too.
John Stamos can coach them. Or maybe be the hair strength and conditioning coach.
joe dip wins.
This is where I would like Q to call a quick timeout.
Ugh when Gilbert hits that
Nice tip drill by Jerebko.
Bad shot selection Ben
bawwww stream down.
Somebody needs to tell Jerebko to grab a fucking rebound instead of tipping it over and over again.
Are we in the midst of a 3rd quarter collapse?
Fucking horrible defense by CV.
…and the wheels are coming off.
Why the hell hasn’t Q called a damn timeout?
its an official third quarter collapse
afb: Yup. We look like a completely different team than the squad that played the 1st quarter. What the hell happened? And why didn’t Q call a fucking timeout to settle the team down?
16 point swing on the quarter, right?
*$%$@)#%
damn all the links are down atm
18 point swing.
This team seems to always fall apart when the other team goes from no defense to some defense.
o.k. too frustrating. good night all.
Flip did a great job of adjustments at half time.
Are we sure the Wizards didn’t bribe the refs with $1 to call all these carries?
On the bright side, Michigan looks like it’s got some serious outside shooters this year.
Damn you Flip Saunders and your zone.
OT: The Right DeJuan started at C tonight next to Tim Duncan.
QD, no joke on Michigan. That was some performance. I know it was only a D2 game, but if Vogrich can shoot it at a high percentage and Manny continues to just take what’s there the sky very well might be the limit for them. Color me optimistic.
Wow, I get a stream and we’re down by 4….
The refs are carry crazy right now. Bullshit.
WILL BYNUM!!!
Bynum has been on fire.
MFWB hopefully saved our bacon there. Let’s see if we can keep the momentum going.
i guess i am still watching
I do say, that young William Bynum is doing swimmingly tonight
The Grizz just signed Tinsley in the wake of the AI fiasco. Are they trying to ruin Mayo and Conley? What is wrong with them?
Other Matt, I was more excited to see Vogrich play than Morris. Beilien needs one of those guys that’s just automatic.
Yikes, Max looked like Big Ben there with the ball in his hands. What the hell has happened to him the last couple years.
Somebody tell the Grizz Marbury is still available!
Max with the bucket, but no baby.
Apparently Flip has not been able to teach the Wizards the concept of rotation on defense.
QD, we’re due some good fortune given the thing that’s going on this fall that must-not-be-discussed.
@Gabe I don’t think he was ever meant to play more than 10 minutes a game.
anybody got a live feed?
DON’T LEAVE MIKE MILLER OPEN! please.
So did abdenour drain Kwame’s energy and give it to Charlie?
@scntfc:
you just repeated someone else’s joke from last game.
and where was Boykins when we signed Chucky?
I know, it applies to the situation well.
Our offense looks terrible right now. The MFWB/Stuck backcourt combo is not what’s good.
I have never seen Boykins play like this. Chauncey used to absolutely abuse him in the post and of course he couldn’t guard Rip. I think I’m starting to miss that guy.
Also, IMO JJ has played like garbage tonight, and Daye seemed to be fitting in much better with MFWB. Not sure why Q switched Daye out for JJ a minute ago.
Crap. Huge swing there.
I was thinking the same thing Gabe. At least Daye’s length can distract all those shooters.
Wow, that floater was beautiful for Will.
OMGWB!
ARGH! How many shots can go in and out?
how did that not go in
can’t the league do something about mike miller’s hair. it is worse than varejaiow
Andy, if they weren’t going to do anything about Drew Gooden’s ducktail then they won’t do anything about Miller’s ponytail and scraggly beard.
charlie vanillawafer with the defensive bebound?
No foul there on Ben?
CV got fouled on that missed rebound.
win or lose, you cant ask for better games from Stuck and Bynum. for a minute I thought Boykins was going to show them up.
Good defense there!
Arenas scares me.
Ugh. Mini-choke by BG. Subjectively, it seems like he misses a lot more FT’s then his % would indicate.
Uh, the OTHER Ben is supposed to split free throws!
i think the least that stern could do would be to fine miller.
Villanueva in the last five:
60% FG
1.8 3PG
23 ppg
5.6 rpg
1 s
1 b
Man, CV came back in after picking up his 5th and was ice cold. Sucks, we could have used him, too.
mike miller looks like he is on his way to an ICP show.
what is he thinking? i get kmarts tattoo. i even get rodman. i don’t get the mike miller thing.
That missed free throw is looking bad, now.
MFBG
damn nice shot bg.
Gordon! That’s why we gave you the big bucks this summer.
Thank you, Ben Gordon.
That shot was dumb as hell. BG made it, but that was not a good decision.
SUPER FIGHTING PISTON!
MEGA BEN!
http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/4292/bengordonmaverickhunter.png
I believe.
i have to admit joe d. made two good signings that i didn’t get at the time at all. the ben gordon one in particular. he is seriously underrated.
I love our new team.. imagine how good they’ll be after a couple of years playing together! :~)
Smart foul to send Haywood to the line.
i feel a palming call coming
Haywood hits both of them. Damn.
Only catching last 6mins. Ben Gordon is unbelievable.
What a dumb foul by Stevenson
We got this!
Ben Gordon I think I love you
Ben might have choked on that free throw earlier, but now he wants to seal this bad boy.
Any win on the road without Rip and Tay is a night of magic.
This loss is Flip’s Fault. Good job, Pistons.
*whew
I’m just happy the team was able to overcome it’s “One Bad Quarter Does Us In” thing it had going.
Win!
Nice job by our guys to come back after that terrible start to the 3rd quarter.
YAY! Nice to get a road win. MFWB saved us from an 3rd quarter uber-collapse.
any win is a good win this year. and that makes it better as a fan. survived the terrible quarter syndrome.
Out of the 36 qtrs of basketball we have played thus far, I can count on 1 hand how many qtrs we have actually lost.
@scntfc
it would have to be a really big hand, with meaty fingers.
Ok, I exagerated. but for the most part every game has been winnable. Of the 4 losses you can usually point to one qtr. (usually the 3rd) and say had we kept our poise there we woulda’ won. our only ugly loss was in ORL.
CV Gordon and Stuck played 39+ mins tonight? fuck, i hope they hold up tomorrow against Dallas.
I’m very happy to be 5-4 considering we have a new coach, a bunch of new players and Rip/Tay have only combined to play 4 games.
night of magic. I wasn’t sure about our signings, but BG and CV are clutch, have heart, and are working hard on D. I like this team. Stuck also played well (palming notwithstanding). He quietly played good D.
Also, I thought you guys who follow nfl/lions would enjoy this
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/nfl_players_mentor_troubled
Not sure if anyone else is watching Milwaukee, but Brandon Jennings is gonna be the 2010 ROY. At least it wasn’t just the Pistons he lit up.
Just looked at the box score: leading rebounder - Stuckey at 9. That’s some good ballin’, boy.
up and down game in terms of big lead changes, then got tight down the stretch… sick game, exciting, fun… i missed that last year
and yea stuckey with 9 boards is nice
It’s nice to win close, exciting games — after they are over. Although yeah, a blowout would have allowed more rest for the game tomorrow.
For those who doubt the +/- stat, I’ll note that the leader for Detroit in that category tonight, indeed, the high man for both teams, was Austin Daye, who got a +9 in 4:43 of play: he took no shots or FTs, and the only non-zero in his stat line was one rebound.
Also intereting that our top two rebounders were . . . Stuckey and Bynum, at 9 and 8 respectively. Oh, and both CV and Little Ben shot a higher percentage from 3-point land than 2-pointers.
Anyway, good to get this W, because as others have mentioned, the upcoming schedule is really brutal. When are we getting Rip back?
Toledo Joe, won’t see Hamilton for another week at least, that’s what Langlois said in tonight’s chat on pistons.com.
Another quote after Bobcats game:
“Saw Rip Hamilton after the game and talked with him for a minute on his way out, asked if the ankle was getting better. He gave a lukewarm yes, sort of, but when I asked if he thought he’d be back for the West Coast trip that starts Tuesday, he said he didn’t think that was going to happen.”
Maybe he’ll play against Clippers?
Thanks for the answer, L&CR. This has been longer than I had thought it would be, but the main thing is to get him back healthy. Still angry that our roster is such that he had to be in at the end of a blowout.
Talk about an exciting win. However this game never should have come down to the wire. If we had just a bit more scoring to push the lead from 15 to 20 in the second quarter, then the game instantly becomes a blowout. With that said, I’ll still take the win considering Rip is out. Hopefully we won’t be blowing anymore major leads once he can offer a consistent midrange option.
On a side note, OKC is starting to look legit. They beat SA on the road, and the Right DeJuan only had 1 rebound. Granted he had 7 points in 11 minutes, so really not much to harp there. Ginobili on the other hand, had a terrible night going 0-8 and scoring only on free throws. And for what its worth, SA’s starting SG was -20.
HOLY SHIT!
Sorry to double post, but I just had to show this.
Brandon. Fucking. Jennings.
http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=291114015
Man I was mad when Milkwaukee drafted him right before us, but I had no idea he was this good. Can you say AI 2.0? He’s got the speed, he’s a better shooter and seems to be a fairly good setup man.
I’m happy with tonight. Got to watch the 2nd half on a real TV (thanks to living outside of DC) and was psyched that we didn’t give up as the third quarter got ugly. Mani-Festing Will Bynum came alive, Ben Gordon earned his salary, and the team (the team!) hung in here for the win. The team (the team!) didn’t surrender, didn’t fall apart, and, sure it might have been a blowout if Hamilton could’ve spelled our guards a bit, if Tayshaun could’ve started and let Daye and JJ fight it out for minutes, but, without those options, the team still hung together and won.
Midway through the fourth quarter, I thought about what Q said earlier this year about not being satisfied with a well-played loss and said, “Sure, I’m glad they came back and tied, but let’s see them get the win. Let’s get them out on this brutal road trip knowing not only that they fought back, but that they fought back and won.”
Stuckey is fourth amongst guards in the league for rebounds a game, behind igoudala, terrence williams and joe johnson
that’s ahead of guys like kobe, ariza, artest, wade and and j-kidd
When was the last time a rookie dropped a double nickel? Jennings is cold blooded.
Jennings is 3 off of Wilt’s record of 58. As PG4L used to say, day-um.
Reading the Detroit News story of the game, I can’t help but think maybe we got a $4-$5M/yr coach for $2M.
Also, for the better informed out there, what do you think about the +/- system for BB? Just want to hear some opinions…my take is it would have been out there in the stats sooner if coaches felt it mattered. The NHL has had +/- in place for what, almost 20 years now?
@V re: +/-
Like any statistic, +/- can be useful in the right context. I believe that it is more vulnerable than other basketball stats to small sample size; it tends to vary a lot between seasons for an individual player. Also, +/- is most helpful when it is adjusted, which tries to limit how the contributions of the other players on the court influence an individual’s rating.
I don’t think it is fair to dismiss it because coaches haven’t been using it. Very few coaches seem to have a great understanding of advanced basketball statistics, even simple ones like offensive efficiency, point differential, and eFG%. That doesn’t mean we can’t learn from the statistics, though. Offensive efficiency tells us more than points per game, point differential tells us more than wins and losses, and eFG% tells us more than FG%.
Team’s front offices are getting more into using advanced statistics to evaluate basketball. Dallas was using Wayne Winston for a while. Dean Oliver (the godfather of basketball stats) consults for the Nuggets. Most notably, Daryl Morey, the Houston GM, is a huge proponent of using statistical models. There are a fair number of teams with someone on staff doing this sort of work, or at least with a consultant. I don’t believe the Pistons are one of those teams, unfortunately.
statismotics.
Wait, does Chauncey have a neckbeard now?
???
!
?????
So I saw some potential trades up there…but had Tayshaun not been injured, has Prince for Okafor been considered? From what I’ve read/heard, New Orleans is looking for cap space to sign a swingman for CP3…so had Tay not been injured, they could have gotten a contract with one year left on his contract and a potential swingman regardless. Tay would fit in well in New Orleans, and when you compare stats it actually works out pretty well for both teams. we’d probably have to give up kwame too though as additional expiring cash at the end of the season but that doesn’t bother me at all.
OT: Anyone vote for the All-Star game yet? My line-ups:
West: CP3, Kobe, Durant, Melo, Amar’e
East: Wade, BG, Lebron, Bosh, Howard
Joe Johnson will probably get in over Ben Gordon, Atlanta is having a better year and people have heard his name much more in the media. My guess is that Arenas is the other guard. Other than that, I don’t see any problems, assuming no injuries.
I mean, it’s really early for the all-star game, but I’m thinking:
East: Jennings, D-Wade, Lebron, Bosh, Howard
West: CP3, Kobe, Melo, Dirk, Kaman
Rookies aren’t eligible for the all star game. I believe that change was made a bit after Isiah made it. Now they are chosen (by I believe the league) for the rookie sophomore game