Quick Blogfest Announcement: If you bought tickets for Blogfest this Sunday, we’re meeting at 11am in the Comcast Pavilion. We have a few things up our sleeves, including some prizes and some other surprises I can’t really talk about just yet. I know 11am is two hours before tip-off, but it’ll be worth it. And now back to our regularly scheduled broadcasting …
The Wizards are in town, and they’re (almost) at full strength with Gilbert Arenas back. Granted, Arenas has been coming off the bench for them since returning to action, so that means Rodney Stuckey and Co. will have their hands full tonight. Fortunately for the Pistons, Rip Hamilton is expected to return — he’s missed eight of the last nine with a sore hip and hasn’t played since March 29.
The Pistons and Wiz have split their first two games, and tonight’s game should be a good one. I’ll be at the Palace filing pre-game, halftime and postgame reports for HOOPSWORLD, and as usual, leave your thoughts in the comments.
The game has already started — those 7pm tip-offs really throw me off — but here’s the belated game-thread. The Wizards don’t have Gilbert Arenas, but they’re still 15-14 on the year thanks to Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison stepping up their game. For some reason, the Wizards always play the Pistons tough — they’re 5-2 against Detroit the last two years. Expect this one to stay close the whole game. As always, leave your thoughts in the comments.
Anyways, remember that low-post dominance that the Pistons displayed in their dismantling of the Pacers? Apparently the towering, intimidating presence of Brendan Haywood [really hope you’re getting the sarcasm there] was enough to end that notion in the early going of Tuesday night’s 104-99 loss to the Wizards. The Pistons fell far behind early while pounding the rock, misfiring jumpers from outside, and repeatedly turning the ball over. If it weren’t for Tayshaun’s outside shot, the Boys in Blue could have been down 20 by the end of the first quarter. To make matters worse, the ‘Zards actually increased their lead following Antawn Jamison’s nasty knee knock with DeShawn Stevenson. Jamison, who destroyed the Pistons with his 35 points last Friday, left the game with 6+ minutes remaining in the first quarter and did not return.
Neither Matt nor I have much to say about this one. In short, a combination of hot shooting by the Wizards and pathetic interior defense by the Pistons led to an insurmountable hole. And despite finally committing to dumping the ball down low, Blue just didn’t have enough to right earlier wrongs.
[Edit: Check out DBB reader Garold’s rant/stat-based recap in the comments for more on the nuts and bolts of last night’s fiasco.]
Since my limited attention span will not allow for much more wallowing, a few subplots:
Wizards fans are disappointing.
With their team deconstructing a fellow Eastern Conference front-runner — hitting shot after shot and making some key defensive plays to start the game –- fans at the Verizon Center managed only token applause. Sadly, even in the presence of another great game by Gilbert, it remained quiet throughout.
This may be sour grapes talking (let’s be honest, of course it is), but I seem to remember a young Pistons team — a team that had experienced a tough playoff loss the year before (like the Wizards), but possessed an exciting style of play (like the Wizards) and a few rising NBA talents (like the Wizards) — being in a very similar situation four or five years ago. The main difference? The Palace was always rocking. In Detroit, the fans committed early on in the run and stayed loud and proud until… well, now. You have to wonder what Wizards fans are waiting for.
No mas.
At some point during the second quarter, Flip Saunders became so fed up with his team that he sent out Carlos Delfino, Flip Murray, Lindsey Hunter, Antonio McDyess, and Dale Davis. As you may have guessed, this combination resulted in the Wizards stretching their lead. If Darko was referred to as the “Human Victory Cigar,” perhaps Flip Murray should be the “Human White Flag.”
Rip Hamilton needs to shut the hell up.
He’s the first-half team MVP and probably Blue’s only All-Star rep, so attribute my section title more to frustration than to any dislike of Rip. But seriously, Rip looks about as angry out there as we are at home. The difference, of course, is that aside from scaring the shit out of my dog, my string of expletives have relatively little consequence; whereas Rip has given up the second most technical free throws in the league. He’s damn near Sheed-esque this season.
Regardless of how poor the league’s officiating can be, this whole “giving-the-other-team-two-to-three-points-per-game-while-losing-by-single-digits” thing is getting out of hand. The Pistons, unlike in years past when they were atop the league in point differential, are not good enough to give away points. Hell, right now, they may not be good enough to finish .500 for the month of January – tomorrow night’s matchup against the Nets will decide that fate. [In case you are wondering, the last time the Pistons had a record under .500 for a single month was in February, 2004; not a bad year for the Pistons, mind you.]
Is the clock striking midnight on Wiz’ Cinderella?
Look, Gilbert Arenas is a nice player. And should he prove to be dominant for more than half a season, then I’ll entertain including his name with Kobe, Tim Duncan, Dwyane Wade (sigh), et al. But right now, at 11:50pm on Tuesday, January 30, 2007, let me be the first blogger (or at least the first blogger I’m aware of) to say that I’m tired of Gilbert Arenas. Again, sour grapes abound, but keep the effing mouthpiece in your mouth already. The fully-clothed showers, “Hibatchi!”, the All-Star vote campaign, the Team USA vendettas… it is all too much. Gilbert is the NBA equivalent of a Jerry Bruckheimer movie: It looks slick as hell. It’s highlights gets people talking. There may even be a few one-liners worth taking home. But we’re months from summer and people are already tired of hearing about it. And we know that, ultimately, it won’t be taking home any awards.
The Pistons and Wizards meet up tonight for the final time this season. The Pistons took the first two meetings in November, but the Wiz extracted revenge in a close game at the Palace on Friday. Should the Pistons and Wiz finish with the same regular season record, this game will be a deciding factor if the Pistons get home-court advantage in the playoffs.
It’s hard not to admire what the Wizards have been doing lately, but I’m still confident Detroit can get into the same type of groove once the roster and rotations gets a chance to gel. From the sounds of things, though, not all Wizards fans are too worried about Detroit. From Bullets Forever:
We kind of did this already Friday, but let me reiterate that, of the contending teams in the East, Detroit scares me the least. The Wizards match up better with Detroit than either Cleveland, Miami (a top team in name only), or Chicago. This is especially true when they play Chris Webber at center, because Antawn Jamison can now guard a player who won’t pound him inside. There’s a reason why Antonio McDyess dominated the Wizards in the last matchup, while Webber struggled.
That’s not to say Detroit isn’t a formidable team. I’d just rather see them than Cleveland or Chicago.
Detroit’s bench doesn’t scare anyone and in that sense, the Pistons are very similar to the Wiz. Flip Murray and Nazr Mohammed don’t play anymore, Lindsey Hunter is a capable defender and gives Gilbert a hard time but he’s not a scorer and Carlo Delfino’s nice games come and go. Whover gets the most from their bench tonight will win the game.
Hmm… I guess not everyone is worried about McDyess. What’s Wizznutzz saying?
Wizards just cant be stopped whether its against “Leprechaun IV: All QUiet on the DeLonte Western Front” or the Throwdown in Motown. Hey is CWebb on the Tyra Banks diet??? 9 wins over .500 is like Ledell Eackles genome: uncharted territory! SOmetimez it doesnt even seem like Wiz r so good but just that suddenly everyone else seems so ugly around them. Its like the reason Steve Czaban has so many friends!
Hard to argue with that. Meanwhile, the D.C. Sports Bog presents us this video of Chauncey Billups and his Tahitian Noni juice:
Persistence and Noni juice? I’m pretty persistent, I think, which means I might be just a few glasses of Noni juice short of an NBA contract. Oh, Chauncey also says “It keeps you stronger longer,” without specifying what exactly he’s talking about, although I think I might have gotten an e-mail about that.
I think Dan Steinberg and I are on the same email list. In any case, this is one of those games that you should be excited about. Ball tips at at 7 pm, and it’s on NBA TV for all you out-of-towners. As usual, leave your game thoughts in the comments.
In a departure from our usually verbose recaps, I’m just going to point out a few details about Friday’s game:
Free throws: the Pistons shot 68% from the line. Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton combined to miss five. If they made three of those, this game goes to overtime.
Goon Squad, anyone? The Wizards can run with anyone, so why not throw a curveball and play physical? Instead, Jason Maxiell played three minutes and Dale Davis played zero.
A three pointer? You’re down one with 15 seconds left, so you take a low-percentage three-pointer? It didn’t look like it was the designed play, but I’m confused why Rasheed Wallace was at the top of the key in the first place. If you need two for the win, wouldn’t putting Rasheed on the block — where he can hit his patented turnaround jump shot or at the very least by in position for a rebound — be most beneficial? I can’t tell — is Rasheed’s pride or Flip’s coaching at fault?
But I do want to stress one more point: I really think the Wizards are the best team in the East right now, so I’m not torn up about this close loss. The Wizards have certain limitations that I expect will cause problems for them in the playoffs, but they’re on a great run right now and are rightfully playing with a good deal of confidence. With time, the Pistons should be able to get into that type of groove, too, but they’re not there yet. In the meantime, I’m eager to see how they fare in the rematch this Tuesday in D.C.
But as much fun as I have watching the guy, what worries me the most is how he carries a grudge. After being cut from Team USA during the summer, he’s gone on a revenge tour against Suns coach Mike D’Antoni and Blazers coach Nate McMillan, who were assistants to Mike Krzyzewski. He already lit up the Suns once for 54 points, predicted another 50-point outburst against the Blazers and is on the record saying he’d give up a year of his NBA career just for the chance to go back to college and take it to Coach K at Duke.
How does this tie into tonight’s game? Well, Gil was apparently upset at Flip Saunders last year when Flip played him only nine minutes in the All-Star game, and he took it out on the Pistons by winning in March to complete a three-game sweep for the Pistons. Granted, Gil was voted into the All-Star Game as a starter this year, so I’m hoping he’s already forgotten about whatever chip he put on his shoulder.
Not to be lost in the individual battle, of course, is the fact the Pistons and Wizards are currently No. 1 and No. 2 in the East. Detroit beat Washington earlier this year in November — their first regular-season win against them since 2004-2005 — but that was back when Arenas (and the rest of his teammates) were still rounding into form. Now, they’re as much of a contender in this watered-down Eastern Conference as anyone.
Game starts at 7 pm, an hour earlier than usual — set your Tivo’s (or get going to the Palace) accordingly. As usual, leave your game thoughts in the comments.
“He can shoot. He’s legit. I’m gonna get him though. I don’t know if he could get me right now. I don’t know if he could beat me right now, especially if he was out there grinding all night, chasing (Washington guard) Gilbert (Arenas) all night. I know he can’t make 19 of 19.” — Chauncey Billups, after making 18 of 19 free throws, responding to coach Flip Saunders’ proclamation that he would beat the Pistons point guard in a foul-shooting contest. Saunders holds Minnesota’s career free-throw record.
An 89-percent foul shooter on the season, Chauncey Billups said assistant coach Ron Harper gave him a hard time about the one foul shot he missed Saturday. “Ron Harper asked me whether I was point-shaving,” Billups said. “I’m like (dang), dude.”
My, how things have changed. Earlier, we were all expecting the fall of the Empire. Now, the team captain (rumored to be leaving) is accepting a free-throw shooting challenge from his coach. Pretty soon they’ll be having team pillow fights on Roundball One and travelling in groups to the bathroom.
Winning (and maybe a little Schadenfreude) does wonders for team solidarity,…or at least the perceptions of. huh?
The Bobcats may still have a lousy record, but they’re a pretty fun team to watch with their core of Emeka Okafor in the middle, Gerald Wallace and Adam Morrison (who has movie star looks) at the forward spots and a pair of point guards in Raymond Felton and Brevin KnightYou may remember, both myself as well as several DBB readers covet Knight should Charlotte put him on the block. both in the starting lineup.
Nevertheless, Charlotte lost in the clutch against Detroit, who beat them out in the fourth quarter with both their veteran guile as well as a nicely-timed infusion of energy from the bench. From the Free Press:
That’s about when the Pistons received contributions from one of their own reserves, swingman Carlos Delfino, who scored six points in less than two minutes to help the Pistons reclaim the lead.
He was an energetic force on the court, scoring mostly around the basket, including a fast-break reverse layup and a fast-break dunk.
This is the second straight game Delfino has contributed, and he’s starting to show he can handle important minutes.
“Carlos is a player that gave us great minutes, man, great minutes off the bench,” Pistons guard Chauncey Billups said. “He is aggressive, attacking the basket, slashing, doing the things that he does.
Flip Saunders had this to say about Delfino in the Detroit News:
“He finished the game and I think he’s getting confidence in himself and the guys are getting confidence in him,” Saunders said. “When he plays with that kind of energy, it gives us a lot of flexibility.”
And, just to be thorough,Come now, you didn’t really think I’d pass up on a chance to bask in DBB favorite Delfino’s day in the sun, did you? I may as well point out that Del-Phenom was featured prominently in MLive’s headline, which proclaimed: “Pistons win behind Delfino’s big fourth quarter.”
Of course, there were other highlights, including Rip Hamilton’s 26-point effort (fueled in part by a perfect 8-8 night at the line) as well as Tayshaun Prince’s 21 points, but as many of you would expect I was most excited to see Delfino receive a solid 20 minutes of action. If the team is going to give Jason Maxiell DNP after DNP, at least one of the young players is getting some burn.
Both the Wizards and Pistons were playing their fourth game in five days, but the Pistons had the added disadvantage of playing on the road. No matter: they still found the energy to win a shootout. Of course, this game wasn’t quite as close as the score suggests.
You know how when a team is losing big in the final minute they just keep chucking three-pointers when they have the ball and foul to stop the clock when they don’t? Well, that’s exactly what happened in this one, and as a result the two teams combined for 25 points in the final 59 seconds!
That’s right: in the final minute the Wizards scored 15 points (one dunk, three consecutive three-pointers and a couple of jumpers, including one at the buzzer), but in doing so they also put Detroit on the line 12 times, with Rip going 1-2 and Chauncey Billups 9-10. The late action helped Chauncey pad his stats to finish with 29 points to go with five boards and seven assists.
Tayshaun had 21 points for the second consecutive night, shooting 3-4 from three-point land. He’s shooting a career-high .487 from beyond the arc on the year while averaging a career-high 2.9 three-point attempts per game — it’s gotten to the point that I expect his open looks to go in this year.
Of course, we’ve known for years that Prince is untouchable once he heats up…No, this never gets old…
For the Wizards, Gilbert Arenas had 19 in the first half but only 28 for the game, though he did contribute 10 assists. Caron Butler, a thorn in Detroit’s side the past couple of years, chipped in 25 points and eight boards. But playing four games in five nights is draining, and Detroit benefited more from a solid contribution from their bench: Washington got just 12 points out of their reserves while the Pistons had 32, including 10 from Antonio McDyess, nine from Flip Murray and seven from Carlos Delfino.
Detroit travels to Miami to face the dinged up Heat next, but they have until Thursday to get ready. It’ll be in front of a national audience on TNT, and even though Shaquille O’Neal won’t be playing, any game featuring Dwyane Wade is worth getting up for.
One more thing: remember those early-season struggles? They’re getting smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror thanks to what’s grown into a six-game winning streak. And for at least the next few days, they’ve moved back into familiar territory atop the Central Division, albeit still sharing the spot with the Cavaliers.
Ian and I may have been AWOL this weekend, but there were plenty of fans and writers who weren’t. Since they actually had a chance to watch the games, let me borrow some of their observations.
First, Friday’s game, in which the Pistons defeated the Wizards for the first time since 2004-05 to the tune of 100-91:
Lindsey Hunter was the first guard off the bench when Chauncey Billups got into early foul trouble. Lindsey’s defense was just what the Pistons needed with three steals, a blocked shot and 12 timely points.
Wallace and Prince each scored 20 points Friday night, and on most possessions there seemed to be a concerted effort to get Wallace the ball early on, something point guard Chauncey Billups said the team must continue to do if teams go small.
“So once they start going really small, even if they try to front, it still doesn’t help them because he is just so long and we just go to him,” Billups said. “And if they don’t double, then they got trouble. And if they do and he kicks it out, they got trouble either way, so pick your poison.”
More from Silva:
Another way to beat opponents’ small-ball tactics has been the Pistons’ zone defense, which they played most of the second half.
“Zone was very, very good for us,” Saunders said. “I guess through nine games the one constant factor has been that when we played the zone for extended periods of time that is probably when we’ve played our best basketball.”
Saunders said that when the Pistons play zone, they tend to communicate better.
Yao Ming put up 33 points and 16 rebounds against Detroit, but not enough to beat our boys in D-town. Yao is averaging 26.4 ppg and 10.4 rpg. This man is having one hell of a season. Its a shame he’s going to hurt is toe at some point…
Although Rip led the team with 30, Rasheed was the most valuable player of the game. His defense down the stretch helped the Pistons pull away in the fourth quarter holding Yao to just two points.
More from Basketballr:
Rip Hamilton had one hell of a performance in that same game against Houston: 30 points, 7 boards, and 8 assists. Keep it up, Rip. While our defense stabilizes and continues to learn, we’ll need big offense out of you. Kudos, brother.
The Pistons’ energy picked up with 5:11 left in the second half. That’s when the officials called a technical foul on the Detroit bench. When asked to clarify who it was on, official Leon Wood said “all of them.”
But at halftime, the referees had the scorers credit the technical to Wallace, giving him his fifth this season.
“We’re talking to the league as we speak,” Saunders said after the game. “If anything, it should have gone to (assistant coach) Ron (Harper).”
As stated, both Matt and I will be out of town this weekend, so a recap of the weekend’s festivities will have to wait until Sunday evening. But feel free to stop in and share comments having to do with each of the weekend’s games.
Tonight’s foe: What better way to cure your losing ways then to play a team that you weren’t able to beat at all last season.As Matt and I witnessed firsthand last season. (That’s sarcasm, folks.) Agent Zero and the rubber bullets come to the Palace this evening, and — unless the Pistons can find some defense — the score may end up in the 150s.
Note: Picture courtesy of the genius that is Wizznutzz.
Why? 36 points, 11 assists, 7 rebounds. ‘Nuff said.
[First things first — the game starts at 7pm, it was changed to accommodate ESPN. If you’re going, get there early to get 
Pistons spay Bobcats: 
Ian and I may have been AWOL this weekend, but there were plenty of fans and writers who weren’t. Since they actually had a chance to watch the games, let me borrow some of their observations.
On Saturday, the Pistons evened their record at 5-5 with a win over 
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