Hawks 116, Pistons 84: Well, that wasn't nice

I was finally able to get to my first Pistons game of the season and the Pistons treated it like some art exhibit -- standing around and admiring all the highlight Hawks flying by. The Pistons led 2-0 on a nice layup by Brandon Knight and then Atlanta tied the game and then it was over. That's all I'd like to remember.

Unfortunately, I recall quite vividly the Pistons playing one of their worst games of the season, falling behind by 19 after a quarter, 30 at the half, and as many as 41. Austin Daye was lethargic, pouty and terrible. Rodney Stuckey was passive and invisible. Brandon Knight only shot nine times, but it felt like he was unsuccessfully trying to show off for me. Jason Maxiell got abused by Josh Smith. Charlie Villanueva shot okay and found himself in lucky position a few times, but he's a lost soul on defense, as we all know. And even Greg Monroe, who finished with a nice final line, was less than himself.

Overall, it's hard to believe that a night after putting up (possibly) one of the best shooting games in NBA history, the Pistons could look so poorly. But they succeeded in one thing: looking exactly the opposite of a team not ready to pack it in.

• At least Vernon Macklin played half the game and almost had the double-double I anticipated (9 points and 8 rebounds). He needs to play 30 minutes per game the rest of the season.
• Russell Walker had a career high 15 points. I was so infuriated when he pulled up INSIDE the three-point line for that buzzer-beater at the half, even though I know it's a lot harder to know where you are on the court when you're going full speed and going up against an expiring clock. I really just didn't want to be down 30 at the half a night after leading by 30+ at the half. It was a rough first half for me personally, too.
• Jerebko looked like himself -- beautiful and all over the place. 7 points and 8 rebounds in 18-plus minutes confirms that.
• Tayshaun Prince was in uniform (or at least Pistons warm ups), but didn't play. He was staring off into space the whole game, kind of like most everyone else on the Pistons. Ben Wallace traveled with the team, but was in dapper attire.
• I hadn't seen Jerry Stackhouse play in-person in 10 years.
• Tracy McGrady looked like he was playing with a troll face the whole game. I wanted to punch him in it. Damnit, he played well, though (17 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists in 17 minutes)
• During the Hawks' introductions, Knight was doing defensive sliding drills around the key (and his teammates). It was ... weird.
• The Hawks PA guy is an extremely broke version of our own John Mason.
• It wasn't my first time, but Philips Arena is a nice venue. It was especially nice to go up to the concessions to see the standard Bud Light and SHOCK TOP on tap. I mean, I like Shock Top and always like something different than Bud Light.
• Box Score

• Roll Call: aussiepiston, Packey, W. Stones, The Boourns, Ra's Head, JoeDip, -PS-, Fuad Shalhout, OK from J, Kriz, Danny D, Toledo Joe, Lemins, tads, curlyfries, bugman222, MSUDersh, garrettelliott, Rban, Shinons*, grantlp13, freywagg, mcflies, Trout Jefferson, brgulker, TDP, MrHappyMushroom, Supa Dupe
  Total Users: 28
  Total Posts: 296
  Total Threads: 1

  Name	# of Posts
  The Boourns	81
  Ra's Head	40
  tads	29
  -PS-	23
  curlyfries	14
  grantlp13	12
  W. Stones	12
  Packey	11
  mcflies	11
  Trout Jefferson	9
  TDP	9
  Rban	7
  garrettelliott	6
  Toledo Joe	6
  Fuad Shalhout	4
  brgulker	3
  bugman222	3
  aussiepiston	3
  Kriz	2
  Lemins	2
  Shinons*	2
  MrHappyMushroom	1
  Supa Dupe	1
  JoeDip	1
  Danny D	1
  freywagg	1
  MSUDersh	1
  OK from J	1