Detroit Bad Boys - Injured Corey Maggette hoping to return on 6-game road tripA community of Detroit Pistons fans since 2005https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48119/detroitbadboys-fave.png2012-11-14T10:00:35-05:00http://www.detroitbadboys.com/rss/stream/33550592012-11-14T10:00:35-05:002012-11-14T10:00:35-05:00Maggette says he is ready to make debut tonight
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<figcaption>Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE</figcaption>
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<p>Injured reserve small forward feels good to go after first contact practice. Says calf injury is fully healed and now it is all about proper conditioning. </p> <p>I'm not sure that <span>Corey Maggette</span> could be considered Detroit's knight in shining armor, but the winless <a href="https://www.detroitbadboys.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Pistons</a> are about to get additional scoring prowess off their bench as the reserve small forward thinks he is finally read to make his season debut.</p>
<p>Asked if he was ready to play, Maggette told the <a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20121114/SPORTS03/311140093/Detroit-Pistons-corey-Maggette-thinks-he-ll-debut-tonight-at-76ers?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CDetroit%20Pistons">Detroit Free Press</a>:</p>
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<p>"I think so," he said. "I think the biggest thing is just conditioning. It's going to take awhile just getting back into game condition, but at the end of the day, it's up to Arnie (Kander)."</p>
<p>Coach <span>Lawrence Frank</span> also was encouraged by Maggette's first contact practice but stopped short of committing to his return tonight, reserving judgment until talking to Kander, the team's strength and conditioning coach.</p>
<p>"He looked good," Frank said. "We'll kind of evaluate it after practice, and we'll just figure it out as we move forward when we're going to activate him."</p>
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<p>With Maggette back some slight tweaks will need to be made to the playing rotation, as I think Frank intends to use the longtime player.</p>
<p>And I think that is a large part of the reason we have seen more and more of <span>Kyle Singler</span> playing the shooting guard position with <span>Tayshaun Prince</span> or Jonas Jerebko playing at small forward.</p>
<p>Singler is certainly the most consistent bench player for the Pistons and I don't see him losing any of his playing time. Jerebko has had his ups and downs but he has been one of the lone bright spots on this Pistons team so far this season.</p>
<p>As much as it pains me to say it I think this further cements <span>Kim English</span> outside of the primary playing rotation with the primary backups being Drummond at center, Jerebko at power forward, Maggette at small forward, Singler at shooting guard and <span>Will Bynum</span> at point guard.</p>
<p>If this plays out as I've outlined it certainly won't win head coach Lawrence Frank many fans in the DBB community but, hell, at this point I just want to see a victory.</p>
https://www.detroitbadboys.com/2012/11/14/3644636/corey-maggette-thinks-hell-be-ready-to-play-tonight-against-sixersSean Corp2012-11-02T13:14:18-04:002012-11-02T13:14:18-04:00Who loses minutes when Maggette returns?
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<figcaption>Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE</figcaption>
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<p>Pistons reserve guard/forward says he is close to returning from his calf injury and hopes to play on team's upcoming West Coast swing. But who is going to be the casualty to make room for Maggette in the rotation?</p> <p><span>Corey Maggette</span> says <a href="http://www.mlive.com/pistons/index.ssf/2012/11/injured_detroit_pistons_forwar.html">he is close to returning</a> to the lineup and could play during the team's six-game, nine-day west coast trip.</p>
<p>The team is noncommittal, but it does say he is "day-to-day."</p>
<p>I'm glad to see that Maggette's close to returning, but at the same time the situation has me a little worried. After all, if and when Maggette returns someone else is going to have to lose time to accommodate him.</p>
<p>So who is going to be displaced from the playing rotation?</p>
<p>Let's take a look at the minutes from Detroit's guards and small forwards during the opening-night loss at Houston:</p>
<p><span>Tayshaun Prince</span> -- 32 minutes<br><span>Brandon Knight</span> -- 37<br><span>Rodney Stuckey</span> -- 37<br><span>Kyle Singler</span> -- 16 <br><span>Will Bynum</span> -- 13<br><span>Kim English</span> -- 14</p>
<p>First we must acknowledge that, yes, the reserves largely outplayed the starters against the <a href="https://www.thedreamshake.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Rockets</a>, but no, the starters will not see a significant reduction in playing time.</p>
<p>I would also say that as good as the reserves performed on the floor, it would have been helpful to have a veteran who could slow the game down, keep things humming and maybe get to the free-throw line during the times when the offense was either stagnant or the players were all over the place and there was no cohesion.</p>
<p>So who loses minutes? My preference would be the starters but I think that is unrealistic.</p>
<p>If the team could shave off the minutes it allocated to the starters by five minutes each for Knight and Stuckey and maybe two minutes for Prince that already opens up 12 minutes to give to Maggette or others.</p>
<p>But I'd be surprised if Maggette only played 12 minutes and expect it would be much closer to 20. It's less likely that Bynum loses any minutes because he is the team's only backup point guard.</p>
<p>That means both Singler and English, who played well against Houston, stand to lose significant time, or perhaps English falls out of the rotation completely.</p>
<p>A lot will be based on defense -- the defense provided by Knight and Stuckey in the starting lineup and the defensive matchups in the game.</p>
https://www.detroitbadboys.com/2012/11/2/3590936/corey-maggette-hopes-to-return-to-lineup-during-west-coast-swingSean Corp2012-10-20T12:13:43-04:002012-10-20T12:13:43-04:00Corey Maggette to have MRI on injured calf
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<figcaption>Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE</figcaption>
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<p>Pistons forward Corey Maggette will have an MRI on his injured left calf as soon as the swelling from the strain goes down in a couple of days. </p> <p>Veteran forward <span>Corey Maggette</span> left Thursday night's beating against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.hothothoops.com/">Miami Heat</a> with a left calf strain. Although he left Miami on crutches, he was walking under his own power on Friday and is officially <a target="_blank" href="http://detroit.sbnation.com/pistons/2012/10/20/3529642/pistons-injury-report-corey-maggette-calf-strain-status">considered day-to-day</a>. <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.detroitbadboys.com/">Pistons</a> beat writer Vince Ellis tweeted Saturday morning that Maggette will receive an MRI on the calf in a couple of days when the swelling goes down:</p>
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<p>Corey Maggette said he will have an MRI on strained left calf when swelling goes down in couple days. Routine precaution. <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Pistons">#Pistons</a></p>
— Vincent Ellis (@Vincent_Ellis56) <a data-datetime="2012-10-20T15:51:15+00:00" href="https://twitter.com/Vincent_Ellis56/status/259683203722407936">October 20, 2012</a>
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<p><a href="http://twitter.com/Vincent_Ellis56/status/259683694489513984" target="_blank">Maggette told Ellis</a> that he's he's feeling better, but wouldn't speculate on the seriousness of the injury.</p>
<p>Maggette appeared in just 32 games last season due to an achilles strain, hamstring injury and a lower back contusion. Despite his injury plagued history, Maggette was said to be in excellent shape so far this training camp thanks to "the <a href="http://www.detroitbadboys.com/2012/7/3/3134820/2012-nba-trade-rumors-corey-maggette-contract-detroit-pistons" target="_blank">Michael Jordan of trainers.</a>"</p>
https://www.detroitbadboys.com/2012/10/20/3530328/pistons-injury-report-corey-maggette-calf-strain-statusPackey