PistonsBlog

The Pistons season ended last night as they lost to the Boston Celtics four games to two.  It’s hard not to be happy about another solid season, you just wish they could get back over that hump.  Anyway, I can’t complain too much because the Pistons season was much more successful then my first season blogging.  I was supposed to get some help and never did, and in January, I started a new job that pushed this site further to the back of my priorities.

I’m down but not out though.  I have some big plans for the site, it’ll just be a month or two before I can put them into play.  In the meantime, enjoy the finals.  It’s like the 1980s all over again with the Lakers and Celtics in the big series.

Just a few days after dismantling the Spurs, the Pistons went down to Charlotte and knocked off the Bobcats in a tight overtime affair.  Three different Pistons rained in at least 20 points but it was Chauncey Billups who led the way.  He scored 27 and this was on top of his seven assists and four rebounds.  Rip Hamilton also had a fantastic game with 26 points, eight assists and seven rebounds while Tayshaun Prince scored 22.  Antonio MyDyess led things on the glass with eleven rebounds.

What was disconcerting was how poorly the Pistons shot.  They were 38 for 98 from the field but fortunately, they were able to make this up at the charity stripe by making 20 of 21 free throws.  The thirteen steals (Rasheed had four) also helped.

Next up is a game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Gardens.  Hopefully the Pistons can make it three straight with another win.

Happy New Year, and I’m happy to say the Pistons roll continues as they beat up on the Raptors for the eleventh straight win.  All five Pistons starters had nice games in their own way.  Rip Hamilton led the team with 22 points while Chauncey had eighteen points and a team high nine assists.  Rasheed Wallace put 20 points on the board while both Tayshaun Prince and Antonio McDyess racked up doubled figures in rebounds.  Even the rookie, Rodney Stuckey, gave the Pistons some solid production with eight points and six rebounds.  It’s his fifth straight game where he’s played at least 17 minutes so his time on the court is becoming significant.

The Pistons are still the only team in the Central Division with a winning record and they have an already impressive ten game lead.  They have a tough opponent tonight though as they take on the Boston Celtics at home. The Pistons are one of just three teams to beat the Celtics and they’re the only team to beat Boston on their home court.  In the friendly confines of the Palace, I like the Pistons chances tonight.

Chauncey Billups picked up ten assists and scored seventeen points to lead the way for the Pistons last night as they picked up their sixth straight victory.  The win gives them an impressive 6 1/2 game lead in the Central Division and it also firmly entrenches them in the second seed spot in the conference.  The Celtics are still three games away but as soon as they hit a rough patch, I have a feeling the Pistons will be all over them.

Rip Hamilton had a team high 22 points while Antonio MyDyess ruled the glass with nine boards.  Rodney Stuckey had his best game of the season so far (he’s only played three) with seven points and three assists in almost eleven minutes.

Next up for the Pistons are the second place Pacers tomorrow.  If the Pistons can take care of the Pacers, it’ll mean they’ll be the lone team in the division with a winning record again.

Pistons fans have to be happy these days.  Just two days ago, the Pistons handed the Conference leading Boston Celtics their third loss of the season in an exciting game that was in the national spotlight.  With the win, the Pistons now sit in second place in the conference just ahead of the Southeast Conference leading Orlando Magic.

Just as important, Rodney Stuckey has been cleared to practice and play.  It’s unclear how soon we’ll him on the court but this is definitely encouraging news because an already good Pistons team looks to get better in the New Year.

In a cool column on the last draft class that included high school players, Kevin Pelton takes a look at a few guys who are now in their third NBA season.  Last on the list is Amir Johnson who he likens to a Jermaine O’Neal who was blocked from making too much progress early because he played for a veteran team similar to the Pistons.

The Pistons held off the Memphis Grizzlies last night and they did it behind one of Chauncey Billups best game of the season.  He scored 28 points which included a perfect 12 for 12 from the line and he had fourteen assists.  Throw in five rebounds and three steals and you have a guy who put the team on his back to ensure a win.

Richard Hamilton also had a solid effort with 27 points and he shot a nice 11 for 16 from the field.  Tayshaun Prince had a team high seven rebounds and he scored 17 while Jason Maxiell rounded out the players who scored in double figures with 15 points and five rebounds.

Rasheed Wallace, who wasn’t feeling good prior to the game and didn’t get the start, was the key guy off the bench.  He scored eight, had five rebounds and picked up three steals.

The Pistons now sit as the only team in the Central with a winning record and they’re now just a half game back of the Orlando Magic for the second best record in the Conference.  Next up is a non-conference road game against the Houston Rockets.

Ben Wallace comes home tonight as the Pistons go for their sixth straight win tonight.  This was after another blowout win over the Hornets on Wednesday.  Richard Hamilton led the way with 21 points while Rasheed Wallace had thirteen points and ten boards.  Chauncey Billips had a team high seven assists to go with seven rebounds and eighteen points.

The Pistons already have a 4 1/2 game lead over the second place Paces and Bucks.  They’re still 2 1/2 games back of first place in the conference though with the Bucks sitting at 15-2.

The Pistons won their 4th game in a row beating the Atlanta Hawks 106-95.

The Pistons have been playing some great basketball lately. They led the Hawks by as many as 26 points in the 3rd quarter. They had over 7 players score double figures and Tayshawn Prince led the team in scoring with 23 points. The Pistons also had a strong defensive game with 10 blocked shots and held the Hawks leading scorer Joe Johnson to 5 points.

Up next for the Pistons are the New Orleons Hornets tonight at 8:00 PM.

The Pistons took care of the Nets 118-95 in what was one of your typical Pistons team performances.  Six different players hit double figures in points while nobody touched 20.  Richard Hamilton led the way with 19 points while both Chauncey Billips and Jason Maxiel were right behind Hamilton with 18.  Billups had a team high nine assists while Maxiel led the Pistons on the glass with eleven rebounds and he also blocked three shots.

The Pistons shot a very effecient 56.2% from the field in the win while they held New Jersey to 45.6% shooting.  Everything else from a team perspective was pretty close.  The Pistons now lead the Cavs by three games in the division but they still have the worst record of the three division leaders in the conference.  Still, 16 games into things, you can’t be too unhappy with an 11-5 record considering they already had one of their west coast swings in their.  And they’re getting it don at the Palaca with a 6-1 record and within the Eastern Conference with an 8-1 record.

Next up are the Hawks tomorrow in Atlanta and then they slide over to New Orleans on Wednesday.  New Orleans has had a solid start but hopefully they can walk away with a win in both of those games.

The Pistons shot an impressive 22 for 25 at the free throw line last night and despite committing one more foul then the Bucks, they outscored them at the charity stripe by thirteen points.  They also hammered the Bucks on the offensive glass with 15 second chances.

Tayshaun Prince had a pretty strange box score line.  He led the team with 20 points but he didn’t pull down a single board and he had just one assist.  Rasheed Wallace had a team high ten rebounds to go with fifteen points while Chauncey Billups rained in eighteen points to go along with his nine dishes.

There’s no rest for the Pistons because they take on the Nets tonight.  On the line is the Pistons two game mini-win streak.

The Pistons used a strong second half to decimate the Cavs last night and in the process, they held superstar Lebron James to a modest fifteen points.   It was just a five point game at the half but the Pistons held the Cavs under 17 points in both the third and fourth quarters to finish with an impressive 109-74 win.

An impressive ten Pistons scored at least seven points with Richard Hamilton leading the way.  He scored eighteen and he had a team high six assists while Jason Maxiell pulled down a team high ten rebounds.  The Pistons really got it done on the glass with an impressive 43-23 rebounding difference.  The thirty assists also shows you that the Pistons were really moving the ball around well.

It was the Pistons third win in four games and they’ll try to do it again on Saturday at Milwaukee.  The Bucks are only 7-6 but they’re 6-1 at home so expect a good game.

The Pistons defeated the 2-9 New York Knicks 98-86 in a game that featured 2 teams/organizations that are clearly going in different directions. In the past few days the Knicks have been under a cloud of controversey and their play showed it. They have lost 8 games in a row and it looks like Isiah Thomas job might be on the chopping block.

Chauncey Billips led the Pistons in scoring with 25 points and 15 assists. Antonio McDyess scored a season high 15 points after missing 3 straight games. The Pistons closed out the 1st quarter on a 15-4 run. In the second quarter, the Pistons scored the last eight points and led 55-45 going into halftime and they never looked back. Despite playing the second half without Rasheed Wallace, the Pistons dominated the Knicks and finished the game strong.

 On another note it was nice to see the Palace Crowd give Isiah Thomas a warm welcome. While Isiah has had his differences with the organization through the years, there is no doubt that he is one of the best players ever to wear the Pistons Jersey and it’s nice to see the fan’s put the past aside and show their appreciation.

The next game that the Pistons play is against the 3-7 Philadelphia 76ers Friday night at 8:00 PM.

The Pistons sit a pedestrian 6-4 and while that’s good enough to lead the Central Division by just a game, it would be good for just third place in a lot of the other divisions (fourth place in the Southwest).  Do Pistons fans have a reason to fret that, while they’ll probably make the playoffs, it may be an early exit?  A closer look at the standings provides Pistons fans with some optimism.

The first thing is, they’ve played just two of their first ten games at home.  On the road, they’re an admirable 4-4 and that includes a week long plus west coast swing in which they lost their last two games.  The other encouraging thing is, they’re 3-1 in the conference so they’ve gotten it done against the teams they’ll be facing early in the post season.  Regardless, it’s best to hold judgement on the Pistons until the month is over.  If they’re still just a game or two over .500, it might be reason to worry but I expect them to go on a nice run

Whether it was fatigue or the missed games by Chauncey Billips, the Pistons ended their west coast trip with a loss to an inferior opponent.  The Pistons outscored the Kings by nine points in the first quarter but they were outscored in each of the three other quarters as they took the loss.  Billups made his return but he scored just 14 on a five for fourteen night.

Tayshaun Prince led the way with nineteen points and he shot an impressive eight for twelve.  Rasheed Wallace had a nice night with seventeen points and a team high twelve rebounds while Chauncey pitched in with nine assists. Rip Hamilton (16) and Jarvis Hayes (10) also scored in double figures for the Pistons.

Free throw shooting was the difference in the game.  The Pistons shot a pretty poor 19 for 33 while the Kings shot 30 for 38.  That’s an eleven point difference in a ten point game.

In an interesting column by Marc Stein, he examines the top trios in the NBA.  Coming in at number one are the Spurs with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.  The Suns come in second with the Celtics, Mavericks and Nuggets rounding out the top five.

The Pistons just missed the top five but the big question is, which of the four stars do you consider as part of the top five.  Regardless, a team has five guys on the court and the Pistons with their depth still can’t be discounted and the fact that they’d still come in sixth is impressive with their team oriented philosophy.

The Pistons couldn’t handle the Lakers last night and with the 103-91 loss, the Pistons are now all even at 2-2 on their west coast swing.  Lamar Odem picked up for a poor shooting Kobe Bryant and he pushed the Pistons around for 25 points and fifteen rebounds.  Nine of those fifteen rebounds came on the offensive glass.

The Pistons actually took a lead into the fourth quarter but the Lakers scored 41 points in the fourth to cost the Pistons the win.  Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince led the way with sixteen points a piece while Flip Murray, Rasheed Wallace and Jarvis Hayes all scored in double figures.  Prince led with nine rebounds while Amir Johnson had four steals.

The Pistons wrap up their west coast trip tomorrow against the Kings.  Game time is nine o’clock.

The Pistons west coast swing continued and on Tuesday, they ran into a roadblock in the Trailblazers.  Portland came back from a five point first quarter deficit and turned in a nice fourth quarter to pick up the win against the Pistons.  A .440 field goal percentage usually won’t cut it and that’s what the Pistons shot.  In the meantime, the Blazers shot .548 from the field.

Tayshaun Prince led the way with 20 points and he pitched in with six rebounds.  Rip Hamilton had a particularly tough game and he was five for 20 from the field.  Chauncey Billups picked up nineteen points and he had a team high nine assists while Rip led with seven rebounds.

The downer was the both Billups and Antonio McDyess suffered injuries.  McDyess dinged up his shoulder while Billups hurt his knee.

The Pistons got back on track yesterday with a ten point win over Golden State.  They needed to come back from 22 down though (and without two starters to boot) and three different players pitched in with 22 points.  Rasheed was the team MVP though and he had 22 points and nine rebounds.  Jason Maxiel got the start and he had a team high fourteen rebounds while Flip Murray led with twelve assists.  Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton were the other two starters to score 22. 

The Pistons are now on the back leg of their trip and they’ll play the Lakers tomorrow and then finish up the trip at Sacramento on Sunday.  If they can split those two games and come home 3-2 on the west coast trip, I could live with that.

Chris McCoskey recently penned an interesting blog column on how we shouldn’t be too worried about the amount of playing time the Pistons starters are getting so far this year.  It’s funny because I haven’t even thought about it but I can see how people would be paranoid.  McCoskey brings up some nice points though and even the fact that Rip is averaging over 40 minutes has to be taken into context because he didn’t play in the first two games.

The Pistons beat the Seattle Supersonics 107-103 handing the winless Sonics their 7th loss and worst start in team history.

The game was not as close as the score indicates. For the majority of the game, the Pistons had a sizeable lead. At one point in the game, they lead by as many as 23 points. The Sonics fought back in the 4th quarter and tied the game before the Pistons went on an 8-2 run to seal the victory.

Next up for the Pistons are the 3-3 Portland Trailblazers on Tuesday night at 10:00 PM.

Amir Johnson seems to have had a rough stretch of bad luck.  A. Sherrod Blakely runs down some of the problems he’s had, the latest of which was that he missed the plane out to Seattle for tonight’s game.  The Pistons will play five games in eight days out west but they do get a break with a two day layoff before playing a mediocre New York Knicks team when they get back.

The Pistons came back strong after the loss to Chicago with a 103-79 win over the undefeated Clippers. Chauncey Billips led the team in scoring with 23 points. Billups was 8-14 from the field, and 6 of 8 from the 3 point line. Nazi Mohammad led the team in scoring off the bench with 15 points and 7 boards.

This was a big win for the Pistons because they begin a 5 game road trip out west and this will add some much needed cushion in the W column. For the trip out west the Pistons face Seattle, Portland, Golden State, L.A. Lakers, and Sacramento.

I was talking to a friend yesterday about the Pistons/Bulls matchup and he seemed confident of a Pistons victory because the Bulls hadn’t even won a game yet.  I assured him the Bulls were better then their record and that turned out to be a fact because the winless Bulls handed the Pistons their first loss of the season.  The Bulls outscored the Pistons by six in the first quarter and never really looked back after that. 

Rasheed Wallace had a career night with 36 points, the most he’s scored since joining the Pistons.  Wallace was 12 for 24 from the field and 9 for 11 from the line and he also had a team high nine boards.  Richard Hamilton had 18 points and six assists while Chauncey Billups was the only other Piston in double figures with fourteen points.

The Pistons play the undefeated Clippers at home tonight before they head on their first big West Coast swing.  Game time is 8 pm.

With the Pacers losing last night, the Pistons are now the lone remaining undefeated team in the Central Division.  The only other team in the conference that hasn’t lost are the Celtics and in the Western Confernce, the L.A. Clippers stand as the lone undefeated team.

The undefeated record is on the line tonight when the Pistons take on the Bulls at Chicago.   The Bulls are 0-4 so they’re hungry and I expect a good game tonight.

The Pistons edged the Hawks last night 92-91 with a big fourth quarter and while Richard Hamilton didn’t lead the team in scoring, he was right behind Chauncey Billups in his season debut.  After missing the first two games to be with his family due to the birth of his son, Hamilton returned and shot an impressive 10 for 15 with 21 points, five assists and four rebounds.  Billups had a team high 22 points to go along with his five assists and four steals.

Probably the most impressive performance though came from Jason Maxiell.  The youngster scored 15 points on seven for eleven shooting including a very nice dunk early in the game.  He also pitched in with eight rebounds (Rasheed Wallace led the team with nine) and he had a team high four blocked shots.

Next up is a tough game against the Bulls in Chicago on Thursday.  Hopefully the Pistons put the three days off to good use and they’re fresh for this one after playing three games in four days.

Thanks to Chris McCosky (yes Chris, I’m giving credit where credit is due), Rip Hamilton’s abscence has been explained.  He’s now a proud father and he missed the Pistons’ first two games to be with his newborn baby boy.  Congratulations to Rip.

Six different Pistons scored in double figures as the team improved to 2-0 on the season.  The final was 116-92 with the big Pistons’ quarters being the second and fourth where they outscored the Magic by eleven points in each.  Flip Murray led the way with nineteen points off the bench with Chauncey Billips (18) and Tayshaun Prince (17) right behind them.  Jarvis Hayes was impressive off the bench as well with eleven points.  He finished three for five from behind the arch.

Antonio McDyess and Rasheed Wallace had a team high seven rebounds while Chauncey led with seven assists.  Rip Hamilton once again sat this one out.

Next up are the Hawks on Sunday and it’s the Pistons home opener.  The Hawks won their first game but hopefully the Pistons can make it three straight to open up the season.

Well, the Pistons went to work and they came away with a win in their season opener on the road against the Heat.  Tayshaun Prince was the star of the game and he picked up a career high 34 points to go along with his twelve rebounds.  Prince was a perfect seven for seven from the line and 4 of those 12 rebounds came on the offensive glass.

Rip Hamilton didn’t play because of his ankle injury but his backcourt partner, Chauncey Billips, scored nineteen and had eleven assists.  Jarvis Hayes was the top man off the bench with ten points and five rebounds and while he was just three of nine from the field, he was two of five from behind the arch. 

The Pistons play the Magic later tonight and it sure would be nice if they could make it 2-0.

Injury guru Will Carroll and Brad Wochomurka recently penned a column on the health of the Eastern Conference teams.  You’ve got a couple of ankle injuries in Rip Hamilton and Amir Johnson and then the foot and ankle problems that Rasheed Wallace has been playing through. 

Keith Langlois, as always in an excellent column, summaries the Pistons three biggest stories of the preseason.  Topping the list of course was the Rodney Stuckey injury but also of importance was how some of the players came to camp in much better shape and the final item was the potential emergence of Jarvis Hayes as a deep shooting threat.

Game time is tonight.  I’m getting excited.