Friday, April 23, 2010
Monthly Review
December 2010
Major Headlines:
Kings' Tyreke Evans Named West Player of the Month
Cavs' LeBron James Named East Player of the Month
Minnesota's John Wall Named West Rookie of the Month
Evan Turner Named East Rookie of the Month- Pistons, Heat Sit Atop Eastern Conference Standings
- Nuggets, Lakers Sit Atop Western Conference Standings
- Bucks, Bobcats, Knicks Yet To Reach 10-win Plateau
- LeBron, Bosh, Melo Are Early MVP frontrunners
#1 Pick Al-Farouq Aminu Out For Rest of Season
Joakim Noah Wants Extension in Chicago- Wizards Fire Coach Flip Saunders After 11-19 Start
Ben Wallace To Retire At End of Season
Major Injuries:
- Al-Farouq Aminu (LAC)- Broken Patella, Out For Season
- LaMarcus Aldridge (POR)- Bruised Tailbone, 1-2 Weeks
- Randy Foye (SAC)- Torn ACL, 1-2 Weeks
- Roy Hibbert (IND)- Separated Shoulder, 1-2 Weeks
- Grant Hill (MEM)- Plantar Facitis, 1-2 Weeks
- Al Horford (ATL)- Strained Abdomen, 1-2 Weeks
- Josh Smith (ATL)- Strainded Quad, 1-2 Weeks
- J.R. Smith (DEN)- Broken Finger, 1-2 Weeks
Major Transactions:
- Blazers' Trade Carl Landry To Cleveland for Shannon Brown
- Lakers Trade Sasha Vujacic to Nets for Kris Humphries
- Blazers' Get Daniel Gibson From Bucks For Martell Webster
- Rockets Give Up Shane Battier To Wolves' for 1st Round Pick
- Wizards Trade Rafer Alston To Blazers' For Renaldo Balkman
- Heat Acquire Marvin Williams From Hawks For Josh Howard
- Wizars Fire Coach Flip Saunders, Hire Coach Lionel Hollins
Notes From The Coaches Desk
Our December was almost identical to our November, as we went 11-6 this month. We got a couple of huge wins this month. We beat the defending NBA Champion Boston Celtics 98-92 earlier this month, and we got past the Lakers on Christmas Day. We had a couple of disappointing losses, most notably a 113-81 thrashing at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks. Overall though, a good month for us. We are still in first place in the Eastern Conference, 1 game ahead of the Miami Heat. We need to look to continue our winning ways.
Last month, our rookie DeMarcus Cousins took home East Rookie of the Month honors. Well, we were pleased to hear that this month, our other rookie, Evan Turner, was awarded the crown. He has been stellar since being put into the starting rotation. Since then, he has been averaging 15.9PPG, 6.8RPG, 3.0APG, and 1.6SPG, all of which have gone up from last month. DeMarcus Cousins is still averaging 12.9 and 7.6, and Stuckey continues to lead our team at 16.4 a game, to go along with 7 assists. Rip and Prince are giving us a combined 23PPG, and Nene has come up big this month, recording 13 double-doubles.
Our team is still lingering around 94PPG while giving up 88PPG. We are leading the league in FG% at 45.9%, but are still way down in 3PT%, coming in at 28.1. We have up'ed our FT% to 72.9 percent, but there is still room for improvement.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Pistons Use Huge 4th Quarter To Overcome Rockets
DETROIT- "Not every win has to be pretty." These were the words of coach Mike Krzyzewski Monday night after his Pistons beat the Rockets 91-83. "It certainly wasn't a great game for us by any stretch of the imagination. Luckily, our opponent had an even worse night."
After scoring a combined 50 points in the first three quarters, the Pistons exploded for 41 points in the 4th to outlast the Rockets. Detroit held Houston to just 33-86 shooting, including 5-16 on three pointers. After starting 23% in the 1st quarter, Detroit rebounded to shoot 36-67 for the game. Nene led the way for the Pistons, netting 19 points and nabbing a career high 14 rebounds.
| Rockets (18-13) at Pisons (21-11) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Pistons Hand Lakers 108-89 Loss On Christmas Day
LOS ANGELES-The Detroit Pistons' Christmas wish came true Saturday night, when they convincingly defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 108-89. The Pistons usd a 29-17 second quarter to pull ahead of the Lakers, and then pull away late. Rookie Evan Turner had another spectacular game for the Pistons, recording a career high 34 points while pulling down 5 boards and dishing 4 assists. Rodney Stuckey added 24 points for Detroit. Jordan Farmar led the Lakers with 21 points.
| Pistons (20-11) at Lakers (19-10) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Pistons Lose To Raptors On Impossible Last-Second Shot
DETROIT-The Detroit Pistons thought they had the game wrapped up Thursday night. Rip Hamilton knocked down two free throws with 0.6 seconds left to put the Pistons ahead 114-113. DeMar DeRozan thought differently. DeRozan drilled a shot from 85 feet as the buzzer sounded to give the Raptors a shocking 116-114 victory over Detroit.
"I can't believe that went in. I've never seen a shot like that before. He got it off so fast," said Coach Krzyzewski after the game. "When someone hits a shot like that, you just have to tip your hat to him, no matter how much it hurts."
The big shot was the perfect cap on a terrific day for 2nd year man from USC. He finished with 28 points on 12-22 shooting. He also added 7 rebounds and 6 assists. The Pistons were led by rookie Evan Turner, who had 33 points in the losing effort. The stunning loss is the Pistons 3rd in 4 games, dropping their record to 13-9. The Raptors improve to 14-8.
| Raptors (14-8) at Pistons (13-9) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sunday, April 11, 2010
Monthly Review
November 2010
Major Headlines:
- Lakers' Kobe Bryant Named West Player of the Month
- Cavs' LeBron James Named East Player of the Month
- Minnesota's John Wall Named West Rookie of the Month
- Detroit's DeMarcus Cousins Named East Rookie of the Month
- Grizzlies, Pistons Surprising Atop The Standings
- Spurs Off To Slow Start at 4-11
- James Looking Like Early MVP Favorite (30.5PPG, 12.5RPG, 7.2APG)
Major Injuries:
- Derrick Favors (MIL)- Bone Spurs, 4-6 Weeks
- Randy Foye (SAC)- Torn ACL, 6-8 Weeks
- Manu Ginobili (SA)- Strained Calf, 2-3 Weeks
- George Hill (SA)- Broken Wrist, 2-4 Weeks
- Anthony Morrow (GS)- Strained Groin, 1-2 Weeks
Major Transactions:
- Bobcats Trade Mohammed for Kings' Udrih
- Blazers Trade Greg Oden For 1st Round Pick from Clippers
- Suns Trade Al Harrington For Wizards' 1st Round Pick
- Blazers sign Jerry Stackhouse to 1yr/$464k deal
- Heat Trade Larry Hughes to Nets for Chris Douglas-Roberts
Notes From The Coaches Desk
Overall, we had a pretty good month in November. We got off to a fast start, going 12-6 to date, good enough for 2nd place in the Eastern Conference behind the Cavaliers (whom we beat by the way). As you could probably tell, we moved Evan Turner into the starting lineup and have Richard Hamilton coming off the bench as our 6th man. Hamilton completely understood our decision, and both players PPG average have actually gone up since making the change. We are very impressed with so many guys so far this year. Turner has come in and given us solid starting minutes. His statline so far reads like this: 13.3PPG, 6.3RPG, 2.9APG, and 1.7SPG. Not too bad for your first year in the league. Cousins has also been impressing thus far. He is putting in 12.8PPG, while also giving us 7.9RPG and 2.1BPG. Those two have really taken the pressure off of Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Price, who are averaging 11.1PPG and 12.2PPG respectively.
We are in the middle of the pack now in scoring, averaging 93.9PPG, up from 88.9 a year ago. Our already stellar defense has also gotten better, going from 90.9PPG last year to 89.2 so far this year. We are also 4th in the league in FG percentage. Some things that we need to work on if we are going to continue this hot streak is 3 point shooting and free throw shooting. We rank 26th in the league in 3PT % at 29.3%, and last in the NBA in free throw shooting at 70.1%.
We are in the middle of the pack now in scoring, averaging 93.9PPG, up from 88.9 a year ago. Our already stellar defense has also gotten better, going from 90.9PPG last year to 89.2 so far this year. We are also 4th in the league in FG percentage. Some things that we need to work on if we are going to continue this hot streak is 3 point shooting and free throw shooting. We rank 26th in the league in 3PT % at 29.3%, and last in the NBA in free throw shooting at 70.1%.
Stuckey Helps Pistons Halt Streaking Grizzlies
DETROIT- Rodney Stuckey had a fantastic night, netting 31 points while adding 8 assists and 5 rebounds while helping the Detroit Pistons end Memphis' winning streak at 11 games. Despite rookie star Evan Turner battling foul trouble the entire game, the Pistons pulled ahead early and kept the lead to win 106-95. The Pistons outrebounded Memphis 32-17 and also shot 19 more free throws than the Grizzlies, which helped them to secure the win. The loss drops the surprising Grizzlies to 11-6 on the year, while the Pistons improve to 11-6. Both teams are 2nd in their respective conferences.
| Grizzlies (11-6) at Pistons (11-6) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Friday, April 9, 2010
Thanks again for following!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Pistons Rally Past Heat, 105-92
DETROIT-At the Palace of Auburn Hills, the Detroit Pistons pulled away late to defeat the Miami Heat, 105-92. The Pistons had a good game defensively against Dwayne Wade, holding him to 12 points on 4-10 shooting before fouling out in the 4th quarter. Rodney Stuckey led the way for Detroit, racking up 25 points. Hamilton and Prince each chipped in with 17.
| Heat (2-2) at Pistons (3-2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Pistons Rout 76ers In Season Opener
DETROIT- The Detroit Pistons came out firing on all cylinders Wednesday night, routing the Philadelphia 76ers, 108-68. The Pistons, who topped 100 points only 4 times last year, came out and took the early lead on a 23-6 run to begin the game. Once they got that big lead, they never looked back.
| NBA Scoreboard | Pistons (1-0) at 76ers (0-1) | ||||||
| October 27, 2010 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Pistons | 28 | 22 | 28 | 30 | 108 | Player of the Game: Evan Turner--30 points, 3 assists (12-19 FG) |
| 76ers | 15 | 14 | 15 | 24 | 68 | |
| Pistons | |||||||||||||
| STARTERS | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | ||
| Rodney Stuckey | 16 | 3-5 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| Richard Hamilton | 17 | 7-9 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15 | ||
| Tayshaun Prince | 17 | 3-6 | 0-0 | 5-5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | ||
| DeMarcus Cousins | 18 | 5-7 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 11 | ||
| Nene | 16 | 4-5 | 0-0 | 3-3 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 11 | ||
| BENCH | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | ||
| Evan Turner | 20 | 12-19 | 1-1 | 5-6 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 30 | ||
| Jason Maxiell | 17 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | ||
| Jerryd Bayless | 17 | 2-4 | 0-1 | 2-2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| Chris Wilcox | 12 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||
| Austin Daye | 6 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | ||
| Trenton Hassell | 6 | 3-4 | 1-1 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| Chucky Atkins | 4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| TEAM TOTALS | 43-64 | 3-4 | 19-24 | 37 | 26 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 14 | 108 | |||
| 76ers | |||||||||||||
| STARTERS | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | ||
| Louis Williams | 28 | 3-10 | 0-2 | 4-5 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 10 | ||
| Allen Iverson | 25 | 5-13 | 1-4 | 4-4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 15 | ||
| Andre Igoudala | 19 | 2-5 | 0-1 | 2-2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 6 | ||
| Thaddeus Young | 26 | 4-13 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 8 | ||
| Ben Wallace | 18 | 2-9 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| BENCH | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | ||
| Marreesse Speights | 19 | 4-7 | 0-0 | 3-4 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 | ||
| Jrue Holiday | 5 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| Elton Brand | 3 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| Samuel Dalembert | 11 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Willie Green | 4 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Jerome Jordan | 2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Jodie Meeks | 6 | 3-6 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| TEAM TOTALS | 26-70 | 1-11 | 15-19 | 22 | 15 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 21 | 68 | |||
2011 Season Preview
2011 Opening Day Roster:
Head Coach: Mike Krzyzweski
Starters:
PG Rodney Stuckey
SG Richard Hamilton
SF Tayshaun Prince
PF DeMarcus Cousins
C Nene
Bench:
SG Evan Turner
PF Jason Maxiell
PG Jerryd Bayless
C Chris Wilcox
SF Austin Daye
SF Trenton Hassell
PG Chucky Atkins
Outlook:
The Detroit Pistons are going into the 2011 NBA season with a lot of optimism. After a disappointing 26-54 finish last year, they are looking to kick it up a notch under their new head coach, Mike Krzyzewski. Coach K has said that offense has to be a priority this year.
"You know me, normally I am a defensive guy. But this team is already stellar on the defensive end. We have to work harder on the offensive side of the ball to contend with the elites in this conference, and I have no doubt that we will do just that."
The 2011 Edition of the Pistons are bolstered by two new additions to the squad this year. First year player Evan Turner is expected to come off the bench, but still play close to 25 minutes a game. He will be counted on to provide a scoring lift for a Pistons team that averaged just a shade under 89 points a game last year.
"I really feel like I can come in and contribute to this team right away. I like this system, like the players I am playing with, and how can you not love playing for Coach K? I'm ready to have a big rookie season."
Turner isn't the only rookie on the squad this year with high expectations. 8th overall pick DeMarcus Cousins is expected to be a major offensive force in the low post, starting along side league veteran Nene. Cousins, who played his college ball at Kentucky, has said that he can't wait to get started.
"This is a great group of guys we have here. If we can get off to a good start and hit a nice groove throughout the season, I think we can contend with anyone."
The two young guns aren't the only ones on the radar this year. Returning to the rotations for the Pistons this year is exciting 4th year point guard Rodney Stuckey, league veterans Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince, and massive center Nene.
"I expect a lot out of those guys," Coach Krzyzewski said in a press conference earlier this week. "These guys have been here for a long time; they know how things are done around here. I expect to learn a lot from them this year, and hopefully I can teach them a little bit too."
Bench players Jason Maxiell and Jerryd Bayless are also expected to play key roles for Detroit this year.
"I love Jason's tenacity on the glass. I know he's only 6'7", but he can rebound with the best of them. We are going to need that this year. And Jerryd sees the floor as good as any point guard in the league. Those two are going to be huge for our team this year."
Long-time NBAers Trenton Hassell, an offseason free agent pickup, and point guard Chucky Atkins are not expected to tote a lot of minutes, but they are expected to bring veteran leadership in the locker room. Young gun Austin Daye also made the team this year, but isn't expected to see the floor very much.
The Pistons are hoping (and of course, already expecting) to overachieve this year. ESPN The Magazine and Sports Illustrated both picked the Pistons to finish 10th in the Eastern Conference this year, finishing at 37-45. Although that would be a large improvement over last year, Coach K and the Pistons are wanting more.
"We can definitely make a run in the playoffs this year. I know we have the players to do it. It all comes down to how hard these guys want to work."
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Rebirth: A Detroit Pistons Dynasty
2010 Season Review
The 2010 season started with a bang for the Pistons, with Joe Dumars being fired as General Manager, being told that he "lacked the leadership and good judgement to lead this organization in the right direction". The organization hired former Spurs Assistant GM Dennis Lindsay a few days later.
Lindsay immediately went to work to "clean up the mess left behind by Dumars". After an 0-2 start, and being outrebounded by 33 over those first 2 games, Lindsay jettisoned newly acquired Villanueva to the Nuggets for Nene and a 2nd round draft pick. The team went on to win their next 9 games, finishing November with a 13-3 record. But the season quickly turned sour, as the Pistons went 4-17 in December and fell down the East standings. By mid-January, Jonas Jerebko had become unhappy with Detroit and demanded a trade. In Lindsay's most controversial decision to date, he agreed and sent the fan favorite Jerebko to Milwaukee for Luc Richard Mbah A Moute. This hurt the team even more, and by the All-Star break they had fallen to 11th place in the Eastern standings. Seeing that the season was all but lost, Lindsay decided to make a trade that would set them up for success in the future, rather than right now. He traded Ben Gordon and Will Bynum for Jerryd Bayless, the expiring contract of Juwan Howard, and a 1st round draft pick.
Because of this trade, it left the Pistons even worse for this season, and they faded even more down the stretch. With 5 games left in the season, coach John Kuester resigned, citing "personal reasons". Assistant John Sullivan finished out the season, but the Pistons search for a new head coach began. The Pistons lost the final 5 games under Sullivan, and finished 28-54, 3rd worst in the Eastern Conference.
Reason for hope came on June 10, when maybe the biggest coaching hire in history came to terms. Coach Mike Krzyzewski agreed to a 4 year, $55 million contract to leave Duke University and become the next Detroit Pistons head coach. Coming off of a national championship season, Coach K told reports that he "was looking for a new challenge, and Detroit seemed like the perfect place to do it."
After the draft lottery, the Pistons had the #8 and #16 picks in the 2010 NBA Draft. The day of the draft, however, GM Dennis Lindsay made one more trade that bolstered the Pistons future. He sent Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, 2 2nd round picks, and the #16 pick acquired from Portland to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for the #3 pick in the draft.
With the #3 pick, the Pistons selected Evan Turner out of Ohio State. When it came time for the Pistons to select at number 8, they were delighted to see that DeMarcus Cousins from Kentucky was still on the board. They went ahead and selected him with the #8 overall pick.
With new head coach Mike Krzyzewski at the helm and newly signed draft picks Evan Turner and DeMarcus Cousins ready to go, the future looks a bit brighter in Motown.
*Yes, I know Coach K to Detroit would never happen, but that's why it is fantasy. And it's fun.
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