Detroit Pistons Blog – Page 83 – NBA Blog

Allen Iverson OK with bench role

The Detroit Pistons released the following statement from Allen Iverson following today’s practice.

“I’m disappointed that the soreness I’m feeling in my back is going to force me to miss two weeks of action. After talking with the doctors at Georgetown yesterday they have told me that treatment and rest is the best course of action right now. Hopefully my back with heal and I’ll be ready to go following this two-week period.

“My goal is to help this team win a championship and I’ve said that from the first day I arrived here in Detroit. I’m going to do whatever it takes to help us achieve our goals as a team regardless if I’m starting or coming off the bench.”

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Allen Iverson out two more weeks with sore back

The Detroit Pistons announced today that guard Allen Iverson will miss the next two weeks due to a sore back at the request of doctors at Georgetown University. Iverson’s condition was evaluated at Georgetown today and it was recommended that he suspend basketball related activities for two weeks. He will not travel with the team to prevent stress on his back and will be re-evaluated again by the doctors at Georgetown following the conclusion of the two-week period.

The doctors at Georgetown University have been in contact with the Pistons’ medical staff and Iverson will begin treatment for his sore back upon his return to Detroit on Thursday.

Read NBA fan reaction to this news and post your own comments in this forum topic.

Pistons surge past Billups & Anthony-less Nuggets

The AP reports: It was a win-win night at the Palace. Chauncey Billups got the warm welcome he deserved and the Detroit Pistons won a game they needed. Billups scored a season-high 34 points in his return to suburban Detroit, but the Pistons came away with the 100-95 victory Tuesday night against the Carmelo Anthony-less Denver Nuggets… Tayshaun Prince scored 23 points for the Pistons and four of his teammates scored at least 16, attacking with a balanced offense perhaps not coincidentally because Iverson missed his third straight game with a back injury… Nene scored 20 and J.R. Smith had 16 points for the Nuggets.

Bill Laimbeer says Pistons are screwed

The Denver Post (Benjamin Hochman ) reports: “So, the Pistons are struggling, but do you think they’ll work out their problems come playoff time?” “No,” said Bill Laimbeer, as blunt as one of those elbows he threw in the 1980s as part of the Detroit Pistons Bad Boys. “Their team is structured incorrectly. (Allen Iverson) is not the best defending guard, and guards got to be defenders these days. He’s small. He’s got a big heart, he still can score, but come playoff time, it’s tough. It’s the Eastern Conference, grind it out, and it’s physical. It’s going to be a hard road.” … Iverson, 33, is averaging a career-low 18.0 points per game, but more than points, it’s the style of his game that hasn’t seemed to click here. At times, the Pistons have looked better without him.

Knicks sign Cheikh Samb to 10-day contract

The New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that free agent center Cheikh Samb has been signed to a 10-day contract.

Samb, 7-1, 245-pounds was selected in the second round (51st overall) of the 2006 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers, before being traded to the Detroit Pistons on draft night. A native of Senegal, Samb has career averages of 1.1 points, 1.5 rebounds and 5.4 minutes in 20 career games over two seasons with Detroit, Denver and the Los Angeles Clippers. On Nov. 3, he was traded from Detroit to Denver, and on Jan. 5 from Denver to the L.A. Clippers. In 16 games this season with the Nuggets and Clippers, Samb averaged 0.9 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.63 blocks over 4.7 minutes. He was waived by the Clippers on Feb. 16.

The Knicks roster now stands at 13 players.

InsideHoops.com editor says: He’s probably in for those 10 days and then out again.

Pistons beat Celtics 105-95 in East final rematch

The AP reports: The Detroit Pistons are back to their old mainstays and back to their old, winning ways. Richard Hamilton had 25 points, Tayshaun Prince scored 15 and each hit a 3-pointer in the final 80 seconds to help the Pistons beat the Celtics 105-95 on Sunday. Hamilton also had nine assists in his second straight start since Allen Iverson returned to Detroit because of a stiff back. “You can tell they’re playing the system they played before Iverson got there,” said Celtics forward Paul Pierce, who scored 26… Glen “Big Baby” Davis, starting in place of the injured Kevin Garnett, scored 18 and Pierce played all but 18 seconds as Boston lost to an Eastern Conference opponent at home for the first time this season.

Pistons end 8-game skid, top Magic 93-85

The AP reports: The Detroit Pistons found their answer without The Answer. Richard Hamilton had 31 points and six assists in his return to the starting lineup in place of Allen Iverson, and the Pistons ended their eight-game losing streak with a 93-85 victory over the Orlando Magic on Friday night… Rodney Stuckey had 22 points and Tayshaun Prince added 17 for the Pistons, who snapped their longest losing streak in 14 seasons. Rasheed Wallace, who was fined $25,000 by the league earlier Friday for his actions after an ejection Wednesday night, finished with six points. Dwight Howard had 21 points and 13 rebounds, and Rafer Alston scored 14 for the Magic, who fell again to a Pistons team that has knocked them out of the playoffs the last two seasons and has won 21 of the past 26 meetings.

No suspension for Rasheed Wallace, yet

Detroit Pistons veteran forward Rasheed Wallace was set to be suspended due to the NBA’s rule about the number of technical fouls a player is allowed to receive.

But, it won’t happen. Yet. Michican Live (A. Sherrod Blakely ) reports:

Although Wallace picked up his 15th and 16th technical fouls of the season last night — which should have earned him a one-game suspension — a team official learned this morning that two of Wallace’s technicals from earlier this season (Dec. 23 and Feb. 7) have been rescinded.

Both teams played hard.

West 30 and 10, Hornets beat Pistons 90-87

The AP reports: David West had 30 points, Chris Paul scored 20 and added 13 assists and the duo combined for 23 of the Hornets’ 25 points in the fourth quarter of a 90-87 victory Wednesday night… Walter Hermann missed a 3-pointer from the wing that would have forced overtime as the Pistons lost for the eighth consecutive time, their longest skid in 14 seasons. Richard Hamilton scored a team-high 24 points… Detroit ended the game without Allen Iverson or Rasheed Wallace.

Udonis Haslem still rocking cornrows

The Miami Herald (Michael Wallace) reports: With Allen Iverson’s recent decision to cut his hair and do away with braids after 12 years, Heat forward Udonis Haslem might have taken over as the NBA’s king of cornrows. Haslem has sported the look for the past eight years, which dates even before he entered the league in 2004. ”I might be the last man standing with them,” Haslem said Tuesday before the Heat faced Iverson’s Pistons. “If I ever do cut them, it won’t be during the season. It’ll be in the summer. I’d have to wait to see how my head is shaped. So if it’s messed up, I have all summer to grow it back.”