The AP reports: Deron Williams scored 29 points and Utah won its seventh straight over the Pistons, who extended the Jazz to double overtime before falling 120-114 Friday night… Mehmet Okur, who finished with 26 points and 12 rebounds, is 8-1 against them since leaving Detroit after winning the 2004 NBA title… Paul Millsap added 24 points and 12 rebounds as Utah took advantage of a starting lineup that averaged 30 pounds heavier than Detroit’s new small-ball group… Allen Iverson led the Pistons with 38 points, and Richard Hamilton added 30.
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Dec 17: Pistons 88, Wizards 74
The AP reports: Allen Iverson left the game briefly after bumping knees with Washington’s Mike James but returned to finish with 28 points on 10-for-16 shooting in the Pistons’ third straight victory, 88-74 over the Wizards. Rodney Stuckey added 18 points and matched his career high with 11 assists for Detroit, which went on a 12-3 run midway through the fourth quarter after the Wizards had pulled to 63-62. The Pistons allowed only three field goals in the final 9 minutes… Tayshaun Prince added 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Richard Hamilton scored 12 points for the Pistons, 6-1 when Stuckey starts at the point… Mike James, inserted into the starting lineup Wednesday, scored 16 points to lead the Wizards. Jamison had 14 points and 11 rebounds despite a sprained thumb suffered early in the game, and Andray Blatche added 10 points and 11 rebounds for Washington, an Eastern Conference-worst 4-19.
Dec 13: Pistons 90, Bobcats 86
The AP reports: Allen Iverson and the rest of the Detroit Pistons starters retreated to the end of the bench to start the fourth quarter. Taking advantage of the ragged debut by Charlotte Bobcats newcomers Boris Diaw and Raja Bell, the Pistons led by 22 points and the regulars were certain their night was over… Hamilton added 18 points, and Rodney Stuckey had 13 points and 10 assists in his third straight start at point guard for the Pistons, who won their second straight game with their new, smaller lineup despite being outscored 30-12 in the final period… Gerald Wallace had 22 points and nine rebounds for the Bobcats in his return after missing three games following the death of his grandmother. Wallace’s father also died on Thursday, and he may miss another game next week.
Dec 12: Pistons 114, Pacers 110
The AP reports: The Detroit Pistons thought they were going to do it again. After leading the Indiana Pacers by 10 points late in the third quarter, the slumping Pistons found themselves down 103-101 in the final four minutes. But instead of losing after they led by double digits for the third time in four games and taking their fifth loss in six games overall, the Pistons rallied to beat Indiana 114-110. “It was like deja vu all over again,” said Allen Iverson, who finished with 17 points and 12 assists… The Pistons needed to overcome a career-high 42 points from Danny Granger, but gave the Pacers a fifth straight loss when Tayshaun Prince got a fingertip on T.J. Ford’s attempt at a game-tying jumper in the final seconds.
Pistons now super-small
The Detroit Pistons are struggling and playing ineffective basketball lately. Recently, coach Michael Curry made point guard Rodney Stuckey a starter, shifting undersized Allen Iverson to his natural shooting guard position and bumping Richard Hamilton up as a very undersized small forward. The Detroit Free Press (Jamie Samuelsen) blogs:
Michael Curry had to try something. There is a lot of time left and things can still work out, but some early season trends are rather disturbing. The Pistons have already lost to the Timberwolves and the Wizards. Those are two teams playing so poorly that they’ve already fired their respective coaches. That’s saying something. Curry’s move is bold, but I don’t like it. It totally depletes the bench scoring, which has been inconsistent in the early going. Maybe they thought that Arron Afflalo could be the prime shooting threat off the bench, after all he had 17 against the Knicks the other day. Last night, he had nothing in 18 minutes. The Stuckey move reflects a clear discomfort with having Iverson play the point. He and Rip Hamilton aren’t gelling in the same backcourt, so they need a point. And the best point guard on the roster is Stuckey.
It’ll be fun to see the new, super-small Pistons and seeing how they can compete. Watch their next couple of games.
Dec 9: Wizards 107, Pistons 94
The AP reports: Caron Butler’s 33 points were supplemented by a season-high 16 from Juan Dixon and 15 from Darius Songaila as the Wizards rallied for a 107-94 victory Tuesday night over the redesigned lineup of the Detroit Pistons. Songaila, Dixon (seven assists), Dominic McGuire (3-for-3, six points), Andray Blatche (eight points, five rebounds), and Nick Young (nine points) all provided inspired play off the bench, a necessity given that the Washington starters not named Butler combined to score only 15 points… Richard Hamilton scored a season-high 29 points, Rasheed Wallace added 19, and new starting point guard Rodney Stuckey had 10 points and 11 assists for the Pistons. Hamilton and Wallace each were called for technicals for fussing at the refs.
Pistons sign Antonio McDyess
Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars announced today that the club has signed free agent forward/center Antonio McDyess. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.
McDyess played in the team’s first two regular-season games this season before being sent to Denver along with Chauncey Billups and Cheikh Samb as part of a trade for Allen Iverson. He was bought out of his contract in Denver and placed on waivers on November 6, 2008. In his two games this season, the former NBA All-Star averaged 7.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in 19.0 minutes off the bench.
The Quitman, Mississippi native has led the Pistons’ bench in scoring in each of his four seasons with the club and finished fourth in the NBA Sixth Man of the Year voting in 2005-06. McDyess was an NBA All-Star in 2001, earned All-NBA Third Team in 1999 and NBA All-Rookie First Team honors in 1996.
Rodney Stuckey now a starter
The Detroit Pistons have been pretty unimpressive recently, and head coach Michael Curry is making a change. The Detroit News (Ted Kulfan) reports:
Rodney Stuckey is moving into the Pistons’ starting lineup. After strongly hinting of a change after Sunday’s loss in New York, coach Michael Curry announced the move Monday after practice at the Verizon Center. Stuckey and Allen Iverson will start in the backcourt, with Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince at forward and Rasheed Wallace at center tonight when the Pistons take on the Wizards.
Coming off the bench, young Stuckey hasn’t quite burst into stardom as many hoped he would. That’s not a knock on him, though. We’re only a month and one week into the new season. He’s good, contributing 9.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game, but has shot just 41.1% and an awful 22.2% from three-point range.
Stuckey’s future is bright. I’m not sure he’s ready to explode just yet, even with a bigger role. But he has the ability to. You can’t say that for most young point guards.
Dec 7: Knicks 104, Pistons 92
The AP reports: Chris Duhon had 25 points and nine assists, Quentin Richardson scored 23 points, and the New York Knicks blew most of a 29-point lead before holding off the Detroit Pistons 104-92 Sunday to snap a three-game losing streak… Al Harrington finished with 18 points and Wilson Chandler had 17 for the Knicks, who avoided their first four-game skid of the season. David Lee had 12 points and 19 rebounds as all but nine points came from New York’s starters… Tayshaun Prince had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Pistons, who fell to 7-8 since Allen Iverson’s debut with the team. Iverson and Arron Afflalo each finished with 17 points for the Pistons, who are 11-2 on the other days of the week.
Glance at Arron Afflalo
The Detroit Free Press (Vince Ellis) reports: Arron Afflalo does have a growing offensive game. He works constantly to be known as more than just a defensive specialist. But Curry tells him if he plays defense and keeps the ball moving, he will earn more playing time to display his offensive ability. Afflalo’s teammates aren’t all that concerned about his offense as long as he keeps accepting the challenge of guarding opponents’ top guns. “I always tell him when he gets minutes, I ain’t got to say nothing to him because he hangs his hat on defense,” Rasheed Wallace said. “He’s always wanted to guard the best guys, and he did somewhat of a good job on Manu tonight. That’s not an easy task guarding him.”