Photo/Getty Images

• The only thing positive of not from this game for a Detroit fan was the play of Jason Maxiell. Jason led the Pistons with 16 points, 9 boards and a block. Nothing against Maxi, but when he leads the team with 16, that stat pretty much tells the story of the game.
• One thing I am happy about….that Fred McCleod (Ex Pistons broadcaster) is in Cleveland and is as annoying as ever,  just listen to him call the block on JJ. He seems to have turned it up substantially since heading to the land of LeBron and I for one am happy he’s anywhere but here.
• Maxiell Highlights.

Video Courtesy of The Detroit Pistons and The NBA

• At this point, I’m just excited to see more of DaJuan Summers, and Austin Day.
• The Lottery Balls have our name on them. Right now for the the Pistons, it’s all about balls…..the lottery variety.
• New slogan for this season really should be “The Detroit Pistons – We Got Balls”

The 23-46 Pistons are in Cleveland to take on the 55-15 Cavaliers tonight. LeBron James is averaging 34.3 points, 11.0 rebounds and 8.3 assists in three victories this season against the Pistons. What’s even worse is that Pistons are now on a nine game road losing streak.

As we know Rodney is back, but Ben Wallace is headed back to the bench after injuring his knee’s in Friday night’s game against the Pacers.  No problem, it just means more Ohio Baby Eating time.

With the Pistons record, I think they need a new slogan.

Tip is at 6:00 pm EST and will be broadcast on FS Detroit with the radio broadcast over at 97.1 The Ticker or follow the action online over at NBA.com.

NEED4SHEED GAME CHAT

It didn’t matter however, the Pacers scored the next 8 points and won 102-106.

Key Points:

• I don’t care what you say there is some kind of issue going on with Rip Hamilton.  When I guy like Rip does his best “Kobe” impression by not looking for his shot and scoring ZERO points, something is up.  Rip was 0-for-3 in 18 minutes on the floor with 1 assist, 1 steal and 3 turnovers.  When he was resigned to the bench….he either looked pissed off, or he was sulking.  Let’s keep our eyes on this situation.
• Detroit had 7 turnover in the first quarter, but clamped down and finished the game with 13.
• Limited minutes for Ben Wallace who looked good in his 24 minutes.  Ben scored just one point, grabbed 7 boards, with 3 steals and an assist.  How we did miss the man.
• Ben Gordon scores 17 on 4-13 shooting with 7 boards, 6 assists and 2 blocked shots.  Great game for Ben, but when it counted late in the fourth quarter he couldn’t knock down the shot.
• Sometimes I think Gordon is still getting his check from the Bulls, not the Pistons.
• If this wasn’t a statement from Rodney Stuckey than I don’t know what is.  Rodney was on fire as soon as he checked into the game.  Not only was it good to see him play, he didn’t look apprehensive about anything considering the circumstances.  Stuckey scored 25 in 26 minutes for the Pistons with 3 assists, 3 steals and a turnover playing most all of his minutes at the 2 guard position.   Stucktacular!

Photo/Getty Images

I feel all right,” Stuckey said of his 26 minutes. “The plan wasn’t to play all those minutes, but it was just in the heat of the game. I feel fine, and my wind felt fine. Via The Detroit Free Press

• Detroit shot a shocking 50% from behind the long line.  Only bad thing about that was Indiana shot 53%.
• Jerebko with 10 points, 6 boards and 3 steals.  You can count on him each game with numbers like that or better.
• Best thing I can say about Charlie Villanueva is that he’s been a disappointment this season.
• Nine points for Will, with 4 assist in 21 minutes.
• What a miserable 3 quarters for Detroit, I was almost happy FSN didn’t broadcast this game in HD.  Who wants to see all that blood?
• We just bettered ourselves in the Lottery standings!  The Pistons are tied with the Pacers for the fifth-worst record in the league.
• Give DaJuan Summers some minutes!  Summers scores 12 points in 17 minutes on 4-7 shooting with 4 boards and a blocked shot.  Just check out his highlights.

Video Courtesy of The Detroit Pistons and the NBA

• Cavs again Sunday.

The 23-45 Pistons are in Indiana to take on the 22-46 Pacers tonight. Like it or not, this is a battle for Draft Lottery placement. You always root for your team to win, but in this case it wouldn’t be so bad if they did lose with the Pacers, who are little ahead of Detroit in ping pong ball status.

The biggest news is not the game, but who will be playing in it. Rodney Stuckey and Ben Wallace are Good to Go.

Some words from Stuckey, Kuester and Rip before today’s practice. Via Pistons.com

The Scouting Report via Pistons.com

Tip is at 7:00 pm EST and will be broadcast on FS Detroit with the radio broadcast over at 97.1 The Ticket or follow the action online over at NBA.com.

NEED4SHEED GAME CHAT

Via The Detroit Free Press

Rodney Stuckey and Ben Wallace were full participants in Thursday’s workout at the practice facility, and coach John Kuester is cautiously optimistic that both would be available for the game.

Kuester said both players looked good, but because they have missed so much time, they will come off the bench whenever they return.

“With both of those guys, they’ll come off the bench,” Kuester said after Thursday’s practice. “They’ve been out the past two weeks, or close to two weeks for Stuckey, and that’s what we’re going to do right now.”

Stuckey has missed six games since he collapsed and was carried from Quicken Loans Arena on a stretcher wearing an oxygen mask during a loss at Cleveland on March 5.

He has undergone a battery of tests looking for any potential life-threatening condition, but all tests have come back negative. He has been cleared to return to the team.

Wallace has missed eight games because of a sore right patellar tendon.

Stuckey declined to speak with reporters Thursday, other than to say, “I’m good” as he left the practice floor.

Considering the scare caused by Stuckey’s collapse two weeks ago, Kuester admitted that whenever Stuckey checks in, that scene will be in the back of his mind.

Enjoy

Video Courtesy of The Detroit Pistons

Key Points:

• Worst officiating I have seen since…well I can’t remember.  It’s one thing to give LeBron a continuation on a foul he jogged in from about the free throw line, but to miss this blatant goal-tending when the Pistons were in the ball game was horrific.  LeBron gets away with murder.

Video Courtesy of The Detroit Pistons and the NBA

“They know it’s a bad call,” Pistons coach John Kuester said. “They know that. It’s a shame. That was a momentum-breaker. So we had it going, but, hey, that’s the NBA.” via NBA.com

• I caught Will’s post game interview after he was told the refs admitted it was a goal-tend, his answer “it’s too late now.”  Yeah it is…
• It’s enough that you have to deal with probably the worst fans in the world when the Cavs come to town, you also have to deal with the cockiness of the team, especially Mo Williams at the end of the game when he hit those late threes, he was jumping around like a fifth grade girl.
• Give it up for Jason Maxiell who was eating Ohio babies all night long.  His steal on LeBron for the dunk what a highlight but his late game basket and blocks help this team be competitive all game long.  Jason with another double-double, 10 points, 15 boards, a steal and 2 blocked shots.  It’s official he’s back.

Photo/Getty Images

• Jonas Jerebko played well in his 27 minutes, but everyone else seemed to get hot which limited his minutes.  He had a couple of really nice hustle plays (not like that’s unusual), just wished he was out there when Cleveland went on a few runs.  Jonas finished with 10 points, 3 assists, 3 steals and 5 boards.
• Didn’t think we would see Tayshaun Prince at all, let alone for 44 minutes.  Prince was clutch all night long whether he was playing the point, playing defense or knocking down the shots.  Tay finished with 15 points, 8 assists, and 7 boards.  Just happy his injury wasn’t serious.
• Tayshaun Highlights

Video Courtesy of The Detroit Pistons and the NBA

• Nice work from Charlie Villanueva, who had some clutch three’s when the Pistons really needed them.  Charlie played 21 and scored 16 points with 4 boards a steal and a blocked shot.  Add that and a little paint presence and things would be all good.
• Huge three from Austin Daye, who never seems to be afraid to take a big shot.  He was a presence in his nine minutes on the court.
• Six Pistons in double figures.
• Out-rebounded 48-40.
• This game had 10 lead changes and 21 ties…that tells you something.  The Cavs biggest lead 12, Detroit’s 6.
• They let LeBron go off in the second half.  He scored 29 total, 5 in the first half.
• I still hate Anderson Jarejao.
• Rip Hamilton led Detroit with 24 points and his hot hand started early.  He’s playing the way he is accustomed to, coming off the screens and knocking down shots.

Photo/Getty Images

• Horrible, horrible officiating.  When you have to count on Bennett Salvatore as your savor, that says quite a lot.
• Just frustrating to see the effort one night and the total non effort another night.  Does this mean this team has underachieved because of heart?  Not all season, but id has come into play.
• Will Bynum finished with 12, with 4 assists 3 boards and just one turnover. He’s turned it up since he’s been put in the starting lineup and is really helping his free agent status.  I sincerely hope Joe D shows him the money.
• Highlights of the Game via NBA.com

• Not an easy week for this team.

The 23-44 Pistons are hosting the 52-15 Cleveland Cavaliers tonight at the Palace.  One hopes that they will at least put up a fight after last night’s debacle against the Celtics.

If you didn’t look at the front page of NBA.com, you missed this headline and article.
Davidson’s death, rough economy lead to Pistons’ demise
A lot of truth there and pretty fitting after the Pistons performance last night.

Ben Wallace is still listed as day to day.
Rodney has no timetable on his return.
No conformation whether Tayshaun will play or not.

With Jonas Jerebko now starting at power forward, Kuester would have to go in another direction for Prince’s replacement – perhaps Austin Daye, who has a pair of starts already under his belt. Daye totaled 29 points and 11 rebounds in starts on Nov. 27 against the Clippers and Jan. 18 against the Knicks. He scored a career-high 16 points at New York. Via Ryan Pretzer at Pistons.com

The Scouting Report via Pistons.com

Tip is at 7:30 pm EST and will be broadcast on FS Detroit with the radio broadcast over at  97.1 The Ticker or follow the action online over at NBA.com.

NEED4SHEED GAME CHAT

When you see my name and picture at the beginning of a post, I guess that means it’s been another lopsided loss in a season full of disappointment for the Detroit Pistons.  So far this season I’ve covered perhaps 2 of the worst losses of the 2009-2010 season for the Pistons, and this game will make it 3.  At the beginning of the season, when I looked at the schedule I knew that this 3 week stretch of games (Washington, Utah, Cleveland (2x), Boston (2x), New York, Atlanta) could make or break this Pistons’ season.  Who knew that not only would the Pistons not be in position to make the playoffs, but that their only win will likely come from beating the lowly Washington Wizards?  Let’s get to the “highlights” shall we?:

Final Score 93-119

Key Points:

• The game was over after 12 minutes.  After scoring only 15 points in the first quarter, and losing their starting SF (Tayshaun Prince), Coach Q might as well have thrown in the towel.  Tay went down hard from a blow to that back from Jason Maxiell’s knee.  The doctors evaluated him on the spot and said it didn’t look like it had anything to do with his prior back injury but it looked awful nonetheless.

Photo/Getty Images

• Rajon Rondo’s stat line (3pts, 6ast, 4stl) doesn’t show how tenacious he was on the defensive end.  He was up in Will Bynum’s jersey all night and poking at the ball and creating turnovers for Bynum, Hamilton, Prince, and Gordon.
• I can’t remember the last time I saw Rasheed Wallace attempt only 1 three pointer.  He scored 8 points and had 4 rebounds in 17 minutes on the floor.  He has lost a few steps this season but, he still has my respect for helping this team the way he did from 04-08 (he didn’t do much in 09).
• Jonas Jerebko was in foul trouble early, but it’s to be expected when he’s guarding veterans like Paul Pierce and KG who are able to get whistles from the referees.  Jerebko, although he had 10 points with a couple of nice dunks when the game was out of reach, was virtually a non-factor all game.
• Ben Gordon’s best play as a Piston came on a baseline drive where he took Michael Finley off the dribble, but when he jumped up for the teardrop, Big Baby Davis stepped in front to draw a charge.
• I’ve got a question for the Boston fans: How does a man, wait “man”, who is listed at 289lbs, fall down so easily when a 6′3 200lb guard hits him?  Didn’t BBD play football at one point in his life?  I don’t want to say the man flops but, the man flops.
• Rodney Stuckey and Ben Wallace were out again, with injuries.  Stuckey took part in the afternoon shootaround, but as was reported during the game, the medical staff has a heart rate monitor on him and they are monitoring his every move by keeping his workouts light.
• Charlie Villanueva was nowhere to be found on either end of the court tonight.  The past couple of games I’ve watched (or really the entire season) he just looks like he doesn’t care.  He’s making $7m per season (average) and is lucky to see 20 minutes a night, and honestly I believe that’s only because Ben Wallace is hurt.
• The first half looked like a layup drill for the Boston Celtics.
• Kwame Brown allowed 2 easy layups by misreading screen and rolls.  That’s what Kwame is here for right? Defense?
• Will Bynum was quiet and could not establish a rhythm all night as the paint was locked down and Rondo, as mentioned earlier, was basically wearing his jersey all night.

Photo/Getty Images

• Richard Hamilton played with what looked like 0 enthusiasm all night.  He was a team worst -22 in +/-.
• You know, I didn’t really want to say anything but… DaJuan Summers was likely the only one who played solid basketball off the bench tonight.  He scored 12 points on 4-5 from the field (2-2 from 3), and played solid D against Pierce and Garnett.  I’ve been personally calling for DaJuan to get some minutes the entire season.
• Paul Pierce played 17 minutes and had 15 points.  With Tayshaun out early, and the game out of reach as well, Boston was able to sit their starters for over half the game (except Rondo).
• Old man Michael Finley bested his career ppg numbers (14.7 ppg in 36 minutes per game) against the Pistons by scoring 15 tonight in 14 minutes of action.
• Kendrick Perkins picked up his 15th technical on the season by getting tangled up with DaJuan Summers in the first half.  Nate Robinson picked up a technical for hanging on the rim at the end of the game after a dunk.  No techs for Sheed though.
• Coach Q speaks (from AP): “They were good. We were bad.  It was one of the few games that our energy wasn’t the way it should be, and I’m disappointed with the way we played.” – I’d say that of the 3 games I’ve guest written for, that all 3 games had the same amount of energy or less.
• No reason for Tony Allen to throw a lob off the glass to Nate Robinson when up 20+, with a minute to go in the game.  Nate picked up a tech for hanging on the rim, but they both would’ve picked up a forearm shiver in the throat if the old Bad Boys had any say in it.
• This team is bad.  This team needs a few pieces, and to build a new identity.  Right now there’s nothing.  They’re one of the worst offensive teams, one of the worst teams defensively, they’re a shell of their former selves.
• Game Recap from NBA.com, where you can also she how Tay went down.

I’m sorry if I’m like the Grim Reaper of the game recaps, I don’t mean to pick games that Detroit will get blown out in.  I figure by picking an Indiana, New York and struggling Boston team that they would’ve won at least 1 of the games.  Tonight’s game reminded me of those old Harlem Globetrotter highlights against the Washington Generals.  Aside from Jonas Jerebko’s 2 sorta highlight worthy fast break dunks, none of the Pistons did anything that will jump off the highlight reel or stat sheet.  It’s hard to even really say the talent is there at this point, because without the backcourt having a big game night in and night out, guys like Jerebko and Maxiell can’t produce in the paint.  Unless the effort is there on the defensive end, they simply can’t outrun and outgun teams for some reason.  The names on the score sheet have put up solid ppg stats their entire careers, but for some reason this season it just hasn’t clicked even when they’ve all been healthy.

Thanks again to Natalie for letting me give this game a writeup.  I hope I get to do 1 more before the end of the season because, win or lose, this is fun and it’s fun to read all your feedback good or bad.  You can follow me on twitter (@iamboney) or email me at boneyinbox@gmail.com.

The 23-43 Pistons are in Boston tonight to take on Rasheed Wallace and the 41-24 Celtics. I realize the Pistons aren’t the team they used to be, but this particular opening sentence to the NBA.com preview of the game sort of made me mad.

“It was a rough week for the Boston Celtics. A visit from the lowly Detroit Pistons to open a brief home stretch could help them get back on track.” Via NBA.com

Lowly….really? We aren’t New Jersey just yet.

Ben Wallace is still listed as day to day and as we know Rodney has no timetable on his return.

The Scouting Report via Pistons.com

Tip is at 8:00 pm EST and will be broadcast on ESPN with the radio broadcast over at 950 AM WWJ or follow the action online over at NBA.com.

UPDATE

We had to Cancel Celtics Late Night Show tonight.  Sorry I won’t be able to take your calls after the game but I am sure we’ll do it again soon.

NEED4SHEED GAME CHAT