Straight from my unsteady hand to you in HD, with a special bonus, the Pistons opening intros.

I am sincerely apologizing for my whistling, I know I can get pretty loud at times.

Ben Wallace with a HUGE ovation and being there I can tell you that he had to have felt the love in the building.  Ben Gordon, who started in place of the injured Richard Hamilton got a nice ovation, but overall I was impressed by the love for Will Bynum….BYNUMITE.

No Sheed, no post intro dance, that I missed.

Chauncey Billups’ Palace introductions March 3rd 2009

What a night to be at The Palace!

And what a class act Billups is. Watch his post game comments and then tell me you don’t appreciate and miss his leadership and his attitude.  In red white and blue or light blue and yellow…he’s Ron Burgundy classy.

Chauncey Billups Post Game Comments Video

For those of you who were able to attend the game like I was, you can attest to the fact that the roar for AI was deafening. Detroit showed AI plenty of love, too bad it didn’t translate into a win.

Key Points:

• The Palace renovations look great and considering that building is one of the oldest now in the NBA, it’s still one of the best.
• Very quiet crowd considering it was opening night.
• I don’t know if it was shown on the broadcast, but right before the tip Rasheed took the microphone to center court and thanked the crowd for coming out, especially during the hard economic times and reassured Pistons fans that they (the team) were out to prove something.
• The starters looked a bit rusty to start off the game but as soon as Curry started utilizing the bench Detroit made their push.
• Rip and Chauncey each shot 5-for-13.
• Four Pistons scored in double figures, and 10 played at least 13 minutes. Now that would never have happened last season under Flip.
• Rasheed has not shaken his pre-season shooting woes. He went 4-for-11 for 9 points but his defense was just fine. Sheed grabbed 7 boards, had 2 steals, a blocked shot and added 2 assists.
• Tayshaun Prince led the Pistons with 19 points on 8-for-15 shooting in 32 minutes on the floor. The jumpers weren’t going down to start but the dunks brought life to the crowd and the team.

• 14 turnovers for Detroit isn’t the norm but they really took advantage of Indiana’s 21.
• Rebound war won 41 to 38. It was nice to see them grab 14 offensive boards. I love that way Amir keeps the ball alive down low.
• Detroit shot 44% for the night to the Pacers 49.
• Lesson Learned – Leave Amir open and he’ll knock down a 20 footer.
• “It all started with preseason, when I was already shooting a couple of jumpers,” Johnson said. “I’m very confident in my jump shot. We work on it every day and I’m just going to keep shooting if I’m open.” Via The Detroit Free Press
• Great to see the Amir get introduced by Mason in the Starting Lineup.
  In my opinion Walter Herrmann AKA Rico Suave was the key off the bench for Detroit. Herrmann sank a couple of key three pointers in the second to help the Pistons take control of the game. He finished with 10 points and the best two came on this circus shot late in the fourth.

Courtesy of The Detroit Pistons, The NBA and FSN Detroit

• “Walter Herrmann came in and he’s shown everyone he’s a guy who can come in and give Tayshaun (Prince) a break,” Curry said. “He’s (Herrmann) a very capable player in this league. He’s an experienced guy.” “I was waiting for this opportunity,” said Herrmann, who saw limited playing time last season when arrived in a midseason trade from Charlotte. “This season maybe I can play more minutes. Michael Curry told me when I come to the court I have to play hard. That’s it. ” Via The Detroit News
• NBA.Com Highlights of the Game
• How did Danny Granger put up 33 points on Detroit, who was wasn’t guarding him? The kid couldn’t miss, I almost thought it was a mistake when I looked up at the scoreboard and noticed he had 30 late in the fourth.
• Come on people, I know there is traffic but there is no reason to leave the game with 6 minutes left when it’s pretty close. The building was almost empty when I left, and I always stay till the final buzzer sounds.
• The new look Pacers really like to run the floor, it made for a different looking Pistons approach that I’m not used to seeing from this team.
• You always miss things when your’re at the game but Team Need4Sheed Captain (Steve) made sure to text message me that one of the refs called Indiana’s coach “old man”. That’s the beauty of high quality microphones.
• Dyess just didn’t look like himself to start the game but eventually got into the groove. He put up 8 points with 5 boards. The thing about McDyess is….it seems like if he doesn’t make his first couple of shots to start the game he struggles. When he knocks down the first one, watch out!
• Scary isn’t it….Amir and Sheed down low. Did I mention Amir blocked 3 shots on the night?

• Solid effort for Arron Afflalo who had 5 points and 3 takeaways in 13 minutes.
• Stuckey looked solid and had a couple of nice cuts to the basket for layups.  Eight points with four assists in 16 minutes is a nice way to start the season. I do get a little scared when he drives the lane in traffic with no hesitation, reminds me a little too much of Wade (and his injuries).
• The Spare Tires dressed in appropriate gear passed out candy to the crowd and did one heck of a Thriller dance during one of the breaks in action.
• My goodness was it just me or was the officiating a little off? I know Detroit took too many jumpers but the foul discrepancy was big. Detroit had 16 chances at the line to Indiana’s 29. Jarret Jack slipped and fell and they called a foul on Prince.
• Chauncey’s three pointer with three minutes left was the nail.
• Either the Pacers are better than I expected or Detroit wasn’t quite on their game last night.
• Have to agree with Dave Dial on this one.
• For those of you in the chat room last night during the game I’m anxious to know how it worked out.
• Many of you asked, so I just want you to know that the November Pistons Schedule wallpaper will be up tomorrow.

The Pistons pieced this one together from some of the Pistons Kids nights at The Palace. Mason’s job is seriously in jeopardy, good thing he still has his radio gig.