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.

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.

Game Highlights via NBA.com

• Since many of us didn’t get to see this one, the highlight will just have to do. Although if you’re a Pistons fan I doubt if you would consider them high-lights.
• One thing that stood out for me in the box score, the Pistons allowed the Hawks a season high 63% shooting percentage. Another telling sign as to what Ben Wallace has been to the team all season long.
• Every Piston, besides DaJuan Summers who played just 1 minute, were in the minus on there +/- stat.
• Bynum and Kuester with techs.
• 16 turnovers…ugh.
• Detroit was down by as much as 28.
• Go Jason, Maxiell scored 11 of his team high 19 in the second half.

Photo/Getty Images

• After building a 28 point lead at halftime, the Hawks watched the Pistons pull to within nine points early in the fourth quarter.
• Maybe this was a good one to miss.

Don’t forget leave Bennie and Jeff your thoughts in the comments. They are waiting to hear what Team Need4Sheed has to say.

Team Need4Sheed Podcast #34- What’s up with the Pistons?

Download

Subscribe in iTunes

Subscribe in a reader

You know the speech every parent gives their child when they get involved in sports? The talk to ensure their kid that, “It’s just a game,” and they’re right. What happened at Quicken Loans Arena tonight was more than just a game of men banging bodies and exchanging baskets, it was a game that gave way to a situation that can put things in perspective for anybody.

• First of all, thoughts and prayers go out to Rodney Stuckey, as well as his friends and family. To see him slumped and hunched over on the bench in Arnie Kander’s arms was disturbing, and to see him wheeled out on a stretcher was unsettling to say the least, I could only imagine the mindset of Stuckey’s friends and family, not to mention his Pistons’ teammates after the twelve minute break.
• As Natalie mentioned, it wasn’t about basketball anymore, and a loss is the last thing the Pistons will be concerned about.
• When ESPN sideline reporter Heather Cox reported that officials thought Stuckey had a seizure, I couldn’t help but think of former Detroit Red Wings’ defensemen, Jiri Fischer.
• Yahoo! Sports writer Adrian Wojnarowski recently was told by team officials that it wasn’t a seizure as initially reported, but instead that he was, “…  lightheaded and couldn’t get his bearings, but he never lost consciousness,” which contradicts the early reports Heather Cox was relaying during the game.
• Updates revealed Stuckey was in stable condition and breathing on his own again, which is a relief, but remember, Stuckey had missed a couple games last season in November because of dizziness as a report by the Detroit News reminded me.
• Excerpt from NBA Fan House article in regards to the November 2008 game against Boston:

“…he was suddenly overcome with feeling dizzy and lightheaded. Moments after the halftime buzzer sounded, he dropped to his knees as he was walking off the court before being helped off by trainer Arnie Kander.

They got as far as the tunnel leading to the locker room before he leaned against the wall and eventually took a seat on a chair to gather himself. He eventually made his way all the way back to the trainer’s room, where he stayed for the rest of the game.”

• Stuckey played well in his only three quarters of play, notching eight points and ten assists, while Dick Bavetta missed a couple of blatant fouls as Rodney was hacked at the rim a few times tonight.

Photo/Getty Images

• Ben Wallace still out with a sore right knee he suffered in the Celtics’ game on Tuesday. His injury led to a small-ball lineup of Jonas at the five, Max at the four, Tayshaun at his natural three and Hamilton and Stuckey rounding out the backcourt.
• There was a reason the Pistons jumped out to such a nice lead in the first quarter… The Cavs’ defense and focus was about as loose as the sleeves on those Snuggies their fans were wearing en route to setting a record for the “largest gathering of people wearing fleece blankets” with 20,562. Glad to see our opponents still take us seriously…
• That lead got as big as 21 points, which is the largest deficit the Cavs had faced at the Q all season, but in the end, the Cavs pushed past a distraught Pistons squad, 99-92.
• Easy to get out to that 21 point lead when the Pistons shot 50% from the field in the first half, and the Cavs shot only 42% and 0 of 5 from deep in the first half, and couldn’t manage to knock down a three pointer until there was 6:40 left in the 3^rd quarter.
• Pistons’ old timers showed up big tonight, especially in the first half. Tayshaun went 6-9 from the field in the first half, and finished the game with 23 points on 10-17 shooting. Rip added 20 on 7-14 shooting, but had 6 turnovers and three fouls (two offensive) in a minute span during the middle of the third quarter which coupled with the loss of Rodney, gave way to the unraveling of the Pistons’ lead.

Photo/Getty Images

• Anatomy of a comeback: Pistons’ had seven turnovers in the first half, but Cleveland forced them to cough up the ball seven times in the 3^rd quarter alone. Pistons had 17 assists in the first half, but only had five assists after Rodney Stuckey left the game in the 3^rd quarter. And of course, easy to mount a comeback when LeBron James is on your side and he has the home crowd to feed off of.
• I went to the Boston game on Tuesday and pointed out to a friend that Charlie V is looking to shoot every time he gets the ball, and it doesn’t matter where he gets it. Face up on the wing, on the block posting up, it doesn’t matter. Tonight in Cleveland? Chuck had ten touches in the front court and shot the ball nine times. There’s a reason I said ten front court touches. When he had to help out on an inbounds on the baseline in the backcourt, he got a hold of the ball, and I was wholeheartedly waiting/expecting for him to turn and heave it from our free-throw line.
• Jonas was held scoreless for the game, going 0 for 5, but his impact on the first half at the defensive end (as is the cast most often), was tremendous. Jerebko had 8 rebounds in the first quarter – ending up with 12 for the night – but his hands were constantly active in the passing lanes as he deflected passes while the Pistons were in the 2-3 zone and even blocked a couple of shots for good measure.  SWEDEtastic!  For the most part…
• Jonas must have felt he was watching his home country Sweden play hockey in the Olympics because LeBron put him on skates at the 9:24 mark in the 1^st quarter as he blew past the Swede for a layup. If I had a gripe about Jonas at this point, he is playing pretty flat-footed in the paint, and he got caught doing a lot of this tonight as Varejao scored layup after layup on way to providing 16 points on 8 of 10 shooting off the bench for the Cavs.
• Speaking of the bench, Detroit’s pine players outscored Cleveland’s 32-28, but the combination of West and Varejao just flat outplayed Gordon and Villanueva.
• Maxiell did his best Ben impression again tonight, scoring 9 points, grabbing 8 rebounds, and a swat for good measure (while adding authenticity to the rendition by going 1-3 from the free throw line.)
• You can only hope Gordon will hit his stride (which he seemingly was in his first ten contests with the Pistons by averaging 21.9 PPG while shooting 49% from the floor) and find his niche soon after missing a good chunk of the season with that ankle injury.
• Anyone notice Tayshaun’s demeanor in his halftime interview when ESPN’s sideline reporter Heather Cox asked him to comment on a quote that Kuester made before the game? Heather asked Tayshaun, “… the last ten games, you’ve been playing as aggressive as he’s [Kuester] has ever seen, how’s your mentality changed over that span?”
• He cocked his eyebrow when she finished her question and the look on his face kind of said it all. Tayshaun answered after a slight pause and said:

“Well I would say that the last ten games is the first time I’ve been healthy all season, so, you know, it always plays a factor when you’re healthy because that’s when your confidence rises, when you’re not healthy, your confidence goes down low, so, it was an unfortunate situation earlier this year, but the past is behind me and I’m just trying to finish the season off strong.”

• He just seemed genuinely annoyed by Kuester’s remark as he walked to the locker room.
• Speaking of Kuester beef, why was he calling timeouts when the Pistons were down by eight with 14.8 seconds, knowing not only the game is over, but of the situation with Rodney Stuckey? Anyone notice that inbound play by the way?
• Player and human being of the night goes to LeBron James who had 40 points on 16 of 27 shooting, with 13 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks.
• And by human being of the night, I mean the class act that LeBron exemplified tonight. To call his teammates back out and share a prayer at mid-court with the Pistons, you ultimately have to look past him for being ‘over competitive’ and not shaking hands in the Orlando series. Hey, as much as the guy has torn me apart as a fan and left me demoralized, no one can pass judgment on that gesture.
• Well, I didn’t expect my first article for N4S to have the words ‘Snuggie’ and ‘seizure’ in it, but I didn’t foresee something like this happening either.
• This game was just plain difficult to watch. Especially since just last night, ESPN was commemorating and celebrating the life of the late and great Hank Gathers, and the 20^th anniversary of his far too premature passing. It just goes to show that the game of basketball, or any sport for that matter, is just a game.
• With that, I speak on behalf of Pistons’ fans everywhere who hope Rodney Stuckey makes a safe and speedy recovery.

Highlights of  The Game

Video Courtesy of The NBA and The Detroit Pistons

More Links

• Stuckey seems well after collapse on bench – Detroit Free Press
• Stuckey Doing well after collapse – AP
• Pistons shaken - Detroit News
• Hospitalized Stuckey doing well – ESPN.com

When I was asked to do another guest post at Need4Sheed, I jumped at the opportunity. When I was asked to pick a game, I naturally chose the Knicks game because they can’t possibly beat the Pistons right? No? So for guest post #2 of my N4S career, I am stuck writing a recap of the worst loss of the season. Earlier, if you’ll remember, I wrote about the Pistons disastrous loss to the Indiana Pacers on the 22nd of January. So, whether you want to remember or not, here we go:

Final Score Pistons 104 Knicks 128

• Jonas Jerebko is above and beyond the player of the night: 15 points (4-9 fg, 2-2 3pt, 5-7 FT) with 13 rebounds (4 offensive) in 34 minutes.
• Only Austin Daye had a positive plus/minus (+6) for the Pistons, everyone else was a negative (Richard Hamilton was a team worst, -22).
• With the Pistons down 20+ with a little over 2 minutes to go DaJuan Summers, Chucky Atkins and Kwame Brown got some burn. I guess being down by as much as 27 at one point doesn’t mean that perhaps another group could provide a spark huh Coach Q?
• Actually since you’ve been reading this, the score is now 134-104 as Al Harrington has hit 2 more 3 pointers.
• At least the Maxiell did what he could in place of Ben Wallace.

Photo/Getty Images

• I remember when I played basketball, they taught me to put my hands up on opponent’s shot attempts. The Knicks shot 55% from the field, 52% from 3. The Knicks made 6 more shots than the Pistons on 4 less shots. Where’s the D?
• Newly acquired Bill Walker scored a career high 22 points on 9-13 shooting. So tell me Rip, Tayshaun, Daye, and whoever else guarded 2nd year SG/SF Bill Walker who couldn’t see any time in Boston… how does Bill Walker absolutely embarrass you like that?  This dunk didn’t help.

Video Courtesy of The NBA

• Tracy McGrady with a near triple-double (21 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists). The man is playing on one leg.
• The New York Knicks did not start a point guard.
• The only players on the Knicks that shot under 50% on the night were Sergio Rodriguez and Toney Douglas.
• 4 Knicks scored 20 or more. 0 Pistons scored 20 or more.
• Poor ball movement – 19 assists on 41 field goals made for Detroit.
• Remember New York didn’t start a point guard? They had 33 assists on 47 field goals made.
• Ben Wallace out after injuring his knee against the Celtics. Jason Maxiell started in his place and played 30 minutes, scoring 10 points and securing 8 rebounds.
• Awful game. Just awful.

Photo/Getty Images

• Why is Tayshaun Prince playing 33 minutes in a 20+ point blowout loss and Austin Daye only playing 10 minutes?
• Why is this team as bad as they are? They have 7 road wins. 7. They’ve played 30 road games.
• Al Harrington usually does not play well against us (12.2 ppg career) but he exploded for 26 points on 10-17 shooting with 8 rebounds.
• Thanks again to Natalie for allowing me to write this re-cap. Nothing positive came from watching this game, writing this re-cap or thinking this team has a chance against cellar dweller teams anymore. The Detroit Pistons are a bad team right now.
• The High-Low lights

Video Courtesy of The NBA and The Detroit Pistons