The 5-6 Pistons are in Portland to take on the 8-4 Trail Blazers.  The Trail Blazers will  look to rebound from their first loss in seven games  tonight when they face Detroit who will try to avoid its first three game losing streak of the season.

The Scouting Report via Pistons.com

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Tip is at 10:00 pm EST and will be televised on FOX Sports PLUS (that’s a programming change so take note). For the radio broadcast tune into 97.1 The Ticket or follow the action on NBA.com.

For those of you who missed the chat room, it’s back! You can again talk Pistons during the games.

NEED4SHEED GAME CHAT

Need4Sheed Guest Writer:
Rashid S. Umar

After a promising start, the Pistons were overwhelmed by the Champion Lakers, but put on a late rally before falling 106-93. The Pistons were led by Will Bynum’s 24 points and 6 assists, while Kobe Bryant scored 40 to help stop LA’s two-game losing streak. Detroit falls to 5-6 on the young season and head to Portland Wednesday night.

Some key points:

• Despite a strained groin, Kobe takes advantage of the smaller Piston guards en route to 40 points (including an unnecessary three pointer late).
• For all the people who think that the team should trade Tayshaun or Rip, don’t you think they would have made a difference tonight?
• Lakers were without Pau Gasol and Luke Walton.
• Ben Gordon gets up there.
  

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• Tayshaun made the trip. Rip talks retirement.
• Did Charlie V suit up tonight? I’m just asking.
• Big Ben Wallace tried his best but was outdone by LA’s low post offense.
• Living in LA, I had to watch the Lakers broadcast which made me angry, so I decided to mute the television. DirecTV blacked out the Fox Sports Detroit channel during due to the local broadcast, bummer.
• Lamar Odom nearly had a triple-double with triple 8’s.
• Hey a Dejuan Summers sighting!
• Another Bynumite night, we clearly had the Better Bynum!

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• Austin Daye looked lost, while Jonas Jerebko seemed to agitate Kobe.
• Ben Gordon seemed to get frustrated so he decided to take it out on the rim with a rim rattler.
• Too many turnovers in a short period of time during the second quarter led to a ridiculous Lakers rally.
• While Ben Gordon was able to get off to a fast start, he was later neutralized while trying to defend Kobe.
• Pistons fell behind by as much as 28 points, then coach Kue went to a line-up of Bynum, Jerebko, Summers, Kwame, and Maxiell.
• Will Bynum block was nice but the rejection of the night goes to Jason Maxiell, who also got a tech for mixing it up with the other Bynum.

• Pistons have lost 2 in a row and look to avoid another “L” tonight in Portland.

Recap via NBA.com

The 5-5 Pistons are in Los Angeles to take on the Lakers to start a very difficult stretch of games. The reigning NBA Champions are 7-and-3 on the season and will look to bounce back on their home court to avoid their first three game losing streak in nearly two years.

Stuckey is good to go, but still no word on Rip

The Lakers game, plus Tayshaun talks about him making the road trip out West with Detroit  via Pistons.com

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The Scouting Report via Pistons.com

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Tip is at 10:30 pm EST and will be televised on FOX Sports in HD. For the radio broadcast tune into 97.1 The Ticket or follow the action on NBA.com.

Despite huge games from Rodney Stuckey and Will Bynum, the Pistons lost a thriller Sunday night to the Dallas Mavericks 95-90. The Pistons leading scorer Ben Gordon, had a chance to tie it up with a three pointer with just 5 seconds left on the game clock, but the attempt was just off the mark giving Dallas the win.

Key Points:

• A rare game when Gordon was really off his game, Ben was just 1-for-16 from the field scoring just 5 points, 2 assists, a board and 4 turnovers.  Those games are few and far between for Gordon, lets hope he bounces back quickly for the Western trip.  He’s a little under the weather battling a cold right now.

“They didn’t feel good and they didn’t look good, either,” Gordon said of his jumpers. “You’ll have games like that every once in awhile. I’ve just got to bounce back.”  Via NBA.com

• What more can I say about Ben Wallace? The guy really is playing like he was when he was in his prime and you have to say that if it weren’t for him the Pistons would be in big trouble with Rip and Tay out of the lineup. Just like before he’s doing things that don’t always show up in the stats, but help the team immensely. Ben grabbed 10 boards, 2 assists, 3 blocked shots, 9 points and a steal.
• Absolutely the best game from Rodney this season who couldn’t miss in the first half. He was dodging through the lane like a formula one driver driving in Manhattan. He didn’t care who was in the lane, he was taking it to the hoop and making it. Stuck put up 28 on 12-for-20 shooting, with 4 boards and 2 assists.

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• 13 turnovers for Detroit to just 7 from Dallas. I’m not spoiling Rodney’s night but he was accountable for 5 himself.
• Another DNP for Chris Wilcox.
• Jason Maxiell played 13 minutes and had 2 boards and 2 points.   How in the world are we in games when Ben and Charlie are the only big guys doing it?  It’s probably the little things that Kwame Brown is doing.
• 42 points in the paint thanks to Rodney and Will.
• Stuckey sat out the last 4 minutes of the game with cramps, possibly from playing 44 minutes the night before in Washington. Not before doing this all night long though.

Video Courtesy of The NBA, FSN and The Detroit Pistons

• Jonas Jerebko and Austin Day both with 5 boards and 2 assists.
• Henrik Zetterberg in the house to support his fellow countryman Jerebko.
• If you need a guard on your fantasy team….go pick up Rodrigue Beaubois, my goodness this kid didn’t miss.  Best part about it was hearing Eli Zaret trying to pronounce his name on the broadcast.
• Bynum was responsible for  8-0 Pistons run to tie the game at 78.
• Will was the Spark again igniting the Pistons offense they were down. Bynum got Detroit right back in the game, something I have been repeating it seems like every day. Bynumite is clearly on track for Sixth Man of the Year. Seventeen of his 27 points came in the fourth quarter on 11-for-16 shooting on the night.

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• Win or lose this game was fun to watch, I am amazed each night how the guards are contributing. Anyone else notice we play well when we go small? I’m not even bringing up last season.
• 55 points put up by Stuckey and Bynum.
• Dirk Nowitski led the Mavs with 25 but he had to take 27 shots to do it.
• Charlie Villanueva put up a double-double with 13 points, 10 boards, a blocked shot and an assist. Some points just come easy when you get a good dish from a teammate.

Video Courtesy of The NBA, FSN and The Detroit Pistons

• Despite the fact that Ben Gordon was cold all night, I had no problem with him taking the last shot for the tie.
• Bynum and Stuckey Highlights

The 5-4 Pistons take on another old coach today at The Palace of Auburn Hills.  The Pistons face their third consecutive former head coach this evening when Rick Carlisle brings his 6-3 Mavericks into town for their only visit this season to Detroit.

Dallas has won four of the teams’ last five meetings, so this one wont be easy.

Still no word on Rip, but he’s got a thing or two to say about what Detroit has done without him in the lineup. Thankfully Ben Gordon is making us miss him less than we thought we would.

Scouting Report via Pistons.com

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Tip is at 6:00 and will be televised on FOX Sports in HD.   For the radio broadcast tune into 950 AM WWJ or follow the action on NBA.com.

The 4-4 Pistons take on Flip Saunders’ 2-6 The Wizards in Washington.  This will be the first time that Flip will face the Pistons since his termination in 2008.

As for tonight’s matchup:

“Arenas played even though he’s battling a calf injury. Wizards guard Randy Foye sprained his right ankle in the second quarter and his status is uncertain.

Washington is also without starting forward Antawn Jamison (shoulder) and guards Mike James (finger), Javarris Crittenton (foot).

“We just need some rest time,” Saunders said. “I’ve never been in a situation where I’ve lost three point guards.” Via NBA.com

Still no word on Rip, but we do have Will! (I have now watched those dunks well over 100 times, something is wrong with me)

Scouting Report via Pistons.com

Tip is at 7:00 and will be televised on FOX Sports Plus (FSN PLUS).. for the Channel numbers in your area please click here. For the radio broadcast tune into 950 AM WWJ or follow the action on NBA.com.

Te 2-4 Detroit Pistons take on The 3-2 Sixers for an early afternoon game at the Palace of Auburn Hills.  As you know by the numbers, this is the Pistons worst start to a season in quite some time and the fact that they will now be without Tayshaun for what could be a long time,  makes things that much worse for Detroit.  The Pistons have dropped four of its first six for the first time since 2000-01. That start is due in large part to injuries to Hamilton, who’s status is still up in the air and Prince who’s back injury was much worse than expected.

I care not to remember the Pistons 4-12 record on Sunday’s from last season.  A win tomorrow without Rip and Tay on Sunday would do wonders for Detroit.

Tip off is at 1:00 PM and will televised on Fox Sports.  If you can’t catch the matinee on TV, listen live on 950 AM WWJ or follow the game over at NBA.com.

Update:

Final Score:
Pistons103 Magic 110

Due to a lack of time and technical difficulties I’m not recapping this one but after reading Patrick Hayes over at MLive I would have to say I agree with him for the most part.  Good to see Charlie V finally put it together and impressed with Day and Jerebko.  Also just like Patrick, waiting on Chris Wilcox to prove me right on my X-Factor pick of the season.

Oh, and let’s talk about giving up 40 first quarter points to the Magic…that was a mess I didn’t think they were going to pull themselves out of.

Highlights from the game:

A win for Detroit tonight would make it six in a row against the Magic.

With all the success Dwight had in Detroit he decided to sponsor Need4Sheed by promoting his new business venture on the website.
Listen to the commercial for

Dwight Howard’s 17 minute Chicken Shack.

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Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton will not play again for Detroit and Vince Carter may not play for Orlando. John Kuester’s starting lineup will likely be Rodney Stuckey and Ben Gordon in the backcourt, with Jonas Jerebko, Charlie Villanueva and Ben Wallace up front.

Tip off is at 7:00 PM and will be locally broadcast on Fox Sports. Can’t catch the game on television? Tune into the radio at 97.1 The Ticket or follow the game on line of at NBA.com.

Bounce back quickly from last night’s victory is what the Pistons plan to do tonight in Toronto as the e 2-2 Pistons are set to take on the 1-2 Raptors at the Air Canada center.  The Pistons will again be without Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton for tonight’s game against the Raps.

Who to look out for?

• Andrea Bargnani who’s putting up career numbers.
• Chris Bosh who’s always a weapon.
• Hedo Turkoglu who can shoot the lights out on a given night.

Me…. I’m hoping for a some playing time for our old friend Amir Johnson, especially after I found out he shouted me out on RaptorsTV.

Tip off is at 7:00 PM and will be locally broadcast on FSN.  You can also listen to the game on 97.1 The Ticket or follow the game on NBA.com.

After last night’s battle, I’m hoping for an easier time from our shorthanded and injured (Will) squad.

It’s rare that I post something like this, but I know that many of you appreciate Pistons memorabilia and if this isn’t a wonderful cause I don’t know what is.

HELP MICHIGAN UNDERGRADS BATTLING CANCER:

“From now through the end of the 2009 Michigan football season, the Bernard “Pat” Maloy Cancer Scholarship Online Auction will be open for bidding at http://www.umich.cmarket.com . Two hundred items, most of which are autographed University of Michigan football, hockey, basketball, and baseball memorabilia will be auctioned off with the proceeds benefiting the Maloy Scholarship which is given to Michigan undergraduate students who either have cancer or whose direct family members have been so affected.

The Maloy Scholarship is named after Professor Bernard “Pat” Maloy who taught at the University of Michigan’s School of Kinesiology from 1986 through his passing of esophageal cancer in 2001. The Scholarship was created in 2007 by a group of eleven of Professor Maloy’s former students (including Tyrone Wheatley, the former Michigan running back standout) and Professor Maloy’s widow Nora Maloy. In three short years the Scholarship committee has managed to raise nearly $175,000 and will have its first student attending Michigan on a Maloy Scholarship this fall. The goal is to be able to award a four year $5,000 scholarship every fall to a deserving student who has financial need.”

There are a few Pistons items, so if you want to get a Rasheed Wallace Autographed Jersey or a Rip Hamilton Signed Basketball here is your chance.

Add a Detroit Tigers page and a Red Wings page and Detroit Fans are set.

• Bynumite impressed coach Kuester “I went after him specifically to say how much I was impressed with him,” Kuester said. “He changed the complexion of the game with his energy and scoring.” This season, Kuester sees a similar role for Bynum, a “spark plug” type of player off the bench who can change the flow of a game. “A person that’s not going to sit and let the offense come to him but he’ll attack offensively and defensively,” Kuester said.
• Bynum looking to breakout in his contract year. I see good things to come from Will, who’s been such a pleasant surprise in the D.
• Kwame Brown on Ben Wallace “Anybody that can play defense like that, I’m going with the mind-set that I can learn from him and take something from his game and add it to my game.”
• More Allen Iverson Drama over at ESPN “They told me, straight up, ‘Allen we would never disrespect you or your career like that’ by making me come off the bench,” You know Allen, Pistons fans seem to recall a promise you made when you TOOK Chauncey’s spot and his number that you would do whatever it took to win a championship in Detroit.  If that’s skipping practice, bitching about playing time, and tanking your season when things didn’t go your way…..good luck to you in Memphis, you’re dead to us in Motown.
• Laimbeer getting used to being an NBA Coach. “It’s a good feeling to see the guys respond to what I’m saying,” Laimbeer said. “This is something I’ve always wanted to do. A lot has changed since I played, but it’s still basketball, and it’s still about responsibilities.”
• Dumars latest moves fall flat according to SI. Still talking about the cap space and 2010, did any of you think these moves would put us in Championship contention without another move made? Frankly I see it as a considerable upgrade to the mess last season.
• Kuester starts camp in the D with D.
• Daye, Summers and Jerebko fighting for playing time.
• Does anyone else get the feeling Rip is not happy to still be wearing a Pistons uni?  Did you see his face in the Media Day photo’s? That’s not a happy camper. Plus I have update his toon with the new fauhawk.

Photo/Getty Images

• Regardless, he took the time out to speak to Detroit area High School Students.
• More long range shots from the tall fellas?
• Great interview with Amir Johnson (audio) over at HoopsAddict.
• For those of us who remember him fondly…..A Fennis Dembo update.

From the desk of Matt Dery over at 97.1 The Ticket who covered The Pistons Media day on Monday.

Matt asks the questions we want to hear from Rip…are you happy to be back? Iverson…. How unhappy were you last year….Great interview from Matt, Listen UP!

Richard Hamilton Interview

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Matt with Charlie Villanueva on Twitter, defense, Detroit, Joe Dumars and more.

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