Enjoy

Video Courtesy of The Detroit Pistons

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.

He’s quite a stir in his home country, being that he’s the first Swedish born player in the NBA and now he’s got a special place for himself in “The D.”

From Team Need4Sheed member BJ:

Hey Natalie,
During last night’s game one of – what I can only assume was – The Palace promotional workers started passing out viking helmets to the fans sitting in our row. Turns out, for every point Jerebko scored, another helmet was given. I accounted for point number 7 and, after a couple sitting next to us left, more fans were asked to move up a row and wear the helmets to finish off the 10 points he eventually earned. Good times, indeed.

JEREBKO ROW!

And Jonas seems to enjoy it.

Seems more people than I thought had the Need4Swede!

Key Points:

• Ben Wallace had an amazing 16 boards on the night, 11 of them coming in the first half, which is a Pistons record.  Either he loves being back in Detroit, or Arnie has got some secret anti-aging fountain of youth voodoo drink concoction he’s giving him.  If it’s the later….I’ll take some please.
• “I knew Ben would be an asset talking to our bigs,” head coach John Kuester said. “I never imagined the impact he would have playing. Right now, he looks like the old Ben. He’s leading by example” Via NBA.com
• An impressive 51 rebounds for the Pistons.  I attended the matinee and all I kept thinking was, boy are they ever gobbling up boards -- especially on the offense (21).  I had no idea the number would add up like that.
• Did I mention Mr. Wallace also blocked 3 shots and added 3 steals!
• SWEDEtastic!

Video Courtesy of The NBA and The Detroit Pistons

• Is Jonas Jerebko making good of  his time on court of what?  This kid is pure hustle who knows a golden opportunity when he sees it. Jerebko scored 10 on 5-for-10 shooting, with 5 boards in 22 minutes. The putback jam was tops, but all his highlights are solid.

• More minutes for Jason Maxiell who scored just 2 with 2 boards in 20 minutes on the floor.
• Iguodala got hot quickly for the Sixers and led all scorers with 24.  It’s usually Tay who plays him tough, so he had an easier time Sunday afternoon.
• Boy is Charlie Villanueva starting to warm up. It looked like the Pistons tried to draw plays for him in the first quarter to help him get off to the right start early in the game. CV31 finished with 16 points , 5 boards and a blocked shot in 27 minutes on the floor and was showing some sweet moves in the post all weekend long.
• All Daye long…Nice spin move from Austin in the post after a dish from Bynum.  Daye, who’s also making the best of an awful situation (T-Prince’s injury) scored 7 points in 14 minutes on the floor.

Video Courtesy of The NBA and The Detroit Pistons

• Fourteen assists for the Pistons.
• Though Detroit led most of the game, they let the Sixers take the lead in the fourth quarter, but went on a 16-6 tear to finish the game.
• DNP for Wilcox who’s not living up to (my) expectations.
• Great job by Stuckey holding Iguodala to 1-4 shooting in the fourth quarter.  Rodney finished the game with 13 points on 5-for-15 shooting, 5 boards, 3 assists and a steal
• BYNUMITE stats of the night 8-8-8 ! Boards, assists and points. Not to mention the sweet dish on NBA.com.  I have a soft spot for Mr. Bymum and cross-court bounce passes.

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• My apologies to Will for starting this whole BYMUMITE thing…it seems to have really taken on it’s own life. Not only was it on Pistons.com, but I’ve heard it on the radio broadcasts a few times now. Sorry “Will the Thrill”.
• What’s more of a surprise, Pistons fans:
  The play of the rookies, Austin Daye and Jonas Jerebko?
  Ben Wallace?
  Or AI’s mess in Memphis?
• 42 points in the paint, that’s a great stat for Pistons team that has struggled in that department.
• Can we please talk about Kwame Brown. I have said it before, this guy really puts in the effort. He may not put up 20 a night but he’s doing just what he came here to do. We need him to produce and hustle and he’s doing just that. He finished with 7 points, 8 boards and a steal in 18 minutes. Give the guy some credit please.
• Ben on Ben: “Seems like he’s at home here in Detroit,” Gordon said. “Playing for (Chicago and Cleveland) the last few years, it never seemed like he was at home. You can tell Big Ben is definitely at home here.” Via NBA.com

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• Another stellar game from Ben Gordon.  I think he’s definitely showing management and fans that he was well worth his contract. Once again BG led the Pistons with 23 points on 9-for-19 shooting with 2 boards, 2 assists and a steal. The highlights are mounting and the Pistons have only played seven games.

• Great day for an afternoon game in Michigan and it was nice to walk out of the Palace drenched in Sunshine and a Win!

• The Ben Wallace to the Pistons speculation is gaining ground.
• New assistant coach Brian Hill on board in Detroit.
• Don’t miss the Pistons summer league wrap up on Sunday Night July 26, at 8 & 10 pm followed by a must see Special on the one and only Chuck Daly at 8:30 & 10:30 pm on Fox Sports Detroit.
• Eli Zaret caught up with Chris Wilcox when the Pistons inked his contract.  Get to know him in if you already don’t.
• For all of you who keep inquiring…Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, Austin Daye, DaJuan Summers, Jonas Jerebko and the voice of the Pistons John Mason have all been Tooned. Wilcox is on his way and the sidebar with the faces will be changed once the full roster is set.
• And by the way…you may not have been the only one who missed the Charlie Villanueva Toon….he asked me himself when he was getting one.  Little did he know he missed it…and FYI he liked it.
• I was pretty sure Will Bynum was going to come after me with all the photoshop fun I had with his interview, but he actually loved it.  Thank goodness, I thought I was going to have to go into basketball hiding, which I would assume would involve me going to Memphis and covering the Grizzlies.
• Summer League Video Highlights Austin Daye.
• Summer League Video Highlights of DaJuan Summers.
• Summer League Video Highlights of Jonus Jerebko.
• Deron Washington is doing his best to make the Pistons.  Plus another YouTube classic from my friend Elie Seckbach with Deron.
• Austin Daye let us know via Twitter that he signed his contract with the Pistons.  “@Adaye5: Just signed my contract haha great day about to head to Spokane fir a lil and see some friends…” If you were following Austin or myself you would already know.
• Um…why didn’t I play in George Blaha’s High Hopes Golf Invitational? Pairing up with the Microwave would have been awesome. (Photos)
• Chris Weber gives us his Fab Five Pistons.

Team Need4Sheed member Richie Halas turned his thoughts about this season into video.

“We all know that the moves made this year were poor short term decisions, and may or may not be wise long term decisions. This year we’ve blamed Chauncey, Joe D, Iverson, Curry, Lebron, the officials and whatever else we could think of. Perhaps it’s time that we blame ourselves for coveting platinum while spitting on the gold we had. We might as well blame it on the rain.”

While Richie wants to move on, The Fresh Prince of The Blog shows how he (and many other Pistons fans) feels about Cavs fans being invited to the Palace in his video rant.

There are a handfull of teams vying for Sheed and McDyess’s services next season and Joe Dumars is probably on the phone as you are reading this trying to secure some kingd of deal. Its going to be an eventful summer Pistons fans, you may not like change but it’s coming regardless.

Key Points:

• An impressive 56 points in the paint for Detroit while shooting 53.8% from the field on the night.
• This game brought back memories of “The Pistons”, you know that team we have come to know that dominates games and goes to six consecutive ECF’s. A pleasant flashback if you watched this one.
• Mr. McDyess just doesn’t realize that he’s in the second half of his career. He had about 90 (8 to be exact) rebounds in the first quarter alone and finished with a double-double with 13 points, 16 boards an assist and 2 blocked shots in 29 minutes.
• Rip didn’t get ejected in this one, for some reason Rip’s temper gets the best of him in New York. He had been ejected in 4 of the last 6 games at the Garden.
• Great ball movement from Detroit, who took advantage of the Knicks small lineup.
• Hamilton led the team with 22 points, adding 7 assists and three boards in 32 minutes.  No two points prettier than when he took it left handed to David Lee for the layup.

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• All five starters in double figures.
• 57-33 edge on the board for Detroit.
• Play of the game, a Rasheed behind the back block to Tayshaun for an uncontested dunk. You can see it in the NBA Highlights.

• The Big Men – Dyess and Sheed combined for 27 points and 28 rebounds.
• The Pistons never trailed in this one and led by as much as 32 points.
• Jason Maxiell can wow just about any crowd and putbacks are a specialty. Jason put up 6 points and 6 boards in 18 minutes.

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• The magic number to clinch a playoff spot is one.
• “Whoever is going to play (the Pistons) in the playoffs is going to have some trouble,” Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said. “They’re big. They’re strong. They run. And our guys got overwhelmed.” Via The Detroit News
• Everyone played in this one, even Walter Sharpe who went 0-for-2 and one of those I’m sure he will be hearing about today from his teammates. Teammates can be brutal when you throw up an air ball.
• A better game for Rodney Stuckey, who looked very comfortable running the floor and making the most of the openings he saw to get the ball to open teammates.  Stuckey finished with 14 points on 6-for-10 shooting with 7 assists, a steal and one board while turning the ball over twice.
• “Three or four times we got the rebound and he pushed the break, didn’t have anything, and he pulled it out and ran a set,” Curry said. “That’s big. That’s game management. That’s the next step in his progression as a player, as he keeps learning how to manage the game. We’re going to need that from him.” Via The Detroit Free Press
• Amir Johnson, 4 points in five minutes with one board.  I know it has been said before about Amir, but not being able to box out when the Knicks are on the foul line and losing a rebound to your man that a resulted in a three point play for the Knicks is a flaw that Amir needs to work on.
• Tayshaun Prince had quite a few easy dunks finishing with 15 points on 7-for-14 shooting with 3 boards, 2 assists and a blocked shot in 27 minutes.  It was nice to see Prince have an easy time of it for a change.

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• Walter Hermann had quite a few highlights himself in this one, it really does amaze me when he goes up for one of his one handed floaters. Walter finished with 6 points and 6 boards in 15 minutes on the floor.
• Sheed started off things right from the start going 4-for-4 with two triples for 10 points. Wallace finished the game with 14 points and 12 boards, adding 2 blocks in 28 minuts on the floor.
• From team N4S member Ryan Collins who was at the game last night: “Lots and lots of Pistons fans in the house. Matter-of-fact, the only time you really heard Knicks fans give it up was when Nate Robinson did something, which wasn’t too often, unfortunately (i love that lil fella.). I know you watched all this on FSN Detroit, but it was a great night to be at MSG (unlike our unfortunate December meeting…) Right when Maxey went in, he had a HUGE dunk that missed, but i wanted you to know that it silenced the entire arena. Even without the points, his presence was felt.”
• Great D from Detroit, who held the Knicks to 36% shooting on the night.
• Kwame Brown still making the best of the role he has been put in. Brown put up 6 points with 8 boards and a blocked shot in 14 minutes on the floor.
• “In five months, Iverson accomplished what Flip Saunders couldn’t in three years. The Answer turned the six-time Eastern Conference finalists into a hanging-by-a-string, eighth-place playoff qualifier.” Jason Whitlock – AI Was Never The Answer
• Get in on your own Playoff Madness over at Pistons Online, where they are giving away a $500 NBA Store gift card to the winner!

Key Points:

• Detroit started the game off strong and went on plenty of runs throughout the game.  What changed in this game was Detroit didn’t let the runs that Boston went on get out of hand.
• Remember when we used the word poised when describing the way Detroit played? Well this is the first I’ve seen of it all season long.
• Detroit had lost five straight regular season games to the Celtics and 9-of-11 including a six-game Eastern Conference final.
• Detroit is back to playing .500 ball and has the same record as the Sixers. They are currently holding on to the 7th playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Get this….16.5 games back of Cleveland.
• Detroit played a solid 48 minutes.
• Rip Hamilton once again led this team to victory with 25 points, an assist away from a double-double. He added six boards in 39 minutes, while shooting 50% from the floor and went 11-for-12 from the line.  Is he trying to emphasize the fact that he should have never lost his starting job?  If he is, and this is the outcome we get…..keep it up Rip.

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• Rip Hamilton’s post game comments. (video)
• “We played our type of basketball,” Hamilton said. “That’s the thing for me with Tayshaun, Rasheed (Wallace) and (Antonio) McDyess, I always know they’re going to be at all times.” Via NBA.com
• Thank you NBA Referees, we bitch when you’re wrong (like when you missed Rip getting mauled at the end of the game) so it’s only right when we thank you for your fine work. That’s just how we roll in Detroit.  Detroit made a season-high 34 free throws, in 40 attempts.
• Sheed 15 points, 6 boards, 2 blocked shots and a steal. Solid defensive game for Sheed. I still wonder if he thinks he can make some of the crazy threes he jacks up.  Maybe it should be Jack ….instead of Roscoe?
  
• Outrebounded 35-31.
  
• Iverson still questionable for Tuesday’s game against Denver.
• Tayshaun Prince again asserted himself in a big game.  Prince scored 15 with 8 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals. How about the kind bounce on the three in the third quarter…nice.
  

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• NBA.com Pistons vs Celtics Video Recap.
• God love Hubie Brown and his pronunciations.
• Pistons led at the half 55-47 and didn’t give the lead up at all until Boston went on a run. Boston led 85-81 when Rasheed hit a tree pointer with 7:04 left to start a 13-4 run that left the Pistons ahead 94-89. They never looked back.
• Maxiell making clutch free throws with under three minutes left in the game.
  
• Rodney Stuckey held his own Sunday afternoon with 10 points, 5 assists, 3 boards, a rebound and just one turnover.
• Will Bynum made a bigger splash and is making a case for more playing time with 9 points, 2 assists, and 3 steals in just 12 minutes.  The takeaway from Marbury that lead to a layup was a thing of beauty, not to mention hard work.
• I will never understand the head tattoo.
• How about Detroit’s determination to come back and regain the lead in the fourth quarter and close the game out?
• 40 points in the paint for Boston to 18 for Detroit.
• Can we just say all hail to The Mighty THOR!  Walter Herrmann was a huge boost for Detroit making 4 of his 5 shots for 11 quick points for Detroit.

Original Thor Drawing/Marvel Comics

• Say what you will, but that inbound pass he tried at the end of the half still has me laughing.  Remember MIGHTY THOR!

• 15 lead changes and this one was tied 20 times.
• Defense…the Pistons had 8 steals  and 3 blocked shots
• 15th technical foul for Rasheed Wallace.
• Stat line of the night, just 6 turnovers for Detroit.
• Look I’m usually not one to bash other teams or their fans, (except Varejoke) but I think Celtics fans have it coming. I can’t tell you how many vile comments I deleted all day by the classy people of Boston. So when I saw this picture of Glen “Big Baby” with that look on his face I found it quite amusing that even the fans reacted with the cry big baby dramatics.

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• Antonio McDyess 10 points, 5 boards and a blocked shot while Jason Maxiell had 8 points in 17 minutes.
• For the second game in a row the ball movement was flowing and the team looked in sync. Be careful to judge these two games as “the Pistons are back,” in fact it may be more difficult once Allen Iverson is back from injury and the rotation issues become prevalent. The problems haven’t disappeared just because of a big win. If the egos can handle what’s going on and they commit to playing the way they did the last two games then they just may have a chance to become respectable again.
• 30 Bench points for Detroit.
• “You can tell they’re playing the system they played before Iverson got there,” said Celtics forward Paul Pierce, who scored 26. “When Iverson is out there they’re still trying to figure out how to use each other, how to all be successful. But that group that’s out there is definitely comfortable because they’ve played together for years.’‘ Via NBA.com
• I’m loving the Blind Date comparison in the comments of the game thread. Feel free to keep them coming.

Key Points:

• Tayshaun Prince started things off for Detroit from the tip. He looked to score in this one and he did, finishing with 17 points on 7-14 shooting in 41 minutes on the floor.  He played the role of scorer and defender last night, just 2 assists for a Tayshaun Prince who’s had to run this offense a lot this season.
• Just three Pistons in double figures, while all five of Orlando’s starters scored 10 or more.
• If you were watching the game you saw something quite familiar that we have come to know and love as Pistons fans. DEFENSE! Dwight Howard scored 21 but not many of them came easy.  And holding Lewis to 10 and Turkoglu to 13 was just what the Pistons needed to to to get the job done.
• Rasheed, Maxiell, McDyess and, yes, Kwame Brown did a nice job defending Howard.
• 15 Turnovers for Detroit really would have stuck out more had they lost this one. Ten of those came in the first half.
• Richard Hamilton led all scorers with 31 points on 11-for-18 shooting in 41 minutes on the floor.  Rip was aggressive and looking for his shot all game long.  He added 6 assists and a board and him coming off screens and hitting his shot was a thing of beauty.  Richard Hamilton Highlights.

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• Hamilton again reiterated the comments he made the other day and said he wasn’t cool with coming off the bench unless his team was winning. Something had to change and it did, Rip made sure of it. I think he made it clear by his words and his actions that that’s not going to happen again anytime soon.
• Allen Iverson returned to Detroit to get his back evaluated and wasn’t even in Orlando for the game. He will not be in Boston for tomorrow’s game against the Celtics either. This is just the way my mind works so bear with me. Anyone else think the “injury” (not saying he doesn’t have one) to his back may help him save a little pride going to the bench? Think it may be milked more to help AI make the transition? It was just the first thing that popped into my mind because AI seems to take a lickin’ and keep on ticking, so the fact that he wasn’t in Orlando and won’t be in Boston just made me wonder. I always used to say the only way to stop him from playing was a bullet hole, and my guess is if it was superficial he’d still take the court.
• Chris McCosky – “Curry, who gave Iverson the news Thursday night, said Iverson wasn’t happy but that he expects him to handle it like a pro.” “He’s been trying to play hurt and he’s been frustrated with that,” Curry said. “He didn’t react any different than Rip did when I talked to him about coming off the bench earlier.” “It’s nothing on Allen,” Curry said. “He’s a guy that needs the ball, and because of that it reduces the time Rodney Stuckey has the ball in his hands. That has taken away some of Rodney’s aggressiveness.” Via The Detroit News
• Will Bynum and Walter Herrmann saw extended time, but it was the hustle of Jason Maxiell that stood out most. He may not have filled the stat sheet, but Maxiell made his presence felt. Just ask Dwight.
• Amir Joshnson – DNP
• BALL MOVEMENT!
• Rodney Stuckey looked like the he did the first half of the season.  Whether this game helps him get out of his rut remains to be seen but he looked great in the Pistons’ win.  Stuckey scored 22 on 9-15 shooting with 6 1 assist in 40 minutes.  Great game for Stuckey, besides his 4 turnovers. Rodney Stuckey Highlights.

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• The Pistons outrebounded the Magic by 10, 38-28.
• Haven t heard George Blaha this excited on a broadcast in quite some time. Boy was he animated down the stretch when it looked like the Pistons weren’t going to give this up in the final minutes.
• The Pistons outscored the Magic 28-14 in a dominating third quarter that helped Detroit put the game away.
• FSN Highlights of the Game by quarter.
• All heart from Antionio McDyess who did the dirty work in the Pistons’ win. Dyess scored 8 with 13 boards and a blocked shot in 40 minutes.
• Sheed, 10 boards, 8 points and 2 steals.
• “One thing with Orlando is that if we continue to play Dwight straight up with Rasheed there, it allows us to stay on their 3-point shooters,” Prince said. “And if we can eliminate that, then we put ourselves in good position to get the game.’‘ Via NBA.com
• Friday Rasheed Wallace was fined $25,000 by the NBA for throwing a towel into the stands and another in the direction of referee Bill Kennedy.
• Maybe this is a solid answer to who is really running the show. This is what Rodney Stuckey had to say. “My teammates were getting on me,” Stuckey said. “When the boss man’s getting on you (Joe Dumars, Detroit’s president of basketball operations), you know you have to change something.” Via MLive