For the second time in 4 days The Pistons beat the starless Denver Nuggets. Rodney Stuckey made his first start in place of Chauncey Billups (DNP-Coaches Decision) in the 119-110 win at Van Andel arena in Grand Rapids.
Key Points:
- The story of the night was Jason Maxiell’s 25 points on 11-for-15 shooting with 12 rebounds a steal and 3 blocked shots. Maxi was everywhere.
- Let me just say how impressed I was watching the game at Van Andel, it was a playoff atmosphere. The it was truly a FANtastic experience.
- Rodney Stuckey led the team in minutes with 40. Others have been mentioning his propensity to turn the ball over but you have to remember he is still learning and I believe that he’s more suited as a 2 than a 1. He finished the game with 17 points and 6 assists.
- You do have to give it to Stuckey for being near perfect from the line, especially in late game situations.
- Can someone please tell me what the deal is with JR Smith (33 points) and Bobby Jones (26 points), they lit up the Pistons like the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.
- Jason Maxiell is making a habit of getting double-doubles and boy is he getting better at making his own shot. He was clearly the fan favorite last night.
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- The Nuggets sure did fall in love with the three, they went 7-for-23 and I am pretty sure almost all of them were made by JR Smith.
- I was pleasantly surprised when I looked at the box score and saw that Flip Murray, who started in place of an injured Rip Hamilton, put up 21 points. I knew he was playing well but I didn’t realize how well until I looked at this line, he also had 5 rebounds, 7 assists and a steal in 28 minutes.
- Mejia and Dupree were acting like their jobs were on the line (which they are). One of them is going to win the last roster spot and I have a feeling it might be Super Dupe considering he’s been with the team so long and he has proven what he can do. Mejia didn’t have a stellar night and Dupree made an impact as soon as he stepped on the floor.
- If you didn’t know already I went to the game with Bennie and Jeff, who sat right behind the Piston bench and said Sheed was chatting all game and like always he had plenty of advise for the rookies.
- Bennie and Jeff also got some prime interviews after the game which we will have up for you within a day or so.
- Cheikh Samb looks even thinner with the long socks.
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- Rasheed was cracking up during a particular time out when Hooper became Super Hooper (with a Superman costume) and did a hilarious dance routine.
- I would like to see Stuckey be a bit more careful when he’s driving the lane in traffic, I think he may need realize that it’s not as easy in the NBA. You have to pick your spots sometimes and dish it off others.
- “Cheikh’s still light in the chops,” Wallace said. “But all that is is leverage. He’s still standing straight up. Once he gets down more like a squat like he’s taking a dump, he’ll be all right. It’s just a matter of foot control. But he’s got a soft touch for a big man to be 7 feet, 7-1.”
- Afflalo did a nice job in his 25 minutes, he put up 14 points was 2-for-3 from beyond the line.
- Samb was solid with 9 boards and eight points, he even took a couple of nice offensive fouls. He just needs to work on his defense a bit, he is prone to getting into foul trouble. The kid is tall and has a nice touch.
- National City gave away Maxiell faces to everyone in the crowd for National Breast Cancer Awareness. I have a few, I have a feeling they are going to be a hot commodity. I will scan one when I get a chance to show it to you.
- It was nice to see the Rooks keep the lead the whole game, I was impressed.
- Jason, a member of Team Need4Sheed has some pretty great pictures he shot from last night.
- Jarvis Hays is not shy, he put it up when he has the open shot. He scored 13 for Detroit.
- I think Maxiell should be awarded 3 points for every dunk he makes considering he puts an exclamation point on every one. The crowd loved his energy as we all do.
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- “After the game, Rasheed Wallace joked that if Samb weighed 175 when the team drafted him in 2006, “he weighs 176 now.” Via The Detroit Free Press
- The Pistons crushed Denver on the glass 37 to 55.
- “Forward Amir Johnson ran through some drills before the game at Van Andel Arena. He will still be listed as questionable for the team’s back-to-back that begins Friday.” Via The Detroit Free Press
- You have to hand it to The Pistons Organization for bringing everything to the game, just like it would have been at The Palace. The intros were great, the only thing missing was Mason and the fire.
- Empty the Bench has an exclusive interview with Jarvis Hayes.
Can anyone tell me what courtside seats for a preseason game run these days? I was thinking of picking up a couple for Saturday night’s San Antonio game.
Sean, it depends on the arena. The last time I sat courtside at a Pistons game(last season) the ticket was listed at $375.00.
250 at the Van so yeah, its probably more than that at the Palace.
Speaking of Mason’s absence, did you see Sheeds rection to the Van Andel announcer’s “Deeeetroit Basketball” ? Hilarious.
Also,any idea why Chauncy wasn’t even on the bench the second half after warming up before the game? Maybe I just missed him.
Chris R.
thanks nat… but i just realized that this weekend’s games are out of town .. darn
Thanks for the link, Natalie, and great report on the game. Was thrilled to come home and see it was on NBATV. Very nice to see the rooks get so much burn.
i noticed that too, that chauncey wasn’t even on the bench in the 2nd half…and amir worked out before the game as i was leaving work from the arena, but he wasnt even on the bench at all during the game.
the team traveled on indian trails buses…so its not like they could just “take off” home…
A few more things:
Sheed tried making the both handed three point shots about 10 times in warm-ups but didn’t pull it off.
Samb was stroking the 14-18 foot shots in half time warm-ups. Saw him make about 5 in a row from different spots on the court.
I was never a big fan of Flip Murray but he looked pretty good last night. I thought he played better than Meija in all aspects of the game.
Maxi is going to have a great year.
Notice he didn’t get in foul trouble? He played a lot of minutes.
There are a few Automotion cheerleaders that are cute as hell.
ya about “stuckey more suited as a 2 than a 1”: It’ll be suck if afflalo wont get his minutes because of stuckey.
actually my first substitutes for every Positions are: stuckey-afflalo-hayes-MAX-Nazr and the second substitutes: lindsey-flip-sammy M-amir johnson-C.samb
I think Stuckey will adapt to playing point in the NBA. Will he ever have the court vision of Kidd or Nash? No, most likely he won’t, but I don’t think 6 assists and 4 turnovers is a bad night for a rookie, even against Denver’s B-team.
He’ll learn how to drive and dish to the open man.
He’ll get more comfortable with his mid-range game. In college, he had an excellent midrange game, and that’ll add to his arsenal.
Going to the line eleven times means he drew at least six fouls, too. That’s definitely a valuable ability.
I agree that he is more suited to playing the two now, but I’m not going to write off his ability play the point until he’s out of a rookie contract.
It sounds like Flip Murray is playing better, and that’s a big plus. It also sounds like Afflalo is ready to provide some minutes, if called upon. He and Flip provide two very different games.
Hayes and Max look good. Okay, Max looks GREAT!
We haven’t gotten to see much of Amir or Nazr (which is fun to say together), but if Nazr makes a bit of improvement over last year, he’ll be valuable (without Dale Davis and Webber to contribute). I have a good deal of faith in Amir’s game. I think he’ll commit more “rookie” mistakes than the rest of the bench, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes it onto highlight reels. I had the good fortune of catching his windmill dunk against Atlanta, so long ago 🙂
Lastly, Samb is definitely looks like he’s worth more than a low second round pick. He’s tall and long, has a knack for shot blocking, a nice shooting touch, and is learning the defensive rotations (and English) faster than Darko ever did. I’m sure the time in the D League will do wonders for him, as will the conditioning he’ll be getting with the Pistons.
Despite Sheed’s joke about his pound increase, he really does look like he’s put on a good deal of muscle, but it’s mostly upper body (scary, but really look at his predraft photos, if you can find them). All in all, he gives every indication that he’ll be more valuable than the typical second round pick, whether or not he can cut it as a starter (far too early to tell, but the potential is clearly there).
Okay, I’m really surprised nobody commented on ‘Sheed’s quote about Samb needing to “squat like he’s taking a dump” ’cause I laughed out loud when I read it. I don’t know if that shows I’m immature or that I didn’t get enough sleep last night but that’s funny shit.
Wow. Flurray scored 21? I remember he played well but I didn’t know it was that well.
And Maxiell? Nice. I was like up on my feet cheering last night and it’s only the preseason! November 1st can’t get here soon enough!
So overall I was really happy with the way the young guys played and finished strong. Here’s to taking it to the Mavs tomorrow night! CHEERS!
Hey Nat, can you tell me how to get player autographs and how can you get a picture taken with a player? Thanks
yeah….they all played amazing.
i was disappointed that Chauncey didn’t play last night.
I cheered my heart out. i barely can talk right now. it was an exciting game.
i laughed at the part where Sheed said that Samb needs to squat down like he is talking a poop. I thought it was hilarious
Thanks Jason for you pictures. Here is my little question: I am Tayshaun’s big fan and I saw lots of his pictures in your album. So I wonder if Tay is also your favorite player or just because he is early for the shootaround. Thanks again
actually, the answer is both. He was early for shootaround, he was close to me when I was taking shots, and he is actually my favorite piston. I was wearing my red alternate tayshaun prince jersey for the game.
I am really late, adding my comments for the game here in Grand Rapids, because I have been a little busy for a few days, but I hope all the regular bloggers that visit Need4Sheed, stop in to read about my exciting night!This was a really fun game, my kids and I enjoyed it so much. I got at the Van Andel around 6pm and was a little bit upset being so far behind in the line, but man it didn’t matter because I managed to get my program book autographed by Chauncey, oh my god, he was so close to me, it was crazy, and I got a few good pictures, he was so polite, when we got there he was on the floor running his drills and stuff and he was sweating, and all that, and we started yelling his name,and he waved and smiled and stuff, and them he started coming over towards the fans and signed so many things, it was great, I was like “thank you so much,Chauncey” and he humbly replied,” no problem, you are so welcome” and he smiled, and that gave me a reason to love him even more, my son also got Arron Affalo and Antonio McDyess autographs too! So I must admit that this was the best Piston game that I have ever attented and being in same space with Chauncey for like 10 seconds really made me more excited for the upcoming season!!!!