The Pistons opened up their 50th season with solid 91 – 80 win on the road against Miami. In a game with D Wade in street clothes and Rip Hamilton tending to family matters Tayshaun Prince was the story of the night. The Prince of The Palace Everywhere put up a career high 34 points and grabbed 12 boards (matching his career best) adding a steal and a assist in 43 minutes for Detroit.
Photo/Getty Images
Key Points:
- Afflalo played 14 minutes in Miami in Hamilton’s place in the starting lineup. He looked solid, though his first drive to the lane was blocked. He finished with 3 points an assist and a steal on his first official night in his NBA.
- Yes we all wanted to clock Shaq when he threw Chauncey to the ground when going for a rebound.
- If any of you have a Tivo or DVR the next time Shaq is on the floor please fast forward his free throws and watch how the bounce off the rim, it’s comical.
- A little Tay at point is always nice.
- Sheed looks hungry and committed this season right off the start which is just what the Pistons need. 11 points, 2 assists but most importantly he was a beast on D, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals taking Shaq down low all by himself.
- Was it just me or where any of you surprised to see Nazr Mohammed come off the bench first to replace McDyess? Nazr was SOLID, which was really nice to see.
- We are all hoping that this is going to be Tayshaun’s year. I am even convinced that he’s going to make the All Star team this season.
- Pistons shot 38% from the floor to Miami’s 44%.
- It was nice to see Tay step up when the Pistons were having a hard time knocking it down. So much is said about his defense but he let the world know last night that he can take control of the game on both ends.
Photo/Getty Images
- “I told him (Prince) before the game, ‘You’ve got to go, man, you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go,’ ” said Chauncey Billups, “He was awesome. He’s capable of doing that a lot.”
- I’m not trying to sound bitter but, I was watching ESPN this morning and when the update came on and it was time for them to show the Pistons – Miami game, they showed about 5 clips of Shaq either scoring or getting called for the offensive foul. One clip of Tay’s 34 point night. Isn’t that just the way…..
- Rickey Davis the best thing in Miami now? 23 points on 10-for-19 shooting.
- I still can’t stand Haslem and I know I would have to stand in line to get a chance to smack that smug grin off Mourning’s face.
- Smush Parker, love the name but he’s got to take control of his game. I have always been in his corner since he was on the Pistons but I am not sure he’s ever going to be a solid NBA player.
- Jarvis Hayes is looking like a solid pick up. I was a little worried about his defensive abilities but he looked solid. I think we may have a consistent backup for The Prince.
- Chauncey’s stat line really surprised me. He actually had a double – double with 19 points and 11 assists.
- Flip Murry is going to contribute, like I said before I am officially on the bandwagon.
- McDyess was very quiet on the floor, 4 points and 4 rebounds with a blocked shot.
- Maxiell will take it to anyone at anytime. Recognize
Photo/Getty Images
- The Pistons turned 17 Heat turnovers into 28 points.
- I was a little upset with the scoring droughts at times, I hope it’s not a problem as it has been in the past.
- Tayshaun dominated no matter who they put on him. I was surprised they didn’t double him up.
- I missed the Blaha broadcast, but I always enjoy Kenny, Chuck and Ernie. The whole Reggie Miller and “The Block” thing is just getting old. I like to see the clip but the bit is just not funny anymore.
- The Miami crowd abandoned their team early, with the score still pretty close they filed out of the building as if they were giving away free shots of botox outside the building.
- I really liked the new shooting shirts with the 50th logo on them. I haven’t seen them in the store yet but I did pick this up the other day at the Palace.
- Congrats to Rip the new addition to his family. Check out this highlight video of the game with Tay’s congratulatory wishes, provided by Team Need4Sheed.
- Tonight… The Darkoless Orlando Magic and Detroit, tip off at 7 PM. From what has been said, Rip will be with the team in Orlando.
Rip wasn’t at the game because his daughter was being born! aww!
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071102/SPORTS0102/711020324/1004/SPORTS&imw=Y
Is Rip expected back for tonight’s game?
a baby girl??? that’s just too good to be true!!! She can hang out with Chauncey’s daughters! How cute! Congratulations to Rip! Way to go!!
no, it was a baby boy.
i just watched the video from a link that someone left in the post below…and tayshaun congratulates rip and t.j. on having a beautiful baby boy yesterday morning.
thats going to be a gorgeous, talented baby, if i do say so myself.
Wait, they found footage of Shaq actually scoring? Every time I saw him, he was dribbling the ball off of his foot, or having Sheed knock it away ;p
You know, Shaq was fun to watch a decade ago, but he was breathing through his mouth seven minutes into the game. We all get old, but I’m happy to see it happen to such an arrogant guy. Confidence is good; blind, bitter arrogance is easy to despise.
Ricky Davis played well, but he’s going to be kind of redundant with Wade. I just don’t see the two of them coexisting very well. We’ll see.
Oh, and… Go Pistons! They win their opening game against the Heat. Max dunked over Mourning. Prince has a career night. Rip has a bigger night! *Vibrates in place*
heres the link…you have to find the right video…its at the end of the recap of the game, which i think was like 2 minutes, 19 seconds
http://www.nba.com/games/20071101/DETMIA/gameinfo.html?nav=scoreboardhome
thanks to anony 4:27 from the last post for it.
I loved the new set with Tay at point , Flip at the 2 and Hayes at the 3. This gives Chauncey much needed rest on the bench without sacrificing too much in the way of flow. It also creates huge mismatches for the opponent on D.
nazr was nto solid last niht, he looks so uncomfortable with the ball and looks like he has no idea what to do, we need to bench him immediatley, i could even tell chauncey was getting frusturated with him, i know he was injured and hasnt played much in the pre-season but i really think he shuld consider benching him, forget about him, and load maiel and amir with the mins
I think Nazr was solid… Amir is out and we needed bodies to throw at Shaq. He didn’t get much burn in the pre-season and his effort and willingness to take a charge was just what we needed last night.
He did his job.
Solid win, nice to see Tay do well on National TV.
Love the picture Natalie! I’m proudly displaying it on my screen right now.
I can always count on Need4sheed
I saw the same ESPN highlights.
ESPN = Clown Shoes
Good win, but still too many minutes! I’ll forgive Flip this time because of the injuries, but hopefully he’ll fix this by the all-star break.
What happened with that dunk by Maxiell on Mourning in the photo?
does anyone know if rip will be playing??????????
“What happened with that dunk by Maxiell on Mourning in the photo?”
As Mr. Blaha would say…. He had to foul him to stop him.
that was a great game! Tayshaun rocked it! He was all over the place. I think that my boo-boo Chauncey played great as well, but this was definitely Tayshaun’s night! I was so happy that he finally hit another career high, He has gotten 33pts. a couple times, so he did so good! I think the whole team was good and on point, I hope that this is just the beginning of great things to come!!!
aww congrats to rip starting a family. and all this time I thought he was single, but that is good to keep your personal life personal. And a big congrats to the pistons winning their first game of the season. I loved the pistons I saw last night even if it was just 30 minutes hehe…I knew this was just the beginning of a beautiful relationship and it just keeps getting better. Detroit all the way for the 2008 championship.
i want tayshaun to take on the star role on this team. take down some of rips shots and give them to prince, let him be the 20 ppg scorer, when this guy is on, hell beat anybody all over the floor, from anywhere. let sheed be the D specialist instead of prince, kind of like big ben was.
great game for tay but… too many minutes. let’s chalk it up to those damned injuries and the wonderful business of bringing a new little piston (or is it a piston-ette i am still confused on the issue) into the world. good start fellas!!
GO PISTONS!!!!
I LOVE Tayshaun, but he can’t finish layups in traffic when he drives to the hoop…Jarvis Hayes can’t shoot either. Other than that this team is gonna go far…especially if Amir contributes which he should
I wish I could have watched the game, but I was at bible study which was really fun. Anywho, congratulations to Rip. I thought he was single, and I was kinda hoping he would get married or something. LOL, it started to get a little weird to me b/w he a Chauncey. I know they are good friends, but all the I can’t play without him, If he’s not there I would have felt like apart of me was missing stuff. I find that very sweet, but in a way it sounds kinda funny. lol, but congratulations Rip. Children are very special, and I’m glad he can keep his personal life a secret because once it goes public the relationship doesn’t seem to last much longer. There are a few exceptions.
Nazr sucks!
Ever notice that ESPN spends more time showing highlights of a Cavalier loss than a Piston’s loss?
Just to show you what the sports world has become.