This was not the Detroit debut that Allen Iverson was looking for Sunday evening at The Palace of Auburn Hills. “Yeah, I didn’t dream it up like that. In my dreams we won the first game I played and in my dreams I got that ovation, but we won the game. But this is the way it is. I have to be able to accept what happened and move forward.” Via The Detroit News Not only did the Pistons lose to the Celtics 88-76, they looked miserable doing it. Key Points:
- The Palace was abuzz from the minute I stepped inside the building until the end of the first quarter. Things went south quickly after that.
- Mr. Iverson got such a loud welcome that from inside the building I had no idea what Mason said until I watched the video clip.
- Want to know how bad it really was? You could hear the boos from just about everywhere inside the Palace. It may be just me, but I’m one of those fans that just won’t boo my team. I haven’t done it yet and I was at a few stinkers during the playoffs the last couple of years. I hope I never hit the breaking point.
- It seemed like it took forever for either team to score, that may have been due to both teams playing good D to start the game. It’s just too bad Boston kept going and Detroit folded.
- Tayshaun Prince was the only Piston do do much of anything. Tayshaun led the team with 23 points on 9-for-16 shooting with 8 boards, 2 assists and a steal. A perfect 2-for-2 from downtown for Prince.
Photo/Getty
- Will Bynum is truly making it hard not to jump on his bandwagon. In 12 minutes he went 3-for-4 for 11 points and 2 assists. Though the game was out of reach at that point it was nice to see some sort of life in the building.
- Tony Allen? Another role player to burn Detroit. They stopped the big three from putting up numbers but let Allen (not Ray) burn them for 23.
- What’s the deal with Rondo and the Karate Kick? It’s not like you can do that in the NBA, so why was he being pouty when the foul was called? Too bad he smoked us for a jam on the next play.
- This highlight of the game came when Detroit was actually in the ball game. An Amir putback, no matter how bad the game was, will make you smile.
Video Courtesy of The NBA, The Detroit Pistons and FSN Detroit
- Do I really care that Rasheed put up a double-double? Not when he was 0 for 100 until mid third quarter. His 4-for-17 shooting night was hard to watch. He finished with 11 boards and 10 points, 1 block and 1 assist. SHEED …..THE PAINT PLEASE!
- I have to agree with someone wise, we sure do miss Dyess.
- Maxiell got 17 minutes but he was invisible.
- The second quarter was just hard to swallow. The 30 points that Boston put up to Detroit’s 10 in the second was the equivalent of making someone eat Ex-Lax brownies. It was gross.
- It’s up to you if you want to revisit this one. NBA.com highlights of the game.
- AI looked like he was off to a AI kind of night but early foul trouble derailed things. He finished with 10 points on 4-for-11 shooting in 31 minutes.
Photo/Getty
- Nobody in Piston red, white and blue are ready for Iverson’s passes. Detroit is simply not used to someone driving the lane and dishing. Is AI trying to please his new teammates too much?
- At the half, the Pistons were shooting 25% on their way to a 34.7% night.
- The Celtics D was great, but I think it was more about what the Pistons weren’t doing than what Boston was.
- Rip Hamilton…zero for eight on the night.
- Stuckey left the game at the half complaining of dizziness and didn’t return. No word yet on how he’s doing.
- We may have plenty of bumps to come, and a long trip out west won’t help them a bit.
I agree totally about the Dyess thing…. I really hope he chooses to stay with the Pistons and not “ring chase” like he said he wasnt going to. However, I cant be mad at him because I want the guy to win a ring, and obviously it looks like boston is more suited than Detroit to at this point in the season… Things can change fast, and I still believe in our guys. Go Pistons!!
NickDyess~~
I was as upset as anyone about how the pistons played tonight, but to be honest with you, I didn’t expect them to win. Iverson is such a different type of player than billups is. It is going to take longer than a game and 1 practice to get used to him.
THe shooting slump for sheed and hamilton, though, are beyond me.
I still think the Pistons will contend but it is going to take time, patience and PRACTICE?
(yes i’m talking about practice AI)
its because sheed didnt do the pregame dance it was kwame (i think)
Now i realize I just said we need patience but i just thought about something…
would it be to crazy to start stuckey and back him up with bynum and then have AI back up hamilton. Or even AI back up both so he can still get some good minutes (still probably get 30 a game.)
I realize it’s a very weird question but what do you all think? Can you imagine AI coming off the bench late in the first quarter. Our bench would lose nothing and possibly even gain something. Because AI is a true (small) shooting guard.
this is probably the first time commenting here but anyways… I agree that it would take lots more time, practice and games for the other pistons to get used to iverson. The play wherein iverson went all the way to the rim and passed to maxiell but unfortunately maxiell did not see that comming because billups would never have done that. hmmmm.. And i noticed that prince has been more aggressive this yr. Leading the team today and on toronto. Good to see that.
They wont make the playoffs this yr.
“just wait and give them time” Is the bs excuse LOSERS use.
When we picked up sheed we rattled off wins so quickly and way more than before we had him.
Iver son is a poor fit. This teams strength was always DEFENSE and TEAMWORK. We won the champion under the defensive minded LB with the defensive player of the year Ben Wallace.
Under the more offensive minded coach Flip we heard about conflicts with our defensive player of the year Ben Wallace about (getting away from defensive focus) We lost in the finals.
Then we lost our Defensive player of the year and the offensive minded coach got complete control.. We fell further from the championship.
Getting rid of Billups another great defender and adding AI one of the worst defensive players out there is just continuing down the same path of team self destruction. We don’t even get CLOSE to a champion ship.
We’ve forgotten what piston’s basketball is all about going after a “star” when it was the pistons that DOMINATED Kobe, Shaq, Payton, Malone.
Just watched the game, that was one painful loss.
The whole team, Iverson especially, just couldn’t stop penetration, same with the New Jersey game. I love Iverson’s attitude, but I dislike his mindset, a warrior that truly wants a win understands that heart and hard work goes into the defensive end. Iverson is athletically capable of stopping fast points such as Rondo, it’s just a case of whether or not he puts in the same effort he does on offense.
Offensively, I wasn’t too disapointed with AI’s performance. By my count, the pistons players missed around 10 open/good looks off Iverson passes that would usually be consistent buckets on another night. It’s hard for a player to rack up assists if his teammates aren’t making their shots (Rip 0-8, Maxiell 0-5, Sheed 4-17). Say just half of those missed open looks that Iverson produced went in, it finishes a one possesion game with Iverson putting 10 points and 9 assists on the board in 30 minutes. If Iverson’s production becomes a consistent problem (at least wait until we finish the west coast trip to judge) THEN we can call him a mistake. Until then, give it time to prove how much this trade benefits us.
This was definately a winable game. Overall, I guess I’m not too disapointed with this after reviewing what went wrong. One thing that does worry me however, is the lack of a defensively solid big man that can protect the basket and give the guards help when penetration comes (O’neal 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, Duncan 2003, 2005, 2007, Ben Wallace 2004, Garnett 2008, notice the pattern?).
Actually when we got sheed we lost our 2 first games with him.
I’d just like to add this should not be compared to the Rasheed trade. That move was a big payoff in the short term, and getting a power-forward star is ALOT easier to adjust to than a new star point guard. Unless you have played the point guard at a legitimate level you can’t hold an argument againsst this. Every possession goes through the PG, he must know where his teammates are, what plays are being run, what preferences players have and where there favorite spots are. Vice-versa, the other four need to get used to playing with a new point guard. Another position and it would take less time, however when it’s the team’s key distributer and play-maker, success doesn’t come instantly.
Btw ‘HAHA’ is a very funny guy.
Talent has never been the problem for these guys, being in the right place mentally has been the problem for them all along. So when you rip the heart of their team out are you really surprised that they’re tanking? I’m not.
Players are still human and I don’t know about you but when I’m down about something I don’t perform as well either. I really really really hope Dice does come back, I think that would be a nice mental boost for them and maybe by then they’ll be out of the grieving period for losing Chauncey.
I am HIGHLY skeptical about AI ever fitting in with Detroit but I’m willing to say I’m wrong if he can prove me wrong. Frankly I’m concerned that we won’t even get to the conf. finals this year. I understand the salary cap motivation but I still think this was a bad move on the part of the Pistons. Stuckey is awesome but still would have benefited from a few more seasons learning from Chauncey. We shall see though and for the Pistons sake, I hope I’m wrong.
Nuggets are 2-0 since Billups started playing.
Last game he played 40 minutes had 10 assists, 16 pionts, 3 steals, and 1 block.
I’d take that over Iverson scoreing a bunhc of points and playing no D ANY DAY OF THE WEAK.
Joe D’s Old ass was allowed to retire a Piston despite his slipping performance when he played. Billups deserved the same respect.
This loss was bigger than the Iverson Billups Trade, we need Sheed to get in the paint and do some damage our Guards and Small Fowards can shoot the three’s Curry needs to ban sheed from the three point line until he decides to play down low. It would be okay if he was to mix it up some then he could strech the defense but everyone knows all he want’s to do is shoot the three, also Joe D needs to make a move to get a Big man here that wants to post up or hope that Amir, Maxiell, and Brown get it together and even if we get Dyess back honestly I still don’t think that they are enough.
This isn’tabout respect Steve, it’s about success. Success can’t be judged after two games.
Like Sheed said, basketball is a simple game. When you can’t make your jumpers you go inside. It’s not about AI or this team getting used to each other. Our players like Sheed (often) and Rip (rarely) are mentally challenged at times getting too happy with jump shots.
When you consider Maxiell’s ineffectiveness against the Celtics you have to factor in he’s usually the ONLY piston anywhere NEAR the paint when the shots went up. It’s not easy to for him, especially when they are clogging the paint.
I’d bench a few players early and put ppl like Bynum and Affalo in. At least they are aggressive.
I really don’t want to give Celtics that much credit. But our defense was just as bad as our offense.
It is about respect. Billups brought us a champion ship and was the core of our Pistons basketball team. A team they told us wasn’t about stars it was about teamwork and hard work.
Joe Dumars was allowed to be a piston from 86 – 99. He was 36 years old when he retired a piston. His number dropped off in the last 4 years and they never returned to the finals but was he traded off for an expireing contract? No.
If you replaced the pistons roster with Kobe and Lebron tommorow i would stop watching. I watch because i love the team and the players. Without Ben Wallace and Billups and a hard working defensive team mentatlity i don’t relaly recognize this team anymore.
There is something to be said about keeping players on ONE team their entire career. Joe is the one that fired LB, Joe is the one that let Ben Wallace go. Plenty of fingers being pointed to why we havn’t gotten back in the finals and some of them should be at joe instead of this bull shit “In joe we trust”
With respect, if Billups were here and we lost this bad to the Celtics would the reaction be the same?
No offense, but we are not as good as the Celtics. It’s just the truth. Pistons fans need to stop pretending like we are the best team in the league, because we are not. Now, if we start rolling off a string of losses to teams we should obviously beat, I will start to get worried. But otherwise I’m going to give them the chance to have a week before I judge this trade.
The impatience of some Pistons fans is amazing.
We had the 2nd best record in the NBA last year. If dropping Billups and Adding Iverson didn’t make us “better” or the #1 team in the NBA what was the point?
We won the champion ship with LB, Ben Wallace, A amazing team, and defensive mentality.
Dropping Ben, Billups, LB, and picking up Iverson is probably the furthest thing from what won us our championship. I’m amazed any fan can justify this as a good trade that will get us “over the hump”
this trade was to pick up bosh wade stoudemire pretty much anyone, chauncey was gettin old and we were payin him way too much, the pistons are dead. took them 14 yrs to win a title since their last one, its look like the same thing time to wait 14 more yrs.
does anyone want to comment on bynum’s drive on KG. KG barked at him and Bynum got him crossed up and took him to the hole. good stuff.
also, nat, you should do a 30 day x off for dyess’ availability like they do for the games remaining in the playoffs.
Respect is important, but IMO not nearly as important as success. This trade benefits us in so many ways, give it more than two games, one against the best team in the league, to make judgement on that. It’s not even like we threw Chauncey out in the street on to Sacramento or Minnesota, we sent him to his hometown to represent his home and continue serving a purpose.
Our loyalty to Dumars is because we acknowledge the intelligence of the man. I can’t recall a single move he’s made that hasn’t benefitted the team since the Darko pick, and even with that move we may of never got sheed, consequently no ship.
My thoughts on the early aftermath of AI’s arrival:
1. Pistons fans claim to be die-hard, blue-collar, etc… but some are already jumping ship because we lost two games? Come on! We’re only 6 games into the season!
2. Nobody said the adaptation process would be easy. I do expect a few bumps down the road. Plus, here we need to talk about PRACTICE! They need time to gell, whether we want to accept it or not. I agree with Natalie. What’s the point of booing, especially booing a team that’s kept themselves in the thick of the race for so long?
3. Why do we trust Joe? It’s simple: Because Joe was in the middle of that nasty drought in the 90s when we were the laughingstock of the NBA. He doesn’t want that to happen again, and if that means an average year so that we can have continued success, I’ll take that. Or what do we want? The case of Miami? The Heat hit rock bottom last season because they leased the rest of the decade for one championship. Elite organizations don’t do that! This trade brings financial security and enough chips for the Texas-Hold’em that the next 2 summers will look like. I guess those who booed last night will be the first to jump back on the bandwagon when we get the likes of Chris Bosh or others, right? I’m actually glad to see that in Detroit we’re no longer thinking of REBUILDING (NY Knicks, anyone? OKC Thunder, anyone? Memphis Grizzlies, anyone? Atlanta Hawks, anyone?)… but simply RELOADING! How many teams this side of Boston and LA can say that? San Antonio will go through one of those rebuilding droughts? Why? Because their GM hasn’t been savvy enough to start rebuilding!
4. I didn’t expect Boston to torch us that way, but I’d rather that happened now and not in the playoffs. Again, it’s a bit too early in the season to start crying foul… let’s give them time to figure things out.
didn’t we lose the first 5 or 6 games when billups was out in the beginning of last year? c’mon people… let us get home for some practice. everyone has to get used to the new system. rip isn’t in the right place and no one has confidence in their shot selection now.
filling up the semi-sized hole in the middle is another story.
This is a team that in 6 games has had 3 different starting PGs. Consistancy is a big part of success, so it’ll take time to build this.
Effort and Mental readiness should not be an issue no matter how many games into the season we are. While it’s true no body can stay focused and play hard for all 82 games. I can understand a let down against teams like the Nets or the thunders…The lack of focus and effort is shacking to me against team like the celtics at home.
I think sheed is afraid of the Celtics’ D. Usually team with quality big men brings the best out of him. But he’s had trouble with teams that have multiple physical big men. (Utah, Boston) That’s fine, but he seems to turn away from the challenge. And that’s not ok with me
we gave chauncey 5 years to win a championship. we could atleast give iverson 1 year.
we should make this dyess appreciation month. just post up memories and vids of dyess or better yet, let’s get that needfordyess.com going.
i know dyess will help us, just not sure if the team can help him. Even before the trade they weren’t looking all that sharp, they didn’t even look that sharp last year. remember these aren’t great players they are (were?) a great team, and guys don’t seem to be backing up each other like in the past. we can’t really even claim this is a veteran team. only two players have been in the league double digit years (three if dyess comes back, 4 if Lindsey does) We have a couple that have been in the league more that 4 years. and so many are young guys
ps nat how do you not post will bynums move? I don’t really fet this excited about a single move, but what made it stand out was that he didn’t get baited by KG and went to the rim.
dyess will be eligable for us in 26 days. (that is december 6th)
count down, count down, count down!
I have to agree that for the last two games Sheed has been incredibly frustrating. The constant floating out to the perimeter is killing this team, particularly with the absence of Dyess. I’m not completely convinced that a Sheed/Kwame front court is the best decision but without Dyess, MC doesn’t have so many options.
Re: the Bynum move on KG. I watched the game at home afterwards and kept watching that moment over and over. Amazing and a bright moment in an otherwise abysmal game.
Dyess please come home!!!