Despite not having four key players suit up for the Pistons, a 40 point game from Carmelo Anthony and Mr. Big Shot on the other side of the court, the Pistons gutted out a 99-101 win.
Key Points:
- No Will Bynum, Ben Gordon, Tayshaun Prince or Rip Hamilton.
- Chucky Atkins playing like mad – his shot may have been off a bit, but he made some great plays in a ton of time on the floor because of Pistons injuries. Atkins finished with 9 points, 2 steals, 3 assists and 2 boards in 35 minutes.
- The Need4Swede name change could possibly happen. We get hustle, rebounds, reverse layups, plus an and-one thunder jam over Afflalo. What can’t he do?
- [flashvideo file=http://nba.cdn.turner.com/nba/big/games/pistons/2009/12/10/0020900317_den_det_play3.nba_nba_576x324.flv /]
- Jonas finished with 12 points, 8 boards and a steal.
- Board war won again 43-37.
- 17 lead changes with 14 ties in the thriller.
- 11 turnovers for Detroit and 40 points in the paint.
- Austin Daye is not afraid to take big shots. Day had 7 points on 3-for-6 shooting with an assist and a board in 22 minutes.
- How about Charlie Villanueva stepping up BIG time, the man was playing both ends of the floor. CV31 finished with 27 points, a blocked shot, 5 assists and 5 boards in 35 minutes off the bench.
Photo/Getty Images
- Charlie Villanueva Post game interview NBA.com
- [flashvideo file=http://nba.cdn.turner.com/nba/big/games/pistons/2009/12/10/0020900317_villanueva_reax.nba_nba_576x324.flv /]
- Huge three for Charlie V followed by another three from rookie DaJuan Summers…it was huge in the fourth.
- [flashvideo file=http://nba.cdn.turner.com/nba/big/games/pistons/2009/12/10/0020900317_den_det_play4.nba_nba_576x324.flv /]
- DaJuan Summers picking the pocket of Carmelo Anthony, had to make him smile more than it did Pistons fans. And we were smiling.
- Hard to not root for Mr. Big Shot.
- Another Wilcox DNP.
- Seeing the ball in Chauncey Billups’ hands for the last shot was scary, but Detroit’s D cut off his three and bothered his layup to preserve a Pistons win.
- Kwame Brown probably playing the best basketball he’s played in quite some time. He has been solid in his role as a Piston.
- Pistons hustle all through the game was a pleasure to watch. Gone are the mailing it in days and I love it…win or lose.
- Chucky Atkins tweaks his ankle too? Now Mike Abdenour and Arnie Kander are going to have to suit up.
- Ben Wallace was simply amazing, key plays with minutes left from Ben Wallace won this game. My goodness the man grabbed 16 boards with 7 points, 3 steals and a blocked shots in 35 min. Can he be considered for the most improved player? If not we need to name an award after the man…Fro-less of the year?
- Back to Back games….skeleton crew, four game winning streak, HUGE!
- Rodney Stuckey has been turning games around when he needs to lately. He started hot and finished with 25 points, 3 assists and 2 steals.
- So many guys stepped up in this it was amazing. You can say everyone who played, contributed big in their own way.
- 40 points from Melo, great game Chauncey (21) and the Pistons still pull it out.
- What is going to happen to this team when Tay and Rip are back?
- Someone give John Kuester a hug or a cookie for me, the man is making a team of rookies and vets look like All-Stars.
- What a win, that’s 7 straight games over the Nuggets.
- Highlights of the Game via NBA.com
- [flashvideo file=flashvideo file=http://nba.cdn.turner.com/nba/big/games/pistons/2009/12/10/0020900317_den_det_1h.nba_nba_576x324.flv /]
- If you saw this one and are a Pistons fan…you’re smiling right now. Feel free to comment away.
im speechless… i dunno how we did it, w/o all our guys, even chucky went down for a bit… and melo goes off for 40
and we somehow win… beauty, just a beauty
and who gave stuckey a C- yesterday? LOL… and Charlie V had a big game too!
Stuckey showed the teacher a thing or 2 tonight.
What I love about Charlie is, that if we made a trade for a big man, Charlie can be a lethal bench player for like 25 mins a game, he can put up 15 and 6 no problem in 25 minutes.
I love this squad!
Coach Q for coach of the year anyone???
i say yes
I JUST DNT KNOW WHT TO SAY IF WERE DOIN IT THIS GD MY GOD WE CAN GO ALL THE WAY I MEAN GUYS WE HAVE 4 STARS INJURED AND WE WON 4 IN A ROW DANG THE NEXT 4 GAMES LOOOK LIKE EASY ONES TO PULL OUT ALSO
and plz SOMEONE TELL ME WHEN RIP AND TAY R GONNA COME BACK i just cant seem to find out!!!!!!!!!
Gotta love the D, The final scores of a lot of their games don’t show how good the pistons are on D when they need to be. And man, i’m all smiles after watching a team with out Rip, Tay, Ben, and Will beat the 2nd seed in the west! Oh, and I’m loving Jonas, right place at the right time all the time. I think Austin daye is going to be a great player someday, he doesnt have to bulk up either to be one, he just needs to be more agressive and look for his shot more. once he gets confident, watch out.
I’ve been arguing this point all over the web, but Stuckey doesn’t get the credit for how he plays. Yes, he makes his mistakes but he’s one year older than Jonas Jerebko! It’s probably a toss up as to whether Stuckey or Rip is our best defensive guard and that’s 50% of the game. Stuckey guards points guards, shooting guards, and small forwards and the great think I love about him is he really sticks his nose in there with the trees to dig out tough rebounds. He’s carried our offense with all the injuries we’ve had. Don’t get me wrong, Charlie V has been huge, but it all starts with Stuckey. What’s more, Denver basically trapped him the whole game and he still got 25 points on 50% shooting. That’s a fricken sound coaching strategy and the guy just blew it up. So Piston fans, please appreciate what Stuckey has done!
I do. I think my girlfriend is buying his jersey for me for Christmas.
# 1 pistons fan pistons can go all the way because of a 4 game win streak? yeah sure..take off ur homer goggles please thanks.. good game even better when they are 100% i still think rip needs to go. peace.
Steve, in #1 Piston Fan’s defense, if we get everyone back and we still play with this type of heart, anything is possible.
Oh I should also give props to Charlie V who continues to be huge offensively for us. Yeah, he can improve defensively, but from what I see out there he’s working at it. That’s what I value most of all. Just put in work.
Second, props to DaJuan Summers. Imagine this: You finally get the first meaningful minutes of your career in a tight ballgame and they ask you to go out and guard Carmelo Anthony who, oh by the way, just happens to be the league’s leading scorer. Not only do you scratch and claw like the rest of the team, but you hit a huge three pointer as well. Way to go rookie!
When Tay comes back, starting him over Swede or vice versa requires a debate.
@ Tycoon, when Tay comes back we should move Jonas to the PF spot. He rebounds better than Max and can play good defense against the other hybrid forwards of the league i.e Rashad Lewis, Chris Bosh, Dirk etc. I’m not saying Jonas can shut them down but he wouldn’t be as uncomfortable as a traditional PF when it comes to guarding those type of players. This move also still allows Daye to get a couple minutes at the SF position.
Im pretty impressed
thing is, Im not so excited like everyone else…
i just have this bad feeling that once rip comes back, (which ive heard will be sooner than Tay) and BG and Bynum are back too, we’ll be back to the shape we were in 5 games ago. Which is turning the ball over (Bynum and Rip do it all the time) and not playing D (BG cant play D for shit)
I hope I’m wrong. but once our whole team gets healthy, and we have tay back, i really hope we make a trade for a big man and get rid of Rip, were pretty solid with stuck at the Two and Chuck at the 1
line up??
Chuck
Stuck
Tay
Ben
NEW BIG.
then we got charlie V, BG, Maxy and BYNUMITE comin off the bench.
tahts pretty lethal if we get a solid big like chris kamen or Tyson Chandler (wishful thinking)
I was so surprised by this victory. I’m so glad the Pistons compete again, last years sloppyness hurt.
Here’s something we can relate to. The Clippers went 19-63 last season with an injured team. I know it’s early in the season, but doesn’t this at the LEAST show great depth?
We can win games, without our starters. The rotation is 10 man deep at minimum (without injuries).
Nothing better to watch than blue collar Detroit team basketball! 😀
I’m a Piston Fan from Los Angeles, I miss most of their games because of work. When I heard about this win , I was estatic. Go Pistons! Even though the only footage I get to see of the Pistons is on Sportscenter.
YEAH THTS WHT I MEAN I MEAN IF WERE DOIN THIS GD NOW WHEN OUR BOYS GORDEN RIP BYNUM AND TAY COME BACK WILL B EVEN BETTER!!
i haven’t posted in a while but
WOW ! what a game 🙂
Wz the deal Nat,
I watch with anticipation (but still lovin me some C-Bill
I wanted to see if our Stone’s were going to leave it all out on the floor.
WOW, WOW, WOW!
If they would have lost I wouldn’t have been mad just as long as they played hard. Now all the playing hard is starting to payoff! The NBA gon sleep on us like always. I don’t mind being under the radar in the league, we’ve always been under the radar until (((BOOM))) SHIP!
But when it is all said and done we’ll be in there like swimwear, watch and see. When we get to Full strength its going to be a sight to behold and even then we’ll still be under the radar. It looks like we’re going to always have a starting lineups on the floor and what that means is we’ll never be out of the game, just as long as we don’t forget what’s making us stronger and stronger and that is Deeeetroooot Baaasketbaaaall! HARDWORK, this is The Detroit Way of Doing Thangs! (U know it was a great thing that we had all those hard game @ the start of the season.) Teams will have to leave there starting lineups in longer to deal with what we’re bring, Nite in and Nite out!
Can U feel me?! I knew that U could!
Duce’s \/
PS. Hey Nat U better make up yo mind on what u gon do about the Need4Sweed before it’s too late! I think its time for a change. Come on Sheed went to Boston of all places!
JJ is just gon get better and better and Sheed will be out the league soon. JJ will be a Piston for a nice long while. This is just my two cents. Love ya girl!
Love this team!
Way more fun than last year!
Rip is pulling an Iverson.
He needs to be bought out.
To give us cap space!
Rip has a high-ankle sprain, which is much more serious than a typical rolled ankle. It would be reasonable for his recovery to take 10-12 weeks. Let’s give Rip the benefit of the doubt, eh?
How about biggest SELL-OUT award for Ben Wallace. It fits him well.
really? he’s basically playing for the minimum
here’s one for you.
BIGGEST DOUSCHEBAG TO POST HERE award
This team (without rip and tay as of now) is my 3rd favorite one in this era. (top 2 are the LB years).
That said, this is exactly what everyone expected beginning of the season. We are just over .500, occasionally generate some excitement. That’s fine too, I didn’t have much expectation anyways. I rather see these young guys play.
SO, without rip, we are where we thought we would be. Why do we really need him? No championship this year, lets just trade him. I don’t want us to be any higher than a 8 seed, I want draft picks.
P.S.
Austin Daye is so smooth offensively!
The bitter award of the day goes to RONNIE D!!! CONGRATS! We all know Ben left because Flip was trying to turn this team into an offensive minded team and that’s not who Big Ben is. You can be upset at him for leaving, but there is no doubt that we wouldn’t be where we are without him. We shouldn’t pull the trigger to trade Rip. I think we need to see what our team will be like with him. Rip is supposed to be back Jan. 1. The fact that anyone would suggest Rip pulling an Iverson kind of injury is ridiculous. Steve you are a Boston fan correct?
ronnie you need to learn somethings before talking. the duke is right why ben left, it was cause of flips system. im really glad how it turned out rodney seemed to have paid attention to how mr big shot and is coming together very fast. i droll over ben every game and it doesnt get any better. i seriously wanna thank the man he provides the soul and sets the tone on defense. jonas is going to take tays place im sorry. cv, chuck, maxy, and daye did nice im really liking how the team seems to be coming together. good job coack Q lets go detroit, time to work.
No respect from TNT. Charles Barkeley gives no credit to the Pistons for winning or for winning 3 in a row or even 5 of last 6 games. If any other team does this they get all kinds of credit and press. Because Denver lost to us there season is going in the crapper. One of TNT guys even said that Denver was playing like the Denver team of last year BEFORE the Billips trade. The Pistons are playing there butts off and Kuester is coaching great, he is getting the team to play the right way. Maybe when we get over 500 for the season! We will get some Respect!!!!
OK FIRST OFF I KNEW I SAID GORDON,STUCK AND BYNUM WERE THE GIANT KILLERS BUT I THINK THE WHOLE TEAM CAN TAKE THAT NICKNAME THEY BEAT THREE TOP TEAMS IN THE NBA WITHOUT (WITHOUT) THEIR TOP PLAYERS!! any who ,i got to start of by saying WELCOME BACK BAND WAGON JUMPERS!!! and to hater steve DETROIT BASKETBALL!!!!LOL….seems like we got a new hater in town steve, tryna to shine and drink your haterrade, so im gonna leave you alone today STEVEN…ronnie d the only guy that wouldnt turn down 15 million dollars if his company was going in another direction….so ronnie d your trying to tell me if your boss was to come to you and tell you that he’s gonna give you a promotion from the grill to the drive thru you wouldnt take the job? come on man!!!…i dont blame ben he knew he was never NEVER gonna get that type of money…i got to agree with the duke (even though he jumps on and of the band wagon every post) he didn’t like the coach he knew he wasnt gonna be a part of any of the plays so he left and got 15 million thrown at him…he earned it there’s not a lot of centers in the league, that’s gettin that kind of money so he took it and left….could you imagine if he would have stayed? we would have been yellin by now to trade the guy and he probably would have left just like sheed,billups,and dyess…could you imagine the lineup without ben right now? we would probably have maybe one win…..hey nat i told you this team would be more than just fun to watch, this aint fun this is exciting on your seat basketball this is DETROIT BASKETBALL!!! YESIR
that’s how it is ba22…its so funny you said that when r teams loose (wings,tigers,wolverines,spartans basketball,pistons) they always give credit to the other team…probably because were not pretty like the rest of the states…i think charles barkley never like detroit since his incident here in detroit (gettin beat down)…i dont get it i think its the way r teams win, we dont blow teams out the gate we out smart them out hustle them and i think the nba,mlb,nfl,nhl and ncaa like teams who are fan pleasures…its so funny that okc,and the blazers r on tv more than us…when we started to emerge as a top team 2002-2003 we were never on tv!!! thats a good point
check out the all-decade defense videos at nba.com. The pistons have the two plays with the most votes
Need4Swede would be a very good name change, but lets see what he does for the rest of the season when everyone is healthy. Remember, Sheed was the missing link for the 2004 championship season and was very good for a while. But as of right now, we already have several Need4Swede moments with more to come.
obiwan gee thanks for taking it easy on me today i was scared all day.
chris wilcox is getting paid 3m to do nothing but sit on the bench. i wonder how soon he will be waived or traded.
obiwan. i would love for you to show me one way i jump on and off the band wagon every post? I have been a Pistons fan my entire life and will be til the day I die.
very good win, if ben gordon never comes back i’ll be happy. I think what i had a problem with in the offseason is BOTH ben gordon and CV being in our lineup. When it’s one or the other we’re better because those are probably our two worst defenders. If CV comes off the bench the rest of the season I would like that better, Ben Wallace is doing what ben does and I love it, Jonas is really doing great (i just hope he doesn’t move to PF a lot when Tay comes back, just against certain teams), Max, chucky, stuckey, dajuan, daye all are playing great TEAM ball and that’s what’s winning us games.
Call me arrogant but i KNEW we would win yesterday, I just knew it i wasn’t even worried I would be wrong, I was like we are going to win and thats that, great win
And special shout out to the coaches Kuester, Brian Hill, Darrell Walker and everyone. Look at the injuries we have had to deal with this year and instead of excuses we are adapting, everyone says no one gives credit to coaches when the team wins well I’m doing it right now.
GREAT WIN! IM PROUD OF THE EFFORT AND I AM HONESTLY MOVED BY THE PLAY OF BEN WALLACE! HOPE RIP, TAY, BEN G., WILL COME BACK SOON! BTW… IF EVERYONE IS HEALTHY COME PLAYOFF TIME…. THIS COULD BE FUN!
WOW! Best game I’ve seen so far this year!! what makes it better??? We were without 4 of our top guys. AND Denver had no excuses with injuries or suspensions. Unless of course you think Kenyon Martin is a game changer.
nat is there any way to see the intros of last nights game? i want to see the ovations billups and afflalo got.
WHO SAID WILL BYNUM SHOULD START OVER STUCKY!!! Great game, great hustle, great heart, but let’s get real people Jonas ain’t starting over Tay. Carmello would NOT have scored like that on the Palace Prince. Mello averages less than 20 points a game vs. Detroit because of Prince and don’t yall forget it! Don’t get me wrong though, I love dub J and he’ll be great bringing all that hustle and heart off the bench. I’m just glad Prince finally has a back up so he don’t gotta average 45 minutes a game any more playing both sides of the floor (no wonder his back went out). I just hope once they get healthy, they don’t bury those guys on the bench and forget about them like in days past(cough Flip Saunders, cough cough Rick Carlyle sic). The rotation should be no less than 10 deep that’s when the Pistons are always at there best. Someone said something about not liking Ben G. and Charlie V., SLAP YOURSELF!!! If you still think that then PUNCH YOURSELF!!!! If Rip comes back whining about minutes please Joe trade him immediately!
the force is stron in obiwan and steven is a hater who wanted to call an end to the season already. i knew we could win this game denver always slacks. they think just cause they got to the con finals everything will be handed to them. melo was great last night really wish we picked him up but o well tough break. they need a real coach george karl cant coach anything and it was shown last year when they messed up the inbound play twice in the finals. i read an interview with billups and he said during the second game as a nugget they almost lost cause they didnt have an inbound play. he called time out and they drew one up and won the game. what coach doesnt have an inbound play?/?
OH
My
GOD
We
Just
Kicked
Their
Asses!!!
I
can’t
be
glad
more!!
I know this is way off subject but does anyone remember this happening (i don’t) but i am sure Charlie might and i am definitely sure Rodney doesn’t. Nat can you see if you can bring this play up with Charlie and Rodney. It would be interesting to see some playful banter between these 2 guys :O)
I know this is way off subject but does anyone remember this happening (i don’t) but i am sure Charlie might and i am definitely sure Rodney doesn’t. Nat can you see if you can bring this play up with Charlie and Rodney. It would be interesting to see some playful banter between these 2 guys
Whoops…here is the link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qZDHnyqLqg
I’m definitely enjoying the games this year. Would love to see Tay and Rip get in on some of the fun. I don’t think that Dumars would take a chance screwing up the team chemistry by trading Rip or Tay. No need for any drama this year.
to those wondering when the injured players will come back….rip said he’ll prolly b back jan. 1, nothin on tay, we dnt know how serious will’s injury is, as for ben gordon nothin official but i dnt c him missin more than 3 more games
Wow Bugs! Don’t mess with the Piston’s chemistry by bringing that up! Just messing, that was pretty nasty but I subscribe to the whole basketball bushido code. Far better to be a warrior and die a warrior’s death than to cringe like a coward and not challenge the shot.
You know i was just playing & I don’t think we have to worry about this teams chemistry. Playing around like that just builds friendly camaraderie. I am sure CV has played it over and over to Stuckey. On a serious note though these Pistons are seriously reminding me of the Pistons when we had Jon Barry, Corliss & Stackhouse etc. I can’t remember the year but they play well above anyone thought they would and just so well together. The attitude of who cares who is out as long as we have 5 piston guernseys on the floor we are going to compete and compete HARD…i love it!
all i have to say is stop fighting with each other. we all rooting for the same team. i like need4sweede but i also think we should wait to see how he plays for the whole season. jj is great. steve, he is just trying to act like he is hard, but he is just as excited as the rest of us he just dont want to get hurt like last years give up season(except dyess). and o yeah. GO PISTONS
i heard george blaha say that tayshaun will be back this week or at least next week
still love stuckeys cross on iverson.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1y9BJarRFU
I know you were playing Bugs, I was too. I’m really liking the work CV is doing down in the post!
Does anyone know when the real starters will be back for the pistons?