In a game where the final score was not as bad it could’ve been, the Boston Celtics beat the Detroit Pistons 109 – 86 in a game that proved exactly where the Pistons are right now as a team.
This is a mediocre team right now that is lacking heart and drive to fight through some early season adversity to get to their first win. The roster, as Nat and I have been saying all offseason, is unbalanced and full of talent but none of them have stepped up and taken the leadership role that’s required of a good team. I could rail on all day about this but, I’ll re-cap the game:
- Rajon Rondo was the best player on the court tonight and proved it by toying with the Pistons defense to the tune of 17 assists in 36 minutes of play. Sure, he’s the point guard for the Celtics so he’s the main distributor BUT, his 0 turnovers proved not only did the Pistons not play defense but that he was making all the right moves.
- Charlie Villanueva finally earned the right to talk tough about his opponent as he pulled down 7 rebounds to go with his 17 points off the bench.
- Rodney Stuckey, who had been playing so well coming into the game, reverted back to his 2009 form by not being able to finish at the rim or hit a jumpshot consistently as he finished 6-15 from the field and had 15 points to go with only 3 assists.
- As Nat mentioned, KG and Charlie Villanueva got into it a little bit last night, and both received technical fouls in the 4th quarter. You can see the re-cap of what Charlie says happened here.
- Since we’re talking about technical fouls, a member of “Team Boney” in one of the Need4Sheed Fantasy Basketball leagues received one last night. Glen Davis was called for a technical foul in the 1st quarter after being called for fouling Ben Gordon.
- This team is getting good at finger pointing. Coach Kuester says someone needs to step up, Tayshaun says someone needs to coach better, I say be a man and do your job.
- As much as I hate to say it, I think I’d take Rondo over any PG in the league right now. Sure he’s playing with good talent around him but he’s made up for his other shortcomings by becoming a better floor leader and forcing those around him to be better. (Even though he does look like Earthworm Jim)
- One good thing to come out of last night’s game was the fact that Greg Monroe got some decent playing time for the first time in his young career. He did not score a basket, but he had 10 rebounds in 18 minutes of action.
So, the re-cap is short I know it is. I don’t think any of us want to watch a replay of last night’s game, let alone discuss it in great detail. I’m sure I’ll be railed against for thinking Rondo is a good point guard and people will try to tell me it’s because he’s playing with good players, which to an extent is true.
The fun doesn’t stop tonight either because after last night’s debacle in Detroit, the Pistons get to travel to Atlanta to play against a Hawks team that has started off the season 3-0 under new coach Larry Drew. The Pistons will likely be without Richard Hamilton, Will Bynum and now Tracy McGrady who came down clutching his knee last night.
Why did it feel like i was the ONLY one FURIOUS when i heard that our “competent” GM rejected a trade offer of Rip, Prince and Stuckey for Rondo and Ray Allen back in June 2009? Good, Im glad. This team is horribly put together and all you boneheads that stood behind Joe for not making that deal deserve your current misery of having to watch this team.
I would say that had Joe D made that trade we would’ve had SOOO much more cap room, but then again that is a pointless argument to make since any extra money we wouldve had to play with he just would have threw it on top of the Gordon and CV contracts.
Not beating Utah’s offer and acquiring Al Jefferson? Not stepping up to trade down to the 4 or 5 pick to take DeMarcus Cousins? This drives me absolutely crazy everytime I think about it.
And not for nothing, but if they wanted to sell out the arena and put a “fun” to watch product on the floor, then why aren’t they starting Rip, Gordon, Daye, Prince and CV and running the 7 seconds or less offense? It’s not like they can play defense anyway.
So I think I’m cancelling my NBA package. I don’t think I want to torment myself each night this year.
Thoughts? 🙂
Should I cancel my package?
I feel you The Fan, I just moved down here to Tennessee and got league pass and I’m thinking about cancelling it. I don’t even care if the Pistons lose I just want to see the young players play.
wait did tayshaun really call out Kuester??
WAIT. Tayshaun called out Kuester? Thats a little out of line to say “someone needs to coach better”, isnt it?
I think Q started it yasir. I dont blame Q or Tay tho, this is not a very good team, and that’s Joe D’s fault. It’s frustrating for the coach & players when everyone knows how completely outclassed you are by the celtics and lost 3 games in a row that you could have won. But you can’t hold a lead with no defense. Everyone is all over Greg Monroe as the savior of this pistons team. Me? I see, Daye, Stuckey and Jerebko as our young stars. Greg isn’t really ready for the NBA, just my opinion. It’s great to see Daye out there on the 4, even though he belongs at the 3, it’s a great learning experience for him.
Charlie V is one of those players, I think Charles Barkley said it about him one time on TNT, he’s one of those players that looks best when you have a completely lost game and the other team isn’t playing that hard anymore.
None of the personal stats matters. The only number that matters is 0-4.
I have been the greatest apologist for Joe D, I said his pick of Darko was something every other GM would do, I was fine with letting Billups go, I thought AI was a big mistake but I understood, I thought Charlie V and Ben Gordon were mistakes, but I understood we would never get lebron or bosh to come ot Detroit but enough is enough.
Joe D . . . my patience is done. You gotta go. Still like him, he’s a great guy, love his attitude . . . but your time is up. You broke the franchise.
That was a difficult game to watch. Seemed like they were starting to make a run in the 4th, but as always it imploded. I don’t want to say the blame should lie solely on Kuester’s shoulders, but some of the line ups he had out there were just embarrassing. And again turnovers were too many too often. I’ve always been one to stick up for Rip and Tay and hoped neither would have to get traded and things would just start working, but 4 games in that doesn’t seem to be the case. Granted we’ve got a long season to improve, but I just don’t see it happening, I’ve finally converted to trade’em status. I know it’s more difficult because of his contract but I’d rather see Rip go than Tay. We’ve got BG to fill in as a starter, but unless we can trade for a decent big AND a decent SF we won’t have anyone that can effectively fill his shoes. Then again I’m not Joe D, so I don’t know what’s on the table, but I do know something needs to be done quick. He made the Chauncey trade about this point in the season 2 years ago, maybe he can finally make up for it now…we’ll see.
That was a difficult game to watch. Seemed like they were starting to make a run in the 4th, but as always it imploded. I don’t want to say the blame should lie solely on Kuester’s shoulders, but some of the line ups he had out there were just embarrassing. And again turnovers were too many too often. I’ve always been one to stick up for Rip and Tay and hoped neither would have to get traded and things would just start working, but 4 games in that doesn’t seem to be the case. Granted we’ve got a long season to improve, but I just don’t see it happening, I’ve finally converted to trade’em status. I know it’s more difficult because of his contract but I’d rather see Rip go than Tay. We’ve got BG to fill in as a starter, but unless we can trade for a decent big AND a decent SF we won’t have anyone that can effectively fill his shoes. Then again I’m not Joe D, so I don’t know what’s on the table, but I do know something needs to be done quick. He made the Chauncey trade about this point in the season 2 years ago, maybe he can finally make up for it now…we’ll see.
On the note of NBA packages, I’m from NC and have never even been to Michigan, and I’ve got NBA League Pass for the first time this year, so it’s half awesome to finally be able to watch all the Pistons games I want, but it’s also half horrible because…well, you’ve seen how they play. But at least now I won’t get hyped up for the one or two nationally televised games only to see them get stomped, now I can see it all the time! LOL
I know everyones been yapping about how Joe D should make all these miracle trades that work on trade machine, and for once I’m starting to completely agree with them. The team right now that the pistons have simply wont be good, Rondo was going anywhere he wanted to go on offense, and KG was having a great time on offense playing against Charlie V and Austin Daye.
Truth is before any trades can be made, the Pistons have to find an identity, are they going to be a finesse, shooting team with all the guards and shooters they have on the team, like Daye, Charlie and Gordon. or are they going to revert back to the Bad Boy pistons that worked wonders for them? If you said Bad Boy Pistons, then you cant have Charlie V on the team, he doesn’t play defense and he likes to shoot from range, its tough to trade him because of the contract as well.
Personally, I think they should trade Rip Hamilton for a young big that plays defense and actually stays in the paint, then wait until Charlie V is trade-able and send him packing immediately, Tayshaun Prince is also expendable. I know trades don’t always work, but at this point the Pistons need something to happen, at least find an identity.