If you follow my twitter feed (shameless plug here), you would see that I was counting down the minutes until Orlando started hitting their 3 point shots. Orlando struggled with their 3 point shooting for the better part of the game, shooting 5-15 from 3 until early in the 4th quarter. Orlando, behind the strong shooting of JJ Redick and Mickael Pietrus, finished the game by hitting 5 of their final 9 attempts from 3, to finish overall 10-24 from behind the long line.
I really have a deep dis-like for Dwight Howard, almost as deep as my dis-like for LeBron James, so when he gets a technical foul while playing against Detroit it makes my night. I don’t know why I dis-like Howard, to be honest. I think it’s because he’s begged and pleaded for respect from the officials, on top of stealing Shaquille O’Neal’s nickname and overall just being a clown. My friend, Brian Spaeth, calls him “Sillycape” because of his antics at the NBA Dunk Contest the last 2 seasons. Anyway, enough whining about superstars that aren’t on our roster:
- Congratulations to Ben Wallace, who became the
3rd4th active player in the NBA to grab 10,000 rebounds. We all know Ben’s story, so there’s no reason to re-hash here. Ben didn’t start off his career with the pomp and circumstance of Shaq or Tim Duncan (or Kevin Garnett) – so for him to finally get to 10,000 rebounds really shows the effort he has put into his game night in and night out. Well done, Mr. Wallace. - Doesn’t it seem like Jameer Nelson always struggles against the Pistons? Tonight he scored 9 points on 4-12 shooting and 9 assists. (He averages just over 12 points a game against Detroit in his career, on 45% shooting)
- Jason Maxiell starts again, and plays 22 minutes but only has 1 rebound.. oh and, speaking of rebounds…
- Detroit outrebounded again, 41-36.
- Greg Monroe played about as well as you can expect a rookie that received his first extended playing time of his short career. In 24 minutes on the floor, Monroe played Dwight Howard tough in the paint while scoring 4 points and pulling down 4 rebounds. Monroe also blocked 2 shots, including a fast break block on a layup attempt by Jameer Nelson after he had just laid out on the floor for a loose ball the previous possession.
- Redick and Pietrus were 5-11 from behind the long line.
- The game was close for 3 and a half quarters. Poor rotation on D killed the Pistons in the end.
- No Austin Daye?
- Tayshaun Prince continues his solid streak of play as of late – 16 points on 7-12 shooting and a couple of dagger 3’s after some good ball movement during the possessions.
- Dwight Howard was virtually invisible on the offensive end. He put up 8 shots, and score 9 total points. Monroe and Ben Wallace locked him down pretty good.
- One of the best Pistons plays all season via NBA.com
[flashvideo file=http://nba.cdn.turner.com/nba/big/games/magic/2010/11/30/0021000255_det_orl_play1.nba_nba_576x324.flv /]
Tough way to lose, if you ask me. The ball movement was crisp, the defensive rotations were on point it’s just… it wasn’t enough to overcome the Magic and their ability to shoot the 3 ball tonight. I think Austin Daye could’ve helped the team tonight, in a matchup against Rashard Lewis. I believe Ben Gordon couldn’t get comfortable out on the court with the taller defenders leaning on him all night. The screens weren’t real crisp, Hamilton and Gordon got hung up in their man while waiting for a screen to be set or their man jumped in front of the screener before they could curl.
The Pistons don’t have a chance to sit back and think about this loss though, because tomorrow night they’re going to go up against Joel Anthony and the Miami Heat. Miami is coming off of some pretty bad losses recently and are no longer really on pace to be the best team in the history of the NBA (not to mention the players are pushing the coaches around now too). It’ll be a tough game for the Pistons but, with the Heat’s recent struggles and the much overhyped “Homecoming” for LeBrick LeTravel LeCrabDribble LeWhine LeJerk LeBron James, Detroit is in prime position to squeak one out.
Nice recap. Shaq’s attitude of jumping from team to team to get a crown makes me wanna like Orlando’s chances of beating Boston but that doesnt mean I like Dwight.
What’s up with playing small ball down the stretch? We know that wouldn’t work.
Anyone who watched this game just saw our no 7 overall pick play brilliantly.
Greg Monroe was fantastic in this game. Stats do not tell the story he was arguably the Pistons best player in the 2nd half.
When his offensive comes good we are in for a treat.
As stated above why is Max out there in a game like this? Orlando shoots 3’s. Put length on them not the smallest guy you can find.
Oh wait that would mean Austin has to play and we can’t have that now can we Coach Kuester?
Good effort by the guys but no idea who to go to for baskets at the end of the game. No leader no direction.
wow greg monroe, did you see him pick howard’s pocket, and did you see the come from behind on the floor, run the length of the floor block on howard?
I dont want to see greg monroe walk down the court one more time, he proved he can run if he wants to. Pick up your feet young man, you can play! For the longest time I thought Monroe might not be able to actually run, since he always plodded back and forth.
The less minutes rip gets the better. We would have won this game if Ben gordon had started. Ben Gordon was awful, 4 for 10 and 1 for 3 from the 3, but rip didnt even care, 5 for 12 and jacking up 3’s 0 for 5 from 3. Why does rip jack up 3’s? Cause he doesnt care, and quit running his screens with energy and efficiency. A lot easier to jack up 3’s than work hard for the mid range jumper.
Everyone on this team played with effort and energy . . . except for one guy: Richard Hamilton.
Why do you think he gets those double techs? He knows exactly what is going on with the new rules. He just doesn’t want to play, it’s a way for him to take the evening off.
Maxiell played a good game, his quickness let him double howard when he put it on the floor and run back to the 3 point line. Howard with 40 minutes, 4 for 8 was not a factor.
We lost this game because of Rip Hamilton jacking up shots and not caring.
If Stan Van Gundy were coaching this pistons game, spittle would be flying into Rip’s mask due screaming at Rip to get his head into the game.
Garnett has over 10,000 rebounds, and I’m sure he is an active player.
you’re right – I went based off of what the Magic broadcast said during last night’s game.
I corrected it
I believe I heard the magic commentators say this “Rip looks totally uninterested” They said it a couple of times, I kid you not. They also said he’d be better off on a contender whos looking for that last piece/veteran experience.
I think we all know Rip has worn out his welcome. Time for dumars to ship him out to Sacramento or LA for Demarcus or Kaman. Heard they need a guard and demarcus hasnt been a good boy lately.
If anyone needed more evidence of where this season is going for the Pistons, last night’s road loss to Orlando should’ve convinced them. As currently constructed, the Pistons are going nowhere.
It’s time to FIRE coach John Kuester. Immediately. Do not wait, do not pass go.
Kuester continues to leave Ben Wallace and Jason Maxiell in the starting lineup – it’s beyond ridiculous. The Dynamic Duo played nearly 50 minutes last night and combined for six massive points and ten rebounds.
Meanwhile, Austin Daye didn’t play a minute. In what universe is that right?
Well, I was at that game last night. It was a great game. Monroe rocked it against D. Howard. I was so pleased how polite most of the pistons were to us and signing autographs and taking pics with us before and after the game. The only one we didn’t get to talk with or get a pic of was Hamilton. He didn’t even stop for my 5th grade nephew carrying his jersey all night to get signed. It wasn’t even like we were far away, we were right outside the locker room door. Everyone else was great though. Thanks for the great time guys
How was the new arena?
It was really nice, wasn’t a bad seat in the house. (even though we were 12 rows up behind the pistons basket 1st half) I went around looking up top and they weren’t bad up there either. Still nothing like the good ol’ Palace. Going there Dec. 19th. CAN’T WAIT!!!!