The Pistons put their five game road losing streak to a halt with a victory over the Toronto Raptors Friday night. John Kuester again showcased his “new’ starting lineup of Prince, McGrady, Stuckey, Monroe and Wilcox in their 101-95 victory.
Key Points:
- Apparently the Air Canada Center is just about the only place the Pistons can win on the road.
- The elephant in the arena, Rip Hamilton. Another DNP coaches decision for Rip who is sitting pending the possible trade. The longer this drags on, the worse it’s going to get. The look on his face sitting on the bench was upsetting. He really does deserve better, he did this team right until the Chauncey trade when everything went wrong. For all parties concerned, lets hope this deal goes through soon.
- A Will Bynum sighting! Will scored 6 in 12 minutes and his one assist was a great dish to Gordon for a three.
- Both teams shot the lights out if the first half, trading baskets until the Pistons started to pull away.
- The Pistons narrowly avoided another third quarter collapse. They let the Raptors go on an 11-2 lead in the third but thankfully had a nine point lead going into the fourth after leading by six at the half.
- Unfortunately our favorite rookie Greg Monroe didn’t get his 5th straight double-double, but he did come close with 12 points and 7 points while logging the most minutes for the Pistons with 37.47. Hustle heart and good hands…Monroe is a keeper.
- The Pistons were led by a red hot Tracy McGrady with a season high 22 points. With T-mac running the offense, the Pistons have a much different look that seems to be working.
Tracy McGrady: “I feel that I am a great decision-maker and I feel the ball should be in my hands, making plays for teammates,”
- Huge first half for Charlie V with a season high 16 points in the first half, finishing the game with 19, 8 points and 2 steals.
- Five Pistons in double figures.
- The Pistons biggest lead was 15 points while the Raptors led by as much as 5.
- The only trouble the Pistons had with Toronto was Andrea Bargnani who put up 31 points.
- Highlights of the game via NBA.com
[flashvideo file=http://nba.cdn.turner.com/nba/big/games/raptors/2011/01/14/0021000578_det_tor_recap.nba_nba_576x324.flv /]
- Nice game from Stuckey, who logged 24 minutes and scored 19 points on 5-for-9 shooting.
- Wallace sat again, resting his ankle.
- I would like to see the Pistons free throw shooting percentage get better. They were at 65% Friday night, which usually doesn’t cut it in close games.
- Solid night again for the Pistons current center Chris Wilcox. Four points and 12 boards and a ton of dirty work. I like it.
- A fun game to watch if you are a Pistons fan…especially if you like a lot of offense and no defense. It seemed like the Pistons couldn’t miss in the first half.
- A back to back game with the Kings Saturday night. Lets see if Detroit can make it two in a row.
In my opinion, Rip should be sitting and he doesn’t deserve anything but being sat on the pine. I love Rip as a player but he is a one dimensional player just like a lot of players in the league and if he‘s not good at his one dimension, then what is he good at??. I don’t defend Q but I think he gave Rip chance after chance to get out of his slump. He had a couple good games, but they were so far in between that those good games didn’t even matter..then he gets sent to the bench and has one of the best games of his career off the bench. He had a good chance to build off of this and get his starting spot back.. You would think that he would feel some type of way and break out of his slump…Nope..he goes right back into his slump..and the 0 for 5 night was probably all Q could handle and probably thought Rip wasn‘t giving it his all.
Now I don’t entirely blame it on Rip because Q was too busy trying to make Gordon and Rip both happy by splitting up their minuets but if Rip would have played like he played a couple years ago on a consistent level, he would have gotten his minuets regardless. Rip doesn’t want to be here anymore and his play proves it. If he want’s to play, he should stop going through the motions and play like he is supposed to. I understand what he did for the organization but Rip is not a superstar, he is a Role player at best, and his role now is to act like he want’s to play or to (hopefully) get traded..then watch..he’s going to talk about how Detroit played him and have the best second half of a season in his career..hahaha
He still deserves more respect. He was a big part of a great team for many years. He at least deserves a heads up before DNP – CD.
I hope this trade goes through. Will be good for all of us, and I will enjoy watching the soon-to-be Brooklyn Nets/what could have been the 2003 Detroit Pistons!
Maybe they (the Nets) could even make a run at the 8th seed and knock out Miami in the first round… Wishful thinking, I know.
Buffoonery? Disrespect?
I really hope that Joe D sorts things out before next season and gives Kuester a proper roster to work with. If he loses with all the pieces, then maybe I’ll consider the negative vibes towards Q. But this season, it seems like Q has been walking on eggshells in a very tough position.
Disrespect? I’ve read quotes from other coaches as they call out players publicly who are shooting poorly or don’t deserve minutes for their on court play. Q hasn’t done this, so there is no disrespect in sitting someone. If Rip was watching the game, then he should understand why he was on the bench for the duration.
Buffoonery? There was a game when BG was hot in the 2nd half, and Q played Rip simply to respect Rip’s demand for more minutes. (This was the game after which T Mac said they weren’t sharing the ball and missed defensive assignments.) I questioned why Rip was on the floor because he missed shots and defensive assignments, and the Pistons lost. Why is keeping a cold but on the bench seen as buffoonery, but sitting a hot hand when the game can be won not?
If Rip plays better on another team, be it NJ or elsewhere, I’d be really happy for him. You never want to see anyone unhappy, especially someone you’ve cheered for so many times. tough stuff. I’m just tired of the whole publicly and privately bashing of the coach thing. It’s disrespectful and buffoonery.
BG made Barbosa look like a fool tho)))
This game is a bright spot, T-Mac looks like he’s vintage T-Mac again, let’s hope RIP’s trade will happden sooner than later nand let’s move on.
I feel like…I dunno, both like it’s sad and like I feel sorry and guilty looking to RIP’s eyes. I hope Q knows what he’s doing. I don’t even want to think WHAT IF this trade WON’T HAPPEN.
straight up side by side Rip is better than Ben Gordon. No question, both this year, last year, and it looks like he will be better an Ben Gordon until Ben Gordon fixes whatever his problem is.
Q is sitting Rip not because Rip is worse than Ben Gordon but because Rip is disrespecting the coach. Remember when Austin Daye was disrespecting Q? We never heard exactly what Daye was saying or doing, but Daye got sat for almost a month.
Is Q disrespecting Rip? More like not tolerating player undermining him.
No question Q’s time here is limited. In my book, Q can do whatever he wants, nothing will fix this team, nothing will prevent him from getting fired.
Eventually Avery will get himself fired from the Nets (he’s halfway there), we will hire him and I would be surprised if Avery lasted more than 6 month and then we’ll be back with the same old rotating in a new coach every year.
Let Q put the heat on Rip. Q will never be loved by this team. That won’t happen. But by golly, maybe he can get the players to hate him and fear him a little, so they do what he says.
Q also sat Stuckey for disrespecting him, remember? That is what this is all about, Q is trying to gain control of the team by punishing rip. Go for it Q. They wont love you, not after this. But maybe it will work.
wait wait… rip is better than gordon? ha at what? aha
rip is better at scoring, defending, the 3 ball and taking care of the rock.. Sorry but that’s how awful Ben Gordon has been for the Pistons.
I am not comparing the Chicago Bull’s Ben Gordon to Rip. I am comparing the terrible, only decent once every ten games Ben Gordon to a lazy unmotived Rip who even now is better than him.
Every now and then Ben Gordon will score 20 points in 20 minutes. About once in ten games. Now rip never does that. If that is what you think makes a good basketball player, be my guest believe Ben Gordon is better. In the stat line Ben Gordon shows a slightly better shooting percentage from the floor but that’s mostly because he passes up looks that he should be taking, leaving someone else with an awkward end of the shot clock clunker.
Actually there is one thing Ben Gordon does better. He shoots a .862 from the free throw while Rip shoots a .845 this year.
I dunno maybe you see something in Ben Gordon that I dont. He was pretty good for Chicago back in 2008, I admit that. But Rip was pretty awesome too in 2008 when he had Chauncy Billups feeding him.
points? you mean rebounds?
it shouldn’t matter who sits or who plays, just as long as the end result is a win. of all people, ‘professional’ athletes should know this.
agreed
points? three ball? ha thats laughable n there both terrible at D. key word WHEN he had chauncey he has to have someone feed him he cant make a shot for himself gordon can
jake maybe you are watching different games than me, but Ben Gordon hasn’t been able to create his shot since he leave chicago.
players on our team that can create their own shots include tmac, prince, stuckey, bynum, charlie v
watch ben gordon, as soon a hand goes in his face he passes the ball, maybe you’ll see it too. Rip of course needs someone to feed him.
Theoretically Ben Gordon can create his own shot. Theoretically he can play the point guard position so that stuckey can be at the 2. Theoretically ben gordon can guard someone (gordon has great hops, so there’s no reason he can’t move his feet). Theoretically ben gordon can take care of the rock.
Instead when ben gordon dribbles he bounces it up about as high as his head, which leads to turnovers, he passes up shots if it’s at all difficult, he can’t stay in front of anyone.
I dont think ben gordon has been given enough time at point tho, he might be good at that you never know.
hes just goin through a slump but Q aint giving him enough minutes. he should start, not stuck