The Pistons vs The Cavaliers

by | Dec 20, 2011 | 51 comments

The Pistons vs. The Cavaliers

Again

The Pistons will wrap up their preseason (all 2 games) against the Cavaliers tonight in Cleveland.

What can we expect?

Brandon Knight at Starting PG that’s what.

  • The good: Knight starting.
  • The bad: No Ben Gordon – Personal Reasons
  • The unknown: Charlie Villanueva missed practice for personal reason, no news on his status.

Tip off is at 7:00 pm and will be broadcast on Fox Sports Detroit. If you can’t catch the game on TV, follow it live over at NBA.com or on the radio over at 97.1 The Ticket.

51 Comments

  1. zane

    Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva are out tonight with personal reasons oooh please be because of a trade… hey let me dream don’t wake me until tomorrow

    Reply
    • Natalie Sitto

      Nope….the Pistons shot that down already

      Reply
  2. junior

    does thaat mean stucks starting at the 2? hope so. also kris humpfries just signed a one year deal with the nets, so i guess we wont be getting him like we thought. oh well.

    Reply
  3. junior

    damn now thats a tall lineup!!!

    Reply
  4. junior

    nice start by daye 6 points n a block in 3 min.

    Reply
  5. junior

    no game thread? im here by myself.

    Reply
  6. pistonsfan101

    Wow Knight + Daye = impressive!

    Reply
    • junior

      yeah so far thats a little glimpse i seen the other knight i hoped it would happen todaye. (sorry i had to)

      Reply
      • pistonsfan101

        Haha don’t worry. Happy to see Jerebko healthy!

        Reply
        • junior

          me too!!

          Reply
  7. pistonsfan101

    Rip looks soooooooooooooooo weird in a Bulls jersey!

    Reply
    • junior

      better than in a pistons jersey!!!

      Reply
  8. zane

    why aren’t we seeing Vernon Macklin play? I was hoping to see him in the lineup this season… would of been nice to see what he brings to the table … if anything.

    Reply
    • junior

      i wanted to see him too. maybe he doesnt know the plays yet?

      Reply
  9. Drew

    Knight with 6 turnovers already. I’m not seeing the best defense either.

    Reply
    • junior

      i guess maybe we do need stuckey as our starting pg huh? (not a shot at you, to all the stuckey nah-sayers)

      Reply
      • Drew

        At least to start the season. Knight’s not ready. I was surprised to see near rave reviews for Knight’s first game. He shot 3 of 9 and had 4 turnovers. He made some smooth passes though, I’ll give him that.

        Reply
        • junior

          ya i think he will eventually be a very good pg and prob our starter but i still think stuck is by far the better player.

          Reply
          • edt

            Knight is gonna be a far better player than Stuckey will ever be. Just saying. And you know I love the way Stuckey plays.

            You can tell just by looking at them that Knight is incredibly smart and Stuckey, well he can ball but he’s no genius.

            Reply
            • Drew

              Perhaps, but he’s got a long way to go. The Bulls commentators were making fun of his shot selection last night — saying he just throws a three up there and has no idea if it’s going in. Hard to disagree with them. Hopefully these are just rookie mistakes and not character flaws.

              Reply
              • edt

                Knight is very accurate, don’t listen to the Bulls. In college 42% from the 2 and 37% from the 3.

                There is a lot that does not transfer from college, assists, rebounds, points, but one thing that does transfer immediately is shot accuracy.

                He is actually a better basketball player than the #1 pick, Kyrie Irving. Irving is flashier but Knight is better and we are extremely lucky to have him.

                Scorers are a dime a dozen in the NBA, but true point guards are hard to find, and Knight seems to have been born a point guard.

                Reply
  10. Drew

    Charlie and Ben personal reasons? I wonder if they got their feelings hurt after hearing constant chants of “Amnesty! Amnesty!”

    Reply
    • junior

      LMFAO!!!

      Reply
  11. junior

    wonder why stucks not got more mins? he could soak up some of ilkins mins, not like hes good or anything. know what i mean? maybe stuck doesnt know all the plays?

    Reply
  12. junior

    not wacthing the game (at work) but looking at the stats it seems like maybe jerebko is stealing some of monroes easy buckets around the rim?

    Reply
  13. junior

    i think stuck will be better at the 3 ball this year he was starting to show some improvement at the end of last year. if he can get that shot to fall he would be a very dangerous player cuase then they couldnt play so far back on him and wait for him to drive the lane all the time. no respect right now.

    Reply
    • edt

      Stuckey does not have a 3 point shot, period. Not that it matters we have a bushel of 3 point shooters, Knight, Daye, Charlie, and Ben Gordon. Even Prince is better at the 3 than Stuckey is.

      We want an efficient team and that means Stuckey is never at the 3.

      I want to see him take over the mid range jumper that Rip used to have for our team.

      Reply
      • junior

        i think stuck could very well take over the mid ranger hes been working on that a lot and from my memory i recall him hiiting alot of those 15 footers.

        Reply
  14. junior

    macklins in!!! hopefully its not just for the last 1:29 of the quarter.

    Reply
  15. zane

    21 turnovers……………………. wtf pistons

    Reply
    • Bellllissimo

      plus the assists were bad assist to turnover ratio was reversed compared to our better years

      Reply
  16. Drew

    Harangody ftw! Ha ha ha

    Reply
  17. pistonsfan101

    haha wow. I could’ve made that shot in!! Poor Harangody

    Reply
  18. edt

    Brandon Knight had a half dozen turnovers, but this is just a preseason game for a rookie.

    What I saw was a guard who wanted to ship an assist first, score himself second, who made a play on that final ball that won the game.

    Jerebko looked a bit lost, he’ll get back into rhythm.

    You know I’m really starting to wonder why we have Tayshaun Prince on our team.

    We love running, defending with high energy, and Prince is this methodical, quality half court kind of guy whose best offense is the Prince-isolation.

    He’s a square peg in this team. Ben Wallace looked pretty mean on the bench, not sure why.

    Love Austin Daye at the 2 on offense, but he can’t defend . . . well anyone. Daye should keep developing as an NBA player, maybe this year will be it.

    Anyway, just a preseason game, Knight looks ready to start in my book, love to see him and Stucky together, let Stuckey go to the rim, and try to score, draw some fouls, let knight play the inside out game. Jerebko will have to earn his minutes once again.

    Austin Daye is a better shooter than Ben Gordon, and just as good of a defender, which is not very.

    Is this the team we are going to the allstar break with?

    If it is, we are gonna need a lot of minutes from Ben Wallace, not liking that.

    Reply
    • Tycoon

      Dont forget that Jerebko got injured during the first game of pre-season last year. Could be at the back of his head, he wants to stay healthy, but he’ll be fine come regular season.

      Reply
  19. gordbrown

    Without Stuckey we lose this game, plain and simple. Bynum found two threes, otherwise his stats would have been a horror show. Fixed the Free Throw problem (did I mention Stuckey was 10 for 10) and the rebounding problem, but turnovers made the game much closer than it needed to be. Need to fix that. Maxiell played over 22 minutes and contributed zero defensive rebounds. Hopefully playing Macklin over Maxiell and removing Wilkens will improve performance enormously.

    Reply
    • James (Australia)

      I may be wrong, but I don’t know if Macklin is the answer. Apparently Joe D is still pursuing Kaman and wants at least one more big man who can contribute on the roster.

      Reply
      • gordbrown

        Macklin may not be the answer, but it would be good to get him a chance to play some. Maxiell would be good to trade. Maybe new scenery will help him to remember the things he used to be able to do (set picks, catch the ball, rebound) that he seems to have forgotten.

        Reply
    • Bellllissimo

      so by your logic without Ben gordon we win the game? wow why did you have to bring Ben Gordon into your argument 😀

      Reply
  20. James (Australia)

    I was encouraged by this performance even if it is just preseason. The real red flag is the turnovers, but I think it is just a combination of preseason, new coach and a rookie PG. I don’t think we will see the Pistons turning the ball over 24 times in a game with regularity (touch wood).

    We missed at least one more scorer (BG & CV) especially in that second quarter. I liked the toughness displayed to fight for the win in the fourth quarter.

    Knight looked like a rookie at times, but he also has a very good skill set that will serve the Pistons well. I’m predicting that he won’t start against Indy next week, but will be starting by the end of the season a la Monroe and Jerebko. Daye has shown these flashes before, but hopefully he can establish some consistency with a defined role. I like the fact that he is working well with Knight as I think those two will see a lot of court time together early on in the season in the second unit.

    Stuckey looked as good as you could expect a guy who has only been in camp for four days after the lockout. junior, I think they were just going easy on him with the minutes as he eases back into basketball. I expect him to play 33-38 mins against Indy. I hope that free throw shooting keeps up!

    Reply
    • Drew

      Stuckey’s FT percentage seems to go up every year. Maybe he’ll stay at 90% this year!

      Reply
      • junior

        Agree on the mmins, when i commented it was wtill early in the game, he had like 9min.

        Reply
  21. Riv

    With all of the good big men not available at the moment, it looks like the Pistons will have frontcourt problems meaning they will have trouble making the playoffs again. But I like the direction that they are going. Daye would be a better back up at the 3 than D. Wilkins and V. Macklin might help up front. CV3 or J. Max (who I still like) or both for a solid big would be a good deal, but that’s wishful thinking for now.

    Reply
    • junior

      There is no wau we get eomeone to take cv31 and jmaxes contracts together.

      Reply
  22. daddy

    I know its a new system and a new person running the point but 24 to’s is way too much especially against the cavs. Daye could be our potential 6th man if he keeps playing like this. Ive always said he has a bit of durrant in him. Where he is long and lacky making it a match up nightmare for everyone. He has the ability to shot as well, of course not as good as kd, but a similar. Trying to get a big man that can contribute would push us to the playoffs and help these younger ppl get some needed experience.

    Reply
    • edt

      Daye is a better pure shooter than Durant. Durant is about .36 from the 3 point, Daye is .37. Durant has a better percentage from the 2 but that’s because Durant can finish at the rim, Daye has a better stroke, more accurate shot in the 2 than Durant.

      Of course Daye can’t defend, so he can’t play against the 1st team on the other side, but he shoots better than anyone else on our team including Ben Gordon.

      Reply
      • Bellllissimo

        not really fair to compare percentages when they have completely different roles and more importantly number of shots taken and number of minutes played. Daye is a good shooter but he cant do what he does consistently to be called the better shooter

        Reply
        • James (Australia)

          I think edt’s point is that Daye is a more pure shooter. His shot is silky smooth. He doesn’t have the ball handling of KD or the strength to overcome defenders like Durant, hence Durant is a much better player. However, I agree that Daye is a better shooter than Durant. You just need more than a good shot to make it big in the NBA.

          Reply
  23. junior

    anyone else agree with me on this. . . i think stuckey could by the end of his tenure playing for the pistons become one of the best, if not he best, free throw shooter in pistons history. your thoughts?

    Reply
    • Drew

      I don’t know if the absolute best. Wasn’t Chauncey’s almost 90 percent or a little higher?

      Reply
  24. greg

    ha ha at Blaha’s comment:
    “Knight and Daye”!!

    Reply

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