The #Pistons will open up the season Wednesday night at The Palace of Auburn Hills against the Washington Wizards. Detroit, with new head coach Maurice Cheeks will start this 2013-14 season with high hopes as they try to make the playoffs for the first time in five seasons.
- The good: New blood, old blood, and new beginnings.
- The bad: Brandon Jennings and Rodney Stuckey are out tonight.
- The unknown: Will Chauncey Billups applause shake the rafters of Palace? Who will be the last starter announced by Mason in pre-game introductions?
- The known: Sheed is back! Rasheed Wallace will return to the Pistons’ bench this year as a member of Maurice Cheeks’ staff.
The Starting Lineup:
- PG: Will Bynum (7th year; Georgia Tech)
- SG: Chauncey Billups (17th year; Colorado)
- SF: Josh Smith (10th year; Oak Hill Academy)
- PF: Greg Monroe (4th year; Georgetown)
- C: Andre Drummond (2nd year; Connecticut)
Best of the rest:
SG/SF: #25 – Kyle Singler (2nd year; Duke)
SG: #5 – Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (Rookie; Georgia)
PG: #34 – Peyton Siva (Rookie; Louisville)
PF: #9 -Tony Mitchell (Rookie; North Texas)
SF/PF: #33 – Jonas Jerebko (4th year:;Sweden)
C: #55 – Josh Harrellson (3rd year; Kentucky)
SG: #13 – Luigi Datome (Rookie; Italy)
PF: #31 – Charlie Villanueva (9th year; Connecticut)
OUT – PG/SG: #3 – Rodney Stuckey (7th year; Eastern Washington)
OUT – PG: #7 – Brandon Jennings (5th year; Italy)
You can still get in the door to watch opening night festivities. Tickets as low as $12 with no ticket fees! Offer code: gopistons
Tip off is at 7:30 pm and will be broadcast on Fox Sports . If you can’t catch the game on TV, catch it on the radio over at 97.1 the Ticket.
Let’s Get It Started
[flashvideo file=http://nba.cdn.turner.com/nba/big/teams/pistons/2013/09/26/Energy2mp4-2602967.flv /]
Video courtesy of Pistons.com
Here’s to a great season!
Good start, even without Jennings and Stuckey. Leading the league for the first time in I can`t remember how long. Go Pistons!!!!
Get rid of Jennings. Trade him for something good. Chauncey still looks sharp and Will will always give you 100 percent. Singler is solid, and Kentavious and Stuckey are still in the mix. Five good guards right there. What need is there for Jennings, a sub-40% shooter and a marginal passer?
So get rid of our most talented guard? When he hasn’t even played 1 game? Lol yah, OK dave.
Watching Billups last night was a gratifying nostalgic moment. And boy did he deliver. He basically cemented himself as this teams on court leader. The guys is pure class and completely dedicated. Its a reminder how horrible that AI trade was and how horrible we have been at PG since he left. What a refreshing game.
when is the last time we got a 10 point lead and were able to sit on it and win easily.
Thank you mr big shot. Mo cheeks please limit his minutes we are gonna need billups in the playoffs to finish the games.
This team is pretty darn good. Josh Smith proved me wrong in every way in this game, unselfish basketball, high iq, incredible passing, great shot selection.
And did you see Charlie V? He looked about to cry. He knows he isn’t getting any more minutes and Mo Cheeks isn’t letting him tweet from the sidelines. Poor guy, lol. Come on Mo, let Charlie tweet, he’s not getting any minutes.
Charlie who? CV31 is out of shape and at the end of the Pistons depth chart big time.