'Nasty News - Traversing Time & Space' Vol: 58

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http://twitter.com/DETPistons

The best summary information from last night's game in Phoenix: http://bit.ly/81GYcb

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http://www.freep.com/article/20091124/S ... d-will-end

IN AND OUT: It appears DaJuan Summers has passed fellow rookie Austin Daye in the playing rotation. Daye was in the game for only 1:27 on Saturday night at Utah before a defensive mistake landed him on the bench.

Summers came in and played well that game and did OK against the Suns.

It also appears that after two consecutive benchings, center Kwame Brown has been passed by Chris Wilcox in the rotation.

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http://www.nba.com/pistons/index_main.html

Sign Here, Please
The first 3,000 fans ages 14-and-under entering The Palace on Sunday - doors open at 11:30 a.m. - will be given an autograph voucher allowing them the opportunity to stay after the game for a post-game autograph session with Pistons players.

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http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/powerrankings

1: Denver Nuggets
2: Atlanta Hawks
3: Portland Trailblazers
4: Boston Celtics
5: Los Angeles Lakers
6: Dallas Mavericks
7: Houston Rockets
8: Phoenix Suns
9: Orlando Magic
10: Oklahoma City Thunder
15: Detroit Pistons

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http://blog.mlive.com/fullcourtpress/20 ... int_g.html

Chauncey Billups talks point guard play, getting back to the NBA Finals
One of the few knocks on Chauncey Billups during his Pistons' tenure was his struggles to stay in front of quicker points guards, best exhibited by Rajon Rondo in the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals.Billups recently talked to the Sporting News about two of the quicker ones he's had to deal with recently: Rose is so quick, and he is such a good passer, you can look at him and see that despite his age, he knows how to run a team. You know he is in charge out there. Jennings, too, I like his game. You can see that he is going to be a really, really good point guard in this league. He is very shifty, he moves very well. And him and Derrick both have a toughness around them that is impressive.

Billups' defensive struggles and age (he's 33 now) caused the Nuggets to take Ty Lawson in the NBA Draft. I know the mention of that name around here riles a few commenters who are big Lawson fans and wanted to see him in Detroit, and Chauncey is a big believer that he's going to be a good NBA point guard: Very mature, and very talented. He was a steal in the draft. He has already been big for us.

Austin Daye, Jonas Jerbko and DaJuan Summers have all shown flashes, but the lack of a point guard on the roster makes the Pistons' draft make less sense as this season progresses.

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http://www.nba.com/2009/news/11/24/thun ... ef:nbahpt2

Thunder recall backup guard Weaver from 66ers
The Oklahoma City Thunder have recalled guard Kyle Weaver from the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League and he was expected to be available for Tuesday night's game at Utah.

A second-year player, Weaver scored 11 points in his season debut last week against Orlando. He also played the final minute of the Thunder's victory Friday night against Washington.

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http://stats.mlive.com/nba/preview.asp? ... me=8&vis=5

Cavaliers-Pistons Preview
The Cleveland Cavaliers acquired Shaquille O'Neal with the playoffs in mind, and the big man is set to make his return after resting his injured shoulder for five games. Hardly looking like a postseason contender of late, the Detroit Pistons don't need any more obstacles to overcome. The Cavaliers last left The Palace of Auburn Hills with a first-round sweep in April, and they'll likely get O'Neal back Wednesday night as they seek an eighth straight victory over the reeling Pistons.Cleveland's big offseason acquisition averaged 11.3 points in his first nine games with his fifth NBA team before straining his shoulder. Not wanting to risk the 37-year-old center's health too early, the Cavaliers (10-4) refused to give O'Neal a cortisone injection to treat the injury, instead opting to let him rest. O'Neal was back at practice Monday and is probable to return against the Pistons (5-9), losers of five in a row. "Anytime someone misses a couple of games, it takes a little bit to be reacquainted," coach Mike Brown said. "But he's got a great feel for the game. We think he'll step right in."

The Cavaliers have won seven of eight, going 4-1 without O'Neal. LeBron James has been the catalyst as usual, averaging 34.3 points and 9.3 assists in his last four games while shooting 58.3 percent. Though James had a game-high 32 points and nine assists Saturday as Cleveland rallied past Philadelphia 97-91, much of the postgame talk focused on the defense, which allowed 10 fourth-quarter points as Cleveland overcame a six-point deficit. "That's where we make our mark at," James said. "We just lock down. ... When we're playing defense like that at a high level, it's hard to beat us." James averaged 32.0 points, 11.3 rebounds and 7.5 assists as Cleveland held Detroit to 78.0 points per game in a four-game sweep to open last season's playoffs. Including that series, the Cavs have won seven straight over the Pistons by an average of 14.1 points. Cleveland had assistant John Kuester guiding its offense during those victories, but now Kuester, largely credited with the Cavs' improved ball movement and spacing during their 66-win season in 2008-09, is the head coach in Detroit.

Kuester has had some bad breaks running the Pistons. Richard Hamilton (ankle) and Tayshaun Prince (back) have played a combined four games, leaving free agent acquisitions Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva to lead their new team. They haven't had much success lately. Gordon went 1 of 16 from the field and scored a season-low five points in a loss to Dallas on Nov. 15, then the Pistons were swept during a four-game western road trip that concluded with a 117-91 loss at Phoenix on Sunday. "Until this game, we lost three games that we can learn a lot from," said reserve guard Will Bynum, who's averaged 17.7 points on 57.4 percent shooting in his last six games. "... We just have to get things back going and get back home and have the fans behind us. We should be fine." The Pistons' biggest problem has been finding offense inside with former Cavalier Ben Wallace and Jonas Jerebko starting up front. Detroit is among the league's bottom five teams in points in the paint (36.1 per game), and Cleveland (34.1) allows the fewest. The Pistons last lost six in a row during an eight-game skid from Feb. 8-25.

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http://www.nba.com/pistons/video/2009/1 ... ndex.html+

Pistons Share their Favorite Thanksgiving Foods
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Pistons players tell us what their favorite food is during the holiday.

Video in the link above^.

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http://www.nba.com/pistons/video/2009/1 ... index.html

Pistons Thanksgiving Traditions
Pistons players share with us their family traditions for the Thankgiving holiday.

Video in the link above^.

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http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/trueblu ... 91124.html

Up Next: LeBron
Jonas Jerebko’s first start pitted him against Vince Carter. That was three weeks ago. Since then, the NBA’s first Swede has guarded a veritable smorgasbord of star-quality players, ranging from Hedo Turkoglu to Ron Artest to Brandon Roy to Grant Hill. But ask him which player presented the greatest challenge and he doesn’t bat an eye: “Kobe.”Jerebko, who got the starting call when Tayshaun Prince went down three games into the season over the two rookies the Pistons drafted ahead of him last June based on his defensive readiness, guarded Kobe Bryant for a brief stretch of the second quarter of the Pistons’ loss to the Lakers to start their four-game Western road swing that ended 0-4. He saw the full Kobe assault in that time with Bryant en route to the 100th 40-point game of his career. “You can’t do much on that fadeaway,” Jerebko shrugged after Tuesday’s practice, the first for the Pistons at their practice facility in 11 days. “He’s the best player in the league.” Jerebko qualified that, allowing for the fact that he might have to adjust his ballot after the next game, when he draws the equally onerous task of guarding LeBron James when the Pistons host Cleveland in this year’s traditional Thanksgiving eve home game. “Everybody’s seen LeBron – he’s a great player,” Jerebko said. “I’ll just try to do the best job I can on him.”

What gave Jerebko a leg up over Austin Daye and DaJuan Summers was the two years he spent guarding some of the best small forwards in Europe, many of them players with vast experience and savvy. “I feel like I was well-prepared after playing two years professionally,” he said. “It’s very different paying in college than playing in Europe. You’re playing against people that already went to college and some people that can play in the NBA. There’s a lot of good players in Europe that people don’t know about. There’s a lot of scorers in Europe and there’s a lot of good defensive matchups for me in Europe that got me prepared for this.” “Just do the best job you possibly can,” John Kuester said when I asked him what he’ll tell Jerebko about guarding James, a player whom Kuester knows well from the past two seasons spent as a Cleveland assistant. “Try to contest his shots and don’t give him easy opportunities. LeBron is so good in the open court, so we’ve got to do a number of things to make sure we get back in transition defense and limit their entire team. “He’s a unique character in our league. He’s somebody that has size, strength, ability to put the basketball on the floor and take it all the way, coast to coast. That presents a lot of problems. We’ve got to do a good job of keeping him in front of us and contesting his shots and limiting his opportunities in transition.” The injuries to Prince and Hamilton take away the two players who’ve guarded James – and guarded him about as well as any tandem of players on any team in the league – primarily for the Pistons for all six of his seasons in the league prior to this one. When Jerebko isn’t guarding James, the next two likeliest options are Rodney Stuckey and Summers.

Pistons coaches from Larry Brown to Flip Saunders to Michael Curry felt that putting pressure on James defensively was important to take away even a little of his offensive aggressiveness. Jerebko isn’t yet enough of an offensive threat to make that a realistic option for Kuester, and the rookie isn’t at all restless with his role as a defensive specialist/energy player. But he does bristle a little at the suggestion that he’ll be pigeon-holed as someone not capable of scoring as his career unfolds. “You haven’t seen much yet,” he said. “I can do a lot better than what I’m doing. I’m just a rookie, so I’m trying to do what’s best for the team right now and take my open shots. But you haven’t seen much of what I can do yet. The confidence is going to come and I’m going to be able to take the ball to the basket and stop and shoot, stuff like that. But it comes with time. I’ve been here for how many games? It’s going to take time, but I’ll get into it with time.” Among Jerebko’s offensive repertoire is a running half-hook he takes off the dribble. It hasn’t been very productive for him yet, but he says that’s a shot that’s always been pretty good to him and will be again. “That’s been my shot,” he said. “Everybody that hasn’t seen it the first time laughs. ‘What shot is that?’ But I can make that. I’ve been doing that since I don’t know when.” Maybe someday, it’ll be a shot even LeBron James has to worry about. For now, the Pistons will be happy if the rookie makes the reigning MVP work for whatever he gets against them.

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http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/trueblu ... 91124.html

For as good as the Pistons felt about themselves when they headed West with a 5-5 record despite their hardships, how much of a hit did their confidence level take by getting swept out West?

“We weren’t kidding ourselves,” Ben Gordon said. “We played some tough teams, but there are a lot of positives we can take away from some of those games. So that’s what we’re going to do, especially after losing four in a row – just try to get the positive things from those games and try to build on them the next game.” “Any time you lose, it’s not pleasurable,” Kuester said. “The players realize that it’s always more fun to win and learn from your mistakes as opposed to lose and learn from them, and that’s what we’re trying to do now – get on the right track. Our guys gave great effort. I know the Phoenix game was not the way we had played for most of the season and we’re looking forward to bouncing back.

“That’s what you’ve got to do. Things are not always what they seem in regard to losing all of your games on the West Coast. We can bounce back and get a great win the next game. That’s the way the NBA is.”

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http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/trueblu ... 91124.html

Kuester said not to read anything into either of the two rotation adjustments that came about in the final two games of the trip, when Kwame Brown didn’t play in either game but Chris Wilcox did; and when Summers got the first call over Daye.

“Chris Wilcox and all of our young players have worked real hard in practice and deserve an opportunity,” he said. “We just gave Chris an opportunity the last two games, but Kwame is a big part of this picture we have. And so don’t read into that. Same thing (with Daye and Summers). Don’t read into that because all these guys deserve an opportunity.”

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http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/trueblu ... 91124.html

Shaquille O’Neal returned to Cleveland’s practice on Monday after missing the last five games with a shoulder injury and is likely to play Wednesday. That alone could open the door for Brown’s return to the rotation.

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http://www.971theticket.com/pages/3824327.php

Pistons coach John Kuester: Trust the system, skid will end
After Sunday night's blowout loss to the Suns, the Pistons' losing streak reached five games, with a Wednesday night home date looming with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

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http://pistonspoint.blogspot.com/

Pistons lose ESPN game
The NBA announced that Detroit's game at Philadelphia on Dec. 9 will no longer appear on ESPN. The Chicago at Atlanta game will now be televised by ESPN. The Pistons still have three ESPN games this season and four NBA TV games.

Nationally televised games
Jan. 29 vs. Miami — NBA TV
Mar. 5 at Cleveland — ESPN
Mar. 10 vs. Utah — NBA TV
Mar. 15 at Boston — ESPN
Mar. 21 at Cleveland — ESPN
Apr. 3 at Atlanta — NBA TV

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http://www.motownstringmusic.com/2009/1 ... ey-stuckey

The Concerns About Rodney Stuckey
As I've said before, Rodney Stuckey might be the happiest of all the Pistons that the west coast trip is behind them. Stuckey shot an abysmal 30% on the trip and capped it off with his lowest scoring output of the season, scoring just eight points against the Suns on Sunday night. On the season, Stuckey is now shooting 39%, four percentage points lower than what he finished with last year, his second season in the NBA. Many fans believed this, his third, would be the year Stuckey exerted himself as the team's offensive leader and acted the part, too. If you ask fans how they feel about Stuckey after just fourteen games, they'd more than likely express disappointment.Stuckey's supposed to fill the traded shoes of Chauncey Billups at the point guard position, but he continues to show that maybe he's just a two guard out of position. His assist numbers per 36 minutes are down by nearly two full assists a game this year and he doesn't seem to have the point guard's keen sense of his surroundings when he has the ball and drives to the hoop.

However, if he's going to be a shooting guard, he needs to shoot better than 39%. Chauncey Billups has shot 44% in his career just once (42% career average), but he can get away with that because of the shots he creates for his teammates as their point guard. If Stuckey isn't going to create shots, then he needs to make shots. It's science. We are seeing some improvements in major areas. He is averaging nearly a full rebound and half a steal more per 36 minutes, and his free throw shooting has improved to 85% so far this year. He's also scoring almost a full point more, but he's also taking more shots. Next, I looked at his shot chart to try and get an idea where Stuckey's poor shooting totals were coming from. I was pretty surprised to see that his struggles are actually with what should be the easiest shots. He's shooting a head scratching 39% on shots near the basket and a respectable 42% from mid-range. Stuckey's awful 22% from beyond the arc puts his overall percentage down to his season total, but he hasn't been shooting enough from outside to consider that a major liability, in my mind.

As you can see, Stuckey seems to like the right side, and naturally, because he is right handed. His third favorite shot appears to be from the right elbow (which often comes at ill-advised times in my opinion). Let's hope he either gets better with it or falls out of love with it because he's just 7-22 there on the season. Again, what's most bothersome to me is that he's making just 40% of what are essentially layups. For comparative purposes, Lebron James is hitting those shots at a 71% clip and Will Bynum is making 56% this year. I honestly believe, with his size and strength, Stuckey should be somewhere in the middle of those two. If he gets to that point, he averages 25 points per game and the rest is moot. So should the Pistons be concerned about Rodney Stuckey? If people are expecting him to be the next Chauncey Billups, then maybe. He doesn't appear to be improving while serving as the point guard. Although I'll remind you, Chauncey only averaged 3.9 assists his first year with the Pistons and that was his sixth year in the league. Regardless, Stuckey does seem to be improving elsewhere in his game. If he can just somehow find a way to do some extra (contested) mikan layup drills to up that 40% average around the basket up to the 60% range, seeing him shooting the ball might not seem like such a drag after all (that is unless it's outside the arc, but we'll leave that one alone).

Graph in the link above^.

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http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2961 ... rachieving

Despite Injuries, Detroit Pistons are Still Underachieving
When a team loses its two best players to injuries, there's a very noticeable difference in the way a team performs without said players. For the Detroit Pistons, their current slump is starting to wear old with Pistons fans, and some are even calling for change. Now, I'm not a fan of what President Joe Dumars has put together in Detroit. I didn't think that Ben Gordon or Charlie Villanueva were what the team needed to start fresh, especially with the price tags that they came with. However, the signings did give the team some flexibility in the backcourt and at the small forward position, which, as of late, has come in handy. Even though Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince have been absent from the lineup for quite some time, I thought this Pistons team would still compete on a similar level that they would with Hamilton and Prince. There's an obvious lack of defense without Prince, but Hamilton's scoring is definitely replaceable, as shown by Will Bynum and Ben Gordon.

But, the Pistons have lost five straight and seven of their last 10 games. In that stretch, the Pistons have scored over 100 points twice. I could sit here and talk about all of the potential trades, which I could do forever, but I'm going to be a bit realistic and try and see what we can't fix in house. Over the last stretch, the Pistons' best player has arguably been Will Bynum. You know, the backup point guard. It's apparent that something isn't working with Rodney Stuckey, who is shooting just under 38 percent on the year. If you're worried about Bynum's ability to play the point rather than just score, you'll be happy to know that both players average four assists per game and Bynum is averaging less turnovers per game as well. It may not be a massive overhaul, but it is a change nonetheless.

Another change that I wouldn't mind seeing is moving Austin Daye into the starting lineup. You picked the guy with your first-round pick, and while I understand he's not fully developed, you are managing to start a second-round pick over him. At this point, there's really nothing to lose, so let's not see if he can't show some promise with an increased role. To be honest, there isn't much that the Pistons can change without knowing the statuses of Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince. Dumars won't make a trade without knowing a timeline for either player's return, but there's got to be some sort of change made to try and snap the team out of this funk that led to the winless road trip. So, let's see a lineup of Will Bynum, Ben Gordon, Austin Daye, Charlie Villanueva, and Ben Wallace.

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http://smokingpistons.com/2009/11/24/pistons-reeling/

Pistons Reeling
As expected, the Pistons return from their west coast road trip losers of five straight. Aside from Saturday’s game in Utah, John Kuester’s team was soundly disposed of during the current streak of futility. Over the past five games, the team has been outscored a total of 112-56 in the third quarter. While I don’t think Kue’s available roster has been as strong as his recent opponents’, he has to take some of the blame for being dominated coming out of halftime. Other teams are adjusting, and so must the Pistons. Rookie mistake. Of course, the team is still without starters Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince. Today we learned that both players are at least another week away. The Pistons start a three-game home stand tomorrow against the Cavaliers, followed by games against the Clippers and Hawks. At the earliest, the two veterans won’t return until December 2 in Chicago. The Pistons currently stand at 5-9, the worst record in the Central division and only three teams have more losses. Six of their losses have come against Western Conference opponents.

I have been pleased to see all the recognition that Will Bynum is receiving of late. The most prominent, in my opinion, was ESPN.com’s John Hollinger naming him to “The All-Underrated Team.” This is what Hollinger had to say about Bynumite: “Fans in Detroit already are wondering why Bynum isn’t starting, which is pretty amazing considering he began the season as the fourth guard in a three-guard rotation. Believe it or not, the 6-foot powder keg led the Pistons in PER last season, and early this season he’s shown that it was no fluke.Bynum is averaging a point every two minutes and shooting 50 percent from the floor, and while his instincts are as a scorer, he’s found the open man enough to keep defenses honest. Another big surprise is all the time he’s spent at the free throw line this season, which is an added source of easy points that has helped raise his PER considerably.”

Cheers to that. Chris Douglas-Roberts, a Detroit native, also made the team. He’s starting for the hapless Nets and averaging 18.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game. He’s scored at least 24 in each of his last three games. Kuester gets to take on his most recent ex-employer tomorrow night. Expect Shaquille O’Neal to return in time for that matchup. He has missed five straight games with a sore shoulder, but probably wants to beat up Ben Wallace some more. The two were involved in a trade for each other this past summer. For his career, Shaq has averaged 25.4 points and 10.0 rebounds on 58.8 percent shooting during 22 regular season games. It should be noted that those averages are actually a compliment to Big Ben. The good news for the Pistons is that the Cavaliers play slower than the average NBA pace. Opponents who insist on pushing the ball have crushed the Pistons this season, meaning that they could be pull off an upset on Wednesday. They’ll need to win the battle of the boards, get some hot shooting along the perimeter, and get a productive night from their bench on both ends of the floor in order to do so. Odds are against it. But at least they get the Clippers next.

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Voting for the 2010 NBA All-Star Game begun, dont forget to get this Piston on your ballot. VOTE TODAY: http://www.nba.com/allstarb...

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