http://www.mlive.com/pistons/index.ssf/ ... _seas.htmlPistons head into regular season with defense on their minds
No one expected the Detroit Pistons to roll through teams during the preseason. With so many new faces and so many different roles needing to be defined, there were bound to be ups and downs along the way. But the preseason isn't about winning or losing. It's about building on the good and learning from the bad. This latter point is especially true when talking about Detroit's defense. It's still early, but the Pistons have shown all the signs that scoring won't be an issue in the regular season. Their defense? That's another story. Detroit had its moments when the defense shined, but the Pistons didn't maintain consistency in the preseason. That has to change if they are to improve upon last season's 39-43 record. And while the defensive mistakes are correctable, the bigger challenge -- and this will be a season-long issue -- will be for this high-powered offensive team to develop more of a defensive mindset."We can score with anybody. You see that," Pistons guard Richard Hamilton said. "But right now, we have to become a better team defensively."
On Thursday, Detroit played Minnesota without its top two interior defenders, Ben Wallace (left thigh) and Kwame Brown (left hand). Their absence was quite noticeable, with the Timberwolves' frontcourt scoring with ease in a 122-114 Minnesota win. Following the loss, Pistons coach John Kuester referenced to the impressive shooting by the Pistons (59 percent), the high assist total (21) and what was an overall strong game offensively. But throughout the preseason, he has preached that the Pistons can't win at a high level if their defense doesn't improve. The Minnesota loss proved his point. "Scoring 114 points and I'm coming in here saying, 'We lost.' That's disappointing," Kuester said. What hasn't been disappointing to Kuester has been the play of Rodney Stuckey. Although Stuckey is surrounded by more scoring options than ever, Detroit needs him to emerge as a floor leader this season. As the point guard, the ball is in his hands more than any player. And with that comes the responsibility of not only getting his teammates involved, but also figuring out when he needs to take over a game and when to defer.
Stuckey did just that in Detroit's 95-93 win at Milwaukee on Friday, a game in which he scored Detroit's last nine points. He finished with 16 points and capped off the preseason by averaging a team-best 15.8 points per game. "He's just a bulldog, plain and simple," Detroit's Ben Gordon told reporters afterward. "Rodney's probably one of the strongest point guards in the NBA, if not the strongest." And Gordon probably is among the league's most deadly scorers. After a slow start shooting the ball in the preseason, the 6-foot-2 guard strung together a number of impressive performances and finished the preseason by averaging 14.9 points per game, which was second behind Stuckey. "He's a guy that can really put the ball in the basket," Hamilton said. "When you look back at the team we had when we won a championship, we had multiple guys who could score the ball. We had Corliss (Williamson), who was a guy that could score coming off the bench. Memo (Mehmet Okur) was a threat off the bench. "This is the first time since then we had a guy who could come off the bench and put up 30 points since Corliss. It's a big plus for us."
