'Nasty News - Traversing Time & Space' Vol:12

[nasty daddy]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3618212

Boston Celtics center Kendrick Perkins will be kept out of scrimmages during training camp because of offseason surgery on his left shoulder. Celtics coach Doc Rivers said Tuesday that Perkins is allowed to run the floor "as long as no one else is running up and down the floor with him."

Perkins injured his shoulder in Game 4 of the NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers and sat out Games 5 and 6 as the Celtics won their record 17th championship. He had surgery July 3, then spent the rest of the summer stretching and working out on a stationary bicycle. On Tuesday, Perkins ran sprints the width of the court with the rest of the team during the portion of practice reporters were watching.

Perkins said doctors told him he would be ready to handle contact in practice in about a week. He is shooting for the third exhibition game, on Oct. 11, to get back in uniform. But Rivers said he wanted to hold Perkins out for four exhibition games, meaning he would return Oct. 16. The coach said he wasn't worried about Perkins' availability for the Oct. 28 opener.

[nasty daddy]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3618626

Yao Ming's birthday wish: getting through an NBA season without getting hurt. The 7-foot-6 center -- who turned 28 on Sept. 12 -- has missed more than 80 games across the last three seasons with four separate injuries. In 2005-06, he contracted an infection in his left big toe that required surgery, then broke his left foot later. In 2006-07, he broke his right leg. Last February, he broke his left foot in a different place, had surgery and sat out the playoffs.

Yao acknowledges that he has to change something, whether it's his workout routine or the number of minutes he logs in games."I need to learn something from the last three years. Seriously," Yao said after the Rockets' first practice on Tuesday. "Maybe I need to be careful with my pregame workout or something, lay down a little bit, not get my body too tired before a game. Let's try some new schedules, put my best shape into the game."

Coach Rick Adelman said he'll carefully monitor Yao's day-to-day schedule and hold him out of segments of practice to keep him fresh. Yao played 37 minutes per game last season and often resisted when Adelman tried to replace him. "He's such a hard worker, he just runs himself into the ground," Adelman said. "He keeps saying he wants to rest, but he never wants to sit out. We're going to try to monitor him as much as we can, be smart in how we use him." Yao was averaging 22 points and a career-high 10.8 rebounds when he sustained the stress fracture in his foot on Feb. 26. He recovered enough to play for China at the Olympics, but said his foot was only 70-80 percent healed.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti ... 1/SPORTS03

What up y’all from the Pistons’ practice facility. It is a few minutes before the media gets to talk to the players after the first practice of training camp, so I think it’s a good time to give folks my impression of one change that new coach Michael Curry is thinking about making.

Here’s a big thumbs up to a return of bringing Antonio McDyess off the bench. Curry has presented a compelling case that McDyess’ offense can sometimes be lost as a starter with other options, namely Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace. During the 2004-05 season, McDyess’ first with the Pistons, he only started seven games, but put up 598 shots in less than 1,800 minutes.

Last season, he started 78 games and logged just under 2,300 minutes. His shot total?Try 600 — just two shots more than his first season with the Pistons. The move would leave Jason Maxiell, Kwame Brown and Amir Johnson to battle for the frontcourt spot beside Wallace.

[nasty daddy]

http://truebluepistons.blogspot.com/200 ... sions.html

Michael Curry’s first practice as Pistons head coach started at 10 a.m. It was 1:10 p.m. when he blew the whistle a final time, releasing 15 sweat-soaked players to strength coach Arnie Kander for a few more minutes of stretching and cooldown. While they went through practice, the Pistons were divided into three five-man units. Not one of them featured more than two players who were a part of last season’s starting five. Curry wants Rasheed Wallace to know something about playing with Walter Sharpe, Chauncey Billups to develop a feel for Kwame Brown. Three-hour practices and eyebrow-raising playing groups. If you thought Michael Curry was going timidly into his first season as a head coach, guess again. He’s not bowing to convention or cowing at the prospect of throwing new things and heavy demands at a star-laden, veteran lineup. Almost every first-year head coach coming in with that approach would be viewed with high skepticism. Not Curry. That’s the payoff for a lifetime of diligence. Curry’s reputation – as a player who pulled himself up by his own bootstraps from undrafted free agent to NBA starter, as a leader who ascended to the Players Association president’s platform normally reserved for superstars – preceded him to his first head coaching assignment. Directives that would elicit smirks and rolled eyes from first-time head coaches of lesser mettle are taken at face value with the Pistons’ first-time head coach. “You know he’s trying to get something accomplished out there,” Billups said. “He’s not just having us out here just to say we had a three-hour practice. We’re getting something done for the entire time and that’s not easy to say for some coaches.” Curry is the ninth Pistons head coach since Kander joined the organization full-time in 1992. The players won’t be the only ones working harder than before under Curry. So, too, will be Kander. And that’s OK with him. Curry has been banging the drum since the first days he was named as Flip Saunders’ successor in June. “We’ve got the best in the business in Arnie Kander,” he’s said repeatedly, “and we have to do a better job of taking advantage of him.”

During Curry’s planned three-hour training camp practices, more than the first hour will be devoted to film work and Kander’s unique training methodologies. Kander is known best for nursing injured players back to health quickly – and for preventing injury in the first place – but Curry thinks left untapped has been Kander’s expertise in tailoring conditioning programs to ensure each player gets in peak physical shape and stays there over the course of an NBA season. That last part, he says, is what he expects to be different this season. So Kander is a big part of the Curry regime. And he said after Tuesday’s morning practice – the players are due back for two more hours tonight – that Curry is the best he’s worked with at structuring practices and explaining the purpose behind every drill and exercise. Under past regimes, Kander would work with two or three players at a time, maybe, but under Curry, everything gets done as a team.Curry let reporters watch the last 30 minutes or so of a practice that, by all indications, lived up to his mantra: The Pistons are going to be the aggressors this season in everything they do, offense and defense and mind-set.Here’s how the three five-man units stacked up:
Red – Tayshaun Prince, Antonio McDyess, Cheikh Samb, Will Bynum and Alex Acker.
White – Rasheed Wallace, Amir Johnson, Walter Sharpe, Rodney Stuckey and Rip Hamilton.
Blue – Kwame Brown, Jason Maxiell, Walter Herrmann, Chauncey Billups, Arron Afflalo. The Pistons were swarming defensively, trapping aggressively at every opportunity. Curry was asked afterward if he was trying to change the culture. His answer was revealing. “That’s changing our identity,” he said of the fast tempo and aggressive play. “We changed our culture this summer. We went back to staying here throughout the summer, coming in and competing every day, working with the coaches, making sure you get better, having more of a workmanlike attitude. That was more of the culture.“As far as our identity, as I told our guys last night, even if you were going to play the same way you played last year, you have to re-establish your identity every year. We want to establish our identity as a team that’s going to compete at a high level every night.

We’re going to be really good defensively and offensively. We want to be a team that can win a game 120-110 and win a game 80-70. In order to do that, you have to practice and take advantage of all the guys you have.”Curry is going to be peppered with questions throughout the season about all his “firsts” – new experiences for a head coach. He got some of them Tuesday, of course, after his first practice. And he’ll play along with those questions and give polite, thoughtful answers. But none of this has Curry awestruck or caught off-guard. Remember, this is a guy who said he thought he was ready to be a head coach the day he retired – a guy who said he prepared like a starter when he first arrived in the NBA as a 10-day contract, who prepared as a head coach while an assistant. He was in the gym nearly every week of the summer, putting the young players he expects to play an integral role on this year’s Pistons – Rodney Stuckey, Arron Afflalo, Amir Johnson, Kwame Brown, et al – through the paces. They came to camp fully expecting the workload that hit them Tuesday.“We all knew this was coming,” Stuckey said. “We already know what kind of guy MC is. We were all ready for it and we were up for the challenge.” Billups, known for his diligent summer workouts, sounded as if he welcomed the greater emphasis on conditioning. “That’s one of the things, a lot of the reason why in the past we’ve not gotten too many points in the paint,” he said. “It takes a lot of work to get on that post and grind in there and mix it up and get points in the paint. Even from a perimeter standpoint, dribble penetrate a lot in the paint and score and then have to get back (on defense), it takes an unbelievable amount of conditioning. He recognizes that and that’s one of his points of emphasis.”Like all of his points of emphasis, it’s being embraced with honest enthusiasm from a team that doesn’t impress easily.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.mlive.com/pistons/index.ssf/ ... t_tou.html

The beginning of a new season is just around the corner for the Detroit Pistons, and Rasheed Wallace thinks the difference between former coach Flip Saunders and new coach Mike Curry is palpable. He makes it crystal clear that Saunders didn't have respect from some players, nor did he do anything to deserve it. "Everything wasn't peaches and cream with Flip and I," Wallace said on WDFN's The Stoney and Wojo Show. There was always that mutual respect. But who's to say the same thing might not happen with Mike (Curry)? Mike has our respect, but you never know what it could be. But as far as the coaching change, it definitely feels different around here."

Wallace finally admitted that Saunders approach didn't keep the players disciplined enough to garner their respect. "No, he wasn't (tough enough). In my opinion, he wasn't. He let too many things slide. And that goes as far as myself, and what some of my teammates have done. With L.B. (Larry Brown), I think really, honestly, it was a respect level. Everyone respected Larry. Even though then, we had more of a veteran team, but everyone respected Larry, and everyone respects Mike now."

Listen to the whole interview to hear Sheed talk about what will happen the first time he gets benched by Curry, and why Flip should have stood up to his team:

Interview of Sheed on WDFN in the link above^.

[nasty daddy]

http://truebluepistons.blogspot.com/200 ... nning.html

The Pistons haven’t even opened training camp yet, but they’ve already learned how to deal with adversity – or at least how to avoid catastrophe. One of the main purposes of media day, which just wrapped up at the Pistons’ practice facility, is allowing all the major media outlets – the area’s newspapers, TV and radio stations, the NBA and The Palace’s TV production department – to get pictures and video clips of the players in their uniforms.While Jason Maxiell was wielding a sledgehammer for the Pistons’ TV and in-arena uses, the business end of it flew off, crashed to the basketball court and skidded a good 40 feet away. Not too many minutes before that, Chauncey Billups had just emerged from the locker room at right about the spot where Maxiell’s runaway sledgehammer crash landed. Here’s a smattering of observations based on conversations with Pistons players and coaches:

The veterans are every bit as enthused as the young guys at the opportunity to be playing for Michael Curry. “I expect him to bring leadership,” said Rasheed Wallace, who said he decided to go back to his trademark No. 30 after wearing No. 36 to honor his brother, who died at 36, the last several seasons. “I think he already brings that respect level from the players. I think he brings that over to the coaching aspect. I saw a lot of positive things he did last year as an assistant and I think it will only improve with him at the helm.” “He really isn’t going to take any nonsense,” Rip Hamilton said. “He’s going to make guys go out there and earn their keep. I think that’s what we need – guys have to earn their keep.” Amir Johnson and Jason Maxiell both are excited about the chance to move into the starting lineup.“They told me I’ve got a good chance of starting,” Johnson said. “They said be ready and that’s what I am – ready to go in there and do what I can do.” Maxiell, by the way, said there’s nothing new to report on the possibility of a contract extension but he didn’t sound like he was concerned one way or another. If the Pistons and Maxiell don’t agree on a contract extension by next summer, he becomes a restricted free agent – but he said he’s not going anywhere, one way or the other.

Chauncey Billups said he’s looking forward to the dynamic that will be added to the offense when he and Rodney Stuckey are on the court at the same time. “It really enhances everything,” he said. “You’ve got another guy out on the court who can make plays, get to the paint and distribute and do the things that for the last five, six years, I’ve been pretty much the only one out there who can get into the paint and create for everybody else. There are going to be times when we both are going to be out there and it causes havoc trying to play against two guys like that for the other team.” Rip Hamilton said while he doesn’t regard small forward as his natural position, he loves a good challenge and wouldn’t mind getting increased minutes at that spot as a way to find more time for Stuckey and Arron Afflalo. “I just love to be on the floor,” he said. “Any way I can be on the floor, I’ll take it. I love to take challenges. Some people don’t believe I can play there, so when you’re playing against another great player at that position, it makes me play even harder.” Hamilton is sporting a full beard that he says he “calls my Brad Pitt.” Makes him look like Rip Van Winkle. The first practice is tomorrow morning and should end in the early afternoon. We’ll have a report shortly after that on True Blue Pistons.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/tickets_080925.html

On Wednesday, October 1, 2008, starting at 10:00 a.m., the Detroit Pistons will make individual game tickets for their 2008-09 campaign available. Tickets can be purchased at The Palace Box Office, online at www.pistons.com, by calling 248-377-0100 or at any TicketMaster outlet.Tickets in various price ranges will be available at all outlets, with the exception of the most inexpensive seats in the building at $10. The $10 price range seats will only be available at The Palace Box Office, all day on Wednesday. The $10 seats will be available at all points of sale beginning Thursday, October 2 at 10:00 a.m.

Opening Week at The Palace of Auburn Hills begins on Wednesday, October 29 with the first game versus the Indiana Pacers at 8:00 p.m. followed by a match-up with the Washington Wizards on Saturday, November 1 at 7:30 p.m. Highlights of the Pistons home schedule include two home meetings against the NBA and Eastern Conference Champion Boston Celtics (November 9 and January 30), two meetings with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers (November 19 and February 1), two meetings with Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic (December 29 and March 9) and single-game match-ups with Kobe Bryant and the Western Conference Champion Los Angeles Lakers (March 26), the high-powered Phoenix Suns (February 8) and perennial power San Antonio Spurs (February 19). Rising superstar guard Chris Paul leads the New Orleans Hornets into the Palace for their only visit on January 17, while a late-January weekend homestand includes games against Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks (January 23) and Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming and the Houston Rockets (January 25).. Download the entire 2007-08 schedule at www.pistons.com .

The 2008-09 season marks the 20th Anniversary of The Palace of Auburn Hills. Special promotional nights throughout the year include Friends and Family nights every Sunday home game as well as the popular Guys’ and Ladies’ Night Out promotion at Friday night home games. For more information regarding these promotions or becoming a member of the Detroit Pistons Crew (season ticket plan holders), please contact The Palace at (248) 377-0100 or log on to www.pistons.com.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.wnba.com/shock/news/NYLDET_080929_recap.html

The Shock led the New York Liberty by 20 points before halftime of Game 3 Monday night. Naturally it wasn’t enough to win comfortably in these conference finals. But, for a change, it was enough to win. Detroit earned its third consecutive WNBA Finals appearance by defeating the Liberty, 75-73. For the first time in the three-game series, the team that led at halftime pulled out the victory. The Shock benefited from making shots to open the game – something neither team did in the first two contests. Guards Katie Smith and Deanna Nolan set the tone early. Forward Taj McWilliams-Franklin asserted herself for the first time in the series to preserve the win. New York, the WNBA’s youngest team, once again got outfoxed and outplayed by the Shock, who got older in 2008 by acquiring McWilliams-Franklin, who turns 38 in October. The Liberty are now 0-4 the past two years when they had a chance to eliminate Detroit. “Give our players credit for coming out in the first half of a back-to-back. We’re not the youngest team around. We got some oldies but goldies on our ball club,” Shock head coach Laimbeer said. “Taj made some moves out there in the fourth quarter that gave us some huge buckets and she’s nearly the oldest player in the league.”

Nolan (14-of-44) and Smith (8-of-26) entered the game shooting only 30 percent for the series. Both games happened away from the familiar confines at The Palace. With the green décor of the Eastern Michigan University Convocation Center serving as the backdrop for the second straight day, Smith and Nolan each made their first jumpers to give Detroit a 4-0 lead. “We had good looks in New York, we had good looks when we were here, we just couldn’t get them to go down,” said Smith, who finished with 16 points. “It felt good; we both felt good shooting the ball. “I think we were pressing a little bit the other day, because you want it so bad. We relaxed a little bit, got a couple shots to fall and obviously that got us a little momentum.” Smith and Nolan shot a combined 10-of-16 in the first half, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range, for 25 points. Nolan’s pull-up jumper 1:19 before halftime maxed out Detroit’s lead at 41-21. The Shock didn’t score that many points in games 1 or 2 until the end of the third quarter. Still, Monday’s contest never got to the point of the Shock’s prior series-clinching Game 3, when they ran Indiana off the court with a 41-10 first-half lead. “It wasn’t like we were dominating the game, mentally and physically like they were just completely rocked,” Laimbeer said of the Liberty. “They were playing solid basketball.” When New York clawed back into the game, McWilliams-Franklin awoke from an offensive slumber. After averaging 13.3 points against the Fever in Round 1, McWilliams-Franklin had 10 points in the conference finals before Game 3. “She hadn’t had a good series, first two games she was beating her head against the wall. She knew she wasn’t playing well offensively,” Laimbeer said. “But her patience, her professionalism, carried the day for us in the fourth quarter.”

McWilliams-Franklin scored 15 of her 19 points after halftime, including a nifty pump fake and drive that made it 73-67 with 1:15 remaining. “Today I just wanted to add something, and when (New York) started coming back, the only thing I have is that shot fake and that drive,” she said, beginning to laugh. “As slow as my moves are, they still work after 20 years.” McWilliams-Franklin’s superb outing and a solid bench effort allowed the Shock to win without Plenette Pierson playing a major role. The injured forward couldn’t repeat her admirable Game 2 performance, when she played 24 minutes. Playing with a torn labrum in her right shoulder, Pierson managed just six minutes in Game 3. “I think she was really bothered by her situation, so I brought her right back out” in the second half, Laimbeer said. “I want to give her as much rest before this next series. Hopefully she’ll be able to play.” The Shock will face San Antonio in the finals – their third different opponent in as many years. Smith and Nolan are eager to make amends for losing to Phoenix last season, Detroit’s first Finals loss in three trips. “I think the hunger to get back and compete for it again was huge,” Smith said. McWilliams-Franklin also has unsettled business in the WNBA Finals, losing in both 2004 and 2005 with Connecticut. “Just knowing that you’re that close, when you get there again you appreciate it more and put forth that much more effort,” she said. “I think being veterans we know more about that than anybody.”

[nasty daddy]

http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... 00424/1127

There is definitely a new sheriff in town. There the Pistons were on Tuesday -- 2 ½ hours into their first full practice of the new season -- running high-intensity, hard-hitting, five-on-five, half-court drills. Bodies were flying everywhere. There were Arron Afflalo and Richard Hamilton renewing their daily exchange of elbows and forearms. Afflalo, who at one point knocked Hamilton hard to the floor, came out of it with scratches up and down both arms. Welcome to the Michael Curry era. Hard, physically-intense, three-hour practices haven't been seen around here since Doug Collins was running the show. "Everybody's training camp is intense, but just to have something new, a new voice, a new leader -- you know MC, he commands respect," Chauncey Billups said. "He's trying to set a tone."

If Curry has his way, the words soft or complacent will never again be uttered in reference to the Pistons. "We are going to be aggressive in everything we do," Curry said. "I told the guys, even if you play the same way you played last year, you still have to re-establish your identity every year. What we want to do is establish an identity as a team that's going to compete at a high level every night."

Everybody seemed to be in excellent shape. All the young players have been working out at the practice facility throughout the regular season. Rasheed Wallace has been working out since the first week of August. Tayshaun Prince, who played all summer for Team USA, and Billups have been back for the better part of two weeks. Hamilton and Antonio McDyess were the last two to make it back, and both, Curry said, are in good shape. "The guys have taken care of themselves and I am proud of them for that," he said.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/camproster_080929.html

Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars announced today the club’s training camp roster. The roster is a follows:

NO POS NAME HT WT DOB COLLEGE/COUNTRY YRS
6 G Alex Acker 6-5 185 1/21/83 Pepperdine 1
28 G Arron Afflalo 6-5 215 10/15/85 UCLA 1
1 G Chauncey Billups 6-3 202 9/25/76 Colorado 11
38 C Kwame Brown 6-11 270 3/10/82 Glynn Academy HS 7
12 G Will Bynum 6-0 185 1/4/83 Georgia Tech 1
32 G Richard Hamilton 6-7 193 2/14/78 Connecticut 9
5 F Walter Herrmann 6-9 225 6/26/79 Argentina 2
25 F Amir Johnson 6-9 210 5/1/87 Westchester HS 3
54 F Jason Maxiell 6-7 260 2/18/83 Cincinnati 3
24 F Antonio McDyess 6-9 245 9/7/74 Alabama 13
22 F Tayshaun Prince 6-9 215 2/28/80 Kentucky 6
35 C Cheikh Samb 7-1 245 10/22/84 Senegal 1
42 F Walter Sharpe 6-9 245 7/16/86 Alabama-Birmingham R
3 G Rodney Stuckey 6-5 205 4/21/86 Eastern Washington 1
30 F/C Rasheed Wallace 6-11 230 9/17/74 North Carolina 13

HEAD COACH: Michael Curry – Georgia Southern
ASSISTANT COACHES: Darrell Walker – Arkansas
Dave Cowens – Florida State
Pat Sullivan – North Carolina
Harold Ellis – Morehouse College
Bill Pope – Kansas
ATHLETIC TRAINER: Mike Abdenour – Wayne State
STRENGTH & CONDITIONING: Arnie Kander – Wayne State

[nasty daddy]

http://www.nba.com/dleague/news/trainin ... _2008.html

Former D-Leaguers On 2008 NBA Training Camp Rosters

Will Bynum Detroit Pistons Roanoke (06-07) G 6-0 185 Georgia Tech
Amir Johnson Detroit Pistons Sioux Falls (Assigned 06-07) F 6-9 210 Westchester HS
Cheikh Samb Detroit Pistons Fort Wayne (Assigned 07-08) C 7-1 245 Senegal

[nasty daddy]

http://www.mlive.com/pistons/index.ssf/ ... m_thi.html

Richard Hamilton looked different with a beard, but he plans to shave it off before the Detroit Pistons play games. Chauncey Billups was calm as usual about media day to start training camp. Rasheed Wallace was being his unique self and singing a song that was stuck in his head, and Tayshaun Prince and Antonio McDyess were back Monday, too. Michael Curry, the new head coach, was here, but he has been here before as a player and assistant coach. Things, well, looked the same, which at this point begs for skepticism. Joe Dumars, the Pistons president of basketball operations, said soon after the Pistons were ousted from the NBA Eastern Conference finals in six games by the Boston Celtics last spring that there were no "sacred cows." He said he would entertain trades, even for the previously untouchable core players who remained from the 2004 title team. But Dumars didn't trade any of his cows. Kwame Brown was added, but other teams have lost counting on his sheepish play in the past.

Dumars and the Pistons are pinning it instead on the change from Flip Saunders to Curry, young players improving and old guys not having slipped a step. Which adds up to this: It's fair for the fans to be disappointed and start the season with a healthy amount of skepticism and pessimism. Unless, of course, they are fine with another run to the playoffs short of a championship. Just when it appeared Dumars was ready to take a bold turn, the boldest since adding Rasheed Wallace in the championship year, he didn't turn. The blinker was on, but he ran straight through the light. This is a good thing for the core veterans, of course. They could have been traded to a bad team. It's also good for the young guys because there is a clear commitment to making them part of the action. Don't expect NBA title from this Pistons group. Page 2 of 2 It's good for Curry because all the players on his team are happy, for now. "What Joe said was that he was open for a trade, he was willing to make a trade, but a trade that would make us better," Curry said. "We don't have bad guys you just want to get rid of, but if there was a trade out there that could make us better, he was willing to do that. "But from the things we've discussed, nothing close came across his desk that would make us a better team."

Curry, of course, thinks his plan will be better, and while the players never said bad things about Saunders, they all are quick to report good things on Curry. As the season plays out, we will see if that has substance, or is just the respect he gains immediately and is afforded only as a former NBA player. Perhaps Dumars did pound the bushes looking for a trade. A Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen are not available every year on the market, as Boston can attest. A Rasheed Wallace is not available each year. But last year's Detroit team hit a wall, which followed a team that hit a wall, which followed another team that hit a wall. Nice walls, but short of a championship. "We've been to the mountain top with this core group, so it's good to know Joe had the confidence we can get back there," Wallace said. Wallace, for one, likes the new coach. He put up with the former coach. He also was the one that was wearing a most likely to be traded banner in the spring. He's back. It's a different year, but things look much the same. For those seeking more optimism, the NBA trade deadline isn't until late February.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.mlive.com/pistons/index.ssf/ ... _defe.html

Michael Curry was a physical, aggressive defender as a player. So it only makes sense that those same qualities would be on display in his first official practice as the Detroit Pistons head coach. The first-year coach put the team through a three-hour practice this morning that was filled with the kind of physical play he brought to the floor as a player. "Guys really competed, and that's what we talked about last night," Curry said. "We have a lot of drills in which we're teaching. We have a lot of drills where we want to just see them get out and compete."

Speaking of competition, Curry is still planning to have Antonio McDyess come off the bench, with Amir Johnson, Jason Maxiell or Kwame Brown replacing him in the starting lineup. It's too soon to tell who McDyess' replacement will be. It's even tougher to gauge considering Curry uses three different five-man units in practice, each consisting of one or two starters. One of Curry's primary goals is to get this team back to having more of a defensive identity. By no means is that a dig at Flip Saunders. In fact, the Pistons defense statistically was as good - and in some cases, better - under Saunders than his predecessor, Larry Brown. But no matter what those defensive numbers were, defense was no longer what this team was about under Saunders' regime.

And part of that had to do with Saunders' strength as a head coach being on the offensive end of the floor, which was evident by him having the Pistons ranked among the NBA's leaders in a number of categories offensively. Curry is at the opposite end of the spectrum, a solid defender as a player whose acumen on offense is unclear. Defense will be what this team takes great pride in, but Curry also recognizes the need to be solid on offense. "We're going to be really good defensively and offensively," Curry said. "We want to be a team that can win a game, 120-110, or win a game 80-70."

[nasty daddy]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/trainingc ... recast0809

It seems that the more things change in Detroit, the more they stay the same. Each of the past three seasons began with the Pistons vowing that this time it would be different: They would play with more urgency in the playoffs; Rasheed Wallace wouldn't melt down at inappropriate times; they would regain the title they won so impressively in 2004. Each year, the Pistons glided through the regular season with nary an injury while posting one of the best records in basketball, and cruised into the conference finals looking like a legitimate championship contender. And each year, their season has ended with a Game 6 defeat in the conference finals. Last season was the first of the three in which they weren't favored, and in some respects that might have been the most worrying: This time, nobody was surprised when Detroit bowed out. Of course, nobody was surprised that they were in the conference finals either -- probably because it was their sixth straight appearance, a jaw-dropping standard of excellence that has been given too little credit because only one resulted in a championship. No, they don't have the rings, but the Pistons are rapidly becoming the Atlanta Braves of basketball, establishing a remarkable feat of year-to-year consistency. Last season the formula for pre-May success was a familiar one -- a slow-paced, high-efficiency team that didn't screw up, shot lots of jumpers and played great defense. Detroit ranked fourth in defensive efficiency, and as a unit it has lost surprisingly little since four-time Defensive Player of the Year Ben Wallace departed two seasons ago. The only difference from the Pistons' long-term trend line was that they fouled much more than in previous seasons -- opponents averaged .328 free-throw attempts per field-goal attempt, the league's 10th-highest figure. Blame that on the exuberance of youth: While the Pistons' starting five fouled as infrequently as ever, the reserves saw heavy use last season and were much more willing to hack away. Fortunately, the foul line was about the only place to get points on the Pistons. They ranked third in field-goal defense, 3-point defense and opponent true shooting percentage; in each case, the Celtics and Rockets were the only teams ahead of them.

One reason was their shot-blocking -- Detroit turned back 7.57 percent of opponents' offerings, the highest rate in basketball. This fact was lost in the shuffle a bit since two teams had more total blocked shots, but once you account for the Pistons' turtle-like pace, they were easily the best. Rasheed Wallace and Jason Maxiell were the team leaders in raw blocks, but the other difference-makers in Detroit's total were Amir Johnson and Theo Ratliff -- both of whom posted prodigious shot-block totals in limited playing time. Johnson in particular was awesome, sending back a shot every nine minutes. Offensively, what stood out about the Pistons was how long they held the ball and how rarely they gave it away. The Pistons played the league's slowest pace, mostly because they didn't get out and run much on offense, but also because at the defensive end they were rarely out of position and gambled infrequently -- thus requiring opponents to beat them with half-court execution. Inevitably, Detroit has been misunderstood because of its slow pace. The Pistons have been viewed as a tough, defensive team for the past few years because they're always among the top three teams in points allowed; conversely, their offense hasn't been valued as highly because of its middling status in the league tables. But look at things on a per-possession basis, and the Pistons' offense has been nearly as effective as the defense in the three seasons under Flip Saunders -- a key difference between this Detroit era and the Larry Brown teams. In 2007-08, Detroit finished eighth in the league in offensive efficiency, with a game-plan predicated on taking more shots than opponents. It might not seem that way given their methodical offense, but the Pistons were a low-mistake offensive team that took lots of midrange jumpers and made a concerted effort to rebound the misses. The Pistons actually were a hair below the league average in TS% at 53.9, so just relying on their shooting wasn't the ticket. The entire reason they were able to succeed was that, per possession, they took more shots than any team in the league. Detroit had the league's third-lowest turnover rate, making miscues on 12.9 percent of their trips, and the sixth-best offensive rebound rate at 29.4 percent.

Add those two items together and the Pistons were the league's only team to average more than one shot per possession (counting a free-throw attempt as 0.44 of a "shot"); in turn, that advantage alone was the reason their offense was so effective. Unfortunately, the offense melted down at the worst possible time -- a 13-point fourth quarter in Game 6 against Boston -- as Detroit was eliminated. Once again, Wallace was a key protagonist, essentially mailing in the most important game of the season. His final stat line read four points, three turnovers and zero interest. In the wake of a third straight conference finals defeat, team president Joe Dumars set about shaking things up. First he basically announced to the world that his entire roster was available in a trade. Then he fired Flip Saunders, in spite of the fact that by any reasonable standard Saunders had been wildly successful. I should also point out the Pistons weren't favored to beat Boston, so it seemed a little disingenuous to fire him for losing. Nonetheless, few deny that a shake-up might do the Pistons some good. In addition to the rumored friction between Wallace and Saunders, there was the little matter of it being their third straight conference finals defeat to a team that was visibly hungrier. To replace Saunders, Dumars opted for Michael Curry, a former Piston who had an outstanding reputation in the locker room as a player, but who possesses no head coaching experience. He'll have to ramp up to speed quickly with a team for which the only goal is winning a championship, so he'll be under a microscope. Of course, Dumars has never been shy about switching generals -- this is his fifth coach since he took over as general manager (including the coach he inherited), even though each of the previous three he hired won a minimum of 50 games per season and made it as far as the conference finals at least once.

[nasty daddy]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/trainingc ... 0809#moves

Biggest Strength: Depth:The Pistons have an impressive four-man nucleus with Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Wallace, but what made them so powerful last season is that they lost little when the subs checked in. The second unit was so effective that no Piston played more than 33.6 minutes per game last season.

Instead the subs played large stretches in the second and fourth quarters and played them extremely well. One former sub who may be graduating to starter this year is Maxiell, who seems set to take over Antonio McDyess' starting frontcourt spot after outperforming the veteran as a reserve a year ago. But Maxiell may find himself having to hold off the challenge of another rising young star, as Johnson is a huge talent coming into his own as a player and needs only to curb a mammoth foul rate to become a more regular contributor. McDyess, of course, isn't chopped liver himself, and if you're a Kwame Brown believer, that takes Detroit to five-deep in quality bigs. It's a similar story on the perimeter.

Herrmann has been under the radar the past two years but has played quite well whenever he has been given the opportunity, while Arron Afflalo emerged as a potential defensive stopper as a rookie last season and likely will get more time this year. And then there's Rodney Stuckey. The 6-5 combo guard appears to have all the makings of a future star, with a sketchy outside shot being the only potential hurdle. The plan is for him to get 30 minutes a game backing up both backcourt slots this season, and his development could be one of the key factors for Dumars in deciding whether to deal Billups or Hamilton at the trade deadline.

[nasty daddy]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/trainingc ... 0809#moves

Biggest Weakness: Star power:You can point to a lot of things when looking at Detroit's failures in the conference finals: Rasheed Wallace's consecutive Game 6 mail-ins, the playoff struggles of Billups, the Pistons' seeming lack of urgency.

But the thing that stands out more than the others are these three names: Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Kevin Garnett. These are the three players who have outgunned Detroit the past three seasons, respectively, and it points out the one obvious weakness Detroit has in a playoff series against other top contenders. Whereas these teams had a superstar player who could go 45 minutes, making their teams far more potent in the playoffs than in the regular season, Detroit lacked the kind of freakish talent who could put them over the top in those situations. No matter whom they face in a conference finals, you can pretty much guarantee that the best player on the court won't be a Piston.

In that respect, what's amazing about Detroit isn't that they've continually fallen just short, but that they've even been in the hunt. Make a list of the league's 10 best players and I guarantee there won't be a Piston on it, but they've been to six straight conference finals and won a championship with the Billups-Hamilton-Prince nucleus. It's likely to be the Pistons' undoing again, whether it's LeBron, KG or some other burgeoning talent who knocks them out, and there's really not much they can do about it -- except changing the roster. That's exactly why Dumars has been fishing around for deals that might put such a player onto his own roster.

[nasty daddy]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/trainingc ... 0809#moves

Outlook:If we're going to use history as our teacher, then the default prediction for Detroit should be a win total in the mid-50s and a demoralizing loss in the conference finals. To stray from that projection after what has happened the past three seasons, we would need some very compelling evidence.

Certainly there are reasons to think Detroit might be better -- even while nurturing a contending nucleus, Dumars has brought along a second wave of talent in the likes of Maxiell, Stuckey and Johnson that has eased the burden on his veteran starters. The youngsters also provide some insurance in case somebody on the Pistons ever gets injured -- their track record of health the past half-decade has been completely ridiculous, but now they're so deep that injuries would have to pile up en masse to materially affect them.

Standing against those positives are the facts that the Pistons who will play the crunch-time minutes are getting fairly long in the tooth -- Hamilton is 30, Billups is 32, and Wallace and McDyess are 34 -- and that first-year coach Curry may have to endure some growing pains this season. Add it all up and we're right back where we started. Yes, we must take Detroit seriously as a title contender. But much like last in the past three seasons, it appears that the Pistons are really, really good … and there's one other Eastern team that's better.

[nasty daddy]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/trainingc ... 0809#moves

Prediction: 54-28, 1st in Central Division, 2nd in Eastern Conference

[nasty daddy]

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

In a column that has a lot of statistics that Hollinger relies on to formulate his predictions, Hollinger puts together a detailed breakdown of the current Piston players and where they stand.

Each of the past three seasons began with the Pistons vowing that this time it would be different: They would play with more urgency in the playoffs; Rasheed Wallace wouldn't melt down at inappropriate times; they would regain the title they won so impressively in 2004. Each year, the Pistons glided through the regular season with nary an injury while posting one of the best records in basketball, and cruised into the conference finals looking like a legitimate championship contender. While "looking like" a legitimate title contender wasn't quite enough, there is little doubt that the Pistons deserved to be where they were. Winning game two in Boston could have been the catalyst that sent the Pistons back to the NBA Finals, but instead the Pistons came home and played game three as if the series was already over and made game three the catalyst to another playoff collapse, Flip Saunders getting fired and an irate Joe Dumars press conference.

Nonetheless, few deny that a shake-up might do the Pistons some good. In addition to the rumored friction between Wallace and Saunders, there was the little matter of it being their third straight conference finals defeat to a team that was visibly hungrier. To replace Saunders, Dumars opted for Michael Curry, a former Piston who had an outstanding reputation in the locker room as a player, but who possesses no head coaching experience. He'll have to ramp up to speed quickly with a team for which the only goal is winning a championship, so he'll be under a microscope. Of course, Dumars has never been shy about switching generals -- this is his fifth coach since he took over as general manager (including the coach he inherited), even though each of the previous three he hired won a minimum of 50 games per season and made it as far as the conference finals at least once. Hollinger ends the piece with a safe prediction, considering the trend the Pistons have set the past five seasons. Add it all up and we're right back where we started. Yes, we must take Detroit seriously as a title contender. But much like last in the past three seasons, it appears that the Pistons are really, really good ... and there's one other Eastern team that's better. Prediction: 54-28, 1st in Central Division, 2nd in Eastern Conference

[nasty daddy]

http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/its_ ... atefu.html

Has a championship team ever been disrespected more in its hometown than the Pistons?Since 2002, this is how the team has fared in the postseason: one championship, two finals appearances, six conference finals appearances, one second round playoff appearance. Conversely, the Red Wings, who are pretty universally lauded in the state and looked at as hard-working cool guys who are all winners, have done this since 2002: two Stanley Cups, two conference finals appearances, one second round playoff appearance, three first round exits. So which is more impressive? Sure the Wings have two titles in that span, but they also have quite a few early round playoff exits in years they were one of the top teams during the regular season.With the Pistons, fans get a long playoff run every season, yet the team is looked at as a bunch of underachievers. Ridiculous. Case in point, Greg Johnson of the Grand Rapids Press wrote a column today stating the Pistons have no shot at the title before the season has even started: "Richard Hamilton looked different with a beard, but he plans to shave it off before the Detroit Pistons play games. Chauncey Billups was calm as usual about media day to start training camp. Rasheed Wallace was being his unique self and singing a song that was stuck in his head, and Tayshaun Prince and Antonio McDyess were back Monday, too. Michael Curry, the new head coach, was here, but he has been here before as a player and assistant coach. Things, well, looked the same, which at this point begs for skepticism."

Right. If things looked about the same, wouldn't that make the Pistons a title contender? Granted, they have not won the title since 2004, but have they not been one of the last four teams standing each year since? In my mind, that would make them a title contender this season as well. Will they win it? Time will tell. Winning an NBA title takes talent, work and also a certain amount of luck to avoid injuries, distractions and Bennett Salvatore's officiating crew for more than 100 games. But I think media day is a little premature to make title predictions. Rob Parker of the Detroit News adds this: "You shouldn't believe in the Pistons.
Not for a second, an iota or one scintilla. At least, not now. The Pistons have to prove that this season won't end the way the past three have -- in disappointment. " Johnson and Parker are far from alone in those sentiments, however. Just read the comment section. Check out this gem from one of the commenters on Johnson's story: "I for one am tired of the same boring team. I would rather he blew the team up and started over. Losing for a few years would stink but when we became good it would be fun again. Instead of the same old same old. We will have a good team again then when the playoffs start Billups will stink and Wallace will disappear." Yes. Losing for a few years would stink. Especially when you have a team that proves every year it is one of the top four in the NBA. And everyone knows that is even less fun that losing. That is also a very sound business model. Are some fans bored with seeing the same old roster? Maybe, but the Palace is sold out every game. Remember when the team "rebuilt" in the mid 1990s? How was attendance when the rotation boasted players like Eric Montross, Pete Chilcutt, Jud Buechler, Terry Mills and teal jerseys? Even when the team had Grant Hill, one of the best players of that era, fans still did not turn out to see the team the way they do now. So go ahead Joe Dumars, trade everyone away for cap space and draft picks, hope Lebron James decides that Detroit is a more exotic locale than New York when he's a free agent in 2010, hope a lottery pick turns into a superstar, and, oh yeah, good luck keeping your job when the crappy team that goes out on the floor averages 5,000 fans a night for the next three years just to possibly one day get back to WHERE YOU ALREADY ARE. Or instead, you could tweak your proven roster by infusing youth, bring in a hungry coach and keep attendance high while staying competitive with the league's elite. I'm not saying that I, as a fan, have not been frustrated with playoff losses. But it is important to keep perspective.

It is fun to have Rasheed Wallace on this team. Wallace's meltdowns are well documented. He hovers around the 3-point line a little too much, although he does shoot a very respectable 34 percent out there. He defers too much when he has a favorable matchup in the post, but since when is being unselfish a negative character trait? It has been fun to watch Chauncey Billups go from a journeyman point guard to perhaps the league's most efficient floor general. Has Billups had some bad playoff games? Sure. Has he had some good ones? I think so. Rip Hamilton, Antonio McDyess and Tayshaun Prince play hard every game. And young guys like Rodney Stuckey, Jason Maxiell, Amir Johnson and Arron Afflalo are not only talented, but extremely fun to watch when they are on the court. In every year since the 2004 title, how many times could you say that the Pistons were runaway favorites to win another? Maybe 2005, although the Spurs were good and the Heat sold their soul for a title with the Shaq trade. In 2006, the Heat broke through. In 2007, a superstar shredded Detroit's defense and exposed what many knew was a glaring weakness, a lack of athleticism. This year, who really expected Detroit to beat Boston? I'm not saying Detroit wasn't good enough to beat them, but that Boston team was assembled to do one thing: win a title. They did it. So tip your hat to them and move on. I know Joe Dumars did not pull off a major move this offseason. There were some rumored trades that would have improved the team (J-Smoove for Prince, Carmelo Anthony for Billups/Wallace, Billups for Andris Biedrins), but there were a lot more terrible ones where teams were trying to get winning players from Detroit for damaged goods, bad contracts or role players (Sheed/Billups for Okafor/Gerald Wallace, Billups for Al Harrington, Billups/Wallace for McGrady). Josh Smith is a better player than Prince. Anthony is a young superstar. Biedrins is a young seven-footer who defends, rebounds, blocks shots and is getting better offensively. Can anyone fault their respective teams for holding onto those guys? And do you think that Al Harrington was the missing piece to a championship? This year, 29 teams will not win the NBA championship. So predicting that a team will not before the season has even started is not only premature, but also pointless. And lazy.