'Nasty News - Traversing Time & Space' Vol: 26

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http://www.nba.com/video/games/pistons/ ... index.html

Hawks vs. Pistons: 1st Half

Joe Johnson leads all scorers with 15 points as the Hawks are up 48-46 at the half against the Pistons.

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Where to go from here?: Do you think maybe Antonio McDyess is wondering if he should have gone to Cleveland or some other team that wanted him before the Pistons could get him back? He's taken their playoff losses so hard the past few years, so the way they are playing now has to be killing him. That pathetic end to the game in Chicago last night had to be just utterly depressing. This team has had so much success the last several years that what's going on now is almost incomprehensible. It's not pretty to watch.

I'm sure that Joe Dumars has a plan and might have anticipated things would be a struggle, but this much of a struggle has to be a surprise to him, too.

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http://stats.mlive.com/nba/recap.asp?g= ... me=8&vis=1

The Atlanta Hawks showed Detroit why its playoff success might end if the teams meet in April. Joe Johnson scored 27 points and Flip Murray had 23 Wednesday night, leading the Hawks to a 99-95 win over Detroit. If the postseason started Wednesday, the Hawks would've hosted the Pistons, and they seemingly have too much energy, talent and offensive options for Detroit to handle. The Hawks took the lead late for good in the third quarter, and after Detroit pulled within two with 9.4 seconds left, Johnson made two free throws to seal the win. Allen Iverson scored 26 for the Pistons, who fell a game under .500 since he joined the lineup. In addition to Atlanta's 20-point scorers, Al Horford scored 15, Marvin Williams had 11 and Josh Smith added 10 to give the up-and-coming team balance offensively.

Detroit's Richard Hamilton scored 14, Rodney Stuckey and Tayshaun Prince each scored 12 and Antonio McDyess added 10. Rasheed Wallace didn't play for the last 16-plus minutes and finished with nine points and seven rebounds. The Hawks (31-21) have won four of five, matching the most wins they've had at the All-Star break in a decade. Detroit (27-24) heads into the break after losing three straight, 13 of 18 and falling to 23-24 since Iverson joined the team in a trade for Chauncey Billups. The Pistons, who won the NBA title five years ago during an active streak of six straight trips to the Eastern Conference finals, have their worst record at the break since 2002.

The game was tied at 24 entering the second quarter after six lead changes. After falling behind, Detroit went on a 10-2 run to take a 36-28 lead, only to give up nine straight points to trail again. The Hawks were ahead 48-46 at halftime. Atlanta started the fourth period with an eight-point lead, its largest, but Iverson made 3-pointers on consecutive possessions and a free throw to pull Detroit within two points. Then Murray scored on an easy layup the next time down the court and Pistons coach Michael Curry called timeout, trying to fix the shoddy defense.

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

The Atlanta Hawks showed Detroit why its playoff success might end if the teams meet in April. Joe Johnson scored 27 points and Flip Murray had 23 Wednesday night, leading the Hawks to a 99-95 win over Detroit. If the postseason started Wednesday, the Hawks would've hosted the Pistons, and they seemingly have too much energy, talent and offensive options for Detroit to handle. The Hawks took the lead late for good in the third quarter, and after Detroit pulled within two with 9.4 seconds left, Johnson made two free throws to seal the win.

Allen Iverson scored 26 for the Pistons, who fell a game under .500 since he joined the lineup. In addition to Atlanta's 20-point scorers, Al Horford scored 15, Marvin Williams had 11 and Josh Smith added 10 to give the up-and-coming team balance offensively. Detroit's Richard Hamilton scored 14, Rodney Stuckey and Tayshaun Prince each scored 12 and Antonio McDyess added 10. Rasheed Wallace didn't play for the last 16-plus minutes and finished with nine points and seven rebounds. The Hawks (31-21) have won four of five, matching the most wins they've had at the All-Star break in a decade.

Detroit (27-24) heads into the break after losing three straight, 13 of 18 and falling to 23-24 since Iverson joined the team in a trade for Chauncey Billups. The Pistons, who won the NBA title five years ago during an active streak of six straight trips to the Eastern Conference finals, have their worst record at the break since 2002. The game was tied at 24 entering the second quarter after six lead changes. After falling behind, Detroit went on a 10-2 run to take a 36-28 lead, only to give up nine straight points to trail again. The Hawks were ahead 48-46 at halftime. Atlanta started the fourth period with an eight-point lead, its largest, but Iverson made 3-pointers on consecutive possessions and a free throw to pull Detroit within two points. Then Murray scored on an easy layup the next time down the court and Pistons coach Michael Curry called timeout, trying to fix the shoddy defense.

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http://www.freep.com/article/20090211/S ... r+resigns+

WDFN program director Rona Danziger resigns
Rona Danziger, who has been with WDFN-AM (1130) since its inception as a sports talk station in 1994 and has served as its program director since 2002, has resigned in the wake of the station's reformulation that dropped most of its local content in favor of syndicated programming.

Danziger started as a night-time producer and was promoted to senior producr and then executive producer before becoming program director. During her tenure she produced the Mega Man, Jamie and Brady and the Stoney and Wojo shows among others. She gave her notice Jan. 20 when the station, owned by Clear Channel Communications, broomed its talk-show hosts. Her last day will be Friday.

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What I'm watching tonight
I have always liked the Hawks' Josh Smith. The kid is so athletic and has good shooting ability for someone his size. He can certainly dunk with the best of them.

As for the Pistons, I am going to keep my eye on Rodney Stuckey tonight. He says he is not fatigued but others aren't so sure. I know that it often takes guys, especially guys who have been more of a combo guard than a true point guard, a while to become a good point guard. It's only his second season in the NBA and his first time running the show. Remember, Chauncey Billups was not an overnight success at the point when he came into the league.

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Pistons 19, Hawks 18 at 2:04 of 1st
Hmm, I didn't get to watch much of Rodney Stuckey there as he was quickly replaced in the lineup with Rip Hamilton. I know that Mark Jackson, current ESPN analyst, thinks Stuckey should be coming off the bench instead of starting and that Rip and Allen Iverson should both start. Neither way has worked all that well.

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Pistons 24, Hawks 24 after 1st
Former Piston Flip Murray just hit a shot over Rasheed Wallace to tie the game before the end of the first quarter. All Rasheed could do is laugh. I'm sure Flip said a little something to him after he hit the shot.

Right now the Spare Tires are frightening me. They're dressed with wigs like women and doing a routine to Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl." I hope no children are here.

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Pistons 29, Hawks 26 at 9:16 of 2nd
Rodney Stuckey looked pretty good on the one three-pointer he had to shoot because the buzzer was about to go off. While he would not enjoy it, he would probably benefit from the tutelage of someone like former Pistons coach Larry Brown.

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Pistons 36, Hawks 33 at 5:13 of 2nd
I don't know what is going on with the Pistons and their free-throw shooting this season. They used to be so good and now they're 26th in the league. Apparently they were 29th a few weeks ago.

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Pistons 40, Hawks 39 at 2:21 of 2nd
The Hawks aren't exactly shooting lights out here -- 40 percent -- yet they trail by just one point. The Pistons have outrebounded the Hawks, as well, 24-18. Of course, last night they had a 15-point lead and that didn't work out so well.

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Hawks 48, Pistons 46 at halftime
It's looking a lot like many of the other Pistons games this season. And it doesn't help that former Piston Flip Murray has nine points off the bench, just one point less than what Rodney Stuckey and Allen Iverson have combined. I don't know if there is a winning combination for the Pistons. They have it at times and then it goes away, often quickly.

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Hawks 56, Pistons 50 at 9:29 of 3rd
It's pretty much all Joe Johnson at this point. He has six straight points and the Hawks have a six-point lead. Well, that's not the start that Michael Curry was looking for, hence the timeout.

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Hawks 68, Pistons 64 at 1:37 of 3rd
This game is not trending the Pistons' way, I'll say that for now. As I said the other day against the Suns, trailing by four at this point, I would be pretty sure the Pistons would prevail in the fourth quarter at home. Not anymore. Now it's anyone's guess what's going to happen down the stretch. But the Pistons' recent play down the stretch of games has not been good, especially defensively.

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Hawks 76, Pistons 68 after 3rd
You'd almost think this game was personal for Flip Murray. He's sticking it to the Pistons but good. He had 10 points in the third quarter and leads his team with 19. Yikes. Needless to say, this eight-point lead for the Hawks is their biggest of the night.

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Hawks 82, Pistons 75 at 8:34 of 4th
I can't do it. I can't watch the Pistons shoot free throws anymore. They're 8-for-13 and they look like they've been taking free-throw lessons from Ben Wallace. Ben did a lot of good things when he was here but free-throw shooting was not among those things. Where'd that good old lock-down defense and killer instinct go? I miss it.

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Hawks 88, Pistons 84 at 5:21 of 4th
Flip Murray has 23 points, two shy of his season high. Are you kidding me? And again with the missed free throws. I am not watching the Pistons shoot free throws again until someone makes two in a row.

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Hawks 90, Pistons 85 at 4:07 of 4th
Former Lions receiver Mike Furrey is probably wondering if it's his fault for being here tonight. But it isn't, even though some of this must look familiar to him (bad defense, etc.). He's sitting courtside opposite Mark Champion and Rick Mahorn. And I did not watch Allen Iverson shoot those lst two free throws and I'm glad I did not.

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Hawks 96, Pistons 91 with :43.2 left in 4th
Once again, the opponent is going to score more than 100 points against the Pistons. The Hawks only have 96 now but the Pistons will have to foul in order to try to catch up. And I have no idea why Rasheed Wallace hasn't played in the fourth quarter. I don't think he's watching UNC-Duke or anything. He's over on the bench.

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FINAL: Hawks 99, Pistons 95
You can file another game into the "would have won this one a year ago" category. But we all know this is not a year ago. And I'm not blaming it all on Rodney Stuckey by any means. I think coach Michael Curry had a plan to start this season and implemented it in training camp and then got thrown a curveball called Allen Iverson. That would be hard for any coach to adjust to, much less a rookie coach. That's not to say this is Iverson's fault either. But whatever the Pistons are doing right now isn't working. I wish it were different as Curry is a great person and I want to see him succeed.