'Nasty News - Traversing Time & Space' Vol: 27

[nasty daddy]

http://www.hoopsworld.com/TheWireStory.asp?id=17029

Detroit (27-28) at New Orleans (33-22) 8:00 p.m. EST
The New Orleans Hornets may end up being thankful that the trade involving Tyson Chandler didn't work out. After earning a win in Chandler's return to the lineup, the Hornets try to make it two in a row on Wednesday when they host the slumping Detroit Pistons.

In a cost-cutting move, New Orleans traded the veteran center to the Oklahoma City Thunder for forwards Joe Smith, Chris Wilcox and the draft rights to DeVon Hardin on February 17, only to have the move rescinded and Chandler returned the next day after failing his physical.Following a 16-game absence due to a sprained left ankle, Chandler returned to the lineup Monday and scored 10 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and added 10 rebounds as the Hornets snapped a two-game slide with a 112-105 win over the Sacramento Kings.

Chandler and New Orleans will aim to duplicate that performance against the Pistons, who suffered their seventh straight loss during a 103-91 setback to the Miami Heat on Tuesday. Detroit hadn't lost seven consecutive contests since February 21 to March 2, 2003 and will try to avoid its first eight-game drought since 1994-95.

[nasty daddy]

http://stats.mlive.com/nba/preview.asp? ... me=3&vis=8

Chandler at last week's deadline for financial reasons, only to have their starting center sent back to them after he failed a physical. If the Hornets can continue to play like they did in Chandler's return, ownership probably won't feel too badly about having his contract back on the books. Playing in New Orleans for the first time since the botched trade, Chandler and the Hornets look to build on a solid performance Wednesday night when they meet the reeling Detroit Pistons, hoping to avoid their first eight-game losing streak in more than 14 years. Chandler was a key member of the Hornets' breakout season in 2007-08, when he made a career-high 79 starts and averaged a double-double for the first time in seven NBA seasons to help New Orleans set a franchise record with 56 wins. Despite Chandler's impact, New Orleans (33-22) was ready to part with him in a trade with Oklahoma City last week before the deal was rescinded because of medical reasons

Chandler's teammates, who were critical of the trade in the first place, were glad to have him back Monday night. The 7-foot-1 center scored 10 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and added 10 rebounds in a 112-105 victory at Sacramento. New Orleans shot 50.6 percent, recorded 25 assists on 40 field goals and outrebounded the Kings 46-35. "It's good to be back," Chandler told the Hornets' official Web site. Chandler hadn't played since Jan. 19 because of a sprained left ankle and then the trade fiasco. The Hornets, who went 7-9 in his absence, hope his return helps them reclaim their status among the Western Conference's elite. "(The trade) was something that doesn't happen every day," said All-Star point guard Chris Paul, who had 27 points, 13 assists, six rebounds and three steals Monday. "But we got our big fella back. He is a guy that knows the system and we know what to expect from him night in and night out. We welcomed him back with open arms."

The Pistons (27-28) look like they'll have a harder time climbing back toward the top of the East. A conference finalist each of the last six seasons, Detroit has lost seven in a row for the first time since Feb. 21-March 2, 2003. The team hasn't suffered a longer skid since it dropped eight straight from Dec. 21, 1994-Jan. 8, 1995. Tuesday night's 103-91 loss at Miami dropped the Pistons under .500 for the first time since they were 4-5 on Nov. 17, 2006. After falling to the Heat, Allen Iverson said the Pistons "have no consistency," then elaborated on their recent defensive struggles. "We can't stop anybody," Iverson said. "The way we're playing we have to shoot 60 percent to win a basketball game. Everybody's always going to look at the offensive end and scoring points. We scored enough points to win the basketball game. But we just can't get stops consistently. We can't get stops when we need them." That was Detroit's problem in its 91-85 home loss to New Orleans on Jan. 17. The Pistons took a two-point lead with 4:48 remaining, but got outscored 12-4 the rest of the way. The Pistons, though, have won their last four road games against the Hornets, including two that were played in Oklahoma City while New Orleans was in the early stages of its recovery from Hurricane Katrina. Pistons guard Richard Hamilton is averaging 24.8 points and shooting 55.6 percent from the field during that winning streak.

[nasty daddy]

http://64.246.64.33/merge/tsnform.aspx? ... v10694.htm

Detroit Pistons (27-28) at New Orleans Hornets (33-22), 8 p.m.
The Detroit Pistons' worst season in recent memory appears to have hit its lowest point. The slumping club will attempt to avoid its longest losing streak in 14 years when the Pistons continue their road trip with tonight's matchup against the New Orleans Hornets. Detroit, which has reached the Eastern Conference finals six straight seasons and has made the playoffs every year since 2000-01, fell below the .500 mark with its latest setback, a 103-91 loss at Miami on Tuesday. The Pistons have now lost seven consecutive games for the first time since February 21-March, 2003. The franchise hasn't suffered eight losses in a row since December 21, 1994- January 8, 1995, a season in which Detroit finished with a 28-54 record.

Despite their tailspin, the Pistons are still in the thick of the playoff race in the East. The club is presently tied with Philadelphia for sixth place in the conference, with eighth-seeded Milwaukee lurking one game back. Allen Iverson led Detroit, which hasn't had a losing record this late in a season since 2001, while Tayshaun Prince flirted with a triple-double by compiling 18 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.The Pistons have also dropped three straight road outings, including the first two tests of a current five-game trek, and are 13-13 as the visitor this season. New Orleans returns home following a challenging three-game swing out West. After losing to the Los Angeles Lakers and Utah in the first two contests, the Hornets salvaged the trip by handling lowly Sacramento Monday at ARCO Arena. Behind a 27-point, 13-assist performance out of Chris Paul, New Orleans downed the Kings by a 112-105 score in Tyson Chandler's return to the Hornets lineup.Chandler, New Orleans' leading rebounder with an average of 8.4 boards per game, had not played since January 19 due to a sprained left ankle. The steady center also had been traded by the club during his time out, but a deal with Oklahoma City last week was rescinded after Chandler failed a physical with the Thunder.

The 26-year-old posted a double-double in his first game back, amassing 15 points and 10 rebounds in nearly 32 minutes of playing time. David West added 24 points and nine boards in the victory and ex-King Peja Stojakovic scored 18 points against his former team. The Hornets, who own a 19-9 record at home this season, topped the Pistons by a 91-85 count in the Motor City last month. Prior to that loss, Detroit had won seven of the eight most recent meetings between the teams and have won four straight as the visitor in this series.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.nba.com/games/20090225/DETNOH/preview.html

The New Orleans Hornets unceremoniously traded Tyson Chandler at last week's deadline for financial reasons, only to have their starting center sent back to them after he failed a physical. If the Hornets can continue to play like they did in Chandler's return, ownership probably won't feel too badly about having his contract back on the books. Playing in New Orleans for the first time since the botched trade, Chandler and the Hornets look to build on a solid performance Wednesday night when they meet the reeling Detroit Pistons, hoping to avoid their first eight-game losing streak in more than 14 years. Chandler was a key member of the Hornets' breakout season in 2007-08, when he made a career-high 79 starts and averaged a double-double for the first time in seven NBA seasons to help New Orleans set a franchise record with 56 wins.

Despite Chandler's impact, New Orleans (33-22) was ready to part with him in a trade with Oklahoma City last week before the deal was rescinded because of medical reasons. Chandler's teammates, who were critical of the trade in the first place, were glad to have him back Monday night. The 7-foot-1 center scored 10 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and added 10 rebounds in a 112-105 victory at Sacramento. New Orleans shot 50.6 percent, recorded 25 assists on 40 field goals and outrebounded the Kings 46-35. "It's good to be back," Chandler told the Hornets' official Web site. Chandler hadn't played since Jan. 19 because of a sprained left ankle and then the trade fiasco. The Hornets, who went 7-9 in his absence, hope his return helps them reclaim their status among the Western Conference's elite. "(The trade) was something that doesn't happen every day," said All-Star point guard Chris Paul, who had 27 points, 13 assists, six rebounds and three steals Monday. "But we got our big fella back. He is a guy that knows the system and we know what to expect from him night in and night out. We welcomed him back with open arms."

The Pistons (27-28) look like they'll have a harder time climbing back toward the top of the East. A conference finalist each of the last six seasons, Detroit has lost seven in a row for the first time since Feb. 21-March 2, 2003. The team hasn't suffered a longer skid since it dropped eight straight from Dec. 21, 1994-Jan. 8, 1995. Tuesday night's 103-91 loss at Miami dropped the Pistons under .500 for the first time since they were 4-5 on Nov. 17, 2006. After falling to the Heat, Allen Iverson said the Pistons "have no consistency," then elaborated on their recent defensive struggles. "We can't stop anybody," Iverson said. "The way we're playing we have to shoot 60 percent to win a basketball game. Everybody's always going to look at the offensive end and scoring points. We scored enough points to win the basketball game. But we just can't get stops consistently. We can't get stops when we need them." That was Detroit's problem in its 91-85 home loss to New Orleans on Jan. 17. The Pistons took a two-point lead with 4:48 remaining, but got outscored 12-4 the rest of the way. The Pistons, though, have won their last four road games against the Hornets, including two that were played in Oklahoma City while New Orleans was in the early stages of its recovery from Hurricane Katrina. Pistons guard Richard Hamilton is averaging 24.8 points and shooting 55.6 percent from the field during that winning streak.

[nasty daddy]

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

No easy answers, but the pieces are at hand
“What’s wrong with the Pistons?” Just like a mail carrier in Michigan gets asked what the problem with the U.S. Postal Service is when someone in Florida doesn’t get a letter two days after it was mailed, anybody from Pistons ball boys to their ticket sellers are asked to capsulize the sudden travails of the basketball team in a pithy sentence or two. But what’s troubling the Pistons can’t be neatly capsulized. It’s not a machete blow to the carotid artery that’s causing the Pistons to slowly bleed out these days, it’s the cumulative effect of a thousand pinpricks.

The result is a team that no longer has its footing. The Pistons aren’t sure what they are anymore. Listen to what Iverson said after Tuesday’s loss at Miami. “We don’t have any consistency on how we’re going to play day in and day out. We play different ways day in and day out. We have to find some type of identity of how we’re going to play.” He’s accurately described the symptoms without identifying the disease. And in that, there is good news and bad. Sometimes problems are easy to identify but impossible to address. The Chicago Bulls for years have been accumulating draft picks and stockpiling talented young players, but they still don’t have anyone who represents an inside scoring threat. They took another stab at fixing the problem with their trade-deadline deal for Brad Miller, who’s about to turn 33 and hasn’t been a low-post player since his first stint with the Bulls ended seven years ago.

What has led to the Pistons losing seven straight games to sink below .500 for the first time this late since the 2000-01 season are a number of domino problems. The Pistons always were a team that required all of the pieces to fall into place. That was their beauty. That’s what had them being compared to the last New York Knicks championship team of Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, Bill Bradley and Dave DeBusschere – another team where the MVP might not be the same guy for five successive nights. Now, one little link in the chain is unclasped and every link thereafter is rootless, floundering, searching for a purpose. But – and here’s the good news – all the links are still there. Reordering them won’t be easy – if it was, we wouldn’t be talking about lineup changes and adjustments to Allen Iverson four months into the season – but it’s not out of their reach, either.

[nasty daddy]

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

In no particular order, here’s what it will take to help pull the Pistons out of the doldrums:They have to be consistently better defensively. Offense is the more intricate problem, but defense might be the more daunting one. Keeping guards out of the lane has been a season-long struggle. It was OK for Chauncey Billups to get beat off the dribble when he had a couple of 30-year-old Wallaces behind him to clean up the spill, but there is only one of them here today and he’s 34. But penetration is a fact of life in the NBA. There are too many good point guards, and too many coaches with schemes that deliver their point guards to the paint consistently, to think you can shut that door. The real key is how your defense recovers after collapsing to the paint. The Pistons are giving up too many open shots because their help-and-recovery process takes too long.

[nasty daddy]

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

Rodney Stuckey has to get going. Michael Curry has flat-out said he’s the key to the team. And right now he looks overwhelmed – and even as a rookie, Stuckey never looked overwhelmed. Whether it’s being physically wrung out, feeling mentally overburdened, a crisis of confidence … whatever, Stuckey has to get jump-started. He played 30 minutes at Miami in Tuesday’s loss and didn’t pick up an assist, rarely looking to do anything besides getting the ball past half-court and passing to the first open player as soon as possible. It’s not easy being Allen Iverson’s point guard, but it didn’t seem like a millstone three weeks ago.

[nasty daddy]

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

They’ve got to figure out a way to make Tayshaun Prince a productive offensive player. While much of the analytical focus of the ripple effects of integrating Iverson has been its impact on Hamilton – and we’re getting to that – the player who has had to adapt more than anyone since the start of the season has been Prince. Yeah, he’s always been the fourth option. But at least he usually knew when and where his opportunity would come. Prince as a post-up player against most small forwards is a weapon. Prince catching the ball in the corner – where he usually finds himself standing so the floor can be spread to accommodate Iverson’s forays – with five seconds on the shot clock is a problem.

[nasty daddy]

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

In the four games before the All-Star break, Hamilton averaged 27.3 a game and it looked like the Pistons at least had that as their rock. It was the first time all season, really, that Hamilton has looked like the guy they’ve shipped off to the previous three All-Star games. It was assumed that the groin problem that forced him to the sidelines for eight games in December and January was finally behind him. But whatever mojo he’d captured leading into the break has evaporated upon returning, and whether that’s the lingering effects of the groin or something else, the clock is ticking. The Pistons need Hamilton giving them a steady 16 or 18 points every night.

[nasty daddy]

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

As Joe Dumars told me two weeks ago, Rasheed Wallace has become a lightning rod around here for all that goes wrong with the Pistons. In fairness to Wallace’s critics, though, I haven’t heard much caterwauling about his effort level this season, even though his production has been inconsistent. Most people are more inclined now to assign it to the fact he’s 34 and has shouldered a bigger burden than Curry ever intended. It started when Antonio McDyess sat out the requisite 30 days following his buyout from Denver in the aftermath of the Iverson-Billups trade. The Pistons don’t really have the luxury of scaling back Wallace’s workload unless …

[nasty daddy]

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

Jason Maxiell, Amir Johnson and Kwame Brown start giving them more. Maxiell has been pretty good for three straight games and maybe Curry is going to have to bite the bullet and live with a few ups and downs from him for the sake of continuity in the rotation. Johnson’s step back from a year ago hasn’t been front and center because there are too many bigger issues weighing the Pistons down these days, but he hasn’t made nearly the same number of instant-impact plays as he did last season. Brown has offensive shortcomings but has been a solid rebounder and defender, when taken out of mothballs as he was in Miami. If Maxiell can cut back on the games where he plays double-digit minutes without denting the rebounding column, his ability to make those momentum-changing blocks and dunks can allow Curry the latitude to give Wallace the rest his body requires.

[nasty daddy]

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

And, finally, we’ll end where perhaps this all starts. With Iverson. The offense starts with him. It must, really, because the only way Allen Iverson helps a team win is to score points, and he’s always been the one to create his own offense. To that end, maybe the Pistons can take encouragement in the fact that he’s lately been scoring with increased efficiency. In the sorting-out process, the first step in making the Pistons an efficient team offensively is Iverson establishing his parameters so everyone around him can then stake out their ground. If that’s the phase we’re seeing now, then maybe the next few weeks will – at last – lead to the Pistons forging their identity on offense, which could stabilize everything from their defense to their rotation. The links are there. It’s a matter of putting them all back together. With the clock ticking … loudly.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.freep.com/article/20090225/S ... ck+to+work

Time for Pistons to get back to work
Is Allen Iverson the villain? Michael Curry the chump? Or is Joe Dumars hatching a master plan for 2010 and beyond? The Pistons (27-28) are about as inviting right now as a squashed Fat Tuesday paczki. Last night in Miami, the Heat melted the Pistons, 103-91, handing them their seventh straight loss. It left Detroit below .500 after 55 games for the first time since 2000-01. Should they lose tonight in New Orleans, it would match the franchise’s longest winless skid since 1995. The finger-pointing hasn’t started in the locker room, or so we’re told. But Iverson, who led the Pistons with 22 points against Miami, is quoted today by the Associated Press at CNN.com as saying defense is a problem, which, of course, casual Pistons fans in Italy know. “Our whole thing is not on the offensive end,” Iverson said. “We can’t stop anybody. The way we’re playing, we have to shoot 60% to win a basketball game. Everybody’s always going to look at the offensive end and scoring points. We scored enough points to win the basketball game. But we just can’t get stops consistently. We can’t get stops when we need them.”

Defensively, the Pistons are about as potent as the Lions’ secondary. Heat guard Dwayne Wade drilled 31 points and had 16 assists, a career high. “It’s disappointing that we’re on a streak like this,” the Freep’s Vince Ellis quotes coach Curry today. “You’ve got to fight and continue to push them hard and hold them accountable on the court.” “Accountable” was a word stamped all over this team a few years ago. Of late, the Pistons appear, with a couple of exceptions, like individuals clocking on for work, standing around, clocking off and still picking up a paycheck. Freep columnist Michael Rosenberg believes first-year coach Curry will keep his job, at least for now. He doesn’t like the product the Pistons are serving up — “the fact is they have grossly underachieved – and the reasons they have underachieved could haunt them next year,” he writes today — but he’s more upset with how the team handled the Chauncey Billups-Iverson trade after it was done. “They handed the keys to this season to Iverson,” says Rosenberg. “This is like handing the keys of your house to Lindsay Lohan. It seems like fun at first, but you start to second-guess yourself when you look down and realize your shoes are on fire.

One of the ironies of Iverson is that he always plays hard but makes his teammates want to not play hard. If you have ever played basketball, you know it’s frustrating when one guy dominates the ball. That is Iverson.” It seems Iverson has had that affect on Rodney Stuckey, Rasheed Wallace and Rip Hamilton — if you take it on their contributions the past few weeks and last night. Is it that simple, though? The Pistons once prided themselves on “going to work” and getting their hands dirty — all of them, every night. With what they’re paid, the Offbeat suggests a few more might turn up this evening for their shift at New Orleans Arena and show a little Iverson hustle.

[nasty daddy]

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

Place your bid on autographed auction items signed by the Pistons. This listing - which includes a team-signed Callaway golf bag and an Allen Iverson All-Star jersey - ends March 6. All proceeds benefit the Pistons-Palace Foundation.

[nasty daddy]

http://pistonsnationblog.com/2009/02/25 ... -in-miami/

Free fall continues in Miami
Pistons (91) @ HEAT (103)
Well, the Pistons are now on a 7 game losing streak and are now a game below .500 which hasn’t happened this late in the season since 2001. They seemed to have a little more fight last night, but still didn’t look anything like what they should with the talent that they have on their roster.

The deployed some zone defense last night but the Heat just simply shot over it. Daequan Cook (16 points) hit 4 triples of the Heat bench helping to bust that zone. The Pistons kept it close for 3 1/2 quarters, but then it was all Miami. Dwyane Wade scored a game high 31 points and got his Heat teammates into the action with him with a career high 16 assists.

Allen Iverson led the Piston scoring with 22 even though it seemed like he never converted when getting to the rim. It’s (past) time to take the emphasis off a player who’s only passing through town. Rodney Stuckey continues to leave his body impressions all over that sophomore wall. Stuck played 30 minutes totaling 8 points and no assists. We coluld really use something more from Stuckey.

[nasty daddy]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3932384

Bing a top vote-getter in primary
NBA Hall of Famer Dave Bing and incumbent Ken Cockrel Jr. advanced Tuesday to a May 5 runoff election, vying to serve out the remainder of disgraced ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's second term. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Bing received 26,327 votes, or nearly 29 percent, while 24,665 ballots, or 27 percent, were cast for Cockrel. The Democrats were among 15 candidates competing for the mayor's job in Tuesday's nonpartisan special primary, which drew a small percentage of the city's registered voters. "I promise to fight for improvements in public safety, education, and most important, employment," Bing told supporters at a post-victory rally. "It looks like the people of Detroit agreed with us that we had the right message."

Cockrel, the former city council president who became mayor when Kilpatrick resigned, said he was content to finish second, because that meant he survived to fight into May."I'll take No. 2 because No. 2 means I'm still in the game," Cockrel said in an interview with The Associated Press. "It was close. It wasn't like he was light years ahead of me." Former deputy mayor Freman Hendrix came in third with 21,195 votes, followed by Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans with 9,184. "You just want to congratulate both Ken and Dave for getting their messages out," Hendrix said. "When it's all said and done, it's not about me, it's about the city of Detroit. The voters have chosen." Turnout, as expected, was low with city elections director Daniel Baxter saying it was about 14.5 percent. Four hours earlier, retiree Charles Dunn said he was only the 108th person to vote at Henry Ford High School. "It's lousy," said Dunn, 57. "It's as if they don't care."

Kilpatrick resigned in September as he pleaded to criminal charges in the scandal, which involved an affair with a top aide. The regularly scheduled primary is in August with the runoff in November. The winner in that campaign will serve a regular four-year term starting next January. The four elections will cost $6 million for the city, reeling under the auto industry's difficulties and other problems. The once-popular Kilpatrick was released from jail earlier this month after serving 99 days of a 120-day sentence. He pleaded guilty in September to obstruction of justice and no contest to assault. He admitted he lied during a civil trial to cover up an affair with his chief of staff, with whom he exchanged sexually explicit text messages.

[nasty daddy]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime

Dwyane Wade followed up his 50-point effort by scoring 31 and giving out 16 assists in Miami's 94-86 win over Detroit. Elias says he is the second player to dish out 15 or more assists one game after scoring at least 50. The Sixers' Wilt Chamberlain did it in 1968.

[nasty daddy]

http://need4sheed.com/2009/02/too-much- ... troit.html

The Detroit Pistons just dropped below 500 basketball with their seventh straight loss to 91-103 to The Miami Heat. With the loss Detroit fell into a tie for sixth in the East with Philadelphia, and needs to win in New Orleans today to avoid matching the franchise’s longest skid since 1995.
Key Points:

Should we look past the Teal Era and dub this the Black and Blue Era? The Pistons seven game skid is their longest losing streak since 2002-03. If this quote by Allen Iverson doesn’t speak for a ton of what Pistons fans have been complaining about all season I don’t know what does. “We don’t have any consistency of how we are going to play night in and night out. We play different ways. We have to find an identity for ourselves on how we are going to play every night and stick to it. We have to live and die with it.” It’s actually quite funny to hear Iverson complain about playing defense when, well he’s know not to play any. “We can’t stop nobody,” he accurately pointed out. “The way we played, we would have to shoot 60 percent to have a chance to win a basketball game. Everybody looks at our offense, but I thought we scored enough to win. We can’t get stops consistently and we can’t get stops when we need them. It seemed like they scored every time down the court.” At least they scored 42 paint points….right? It ultimately was a cold third quarter in which Detroit was outscored 17-28 that did them in. This is not your Detroit Pistons team. You could see the frustration on the players faces throughout the game. Allen Iverson led Detroit with 22 points on 8-for-18 shooting with 2 steals, a rebound and 2 assists. Can’t forget the pretty layup that was the play of the game. You know Rodney Stuckey is struggleing when Kwame Brown has 2 more assists than he does. Stuckey had 8 points, 0 assists, 0 rebounds, and 2 turnovers. Is it a wall or is it the system?

Antonio McDyess once again played his heart out for a team that truly looks like it has given up. Dyess kept Detroit in the ball game putting up 17 on 8-for-10 shooting. The Pistons shot 12% from downtown. Missing in action….Rasheed Wallace. Can’t win when Sheed puts up 6 points and 6 boards. Detroit needs him to dominate when they struggle. Rip wasn’t around either, just 9 points on 4-11 shooting. Tayshaun Prince came close to a triple - double with 18 points, 9 boards and 8 assists. Is Tay doing Rodney’s job better than he is? Keep Curry, put Iverson in check? A Walter sighting, whom Curry vows to utilize. Kwame Brown saw some action too. Outrebounded by 10. Raise your hand if you wanted to see Detroit at least try to play zone when they were in trouble. I guess he will try anything because I can remember not so long ago that he didn’t want to play zone D at ALL. To make things worse, how obnoxious is Wade’s band-aid which reads FLASH with a lightning bolt on it? I don’t care who you are, a display like that is ridiculous. Can you see Antonio with a face band-aid with dice on it? Yes he’s a great player, but get over yourself. Matt Watson -The Pistons are Tumbling Into Oblivion. Think twice before you put all the blame on Allen Iverson. Tonight in NO will be tough. A back to back on a seven game slide facing Chris Paul.

[nasty daddy]

http://slamonline.com/online/nba/2009/0 ... -16-dimes/

The stuggles continue for the Pistons as they gave up a career-high 16 assists to Dwyane Wade in a 103-91 victory for the Heat last night. This one was decided in the third quarter when Miami outscored Detroit 28-17, with the Pistons unable to cut into the lead into the fourth. Wade had 31 points to go with those 16 assists as Jermaine O’Neal scored 14 points and Udonis Haslem added 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Pistons received 22 points from Allen Iverson, 17 points from Antonio McDyess and 18 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists from Tayshaun Prince in the loss.

[nasty daddy]

http://myespn.go.com/nba/truehoop

Piston Powered: Is it time to sit Rodney Stuckey?