'Nasty News - Traversing Time & Space' Vol: 63

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MLive: Rodney Stuckey stars in overtime as Pistons upset Hornets for second consecutive victory: AUBURN HILLS -- R... http://bit.ly/7XV0GB

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Pistons vs. Hornets
Postgame Quotes - January 15, 2010
Regular Season Game #38
Pistons Head Coach John Kuester
(On the heavy minutes played by Richard Hamilton and Ben Wallace):
“They were looking forward to playing the extra five minutes and being out there with me. I was very proud of the way they played and I knew that they wanted to win the game and I said, ‘Hey, we’ve got five more minutes to go out and play hard,’ and that’s what they did. The thing that we’ve talked about the last two games was trying to finish plays and I thought we did a good job at that.”

(On Stuckey):
“He just didn’t feel good. You could tell by his body language and that’s where I thought Chucky (Atkins) came in and played as hard and as long as he could and he fouled out. Seriously, I wasn’t going to play Stuckey because he wasn’t ready to go. I said, ‘That’s alright, don’t worry.’ We experimented, I think, two plays with Jonas (Jarebko) at the point and he did a nice job. He’s played every position offensively now except for the center I think. He gives us that kind of energy all the time. How big was Ben Wallace the entire game? He’s found the fountain of youth again and he knew he wanted to win this one so badly.”
(On whether Stuckey asked to go back in):
“Yeah, he did. I did not ask him again. I said, ‘I understand, you don’t feel good, that’s fine.’ I said, ‘Jonas, you’ve got the point, Rip at the two and Austin at three.’ They ran one or two plays and they did fine. They hung in there. We just want them to play hard.”

(On Hamilton’s game):
“He’s starting to come back. I’m so proud of him. He’s a warrior.”
(On whether he will cut back on minutes for Hamilton and Wallace tomorrow night):
“What time is it right now (looking at watch)? They have some time to get to rest. That’s how it is in the NBA and the nice thing is that we’re at home. You know how I am, As soon as I get back to my condo tonight, I’m going to focus on New York. I’m very proud of how these guys played. The last two games they really showed a lot of courage because they’ve really gone through a lot.”

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Pistons Guard Richard Hamilton
(On the game)
“We had a lot of fun, definitely when we win. I thought the guys really played hard and that what it takes to get a win.”

(On the win)
“Energy and believing. I think we just went out and say: ‘we just going out to have fun, whatever happens, happens.’ Believing in us, believing in guys that got your back, believing in everything. We did what we had to do tonight.”
(On Stuckey’s performance)
“He was kind of slow at the beginning. I just told him:’Keep digging, keep digging. I don’t care how many shots you miss, as long as you are being aggressive, especially when we are in penalty. Just try to run somebody over and get to a free-throw line.’ He did an excellent job in that at the end of the game.”

(On playing together)
“I just want to let the guys know that I believe in them, that when you are open you should get the ball, regardless on who is on the floor. If they see me doing it, than every guard out there is going to do it soon.”

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Pistons Forward Charlie Villanueva
(On the game)
“I think guys played real hard throughout the whole game. We moved the ball, we played defense, guys rebounded, young guys stepped up, Austin (Daye) and Jonas (Jerebko) played tremendously well for us.”

(On having losing streak behind)
“It’s behind us. We got to look forward to the next game. Take one game at a time, as easy as we got 13 losses, we can go 13 wins. We got to take care one game at a time.”

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Hornets Head Coach Jeff Bower
(On their rebounding)
“We never had any extra looks and that made it hard on our offense. The overall rebounding margin was strong for them. That's one of their strengths; their rebounding. Ben Wallace is terrific and they made a lot of their shots. They shot the ball very well, particularly in the first two-and-a-half quarters. You outscore a team 80-to-65-something points in the second, third and fourth quarter and you generally should win the game if you hadn't dug yourself too big a hole; which is what we did.”

(On their turnovers in overtime and at the end of regulation)
“They did. Any time you don't get a shot in a game that is that tight in the way the game is being played; it hurts. We had a number of plays in the close of regulation where we had a chance. Something good was happening that just didn't end in a field goal for us. Which sent it into overtime.”

(On playing tomorrow night)
“You have to give the Pistons credit for playing an outstanding game. You look at the box score and you see season high in notations across the board for so many players. They played an outstanding game. We've got to regroup and move on and get ready to play a potent INdiana team tomorrow.”

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Hornets Guard Chris Paul
(On the game)
“We came out slow as usual. We fought back into the game and gave ourselves a chance in overtime. One of the biggest plays was when (Rodney) Stuckey got that and-one on me. I fell asleep. He made a great play and that really put the nail in the coffin for us.”

(On turnovers in overtime)
“I had two of those turnovers. We just didn't lock in in overtime. I take responsibility. I've got to handle the ball better and make better decisions.”
(On the rebounding disparity)
“You know they got Ben Wallace down there. We've got to get more aggressive on the boards too. They got a lot of offensive rebounds on us. This time it bit us. These last few games we've been winning. We've been giving up a lot of offensive rebounds and tonight it got to us.”

(On their game)
“We're going to play against a fast-paced Indiana team. They're going to come out run-and-gun. We probably win the game tonight if we moved the ball a little better. I got to get the ball out of my hands. That's my fault. I'll take that.”

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Postgame Recap - Pistons vs. Hornets
The Pistons defeated the Hornets 110-104 in OT Friday at The Palace. Rip Hamilton, who scored a game-high 32 points, was one of six Pistons in double figures.

Video in the link above^.

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http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/trueblu ... 00115.html

Overtime Reward
The absurdity of the Pistons’ injury situation, now as much a part of their existence as morning shootarounds and postgame showers, reached full blossom in the fourth quarter of their 38th game.Rodney Stuckey, already nursing a sore right knee, had banged his left knee fighting through a New Orleans screen in the first quarter and hadn’t come close to making an explosive move all night, scoring two points. Chucky Atkins had given everything in his tank, scoring nine points in 20 minutes before fouling out with 6:53 to play. Will Bynum would have been the obvious option, but he was sitting out his eighth straight game with a sprained ankle. Ben Gordon could have pinch hit, but he was absent for the second straight with a groin pull. Tayshaun Prince would have been the emergency fill-in, but he was skipping his third straight with a sore left knee. So John Kuester scanned his bench and told rookie Jonas Jerebko, who last played point guard as a kid in Sweden, to run his offense. “Oh, man, that was different,” said Rip Hamilton, mustering what energy he had left after logging 47 minutes and posting season highs in points (32) and assists (10) in a 110-104 overtime win over New Orleans that pushed the Pistons’ winning streak to two games after the injuries had conspired to trigger a 13-game losing skid. “We haven’t practiced that all season, so that was different.” “It was good,” the Pistons’ unflappable rookie said. “I think it went all right. We got a win. I was probably 15 of 16 (the last time he played point guard). I haven’t set any plays up in a long time, so it was good to be back. I don’t think it looked too bad out there. I think I had control of the situation. I’d rather play point guard than center” – the only position he hasn’t played now – “definitely.”

The Pistons had fun Friday, from Hamilton’s return to form to Ben Wallace’s long guzzle from the fountain of youth, in a win that embodied Kuester’s “live in the moment” mantra. What they’ll have left for Saturday night’s meeting with the Knicks? Who knows? “I was trying to get as much rest in that fourth quarter as possible,” said Hamilton, but when New Orleans chopped a seven-point Pistons lead to one in the first 93 seconds, Kuester waved Hamilton and Wallace back into the game. “The lead kept dwindling down and I was like, I know Q is going to look over here. He said, ‘You ready?’ I’m like, I’ve got no choice now. They almost tied the game. Hopefully, we’ll come out tomorrow with the same energy we did tonight.” For a team that went a month between wins, nobody was too concerned about the toll a win might have exacted. “I have a lot left,” Jerebko said. “I don’t worry about that. I’m 22 and all of us want to win. I don’t think there will be any problems. We’re going to come out hard tomorrow.” Jerebko played 42 minutes and Wallace 41, posting season highs in points (13) and rebounds with 21, his best since a 27-board game while with Chicago in 2006. “Thirty-five years old getting 21 rebounds – man, oh, man,” said Charlie Villanueva, who helped the Pistons build an 18-point lead in the first quarter by scoring nine points in 7:22, finishing with 13 and seven boards. “That’s impressive.”

Jerebko’s run at point guard was short-lived, Stuckey sucking it up and coming back for the final 5:45 of regulation and all of overtime. He spent every dead ball hunched over at the waist, looking like it took all of his energy to remain upright, but he found bursts of energy and began to attack the basket, scoring eight of his 13 points in overtime. “He just didn’t feel good,” Kuester said, “and you could tell by his body language. Seriously, I wasn’t going to play Stuckey because he wasn’t ready to go.” “I just told him, ‘Certain games you don’t feel too good,’ ” Hamilton said. “We play so many games and he didn’t feel good. He was just like, ‘It’s hard for my body to get into it right now.’ I said, ‘Yo, there’s 82 games. That happens. If you have to run somebody over, run ’em over. We’re in the penalty. Get to the free-throw line, get a couple of easy baskets, then hopefully your body will get into it.’ I thought he did an excellent job of just putting his head down and getting to the basket.”New Orleans led only once in overtime, on a 3-pointer by rookie Marcus Thornton with 2:19 left, but Stuckey immediately bulled past Chris Paul (24 points, 14 assists) for a basket and three-point play to put the Pistons up 103-101. After two New Orleans misses – and another Wallace rebound – Stuckey registered another three-point play, this time bullying Thornton in the lane, following Hamilton’s advice to the letter, putting the Pistons up five. “This would have been a tough pill to swallow,” Kuester said. “I would have been proud of the guys, but this is a game you want to finish – and we did.”

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TEAM COLORS
White Hot – John Kuester said before the game that he saw signs of Rip Hamilton getting his legs back, and how important legs were to Hamilton’s shooting rhythm. Then Hamilton went out and had his best game since returning from the hamstring injury in late December with season highs in points (32) and assists (10). “He’s been on me, telling me I need to get extra shots after practice,” Hamilton said. “I think that was key. Me coming back, it’s hard for me to push off my ankle, getting squared up to the basket. We did a lot of that last practice, coming off screens, getting squared up. I thought it made a big difference because I was a lot more confident pushing off than in previous games.”

BLUE COLLAR – On New Orleans’ first possession, Emeka Okafor got the ball on the left block, dipped his shoulder to get in front of Ben Wallace and dunked – a fairly stunning move against one of the NBA’s premier post defenders. On their next trip, the Hornets again went to Okafor, who again went right at Wallace. This time, he got his shot swatted back in his face. Whether Okafor’s dunk lit his fuse or whatever, Wallace dominated the No. 2 pick in the 2004 draft, going for 13 points, 21 boards, five assists and two blocks to Okafor’s seven points and six boards.

RED FLAG – The Pistons have lost 78 man-games to injury with the three more they added Friday night, and you wonder what kind of shape Rodney Stuckey will be in for Saturday’s game with the Knicks after struggling noticeably through 36-plus minutes on Friday. Three other players – Rip Hamilton (46:37), Ben Wallace (41:07) and Jonas Jerebko (42:11) – also logged heavy minutes.

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Knicks-Pistons Preview
After being mired in their worst losing streak in nearly 16 years, the Detroit Pistons have suddenly won back-to-back games. The Pistons look to make it three in a row Saturday night at The Palace of Auburn Hills when they open a home-and-home series against a New York Knicks team trying to avoid losing for the fourth time in five games. Detroit (13-25) snapped a 13-game losing streak - its longest since the 1993-94 season - with Tuesday's 99-90 win over a Washington team reeling from problems on and off the court. Detroit built on that win with Friday's 110-104 overtime victory over New Orleans, a team in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race. "I don't know what would have happened if we hadn't won that game in Washington,'' rookie forward Jonas Jerebko said. "We needed that one to get our confidence back.'' Detroit, which is five games back of Chicago for the final playoff spot in the East, has a chance to make up some ground in the standings with seven of its next eight at The Palace. The lone road game in that span comes Monday at Madison Square Garden.

The Pistons lost to the Knicks 104-87 at home on Dec. 29, as Richard Hamilton made his second consecutive start for Detroit after missing 26 of the previous 28 with injuries to his hamstring and ankle. He couldn't find his touch against New York, finishing with 16 points on 5 of 21 shooting, but he helped lead the way Friday. Hamilton had 32 points and 10 assists, both season highs, while Ben Wallace had season bests of 13 points and 21 rebounds against the Bulls. "Rip's really starting to come back after the injuries,'' Pistons coach John Kuester said. "He's a warrior, and how big was Ben Wallace tonight? It looks like he's found the Fountain of Youth again - he was head-and-shoulders above guys on a lot of those rebounds." The strong performances from Hamilton and Wallace helped Detroit overcome injuries to Ben Gordon (groin), Tayshaun Prince (knee) and Will Bynum (ankle). The availability of those three for this game is uncertain.

The Knicks (16-23) arrive in Detroit after Friday's 112-104 loss to Toronto, their third defeat in four games following a three-game winning streak. New York fell behind by as many as 28 points against the Raptors before trimming the deficit to eight early in the fourth quarter, but it was unable to complete the comeback. "We could've done better,'' Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We just didn't do it for whatever reason. Seemed like we were a little bit tight for the first couple of quarters.'' Despite the loss, Al Harrington gave an encouraging performance, finishing with 31 points on 11 of 20 shooting. He had combined for 26 points on 7 of 20 shooting in his first two games back from a two-game absence (strained left calf). Harrington had 13 points, six rebounds and four assists last month against the Pistons, while David Lee led New York with 30 points, 12 boards and five assists. The Knicks have won three of the last four meetings with Detroit.

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Hornets vs. Pistons
Richard Hamilton scores 32 points and dishes out 10 assists as the Pistons defeat the Hornets in Detroit.

Video in the link above^.

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http://www.freep.com/article/20100116/S ... ts-104-(OT)

Summary: Pistons 110, Hornets 104 (OT)
NEW ORLEANS (104)
Stojakovic 5-11 2-2 13, West 10-18 5-5 25, Okafor 3-6 1-2 7, Paul 7-14 8-10 24, D.Brown 0-3 0-0 0, Thornton 4-10 3-4 13, Songaila 3-6 2-2 8, Wright 2-3 0-0 4, Collison 2-2 0-0 4, Posey 2-6 0-0 6. Totals 38-79 21-25 104.
DETROIT (110)
Jerebko 4-10 4-6 13, Wilcox 0-1 3-4 3, Wallace 5-6 3-6 13, Stuckey 4-15 5-6 13, Hamilton 10-22 12-14 32, Villanueva 5-13 2-2 13, Atkins 3-5 0-0 9, Maxiell 1-2 0-0 2, Daye 4-6 2-2 12. Totals 36-80 31-40 110.

New Orleans 16 28 25 27 8 -- 104
Detroit 31 24 21 20 14 -- 110

3PG: New Orleans 7-22 (Paul 2-4, Posey 2-5, Thornton 2-6, Stojakovic 1-5, D.Brown 0-2), Detroit 7-17 (Atkins 3-5, Daye 2-2, Villanueva 1-3, Jerebko 1-4, Hamilton 0-1, Stuckey 0-2). Fouled Out: Paul, Atkins. Rebounds: New Orleans 41 (West 9), Detroit 57 (Wallace 21). Assists: New Orleans 25 (Paul 14), Detroit 27 (Hamilton 10). Fouls: New Orleans 31, Detroit 20. Technicals: Songaila, New Orleans defensive three second, Hamilton, Detroit defensive three second. A: 17,446 (22,076).

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Recap: Pistons 110, Hornets 104 (OT)
WHAT HAPPENED: The Pistons have a small, two-game winning streak, but they will take it after losing 13 in a row. The Pistons got a monster game from Ben Wallace (13 points, 21 rebounds) as Detroit outscored the Hornets, 14-8, in overtime. Wallace added five assists and two blocked shots. Rip Hamilton is starting to find his shot, scoring 32 points on 10-for-22 shooting, and he added 10 assists.

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The big number: 27, the number of assists by the Pistons, showing there was good ball movement most of the night.

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The other side: David West had 25 points and nine rebounds, and Chris Paul had 24 points and 14 assists.

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New position? Coach John Kuester used Jonas Jerebko at the point for a short period of time when Chucky Atkins fouled out in the fourth quarter, and he wasn't quite ready to bring back Rodney Stuckey.

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Injury report: Will Bynum (left ankle sprain), Tayshaun Prince (left knee) and Ben Gordon (right groin strain) sat out for the Pistons. Ike Diogu (strained left knee), Sean Marks (muscle strain) and former Spartan Morris Peterson (back spasms) were out for the Hornets.

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Two cents: You wonder how much Wallace will have in the tank tonight for the Knicks after playing 41 minutes Friday.

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Stuckey's OT surge helps Pistons start win streak
It looked like Rodney Stuckey’s night was done. Not liking Stuckey’s body language as the guard labored with a sore knee against the Hornets, Pistons coach John Kuester turned to Jonas Jerebko of all people when backup point guard Chucky Atkins fouled out in the fourth quarter. Kuester didn’t have much choice with other point guard options Ben Gordon, Will Bynum and Tayshaun Prince on the bench nursing injuries. Stuckey asked to go back in and the struggles continued through regulation as the game was tied at 96 going into overtime. But Stuckey rebounded to score eight points in the extra session of the Pistons’ 110-104 overtime victory.

And while folks still question whether the third-year pro from Eastern Washington will ever be a true point guard, there is no questioning his physical toughness. The Pistons (13-25) were nursing a two-point lead with 1:20 left when Stuckey was able to nail a jumper while drawing a foul from the Hornets’ Marcus Thornton. Stuckey responded by letting out a scream as he walked toward the free-throw line. “I just told him: ‘Keep digging, keep digging,’ “ Pistons guard Richard Hamilton said. “I don’t care how many shots you miss as long as you are being aggressive, especially when we are in the penalty.” “Just try to run somebody over and get to the free-throw line. He did an excellent job of that at the end of the game.”

Stuckey later drew the sixth foul on Hornets superstar Chris Paul. But there were other heroes for the Pistons, who now have a modest two-game winning streak. Ben Wallace put up a monster 13-point, 21-rebound, five-assist, two-block night and Hamilton had 32 points – his first 30-point night of the season. David West had 25 points for the Hornets (20-18).

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Tonight: Knicks
Matchup: Pistons 13-25, New York 16-23.
Tipoff: 7:30, Palace.
TV/radio: FSD, WXYT-FM (97.1).
Line: Pistons by 1 1/2 .