'Nasty News - Traversing Time & Space' Vol: 68

[nasty daddy]

http://need4sheed.com/2010/03/atlanta-over-detroit.html

Maybe this was a good one to miss.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.detroitbadboys.com/2010/3/14 ... no-schmuck

Will Bynum Ain't No Schmuck
On Friday night the Pistons' faithful witnessed Will Bynum (aka MFWB) shatter his career assists record and accomplish something (20 assists) another Pistons player hasn't done in nearly 25 years. If you're not quite 25-years-old yet, like me, it's the first time in your life that you saw a Piston rack up at least 20 assists -- the last being Hall-of-Famer Isiah Thomas' 21 on April 12, 1985. Bynum's 20th assist came after Ben Gordon knocked down a long two with a little less than three seconds remaining in the game -- a game that was all but already won by Detroit. Normally, teams with a 12-point lead run out the final seconds, but Bynum took a Charlie Villanueva pass after a missed free throw, dribbled past half court, and made a 20 foot, or so, pass to Ben Gordon in the corner. When Gordon made the jumper, it gave Bynum his 20th assist. It also opened Bynum up to criticism to those who felt like the Pistons should have followed an unwritten rule and simply run out the final seconds rather than try to help Bynum reach a statistical milestone. Justin Rogers of MLIVE wrote that it reminded him of a couple of schmucks:

It was March 9, 1996 and the Orlando Magic were soundly beating the Pistons. [Anthony] Bowie was having a particularly big night starting in place of injured Nick Anderson. He had 20 points, nine rebounds and nine assists when he grabbed his tenth rebound in the final seconds of the game. Despite his team having a 20 point lead, Bowie called a timeout wanting to rack up one final assist and net his first career double. Orlando's head coach, and current Pistons assistant, Brian Hill, refused to draw up a play for the stat-padding stunt. Possibly even more disgusted, Pistons coach Doug Collins told his players to not defend the play. Bowie ended up with getting the assist and the triple double, but ended up looking like a schmuck. In 2003, Cleveland's Ricky Davis shot at his own basket trying to get the final rebound necessary for his own triple double. Again, schmuck.

Rogers went on to say that Bynum's assist "sacrificed class" and that the moment of celebration afterward was "unnecessary" because Bynum didn't need the 20th assist to seal a "dazzling" night. I'll admit I don't know why 20 assists is commemorated so much more than 19 assists undoubtedly would have been (It may be an "arbitrary milestone" because Bynum could also be the first Piston to have 19 assists in 25 years -- I don't know), but 20 is a nicer, easier number to keep track of in the record book, I guess. It's a milestone, nonetheless.It's completely different than those other two players Rogers references, though. Bynum didn't do anything crazy, like call a selfish timeout or shoot on the wrong hoop (which is just ridiculous!), to allow him to collect that last stat. All he did was play out the clock with his teammates.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.detroitbadboys.com/2010/3/14 ... no-schmuck

But Rogers wasn't the only one who thought it was classless, according to a Washington source:

The shot infuriated Wizards assistant coach Randy Wittman, who shouted toward the Pistons' bench.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.detroitbadboys.com/2010/3/14 ... no-schmuck

However, it didn't receive any mention from the Wizards' head coach, Flip Saunders, as far as I know, and the players seemed to place blame, if any, on themselves:

Asked afterward if he was upset, [Andray] Blatche said: "You can be, but you can't be. Guys in this league, they got their own accomplishments that they're trying to meet. It's our job to stop them. If they make a play at the end of the game like that, that's our fault. We can't criticize them because of it. It's part of the game."

[nasty daddy]

http://www.detroitbadboys.com/2010/3/14 ... no-schmuck

Mike Miller actually praised Bynum and the Pistons' ball movement after the game. We only hear something from a frustrated assistant coach. On the other hand, as Rogers mentions in his piece, Pistons' head coach at the time, Doug Collins, tried to make it a point that Anthony Bowie's tactic lacked class by attempting to remove his players from the court, but because he technically couldn't, he instead told them to not defend the play. In the Ricky Davis situation, Utah coach, Jerry Sloan, was irate after the game and said he would have fouled Davis harder than DeShawn Stevenson did to prevent the impure triple-double. If Bynum's 20th assist was at all classless don't you think we would have heard something from the Wizards' head coach or players about it? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't find anything that says that final assist was at the expense of the Wizards' dignity.

(This is probably the segue into a debate specifically about running up the score. Some feel that playing your starters and playing really hard late in a blow out is classless and others think that there's nothing wrong with it. I think the NBA is a little less cut and dry than other sports in these regards (like in the NFL when a team winning by a lot late, it's pretty clear you can run it or a baseball team up by a bunch of runs late isn't going to stretch out hits or steal). In any sport, however, some would argue that if the other team can't stop it, then it's their fault, and Blatche explicitly states as much. These are elite athletes (or coaches) with enormous, competitive egos and they're not mentally programmed to give in. In this case, Flip Saunders was more worried about criticizing his own players in his post-game comments than to concern himself with an otherwise meaningless assist.) In addition to being accomplished in a far more orthodox manner, 20+ assists is arguably a much more prestigious accomplishment than a triple-double because it doesn't happen nearly as often. In the last five years, 20+ assists has been cracked just 25 times. There were 40 triple-doubles last season (54 if you want to include this season's totals). 20+ assists has happened just a little over 100 times in NBA history, while triple-doubles happen on the reg (Jason Kidd alone has 100+).

Factor that all together and ask yourself if this really makes Bynum (and his contributing teammates) anything at all closely related to Bowie and Davis. Personally, I have no problem with last second, meaningless shot attempts, unless they are emphatic, backboard slapping dunks. I don't think I've ever felt uneasy about a player, on the winning or losing team, throwing up a last second shot just for the hell of it. I'm even more at ease in this case because the Wizards appeared to actually defend it, somewhat, and Gordon still had to hit a shot he hasn't been making this season. If one is going to take off his/her bias tinted glasses and nitpick a feat that hasn't occurred in almost 25 years of Pistons' basketball, one should bother going in the other direction and actually try to figure out if all 20 assists were legitimate -- similar to the analysis done on Darren Collison's alleged 20-assist night just earlier this week -- because a schmuck Bynum is not.

[nasty daddy]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/3618 ... uit-basket

Blessing In Disguise: Detroit Pistons Should Send Sprained Ankles a Fruit Basket
Sprained ankles are the best thing that have happened to the Detroit Pistons this season. Don't listen to anyone who tells you different. I consider myself a realistic and patient basketball fan, but I have a hard time imagining a feasible scenario where Joe Dumars turned what we had at the beginning of this "rebuilding" phase into less.

What Dumars turned all that into is a jump shooting .500 team (at best) with too few minutes and shots to go around in the backcourt, no inside presence whatsoever, quite a few bad contracts, and extremely limited flexibility. I understand that rebuilding is rarely easy, but Joe admittedly broke up the team too early in order to make the transition easier, and I can scarcely imagine a more painful pair of seasons than the past two. To say nothing of the apparently bleak future that lies ahead. A couple of .500-ish seasons with a bright outlook would be one thing; as it is, the Pistons are one of the worst teams in the league with no apparent ways to significantly improve aside from the promising young big man we stand to draft in the lottery. There's nothing wrong with rebuilding through the draft when you start the process with a bloated payroll, bad contracts and a lack of movable assets; there was no reason for it to come to this.

The 09-10 Pistons are a team that, by necessity, has to overperform to beat all but the worst teams. The worst thing that could have happened to this season was if everyone remained healthy. They probably would have had a similar record to last season's (at best) and (also at best) met a similar fate with a humiliating first-round sweep. Only, when that happened last year, at least we had a promising future with around $20 million to spend (giving Arron Afflalo and Amir Johnson away in the process); what we're looking at now is essentially "The Pistons." If not for that juicy lottery pick, I don't know if we'd have anything to look forward to at all.

[nasty daddy]

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=300314005

LeBron James scored 30 points, 24 in the second half, and Cleveland wore down the aging Boston Celtics for a 104-93 victory on Sunday, the Cavaliers' second decisive win over one of the East's premier teams in less than a month.

The Cavaliers were closer to full strength with the return of forward Antawn Jamison, who had 15 points and 12 rebounds after missing one game with a sore knee. Anderson Varejao had 17 points and 10 boards.

Ray Allen scored 20, while Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett had 18 apiece for the Celtics.

[nasty daddy]

http://espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=300314015

Jerry Stackhouse tied his season high with 20 points and the Bucks survived a late rally from the short-handed Indiana Pacers for a 98-94 victory Sunday, their sixth straight win.

Andrew Bogut added 17 points and 12 rebounds, and John Salmons had 12 points for the Bucks, who won their 12th of the last 13.

Granger scored 14 of his 29 points in the third quarter. Indiana was without point guard T.J. Ford and swingman Mike Dunleavy. Ford is expected to miss seven to 10 days with a sore left groin and Dunleavy is day-to-day with a right eye contusion.

[nasty daddy]

http://twitter.com/DETPistons

Why no TV? @FSDetroit picked up 2 games ESPN dropped, only contracted to show 78, had to 'drop' 2 others from their schedule.

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http://twitter.com/dsummers35

March MADNeSS!!!!

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http://twitter.com/Adaye5

At the movies seein shutter island wit. @CV31

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http://twitter.com/Adaye5

in Boston tired.... gotta get some ZZZzzzzz'ss Gnight tweet world

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http://twitter.com/Adaye5

just got a good workout in about to take a lil nap and watch these games at the same time lol

[nasty daddy]

http://twitter.com/detroit_pistons

Freep: In the case of Allen Iverson, the truth hurts: PHILADELPHIA — Once upon a time, it was hard to determine wh... http://bit.ly/9Dwyf9

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http://twitter.com/detroit_pistons

Freep: Mateen Cleaves joins FSD as Pistons analyst: Former Michigan State basketball star Mateen Cleaves is joinin... http://bit.ly/9WojBm

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http://twitter.com/detroit_pistons

MLive: Report: Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey not likely to play in next two games: Pistons guard has not gone throu... http://bit.ly/cH2007

[nasty daddy]

http://twitter.com/detroit_pistons

Freep: Pistons' Rodney Stuckey unlikely to play next two games: ATLANTA -- Detroit Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey sa... http://bit.ly/dwrqRd

[nasty daddy]

http://twitter.com/detroit_pistons

FullCourtPress: About Last Night: At least the Detroit Pistons held Mario West scoreless: The Hawks shoot ridiculo... http://bit.ly/bT73Al

[nasty daddy]

http://espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=300314014

O'Neal was ejected midway through the third quarter after grabbing Samuel Dalembert's face during a confrontation. Miami also played a second game in a row without second-leading scorer Michael Beasley, sidelined with a bruised left thigh.

Jones scored 14 and Udonis Haslem had 13 points and 12 rebounds off the Miami bench. Carlos Arroyo had a season-high 10 assists, 12 points and no turnovers.

Reserve Jason Kapono saw extended playing time against Miami's zone and led the 76ers with 17 points.

[nasty daddy]

http://espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=300314019

Jackson scored 28 points, Raymond Felton had 16 and the Bobcats held on to tie a franchise record with their sixth straight victory, 96-89 over the Magic on Sunday night.

Stephen Graham added 12 points to help the Bobcats pull away with a late 12-3 run for their first win in four chances this season against the Southeast Division leader. And they did it without All-Star Gerald Wallace, out with an injured left ankle.

Dwight Howard had 27 points and 16 rebounds, and Vince Carter finished with 23 points for the Magic, who had their eight-game winning streak snapped. Mickael Pietrus added 20 points in place of injured starter Matt Barnes, sidelined with a sprained left big toe.