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

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

Welcome home Rasheed: By the time his stint was coming to an end in Detroit, many had grown tired of Rasheed Wallace's act. That doesn't discount the fact that he put this franchise over the hump on the way to the 2004 title. John Mason, the Pistons flamboyant public address announcer, made sure the Palace crowd gave Wallace a warm welcome with a nice introduction. But after the opening tip, it was all business.

Wallace actually had a decent night starting in place of the injured Kevin Garnett. He finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, three steals and a block. Unfortunately for Wallace, it was two blocks against him that got the Palace crowd rocking. In the third quarter, with the Celtics holding a 58-52 lead, Wallace caught a pass at the elbow on a cut toward the basket. He took two steps and launched from just below the free throw circle for a emphatic dunk. But waiting at the rim, with an outstretched arm was Jason Maxiell. The attempted slam ricocheted off the backboard into Austin Daye's hands. Daye quickly passed to Rodney Stuckey, who took it the rest of the way for a lay in that cut Boston's lead to four.

Then, with four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, and the Pistons holding a six-point advantage, Wallace posted against Charlie Villanueva on the left block. Wallace made a quick spin to his right and looked to have an easy layup until Ben Wallace slid across the lane and sent the shot back 15 feet in the other direction.

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

Maximum performance: Jason Maxiell came out of the gate tonight a little frisky. He hit a couple of nice looking 15-foot jumpers over Kendrick Perkins in the second quarter and you could tell he was feeling it.

But in the third quarter Jason Maxiell took over. That's right, he took over. He did it all including the big block on Wallace, hitting a few mid-range jump shots, setting solid screens and playing tough defense on Perkins.

His energy set the tone for the quarter which saw the Pistons outscore the Celtics, 21-13, and erase the eight-point halftime deficit.

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Pierce fizzles quickly: Paul Pierce's personal best scoring mark for a single game is 50 points, and after the first quarter I was fairly convinced he might have a new career high by the end of the night.

Pierce finished the first with 17 points and the defensive combination of Jonas Jerebko and Austin Daye seemed severely overmatched.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers opted to start the second quarter with Pierce on the bench and he wasn't a factor the rest of the game. He only scored four points on 1-5 shooting over the final three quarters.

[nasty daddy]

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Strange Daye: Austin Daye had an interesting night. First John Kuester called on him to defend Rajon Rondo in the second quarter. The move worked pretty well as Daye was able to contain Rondo's quickness with his length. Later in the second quarter, Daye put a move on Pierce that should be on his rookie season highlight reel. Guarded by Pierce on the left wing, Daye put the ball on the court. At the left elbow he picked up his dribble, pulled a beautiful 360 degree spin that made Pierce look like he's shoes were glued to the floor and scored an easy layup.

Daye's night took another weird twist toward the end of the half. When Stuckey was whistled for his third foul, Kuester called on Daye to play some point guard. The performance wasn't particularly notable, outside of the final play of the half. After the Pistons allowed the Celtics to go on a six-point run in the closing minute to extend their lead to 11 with 4.9 seconds remaining, Daye took the inbounds pass the length of the court and nailed a three-point shot at the buzzer.

The most important aspect of Daye's night was his solid defensive performance. During the crucial third quarter he made quality rotations and was consistently disruptive to what the Celtics were trying to establish in the half-court set.

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Taking care of the ball: Detroit turned the ball over a staggering 15 times in the first half. To put that in perspective, the team is averaging just over 13 turnovers a game this year. Rip Hamilton was responsible for eight of those turnovers.

The Pistons came out in the second half much more protective of the basketball and the patience paid off as they only turned the ball over once in the second half.

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Pistons dominate key stats: The Pistons bench outscored their counterparts, 43-12. Detroit also controlled the glass, outrebounding Boston, 45-35.

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Missed opportunity: The game was exciting, but it didn't necessarily have to be.

The Pistons simply couldn't find the mark, despite wide-open looks on the perimeter. Three-point shooting was an area where the team really thrived during their recent three-game winning streak. Between the second and fourth quarters, Detroit missed six open three-point shots before Charlie Villanueva hit a contested long ball with the shot clock winding down last in the fourth quarter.

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Stuckey's big night: Rodney Stuckey had a monster evening on the stat sheet. He finished with 27 points on 11-24 shooting, a career-high 11 rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block.

The line is a slightly misleading. Stuckey's rebounding total and missed field goals were slightly inflated by several missed tip-ins on the offensive end. He also definitely missed a few makeable layups along the way. Stuckey could have easily finished with 35 points on the night.

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http://www.nba.com/2010/news/01/21/cavs ... ef:nbahpt2

Cavs' Williams (shoulder) won't play vs. Lakers
Cavaliers starting point guard Mo Williams will miss Thursday's game against the Los Angeles Lakers with a sprained left shoulder.

The Cavaliers did not say how long they could be without Williams, their second-leading scorer. The team said Williams, who scored 28 points against the Lakers on Christmas Day, was being evaluated at the Cleveland Clinic.

Cavs coach Mike Brown said Delonte West will start in place of Williams.

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http://www.nba.com/2010/news/01/20/blaz ... index.html

Blazers' Roy strains hamstring, leaves game vs. 76ers
Portland guard Brandon Roy missed the second half of the Trail Blazers' game against the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night because of a strained right hamstring.

Roy, who is averaging 23.4 points, grabbed his right thigh after banking in a 10-footer with 1:02 left in the second quarter. The Blazers said Roy would not return and is listed as day-to-day.

Roy scored 10 points in 18 minutes.

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

Rip Hamilton not afraid to claw his way to victory
This photo clearly shows Richard Hamilton's long and intimidating fingernails. There's plenty of dirty tactics players put to use on the basketball court. Some are conventional, like John Stockton's illegal screens and some are more unconventional, like when Ron Artest pulled down Paul Pierce's shorts.

In one of the more organic instances of dirty play, Detroit Pistons guard Richard Hamilton is known around the league a notorious scratcher. The Oregonian's Jason Quick talked to Portland Trail Blazer point guard Andre Miller about Hamilton's lethal nails. January 21, OregonLive.com: “Richard Hamilton has some nails,’’ Miller said. “I get scratched up every time I play him. Everywhere.’’ Miller says he can only take so much during a game. “I’ve seen a couple guys play with long nails, and I tell them in the game after a while that they have to cut their nails,’’ Miller said.

This isn't the first time Hamilton has been fingered as a scratcher. November, 2008, Boston.com: Allen said he talked to Hamilton about his fingernails, which prompted Allen to wear an arm sleeve against the Pistons in the playoffs last season. "He was saying how when he saw me come out the next game with an arm sleeve on, they started laughing about it," said Allen. "And then I said, 'Look, man, I'm wearing an arm sleeve because . . .' And then I picked his hand up and looked at his nails. And his nails were way out. He said, 'Man, I didn't know I cut people up like that. People tell me all the time that I need to cut my nails, but I don't know what I'm doing.' I told him, 'Come on, dog, you know why you're using them.' " Even in Hamilton was able to genuinely plead ignorance back in 2008, he clearly knows the ten dirty weapons he's wielding each time he steps on a basketball court today. But as my boss once told me, "do it until they say no."

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Glen Davis adds context to his nickname after exchange with Detroit Pistons fan
Glen Davis simply couldn't handle the abuse handed out by the Detroit Pistons and their fans. Boston Celtics forward Glen Davis has maturity issues. It's why the "Big Baby" moniker fits him so well.

During Wednesday's game against the Detroit Pistons, Davis took issue with the comments from a heckler. January 21, Boston.com: Perhaps if you were watching last night’s Celtics-Pistons game on television or listening on the radio, you heard an expletive yelled out. That was Boston’s Glen “Big Baby’’ Davis shouting at a Detroit fan who kept calling him “fat boy’’ during the first half. Davis’s graphic remark stunned fans sitting behind the Celtics’ bench. The fan, Scott Zack, was warned by arena security about his heckling but was determined to press the issue about Davis’s remark. Zack said he filed a complaint with NBA security. Davis' coach Doc Rivers was obviously disappointed.

January 21, ESPN.com: "We know what happened, and that's unacceptable," Rivers said. "It's tough when the fans are yelling that stuff at you, but you have to be stronger than that."
... "I don't think it's a huge step backwards [in Davis' maturity], but it is a step. backwards," Rivers said. "Glen Davis has to grow up. This just isn't turning out to be Davis' season. You may remember that he missed the first two months of a season after suffering a broken thumb in a fight with a friend. The Celtics considered a suspension for the incident, but opted to just levy a fine on the backup forward. These latest incidents are not going to look good on his resume when he finally decides to try out for the NFL.

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The Detroit Pistons are 17th in 'fan loyalty' over the last decade, according to Basketball Reference
The Detroit Pistons have been one of the most successful teams of the decade, but how does the team's fan loyalty stack up to other teams? Basketball Reference's Neil Paine got out is calculator (Nerd alert -- in involves mathematical equations) and looked at fan loyalty of each NBA team over the last 10 years. Basically the formula takes into account population, arena capacity and winning percentage: Fan Loyalty, then, would be the difference between a team's actual attendance % and their expected rate -- the rate at which fans supported the team above and beyond what can be explained by team success (@#$% bandwagoners!) and the size of the metropolitan area.

The results? Despite winning nearly 60 percent of their games over the last 10 years, the Pistons don't have the greatest fan loyalty -- 17th in the league. Now, like most research, this is interesting, but far from perfect. The first comment is pretty relevant to the Detroit area: I think another factor that wasn't mentioned was how many (or few) other pro/major college sports teams were within any given market. Three teams in the top seven -- Utah, San Antonio and Sacramento -- are the only game in town in their respective markets.

Detroit, on the other hand, has two other franchises in the Red Wings and Tigers who have had varying levels of success during the same stretch as the Pistons. They also have the Lions, and while we all know the Lions may have had the worst decade in the history of any pro sport, their fans inexplicably didn't decide until last season that, "hey, maybe we shouldn't sell out Ford Field every week to watch a team that would lose to some college programs." In other words, the Pistons have a lot of competition. Now, I've made the case that I think fans tend to jump ship on the Pistons more quickly than other pro teams in the state (see: Lions) despite their success, but again, competition is a big part of that. If the Pistons are frustrating to watch, it's always been easy for sports fans to switch gears and focus on the Red Wings (not this year though) or Michigan State basketball or Tigers Spring Training. Another factor that's not considered in the formula: the economy. Every team's attendance has been impacted by economic issues, but it would be interesting to know if the areas with the worst economies, like in Michigan, are more impacted when it comes to loyalty than, say, a team like Dallas.

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http://www.nba.com/2010/news/01/21/davi ... ef:nbahpt2

Celtics' Davis fined $25K for incident with fan in Detroit
Boston Celtics forward Glen Davis has been fined $25,000 for directing inappropriate language toward a fan, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The incident occurred with 8:44 remaining in the second quarter of Boston's 92-86 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday, Jan. 20 at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

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http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2010 ... h--players

Potential sale doesn't worry Pistons coach, players
All the news and speculation concerning the Pistons ownership situation could easily be a distraction. But coach John Kuester said after Thursday's practice it hasn't been, and won't be. "Not for me personally," Kuester said. "All I'm focused on is what we're doing with this group, trying to give all of my efforts for the players, for what Joe (Dumars, president and general manager) wants, and the for the people of Detroit. We're trying to give them a product they can be proud of."

The ownership situation is pretty much removed from the on-court product. "We play basketball -- that's all we do, we just come out and play," said Richard Hamilton, who first heard about the possibility of a sale Wednesday. "When you hear about the team being sold, it's business, just business. You don't get into it, just hope for the best."

The Pistons host the Pacers on Friday. Will Bynum (left ankle) is out, while Tayshaun Prince (knee) and Ben Gordon (groin) are game-time decisions, but questionable.

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http://www.freep.com/article/20100121/S ... the-Palace

Celtics' Glen Davis fined for obscene remark to Pistons fan
Boston Celtics forward Glen Davis has been fined $25,000 for directing inappropriate language toward a fan, it was announced today by NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson.

The incident occurred with 8:44 remaining in the second quarter of Boston's 92-86 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday at the Palace. According to the Associated Press, the fan called Davis a “fat boy” and told him to lose some weight. Davis responded with crude language. “We know what happened, and that’s unacceptable,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “It’s tough when the fans are yelling that stuff at you, but you have to be stronger than that.”

Rivers told espn.com that heckling is part of the game. "If you win the game, it keeps a lot of people quiet," Rivers said. Davis' response was audible on both the Boston radio and television broadcasts of the game, according to espn.com, and prompted the fan, according to a report in the Boston Globe, to file a complaint with NBA security. The Globe also reported that the fan, Scott Zack, had been warned earlier about his heckling of Davis.

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Pacers-Pistons Preview
Even without some of their key players, the Detroit Pistons are enjoying a strong stretch that includes a win over one of the Eastern Conference's top teams. The Pistons, though, certainly wouldn't mind getting Ben Gordon and Tayshaun Prince back as they continue their longest homestand of the season against the struggling Indiana Pacers on Friday night. Detroit (15-26) has won four of five even though it played each contest without Gordon (groin), Prince (knee) and Will Bynum (ankle). Gordon and Prince are expected to be game-time decisions Friday, while Bynum will miss his 11th straight contest. Gordon, averaging 17.2 points, has missed the last five games and 16 this season. Prince has been active for nine games. Prince was the Pistons' second-leading scorer last season, averaging 14.2 points.

Rodney Stuckey, leading the backcourt with Gordon out, had 27 points and a career-high 11 rebounds as Detroit kicked off a six-game homestand with a 92-86 win over Boston on Wednesday night. The win was the third straight at home for the Pistons, who are 3 1/2 games behind eighth-place Chicago in the East. "They understand that we're at a stage right now where we've just got to work hard," Detroit coach John Kuester said. The Pistons need Stuckey to remain sharp. The third-year guard went 11 for 24 from the field after shooting 36.9 percent over his previous four games. Stuckey was held to 10 points on 2-of-9 shooting in a 106-102 loss to Indiana on April 11, the teams' last meeting. The Pistons and Pacers (14-28) both won two games at home in last season's series. Detroit has won five straight and seven of eight versus the Pacers at The Palace.

Indiana is 4-18 on the road, allowing 107.7 points per game. The Pacers lost 109-98 at Orlando on Wednesday night, their third straight defeat following a three-game winning streak.Center Roy Hibbert, who had scored in double figures in four straight games, was held to three points as Indiana struggled with its big lineup on the floor. When the Pacers went small, utilizing players such as Dahntay Jones and Mike Dunleavy, they went on a 23-4 run to cut their deficit to eight midway through the fourth. That success may help dictate how coach Jim O'Brien uses his rotation going forward. "We struggle with a big lineup," he said. "A big lineup doesn't work for us. We are better when we're small. It is too slow, it doesn't run, it doesn't move, it doesn't get up and down and it doesn't defend on a high enough level." All-Star Danny Granger is certain to be a mainstay in whatever configuration O'Brien uses. The forward had 25 points after scoring a season-low eight on 2-of-16 shooting in a 113-83 loss to Miami on Tuesday night. Granger averaged 30.8 points and shot 40.0 percent (8 for 20) from 3-point range in his last four games against Detroit.

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http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_ ... trade-talk

The Pistons are suddenly 5-1 since their 13-game losing streak, including Wednesday night’s home win over Boston, but don't expect them to abandon their efforts to find a big man who can score by offering up old reliables Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton.

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http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4846213

White has surgery, out 6-8 weeks
Oklahoma City Thunder forward D.J. White is expected to miss six to eight weeks following surgery to repair a fractured right thumb. The Thunder say White had surgery Thursday. White was injured in practice Tuesday.

White is averaging 4.8 points and 1.9 rebounds in eight games this season. He had not played in a Thunder game for over a month, and spent about two weeks in the NBA D-League during that time.

White, a first-round draft pick out of Indiana in 2008, missed most of his rookie year following surgery to remove a benign growth from his jaw.

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http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop

All of a sudden it seems like several NBA teams wouldn't mind hearing from interested buyers. Usually, buyers pay a premium because the opportunities to buy are so rare. I imagine that won't be true for a while.