Slow Start...Strong Finish

The Pistons kicked off the 2008-09 season against Indiana. Although it took awhile for our boys to get going in the 1st quarter, they caught up quickly and played solid the rest of the night. For those of us doubting the Amir Johnson experiment, we were pleasantly surprised. Amir did everything that was expected of him. It was great to see him stay out of foul trouble and play great defense and hustle down loose balls. At the start of the second half, he showed a nice touch with his jumper as well; hitting several open looks from 12-15'.

We also got a nice performance from the bench, 38 points to be exact. Stuck had a tough time staying out of foul trouble, but showed us all his ability to consistently get to the basket. In time, I'm sure he'll be able to convert many more of those opportunities as well as get some more respect from the officials for the contact he takes every time on his trips to the hoop. The one thing I'd like to see more from the bench is better defense. However I'm sure this too will come as they gel together as a unit.

Our next game will be Saturday against the Washington Wizards at the Palace.

Pre-Season Game #1...In the Books

The Pistons played their 1st game of the preseason Sunday night in Miami. The game was not televised, however from looking at the box score, it's obvious that Stuckey was the star of the show. He hit 2 clutch jumpers in the final minutes to send the game into overtime. The Pistons outscored Miami 9 to 5 in the OT session to take the win. Stuck finished with a game high 23 points. You can look forward to your 1st chance to see our boys back in action this Wednesday. They play the Milwaukee Bucks and the game will be televised on FSN Detroit.

4 Weeks Until Training Camp...

That's right, we are less than a month away from the start of training camp for the 2008-09 season. Despite all of the speculation at the end of the season, the core of this team remains intact. We have a new leader on the sideline in the form of new head coach Michael Curry. We are once again primed for another title run. The emergence of more minutes this year for Stuckey, Afflalo, and Johnson should be a big boost.

The consensus seems to be that McDyess will go back to his role of a bench man. I personally hope so. Don't get me wrong, I love Dice, and he was great as a starter. However, he also would prove to be a calming influence for the bench guys and provide leadership for them when that 2nd group comes in. If that is in fact the case, who becomes the 5th starter? There are a number of possible candidates. For now, lets see what all of you think. Vote for your choice in the weekly poll.

Schedule Released

The Pistons announced their 2008-09 schedule today. The schedule has finally turned back into our favor a little bit. We play six fewer sets of back-to-backs and don't have to play the deadly Texas triangle at all. However, the beginning of the season is very road heavy. We'll have to work hard to come out strong at the beginning.

Make a Move or Stand Pat

We are at that point in the NBA off season where things have come to a grinding halt. The draft has come and gone. Most of the available free agents are signed. And most NBA fans are now focused this summer on watching the US try to get back to its rightful spot of #1 in the world at the Olympics in China. Yes, all is quiet. Which begs the question, what do the Pistons do now? Do we stand pat with what we have, knowing that this team is a bonified title contender right now; or do we still feel the need to make a big splash and shake up the roster? Is the addition of Kwame Brown enough? Do we still need that "go-to scorer"? These are all questions I'm sure that Joe Dumars contemplates day after day. If he hasn't been faced with enough tough decisions already, if we look ahead to the end of the upcoming season, he'll be faced with more. Rasheed Wallace will be an un-restricted free agent. Rip Hamilton will likely opt out of his contract and become un-restricted as well. Right there you have 40% of your starting lineup that will be on the open market to the highest bidder. Who knows, maybe the continued growth of Stuckey, Maxiell, and Johnson will make those players expendable. If that be the case however, don't you want something for those players? You certainly don't want to let them walk. However, at what point to you pull the trigger? Well, this is why Joe D makes the big bucks and us fans speculate on blogs and forums. For now, we can look forward to another fantastic Pistons season. Training camp is less than 2 months away. For now, vote in this weeks poll and give us your opinion of what Joe D should do, make a move; or stand pat...

Love for Stuck!

Rodney Stuckey continues to receive rave reviews from those in the NBA world. Fran Frischilla projected him to be on the Olympic team in 2012 during todays broadcast of USA versus Turkey on ESPN2. He went on for several minutes about how impressed he was with him when he played on the select team versus team USA in a warm up a few days ago. Add this to the continued hype that surrounds our 2nd year guard. If Stuckey lives up to all of this, and I sure hope he does, what do the Pistons do in the backcourt? Although the Pistons played him a lot backing up Billups last year, I believe for him to achieve his full potential, he needs to play the 2 spot. Much along the likes of D-Wade. If that is the case, what do you do with Rip? Rip can opt out of his contract after this season and more than likely will, if anything else to receive a pay raise. If the Pistons are committed to Stuckey at that point, they certainly wouldn't pony up bug money for Hamilton. So do you trade Hamilton now and make sure you get something in return? It certainly is something to think about. You definately don't want a player of Rip's caliber to just walk away when he could be a huge bargaining chip. Of course all of this rests on the potential of one possibly very special player...

Kwame Brown to the Pistons!

Breaking news on ESPN has Kwame Brown agreeing to a 2 year deal with the Pistons. Some of you may laugh at this deal but I for one am excited. Say what you want about KB (my new nick name for him) he is still young and still is a true center. We don't need a lot of scoring production at the 5 spot. He will provide a shot blocking presence and a rebound presence. He is still very young and still, I believe, has potential to grow his game. Maybe him being around a great big man influence in Rasheed will help him to improve. He was playing pretty well for the Lakers, with no one to help him up front. He won't have that problem in Detroit as we have a very solid starting front line and great reserves in Maxiell and McDyess. I think this could be a steal for the Pistons!