AT




Time: 8:00
TV: FSD
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Where: The Palace of Auburn Hills, MI


The Preview

Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva were the key players brought in during the Detroit Pistons' revamping of their roster after last season. At least for one game, the moves appeared to be good ones.

Gordon and Villanueva will make their home debuts with the Pistons when they take on Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night.

Detroit president of basketball operations Joe Dumars knew he needed to change his club after it went 39-43 last season and was swept by Cleveland in the first round of the playoffs, ending its run of six straight Eastern Conference finals appearances.

After firing coach Michael Curry and giving John Kuester his first NBA head coaching job, he added Gordon and Villanueva as free agents, while also coaxing Ben Wallace -- who played for the Pistons from 2000-06 -- out of retirement.

All three players contributed to a 96-74 rout of Memphis on Wednesday. Gordon scored 22 points and hit four 3-pointers, Villanueva added seven points and Wallace contributed nine rebounds off the bench.

Richard Hamilton led Detroit with 25 points as the former University of Connecticut guards went a combined 17 of 31 from the floor, even though Hamilton missed five of his first six shots.

"I don't think there's ever been a problem, especially in this locker room," Hamilton said of sharing time with Gordon. "We're UConn guys. We know how to win.

"We just go out there and try to feed off each other on the floor."

Some questioned whether the two high-scoring guards would work well together, but the Pistons liked what they saw in the opener.

"We're in a situation where we have two guys that are legitimate scorers in this league at the (shooting) guard position," said forward Tayshaun Prince, whose streak of 437 straight starts is the longest in the NBA. "To put (the questions) to rest, we just have to go out and play basketball and know those two guys are going to do that.

"They stepped up big for us, but that's what we are going to need from them throughout the season for us to be the team we want to be."

Oklahoma City doesn't have any question about who its top scorer is, with former Rookie of the Year Durant leading the way. He had 25 points and 11 boards in a 102-89 season-opening victory over Sacramento on Wednesday.

The Thunder cruised after building a 39-22 lead after one quarter.

"That's one of the best first quarters we've ever had," Durant said. "Guys did a great job of making shots -- which is rare when everybody makes shots -- but we did a great job on the other end of limiting backdoor cuts, which get them going as a team."

The Pistons may use the long-armed Prince to defend Durant, who averaged 29.0 points on 57.5 percent shooting in two games against Detroit last season. Each team won one meeting at home.

The Thunder franchise has lost five straight and 10 of 11 at Detroit.

Let's make it 2-0! DETROIT BASKETBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLL!!!

Yeah, let's show the world we are improving.

quote:

Originally posted by Dr. Evil:
Let's make it 2-0! DETROIT BASKETBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLL!!!

Yessir! I got a FANTASTIC deal on two seats nine rows from the court on Ebay so I'll be heading to the Palace in a few hours. Can't wait. If you're a diehard fan with some expendable cash, this is the season to find some incredible deals on great seats. Gonna be real easy to get prime seats cheap most of the season.

Is Rip gonna play?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4610002

quote:

Gordon will start for Hamilton

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Detroit Pistons guard Richard Hamilton will miss at least two games because of a sprained right ankle.

Pistons coach John Kuester says Ben Gordon will start in Hamilton's spot Friday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Chucky Atkins was activated to add depth.

Hamilton also will not play Saturday night at Milwaukee. He was injured late in Wednesday night's season-opening win at Memphis. Postgame X-rays on the ankle were negative.

Hamilton scored a team-high 25 points in the victory and the Coatesville, Pa., native has led Detroit in scoring for seven straight seasons.

quote:

Gordon will start for Hamilton

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Detroit Pistons guard Richard Hamilton will miss at least two games because of a sprained right ankle.

Pistons coach John Kuester says Ben Gordon will start in Hamilton's spot Friday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Chucky Atkins was activated to add depth.

Hamilton also will not play Saturday night at Milwaukee. He was injured late in Wednesday night's season-opening win at Memphis. Postgame X-rays on the ankle were negative.

Hamilton scored a team-high 25 points in the victory and the Coatesville, Pa., native has led Detroit in scoring for seven straight seasons.

I wouldn't read much into that. I highly doubt Rip will be back after only 2 games. If the guy did sprain it as bad as he said it will take a week or two. 2 days is not enough time to heal a sprained ankle, especially for the way he plays.

Is Ben's headband pink or is it my old television?

Forget it...I see Charlie's is too.

Breast cancer awareness, I get it. And I'm talking to myself.

atdhe.whatever is not working... making me angry.

Stuck still needs to get better touch on his lay ups when he attacks the rim aggressively. He's always bricking lay ups.

Too many turnovers in the early going.

When this team keeps its turnovers low and hits jumpers at a decent clip, it will be tough to beat.

Of course, in the immortal words of Eric Wright, that's "eazier said than dunn."

quote:

Originally posted by ahike12:
atdhe.whatever is not working... making me angry.

go to nba.com and make a profile. you can watch a free preview of league pass until the 2nd. Great quality.

quote:

Originally posted by LongGun:

quote:

Originally posted by ahike12:
atdhe.whatever is not working... making me angry.

go to nba.com and make a profile. you can watch a free preview of league pass until the 2nd. Great quality.

It's not working. Says the game is blacked out, but it's not.

Will the Thrill with the buzzer beater.

The man is gonna get paid next year. I hope he's still cashing checks in the 'D'.

quote:

Originally posted by Afflalo2theMax:

quote:

Originally posted by LongGun:

quote:

Originally posted by ahike12:
atdhe.whatever is not working... making me angry.

go to nba.com and make a profile. you can watch a free preview of league pass until the 2nd. Great quality.

It's not working. Says the game is blacked out, but it's not.

I'm watching from Florida. Maybe it's blacked out in the Detroit area? If so, that sucks.

wow. kwame penetrates into the paint and kicks it out to maxiell, who decides to drive in himself.

offensive foul.


let that be a lesson to you both

Looking at OKC's uniforms gives me acid flashbacks to the teal era.

the chat room wont kill you guys, just so you know.

That front court of Brown/Maxiell was -7 in a little over 5 minutes. That combo can't score, and doesn't spread the floor. Thunder defenders can provide help defense on perimeter players, forcing them to shoot contested shots from the outside.

They blew the lead. Those two should never be on the floor together. Where's Wilcox? That would be an improvement, in combo with either Brown or Maxiell. Brown/Maxiell didn't work last season, and won't work this season.

The Thunder has been slashing inside and passing for an easy bucket since the end of the first quarter. Can't they trap or at least anticipate a pass when someone drives inside?