Detroit Pistons: Rebuilding Towards the Title

[Comduklakis]

Thunder Win Streak Ends At 21

The Oklahoma City are 23-2 on the season. Against the Atlanta Hawks they are 0-2. Against the rest of the NBA, they are undefeated. For the 2nd time this season, the Hawks beat the Thunder. Atlanta beat the Thunder in Oklahoma City in the 3rd game of the season and now has beaten OKC in Atlanta, winning 88-82.

[Comduklakis]

Raptors Outlast Pistons Behind Bargnani 107-105

The Detroit Piston's defensive woes and 3rd quarter woes continued against the Toronto Raptors in their 107-105 loss. Detroit was outscored 34-24 in the decisive 3rd quarter, as Andrea Bargnani scored 14 of his 33 in the 3rd. DeMar DeRozan knocked down 4 of 4 free throws in the final 27 seconds as Toronto held off the Pistons final rally attempts. The game was nip and tuck throughout, with neither team ever gaining a double digit lead. Both teams shot 50%, had 44 rebounds, and had 27 assists.

DeRozan scored 26 to go with Bargnani's 33 and also had 8 assists. Kyle Lowry had 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists in 30 productive minutes off the bench. Detroit was led by 6th man Rodney Stuckey's 24 points. Greg Monroe had 22 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists. Brandon Knight led the team with 8 assists but shot just 5-17, including 0-6 from beyond the arc. Kyle Singler had a career-high 7 assists to go with his 10 points on a perfect 4-4 shooting night.

Pistons coach Lawrence Frank said, "We continue to struggle defending. Some nights it is penetration, other nights it's cutters, others it is the post, and tonight it was a combination of slashers and stretch big men. If it was just one aspect it would be easier to solve, but our defensive issues seem to change from game to game."

Bargnani said, "I just knocked down some shots. We made some halftime adjustments to try and get some different looks and it worked out well. One of the keys for us was the defense Jose and Kyle played on Brandon Knight. They didn't let him to get clean looks and I think that was key to our victory."

Detroit fell to 13-15 and is just 3-7 in their last 10 games. Toronto improved to 9-18. Detroit now heads back to the Palace for a Friday night game with the Washington Wizards.

Detroit Pistons at Toronto Raptors
Dec 19, 2012	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Detroit (13-15)	28	24	24	29	105
Toronto (9-18)	23	26	34	24	107

Detroit Pistons
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Brandon Knight	36	5-17	0-6	1-2	3	8	1	0	1	11
Kyle Singler	26	4-4	1-1	1-2	3	7	1	1	1	10
Tayshaun Prince	34	6-12	0-1	2-2	4	1	0	1	4	14
Jason Maxiell	29	3-6	0-0	2-2	7	0	0	0	1	8
Greg Monroe	36	10-18	0-0	2-3	11	5	1	1	3	22
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Rodney Stuckey	36	8-17	0-2	8-11	6	5	1	1	0	24
Andre Drummond	18	1-1	0-0	0-0	2	1	0	2	0	2
Charlie Villanueva	13	2-6	0-2	2-2	3	0	0	0	1	6
Austin Daye	12	3-3	2-2	0-0	2	0	1	0	0	8
Will Bynum	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Jonas Jerebko	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Corey Maggette	-- DID NOT PLAY --
TEAM TOTALS		42-84	3-14	18-24	44	27	5	6	11	105

Toronto Raptors
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Jose Calderon	28	3-5	0-1	6-6	4	8	2	0	1	12
Demar DeRozan	37	11-26	2-6	2-3	6	8	2	0	5	26
Landry Fields	31	3-4	1-2	0-0	7	0	1	1	2	7
Andrea Bargnani	32	11-20	2-3	9-12	2	0	1	0	1	33
Jonas Valanciunas	25	3-5	0-0	3-4	5	0	1	1	2	9
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Kyle Lowry	30	4-9	2-4	2-4	6	7	0	0	2	12
Ed Davis	24	1-3	0-0	1-4	8	0	0	0	0	3
Terrence Ross	18	0-1	0-0	0-0	2	1	0	0	1	0
Amir Johnson	15	2-2	0-0	1-2	3	3	0	0	0	5
Allan Anderson	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Mickael Pietrus	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Linus Kleiza	-- DID NOT PLAY --
TEAM TOTALS		38-75	7-16	24-35	44	27	7	2	14	107

[Comduklakis]

Pistons Run Over By Wizards, 33 Fast Break Points Lead To 118-113 Victory

Lawrence Frank slammed his clipboard down. He stomped his feet. And at times he simply hid his face in his hands. Watching the Washington Wizards run up and down the court, tear through the middle of the Piston defense, and hit baseline cutters for easy dunk after easy dunk was not easy for the Pistons coach, nor their fans. Washington scored 33 fast break points, had 14 dunks, and grabbed 17 offensive rebounds, leading to 12 second chance points. Detroit fell behind by 20 in the 1st quarter and played catch up the rest of the way. A big 2nd quarter brought Detroit within five at half and they even took a brief one point lead at 87-86. But from there Washington dominated the third quarter and led by 13 with just over 2 and 1/2 minutes left. A quick spurt by the Pistons brought them back within 3 but an Andre Drummond block found its way right into the hands of Trevor Booker for an easy score and Detroit was not able to catch the Wizards as they knocked down the majority of their free throws in the final minute.

John Wall had 14 points in the big 1st quarter for the Wizards but struggled after the Pistons switched to a 2-3 zone and dared him to shoot the jumper. He finished with 20 but had 11 assists. Jordan Crawford had 25 points off the bench in 25 minutes while Trevor Ariza had 18 to go with 7 assists. Booker had 17 points and 8 rebounds off the bench and Kevin Seraphin had 17 rebounds and 11 points. Detroit was led by Brandon Knight with 23. Rodney Stuckey had 22 and 10 assists while Andre Drummond continued to develop at lighting speed with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Greg Monroe struggled with both foul trouble and the physical defense of Nene and was limited to just 12 points and 4 rebounds.

Pistons coach Lawrence Frank did not make himself available for comments after the game. Monroe talked to the press and said, "Defense. It is the word we hear every day, every hour. We all know we are struggling and we can't continue to allow the points we are letting in, particularly in the paint. It's on us, not coach Frank. He can't be on the court guarding anyone."

Wall said, "We took a bit of time to figure out the zone they switched too, but then we used some backdoor cutters to get points, plus we got out on the break after long rebounds and turnovers. With them taking so many threes (24) to get back into it, we capitalized on those long rebounds to get out and run."

Detroit lost their 8th game in their last 11 and fell to 13-16. Washington improved to 10-13. In a rare home and home, back to back, Detroit heads to Washington to play the Wizards tomorrow night.

Washington Wizards at Detroit Pistons
Dec 21, 2012	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Washington (10-13)	37	29	22	30	118
Detroit (13-16)	23	38	26	26	113

Washington Wizards
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
John Wall	32	8-21	0-0	4-4	8	11	4	0	4	20
Bradley Beal	38	5-10	0-2	5-8	3	2	1	1	1	15
Trevor Ariza	41	8-13	0-2	2-3	4	7	2	0	1	18
Kevin Seraphin	39	5-10	0-1	1-2	17	0	1	1	1	11
Nene	31	1-6	0-0	6-8	4	0	1	0	4	8
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Jordan Crawford	25	10-17	1-2	4-4	4	3	2	0	1	25
Trevor Booker	21	7-11	0-0	3-4	8	1	0	0	0	17
A.J. Price	10	0-3	0-1	0-0	1	6	0	0	0	0
Jan Veseley	9	2-2	0-0	0-0	3	1	0	0	1	4
Martell Webster	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Chris Singleton	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Cartier Martin	-- DID NOT PLAY --
TEAM TOTALS		46-93	1-8	25-33	52	31	11	2	13	118

Detroit Pistons
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Brandon Knight	36	10-19	3-7	0-0	2	4	4	0	6	23
Kyle Singler	22	2-4	1-2	2-2	1	0	0	1	0	7
Tayshaun Prince	30	2-5	0-1	0-0	3	5	0	2	3	4
Jason Maxiell	20	2-3	0-0	1-3	6	3	1	0	0	5
Greg Monroe	29	6-8	0-0	0-0	4	3	0	2	4	12
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Rodney Stuckey	33	10-23	2-7	0-0	3	10	1	0	0	22
Andre Drummond	26	8-10	0-0	5-6	10	0	0	2	1	21
Charlie Villanueva	18	5-13	1-5	3-3	3	0	0	0	0	14
Austin Daye	19	1-4	1-2	2-2	5	3	0	0	0	5
Will Bynum	6	0-0	0-0	0-0	1	1	0	0	1	0
Jonas Jerebko	5	0-0	0-0	0-0	1	0	0	1	0	0
Corey Maggette	-- DID NOT PLAY --
TEAM TOTALS		46-89	8-24	13-16	39	29	6	8	15	113

[Comduklakis]

Pistons Lose 2nd In A Row To Wall And The Wizards, 116-112


Different lineup combinations didn't seem to help the Pistons defensive woes as John Wall and Bradley Beal sliced their way through the Detroit defense for a 116-112 Washington Wizard victory. Detroit let the game slip away in a third quarter that saw Washington score 33 points and erase a 7 point halftime deficit. Detroit battled back and tied the game on a Brandon Knight 3 pointer with under 2 minutes left. Tayshaun Prince then gave the Pistons a two point lead with a corner jumper with 56 seconds left. However that was the last time Detroit would score as Wall was fouled and hit two free throws, Andre Drummond was called for goaltending, Prince missed a layup, and Beal iced the game with 2 free throws with 6.4 seconds left.

Washington shot 26-43 (60%) in the 2nd half and only turned the ball over 5 times in the game. The Wizards had an astonishing 70 points in the paint. The number is even more remarkable considering that Washington's two main post players, Emeka Okafor and Nene, scored just 12 points between them. Wall led Washington with 34 points and 14 assists. Beal had 30 points and Jordan Crawford had 14 off the bench. Three Wizard players were in double figures in rebounds, with Kevin Seraphin and Nene having 11 while Okafor had 10. Brandon Knight led Detroit with 23 points and 10 assists. Greg Monroe had 22 points and 11 rebounds. Andre Drummond scored 15, Rodney Stuckey 13, and Charlie Villanueva had 11.

Detroit coach Lawrence Frank switched up the lineup. Normal start Jason Maxiell did not play and was replaced in the starting lineup by Jonas Jerebko. Cory Maggette received the backup minutes behind Tayshaun Prince rather than Austin Daye, who only played the last few seconds.

Frank said, "Don't read anything permanent into the lineup decisions. We are trying out different combinations, trying to figure out how to defend and what players work best together on the defensive end. Obviously we didn't find a whole lot tonight."

Detroit fell to 13-17 and lost for the 9th time in 12 games. They now take three days of for the Christmas holiday, returning to action December 26th, at home against Atlanta.

Detroit Pistons at Washington Wizards
Dec 22, 2012	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Detroit (13-17)	27	33	24	28	112
Washington (11-13)	31	22	33	30	116

Detroit Pistons
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Brandon Knight	41	8-20	5-10	2-2	6	10	0	0	2	23
Kyle Singler	21	3-6	1-3	0-0	1	3	0	0	0	7
Tayshaun Prince	27	4-6	1-1	1-2	4	4	0	1	2	10
Jonas Jerebko	20	3-5	1-1	4-4	5	2	0	1	1	7
Greg Monroe	35	10-22	0-0	2-2	11	2	0	0	3	22
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Rodney Stuckey	31	5-13	1-1	2-2	3	3	0	0	0	13
Andre Drummond	28	7-10	0-1	1-1	4	0	0	0	0	15
Charlie Villanueva	16	3-5	1-1	4-4	3	0	1	0	0	11
Austin Daye	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Will Bynum	5	0-0	0-0	0-0	1	2	1	0	0	0
Jonas Jerebko	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Corey Maggette	21	0-3	0-2	4-4	4	4	0	1	1	4
TEAM TOTALS		43-90	10-20	16-17	42	30	2	3	9	112

Washington Wizards
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
John Wall	36	14-29	0-0	6-7	2	14	0	0	1	34
Bradley Beal	38	11-21	2-5	6-6	3	3	0	0	0	30
Trevor Ariza	38	3-7	0-2	2-2	5	4	2	0	0	8
Nene	29	3-4	0-0	0-1	11	1	1	0	0	6
Emeka Okafor	35	3-6	0-0	0-0	10	2	1	0	1	6
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Jordan Crawford	21	7-16	0-2	0-0	3	1	2	0	1	14
Kevin Seraphin	19	4-5	0-0	0-0	11	1	1	2	1	8
Trevor Booker	11	2-2	0-0	0-0	2	0	0	0	0	4
A.J. Price	10	1-3	0-0	2-2	1	1	1	0	1	4
Jan Vesely	9	1-2	0-0	0-0	1	2	0	0	0	2
Martell Webster	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Chris Singleton	-- DID NOT PLAY --
TEAM TOTALS		49-95	2-9	16-18	49	29	8	2	5	116

[Knickerbocker91]

Been a tough stretch for Detroit despite some guys playing well. What sliders are you using? I've been putting off my Knicks dynasty for so long because I struggled mightily with 2k12's sliders that I haven't bothered with 2k13.

[Comduklakis]

Quote: Originally Posted by Knickerbocker91

Been a tough stretch for Detroit despite some guys playing well. What sliders are you using? I've been putting off my Knicks dynasty for so long because I struggled mightily with 2k12's sliders that I haven't bothered with 2k13.

Just my own personal set. I guess it's sorta based off Yellez sliders for PS3, but I made a lot of tweaks. I'm thinking of knocking down the shooting sliders a point or two because the shooting percentages are a bit high. I'm just having a horrible time defensively though. I can't count the number of times my defense seemed to part like the red sea in the middle and Wall or Beal drove right down the lane. I dared them to hit jumpers, played 2-3 zone, tried different defenders, didn't seem to matter. I simply can't seem to keep guys out of the lane (as seen by Washington having 70 PIP with Okafor and Nene combining for only 14 points), whether I'm playing on-ball or off-ball defense. Most any game you see with scores in the 90s is a game I simmed, where as the 118-115 type games are the ones I play.

[Comduklakis]

Pistons Get Back On Track Defensively With 99-93 Victory Over Hawks

One statistic stood out over all others Wednesday night. 24. That was the number of points scored in the paint by the Atlanta Hawks. After letting Washington's guards carve them up with drives through the paint, it was a welcome sight to see Detroit force Atlanta to beat them from the outside. And they almost did, hitting 8-19 three pointers, but Detroit held off Atlanta in the 4th quarter, behind Rodney Stuckey's 25 points and 8 assists. Detroit shot 47% and dominated the offensive boards 14-3. Atlanta also had 4 more turnovers, resulting in Detroit shooting 21 more shots than the Hawks.

In addition to Stuckey, Greg Monroe had 19 points and 9 rebounds. Tayshaun Prince had 18 and Brandon Knight had 17 on an off-shooting night (6-19). Atlanta was led by Josh Smith's 28 points and 10 rebounds. Lou Williams had 20 while Devin Harris had 16 off then bench, including hit all 4 of his three point attempts. Al Horford just missed a double-double with 10 points and 9 rebounds.

Coach Lawrence Frank said, "I'm elated. We held them to 3 offensive rebounds and just 24 points in the paint. It was nice to see us protect the basket. We can build on this. I thought Brandon, Kyle, and Rodney did a much better job of keeping their man in front and forcing them the direction we wanted. And Andre, Greg, Jason, Tayshaun, and the rest held their ground inside."

Horford said, "We are enigma. We beat the Thunder twice, then we lose at home to teams we should beat. Not taking anything away from Detroit but these are the games we have to win to get to the playoffs and secure home court advantage in the 1st round."

Detroit improved to 14-17 while Atlanta fell to 15-11. Detroit now heads back home to take on the Miami Heat Friday night.

Detroit Pistons at Atlanta Hawks
Dec 26, 2012	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Detroit (14-17)	25	32	19	23	99
Atlanta (15-11)	31	21	23	18	93

Detroit Pistons
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Brandon Knight	35	6-19	2-9	3-3	3	6	0	0	5	17
Kyle Singler	28	4-8	0-1	0-1	4	3	0	1	1	8
Tayshaun Prince	34	7-16	0-3	4-6	2	3	1	1	1	18
Jason Maxiell	28	3-5	0-0	0-0	13	0	3	0	0	6
Greg Monroe	33	8-16	0-0	3-4	9	4	0	0	0	19
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Rodney Stuckey	34	12-21	1-4	0-0	1	8	1	0	1	25
Andre Drummond	21	0-1	0-0	0-0	9	0	0	1	1	0
Charlie Villanueva	15	3-4	0-0	0-0	5	0	1	0	0	6
Austin Daye	12	0-0	0-0	0-0	3	0	0	0	1	0
Will Bynum	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Jonas Jerebko	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Corey Maggette	-- DID NOT PLAY --
TEAM TOTALS		43-90	3-17	10-14	49	24	6	3	10	99

Atlanta Hawks
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Jeff Teague	36	3-6	1-3	2-2	2	4	3	0	4	9
Louis Williams	34	7-17	2-7	4-4	1	9	1	0	4	20
Kyle Korver	27	1-6	0-2	1-2	3	2	0	1	0	3
Josh Smith	34	10-17	1-3	7-10	10	0	0	2	2	28
Al Horford	34	3-8	0-0	4-4	9	3	0	3	0	10
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Devin Harris	23	6-7	4-4	0-0	2	2	2	0	1	16
Anthony Morrow	21	2-4	0-0	0-0	2	0	1	0	1	4
Za Za Pachulia	17	0-1	0-0	1-2	4	2	0	0	1	1
Ivan Johnson	14	1-3	0-0	0-2	4	1	1	0	1	2
Johan Petro	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Anthony Tolliver	-- DID NOT PLAY --
John Jenkins	-- DID NOT PLAY --
TEAM TOTALS		33-69	8-19	9-26	38	23	8	6	14	93

[Comduklakis]

Heat Blast Pistons, Wade Has 40, Lebron Triple Double

Miami Heat at Detroit Pistons
Dec 28, 2012	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Miami (19-8)	42	30	34	22	128
Detroit (14-18)	26	22	27	22	97

Miami Heat
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Mario Chalmers	35	2-6	1-4	2-2	3	7	2	0	2	7
Dwyane Wade	34	16-26	0-1	8-9	7	5	0	1	0	40
Shane Battier	26	3-4	1-1	0-0	3	2	0	1	1	7
LeBron James	40	13-24	0-1	6-7	15	12	1	1	1	32
Chris Bosh	28	2-5	0-1	4-4	8	3	1	1	2	8
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Ray Allen	27	5-10	2-2	4-4	2	0	2	0	1	16
Udonis Haslem	25	3-5	0-0	0-0	8	0	0	0	1	6
Norris Cole	19	5-9	0-1	0-0	2	4	0	0	0	2
Mike Miller	11	1-2	0-0	0-0	0	1	1	0	41	2
Rashard Lewis	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Joel Anthony	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Terrel Harris	-- DID NOT PLAY --
TEAM TOTALS		50-91	4-11	24-26	48	34	7	4	9	128

Detroit Pistons
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Brandon Knight	22	3-9	0-2	1-1	1	4	0	0	1	7
Kyle Singler	28	4-8	1-2	1-1	4	5	2	1	1	10
Tayshaun Prince	34	5-8	0-1	2-4	6	1	1	1	0	12
Jason Maxiell	17	0-2	0-0	2-2	2	2	0	1	0	2
Greg Monroe	26	7-15	0-0	1-3	9	2	2	0	5	15
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Rodney Stuckey	35	9-18	0-1	9-11	1	3	2	1	1	27
Andre Drummond	23	2-5	0-0	1-2	7	0	0	0	1	5
Charlie Villanueva	16	1-7	1-2	0-0	5	0	0	1	0	3
Austin Daye	13	1-3	0-0	2-2	3	1	0	0	1	4
Will Bynum	14	1-4	0-1	1-2	1	0	0	0	2	3
Jonas Jerebko	6	2-3	1-1	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	5
Corey Maggette	12	2-4	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	1	0	4
TEAM TOTALS		37-86	3-10	20-28	39	18	7	6	12	97