Suns @ Pistons Preview Phoenix Suns(12-20) @ Detroit Pistons(19-13) Last Meeting Pistons 100 @ Suns 91 on November 15, 2003 Previous Game Suns 113 @ Clippers 105 Blazers 71 @ Pistons 78 Streaks Pistons: Won 3 (5-5 in last ten) Suns: Won 2 (4-6 in last ten) Head Coaches vs. Probable Starters PG: vs. Marbury vs. Billups SG: vs. Johnson vs. Hamilton SF: vs. Marion vs. Prince PF: vs. Harvey vs. Wallace C: vs. Voskuhl vs. Okur 6th Men vs. Hardaway vs. Williamson Players to Watch vs. Marbury: 20.8 Points (.437 FG %, .333 3P %), 8.4 Assists, 3.4 Rebounds, 1.88 Steals Billups: 19.1 Points (.395 FG %, .423 3P %), 5.2 Assists, 3.6 Rebounds, 1.22 Steals Injury Lists Phoenix Suns Zarko Cabarkapa Amare Stoudemire Detroit Pistons Hubert Davis Tremaine Fowlkes Lindsey Hunter Keys to the Game <u>Phoenix Suns:</u> <ul> [*]Protect the glass (Pistons are one of the best rebounding teams and can hurt you with the amount of rebounds they can pull down) [*]Prevent fast breaks (Last game the Suns were destroyed by the Piston's fast break points) [*]Start off strong (The Pistons often have horrible starts and it is important to try to get a lead early) [*]Defend Billups and Hamilton (The guards are starting to get some confidence back and will bury any open shots they receive) [/list] <u>Detroit Pistons:</u> <ul> [*]Stop Marbury (Just stop him) [*]Limit second chance points (The Pistons have had some problems minimizing offensive rebounds) [*]Stop "wasting" minutes playing ineffective bench players (If a player is not producing at all, do not leave him in for 20 minutes. Sub him out!) [*]Guard Marion (The Pistons do not want him to have the hot hand. Prince needs to defend him well) [*]Play Larry Brown's style of basketball/Spread the ball around (When the Pistons play the style of ball that Brown wants, they are nearly unstopable) [*]Make open shots (When the Pistons play Brown's style of basketball, they get a lot of open shots) [/list] PyroManiac's Prediction For my first preview, I'm going with the Pistons. They are starting to play well and have a small streak going. I think that Billups will come out hot and that the Pistons will set the pace early. Recently, the Pistons have started to understand what Larry Brown wants them to do and their play has elevated. They will come out and play well and keep the game out of reach of the Suns. If all goes well, we may even see Darko play a bit! Pistons by 6, conservative. Pistons by 12, realistic.
Detroit are starting to improve as a team, and I think they'll be too much for the Suns here. Marion and Marbury are both special players, but without Stoudemire, they can't match the Piston's team basketball. Pistons by 11.
Sir Dez is right. If Stoudemire was available I might go with the Suns. But I feel that without him, the Pistons will win this easily. Pistons by 6+.
Pistons by 7 Suns still struggle too much with turnovers and lack of scoring consistency. Oh and they miss that Amare guy too.
Detroit is on a roll and the Suns aren't a good enough team to knock them off of it. It seems that Brown and the players are finally on the same page. Pistons by 11.
Good first preview Pyro I see a Pistons win and by about 9-11...Billups v Marbury match-up will be the number 1 focus here.
Actually, I wanted to say Pistons by 12, but I decided to be a little conservative. I also wanted to post that they need Amare to have any chance, but that would have been redundant. Glad that you like my first preview.
Pistons got the win 93-81 Rip had 26 points 5 rebounds and 6 assists Ben Wallace was a monster on the glass...with a double double..10 points 22 rebounds 3 blocks Atkins had 14 off the bench.Thats just the kind of scoring which is needed for reserves coming in 20-13 now....4th straight win. Pistons are finally starting to play good basketball Warriors are up next..who are struggling so that should be another W Will post a recap shortly
Pistons win the game by 12. My non-conservative prediction was dead on. Actually, basically everything I said was right. This was an easy game to predict though. Ben Wallace had another monster game with 10 points and 22 rebounds! (Also, 3 blocks and 3 assists) We were able to beat the Suns on the boards the whole game and that helped us cruise to the victory. We basically kept it out of reach the whole game! allnet, since it is my preview can I post the recap?
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Detroit Pistons 93 Phoenix Suns 81 Richard Hamilton scored 26 points and Ben Wallace had 22 rebounds and 10 points in the Detroit Pistons' 93-81 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night. The Pistons extended their winning to four games and have not allowed 100 points in any game this season and 33 games overall, tying the NBA record set by New York in 2000-01. Wallace has double-doubles in Detroit's last three games and in seven of the last 10. Chucky Atkins added 14 points, and Chauncey Billups had 13 Stephon Marbury led Phoenix with 26 points, Penny Hardaway added 20 and Shawn Marion had 14 points and 11 rebounds. The Pistons led 51-48 at the half, shooting 56.4 percent. Phoenix shot 37 percent in the half, but stayed close by making 12 of 13 free throws. Detroit opened the second half with an 8-0 run to take an 11-point lead, and the teams traded baskets for the rest of the period. That left the Pistons with a 76-65 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Phoenix attempted to rally behind Marbury and Marion, but could never get the defensive stops they needed for a sustained rally.</div> Recap Box Score Good win. Ben Wallace had a great night and helped us control the game with his rebounds. Richard Hamilton had a good night shooting the ball and was hitting shots the whole game.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting PyroManiac:</div><div class="quote_post"> allnet, since it is my preview can I post the recap? </div> Sure thing,less work for me
So, how did I do with my first preview? Any problems that you noticed? I'm glad the Pistons won, they are starting to pick up the pace and are learning Brown's system. We should start to gain on Indiana in the standings soon.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting PyroManiac:</div><div class="quote_post">So, how did I do with my first preview? Any problems that you noticed? I'm glad the Pistons won, they are starting to pick up the pace and are learning Brown's system. We should start to gain on Indiana in the standings soon.</div> You did very good,I see no problems at all...Keep up the good posting
That was an outstanding preview. This was a great victory for the Pistons, and I didn't see it coming. The Suns are seriously underachieving this season. It's not like they're a bad team. It's true that Amare Stoudamire is injured, but they've still got two all-stars in Shawn Marion and Stephon Marbury. I just don't get why they are doing so poorly.
I don't know what happened to the Suns either. It is obviously that they don't have any superb big man to defend and play in the paint the whole game. Amare will help when he gets back but I think they need a center. I knew Pistons would win, they are the best team in the East when they play Larry Brown's game.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting PyroManiac:</div><div class="quote_post">Pistons win the game by 12. My non-conservative prediction was dead on. Actually, basically everything I said was right. This was an easy game to predict though. </div> haha Don't be modest, now! The team seemed really confident out there, and I noticed good team defense all around. That was a very entertaining game, and I'm glad the Pistons have broken out of that funk they were in to play some good basketball. Did it bother anyone else that Brown put Darko in for the last 17 seconds of the the game? The poor guy just stood there on the court, and he looked miserable. Of course, if he acted "offended" again, Brown would've ran and cried to the media. He makes me mad.
Yeah, but at least I was right that he would see some time on the court. I said that the game was easy so that people wouldn't call me selfish, not to be modest. Darko should play tonight too!
