Pistons @ Nets PREVIEW Detroit Pistons (33-19) @ New Jersey Nets (28-20) Previous Game Pistons 108 @ Dallas 101 Sixers 77 @ Nets 99 Streaks Pistons-Lost 3 Nets-won 8 Head Coaches Lawrence Frank /Larry Brown Probable Starters Jason Kidd /Chauncey Billups Kerry Kittles/Richard Hamilton Richard Jefferson/Tayshaun Prince Kenyon Martin/Ben Wallace Jason Collins/Elden Campbell 6th Men lucious_harris/Corliss Williamson Players To Watch Kenyon Martin/Ben Wallace bInjury update Mehmet Okur's sore back was examined, and he won't travel to New Jersey. "We just wanted to take the necessary precaution with Mehmet," president Joe Dumars said. "We went to see the doctor and everything came back clear. We plan on sitting him until after the All-Star break." After Wednesday's home game against Sacramento, the Pistons -- except Eastern Conference starting center Ben Wallace -- are off until Feb. 17 in New York. The New Jersey Nets are an elite Eastern Conference team that the Pistons will probably have to beat to reach the NBA Finals. Entering tonight's game at Continental Airlines Arena, the Pistons are 1-1 against the Nets, but both games were at the Palace, and Kenyon Martin didn't play in the New Jersey victory. The Pistons are 0-3 against Indiana, 1-2 against New Orleans. Detroit Free Press Prediction Pistons by 3,however don't be surprised to see NJ come out on top considering the difference between both team's form No time for a full preview today,so just some basic notes.
Nice preview Allnet, I think Rodney Rodgers will be the Key bench player tonight. When Rodney provides us with froncourt points the Nets are a different team. I think Jkidd, KK, & RJ will get their share of perimeter points. But with Big ben banging down low against K-mart all night post points are going to be hard to come by. K-mart will need some one to step up & help him gets some points in the paint, A will & rodney will have to provide this off the bench because Jason Williams just cant score down low. Billups is such a streaky scorer that he can only stop himself. So hopefully he will have an off night. Rip on the other hand is a little easier to plan on how to defend him. Kerry Has to really fight thru the screens that the Pistons bigmen set to free up Rip. If kerry is side by side with rip as he comes off screens then Rip wont really be able to get a good shot off. And the Nets have to prevent Prince from getting off as well. If prince is hitting the outside shot, then it makes up for the fact that Elden Campbell & Ben arent really scorers down low. But I think Corliss will be in the game instead of Campbell in the crunch time. He will be K-mart's assignment. K-mart defended him extremely well in the playoffs last season, so I feel good about that matchup late in the game.
I don't think COllins will play against the Pistons. So that's one hell of a problem. However, Memo is also out so that compensates it. This should be close people. Nets will win it just because they're on a winning streak and Pistons is on a losing streak.
Thanks AllNet for bailing me out and posting the preview. I believe that the Pistons can win if they concentrate and play with confidence. New Jersey had been playing well but the Pistons could still win if Billups and Hamilton have good games. Pistons by 3.
Well Hamilton will have a hard time. He will need to drive to the hoop to score. He'll have a hard time shooting his mid range jumpers with the Nets' perimeter D.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting InNETSweTrust:</div><div class="quote_post">Well Hamilton will have a hard time. He will need to drive to the hoop to score. He'll have a hard time shooting his mid range jumpers with the Nets' perimeter D.</div> Actually It's normally Hamilton who always seem to play great basketball against the Nets. Wether Pistons win or not depends on Billups.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AllNet:</div><div class="quote_post">Actually It's normally Hamilton who always seem to play great basketball against the Nets. Wether Pistons win or not depends on Billups.</div> But not this time with the way the Nets' perimeter defense are doing.
Nets got the win 89-78 Pistons did the same old trick again, got up big early but threw away the lead. They couldn't stop Jefferson from attacking the rim He was huge, Kidd was his normal brillant self Dumars needs to make a trade and fast
Well, this reminded me of the Dallas game except not as high scoring. Great game by Kidd, he helped the Nets win it. After the game, I was listening to Charles Barkley completely diss Darko and the Pistons. That guy is great, funny stuff. Too bad that I can't argue with him, we need a trade and we need to prove that Darko is not a complete bust (Play him against the Magic or somebody worthless, but we'd probably lose to them too) Just let Darko play, it is not like we're on a giant winning streak. Give him a chance, besides he didn't play in almost a month, time to see his progressions. He looked almost decent the last two games. Also, why is Larry so stubborn. Elden was playing well in the first quarter and he suffered from what Memo normally does, they play great in the first and then Corliss comes in, messes up the game on the defensive end and we never see Memo/Elden again. Corliss played 20 minutes and was 1/7 and he was letting players blaze by him all the time.
The wrap up for this game is extremely simple the Pistons couldnt stop our fastbreak game after the 1st quarter. In the 1st the Pistons put the effort to get back on defense but they started to fall asleep in the second quarter & it continued to the 2nd half. K-marts Dunk off the rebound over ben Wallace & Prince was sick. the pistons should make a small trade to add a little offensive depth before the deadline but they will more than likely go into the 2nd half of the season and the playoffs with their current roster. I know its still early but Iam not convinced that the current Pistons have enuff to beat the Nets or Pacers come April/May in the playoffs.
I really thought the Pistons would take this one at halftime, but once the third quarter rolled around, I saw them get annihilated by New Jersey's running game. They stepped up their defense and got back into it, coming from something like 12 down in the second to will by 11. Good job by the Nets and better luck next time for the Pistons. Nets now lead the season series 2-1.
Nice try Pistons....I really had faith that you'd stop the streak of the Nets. Not a problem, you're still one of the best in the East and one of the best the league has to offer. Tough loss though, I'm just glad the Nets are back on track, I never really thought Frank would make a difference. Good playing, you did all you could, you'll get them next time.
Great team game for the Nets! This is the great thing about Nets' basketball. You'll never know who to guard. This game was led by Richard but it's not always the case. Train did a great job off the boards. As of this moment, no one can stop the Nets break.
Okur is clearly missed on the inside, Elden Campbell and Rebraca just aren't good enough to handle players and score at the same time on their own.
Well they still had Big Ben who mans the paint and the Nets frontline were terribly down coz of Collins' absence. I know he's not much but he's their only legit (meaning tall enough) C.
I think K-Mart has a grudge against Big Ben lol...Everytime they play..K--Mart goes relentless on the boards and just HUSTLES..Its funny because ben kind of fades out of the game when hes getting owned...Way to go K-Mart!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting InNETSweTrust:</div><div class="quote_post">Well they still had Big Ben who mans the paint and the Nets frontline were terribly down coz of Collins' absence. I know he's not much but he's their only legit (meaning tall enough) C.</div> I'm talking about pure offense, Ben handled K-mart very well but it was the fact Pistons had no Okur to score and rebound the basketball hurt them as a team. I don't think much of Collins, Nets really did mess up getting rid of Deke. RJ was the difference in this game, attacked the rim very well, knocked down the long jumpers, he was allowed to do anything he pleased. I love K-mart's emotions, plays with so much heart, very similar to Wallace in some ways.
