Official Game Thread: Detroit Pistons (6-7) vs. Houston Rockets (6-9)

<div align="center"><font size="4">Detroit Pistons vs. Houston Rockets</font></div>

The 6-7 Detroit Pistons come to H-Town to face the struggling 6-9 Houston Rockets. Detroit is in the second game of a five-game road trip. The Pistons are 2-4 in their last six games as they have had a hard time without their defensive anchor Ben Wallace following the Pistons-Pacers brawl from two weeks ago. The Rockets have lost three straight, and five of their last 7.

<u>
Center</u>
The Pistons are using forward Rasheed Wallace at center in place of the suspended Ben Wallace. Rasheed is averaging 13 points and 6 boards this season, but he can be a matchup problem for the Rockets? Yao Ming. Sheed has the versatility to either play inside or go outside, and his athleticism and mobility can be a problem. To the untrained eye, it would be assumed that Ming would be an even bigger matchup problem for Wallace, but Yao?s inconsistency has been frustrating to the team. Ming has only averaged 8.5 points and 5 boards a game in his last two outings. This has to be a breakout game for Ming, as he has to be aggressive against the much smaller Wallace. He also must force Wallace to jack from the outside instead of going to his bread and butter, the fadeaway jump shot.

Advantage: Rockets

<u>Power Forward</u>
The Pistons signed Antonio McDyess for this sole reason. In the absence of one of their frontline players, he is a veteran who can step in and provide significant minutes. He has contributed 8 points and 7 boards while starting only 7 of his thirteen contests. He is an aggressive rebounder whose physicality may be a problem for the Rockets? Maurice Taylor. The two are opposite players, though Taylor is the better scorer and McDyess is the better defender. Taylor will have to box out and hit his shots for this position to be in the Rockets? favor.

Advantage: Pistons


<u>Small Forward</u>
The Rockets? Jim Jackson has enjoyed a solid season thus far, averaging 13 points, 4 boards and 3 assists while shooting 36% from 3. However, he will have to use his defensive smarts against the sly Tayshaun Prince, whose length and athleticism has proved to be a problem for opponents this year. Prince?s ability to play the passing lanes can change the course of a game, and his defensive presence is underrated. He is easily among the better defensive perimeter players in the league. Jackson will have to hit his open shots and make Prince be aware of him at all times.

Advantage: Pistons
<u>
Shooting Guard</u>
Aside from a 1-11 aberration against Denver in their last game, Tracy McGrady has arguably been the Rockets? most consistent and effective player. His career averages are down as he is posting only 20/5/5 this year, but his ability to pass, create deflections and score in bunches has proved invaluable to the Rockets this year. He will be going against a tough champ in Richard Hamilton, whose constant movement on offense has been a problem for defenders. McGrady must force Hamilton to use energy on defense and get to the foul line. McGrady has the ability to shut down Hamilton, its just a matter of effort.

Advantage: Rockets
<u>
Point Guard</u>
This is a matchup clearly in Detroit?s favor. Chauncey Billups is a difficult cover for the much smaller Tyronn Lue. Billups is hitting for 17 ppg this season and throwing in 4 assists, while shooting 46% from downtown. Lue is quick and pesky on defense and can be a problem for Billups but the bottom line is that Chauncey can simply overpower Lue anytime and you can bet the Pistons will take advantage of a mismatch of this magnitude.

Advantage: Pistons







<u>
<div align="center">Keys To The Game</div></u>
It seems like teams are catching on pretty easily on how to guard Houston:

? Force McGrady to shoot outside and shoot a volume of shots
? Body up Yao; be physical and force him out of the paint
? Drive aggressively and get fouls on the Rockets? frontline-force Mutombo/Howard to play large minutes
? Double Yao and Tracy once they get into their scoring zones; force Lue to make plays and beat you with open shots

That is pretty much what Detroit will go by. They are a sound interior defensive unit with accommodating defensive perimeter talent. For Houston, its important they attack the basket. No Ben Wallace means no real dominant inside defender. Force Rasheed Wallace to play the middle and get fouls, because they will be thin interiorly on the bench. McGrady must take advantage of Hamilton and play a great defensive and offensive game. The Rockets must provide instant help on Billups if he goes off on Lue. More importantly, the Rockets must play with pride, desire and confidence, which has been nonexistent this season.


<u>Outcome </u>
Pistons 86
Rockets 82

 

Great break down og the game... I am a Pistons fan so I think the Pistons are going to take this. LB(Larry Brown) has given the players a tough time, really letting them now what they've been doing wrong, so I think that will be the biggest difference for this win. And about Big Ben, we can do soooooo much better with him, and we probably would have won the games that we lost, but I think the biggest reason we lost is because we come out flat and play with no intensity, and then turn it on, giving ourselves a chance to win the game, but then it's too late. I really think we'll win.

 

Very nice preview. Both teams have not started the season well and because of the defensive mindsets both teams have, the game might be very ugly scoring-wise. The Rockets will have to force the Pistons to slow their game down, so the flow of the game can be in Houston's favor. Home court advantage and better execution would guarantee a Houston victory to snap out of our recent slump.

 

I hope the rockets can get a win tonight. Rockets started bad this season beginning with a loss against Detroit. I hope they can startover by beating them this time. The Rockets can take this game. Hopefully Yao can have a good start and if we can get their centers in foul trouble it will make it alot easier for Yao. They just gotta hit open shots and keep the turnovers down.

 

I'll be there tonight, and I hope they will win. It's been a while since I've seen them WIN in person. They always lose close ones when I go (most recently, Minnesota).

Looking forward to seeing Sura get some minutes.

Rockets 87
Pistons 84

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Sniper:</div><div class="quote_post">I'll be there tonight, and I hope they will win. It's been a while since I've seen them WIN in person. They always lose close ones when I go (most recently, Minnesota).

Looking forward to seeing Sura get some minutes.

Rockets 87
Pistons 84</div>

Cheer your ass off. Take a cow bell or something. Rockets can use some fan support.

 

Call me crazy, but I think the teams are even at the center position. I mean, Rasheed Wallace is quick for the position no doubt and can easily out hustle, out run, and out shoot Yao in the game while Yao must grab as many rebounds as possible since that is possibly his only advantage over Wallace. However, I think the flow of the game will be in Detroit's favor. Their suffocating defense can change almost any game at will, and this is no exception. The only offensive punches that Houston have are McGrady, Jim Jackson, and annoying inconsistently Yao. All the Pistons really need to do are makes sure these players are defended heavily and not let role players get open shots and they have this game. Houston on the other hand must know if Yao is in his groove or not, and if not, sub Mutumbo instead of Yao more often, or else it will only hurt the team. If that happens, they must create easy open shots for McGrady and let him drive into easy buckets.

I see a Detroit win 88-80

 

I've been down on Yao of late, I think there's a decent chance he'll break out of his funk in this game. It's all about his mental approach to the game, and playing with energy. He has to know that he needs to pick up his play for the Rockets to be successful, and I think he'll make that effort tonight.

The Rockets shouldn't force the ball into Yao on offense unless he has his man sealed. With these quick, smaller defenders the Rockets turn the ball over a lot when feeding the post.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AznxBaller:</div><div class="quote_post">Call me crazy, but I think the teams are even at the center position. I mean, Rasheed Wallace is quick for the position no doubt and can easily out hustle, out run, and out shoot Yao in the game while Yao must grab as many rebounds as possible since that is possibly his only advantage over Wallace. However, I think the flow of the game will be in Detroit's favor. Their suffocating defense can change almost any game at will, and this is no exception. The only offensive punches that Houston have are McGrady, Jim Jackson, and annoying inconsistently Yao. All the Pistons really need to do are makes sure these players are defended heavily and not let role players get open shots and they have this game. Houston on the other hand must know if Yao is in his groove or not, and if not, sub Mutumbo instead of Yao more often, or else it will only hurt the team. If that happens, they must create easy open shots for McGrady and let him drive into easy buckets.

I see a Detroit win 88-80</div>

ur not crazy at all...I had a difficult time deciding who's the better center at this point of the season..statistically, its not even close who's the better center; however, Wallace IS playing out of position and still playing hard...It came down to who I'd rather have at the center position, Yao or Sheed, and I'd rather have Yao...however I believe Wallace has been the more consistent player...it's truly a tossup...

 

we're gna lose again..i'm not feeling dreamy today because they never come true anyways

 

HAVE FAITH...ROCKETS CMON......

 

Rockets down by 10 right now with 9 minutes to go in the fourth. Yao has 12 points on 6-11 shooting, but the team as a whole combined for only 33 points at the half. McGrady has to step it up on offense, he's got 9 right now, and Sura has 0 so far, despite 4 assists. I doubt we can win this one if we don't make a charge sometime soon. I'm not watching the game, but can someone tell me how Yao has 0 defensive boards and just one offensive board? The Pistons have 9 offensive rebounds to our 13 defensive rebounds. Pitiful game so far...

 

On my HTML game tracker, the Rockets are now trailing by only 3. 51-48. Yao has now 4 rebounds and we have gotten 3 second chances in 3 minutes. Good hustle and run from the Rockets right now, from what I can tell from the stats at least.

 

Rockets down by 10.. 69-59

 

Tell me to believe when the team is down by 13 points with 5:55 left in the 4th quarter. Right now Yao has 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 fouls, not looking good with those fouls. Taylor has one foul left to go, with Sura having two more to go. Right now Jim Jackson has played exceptionally as did McGrady, yet not nearly as great as he should be. Sura is still struggling to score puts, but right now is making up for it with rebounds and assists. Antonio McDyess has been incredible in this game, it just goes to show you what a bench player can do under consistent minutes. I hope Van Gundy learns from this. Both Brown and Van Gundy are defensive teams, so I hope the coach can identify some problems with the team and change some strategies or lineups. I'll keep hoping.

 

Houston, we have a problem....

 

I hope JVG is finding some trade, because theres no doubt now that the answer is not in houston

 

What is WRONG WITH MCGRADY? Does the man know that he supposedly is a big part of the Rocket team? 2-time SCORING CHAMP is just freaking FADING AWAY IN OUR GAMES.

I seriously think that 19 losing streak has gotten into T-Mac's mind and he isn;t even giving it an effort to pull the Rockets back up....

GG we got owned this game and now I have lost all hope for these helpless Rockets. 4 losses in a row and 5 losses straight at home.

I'm taking a break from watching Rocket basketball until they start to show life so I won't have to go through gay stress again.

 

Jackson-21pts
Yao-19pts
T-Mac-16pts
Taylor-12 pts

4 guys scored 68 of 72

That to me is rediculous.

I dont know what to think now. Im very dissapointed. In the press conference it looked like Van Gundy was thinking about changing his style of play. He said he was going to take a look at himself first and see what he can do to make this team win.

In my opinion, either Van Gundy changes or the rockets change him for someone else because this is very frustrating.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting durvasa:</div><div class="quote_post">I've been down on Yao of late, I think there's a decent chance he'll break out of his funk in this game. It's all about his mental approach to the game, and playing with energy. He has to know that he needs to pick up his play for the Rockets to be successful, and I think he'll make that effort tonight.

The Rockets shouldn't force the ball into Yao on offense unless he has his man sealed. With these quick, smaller defenders the Rockets turn the ball over a lot when feeding the post.</div>

I was wrong. Yao had another bad game, particularly on the defensive end. Yeah, he scored 19 points against single-coverage defense, but how many offensive rebounds did he allow his man to get? In 40 minutes, Yao had only TWO defensive rebounds. And in 29 minutes, Mo Taylor had ZERO rebounds. It's bad enough that we're allowing so many second chance points, to compound the problem we turned the ball over 19 times.

Overall, Detroit got off 81 shot attempts versus only 65 for us.

Van Gundy needs to make changes, not simply with who he plays on the court but also with the offensive and defensive strategies we're using. We got killed time and time again on the high screen and roll throughout the game, and I'm convinced that Yao needs to stop stepping out and just stay with his man. McDyess scored 12 points in like 6 minutes continously by exploiting that play. It was embarassing.

I also think JVG should play Weatherspoon instead of Padgett in the next game. We're the worst rebounding team in the league, and we have to address that problem. And bench Tyronne Lue, for pete's sake. Every time he was in the game, their lead got bigger and bigger. He's not helping our offense, and he's a huge liability on defense. He just gets abused by other team's point guards. Hell, I'd rather have T-Mac at point guard than Tyronne Lue.