Pistons @ Hawks PREVIEW Detroit Pistons (16-13) @ Atlanta Hawks (9-23) Previous Game Hawks 79 @ Hornets 109 Nets 82 @ Pistons 79 Streaks Hawks-Lost 1 Pistons-Lost 1 Head Coaches Larry Brown/Terry Stotts Probable Starters Chauncey Billups /Jason Terry Richard Hamilton/Dion Glover Tayshaun Prince/Stephen Jackson Ben Wallace/Shareef Abdur-Rahim Mehmet Okur/Theo Ratliff 6th Men Corliss Williamson/Nazr Mohammed Players To Watch Chauncey Billups/Jason Terry Billups: 18.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, 5.3 Assists, 1.21 Steals Terry: 17.6 points, 4.40 rebounds, 5.1 Assists, 1.34 Steals Injury Lists Detroit Pistons Hubert Davis Lindsey Hunter Darvin Ham Atlanta Hawks Obinna Ekezie Alan Henderson Keys To The Game Pistons -Pistons have struggled alot over the last few weeks to makes things worse lost to the Nets 82-79 on friday night.Offense was again the main problem.For Pistons to quickly bounce back in Atlanta a few things need to happen.Billups need to find his outside shot.Jason Terry will be a tough guy to defend.Billups will have his hands full trying to get round to him...Terry is a quick guard who loves to shoot the basketball and attack the rim.Stopping that from happening is key.Otherwise Pistons could fall yet again.Even though the Hawks have a poor record the talent is there.Finishing off games is their biggest problem this season.Not enough big time players to go to late.Poor coaching might have alot to do with that.However if Pistons look down on them they can and will get beat. Hawks -Hawks who are coming off an impressive performance in their last home game.A 93-88 success over the Boston Celtics will fancy their chances against a struggling Pistons team.Key for the Hawks.Don't let Pistons get many 2nd chance points...Keep players like Billups and Hamilton quiet so they don't go off on some scoring spree (Although lately that won't be possible) The Hawks basic guard trio will need to shoot the ball consistantly.Jason Terry,Dion Glover and Stephen Jackson will all need to play good overall games.shareef Abdur-rahim will need to go to work inside.Give the Pistons frontline some problems which he can do.With Pistons terrible play and bad offense.. the Hawks will feel they will be in with a good chance to get the W here Allnet's Prediction-As bad as the Pistons are playing (Lost 7 out of their lasy 9) should be able to take this one.A win here will maybe get the confidence up ready for the Hornets and Blazers next week.It will have to...Although the Hawks have the talent to get this game and add to the Pistons problems.In the end though the Pistons frontline should be too much for the Hawks Pistons by 7
I don't think there is too much to say, except that the Pistons better win this game. In another thread, I joked that we would drop to .500, well if we lose this game, it would be very possible. Since we play the Hornets and Blazers next, two good teams and with us struggling, victories in these games will be hard to achieve. If we drop all 3, we are at .500. This is an important game that we need to win to get back on track.
I am going out on a limb for this one and predicting a loss. I believe that Stotts got his point across when he benched his starters for the second half of the Hornets game. The Hawks should come out pumped up and play with heart because every game is important to them, while the Pistons can afford a loss or two. Remember, you can make the playoffs and be under fifty percent in the Eastern Conference. I'll be watching this game, because I pick up all the Hawks games for some reason. I am really looking forward to the battle on the boards between Ratliff, Abdur-Rahim, and Wallace. There are some pretty big teams in the NBA, but the Hawks always seem to be overlooked when discussing frontcourt strength. However, they have Theo Ratliff, Nazr Mohammed, and Shareef Abdur-Rahim. That's about as big as they come. Just imagine how good they'd be if Tom Izzo accepted the coaching job with the Hawks. He's the best in the business at teaching height. These two teams matchup very well. Terry and Hamilton's games are almost identical. Ratliff and Wallace are almost clones. It's amazing how one team's record is so much better than the others. <u>Prediction</u> I am picking the Hawks in this one, by a slim margin.
I'll go Hawks by one, because it is in their place. I had the same feeling that Wave had before I read his post. The Pistons at times just can't seem to score. I love and respect Joe Dumars, but what was he talking about the future when drafting Darko when Melo is like just a year and a half older? Their rookie contracts are both only 3 years anyway. I just wonder, how would the Pistons be doing if the had Melo instead of Darko. I reckon, a lot better.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting King James:</div><div class="quote_post">I love and respect Joe Dumars, but what was he talking about the future when drafting Darko when Melo is like just a year and a half older? Their rookie contracts are both only 3 years anyway. I just wonder, how would the Pistons be doing if the had Melo instead of Darko. </div>It'll take time to see whether or not this was a bad move, because Darko Milicic was picked based off of potential. The best in the business felt Milicic would be one of the best players in the NBA in time. He is just not ready now. The Pistons knew very well that Anthony would have a big rookie season and Milicic would have a pitiful one. That was all expected. The Pistons organization feels that Milicic, if brought up slowly, will be better than Anthony a few years down the line. This is one of those thing where patience pays off. The Pistons didn't need immediate improvement this season.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Wave:</div><div class="quote_post">The Pistons didn't need immediate improvement this season.</div> Sure looks that way
You know something is wrong when people are picking Hawks to win.As for how would Pistons be with Melo? Hard to say but my guess not that much better.He would still shoot a poor % which could hurt the Pistons even more..but it could work the other way too and add another threat to the offense.Wave is right Pistons didn't need to improve their roster much in the off-season.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting allnet:</div><div class="quote_post">You know something is wrong when people are picking Hawks to win.</div>I didn't pick the Hawks to win because I felt the Pistons were inferior. I picked the Hawks to win because I felt after the loss to New Orleans, in which Stotts benched his players for the second half, the Hawks will be emotionally fired up and ready to play. It's got nothing to do with the Pistons. It's about how emotions fuel a team. The heart of the Hawks will triumph over the skill of the Pistons.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Wave:</div><div class="quote_post">I didn't pick the Hawks to win because I felt the Pistons were inferior. I picked the Hawks to win because I felt after the loss to New Orleans, in which Stotts benched his players for the second half, the Hawks will be emotionally fired up and ready to play. It's got nothing to do with the Pistons. It's about how emotions fuel a team. The heart of the Hawks will triumph over the skill of the Pistons.</div> Yes, what ever happened to last years Pistons team? What happened to "going to work"? Last year there was emotion and heart and this year we have nothing. As for Carmelo Anthony, here is my unbaised look at the subject. Carmelo does not play defense, which is something that Brown really likes in Prince. This allows Prince to still start. Now, this creates a deeper bench for the Pistons but he is able to play a max 20 minutes a game. In Denver, he is their number 1 and he always gets the ball to shoot if he wants, he would not have that luxury here. If he started throwing up bricks from the outside, he would be inactive for a long time, since he was not getting "easy points in the paint". As for his overall stats, he has 18.4/6.5/2.9 in around 35 minutes per game. First, just be cutting in minutes in half, his stats are cut in half also (Not exactly, because half of 35 isn't 20): 10/3.5/1.5. That is a rough estimate of what it would be if he would be the number 1 here in Detroit. If Brown had a lineup of Hunter (who is injured), Sura, Melo, Corliss, and Zelly then it might be the first option, or Brown would tell him to throw it down low to Corliss so he can miss. However, if he plays with partial starters, such as Atkins, Hamilton, Melo, Wallace, and Okur then he drops below Hamilton for obvious reasons. Atkins "believes" in Larry Brown's system and will then dump it off to Wallace and Okur. So Melo becomes the 4th or 5th option. Of course, Wallace would hopefully pass it to Carmelo, but there would be another decline in his stats. This drops his final stats for the 20 minutes to a non-spectacular, nothing Darko couldn't do 7/3/1.2. As for making the playoffs with a sub .500 record, you can but you shouldn't. If you can't even get an excellent record in the East, then you should just stay home.
You made some good points, but do you really think Anthony would only get twenty minutes a game in Detroit? Princess won't take many minutes away from him, because Princess isn't as good as you think.
Anthony and Prince would share the minutes at SF.Prince is easily the better defensive player which is why Brown likes him so much.So really I doubt there would be much difference in the games.Melo would be lucky to get 25/28 minutes a game... <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I didn't pick the Hawks to win because I felt the Pistons were inferior. I picked the Hawks to win because I felt after the loss to New Orleans, in which Stotts benched his players for the second half, the Hawks will be emotionally fired up and ready to play. It's got nothing to do with the Pistons. It's about how emotions fuel a team. The heart of the Hawks will triumph over the skill of the Pistons.</div> Pistons are playing so bad which is why you picked the Hawks.There should be no other reason for it....If Pistons were on a big winning streak I don't think anyone would pick the Hawks to win tonight's game.But the fact they are playing bad..the Hawks will have a good chance at victory. Hawks players will be fired up? not likely...Most of them can't get up for big games...and when they do they choke in the 4th quarter. Also...Last I checked the Hawks players don't have any heart.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Wave:</div><div class="quote_post">You made some good points, but do you really think Anthony would only get twenty minutes a game in Detroit? Princess won't take many minutes away from him, because Princess isn't as good as you think.</div> Well maybe twenty minutes is a stretch, but he would not get a second over 25. Prince is not as good as I think? Well, I never said he was very good. As Allnet posted, Prince can play defense and that is his best ability. (He doesn't take enough shots) This is why Brown plays him, Carmelo would have to learn defense and quickly if he wanted to get big minutes.
Hawks 45 Pistons 55 Halftime Key players Hawks Shareef Abdur-Rahim- 12 points 6 rebounds 3 steals on 6-10 shooting Jason Terry-10 points 4 assists on 4-8 shooting Dion Glover-10 points 2 rebounds on 4-5 shooting Stephen Jackson 7 points 3 rebounds 2 assists on 3-8 shooting Pistons Bob Sura-12 points 2 rebounds 2 assists on 5-6 shooting 2-3 three-pointers Richard Hamilton-10 points 4 rebounds on 5-9 shooting Tayshaun Prince-10 points 4 rebounds on 5-6 shooting Chauncey Billups-10 points 4-8 shooting with 3-5 three-pointers Ben Wallace-5 rebounds 2 block shots So finally some offense...55 points at halftime is un heard the past few weeks for the Pistons.Sura is shooting the ball well.Billups is finding his touch....Been a while since that has happened.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Richard Hamilton took over in the fourth quarter to help the Detroit Pistons snap a four-game road losing streak. Hamilton scored 14 of his 28 points in the final period as the Pistons rallied for an 87-84 triumph over the Atlanta Hawks. Chauncey Billups added 19 points for the Pistons, who have won three of their last four games. Jason Terry and Shareef Abdur-Rahim each had scored 20 points for Atlanta. Abdur-Rahim also grabbed 10 rebounds, but the Hawks lost for the 17th time in the last 20 meetings with Detroit.</div> Recap Box Score Up 10 at HT....held to 9 points in the 3rd as Hawks came back...Crazy In that 4th quarter it looked as if Pistons were going to have YET ANOTHER meltdown...but luckily Hamilton came up with some key shots. Games coming up Hornets Blazers Suns Warriors Boston Houston Dallas It could get ugly unless their pick up their game Pistons didn't look very impressive tonight.If they play like this against the teams coming up...Might as well put a L next to their name. Preview for the game on monday at home to Hornets will be done shortly
Well, not much to say other than that we won! Although it was an ugly win, it was still a win. Now, I can't say I have any problems with Sura, he played well tonight and shot the ball well. On the other hand, Zelly over here had a nice stat line of: 20 minutes-0 points/3 rebounds/2 assists/1 steal. Now he only took one shot so I guess it is not a problem that he was there, BUT WHAT WAS THE POINT OF HIM PLAYING! Put Elden in, or as I keep saying, let Darko develop. Wasting 20 minutes and getting no points is worse than Ben! I think I should stop being so negative though, we won!
