Charlotte Bobcats(1-8) @ Detroit Pistons(5-4) Nov. 21, 6:00 pm Central The Palace of Auburn Hills Previous Game Bobcats 84 @ Cavs 100 Pacers 97 @ Pistons 82 Streaks Bobcats: Lost 6 Pistons:Lost 1 Head Coaches vs. Bernie Bickerstaff vs. Larry Brown Probable Starters PG: vs. Brevin Knight vs. Chauncey Billups SG: vs. Keith Bogans vs. Richard Hamilton SF: vs. Gerald Wallace vs. Tayshaun Prince PF: vs. Emeka Okafor vs. Rasheed Wallace C: vs. Primoz Brezec vs. Antonio Mcdyess 6th Men vs. Eddie House vs. Elden Campbell Players to Watch vs. Bogans: 21.0 Points ,4.0 Assists, 5.50 Rebounds Hamilton: 20.8 Points, 4.3 Assists, 4.4 Rebounds Injury Report Charlotte Bobcats Bernard Robinson Tamar Slay Theron Smith Detroit Pistons Ronald Dupree Carlos Delfino Horace Jenkins Ben Wallace (Suspended by the league) Keys to the Game <u>Charlotte Bobcats:</u> <ul> [*]Get Okafor and Wallace going early, try and draw some fouls [*]Guard Billups, Hamilton, and Rasheed . All are good on the perimeter, except Rasheed will be best used to try to stay inside. [*]Spread the ball around and attack the Pistons frontline. With Ben Wallace missing there is less reason to settle for jump shots [*]Rebound the ball and don't let the Pistons get many 2nd chance points.[/list] <u>Detroit Pistons:</u> <ul> [*]Detroit will have to play the perimeter so that the Bobcats don't have open looks. Basically make It as hard as possible for them to score. [*]pressure Okafor and don't let him have anything easy inside, he is only shooting 39% from the field in his first NBA season so anything easy for him will make him gain confidence [*]Get good production from Hamilton and Billups. Pistons are very hard to beat when they both have great games because they are Detroit's main offensive threats [*] Pistons need Antonio Mcdyess to come to play and be effective in the post, considering he will be the starter for the next 5 games while Ben Wallace is suspended he will need to produce. [/list] Final Thoughts and Prediction Overall even without Ben Wallace this should be an easy win for the Pistons, although even though the Bobcats are not a good team the Pistons still need to show strong enough effort on the defensive end for the whole 38 minutes, the main reason they lost the game to Indiana was due to the poor defense for the first two quarters, once they picked up their defense they got back into the game. Had they shown full effort on friday they likely could of won that game. I expect the Pistons to come out strong and win the game by 15-18 points but the way they are defending you never know what Pistons team will show up.
Now I know this preview was for sunday's game but there was no real point in creating an whole new preview for the same two teams. Only changes are Larry Brown will be missing Chauncey Billups, Elden Campbell and Derrick Coleman will all be back. With Chauncey back I don't see It being quite as close as the other night.
hope tonight, with Chauncey and Ben, we can beat Charlotte a bit more handily. (not to take away from Tayshaun's great game winning dunk last time! )
Bobcats have nothing on Detroit. Even without their top two players, Detroit was able to beat Charlotte, although they had to use two overtime periods. This time, they should find it easier. Pistons by 9.
If i were the pistons i will have learned from the last game and not underestimate them again. We don't have Larry Brown for this one and we do have billups back but i still wouldn't feel overly confident vs. anyone with out your heart and soul (wallace). Pistons by 2
Terrible performance by the Pistons tonight, but to be honest the word "terrible" has summed up their overall performance all year. The defense looks like the Dallas Navericks of last year. There's nothing much more to add. To lose to Charlotte is inexcuseable.
You can tell the difference when this team doesnt have Ben Wallace.I am sure missing Coach Brown also has a major impact on the Pistons' performance. I wonder how many times in NBA history the defending champions lost to the 1rst year expansion team?
