Wizards @ Pistons Preview Washington Wizards(10-27) @ Detroit Pistons(26-13) Last Meeting Pistons 80 @ Suns 69 on November 29, 2003 Previous Game Wizards 103 @ Nets 115 Raptors 91 @ Pistons 95 Streaks Wizards: Lost 2 (2-8 in last ten) Pistons: Won 10 (10-0 in last ten) Head Coaches vs. Probable Starters PG: vs. Steve Blake vs. Chauncey Billups SG: vs. Larry Hughes vs. Richard Hamilton SF: vs. Jared Jeffries vs. Tayshaun Prince PF: vs. Kwame Brown vs. Ben Wallace C: vs. Brendan Haywood vs. Mehmet Okur 6th Men vs. Jarvis Hayes vs. Chucky Atkins Players to Watch vs. Richardson: 19 Points (.403 FG %, .353 3P %), 2.3 Assists, 5 Rebounds, 1.43 Steals Hamilton: 18.5 Points (.452 FG %, .143 3P %), 3.5 Assists, 3.8 Rebounds, 1.11 Steals Injury Report Washington Wizards Jerry Stackhouse Gilbert Arenas Chris Whitney Brevin Knight Questionable Detroit Pistons Hubert Davis Tremaine Fowlkes Lindsey Hunter Keys to the Game <u>Washington Wizards:</u> <ul> [*]Keep Ben Wallace and Memo Okur off the glass (Together these two players can pull down 30 boards easily between them and the Wizards do not want to allow this) [*]Get good production from Hughes and Brown (The last few games, these two players have been playing well offensively and they will need to continue for the Wizards to have a chance at winning the game) [*]Get good bench production (The Pistons are a deep team and the Wizard's starters will not be able to contend with the Piston's starters and bench players. The Wizards need their bench to play well) [*]Defend everybody (The Pistons offense is playing a lot better and sharing the ball. The Wizards need to guard everybody to the best of their abilities) [/list] <u>Detroit Pistons:</u> <ul> [*]Dominate the rebounds (The past two games, we have won the rebound category by 15+, it is hard to lose when you outrebound the other team by this much) [*]Play hard (Streaks have a habit of ending when teams underestimate their opponents, if the Pistons play like they have been, they should cruise to a victory) [*]Keep the Wizards out of the paint (The less points that the Wizards can manage in the paint, the least likely that they will win) [*]Play the Piston's style of basketball (Spread the ball around and get everybody going on the offensive end) [*]Make open shots (When the Pistons play their style of basketball, they get a lot of open shots and need to make those like they have been the last few games) [/list] PyroManiac's Prediction Well, the preview job is now mine. allnet doesn't have enough time, so you will be seeing a lot of my previews. As for the game, the Pistons almost let the Raptors game slip and they won't allow this to happen against the Wizards. The Pistons will come out and play with intensity to get the home crowd going. This game should be a double digit victory for the Pistons. However, to have a chance the Wizards would need big performances from Hughes and Brown. At the end of the day, the Pistons winning streak should be 11! Pistons by minimum of 10. We probably will see Darko for a few minutes!
I predict Darko will play 6 minutes (i.e. at least a double digit victory) btw, Uncle Cliffy sure looks a lot like Kwame Brown
Everyone is so confident about the Pistons winning, its making me nervous. (I'm very superstitious). Is Steve Blake good now? I remember him at Maryland when they won the tourney, and he was a wreck. He'd lose the ball just dribbling down the court, and he had a lot more turnovers than assists. I'm surprised that he is doing better than Juan Dixon. So, as for my prediction, I think the Pistons will win but I know that if they underestimate these guys they'll lose. If you get to confident, you forget to do the little things that it takes to win. Then again, I'm sure these guys know that, so Pistons by 9.
I'm hoping that Darko doesn't play only in garbage time. I hope that we are dominating and that he can get in during the second quarter. Of course, Brown wouldn't want to risk us losing control of the game, by putting Darko into it.
Well, we won by 21, 98-77. My prediction of 10+ was right. Darko played for 9 minutes and was 0-2. However, he did have 3 rebounds, a steal, and a very nice assist. Ben Wallace hardly played because we didn't need him. Although from what I saw Kwame Brown was going around Ben easily? All of our starters played around 30 minutes, usually at least one starters plays close to 40. Bob Sura had a great game. I liked how Billups was passing the ball when he couldn't find his stroke in the first quarter. Our played bench great and was the reason we were able to go on the run in the 2nd quarter to pull away. Recap and Box Score are coming soon.
Darko came in with over 8 minutes left in the 4th,that is a season high.No surprise in the result though. Big game tomorrow Pistons @ Bucks Pistons 11 game winning streak on the line Bucks 10 game home winning streak on the line Should be interesting.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Detroit Pistons won their 11th straight game Friday night, routing the Washington Wizards 98-77 behind Richard Hamilton's 17 points. Chauncey Billups added 12 points and 10 assists for the Pistons, who hadn't won 11 in a row since the 1990-91 season. They can match the franchise record of 13 consecutive wins set in their 1989-90 championship season with victories in Milwaukee on Saturday and at home against San Antonio on Sunday. Tayshaun Prince added 16 points for the Pistons, and Mehmet Okur had 13 points and nine rebounds. The Wizards have lost 10 straight on the road and five in a row to Detroit. Juan Dixon, who didn't score in the first three quarters, led Washington with 14 points. Kwame Brown added 13.</div> Recap Box Score Not a very suprising game. I don't think anybody thought the Wizards would win this game. I did think that Darko would do better, but he wasn't given a lot of shots. It's not like he was 0-6 from the field, just 0-2. He wasn't getting open. Can't wait for the Bucks game tomorrow, extend the winning streak to 12! I'm certain of it!
Pistons won easily, they were killin from the land on plenty. I think Washington is the worst team in the NBA, so I'm not suprised at the easy win. Wish Dark would have scored though.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting BenWallace3:</div><div class="quote_post">Pistons won easily, they were killin from the land on plenty. I think Washington is the worst team in the NBA, so I'm not suprised at the easy win. Wish Dark would have scored though.</div> I always thought it was both them and the Hawks. Anyway great win, very entertaining game, Darko isn't as lucky as say Robin Cook, that guy's getting some great scoring and minutes. Larry Brown's too unfair, he plays favorites, at this rate Darko will never be able to play to his full potential.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting BenWallace3:</div><div class="quote_post">Pistons won easily, they were killin from the land on plenty. I think Washington is the worst team in the NBA, so I'm not suprised at the easy win. Wish Dark would have scored though.</div> Yeah the Pistons beat them easily but that doesnt make them the worst team in the league.
