Just as the Detroit Shock make their way into the second round of the WNBA playoffs, the NBA’s Detroit Pistons, or at least their fans, are anxiously anticipating another exciting NBA season. It may only be the end of August, but I can hardly wait until the regular season tips off. There has been plenty of basketball talk, between the shape of the Pistons’ roster to team USA’s FIBA success, leading to the clinching of a spot in semifinals of the 2008 Olympics qualifying tournament.
- In a surprising move, the Pistons signed forward Jarvis Hayes about two weeks ago. The former Wizard was picked 10th overall in the 2003 NBA Draft, and played 81 games for Washington last season. He averaged 7.2 points and 2.6 rebounds in 20.1 minutes per game. Hayes notched double-digit scoring totals in 21 of those 81 games in 2006-07. He adds a legitimate forward off of the Pistons bench, something the team certainly could have used in several situations in the past. [Pistons.com]
- Tayshuan Prince sprained his ankle during the United States’ 113-76 win over Brazil in the FIBA tournament on Sunday, but has since returned to action. Prince played 19 minutes against Puerto Rico on Tuesday, scoring seven points and grabbing six rebounds. He did miss Monday’s contest against Mexico, though the injury apparently was not overly severe. [Detroit Bad Boys]
- The Pistons have released their preseason schedule. It kicks off against the rival Heat and goes on to be a pretty good swing. The game in Cleveland is definitely a major test, even though the preseason is technically meaningless. Still, it helps to get things in tune against the most bitter rivals, and games at Cleveland are always a challenge and probably always will be. The team swings into Dallas and San Antonio, both of which are usually annual contenders from the West, so those games could be effective at shaking even more rust of the team. The final contest against Washington will be a good chance to build on any adjustments that will be made following that Mavs-Spurs back-to-back. The regular season starts November 1st with a game in Miami against the Heat.
- Oct. 8 at 7:30pm | Miami
- Oct. 11 at 7:00pm | @ Cleveland
- Oct. 12 at 7:30pm | Utah
- Oct. 14 at 6:00pm | Denver
- Oct. 17 at 7:00pm | Denver (played at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids)
- Oct. 19 at 8:30 pm | @ Dallas
- Oct. 20 at 8:30pm | @ San Antonio
- Oct. 24 at 7:30pm | Washington
- Upset that Chris Webber does not appear to be returning to Detroit? You certainly should not be. Nazr Mohammed may once have been forgotten at the end of the bench in more recent times but put up decent numbers starting for the Pistons last season. While his actual stats seem unremarkable, he averaged less than 16 minutes per game. Replace those stats with the prorated versions, and Nazr averaged 17.7 points and 14.6 rebounds per 48 minutes. That is a rebounding rate higher than those from the likes of Amare Stoudemire, Chris Bosh, and Rasheed Wallace. Now it appears that Nazr will finally have his chance to prove himself over an entire season, perhaps with far more playing time than last season, provided he can cut back on the fouls just a little. [Hoops World]
- The league is not too keen on its associates talking about Tim Donaghy, including WNBA coaches. When asked, Bill Laimbeer said, “You’re not going to get me in the middle of that one. David Stern comes down with his big, old super gag order like ‘Aaargh.’ I’m not going to put my foot into something like that. That’s crazy. Maybe I would comment on it, but my job is the preservation of everything and I’m not going to get in the middle of that one.” I wish my job was the preservation of everything… I get to be a Sandwich Artist, but my responsibilities do not encompass the well-being of everything in the universe. Great quote, just another reason to love Lamb. [Detroit Bad Boys]
- The maroon-and-teal-era uniforms of the Pistons are the #3 worst NBA uniform of all time:
After winning a few titles with the Bad Boys, the Pistons decided to shake things up and slightly alter their color scheme, changing the royal blue to a cringe-worthy teal. Probably not a coincidence that they finally won another title after going back to their more familiar red-and-blue.
Maroon? Teal? Those are the real reasons Grant Hill left Detroit. Every once in awhile you can catch someone sporting a #33 jersey in teal — far out of style, but not forgotten I suppose. [Sports Illustrated]
