Had the rare pleasure of watching this weekend's Pistons game with my Pop. He's the one most responsible for instilling this love/hate relationship with Detroit sports. It's mostly love, except for a bit of hate reserved for the team that just lost 48-3, but I digress.
My Dad and I were pretty disappointed with the first half performance. Against a 7-15 Golden State team (missing Biedrins), the Pistons were thoroughly outhustled and outshot. Golden State took a few minutes to heat up, but, once they did, they didn't cool down until half-time. It took a herculean effort for the Pistons to stay within 10pts. Monta Ellis showed why he's one of the best scoring guards in the league with a variety of impressive hoops. Rookie Stephen Curry pestered the Piston backcourt, notching 4 steals in the game. The Pistons had a ton of uncharacteristic turnovers (Stuckey the worst culprit - 7). Fast break points were 10-0 in favor of GS at the half. With that said, it was great seeing Rip back on the court.
Rip was definitely a bit rusty. His jumper was not fluid, and he seemed a step slow. Yet, when he left the court in the 1st period, Golden State went on a run. Coincidence? Perhaps. Rip returned in the 2nd quarter and led a brief flurry of Piston points, as Kuester opted for the 3-guard set to counter Golden State's speed. Chucky Atkins and Charlie V were key off the bench as they both settled the game down to the regular Piston pace. Without Biedrins, Golden State had nobody to guard Charlie V. He had a field day against Vladimir Radmanovic, scoring 24 on a stellar 9-14 shooting.
In the third quarter, the Pistons turned what seemed like a sure loss into a win. The defense locked down Golden State. After scoring 30 in the first, 25 in the second, GS only put up 12 in the third. Part of the Pistons' success, I should note, was poor 3pt shooting. GS had plenty of open 3s in the 3rd period that simply didn't go down. Golden State was playing the 2nd night of a back-to-back, and they may have hit a wall. Nevertheless, credit the Pistons for doing just enough to get the win, even on an off-night. Stuckey, despite his turnovers, scored a ton of points (29) on 10-18 shooting. I was critical of his poor shooting percentage earlier in the season, but the young guard is knocking down 49% this month - up from 40% in November. As an off-guard, Stuckey is turning it over more (4.2 vs 2.2 as a point-guard), and I wonder if that's a symptom of the Pistons' system. Last season, Rip turned it over a ton for a shooting guard, and that trend continued this year with both Stuckey and Gordon. But, Chucky Atkins, for his poor shooting woes, has definitely taken care of the ball - only 0.8 turns/game as a starter.
With players getting healthy, it should be interesting to see what Kuester does with all his guards. Chucky Atkins may find himself back on the bench in a few days, as Gordon and Bynum get healthy. Both those guys bring such unique scoring talent to the court, it would be hard to sit them. Yet, Chucky meshed great with Stuckey, and Kuester loves his on-court leadership. If the Pistons start to lose with Chucky on the bench, Coach Q would be a fool not to make a change. Chucky may be that perfect "glue" player for this team. The schedule stiffens the next few games - @ HOU, @ NO, @OKC, and home against the Lakers. It'll be a good test to see if the Pistons are truly improving or merely feasting upon weak foes.
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