It's early in the season, but both the Pistons and Wings are severely shorthanded. The Pistons played with a full roster in just 1 of their 8 games. The Red Wings, who, like the Pistons, experienced major turnover in the offseason, already lost three key forwards.
Last night, though, it didn't matter. Both teams absolutely destroyed the opposition. The Red Wings pounded the Columbus Blue Jackets early and often, jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the 1st period. The Wings did not let up, and they finished the game scoring a whopping 9 goals. The goals were spread somewhat evenly, though Kronwall and Abdelkader notched two each. The most impressive stat of the game may not even be the number of goals - the Wings played 60 straight minutes without turning the puck over once. For a puck-possession team, they should be proud.
After getting shellacked by Toronto over the weekend, it was an impressive rebound performance. After 16 games, the Wings are 8-5-3. Fellow TBDL blogger "John," emphasized that we should reserve judgment until after the 20th game, so there's 4 more to go. My hope is that the Wings will at least be a top 8 team in the West by then (they're currently 10th). Of the top teams based on today's standings, the Wings have victories over San Jose (1st), LA (3rd), Calgary (4th), and Chicago (5th). Apparently, the competition doesn't matter. The Wings worst enemy is their own turnover-prone defense and inconsistent goaltending.
On the hardcourt, Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince remain sidelined. Rip's ankle will keep him out a few more games, but my guess is he'll return in about two weeks. Tayshaun's situation is much more dire. Tay has a ruptured disc in his lower back - a condition I know all too well. They're pondering surgery (which would sideline him a few months), but, for now, they're hoping rest will allow it to heal on its own. As the freep article linked above states, Rick Mahorn had a similar injury, and it eventually required surgery. Interestingly, Mahorn was 29 at the time - same age as Tay (I was 30).
The absence of Rip and Tay did not make much of a difference last night, as the Pistons dismantled Larry Brown's Hornets. One of the Hornets top players, Raja Bell, was also out due to an injury, but it would not have mattered. The Pistons were on fire. Through three quarters, the team shot over 60%, with only a handful of turnovers. Late in the 3rd, the Pistons had over 75pts, while the Hornets had yet to pass 50. Villanueva and Gordon combined for 52 points, while missing only ten shots. They sat the entire fourth quarter. The game was actually close in the 2nd quarter, until Bynum ignited the team (and crowd) with a thunderous dunk over Tyson Chandler and Gerald Wallace - two of the better defensive players in the league!
The Pistons then went on a tear to finish the half on a 15-4 run. Charlie V caught fire in the 3rd, and the rout was on.
The only negative (and this is really minor) is that the Piston scrubs played pretty poorly. Chucky Atkins, Chris Wilcox, and Dajuan Summers all showed signs of rust. But who can really argue with a blowout win? I was hoping the Piston would take advantage of these winnable home games. So far, so good. They've got a brutal schedule ahead - @Washington, Dallas, @Lakers, @Portland, @Utah, @Phoenix, and then home against Lebron. Other than the Wiz, those are all elite teams. While Utah is struggling, the Pistons haven't beaten that team since the Nixon administration. The Stones could easily finish that stretch 1-6, so feasting on these lesser Eastern Conference teams is key. They've got to establish some semblance of team unity before the losses pile up against the Western powers.
Sure, I hope they'll pull out a few wins on that road trip, but I'm a realist. Even the most elite Piston teams struggled out West. They would fare a bit better with Prince in the lineup instead of Jerebko, but it'll at least be a learning experience. And that's what this season is about.
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