Via Detroit Free Press:

AUBURN HILLS — Detroit rookie Rodney Stuckey broke his left hand in the third quarter of the Pistons’ 104-85 victory over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night.

That’s a big time bummer. I guess we’ll find out just how bad it is tomorrow. The Pistons seem to be getting snake bitten with injuries, and all ON THE LEFT SIDE for some crazy reason. If I’m not mistaken it was Rip and Amir’s left ankles, Nazr’s left calf, and now Rodney’s left hand.

UPDATE via Detroit News:

Stuckey’s hand got tangled in one of the Wizards’ jerseys. The play looked innocent, but Stuckey’s immediate reaction indicated something was wrong.The course of treatment and recovery time is unknown. He will be reevaluated today.

“I don’t know what happened, my fingers just went the other way,” Stuckey said, with his left (non-shooting) hand wrapped in a cast. “I was in so much pain, I just knew. This is my first break, ever. It’s always disappointing when you break something or when you have to sit out. But I’ll bounce back, it’s not going to be that long. It’s only going to make me better.”

I’ve got three words for Pistons’ fans: Ronald “Flip” Murray

I did a favor for a friend which required me to miss the 3rd and 4th quarter of the game on tv, but I did get to hear most of the two quarters on the radio. Mark Champion and Rick Mahorn were doing the game on WDFN. Let me just tell you I love listening to Rick Mahorn doing color commentary. The dude is out cold. He says the first thing that comes to his mind, he just don’t care what anyone thinks with usually translates into color commentary gold. Here are three such examples from the Wizards game I’ll paraphrase for you:

• Mark Champion comments on someone’s son who is going to play basketball for Ball State which Rick replies something to the effect of he must be desperate because Ball State sucks.
• Rodney Stuckey hurts his wrist and ‘Horn says he hopes it’s not one of those microfiber injuries
• Mark Champion points out that Wizard’s rookie Dominic McGuire was named Second Team All W.A.C. in college just before McGuire misses a free throw, to which Mahorn blurts “That free throw was WAC”



You get quotes like that from Rick nearly every game he calls. Gotta love ‘Horn.

Detroit News:

For the first time in two weeks, Pistons coach Flip Saunders had nearly his entire roster actively practicing.

Forward Amir Johnson was running around with a smile Monday, showing his left sprained ankle was finally strong.

Center Nazr Mohammed worked on post moves, spinning with no hesitation on his previously sore left calf. Even Rip Hamilton (ankle) worked out, taking part in conditioning drills on the side with coach Arnie Kander.

There’s some awfully good news. So, Amir will get one preseason game under his belt and then eight more days to get acclimated to the team before the opener down in Miami on November 1st.

Although this might keep Amir from flying out of the gate he’ll benefit in the long run. You don’t want to mess around with ankles. As anyone who’s played the game of basketball can tell you once you injure your ankle once you’re in danger of more rolled ankles. So, the more strength and conditioning via Arnie Kander while the games don’t count, the better.

You ever seen notice those black ankle braces Chauncey rocks during the games? Those things work wonders. I think more players should be wearing them.

• I happened upon the above pic on the FAN-Ware MySpace page. They manufacture promotional give-away items for Corporate Sponsors and Professional Sports Franchises. Has anyone seen this before?
• Dime Magazine’s Hall of Fame watch feature: Chauncey Billups
• The Pistons are sending a shout out to the huskys in the Pistons Nation. Wanna be a Spare Tire dancer? Be at the Palace tomorrow.
• Bulls fans take exception to Piston fans poking fun at Ben Wallets.
• AbsoluteMichigan.com did a Pistons preview where they listed some great Pistons blog but didn’t include PN. Oh well, maybe next year. Update: The pressure got to ‘em. Just kidding, thanks there Absolute Michigan.
• NBA Glue does a preview for the “past their prime” Pistons
• Sheed on Stuckey, and playing defense: “I’m a defensive type of cat,” Wallace said. “Offense don’t really matter to me. His defense is picking up. That’s pretty much what I look for. Trying to give him little tips on defense when he’s out there guarding some guys, and Lindsey (Hunter) gives him help with that, too.”
• mLive does a break down on the Pistons roster. Sticking with mLive, here’s a great piece on assistant coach Michael Curry.
• Still want to trade for J.R. Smith?
• J.A. Adande speaks the truth about Sheed’s Deeds
• There’s a an unconfirmed rumor out there with the Pistons offering up Tay & Rip for Kobe…
• Happy 23rd birthday Cheikh Samb
• Amir Johnson returned to practice today
  

FORMER PISTON hook up:

• Allan Houston ends his comeback attempt with the Knicks.



Around the League hook up:

• Adam Morrison done for the season with a knee injury, plenty of time to remove the caterpillar napping on his upper lip
• Can you put a price on flopping? Anderson Varejao reportedly believes it’s worth 9 million a season.

I seen this posted over at the Pistons.com message board by Afflalo Power. It’s an article from the latest issue of GQ magazine poking fun at the NBA’s Tim Donaghy gambling scandal. GQ has a list of 6 (tounge-in-cheek) things that they want Stern to address.


Check out #3:

Apologize to Rasheed Wallace. That poor guy. He’s been complaining for years that there’s a conspiracy against him, that he’s never committed a personal foul, that he’s been wrongly targeted by evil referees, shadow corporations, UFOs, and the ghost of James Naismith. Turns out he was right!

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I’m pretty much gonna phone this recap in. No t.v. coverage and I wasn’t able to hear any of the game on the radio. Here’s an excerpt from the Detroit Free Press:

Brent Barry scored 16 points and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Pistons 104-80 in an exhibition game Saturday night.

Francisco Elson had 14 points and Tim Duncan added 13 for the Spurs.
Rookie Arron Afflalo led Detroit with 20 points. Rodney Stuckey scored 14 and Jason Maxiell added 13 points and 10 rebounds.

With both teams sitting a few of their stars, the preseason meeting between the reigning champion Spurs and former champion Pistons was a bit anticlimactic. For the Spurs, Manu Ginobili, Bruce Bowen and Michael Finley took the night off. So did coach Gregg Popovich, who for the second game in a row handed the reins to assistant coach Mike Budenholzer.

Rasheed Wallace and Chauncey Billups didn’t play the second game of the Pistons’ back-to-back, and an injured Richard Hamilton was out for a third straight game with a sprained left ankle.

[box score] The Pistons started out cold and never really heated up. They opened the game by missing their first 11 shots. The Pistons got murdered in the paint and it seemed like every play in the first half was an and 1. It was a 17 point halftime deficit and downhill from there. The loss drops the Pistons to 3-3 this preseason.

Chauncey played well in the first half as did Flip Murray. Flip was actually the games bright spot. He scored a team high 22 points in 24 minutes of play, making 8 of 11 from the field. Rodney Stuckey contributed 15 points of his own doing a good job getting to the hole and drawing contact.

The Mavericks admittedly took this game more seriously than the Pistons calling it a “dress rehearsal”. Dirk scored a game high 25 points (10/14 fg) in 27 minutes of play. Dirk basically got what he wanted scoring from all over the gym. MSU’s Maurice Ager had himself a nice little game against his hometown team scoring 14 points in 15 minutes. The rest of the Mavs standouts were: Josh Howard (20 pts), Brandon Bass (18 pts / 10 rbs), Devin Harris (17 pts).


GAME NOTES:

• To me Ronald Dupree looked lost in his 6 minutes on the court. He went 1-3 from the field with his jumper looking worse than ever, and also was 0-2 from the FT line.
• Rasheed was the only starter in double figures (11)
• Cheick Samb got 22 minutes. He looked pretty energetic (blocking 2 shots) on the court. He seems to have progressed further than Darko ever did with the Pistons, and we didn’t have to use a #2 overall pick on him.
• Arron Afflalo got 20 miutes getting 6 points and 6 boards.
• Our old buddy Dunk’n Darvin Ham got 6 minutes near the end of the game. Word is that Avery Johnson has said that D-Ham has a fair shot at making the Mavs roster.


MORE RECAPS:

• MavsCentral.com: A Tale of Two Preseason Games

• Jason Maxiell lent a hand for breast cancer awareness. Organizers for the “Real Men Wear Pink” campaign distributed Maxiell masks at Wednesday’s game in Grand Rapids with the forward wearing a pink Pistons hat.
• Fans in Grand Rapids have mixed reactions about the Pistons entering the Kobe sweestakes. I think we’d have to give up so much that we would a) no longer be a serious contender & b) lose our team’s whole indentity. It’s fun to debate, but I just don’t think it’s realistic.
• Empty The Bench gets big ups for snagging an interview with new Pistons Jarvis Hayes. Definately worth checking out!
• Amir Johnson probably won’t play until the last preseason game Vs. Washington
• Some footage of Alex Acker’s Barcelona debut (blue jersey #30)



FORMER PISTON hook up:

• Mr. Dribbles, Carlos Arroyo scored 25 points leading the Magic to a win over a Chinese All-Star team (sans Yao & Yi)

TRADE TALK - A. Sherrod Blakely is reporting that the Pistons have been talking to the Nuggets about a Flip Murray for J.R. Smith deal. One snag seems to be that the Pistons want to include Ronald Dupree which the Nuggets may not want.

As Blakely also points out is J.R. Smith has his baggage. I like what I’ve seen so far from Flip Murray this preseason and really wouldn’t be interested in bringing J.R. Smith to the Motor City. He’s had some run ins already this year with coach George Karl. Very talented guy, but not worth the risk.

Update: from Chris McCosky’s blog:

As intriguing as it may have sounded, the Pistons are not trading Flip Murray and Ron Dupree to Denver for J.R. Smith. Just talked briefly with Joe Dumars. The Nuggets are trying to move the oft-troubled Smith, and they had mentioned Flip Murray. But the Pistons aren’t doing the deal. Smith has well-documented issues both on and off the court (character issues and basketball IQ issues) that far overshadow his occasional offensive productivity. The Pistons don’t feel like that have to take that kind of risk right now.

Also confirmed by Free Press’ Krista Jahnke (via DBB)

Here’s a fanalyzation vid on questionable reffing of the 2006 ECF game 2 between the Pistons and Heat.

Roll film…

[box score] Western Michiganders were treated to heavy doses of the Pistons new blood in the 5th annual “Meijer Basketball Classic” at the sold out Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. Guys like Maxiell, Stuckey, & Murray carried the load as the Pistons defeated the Nuggets 110-119. Chauncey got the night off and the other non-injured starters (Dyess, Prince, and Wallace) only played the first quarter. Rodney Stuckey started for Chauncey and Flip Murray filled in for Rip Hamilton.

All the big guns again sat for Denver. J.R. Smith scored a game high 33 points and Bobby Jones contributed 26. Other Nuggets noteables included Eduardo Najera 12 pts. / 11 rebs. and Anthony Roberson’s 12 pts. /11 asts. The Nuggs had more guys (10) not play than did (9).

GAME NOTES:

• Jason Maxiell had 25 pts (73% FG), 12 rebs (6 on each side), 3 blks, 4 asts, and 1 stl. What a line!
• Flip Murray 21 pts, 7 asts, 5 rbs
• Stuckey 17pts, 6 asts, 7 rbs 10/11 from the line in 40 minutes
• Jarvis Hayes scored 13 points in 29 minutes but went 35% from the floor including 1-5 from beyond the arc
• Afflalo logged 25 minutes socring 14 points (2/3 behind the arc)
• Samb 21 min (8pts, 3asts, 9rbs), Mejia 14 min (4pts, 7rbs)
• Pistons outboarded the Nuggets 55/37
• 30 total team assists
• Some of the young guys looked winded near the end
• Amir Johnson took part in pre-game wamr ups, but did not play in the game

QUOTES:

Flip Saunders on the young guys getting the minutes:

“I wanted to see them down the stretch,” Saunders said. “See how they’d react in situations, get them in there in the heat of the battle and have to make a play or try to make a defensive play. They’re going through the process and they’re learning some things.”

Sammy Mejia on getting some burn:

“I was just glad he called my name,” Mejia said. “I want to get back into a rhythm. I haven’t been able to play in game situations much and right now that’s the transition. I tried to be aggressive and I tried to take shots to get into the flow of the game and to get used to the speed and everything that comes along with the game.”

Rasheed on Samb taking a dump?

“Cheikh’s still light in the chops,” Wallace said. “But all that is is leverage. He’s still standing straight up. Once he gets down more like a squat like he’s taking a dump, he’ll be all right. It’s just a matter of foot control. But he’s got a soft touch for a big man to be 7 feet, 7-1.”

MORE RECAPS:

• The Nugg Doctor: Nuggets downed again by Pistons
  
• Detroit Free Pres: Pistons’ subs heat up court

For the second straight season PistonsNation.com has caught up with Sam Smith for a little Q&A session. Sam is a well known columnist who covers the Bulls and the NBA for the Chicago Tribune as well as contributes to many various media outlets. We pitched Sam some questions with a Pistons’ twist and he candidly batted them back to us with a Bulls twist.



[PN] Give us your Central Division Champ and Eastern Conference Champ.

[SS] Chicago.

[PN] What was the prevailing attitude towards the Ben Wallace signing after the Bulls/Pistons 2nd round series?

[SS] That it still was the right thing to do. The Bulls kids weren’t quite ready, as it turned out, but they should be now and Ben will help even as his production falls. The Pistons needed to start moving on, and probably still do. They’re being passed now by the Bulls. The Bulls players will play better with Ben this season. Looking at Ben, you can be intimidated and believe he is a leader. He is not. He’s quiet and not particularly assertive. They spent a lot of time last season deferring to him; they won’t anymore and it will be a better fit. It was a four-year deal, not one.

[PN] If the Bulls had gotten past the Pistons do you believe they would have gotten any past the Cavs?

[SS] Yes. The Pistons blew that series and should know it. They played, once again, too arrogantly. They assumed they’d win and when it finally occurred to them they might lose, they turned it up and played a great game, but LeBron played the game of his life and stole it from them. If you concentrate on Cleveland, you beat them. They play selfishly and are badly coached. But the Pistons again got too caught up in exhorting their petty feuds with the coach and practicing their general indifference.

[PN] Who do you think the Bulls and their fans get up for more; the Pistons or the Heat?

[SS] Probably the Pistons since it remains something of a rivalry and, after all, they swept the Heat last year. The Bulls believe they’re better than Detroit, but they didn’t beat them and that’s all that matters. It’s not quite the rivalry it once was because Detroit has been getting knocked off before the finals and probably isn’t a championship contender anymore. But it’s still a good series and will make for a good playoff matchup again if the teams get there. The Bulls remain hungry against Detroit; i don’t think the Pistons respect them enough and that will be the difference this season.

[PN] Who will score more points this season, Ben Wallace or Joakim Noah?

[SS] Noah by far. He can score and could be a little surprising. I remain amazed still after all these years at how badly Wallace shoots the ball. It seems impossible to go to practice as often as he does and shoot like that.

[PN] You wrote that Kobe should sit out the season, any vested Bulls interests here?

[SS] No. Just taking a position on Kobe. The Bulls probably could make a deal now, but at what price. That’s the issue. After all, Kobe is about 30 with bad knees. What if he breaks down and you are on the verge as the Bulls are. They may not be good enough to win a title, but is Kobe worth the risk? I’m not sure. More from Sam on the subject of Kobe & the Bulls.

[PN] What fall out do you expect from the Donaghy scandal?

[SS] Little. It was one bad guy. All businesses–and most governments–have them.

[PN] Who’s you’re all-time favorite Piston turn Bull?

[SS] Crash Mengelt

We’d like again thank Mr. Smith for lending us a moment of his time. Check out some of Sam’s most recent columns. If you’d like to check out last year’s interview click here

• Chris McCosky believes Ronald Dupree should be the next cut: “Even if he makes the team again, he won’t have a role. He deserves a real chance to make somebody’s rotation and he’s not getting it here. The Pistons have tried to move him for a second-round pick. If that doesn’t happen, they will probably release him. If he clears waivers, the Pistons will buy him out of his $825,000 contract and he would be free to sign with another team (and double his salary).” I’d tend to agree with that.
• SLAM takes a look on the highschool draftees that never panned out & gets us up to date on Korleone Young
• David Thorpe of ESPN has Rodney Stuckey #7 on his R.O.Y. watch, but admits he’d be higher if he weren’t on a good team.
• Wanna win four Pistons tickets?
• Maxiell is still gonna dunk all over fools but he’s also working on well…everything to make himself a more complete player. Just ask ‘Dyess
• Check out The Detroit News’ new look website



FORMER PISTON hook up:

• Uh-oh Deflino…Raptor’s coach Sam Mitchell: ” Right now, based on the practices , Delfino has to pick it up ‘ he said. ‘ With Joey and Jason , I thought they have been working hard “



AROUND THE LEAGUE hook up:

• Garnett’s a potty mouth and Ray Allen isn’t going to take it.
• The Kings’ players have a midnight curfew on the road. They’re probably trying to curtail any kind of Stephen Jackson-esque shenanigans, but this isn’t college. You really think a group of grown millionaires aren’t going to hit the town on the road? I mean c’mon, half their games are played in Sacramento.
• The Timberwolves actually offered jersey #21 to Greg Buckner
• Shaq’s injured. It would be news if he wasn’t injured
• The Devin Harris / Brad Miller altercation takes second billing to BRAD MILLER’S CORN ROWS.
• The Kobe saga continues…

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