From Pistons.com :

The Detroit Pistons’ All-Time Team will be honored in a special pregame ceremony on April 8 versus the New York Knicks, the team announced today. As part of the on-going 50 seasons in Detroit celebration, the organization will honor the all-time team beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tipoff for the Pistons vs. Knicks game at The Palace of Auburn Hills is set for 8:00 p.m. Hosted by play-by-play announcer George Blaha, the pregame ceremony will reflect on the careers of the greatest players, coaches and general managers in franchise history from 1957-58 through 2007-08. Members of the selected All-Time Team will be on-hand for the ceremony that will include highlight footage and memories of these special players and great teams. Honorees expected to be in attendance include Dave Bing, Bob Lanier, Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Bill Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman, Vinnie Johnson, former head coach Chuck Daly, the franchise leader in coaching victories, and former general manager Jack McCloskey.

A special one-hour tribute to the All-Time Team will aired on TV20 beginning at 7:00 p.m., with the live announcement of the team commencing at 7:30 p.m. The ceremony can also be heard on Sports Radio 1130 WDFN.

I’m a real sucker for stuff like this, I love when team’s pay homage to their past. One thing that really jumped out at me was that “The Worm” Dennis Rodman would be there. This is pretty big news for a Pistons’ geek like myself. To the best of my knowledge this is the first type of thing I could remember that he’s come back to be a part of. I don’t remember him being part of the festivities for the 10 year anniversary of the 1989 champs. Nor was he there for any of those Flash Back Fridays they did a few years back.

I think there’s been many of us who’ve wanted Dennis to come back and rejoin the family. He was a fan favorite and really epitomized what hustle and heart when he was here. I always thought he never got his due for his contributions and I think it has a lot to do with who he morphed into after leaving Detroit. Which was always odd to me because if Zeke could come back after his epic fall out with Mr. Davidson then you’d think Dennis’ transgressions would be overlooked to reunite him with the fans that cheered him on for 7 memorable seasons.

It’s wasn’t all that long ago when there were still many out there that thought Dennis’ #10 should being hanging alongside Isiah, Joe, Bill, and Vinnie. I know I had a hard time seeing Lindsey wearing the #10 when he came back because Chauncey had his #1 (because Chauncey’s #4, which is tattooed on his arm, of course hangs in the rafters for Joe) but I got over it. I guess the same way it’s not all that odd to see Rodney out there in the jersey number that Ben wore here while being the most instrumental piece in the franchises return to prominence.

I think it might be pretty emotional for Dennis when he gets that recognition form the crowd that’s so overdue. As crazy as he’s appeared to be over the years I still remember a very sensitive and impressionable young player when he was here, and that was part of the Worm’s charm that endeared him to the Detroit fans. I’m also very excited to see the other Pistons Greats interactions with Dennis. It should be pretty special.

Set those recorders Piston’s fans.

Pistons (73) Cavaliers (89)

[Box score] The Pistons played pretty well in the first quarter scoring 25, but it was uninspired from that point out as they never got to 20 points in any of the 3 subsequent quarters.

Two totally different types of games but 17 assists compared to 42 the night before?

LeBron James (30 pts) seemed unstoppable when he wanted to score he got solid contributions from the guys around him, namely Zydrunas Ilgauskas (20 pts, 8 rbs).

The Cavaliers played sound defense on our guys. Good rotations by Cleveland turned us into a jump shooting team, and you can’t win if you’re the Pistons shooting 40% from the field. You know you’re team isn’t playing aggressively when they only attempt 7 free throws.

The clanking jumpers gave the Cavs a 46-39 rebounding edge, 14 of which were on the offensive and that points to a lack of effort and concentration on the Pistons end.  I guess if you want to make excuses you could point to the 3 games in 4 nights but I still expected more effort.

The usually sure handed Pistons turned the ball over 11 times. That isn’t a very staggering number except when the other team gets 15 points off those 11 turnovers. That stings a little. The Cavs on the other hand took relatively good care of the ball only committing 7 turnovers.

I expected a little more out of Rasheed in this game. He usually plays bigger on the road in hostile environments. His 16 points came off 6/17 shooting, and was 2/8 free beyond the arc. It seemed our old buddy Ben was pretty familiar with what Rasheed wanted to do and for the most part neutralized him defensively. Down on the other end Big Z easily got the better of that matchup.

Going into this game we had won 7 of the last 8 regular season meeting with the Cavs. I guess the guys just feel sorry for Ben? This game combined with the 3 games against Ben this year as a Bull and he’s 4-0 against us.

In closing I thought I was sure I disliked the Celtics more than the Cavs but I’ve come to realize it’s which ever of the two that has beat us last is who I hate the most. That “Detroit sucks” chant is really getting under my skin, but I also like it that way because it adds to the rivalry.

A friend of the site, Thomas, put me up on this schweet swag. They’re part of the Adidas Homecooked collection that celebrates team’s local culture. Ours celebrates the Motor City. I wasn’t a big fan of some of the NBA gear Adidas has put out ( I just associate Adidas too heavily with soccer and Euros), but these might help me come around.

Click continue reading to check out the shooting jacket.

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The Pistons (49-18) will be in Cleveland to take on the Cavaliers (38-30) Tip off is 8:00 pm est from the Quickens Loan Arena and will be televised locally on TV20 Detroit

Cavs’ Snapshot
Home record: 22-10
Last game: 3/17 (Mon) L 90-104 @ Magic
Last 10: 6-4
Last game: Jan. 28th - Cavaliers (74) @ Pistons (109)

The Pistons are going to take on their doppelgänger rivals down in Cleveland looking to get win #50 on the season. The last time we played Gilbert’s Pistons we thrashed ‘em by 35, but to be fair they were without LeBron James who suffered a nasty hang nail in the second quarter.

A lot has changed since then. The Cavs were involved in a last minute three team swap at the trade deadline acquiring the King some new pawns. Gone is bearded mouth breather Drew Gooden. In his place is a familiar face around these parts. In addition to #3 #4 they added Delonte West, Wally Szyrklpnebsiaivgbiak, and Joe Smith. The Cavs have gone 8-6 since the trade.

How does Rasheed feel about King James?

You can’t tell me that this was an accident. It’s badass is what is was and he needs to keep this jersey. Matter of fact, I’m going to get me a custom Hamiltion jersey. (Sure, I know it could use another “i” before the “t”, but you get the idea…demolition, Hamilition)

(AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

Nuggets (120) @ Pistons (136)

[Box score]

Going into this game was a little worried about the Nuggets getting up and down the court and scoring in bunches. Granted, I knew they were not going drop 168 on us like they did to Seattle, I just didn’t want the Pistons getting caught up in a shot chucking free-for-all. The Pistons did give up a season high 120 points but that didn’t matter because they managed to out-Nugget Denver hanging a season high 136 points on them.

Instead of doing a regular recap I want to take a look at these numbers and delve into the historical significance of them.

ASSISTS: It’s been well publicized that when this team shares the ball they’re hard to beat, and perfect when the assists totals 25 or better. Well, how good would the other team have to be if the Pistons have 42 assists?! The season high mark is the highest since 4/10/92 when the Pistons had 43 against the Charlotte Hornets. The 42 assists were a mere 6 shy of the franchise mark of 48 set in 1973 in and overtime game against Cleveland.

SCORING: The 136 points scored was the most since 2/21/90 when the Pistons beat the Magic at the Palace 140-109. The Pistons hadn’t scored 130 points in regulation since beating Denver 130-116 on 3/8/00.

The Pistons scored 73 points in the first half which is the most in a first half since 4/16/91 (which was a 118-90 win over Boston), and the most in any half since 1996. The Pistons record for points in a first half is 78 which came in a 151-132 win against the Cincinnati Royals on January 7th of 1972.

No one went off for the Pistons, it was a very balanced effort. There were 7 guys in the home whites scoring in double figures. Rip led the scoring with 24, Rasheed had 21, Jason Maxiell led the bench scoring with 18 (7 rbs), Jarvis continued his hot shooting (6/10) with 17, Chauncey had 14 (10 asts), Tayshaun pitched in 13, and Rodney Stuckey was solid with 11. The Pistons bench out scored Denver’s 56-37.

The Pistons connected 55 field goals, shooting the ball at a 60.4% rate. Both season highs.

What ever it is the Pistons and Nuggets have had some memorable games between them. This one can go with the with the 1983 highest scoring contest and last season’s OT game that needed a miracle steal and 3/4 court heave from Rasheed to get it there. Gotta love the fact too that all three of those games had the same result, a Pistons W.

Anyone else catch Rasheed’s post game comments tonight? When asked by Fox Sport’s Trevor Thompson about the impending matchup with King James, Ben Wallace and the Cavs Rasheed replied, in classic Rasheed fashion:

“I don’t know if there’s a king, that’s something ya’ll labeled him”

Although Wallace isn’t going to concede LeBron as NBA royalty, he did say he’s one of the league’s “better players”.

The Pistons (48-18) will be hosting the Denver Nuggets (40-26) Tip off is 7:30 pm est from the Palace of Auburn Hills and will be televised locally on Fox Sports Detroit

Nuggets’ Snapshot
Road record: 12-19
Vs. East: 17-9
Last game: 3/16 (Sun) W 116-168 Vs. Sonics
Last 10: 7-3
Last game: Feb. 25th - Pistons (98) @ Nuggets (93)

The Pistons for a long time now have hung their hat on their ability to defend and keep their opponents scores below 100, well that’ll be tested tonight when the Denver Nuggets play the Palace. The Nuggs went bonkers on Sunday scoring 168 points against the Sonics, the 4th most points ever by a team in regulation. Despite it being against lowly Seattle it’s still impressive. And, it’s not like it was Carmelo or A.I. just going off either. Eight Nuggets were in double figures with no one totaling more than 26. They shot 60% from the field, which includes 51% from beyond the big boy line.

Denver is pretty much being forced to play Nuggets to the wall bball as they currently are on the outside looking in at in the West’s super tight playoff race. Every game is like a playoff game.

The odds makers have our Pistons as a 6 point favorite. The Nuggets have not won at the Palace since 1995.

ALSO SEE:

• Pistons.com: Bombs Away
• Nugg Doctor

Remember what happened when the Nuggets played the Palace last season?

So this has nothing at all to do with the Pistons or basketball for that matter, but in accordance to my personal heritage I wanted to wish the readers of this blog a happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I’ve got a couple of special YouTubes that’ll go perfect with your corned beef sandwich and pint of Guinness. If you’ve never seen this news clip from Mobile, AL where locals are flocking to see the tree dwelling leprechaun you can just thank me later. This is by far one of the funniest and and absurd things I’ve ever seen. Enjoy…

…and here’s the “gimme da gold” remix the video spawned

Not a lot of time, so this game recap is going to be on the abbreviated side.

[Box score] The Pistons got off to slow start. New Orleans had Detroit down 11-0 to start this one but the Pistons regrouped and started D-ing up (*cough* Maxiell pwnage of Chandler *cough*) and were able to pull ahead 26-21 by the end of the first after being down as many as 15. From that point on they got behind the hot shooting hand of Jarvis Hayes and were able to coast to a 21 point victory sweeping the season series with New Orleans.

Without question this was the best showing by Jarvis Hayes in a Pistons uniform (or any member of the Zoo Crew for that matter). Jarvis scored a season high 29 points, which included a career high seven three-pointers. J-Hayes got it going in the second quarter netting 19 of the Pistons 34 points, outscoring the whole Hornets team (18) in the quarter.

Hayes wasn’t just scoring, he was in the zone. He went 10/13 from the field, which included his 7/8 from beyond the 3pt arc. Jarvis was perfect from the line, 2/2. He also managed to pull down 4 boards in his 25 minutes of work. It added up to a very impressive +25 +/- stat for Hayes.

The Pistons got a great game from the bench as a whole, 53 points. Included in that was a 9 point, 9 rebound afternoon for Jason Maxiell.

The Pistons as a team shot 13/16 (63.6%) from beyond the arc. The 13 makes are one shy of a Pistons record. They also hit that magical 25 team assist number.

Even as one of the best teams in the West, record-wise, the Hornets can’t seem to handle the Pistons as they’ve lost 7 of their last 8 against us.

Smile, you’re on Maxy-vision baby!

ALSO SEE:

• Hornets247

Some funny stuff from Chris McCosky’s newest blog entry. Looking at the their builds I’d have to say the smart money would be on Lindsey every time.

With the cameras rolling, Lindsey Hunter and Juan Dixon engaged in a little, good-natured grappling session in the locker room before the game Sunday. Apparently, a challenge was issued — not sure who the instigator was, but the smart money is on Hunter — and the two have been going at it verbally about who is stronger or whatever.

Well, Hunter walked over to Dixon, put a bear hug on him, lifted him off the ground and then dumped him on the ground — right at my feet. Dixon complained that Hunter caught him off guard, but apparently, the two went at it again in the trainer’s room, with the same result — Hunter pinning Dixon.

“That’s what I do!” Hunter told Dixon. “That’s what I do.” Dixon countered with: “I ain’t never going to quit.” To which Hunter said, “My cousin never quit either, but that doesn’t mean he ever won.”

Pretty funny stuff. Actually, the funniest part was, right in the middle of it, security chief Jerry Hendon ran out of the room saying, “I’m going to call security.”

Looks as if Lindsey “The Hunter” will finally be trading in his suit for his familiar #10 red, white, and blue get-up. Chris McCosky is reporting that the Pistons are going to activate Lindsey on Wednesday in time for the showdown in Cleveland.

“It’s something he worked out with Joe,” Saunders said. “We will try to wean him in there. He’ll have (four) weeks to get back into the fold.”

Sounds like Linds and Joe D are pretty tight. Lindsey hasn’t been practicing but I have a feeling he keeps himself in shape and since we’ve been at home a lot recently he probably hasn’t had too many opportunities to throw down at the Cheesecake Factory. Even if he did though there’s always his wife’s diet pills…just kidding, just kidding.

When Lindsey is in full playoff ball-hawking mode does that mean our guy Afflalo is the odd man out since Juan Dixon has come into the fold?

[Box score] This outcome of this game was good for the Pistons for a few reasons. They beat a Western title contender at the same time sweeping the season series with the Spurs. The win also avoids a multi-game losing streak and serves as a good pick-me-up after a very disappointing loss to the 76ers at the Palace just two nights before.

With the two teams trading runs you just hoped the Pistons run would come last and it did. The Pistons were finally able pull ahead (momentarily) of the Spurs in the second half. They had Timmy and Co. down a dozen in the third by limiting San Antonio to perimeter shots, but the Spurs turned the tables on the Pistons in the 4th going on a 13-0 run when the Pistons offense stalled out.

When it came down to the wire it was the Pistons who made the big plays culminating in Rip (25 pts, 4 ast, 4 rbs) hitting an off balanced shot from the top of the key after being fouled by Tony Parker (26 pts, 7 ast, 4 reb, 3 stl). Rip nailed the free throw and then hit two more when the Spurs failed to convert on their end giving the Pistons the four point win. A big game from would lead you to believe he’s out of his little funk, but after the game the ever confident Rip claimed there was no funk:

“I’m never in a lull,” Hamilton insisted. “When I don’t shoot, people think that something’s wrong. We got a lot of All-Stars on this team.” (ESPN)

Antonio McDyess had a monster of a game on the glass. Dice pulled down a season high 17 boards. He and Theo Ratliff combined for 11 of the team’s season high 22 offensive boards which is what enabled the ‘Stonz to stay in this game in the first half when they weren’t hitting shots.

Rasheed Wallace didn’t have the best offensive night. He scored 10 points on 5/13 shooting which included 0/3 from three point land. But, Sheed was big on defense. Wallace grabbed 8 boards and blocked 3 shots, one of which on Tim Duncan preventing the Spurs from catching Detroit on one of the games final plays. Duncan had a horrible shooting night going 9/23 scoring 20, but he did assert himself on some big post buckets late in the game to keep things tight.

Just as uplifting as this win was it was a win off the court for the Pistons organization off the court. The Pistons successfully raised over $400,000 through their all day long telethon benefiting Detroit’s Make-A-Wish foundation. Fifty kids with life threatening illness will be able to have their wishes granted as a result. Very cool Pistons. This makes me as proud of this organization as any win.

The Pistons (46-18) will be hosting the San Antonio Spurs (44-20) Tip off is 8:00 pm est from the the Palace of Auburn Hills and will be televised locally on WDIV

UPDATE! -The Spurs will be without starting forward Bruce Bowen due to suspension [source]

Spurs’ Snapshot
Road record: 17-15
Vs. East: 21-4
Last game: 3/12 (Weds) L 75-100 @ Hornets
Last 10: 7-3
Last meeting: Jan 10th - Pistons (90) @ Spurs (80)

The Pistons shouldn’t have lost to the Sixers at the Palace on Wednesday and need to redeem themselves. The Spurs are coming off their worst lost of the season by getting blown out by 25 on the same day the Pistons were edged by Philly , so they too are looking to have a better showing.

What I’m looking for is Tayshuan to continue to look for his scoring going to the hoop. He’s been doing a great job of taking the action right to the rim and finishing over the top of the defense. I’m looking for another epic Rasheed/Duncan matchup. If Rasheed supposedly saves his best efforts for the league’s elite you can’t do much better than Timmy. And third, how about Rip and Dice snap out of their scoring slumps?

Also, go to NBA.com and vote for Automotion who’s taking on Atlanta’s A-Town Dancers in NBA.com’s annual dance bracket. Voting for round one ends tomorrow at noon.

Not that a March match up with the Spurs isn’t important enough there’s also something else that needs mentioning to anyone who doesn’t already know…the Pistons are using the whole day, with help from local television and radio stations, to raise money for our local Make-A-Wish foundation. They’re trying to raise $400,000 to help grant wishes to children with life threatening illnesses. If you’d like to help a great cause you can pledge money by calling (877)DPC-WISH or click the “donate now” links found on Pistons.com.

The Pistons (46-17) will be hosting the Philadelphia 76ers (30-34) Tip off is 7:30 pm est from the the Palace of Auburn Hills and will be televised locally on Fox Sports Detroit

UPDATE! -The Sixers will be without starting guard Willie Green due to a strained lower back [source]

76ers’ Snapshot
Road record: 13-19
Last game: 3/10 (Mon) L 100-86 Vs. Celtics
Last 10: 7-3
Last meeting: Jan 23rd - Pistons (86) @ 76ers (78)

Apparently the 76ers are playing some pretty good ball lately? The Sixers are in the 7th playoff slot right now and they’re winners of 12 of their last 16 games. It’s kinda easy to lose Philly in the NBA shuffle. They’re a pretty nondescript team now-a-days. The other A.I., Andre Iguodala is having a nice stat year for himself leading the Sixers. He’s averaging 19.6 ppg (which is 5 ppg over his career average), 5.5 rpb, and 4.6 apg. He and Andre Miller, who’s averaging 16.9 ppg and 6.7 apg, make a nice 1-2 punch.

The Pistons have won 13 of the last 15 meeting with Philadelphia which includes 6 0f the last 7 at the Palace. The Pistons will also looking to win their fourth consecutive home game on the cusp of hosting three tough Western foes (Spurs, Nuggets and Hornets) at the Palace.