Naturally Swedened win over NJ
Posted by pistonsnationFirst let me give credit where credit is due; the “Naturally Swedened” came from @russbengtson via Twitter. If you’re a fan of the NBA Russ is a good one to follow.
Readers might recall me suggesting that we shift our attention from the Pistons as a whole to the evolution of a certain 2009 second round draft choice hailing from Borås, Sweden.
Jonas “Double J” Jerebko, along with Ben Wallace, started by providing the hustle and energy early that was no where to be found the night before in the blowout loss to the Pacers. Jonas then went on to pull a Curt Hennig going 9-for-9 from the field, two of those from beyond the arc. Double J concluded the game with 20 points, 7 boards, and 2 steals. “Absolutely perfect.”
Charlie V flung in 4 threes pointers in as many tries but I thought his performance was far from perfect. He was out of position on many defensive sequences and picked up 3 fouls in his 17 minutes. The long ball helps, but I’d love to see them in concert with some solid defense that CV has shown flashes of through out the season.
Jason Maxiell scoring 9 of his Pistons’ bench high 13 in the 4th quarter helped the Pistons secure their second win in 5 days over the lowly Nets. When you think of Jason Maxiell you think of a guy that is more likely to cause blunt force trauma as a result of an ill-intending thunder dunk, than a guy hitting clutch 4th quarter jumpers. But, that’s just what he did last night just when the Nets were threatening.
Point guard…Rodney Stuckey finished with more assists (11) than points (10) helping the Pistons to 29 total assists. Quite a contrast from the 10 total the night before. Will Bynum dished out seven of those 10 assists in Indy, but last night everyone who stepped on the court wearing red, white, and Pistons’ blue seemed to make a effort to work to get the best scoring opportunity.
I’m in high spirits today that the Nets were not able to get their 2nd road win on the season at the expense of the Pistons, but my joy must remain tempered. We are talking about the now 4-46 New Jersey Nets here. They do play hard despite their record but it doesn’t change the fact that they’re on target to be historically the most single season losingest team in league history. The Pistons didn’t really take care of business. The Nets still hung around and actually took a fourth quarter lead. This Pistons team still has lots of short comings and the struggle for consistency shows no signs of letting up courtesy of a couple close wins against the Nets.
QUOTE OF THE GAME: George Blaha after a Ben Wallace score:
Now that’s a man sized deuce!
I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist.
Tonight the Pistons face their stiffest competition…in the John Wall sweepstakes. Yes, it has come to that. These are the two worst teams -record wise- in the East. The Pistons could make a run at making the playoffs, and their credit they’re not saying die. But, for what? Do we really want to slide in the 8th spot and be a sacrificial lamb? I’m not saying tank the remainder of the season, let’s just be realistic.



It was pretty much a foregone conclusion that the Pistons would at least make the playoffs and now it’s official. The Pistons extended their win streak to 3 games as the continue to pick up momentum heading into the post season.
Who do the Pistons want to face in the first round? It’s either go into Cleveland where the Cavs have been next to impossible to beat or go into Boston where the Celtics are real good, but not nearly as unbeatable. Also keep in mind that the Celtics are still trying to get everyone healthy and you’d have to say that they’d more desirable matchup (assuming Orlando stays at #3).
This one is pretty simple. The Pistons couldn’t stop the Nets from redeeming themselves to their home fans after getting blown out by 29 two nights prior. The Pistons had no defense for Devin Harris (19 pts, 11 asts) or Brooke Lopez (19 pts, 7 rbs). They were also hurt by the outside shooting Keyon Doolling who scored 23 going 5/10 from beyond the arc.







