Spurs vs. Pistons Previews

[Blackjack]

Wednesday: Pistons (11-22) at Spurs (20-12) (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Wednesday_Pistons_11-22_at_Spurs_20-12.html)


Time: 7:30 p.m.
TV: FSNSW
Radio: WOAI-AM 1200, KCOR-AM 1350

STARTING LINEUPS
POS - SPURS - PISTONS

PG - 9 Tony Parker (6-2, 9th yr) - 3 Rodney Stuckey (6-5, 3rd yr)
Stuckey, Pistons' top scorer, plans to play through left ankle sprain.

SG - 10 Keith Bogans (6-5, 7th yr) - 32 R. Hamilton (6-7, 11th yr)
Hamilton struggling with shot since return from torn hamstring.

SF - 24 Richard Jefferson (6-7, 9th yr) - 22 Tayshaun Prince (6-9, 8th yr)
Jefferson has made nine of his first 16 shots in 2010.

PF - 21 Tim Duncan (6-11, 13th yr) - 33 Jonas Jerebko (6-10, 1st yr)
Surest bet in the NBA: Duncan will return to starting lineup tonight.

C - 45 DeJuan Blair (6-7, 1st yr) - 6 Ben Wallace (6-9, 14th yr)
Blair likely to resume starting duties as well, shifting McDyess to bench.

SPURS RESERVES
8 Roger Mason Jr., G, 6-5, 6th yr
34 A. McDyess, C/F, 6-10, 14th yr
20 Manu Ginobili, G, 6-6, 8th yr
1 Malik Hairston, G/F, 6-5, 2nd yr
22 Marcus Haislip, F, 6-10, 4th yr
3 George Hill, G, 6-2, 2nd yr
42 Theo Ratliff, F/C, 6-10, 15th yr

PISTONS RESERVES
17 Chucky Atkins, G, 5-10, 11th yr
38 Kwame Brown, C, 6-11, 9th yr
5 Austin Daye, F, 6-10, 1st yr
7 Ben Gordon, G, 6-3, 6th yr
54 Jason Maxiell, F, 6-7, 5th yr
31 C. Villanueva, C/F, 6-11, 5th yr
9 Chris Wilcox, C/F, 6-10, 8th yr

COACHES
Spurs: Gregg Popovich
Pistons: John Kuester

INJURIES
Spurs: Michael Finley (sprained left ankle) and Matt Bonner (fractured right hand) are out.
Pistons: Will Bynum (left ankle sprain) is out. Stuckey (left ankle sprain) is probable.

PROJECTED INACTIVE PLAYERS
Spurs: Ian Mahinmi, Finley, Bonner.
Pistons: Bynum, DaJuan Summers.

NOTABLE
The Pistons, the winningest Eastern Conference team of the recently completed decade, ended 2009 on a nine-game losing streak, their longest since dropping 13 in a row during the 1993-94 season. ... Detroit pushed that streak to 10 in Tuesday's loss at Dallas. ... Spurs are coming off a 91-86 loss at Toronto on Sunday, just their second against a sub-.500 foe. ... The Spurs rank fourth in the league and second in the West in scoring differential (plus-6.18).

- Jeff McDonald

[Blackjack]

Dallas 98, Detroit 93

Pistons lose to Mavs, 10th in a row (http://www.freep.com/article/20100105/SPORTS03/100105080/1048/rss03/Pistons-lose-to-Mavs-10th-in-a-row)

POSTED BY KIRKLAND CRAWFORD
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

Jason Terry scord 26 points off the bench and Dirk Nowitzki had 22 points and 12 rebounds as the Pistons lost, 98-93, to the Mavericks tonight in Dallas for Detroit's 10th straight loss.

Richard Hamilton led the Pistons with 20 points. Charlie Villanueva had 17 points and nine rebounds. Rodney Stuckey scored 15 and Chris Wilcox added 12.

Shawn Marion scored 18 points and Josh Howard added 12.

The Mavs led by as many as eight in the fourth quater before Ben Gordon's jumper cut the lead to 92-86 with 2:47 to play. Detroit cut the lead to three, 94-91, on a Stuckey layup with 44.9 seconds remaining and after a Dallas miss, Gordon's jumper made it a one-point game with 14.9 to play. Nowitzki was fouled on the next play and hit two free throws. Stuckey missed a three on the next possession and Marion's two free throws iced the game.

The Mavericks turned an eight-point halftime deficit into a two-point lead late in the third quarter, where Nowitzki scored 14 and Marion added 10. The teams were tied at 68 after the third.

Dallas began the fourth on a 9-2 run, punctuated by a Josh Howard three-pointer.

Both teams shot reasonably well -- Mavs 44% and Pistons 48% -- but Dallas won the rebounding battle, 46-41. Drew Gooden had 18 rebounds.

Wilcox scored eight points in the first quarter to give the Pistons a 22-14 lead after one.

Villanueva hit four three-pointers in the first six minutes of the second quarter to extend the lead to 38-24. Dallas trimmed the lead to six, thanks to five points from Jason Kidd. But with three tenths of a second left in the half, Tayshaun Prince hit a running bank shot to give the Pistons a 44-36 lead.

The Mavericks improved to 10-3 in games decided by five points or fewer.

The Pistons will try to end their slide Wednesday night at San Antonio.

[honestfool84]

what happened to duncan228? :lol

not that i'm complaining, just curious!

[Blackjack]

Pistons Team Report (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/teams/det/report)
Yahoo! Sports - Jan 5, 2:09 am EST

The Pistons are saying good riddance to 2009.

They ended the decade with their longest losing streak. They'll carry a nine-game skid into Dallas on Tuesday night. The last time the Pistons lost that many consecutive games was 1993-94, when they dropped 13 straight to end the season.

Poor offensive flow has led to frustration and defensive breakdowns. The Pistons haven't scored more than 41 points before halftime in their last six games and they've shown no ability to stage a comeback. They have trailed throughout the second half during that stretch.

Earlier in the streak, the Pistons were playing shorthanded. Now, they're waiting for most of their offensive weapons to regain their form and confidence. They have three off days to work on their many deficiencies.

Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Ben Gordon returned three games ago from lengthy injured-related absences. Only Gordon has regained his touch. Hamilton is shooting 13-for-54 from the field since his return, while Prince is 10-for-28.

"Right now, it's just getting our timing and our rhythm and getting back in the sync of things," Hamilton said. "The more practices and more games we play, we'll be better. We've got everybody back and that's the most important thing about the whole situation. We're going into the New Year with everybody on the floor, and that's the great thing."

Losing a home game to Chicago on New Year's Eve without ever gaining the lead surely didn't feel that way.

"None of it feels good," Rodney Stuckey said. "I don't know what to say. We should be winning. We had 87 points tonight, and with the kind of team we have, we shouldn't be scoring 87 points a game."

BULLS 98, PISTONS 87: Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas combined for 34 points and 28 rebounds as the Bulls outrebounded the Pistons, 49-33, on Thursday. Rodney Stuckey had 22 points and Ben Gordon added 21, but Detroit lost its ninth straight. The Pistons shot just 38.6 percent from the field.

[Blackjack]

what happened to duncan228? :lol

not that i'm complaining, just curious!

How do you know I'm not a troll?:smokin

[TDMVPDPOY]

easy win, next

[temujin]

Jerebko was on the same team with James Gist last year.

I watched a couple of games and wondered why a NBA team would be interested in Gist.
Jerebko surprises me though.

[timtonymanu]

this game scares me. i dont see the pistons losing 11 in a row. hopefully spurs take care of business.

[Muser]

Pistons have been horrible lately, although they played very well against Dallas. I say spurs by 10+

[shelshor]

Referee Assignments
Wed. Jan 6
Detroit @ San Antonio: Greg Willard; Tony Brown; Sean Corbin

[LOL@MavsFan]

Dallas 98, Detroit 93

Pistons lose to Mavs, 10th in a row (http://www.freep.com/article/20100105/SPORTS03/100105080/1048/rss03/Pistons-lose-to-Mavs-10th-in-a-row)

POSTED BY KIRKLAND CRAWFORD
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

Jason Terry scord 26 points off the bench and Dirk Nowitzki had 22 points and 12 rebounds as the Pistons lost, 98-93, to the Mavericks tonight in Dallas for Detroit's 10th straight loss.

Richard Hamilton led the Pistons with 20 points. Charlie Villanueva had 17 points and nine rebounds. Rodney Stuckey scored 15 and Chris Wilcox added 12.

Shawn Marion scored 18 points and Josh Howard added 12.

The Mavs led by as many as eight in the fourth quater before Ben Gordon's jumper cut the lead to 92-86 with 2:47 to play. Detroit cut the lead to three, 94-91, on a Stuckey layup with 44.9 seconds remaining and after a Dallas miss, Gordon's jumper made it a one-point game with 14.9 to play. Nowitzki was fouled on the next play and hit two free throws. Stuckey missed a three on the next possession and Marion's two free throws iced the game.

The Mavericks turned an eight-point halftime deficit into a two-point lead late in the third quarter, where Nowitzki scored 14 and Marion added 10. The teams were tied at 68 after the third.

Dallas began the fourth on a 9-2 run, punctuated by a Josh Howard three-pointer.

Both teams shot reasonably well -- Mavs 44% and Pistons 48% -- but Dallas won the rebounding battle, 46-41. Drew Gooden had 18 rebounds.

Wilcox scored eight points in the first quarter to give the Pistons a 22-14 lead after one.

Villanueva hit four three-pointers in the first six minutes of the second quarter to extend the lead to 38-24. Dallas trimmed the lead to six, thanks to five points from Jason Kidd. But with three tenths of a second left in the half, Tayshaun Prince hit a running bank shot to give the Pistons a 44-36 lead.

The Mavericks improved to 10-3 in games decided by five points or fewer.

The Pistons will try to end their slide Wednesday night at San Antonio.

Of course he was. All he has to do is drive in the paint at the end of a game and flop his head back like the little bitch that he is and they'll blow the whistle everytime. That shit gets old. Rant complete.

[bobby4germany]

Of course he was. All he has to do is drive in the paint at the end of a game and flop his head back like the little bitch that he is and they'll blow the whistle everytime. That shit gets old. Rant complete.

+1

I want to throw-up everytime I see Dirk use that punk ass move!

[Blackjack]

Jonas Jerebko Encourages Foolishness (http://www.48minutesofhell.com/2010/01/06/jonas-jerebko-encourages-foolishness/)
by Timothy Varner

As a little aside before tonight’s San Antonio Spurs-Detroit Pistons contest, I wanted to remind our readers that surprising rookie Jonas Jerebko was a teammate of sort-of, kind-of Spurs project James Gist last season. In terms of production, they were both pretty good, although neither was terrific.

That Free Darko book, the Macrophenomenal Basketball Almanac, included a series of NBA myths. I don’t have the book on hand, but one of those myths was that every foreign-born second round draft pick would become Manu Ginobili. Or some such. I concede the FD point–it’s foolish to expect too much from draft and stash players–but, nevertheless, it’s part of the M.O. of every Spurs fan to expect great things of our foreign prospects.

So, as I watch Jonas Jerebko tonight, I’ll be all awash with fantasies of Nando De Colo becoming the next great second round surprise. I’m never sure how to categorize posts like this, but these thoughts have something to do with chronicling the psychological experience of rooting for the Spurs, which must feel very different than, say, cheering-on the Clippers or Knicks. Think of this as complete team coverage.

[Blackjack]

Spurs as Pistons? How Holt helped (http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/courtside/2010/01/earlier-this-we.html)
By Jeff McDonald

Earlier this week, Tony Parker found himself thinking about the good old days. Not the for the Spurs, but for the Pistons.

Detroit, not far removed from an era of Eastern Conference dominance, limps into the AT&T Center tonight riding a 10-game losing streak that is its longest in 16 seasons.

"They've been good for so long," Parker said. "At some point, it's going to turn. It's sad to see that."

Two seasons ago, the Pistons were in the conference finals for the sixth consecutive seasons. Today, they are fighting with Indiana to stay out of the Central Division basement.

For the Spurs, who recall vividly the Pistons' time among the NBA elite, Detroit's downfall has been a tough-to-watch train wreck. It also serves as a reminder that no dynasty is built to last.

This is not news for the Spurs. They broke the bank during the offseason operating under the principal that all good things eventually come to an end.

Had they not reloaded with Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess, DeJuan Blair and others, it's likely the Spurs would be following the Pistons down the same path someday soon.

So when Parker contemplates the sorry state of the Pistons, it helps to remember: There but for the grace of Peter Holt go the Spurs.