Detroit Pistons '12-'13: Grizzlies, blocked [12-7]

[megarover]

Wow nothing like a couple games against the offensive challenged Bucks to rack up a few wins. Good game for Knight but no assists? Maybe use Knight more in some drive and kick plays to help him with his playmaking. Bogut wouldn't be a bad big to go after. A bit injury proned though.

[Leftos]

It's been all fun up to now, but there's still the 3-game back-to-back that's Bulls, Magic, Bulls, which is bound to kill the team, especially if Rose is back. We'll see.

Knight has found his way back to the starting five stat-wise, but the man doesn't seem to end plays in assists. He's playing like an SG, getting off screens and open for threes. We'll see if the improved team perimeter and his getting accustomed to his teammates such as English gets his assist average up as the season goes.

[Leftos]

November 20, 2012
Game 11: Pistons' winning-streak halted at 4 by Brook Lopez, Nets
Final Score: (L) 111-102

Nets win their second game against the Pistons this season after the season-opener for the Pistons, November 2. Although they started slow at The Palace and were trailing by 5 at the end of 1st, the trio of Lopez, Johnson and Williams managed to both keep the Pistons away from their usual percentages on defense, as well as dominate on offense and the boards.

Nets Key Players
* Brook Lopez finished the game with 28 points on an outstanding .786 from the floor. He also grabbed 11 boards for a double-double, and had a free-throw rate of .429, scoring 6 in the process.
* Joe Johnson with 31 points, .524 from the field and 3 out 7 3 pointers. Stuckey was no match for him defensively, nor was English.
* Deron Williams with 20 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists. Maybe Knight could take a few lessons from him.
Killing me not so softly
* Mirza Teletovic, the Nets' rookie, played just 8 minutes but managed 8 points, 2 boards and an assist on 3 of 3 from the field, including 2 3 pointers. He has a very good range for a PF, and could prove to be a deadly weapon off the bench.

Pistons Key Players
* Tayshaun Prince had an outstanding game, with 25 points on 8 of 11 and 4 of 6 from beyond the arc, as well as 5 free throws on 11 field goal attempts for a FTR of .455. He also had 9 rebounds. He's trying to prove he still has things to give the Pistons, who have been pleasantly surprised by Corey Maggette's efficiency at the SF spot whatever minutes he gets each game.
* Speaking of which, another solid game for Corey, with 12 points on 4 of 6 beyond the arc as well, a steal and 3 boards.
* Jason Maxiell was also out there trying to improve. 11 points and an aggressive presence, going to the line for 9 free throws on just 4 field goal attempts, scoring 5 in the process.
Needs experience
* Monroe may be nice to have at the PF spot, but when Andre Drummond is up against an experienced center such as Brook Lopez, he's bound to struggle. Granted, he went to the line to score 8 of 12 from it and grabbed 7 rebounds to keep up with his average (7.5 RPG), but only scored 1 of 5 from the floor, Lopez being dominant at both posts.

No time to rest, flight to Charlotte to face the Bobcats (1st in SPG with 8.5) for the second time this season. Last time, at the Palace, the Pistons dominated the game and ended up winning by 11 points. Bobcats are still without Ben Gordon, who is recovering from injury, and any minutes he gets will be a game-time decision.


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[Leftos]

November 21, 2012
Game 12 Mini-Recap: Sloppy play is punished, Bobcats beat Pistons at home
Result: (L) 73-88

* Pistons had 7 turnovers in the first half, but Bobcats' shooting .371 from the floor meant the latter ones headed into the half being 5 points behind.
* But the Pistons didn't learn from their mistakes, and did another 9 turnovers in the second half to allow the top team in steals in the league to get 13, yes, 13 steals in this game. Read the scouting report much?
* Pistons finished the game with 16 turnovers, 4 from Knight and Stuckey each, who had 4 and 5 assists as well accordingly. Had they kept the turnovers down, this would've been a good performance.
* Tyrus Thomas was a beast against Monroe and Maxiell, getting 22 points, 11 boards, 3 blocks and 2 assists in the process.
* MKG with 18 points (.583 FG%), 2 steals and 4 assists.
* Gerald Henderson and Kemba Walker with 14 and 16 points each, Walker shooting .538 from the floor.
* Only Knight and Maxiell managed a game score of over 10 for the Pistons.
* Knight had 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting (.636) and 4 assists, but also 4 turnovers.
* Jason Maxiell with 6 points and 9 boards, 4 of them offensive, as well as a block.
* Monroe got a block for himself too, but got blocked 3 times during the game. 6 points and 13 rebounds to finish the game, along with 4 assists over 1 turnover.

Word is Pistons had gotten over-confident after their 4-game winning streak, and they've been brought back down to earth hard, losing two games that they could've won. Now they have 4 more games this month, and the first one is against the 76ers who've had a terrible-season so far, just 2 and 10. Only player the Pistons need to worry about is Andre Iguodala, who's been averaging 13 PPG, 4 APG, 5 RPG and 2 SPG. Nobody else from the team has managed to get a game score above 10 so far.

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November 21, 2012
Water Cooler Update: Nets send Brook Lopez to the Cavs in cap-relief move

* Brook Lopez and Reggie Evans have been traded to the Cavs for Alonzo Gee and Luke Walton. Both Gee and Walton are expiring contracts, and even after the move the Nets are still $18M above the salary cap. Did the luxury tax get too heavy on them?
* Cavs now find themselves with 3 centers, as they already had Anderson Varejao and Tyler Zeller, who are currently both injured. Our guess is one of the two will be becoming part of a trade soon.
* Nets will probably move Gerald Wallace to PF, as their solutions for Center are now limited. If that happens, Gee and Damion James will rotate in SF.
* Kings finally broke their 8 game losing streak with a win against the Raptors. DeMarcus Cousins and Marcus Thornton both had double-doubles, scoring 33 and 26 accordingly.

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[Leftos]

November 23, 2012
Game 13: DRUMMTASTIC!
Final Score: (W) 88-92

Pistons get a much-needed win before one of the hardest back-to-back series they're to face this season. In a game that went, surprisingly, back and forth through 4 quarters as the 76ers matched the Pistons on their every move, the Pistons would hold on to the end. A Drummond fast-break dunk and a few timely shots and free throws by Stuckey would get Pistons the win in the end. Career game for Drummond, who's probably made some GMs regret skipping him already.

Pistons Key Players
* Open your eyes, and read this carefully. Drummond had his way against Spencer Hawes. He scored 29 points on 1.000 shooting. Yes. That's 100% from the floor, 12 out of 12 shots went in, including 4 dunks, one out of an English alley-oop, and a fast-break one late in 4th to put The Palace on fire. As if all that wasn't enough, he had 7 boards, an assist, a steal and 4 blocks. You know he's having a good night when he's scoring 5 of 6 free throws.

phpBB [video]

* Tayshaun Prince won't let his age get the best of him. A double-double of 19 and 12 while shooting .571 from the floor.
* Greg Monroe was here to provide support, although his performances have dropped lately. 13 points, but an exceptional free-throw rate of .833, scoring 5 of them. 2 offensive rebounds to get things done.
Do it like a PG
* Knight finally gets to help his teammates out with timely passes on 7 assists over 2 turnovers. Any correlations to the fact that he shot 1 of 11 from the floor for the night are pure speculation.
A bad season...
* ...for Will Bynum. -3.9 was his game score, -10.64 his game score efficiency. In 11 minutes on the floor he got none of 5 to go in, and fouled once. That's all.

76ers Key Players
* Thaddeus Young was the 76ers top performer with a great stat-line. He did his best to keep the 76ers in the game, scoring 20 points, grabbing 13 rebounds (5 offensive), 5 assists, 3 steals and a block. He was just 6 of 18 from the floor, but 8 of 8 from the line.
* Jrue Holiday with 17 points, 5 boards, 6 assists and 3 steals in 41 minutes.
* Andre Iguodala with as near as makes no difference a double-double, on 13 and 9 along with 4 assists and a steal

Pistons have a tough 3 days ahead of them after a day of practice and rest, going twice against the Bulls and once against the Magic. For what it's worth, they've beat both teams once so far, but Derrick Rose is back for the Bulls, with an average of 20 points a game on .521 from the floor, as well as 7 assists and 4 rebounds. Everyone's eyes will be on Drummond and what kind of performance he'll be able to pit against the 8 and 11 Joakim Noah. Andre had 11 points and 2 blocks last time round. Bulls will be out to make a point, as the loss of Rose early in the season has put them in a bad position; 4-8 their record so far, and no significant stats whatsover.


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[Lamrock]

Great team choice and start to your story. I'll definitely be keeping tabs on this one.

[Leftos]

Lamrock, thanks. I'm watching your Association closely as well! Tough luck on having to face the Heat 1st round.

[sunsfan13]

Congrats on the win, Drummond was a beast in this game, he just dominated Hawes. Nice season for Pistons thus far, keep it up

P.S:In my opinion you should include some pictures from the game, it would be fantastic

[Leftos]

I was jaw-dropped by Drummond's performance as well, and some of the dunks that man does, man oh man.

I know I should include images, don't know why I haven't gotten round to that yet. I'll start grabbing a picture from the Pressbook for each game.

[Leftos]

November 25, 2012
Game 14 Mini-Recap: Rose, Bulls take revenge at The Palace
Result: (L) 113-101

* Pistons were down 9-0 and then 14-5 really early in the 1st quarter. They managed to pull back as the quarter came to a close, and a circus shot from the other free-throw line by Kim English found its target on the buzzer to end the quarter 24-23, advantage Bulls. After the 2nd quarter started, the Bulls pulled away and were never threatened by the Pistons again, getting the lead up to 23 at some point in early 3rd quarter.
* Derrick Rose was relentless. In 32 minutes on the floor he scored 32 points on 11 of 21 shooting and 10 of 10 from the charity stripe. 4 boards, 7 assists and 2 steals fill up his stat-line.
* Richard Hamilton providing a steady stream of points for the Bulls, penetrating his old team's defense time and time again as nobody seemed to be able to keep up with him. 23 points (.556 FG%), 2 steals and a block his tally.
* Carlos Boozer with an all-around performance; 8 PTS, 11 REB, 7 AST, 3 STL.
* Greg Monroe was up against Boozer and won the battle between them. 18 PTS, .500 FG%, 9 REB, 6-7 FT.
* Andre Drummond won the battle against Noah as well, with 15 PTS, 7 REB, 3 OREB, 4 AST, 1 BLK. He's really growing fast.
* Maggette and Prince played well too, Prince doing 13 and 5 boards, while Maggette 17 and 3 boards.
* The Pistons backcourt of Knight, Stuckey and English was... mediocre, to be polite. They were up against much more experienced and agile players, and couldn't handle that. 24 points and 9 assists between the 3 of them.
* Will Bynum with a terrible game, as always. 2 points, no assists, 2 turnovers in 10 minutes. Pistons have a lot of expiring contracts right now, they'd better find a good PG next summer, if not before the trade deadline.

Time to face the Magic who are still having nightmares of the 29 point differential the Pistons won them by in their first meeting this season. Orlando will be hoping to get one back and improve their current record of 5-7. Dwight Howard currently averages 25.8 and 11.5, just so you know.

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[Leftos]

November 26, 2012
Game 15: Corey Maggette can't remember if he encountered any Magic players on court today
Final Score: (W) 119-75

Pistons would score 65 in the first half, 54 in the second to completely dominate and destroy the Magic for the second time this season. The Magic players were nowhere to be seen, and especially Dwight Howard, who got in foul trouble in all first three quarters, just didn't want to make something of his time in the 4th, when the Magic started while being down by 33. Corey Maggette earned the Player of the Game honors, despite being the 3rd best Piston by our calculations.

The Pistons had their second unit in for most of the second half, and 2 of their bench players, English and Maggette, played the most minutes, with 26 and 25. Brandon Knight got slightly injured in the 2nd quarter, and we'll have an estimation on that in our next report.

Magic shot .296 from the floor, on 24 of 81, allowing the Pistons to grab a mind-boggling 65 rebounds (including 10 OREB) in 48 minutes. 9 Pistons had over 5 rebounds, Maxiell leading the pack with 11.

Let's get to the rundown.

Pistons Key Players
* Andre Drummond with another great performance, as he didn't have much of Dwight Howard to worry about. 18 points in 24 minutes on another 1.000 performance from the floor, with 6 of 6. He also made 6 of 9 free throws.
* Greg Monroe played 23 minutes himself, with 14 and 8. He was to have a great performance had he stayed in more, just like Andre. He was .800 from the floor, 6 out of 8 freethrows, 2 assists and a steal.
* Corey Maggette with another exceptional performance, and PotG honors. 17 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal on .500 shooting, and 3 of 4 free throws.
* Kim English and Brandon Knight get good performances as well. English had 15 points with 4 of 5 three pointers, as well as 5 rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block.
* Brandon Knight played just 20 minutes as he was hurt in the 2nd quarter, but still got 15 points on .500 from the floor, .600 from the 3 point line, as well as 2 assists and a steal.
Do I even have to say that?
* Will Bynum got 21 minutes on the floor, only to do almost nothing with them. Just 1 point, 1 rebound, 2 assists and a block.

Magic Key Players
* J.J. Redick was pretty much the only Magic to participate. 16 points, 3 of 7 from the arc, 5 boards and a block.
* Yeeeah, nothing else here.

Pistons go home with their head high, a much needed confidence boost before facing the Bulls again, to whom they lost to yesterday. You won't get any predictions that the Pistons will win against the Bulls, but even if they lose, they'll close out November near the top of the Eastern Conference.


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November 26, 2012
Water Cooler Update: Maxiell wants out

* An expected result of his move to the bench after Pistons' coach Lawrence Frank decided to start Drummond in Center, Maxiell now says he is disgruntled with his minutes and role on the team, and that it's time for him to move on. Bobcats were rumored to be making up an offer to get him to Charlotte, but the Bobcats Front Office rejected the rumors. Maxiell is 7th in PER for the Pistons, averaging 5.6 PPG (.721 FG%), 4.7 RPG, and 1.3 APG in 17.6 MPG.
* Brandon Knight (Pistons) twisted his ankle in the team's latest game against Magic, but the head athletic trainer tells us it's a day-to-day injury, and that he won't have to miss any games.
* Tim Duncan (Spurs) who's on his 16th year in the NBA is bound to have surgery after tearing his hand ligament in the Spurs overtime loss to the Grizzlies, November 23. Doctors make an educated guess of 6 to 8 weeks before he can return to court.

[Martti.]

Haven't really plaid attention to this one, but this one is excellent. Love the in-depth stats part.

[Leftos]

Thanks for that Martti. Game recap on Bulls upset coming up! Drummond fans will be excited.

[Leftos]

November 27, 2012
Game 16: Drummond, Pistons upset Bulls in 3rd game of rivalry
Final Score: (W) 96-103


Andre Drummond, scoring 2 of his 31 points on this emphatic dunk

Well, nobody was expecting this. Especially since just 2 days ago, the Bulls were able to handle the Pistons pretty easily, with all their main players putting up good performances and a dominating backcourt that limited the Pistons' efforts to come back. Today, it was the Bulls who were playing catch-up, cutting the lead to just 3 with 20 seconds on the clock after some consecutive baskets by Rose and Boozer, while the Pistons were, for the first time in the game, having a drought at the offensive end. The Pistons wouldn't allow the Bulls to foul them intentionally by passing the ball constantly, and Drummond would seal the game with 4 out of 4 late free throws, in an exceptional performance. Drummond's performances as of late have been nothing sort of unexpectedly great; even the Pistons Front Office, as well as Pistons' Head Coach Lawrence Frank, are admitting that they weren't expecting such a quick progress.

The Bulls, on the other hand, were a team that were struggling to score, reminding everyone of the Rose-less Bulls. Actually, Rose wasn't doing much until the 4th quarter, when he took off and cut a 17-point lead to a 3-point one. Seems like the Bulls are overly dependent on Rose and his performances, and this has cost them so far, as they find their record at 5-9 as November comes to a close in a few days.

Pistons Key Players
* Andre Drummond was the Player of the Game, with 31 points on 12 of 17 (.706) shooting, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block. An all-around exceptional performance, and his late 4 of 4 free throws (after starting 3 of 7) made sure the Pistons won this one. Everyone at the Pistons' camp is ecstatic about the prospect of Andre.
* Monroe with a double-double of 13 and 15, as he took it upon himself to do the bulk of the Pistons' rebounding. He also had something of the Georgetown Monroe, where he was renowned for his passing. He had 7 assists, setting up his teammates for easy shots near the basket constantly throughout the game. 3 steals and a block complete an outstanding performance.
* Kim English with valuable minutes off the bench, shooting 4 of 6 for 9 points, and also having 3 assists, 3 boards and a steal.
Playing through the pain
* Brandon Knight twisted his ankle yesterday in the Pistons blow-out win over the Magic, but was given the OK not to miss any games. He actually seemed fine, playing 32 minutes for 12 points, 3 boards, an assist and a block. He shot .455 from the court.
Hey, look at that!
* Will Bynum came round for a -rare, as far as he goes- decent performance. Even though Lawrence Frank limited him to playing 11 minutes, he scored 8 points on 3 of 4 shooting, and had 3 assists over 2 turnovers.

Bulls Key Players
* Carlos Boozer was a great match-up for Greg Monroe, as they fought throughout the game. He finished the game with 25 points (10-14 FG, .714), 2 blocks, and 5 of 5 free throws. He lost the rebounding battle, catching just 8 boards.
* Derrick Rose was out of his game for 3 quarters, but shown his true skill in the 4th when he -almost single-handedly- pulled the Bulls from a 17-point deficit to a 3-point one. Had Drummond not scored those free throws, my bet is on Rose winning this one for the Bulls.
* Joakim Noah with 7 points and 11 boards, as well as 2 assists and a steal. He put up a good performance, but Andre Drummond managed to embarrass him defensively more times than not.

After a packed schedule in their first month of the '12-'13 season, the Pistons can now rest for a few days, as they're 5 days away from their next encounter against the Celtics. They can be proud for what they've achieved so far, and especially this win, which puts them 2-1 over the Bulls, with one game remaining between them in this series.

Join us as we take a look at November in our monthly recap, December 1.


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[SuperHueyNewton]

Lotta wins, lotta congrats man

[Leftos]

December 1, 2012
Monthly Recap November Issue, Part 1: Progress Report
Pistons Record: 10-6, 1st in Central, 2nd in East

It's been a full month for Pistons fans. Not just by the number of games in the November schedule, but just by the sheer excitement this team offered over the course of the month. Pistons won 10 out of 16 games, 2 of them against the Bulls and another 2 against the Magic (by 29 and 44 points respectively). The Pistons are showing clear signs of being a playoff team this season, and games like the last one against the Bulls, tell the story that the Pistons will fight against any opponent that's thrown at them, and can win against the best of them.

Here's the progress report for the top 3 Pistons players, in order of performance:

* Greg Monroe has been solid in his 3rd year with the Pistons, and has been exceptional at the Power Forward spot, being able to handle his opponents much better than at Center. The fact that Andre Drummond has taken the reigns at the 5 has only helped Monroe work at his game, and play consistently well throughout the Pistons first 16 games.



He's is showing a drop in points and percentages, but he's managed to improve his rebounding, fouls and turnovers. As he gets used to his new position, my guess is he'll continue improving, and even surpass last year's numbers.

* Andre Drummond, in just his first month with the Pistons, proved all the GMs that skipped on him wrong, and has become the Pistons 2nd best performer. Both Pistons' GM Joe Dumars and Head Coach Lawrence Frank praise Drummond for the work ethic he's shown since he was drafted by the Pistons, and his improvement especially at the offensive end.



His improvement is really apparent when you compare his stats now to what they were at mid-November. He's scoring 4 more points per game, his free throw percentage has increased by 12 percent, and he's fouling less.


Andre Drummond's 6 best performances

At the top of his 6 best performances so far, his 29 point, 100% scoring game against Philly, November 23rd. His career high in points came in the last game, when he scored 31 against Joakim Noah and the Bulls.

* Rodney Stuckey started the season strong, putting up consecutive Player of the Game performances, but dropped around mid-November, meeting his match against more capable defenders. He's still the Pistons' 3rd best performer, but will need to improve soon.



As you can see, his scoring has dropped quite a bit since last year, especially his scoring percentages. Both his drive as well as his jumpers seemed to deteriorate when he was against the more high-profile teams.



Pistons' 6 Best Performers so far


Keep watching our site for the rest of the November recap, including a look at the players and rookies of the month, which players made the league's NBA Stats Tracker Ultimate Team, and a preview of the Pistons schedule for December.

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[megarover]

Impressive front-court play you got going on. This has got me suddenly interested in how Greg and Andre will develop in real life

[Leftos]

I doubt Drummond will develop so fast in real life, but here's hoping!

Part 2 of the Monthly Recap will be up once I get up tomorrow, with everything I mentioned.

[Leftos]

December 1, 2012
Monthly Recap November Issue, Part 2: Pistons Against The World
Pistons Record: 10-6, 1st in Central, 2nd in East

Time to check out the Pistons as a team, and their place in the league right now. Let's start with their averages so far, and we'll also compare them to what they were doing last year.



As you can see, the Pistons have dominated nearly all aspects of the game against their opponents so far. They have an average of a 7 points difference (the two Magic blow-outs definitely helped), they have the league's 6th best FG% at .458, but also the 3rd worst team in FT% and 2nd worst in FT efficiency. The latter part may be a good thing. They're not good at the free throw line, and don't get to it much, but manage to score well and win nevertheless. The line can be a deciding factor in late-game situations however, so the Pistons will need to hit the gym and improve there. 5th best in rebounding, 4th best in blocks. Their front-court is strong, and it shows.



Compared to last year, the Pistons are definitely scoring better (and winning more), with a 12 point increase in point difference, a 2 percent increase from the floor and 1 percent from the arc, however there are obvious drops in other factors, such as their free throw shooting, offensive rebounding, assists and steals. They're taken much better care of the ball though, as they've nearly cut their turnovers in half, and foul much less.



Pistons are dominating their division right now, although the Bucks could overtake the Pistons, would they win all their next 5 games. This year's biggest surprise is the Bulls' first month. Missing D-Rose for 2 weeks cost them dearly, and their games showed that they're too dependent on him. When he plays bad, the team plays bad, hence the 5-10 record so far. Is this the year the Bulls miss the Playoffs? Doubtful, but we'll see.



This whole conference is the wrong-way around, bar a few exceptions. Although the Heat are, as expected, prevailing in the East, the usual playoff suspects such as the Magic, Bulls and Knicks are out of the playoff spots right now, while teams full of young talent such as the Pistons, Bobcats and Cavaliers, are doing much better. We'll have to see if and when all these rookies hit the "rookie wall" and burn-out, and whether experience will prove the most important factor as the exhausting 82-game season goes on. It's worth noting that the Nets trades have made them the 3rd best eastern team, right on the heels of the Pistons.

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[Leftos]

December 1, 2012
Monthly Recap November Issue, Part 3: Stars of the Month
Pistons Record: 10-6, 1st in Central, 2nd in East

No surprises in the Players of the Month awards, as LeBron James and Kevin Durant win them for their respective conferences.



Kevin Durant proves to be a better scorer in every aspect (just look at his 3P%!), Lebron James wins in the fundamentals, being better in rebounding, steals, assists and turnovers. They're both scoring over 30 points a game, and both will be in the run for the title of champion and MVP. They each won the Player of the Week honors twice in November.



Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards and Anthony Davis, the #1 pick of the 2012 draft for the New Orleans Hornets, win are the Rookies of the Month. Both are playing heavy minutes as they've become centerpieces for their associations since Day 1, and are putting up the numbers to support those minutes. Bradley Beal is filling in his role as a pure scorer, although he's bound to improve his FG% as time goes on, an Anthony Davis is already a beast in the paint for the Hornets, averaging a double-double of 15 and 12 along with 1.5 SPG and nearly 2 blocks per game. Anthony Davis' FG% isn't where it should be either yet, but he's one of the most talented young men in the NBA, and has an abundance of potential.


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[Leftos]

December 1, 2012
Monthly Recap November Issue, Part 4: Pistons' December Schedule
Pistons Record: 10-6, 1st in Central, 2nd in East

Dec 2: vs. Boston
Dec 3: @ Phoenix
Dec 4: vs. Memphis
Dec 7: @ Chicago
Dec 9: vs. Orlando
Dec 10: vs. Toronto
Dec 11: @ Philadelphia
Dec 14: @ Milwaukee
Dec 16: vs. LA Clippers
Dec 18: vs. Dallas
Dec 19: @ Charlotte
Dec 20: vs. Cleveland
Dec 23: @ Atlanta
Dec 27: @ LA Lakers
Dec 28: vs Orlando

A division series and a conference series (both 4 games long) will be seeing their last games in December, as the Pistons will get their last fight against the Bulls (2-1 series), and will see if the Magic are going to put up a fight at least once this year (2-0 series). The Pistons will celebrate Christmas and then get to see Kobe Bryant for the first of two times December 27. Also worth noting, the December 16 game against the Clippers, were they'll meet Chris Paul, who is most probably going to be a Free Agent this coming summer.

This is the last part of our Monthly Recap for November, and we'll see you again tomorrow, for the recap of the game against the Celtics. Pistons came close to winning their first meeting this season, when Rajon Rondo was out with an injury. However, Rodney Stuckey missed his layup at the buzzer, which would send the game to overtime. Pistons lost by just 2 points, and they're on a high from their hard-earned win against the Bulls in their last November game. It's sure to be an interesting game to watch.

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[Leftos]

December 2, 2012
Game 17: Stuckey gets his revenge against the Celtics
Final Score: (W) 96-103


Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe returning to the locker room happy after their 3rd win in a row

Pistons seem unstoppable at the moment, and in one of the most exciting affairs this season, they manage to win the back-and-forth in the last minute against the Celtics. Both teams were up by 9 at different points in the game, but no team managed to break the other one early. Pistons were up by 1 with 20 seconds to go, when Greg Monroe put up a shot while being fouled. He missed his free-throw, but managed to tap and steal the following pass from Bass to Terry, and with a precision assist he found Drummond, who laid it up with the left hand to get the Pistons up by 5 and seal the win.

Pistons Key Players
* Rodney Stuckey's missed lay-up cost the Pistons the last time these two teams played, but he more than made up for it today with an exceptional performance. He had 23 points on .563 shooting (remember that he averages .36 this year), getting to the line repeatedly, and also blocking 2 and stealing 3.
* Andre Drummond with a double-double of 15 and 15, as well as 2 assists and a block. He struggled to score as he was up against Brandon Bass and Kevin Garnett, starting 1 of 7 to finish 4 of 11, but his constant work on his free-throw shooting ever since he arrived at Detroit meant he got 7 of 11 from the line, and got Brandon Bass in early foul trouble in the first 3 quarters.
* Brandon Knight, who has fully recovered from his injury, also scored 19 points and blocked 2 shots while gabbing 6 boards. He may have had no assists, but he made up for it on .600 from the floor and the arc, as well as 4 of 4 free throws.
* Greg Monroe still consistently good. Double-double on 13 and 10, along with 4 assists and 3 steals.
He really wants out
* Jason Maxiell went on-record after the game to say that he has decided not to re-sign with the Pistons this season. It showed in his performance as well, as in 11 minutes on the floor he just grabbed 3 boards, but didn't get round to even putting up a shot. Maxiell is reportedly disgruntled at being forced out of the starting 5 by Andre Drummond, and feels he's deserved more minutes ever since he got on the bench. "I believe there's teams out there that can make better use of my talents. I'm sorry, but that's the way it is" Maxiell said to reporters after the game. Whether the Pistons will try to get something out of this with a trade, or whether they'll just let his contract expire, remains to be seen. Maxiell is on an expiring $5M contract.

Celtics Key Players
* Jason Terry with another amazing game against the Pistons, but his contribution wasn't enough. 33 points, 5 of 5 from the line, 4 of 9 from the arc, and 2 steals.
* Paul Pierce with 20 points, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 3 of 7 from the arc. Tayshaun Prince and Corey Maggette did their best to defend him, but to no avail.
* Brandon Bass played just 19 minutes due to the foul trouble Andre Drummond was constantly putting him in, but managed to get 14 points on 5 of 10 shooting and 4 of 4 from the line, as well as 6 boards and a block.

Pistons had 5 days to rest and train, but they now have the second game of a 3-game back-to-back to play tomorrow against the Nash-less Phoenix Suns. Luis Scola their top performer, averaging 18 points and 9 rebounds a game. Suns have played really well this season, and are on a 9-4 record after 13 games. They have the 3rd least points allowed per-game, are 7th best in 3P% and 8th best in 3P efficiency, besides being 2nd in rebounds per game with 50, including 13 offensive ones. Pistons have their work cut out for them.


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[Leftos]

December 3, 2012
Game 18 Mini-Recap: Scorching-hot Suns give Pistons a taste of their own medicine
Final Score: (L) 119-124

Everything the Pistons were doing right this year, the Suns could do better, as their record improves to 10 and 4 and makes them the 5th best team in the league right now. Everyone expected the Suns to implode after Steve Nash left, but the pieces they got from the Lakers meant they were able to build a team full of good (albeit less famous) players, which is kicking right now. Pistons were another team to get to know that. Here are the main points from the game.

* Michael Beasley, the over-sized Small Forward, embarassed the Pistons defense as whatever they threw at him could just not stop him from scoring. He finished with 24 PTS, 4 AST, 4 REB and 1 STL, while doing .478 from the floor, to earn Player of the Game honors.
* Weird thing is, statistically, 2 other Suns, Shannon Brown (33 PTS, .588 FTR, 3-4 3P, 6 REB, 1 BLK) and Goran Dragic (16 PTS, .500 FTR, 6 REB, 7 AST, .500 FG%) were better than Beasley, but really, this was a dominant performance by the Suns as a team.
* Pistons came as close as 3 in a late-game run which almost silenced the Suns fans, with consecutive baskets by Stuckey, Jerebko and Drummond, but couldn't seal the deal, as the Suns just never stopped scoring.
* Greg Monroe gets the Pistons' plan to put major players in foul trouble, but this time done to him. He only played 20 minutes, which I'm sure Jason Maxiell (23 MINS, 6 PTS, 5 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK) enjoyed. Monroe scored 8 points, grabbed 8 boards, 3 assists and 2 blocks, but was only shooting 2 of 5 while on the floor.
* Brandon Knight was the best player from the Pistons (doesn't happen too often), with 27 points on .667 shooting, including 4 of 7 from the arc, as well as 3 assists, 3 rebounds and a steal.
* Andre Drummond in another good performance. 23 and 10 while shooting .600 from the floor, along with 3 assists. Few things are better than watching him use his athleticism to go past the slower centers for the dunk, or to watch him throw one in after an offensive rebound (of which he had 4 tonight).
* Rodney Stuckey is determined to improve his performance. 19 PTS, .727 FTR, 8-9 (.889) FT, 4 REB, 5-11 (.455) FG.

Pistons go back home to meet the 13-8 Grizzlies, which are just above the Pistons in league-wide performance. They will need to watch out for Memphis' scoring, as they're the 6th best team in FG% (.459). Grizzlies also don't foul much, which will disappoint the Pistons. Fortunately for them though, 2 of the 6 best Memphis' players are injured (Zach Randolph, Michael Conley).

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December 3, 2012
Water Cooler Update: Iggy to try free agency

* "I see no reason not to test my value in the market." said Iggy in a recent ESPN interview. The 76ers are struggling with a 6-11 record currently, and it's quite possible Andre wants to go to a winning team again. The 76ers will have enough cap space this coming summer to give him a good offer, and as he said "Philly's in my heart, and I might just as well come back. We'll see."

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[Mavs4Life]

Jason Terry with those buckets, nice job still winning that one.

[Leftos]

That man is annoying the crap out of me. He's played so good in both games, he was PotG in the first one and put up 33 in the second. And I just have no good defenders in the back-court. Thank god there's Free Agency 2013.