Follow Club Pistons on Twitter
Pistons hang tough early and spurt late but get buried in the middle
10 Bad Seconds
by Keith Langlois
One of the fears – there are many – in playing the Lakers is getting buried early. That didn’t happen to the Pistons to start their Western road trip booked by Satanic Tours. They led by seven early and trailed by just one after a quarter. They had the pace where they wanted it. They had Kobe under control. And the Lakers had lost their last two, including a Sunday night home beatdown from Houston.
So the Pistons had a chance, a decent chance, even with Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince in street clothes.
What they couldn’t afford is what happened midway through the second quarter, about a 10-second interlude that tilted momentum 90 degrees on its axis and started a California mudslide rolling downhill at them.
Trailing by three, Rodney Stuckey came down under control, pushing the pace to hunt for early offense, and found it. He took an open 17-footer that looked good, but bounced long and led to a Lakers runout. It wound up a four-on-one break and an easy Lakers basket that pushed the lead to five.
Stuckey, probably a little irritated with his miss and in a hurry to in-bound the basketball to beat the Lakers back down the court because so many of them had just sprinted the other way, rushed the entry pass to Ben Gordon, Shannon Brown wound up getting the steal amid the miscommunication and the Lakers wound up with another easy bucket. All of a sudden, what was nearly a one-point game was a seven-point game.
And seven became 15 by halftime, which became 28 by midway through the third quarter, which will be hard to forget even in the face of a Will Bynum-Jason Maxiell-fueled fourth quarter more in keeping with the combative spirit they’ve shown on a possession-to-possession basis to date.
If you want the bright spot from the loss to the Lakers, that’s easy. That was it – that lineup John Kuester threw out in the fourth quarter, an odd mix of Maxiell and Bynum with rookies Jonas Jerebko and DaJuan Summers with a little Chris Wilcox and a little Kwame Brown thrown in.
They forced the Zen Master to rush Kobe Bryant, on his way to 40 points, and Lamar Odom back into the lineup as the Pistons got it down to seven points with under two minutes to go.
And Kuester was sending something of a subliminal message to his starters when he praised that odd group that chopped 21 points off the lead in that fourth quarter.
“I thought in the first quarter we competed, the second and third, we did not play the way we had been accustomed to as of late,” he said. “Very proud of the group that came in at the end with Summers and Bynum and Jonas and Maxiell and Kwame and also Chris Wilcox. They competed. They didn’t care who they were playing against.”
Maxiell’s performance was especially encouraging. Unable to secure a spot in the rotation until Wilcox failed when given the chance to claim the No. 4 spot – behind Ben Wallace, Charlie Villanueva and Brown – Maxiell has had better moments over the past week and played his best game of the year against the Lakers.
“He was great,” Kuester said. “Very proud of his effort, very proud of how he competed in regard to looking to blocked shots and not be afraid of anything. Max did a real nice job.”
Maxiell finished with 13 points, seven boards and two blocks, one block the type of spectacular, momentum-turning statement he made almost routinely a few seasons back, when he gained Flip Saunders’ trust – a meet-you-at-the-rim moment of machismo against the high-flying Shannon Brown, as breathtaking in its own way as Bynum’s thunder dunk over Tyson Chandler a week ago at The Palace.
At his best, Maxiell can be to the Pistons’ frontcourt what Bynum is to the backcourt – a high-energy, big-moments player that lifts teammates with his damn-the-torpedoes demeanor.
So the Pistons lifted off from LA feeling good about themselves – or better, at least, than they felt from the middle of the second quarter to the end of the third. It was that 10-second interlude that sunk them, a margin for error the Pistons simply don’t have, not while they’re shorthanded, not when they’re on the road, not against the defending champions.
It’s professional sports, and the Pistons as a franchise long ago disavowed moral victories, so of course it matters whether they win or lose. But given the hand they’ve been dealt, this trip’s merits are going to be judged on factors beyond wins and losses.
And this performance – far beyond the loss – is one that didn’t set well with any of them until the fourth-quarter flurry. For the first time in 11 games, the Pistons simply gave themselves no chance to win a game. They understand where they’re at. Kuester has made “it’s a work in progress” a daily incantation. They know they are most unlikely to beat the Lakers, or the handful of other legit title contenders, in a seven-game series.
But in a one-off? They left The Palace the other day, bound for LA, believing they could beat anybody. But they didn’t play with that same swashbuckling confidence against the Lakers. They didn’t play with the fearlessness and resolve they’ve shown, even in the face of howling adversity with the Hamilton-Prince injuries, against every other opponent, including the team that pushed the Lakers in last spring’s Finals, Orlando.
As ludicrous as it probably sounds (and, in fact, might be), Tuesday’s game at the Staples Center could have been the most favorable setting for a Pistons win as they’ll encounter on this trip.
It sure won’t be Wednesday night in Portland, when the Pistons will have traveled late after playing the Lakers to face a hot Blazers team at home and rested. It’s tough to say it’ll be Saturday in Utah, where the Pistons haven’t won in their last six tries against a Jazz team that’s beaten them eight straight overall. And it surely isn’t Sunday in Phoenix, when they’ll be playing a back-to-back again against a rested opponent, the sizzling Suns – 10-2 overall and a perfect 4-0 at home – having both Friday and Saturday off.
What I’ll be watching against Portland: That the Pistons aren’t thinking the same thoughts. That this team that seemed so boundlessly confident and fearless through 10 games didn’t have that hard shell penetrated by the drilling the Lakers administered through three quarters.
More than even the wins and losses that will fall to them from this trip, it will be important that when the Pistons return to The Palace next week, they’re still in possession of the combative confidence that caught everyone’s attention in the season’s first 10 games.
From MLive.com Full Court Press:
About Last Night: The Detroit Pistons have no answer for Kobe Bryant
By Patrick Hayes
November 18, 2009, 7:00AM
Minus a frantic fourth quarter effort to close the gap, there wasn't much good to write about last night's game. The Pistons had no answer for Kobe Bryant, which was expected. Few teams do.
They also had no answer for Andrew Bynum's size. He had 17 points, 12 rebounds and a block for the Lakers, including five offensive rebounds. Ben Wallace didn't have a horrible game with five boards and three assists in 18 minutes, and Kwame Brown, other than his three turnovers, was solid with 9 points, five rebounds and three assists, but neither had much success pushing Bynum out of the paint.
Charlie Villanueva was a no-show for the second straight game, although Lakers forwards Ron Artest and Lamar Odom didn't do much either.
Basically, while it's hard to get too demoralized about a loss to the defending champs, the Lakers were able to do pretty much anything they wanted against Detroit's first-stringers. The fourth quarter comeback, taking nothing away from what the Pistons reserves were able to do, is fast becoming a common occurrence in LA, so again, nothing to get too excited about.
Stuckey's roller coaster continues: The Lakers start a very good, physical defensive guard in Derek Fisher, who bothered Stuckey quite a bit early. Stuckey shot 3-for-12 for the game, settled for jumpers and was a bit out of sorts. In his last seven games, in order, these are his shooting percentages: 28 percent, 50 percent, 33 percent, 60 percent, 39 percent, 60 percent, 25 percent. He's doing some things well, particularly rebounding and defense (he had three steals last night), but he's had a very uneven season so far. The Pistons were -30 with him on the court against the Lakers.
Quick guards: The Lakers are one of few teams the Pistons have played so far who could go small and match the quickness of the Will Bynum/Rodney Stuckey/Ben Gordon trio. In the second quarter, the Lakers played a Shannon Brown/Jordan Farmar/Kobe Bryant group on the perimeter and were able to build a lead going into halftime. Brown, in particular, in the first half, gave the Lakers a spark. He was +21 at halftime.
Jason Maxiell's block: Max had his best game of the season with 13 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks in 21 minutes. He had a feisty moment with Andrew Bynum in the fourth quarter, which was nice to see, and had the best (best non-Kobe play, anyway) play of the game with a block on a Shannon Brown dunk attempt. I'll get the video added as soon as I can find it. I won't bother describing it, because words won't do it justice. Just know that Brown has done this, and this, on the season, among a few others. He's a violent dunker, and Maxiell got him head-on at the apex.
They had to put Kobe back in: The Lakers went into the fourth with a 25 point lead, facing a group of Pistons starters who just plain couldn't compete with the Lakers all night. A lineup of Will Bynum, Jonas Jerebko, DaJuan Summers, Jason Maxiell and Chris Wilcox got the Pistons back in the game. They had a chance to cut it to six with Jerebko at the line, which is just ... well, I think Phil Jackson will not be happy with that.
But what happened to Gordon?: Jackson quickly went back to Kobe when things got tight, but John Kuester did not put Ben Gordon back in when the game got close. Sure, the Pistons were still a long shot to win, as time was not on their side, and Kuester was probably rewarding the players who got the team back in the game, but other than Bynum, if any player is capable of heating up and giving some instant offense, it's Gordon. He wasn't having a bad game offensively, shooting 7-of-15 for 18 points in 31 minutes.
The Pistons also have a back-to-back and face another tough team in Portland tonight, so that's also possibly why the starters didn't come back.
Do DuJuan Summers' minutes mean anything about Austin Daye?: In garbage time, Kuester went with Summers over Daye. It could mean nothing ... the game was basically over going into the fourth and Summers is currently the 11th man, so it made sense he'd play in a blowout. But Daye only played three minutes in the game, and didn't get off the bench in the fourth. Summers was solid defensively in his spurt, and defense has reportedly been the knock on Daye so far. Perhaps Summers might earn some more playing time in the near future?
What the Blogs are Saying:
PistonsNation: "Not to take anything away from the Pistons, they played well, they just had the unfortunate task of catching a Lakers team at the Staples that was coming off consecutive losses. Kobe Bryant was on his game after having two sub-Kobe games in the Laker’s losses. Kobe dropped in 40 the World Champs, marking the 100th time he’s scored 40 or more in a game."
PistonPowered: "Right around the time Kobe got hot, the Lakers started pushing the ball. This was particularly frustrating because that’s not how Kobe scored. Either, Kobe scored in the halfcourt or the Lakers ran. And when they ran, Detroit looked lost. The Pistons had no idea how to defend the fastbreak, and the disarray spread to their offense. The Pistons are now 3-0 in their three games with the slowest pace and 1-5 in their games with the fastest pace."
Motown String Music: "And for the first time this season, it was obvious that Ben Wallace is not actually the Ben Wallace of young. There were several rebounds I thought he should have had, but his body just wouldn't let him get to them the same way it used to. I'm not complaining with the Ben Wallace we have because he's exceeded my expectations to a ridiculous degree, but I thought his age clearly showed tonight."
