Clutch Win Over Philly: Good Vibrations

Pistons positive feelings reinforced by clutch win over Philly
Good Vibrations
by Keith Langlois

The Pistons felt pretty good about themselves, despite their 2-4 record, heading into Sunday’s matinee against Philadelphia. They’d been encouraged by their resilience in spite of consecutive losses at Orlando and Toronto, by the play of their rookies, by the consistently explosive scoring of Ben Gordon, the defense and drive of Ben Wallace, the emergence of Charlie Villanueva as the frontcourt scorer they need and the problems their three-guard attack presents opponents.

But sooner or later, good feelings have to be reinforced by wins.

Especially at home against one from the half-dozen or so teams that figure to be competing for the final four playoff berths in the East after Orlando, Boston, Cleveland and Atlanta, the consensus top four.

Which is why Sunday’s 88-81 win over Philadelphia left the Pistons feeling even better about themselves.

It was a game they controlled most of the way without having that control reflected on the scoreboard. Though they led from tipoff throughout the bulk of the game, they never could pull away. They got up by nine late in the third quarter, but saw Philly immediately cut it back to three. And four minutes into the fourth quarter, the 76ers took their first lead of the game and they went up 75-72 on Andre Igoudala’s only basket of the fourth quarter with 7:03 to play.

The Pistons outscored Philly 16-6 from that point on, getting big baskets from Will Bynum, Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva, critical rebounds from Ben Wallace and stout defense from Stuckey, who held Igoudala to 1 of 4 in the fourth quarter when Philly went small – allowing John Kuester to counter with his three-guard lineup after the rookies, Jonas Jerebko and Austin Daye, acquitted themselves well for three quarters plugging the huge hole Tayshaun Prince left in the lineup.

“Having the poise to come back when things were a little bit tougher and losing the lead, after controlling it pretty much the entire game, speaks volumes for our players,” Kuester said. “It’s very important they understand you’re never out of a game and to handle this gave us another step toward being a good team down the road.

“We knew this was an important basketball game for us. I know it’s early in the season, but … today was going to be an important test for us.”

After years of having a team that could and often did rope-a-dope opponents for 40 minutes, then put them away with cold-blooded execution in the final eight, the Pistons saw their mojo evaporate completely last season. As confident as they made their fans feel in the lonely moments during their heyday, the tables turned completely a year ago.

The rap on the old Pistons, even when they were winning 55-plus games a year, was that they played dispassionately. There hasn’t been a hint of that with this bunch, but less certain – given their youth and unfamiliarity – is their ability to pick up the scent of victory and track it to the finish.

So Sunday was big in that regard, as well. Of the Pistons four games played without both Prince and Rip Hamilton, they’ve dug big holes in two road games and saw breathless rallies fall short and outplayed playoff teams in the final minutes to win both home games.

If Ben Wallace, whose 16 rebounds in 30 minutes offered further evidence of his return to form as well as to the Pistons, personifies their toughness, Will Bynum personifies their fearlessness. Don’t suggest to Bynum that the Pistons shouldn’t be beating playoff teams without the two links to their glory days, Prince and Hamilton.

“We go at it every single day in practice,” he said. “This is how we practice and this is how we’re playing. I don’t think anything’s going to change that.”

Bynum was terrific in the fourth quarter, scoring six points, dishing out four assists and grabbing four of his career-best eight rebounds. His end-to-end rush – grabbing a defensive rebound and slaloming around Philly defenders for a layup at the other end – that tied the game at 77 with 5:06 left to play was the game’s biggest basket, and it produced the season’s loudest roar, a spontaneous eruption that rocked The Palace.

“I was very pleased with him getting people in position to score,” said Kuester, who continues to illustrate his confidence in Bynum by putting the ball in his hands with games in the balance. “I thought Will did a great job. When we were down two, going coast to coast on that layup just lifted us, because we had been in control of the game pretty much the entire time, and then all of a sudden they take the lead.

“For certain guys, I would be doom and gloom. But this team is figuring it out.”

And then Kuester channeled his mentor: “Dean Smith always said something that stuck with me: ‘It’s always better to win and learn from your mistakes than lose and learn from your mistakes.’ And I think that’s one of the things this group needed was a win. It’s amazing. You get a win like this and, we know we have to control the tempo right now, but this group needs to taste some success. That’s healthy for us.”

“It’s very important,” said Villanueva, who followed up his welcome-to-the-Pistons, 28-point explosion in Orlando with a solid 16-point, five-rebound game that included two big baskets in the final three minutes, the tough inside baskets the Pistons need from him. “It’s an early game, but down the road it could be a game that means a lot. Games like this, we definitely need. We did our job. We played solid basketball for all four quarters and when they made their run, we answered.”

And it was an answer that left them deeply satisfied at the end of a week that could have been crushing considering their injury report.

•He didn’t get on the floor in the fourth quarter, but Jerebko did enough in the first three to further the Pistons’ confidence in their ability to stay afloat for however long Prince needs to heal from the ruptured disc discovered by a weekend MRI exam.

Jerebko finished with 10 points and five boards in 22 minutes, but the biggest thing was the rock-solid defense he continues to play. This time he was going up against Philly’s immensely talented third-year forward, Thaddeus Young, holding him to just 10 points and six boards on 4 of 13 shooting.

“You see him get those extra possessions, those are key offensive rebounds and put-backs,” Kuester said. “They can change the momentum of a basketball game.”

Perhaps even more surprising is how well Daye has held up defensively. Daye finished with seven points, missing all four of his 3-point shots even though he had good looks and most of the shots looked good in flight.

“I was teasing with Austin – he had about two or three looks, I hadn’t seen him miss that many times all preseason and into the season itself. He’s done a great job for us.

“Both of those guys are not afraid to mix it up. You think Austin is going to get broken in half, but he’s mentally tough and physically he’ll take the challenge.”

•It was a generally encouraging day for Kuester’s frontcourt, too. Beyond Wallace’s 16-point, three-block, three-steal game and Villanueva’s clutch scoring, Kwame Brown logged a very solid 18 minutes, giving Kuester seven points and eight boards and Jason Maxiell, though not having much statistical impact, was good defensively in his 20 minutes.

The footnote is that Maxiell, after sliding behind Chris Wilcox in the rotation last week, appears to have replaced him again as the No. 4 big man, though Kuester, in a tribute to Wallace, said, “Even though Chris Wilcox did not play, he is getting better and better in practice every day because they see (Wallace) continually want to get better defensively and wants our team to do that.”

•Bynum’s eight boards weren’t a fluke, he said.

“I figured if I could get it off the glass, I could push the break because we weren’t getting any easy basket. I’ve been working on that. The coaches have been on me hard about rebounding. They figure with my athletic ability, I should be able to get more rebounds.”

•Charlie V, laughing, on playing with Wallace: “Man, he grabs all the rebounds. He’s costing me a lot. But it’s amazing. Thirty-five years old. I’ve got something to look up to now when I hit 35. Hopefully, I can do the things he does.”