Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy takes questions at the press conference following his team's elimination from the playoffs at the hands of the Detroit Pistons last night.

Photo by Allen Einstein, NBAE/Getty Images

The last The Morning After post of the 2007/2008 season is here. Let's go around the tubes:

• Henry Abbott, TrueHoop:

  Anyone besides me disappointed in Orlando's offense down the stretch last night? (Highlights.)No one created a shot for anybody else. Almost nobody could get to the rim down the stretch. We had, essentially, Keith Bogans or Rashard Lewis hitting threes, or the occasional Hedo Turkoglu drive. And when the ball went to Dwight Howard, the Pistons just took it away. It was hard to watch. Most of the credit surely goes to the Pistons' defense, especially that majestic Tayshaun Prince shot, but I'm thinking that team needs a ball-handler who can create opportunities under duress.

  Yeah, the offense indeed stagnated last night. It almost looked like -- gulp -- Brian Hill was coaching that team. Incidentally, I think Nelson can be that ball-handler, in time.

• Kelly Dwyer, Ball Don't Lie:

  And so we say goodbye to the Orlando Magic, mindful of and unsurprised by the limitations that are sending the team home in the second round, but hopeful that the learning process and improvin' season has just begun.

  Dwyer includes his take on what the Magic need to do this offseason to become true contenders in 08/09. I'll refer back to it later this summer.

• Matt Watson, FanHouse:

  It's difficult to convey context in a sound bite, but after listening and watching Nelson address the media before and after three of the five games in this series, it's obvious the man is more competitive and confident than arrogant. His prediction didn't come true, but that's not to say his team didn't gain the respect of every person in Detroit's locker room. As Flip Saunders said during his post-game press conference, "They're a team that's going to be here a long time."

  I wasn't too pleased with Jameer after he stunk-up the offense in Game Four, but he's undoubtedly the leader of this team and he's earned my respect. I liked that he guaranteed a win. He has a great attitude and I'm happy he's a part of this team's future... although five years and $35 million is a bit more than I would have offered him...

• Bethlehem Shoals, The Sporting Blog:

  Wide: I probably said this before the last Pistons/Magic game, and ended up being wrong. Now it's come true. Rodney Stuckey will be darn good -- judging by tonight, he is already -- and will have many more playoff performances like this before his days are through. Plus his emergence is eerily similar to that of Tayshaun in the championship year.

  Trading the pick that yielded Stuckey may go down as the worst move in the Otis Smith/Dave Twardzik era. In Otis' defense, the trade looked pretty good at the time, and we got some solid production out of Carlos Arroyo until he fell off the face of the earth. Seriously. Matt from Hardwood Paroxysm asked me the other day, "What happened to Arroyo?" and I had to think for a second about to whom he might be referring.

  I forgot he was on the team.

• Basketbawful:

  Orlando managed to miss 12 freethrows and commit 21 turnovers...which led to 34 points for the Pistons. So basically -- MATH ALERT!! -- the Magic gave Detroit 46 free points, which is a lot to give away in a 5-point loss.

  As you can imagine, there's much more where that came from. Basketbawful never runs out of things to say about bad teams.

• The Blowtorch (channelling Hedo Turkoglu in the Magic's timeout before their last meaningful possession):

  Duh-white, do not have worry. Hedo will make basketball dunk shot for to win game. Only 2 points is dunk shot, so Hedo make two dunk shot. 4 point!

  Read the whole post in all its irreverent glory. I laughed a lot, and maybe I cried a little.

• Natalie, Need4Sheed:

  Surprisingly Dwight Howard walked off court as Rasheed Wallace was waling over to shake his hand after the game. Turkoglu bolted too.

  I'm a bit disappointed that the Magic didn't show good sportsmanship at the end, but then again, I'm not the one whose season the Pistons ended.

• Pradamaster, Bullets Forever:

  Capped-out Magic: Orlando's departure means the Southeast Division won't be represented in the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight season. It also gives me hope, because unless Otis Smith pulls a rabbit out of his hat, this might be the best Orlando has to offer in the future. About the only person from which we can expect internal development is Dwight Howard.

  I have a feeling PM might be onto something here. We'll look at the cap situation in a future post. Several posts, in all likelihood.

• Steve Weinman, CelticsBlog:

  This was an Orlando team that spent an entire season talking about how it wasn't getting enough love from the media, about how it belonged right up there with the rest of the Eastern elite.

  [....]

  This Magic team simply isn't there yet.

  I agree with Steve on that last point: the Magic aren't there yet. But I still don't think the Magic got enough credit for what they were able to accomplish in a single season. They're still better than the Cavaliers, and might have been able to beat the Celtics in a seven-game series if they had the opportunity. However, the road to Eastern Conference respectability runs through Auburn Hills. We'll be fine next year.

• Doug Smith, the Toronto Star:

  Okay, so some of us are out last night celebrating the Media Relations Staff Of The Year Banquet and Buntoss (replete with food, fun, frivolity and a cocktail or two) and I swear I looked up at the television and saw Marcin Gortat and Walter Herrmann on the court at the same time in the Orlando-Detroit game.

  I'm thinking if I could have seen Alex Radojevic guarding Mengke Bateer in a playoff game that might be the only better matchup. Maybe.

  The NBA: Where You Never Know Happens.

  I included this post because it mentioned Marcin Gortat. That's it.

Okay, so a ton of links later, where do we stand? On shaky ground. Any respect we earned in the regular season -- and there wasn't much of it -- is gone now. But we have all offseason to worry about that. 3QC isn't going anywhere. Stay tuned for posts recapping the season, evaluating players' performance, discussing the draft and free-agency period, and so on.

Go Magic.

Hedo Turkoglu covers his nose after taking an elbow from a Detroit player. His Magic lose, 91-86, and were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Photo by Allen Einstein, NBAE/Getty Images

21 and 3.

Those are the only numbers that matter when discussing this game. The Magic turned the ball over 21 times and forced just three turnovers themselves. Logic indicates that disparity won't get it done on any level of basketball, yet we almost stole one from Detroit tonight.

But in the end, the Pistons prevailed thanks to their clutch free-throw shooting and defense, not necessarily in that order. Looking at their defense -- not just the deflections, steals, and transition baskets, but the whole thing -- it's hard to imagine them losing more than three or four games the rest of the postseason. We actually performed (relatively) above-average in this series, with an offensive rating of 105.9, which slightly exceeds the Pistons' regular-season defensive rating of 104.2. But that's a bit misleading, because the Pistons really turn up the defensive heat when it counts the most. For most of the game, the Pistons play great defense. In crunch-time, they take it to a whole other level. We already saw the Pistons hold the Magic to 25% shooting in the fourth quarter of Game Three. Tonight, the Pistons held the Magic to 0 field goals for the first 8:18 of the final period. I repeat: the Pistons, missing their best player, held a 52-win team with the league's fifth-most efficient offense without a bucket for 8-plus fourth-quarter minutes.

We did plenty of things wrong tonight, but showed some poise at the end. We could have folded after watching the Pistons go on a 17-4 run to start the fourth period, but we didn't, going on a 7-1 run of our own to draw to within 1 point. A Rasheed Wallace miss careened out-of-bounds off a Magic player with 20 seconds to play, giving the Pistons had the ball and, more than likely, the game. The Magic were forced to foul, Rip Hamilton nailed his free throws (note: this is a pun; check the notes after the jump), but we still had a chance, trailing by 3.

On the last Magic possession of Game Four, Hedo Turkoglu took too much time sizing up Detroit's defense, giving his team no chance to get an offensive board if he missed the shot... which he did, as we know. Tonight, he wasted little time: he made up his mind that he would drive to his right around the defense of Tayshaun Prince and dunk the ball, cutting Detroit's lead to 1 and forcing the Pistons to enter a foul-shooting competition.

Prince had other ideas.

Although Turkoglu got the step on Prince, the lanky forward was recovered quickly enough to swoop in and block the dunk cleanly at the rim. Stop what you're doing right now (which is, I would hope, reading this post) and head over to Need4Sheed to look at the video. I'll give you a few seconds to pick your jaw up off the floor and/or wipe the tears from your eyes.

Back? Okay. Good.

After the Magic fouled, Hamilton made two free throws to boost the lead to 5, and Detroit had the game in-hand.

And in a game marred by sloppy play by the Magic, it's fitting that their next possession ended with a turnover. Keith Bogans, firing the ball in from the left sideline, wanted to pass to Turkoglu, who cut toward the baseline under Pistons' basket. Bogans lead him too far and the ball sailed out of bounds. DEE-troit BAS-ket-ball. Hamilton hits two free throws. Bogans comes down the other end and makes a meaningless fingeroll, the Pistons inbound, and the clock expires.

FIN.

But even in this close game in which they turned the ball over on one-quarter of their possessions (?!), the Magic might have been in it, or even won, if they had just made their damn free throws. Instead, they let their playoff inexperience show, and connected on 16 of their 28 free throws. As expected, Dwight Howard "lead" the way in the CLANK department, going 6-of-15 from the stripe. Howard's a notoriously awful foul shooter, but 40% is bad, even for him. Rashard Lewis, a usually accurate free throw shooter, went 4-of-6.

Throughout this season, many Magic fans found themselves lamenting a lack of a "Plan B" for the team to use when its three-pointers weren't falling. Tonight, their gameplan was to get Howard -- who struggled in Game Four, shooting 3-of-12 for 8 points -- involved in the offense early. And the team used this plan to a fault; they drove it into the ground. Several times in the first quarter, Lewis got the ball on the wing and assumed the triple-threat position, yet kept his eyes locked on Howard.

And locked.

And locked.

And rather than pass the ball to somebody else, or dribble, or shoot, or anything, Lewis would throw the ball to Dwight, even though both Lewis' and Howard's defenders had their hands in the passing lanes. The result? Turnovers. As we mentioned.

But it wasn't all bad, I suppose. Jameer Nelson, heavily (and unfairly -- I still can't get over that) criticized for his guarantee of a Magic victory, did his part to aid his team's cause. He scored 14 on 6-of-7 shooting, including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. And he played solid defense on Rodney Stuckey for most of the night, although Stuckey warmed up as the game progressed. He showed poise, unlike Howard, his co-captain, who always looks flustered when he plays the Pistons. I hope some Pistons fans will at least respect Nelson's effort.

Perhaps surprisingly, this loss doesn't bother me too much. Yes, we played poorly, but it wasn't the sort of lazy/awful brand of basketball that killed us in our December-through-January slump. Yes, our season is over, but for the first time in a long time, we know we'll be back, and better, next season. We're relevant again, and have earned some respect around the league -- not enough, but some, which is more than we had last year.

And, on a more selfish note, the season ending allows me to do stuff I've missed out on over the past several months: spending time with my girlfriend, spending time with my cat, reading for fun, etc. And I can sleep easily knowing that this year was only the beginning of the climb back to elite status in this league.

So, Detroit advances to the Eastern Conference Finals for the sixth straight year. We can only hope to have similar success. Kudos to the Pistons and to their fans.

Two brief game notes after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Billy Donovan discussed the Magic and his successor as the team's head coach, Stan Van Gundy, in an interview with the Orlando Sentinel

File photo by Red Huber, the Orlando Sentinel

Might these bullets comprise the last news post of the season? One can only hope not.

• Mike Bianchi has an interview with Billy Donovan, the man who would have coached the Magic in he hadn't changed his mind and decided to return to the University of Florida. Anyone could have told you, even before the season, that the Magic would be better off with Stan Van Gundy than with Donovan. And now, Donovan has the class (not to mention common sense) to admit it. He also refers to himself in the third person:

  "As far as getting that team to take the next step, I don't think there's any question Stan Van Gundy was the right coach for the job," Donovan said from his office in Gainesville. "You have to have a level of humility in this situation and face facts. And the facts are Billy Donovan has never coached an NBA game in his life. There was obviously going to be a learning curve for me. The job Stan has done this year has been phenomenal, and the job he did with the Miami Heat doesn't get talked about enough."

• If you want to see footage of Jameer Nelson's infamous guarantee of a Game Five victory, Need4Sheed has it. Nelson's delivery doesn't exactly project confidence, to put it charitably, but if the team for which I play just pissed away its season on its home floor to its archrival, I wouldn't sound enthusiastic either.
• Two cool updates from SLAM today:
  • Tim "TADOne" Darga's game notes from the Magic's loss to the Pistons last Saturday. He was there live. Good stuff. Check out the first point after "3Q." My, how things change.
  • This week, Shoals' Quotemonger feature translates Rashard Lewis' assessment that the Pistons are better than the Magic, among other soundbytes.
• The Pistons' Rodney Stuckey made the NBA's All-Rookie Second Team. You're welcome for that pick, Detroit. For those scoring at home, Detroit has a young, solid point guard who may one day take over for its All-Star (Hall-of-Fame?) starter; we have Carlos Arroyo, whom Stan Van Gundy banished to the end of the bench and who will likely leave in free-agency. Wonder who won that trade.
• In cautioning Heat fans not to expect Pat Riley-level greatness from the Heat's new coach, Erik Spoelstra, Ira Winderman name-drops Van Gundy, who coached the Heat for two-plus seasons. Winderman has this to say about the Magic's current head coach:

  As for Van Gundy, the Detroit series will not define him. Instead, it is the fact that he now has driven each of his last three (and only three) teams at least to the conference semifinals. And that's not even counting the Heat team he got settled before Riley finished the drive to the 2006 NBA title.

Oh, and by the way, Chauncey Billups is ready for action, apparently.

The Magic held a 60-48 lead over the Pistons with 9:23 to play in the third quarter of Game Four, and gained possession after referee Joe Crawford whistled Detroit's Antonio McDyess for offensive basket interference. At the 9:11 mark, Maurice Evans hit a three-pointer to give the Magic a 15-point advantage. As the media have well documented, the Pistons went on a 15-0 run to tie the game, and eventually won it with Tayshaun Prince's running hook with 00:08.9 to play in the fourth quarter. But whom should the Magic blame for their miscues? This table sums it up, from the 8:55 mark of the third (when Rodney Stuckey missed a three-pointer for Detroit) to the 2:56 mark of the third (when Richard Hamilton tied the game at 63 with a fast-break dunk):

Likewise, whom should the Pistons praise for their resurgence? Again, we have a table:

Yahoo!'s Kelly Dwyer and 3QC reader Eyriq both pointed out the appropriateness of this website's name after the Magic lost thanks to a blown third-quarter lead. I've already explained that I started the original site at Blogspot after a similar loss to the Sacramento Kings during the 2006/2007 season. But that's not when I came up with the site's name. In fact, I didn't come up with it at all.

My mom did.

Flashback to 2006. Somehow or another, my dad won free tickets to a Magic game. We went to claim them, hoping to choose the Lakers' visit to Orlando as our prize. As it turns out, we didn't have the ability to choose which game we'd attend, and the Magic representative gave us two tickets to see the Milwaukee Bucks on January 31st. The Magic won big, 98-73, and held a 56-29 lead at halftime, but almost gave the game back in the third quarter after being outscored, 24-13. "Just another third-quarter collapse by the Magic," Mom said later, describing the game. The phrase stuck with me, and I kept it in mind when I started the old site.

And that was that.

Some notes and references after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Rashard Lewis celebrates after drilling one of his five three-pointers in the Orlando Magic's 111-86 rout of the Detroit Pistons. Lewis scored a career playoff-high 33 points.

Photo by Doug Benc, NBAE/Getty Images

The Orlando Magic came out blazing against the Detroit Pistons tonight, jumping out to an early 24-8 lead in the first quarter, and staved off a third-quarter run by the Pistons to clean their clock pummel them by a 25-point margin, 111-86.

First, I have to encourage us to curb our enthusiasm: it's only one game. When some Pistons fans left my section late in the fourth quarter, Magic fans taunted them unmercifully, but one Piston fan held up two fingers on one hand and one on the other to symbolize the Pistons still have a 2-1 lead in the series. Further, Detroit was without its best player for all but the first 3 minutes of the game, as Chauncey Billups left with a strained hamstring and did not return. Last, this Pistons team has a poor record in Game Threes, as Orlando Sentinel writer David Whitley mentioned after the game.

But...

The Pistons still got 19 points from Billups' backup, Rodney Stuckey, and got 24 points from their best scoring threat, Richard Hamilton. When Stuckey left after acquiring his second foul, Tayshaun Prince ran the offense well as a point forward and the Pistons played the Magic essentially evenly, outscoring them 16-15 until Stuckey checked back in to run the point. Most importantly, Billups would not have changed the Pistons defense -- or lack thereof -- on Rashard Lewis, who saved his best offensive night for the Magic's most important game of the season. Lewis was simply unstoppable, scoring 33 points on 15 shots (!), taking only what the defense gave him and not forcing the issue. Stan Van Gundy called plenty of isolation plays for him, more than any other game this season, and Lewis converted with a variety of drives. He also had the signature shot of the game to start the fourth quarter. Matched up at the top of the key with Rasheed Wallace, a great defender, right in his face, Lewis jab-stepped a few times, faked, fired, and drilled a three to give the Magic a 76-69 lead. That shot, moreso than the three-pointer Keyon Dooling hit just moments later, sealed the game as a win for us, at least as far as I'm concerned.

But the Dooling three was pretty tremendous. The circumstances around it are as follows: a Dwight Howard missed free throw caromed out long to the right wing. Stuckey grabbed the rebound on the sideline before losing his balance and falling out-of-bounds right in front of Detroit's bench. Initially, official Joe DeRosa signaled for the Magic to get possession. But after Pistons coach Flip Saunders said a few words to him, DeRosa changed the call to a foul on Hedo Turkoglu. On the ensuing (and wrongfully awarded) possession, Rasheed Wallace missed a long two-pointer. The Magic got the rebound and pushed the ball ahead to Dooling, who hit the shot to give the Magic an 80-69 lead.

Another word on Wallace: he was not at his best tonight. He got in foul trouble, jawed with the refs, and the Amway Arena crowd rewarded him with the most vociferous booing it's given any other opponent this season, louder than even the one it gave former Magic players Shaquille O'Neal and Grant Hill in their returns with new teams.

But as big as Lewis was, the difference in the game was Dwight Howard. He had "only" 12 rebounds, but dominated defensively and proved to be, as one in-arena sign termed it, "Pystonite." His six swatted shots discouraged further Pistons penetration, forcing them to take midrange shots, some of which they still managed to convert. Still, I'd rather Detroit score two points via a contested jumper than via a layup, so I can live with those makes.

So, which team should we favor to win Game Four? I'm undecided. On the one hand, our offense has improved in each game and the Pistons might be without Billups, who won't be at 100% even if he does play. On the other hand, this thumping may have woken the Pistons up, and they could come out looking for blood Saturday and effectively end the series with a win. Additionally, as Brian from Empty the Bench points out, the Pistons made a game of it late in the third quarter even with all the odds (no Billups, foul trouble for Wallace, no offense from Jason Maxiell) stacked against them:

And, still, the Pistons whittled the Magic's lead down to just 3 points by the end of the 3rd quarter. Orlando rattled off a 9-0 run to the start the 4th, however, and the Pistons never recovered

 

All the credit in the world to Orlando for their Game 3 win. They deserved it. [....] I'm not convinced they [The Magic] will [win Game 4] though. And I'm not convinced they'll win another game in the 2008 playoffs, period.

Anyway, let's savor this win as best we can tonight... and savor our free donut tomorrow morning.

The Magic appointed Otis Smith and Dave Twardzik co-general managers of the team on June 27th, 2005. Smith was later promoted to general manager, while Twardzik remains in charge of scouting. 3QC examines their draft history.

------------------------------------------------------

Note: The Magic also bought the rights to Marcin Gortat, whom the Phoenix Suns selected with the 57th overall pick in this draft.

Essentially, the Magic spent four draft picks on four players who have played a combined 49 games over two-plus seasons. Only one -- Gortat -- is still with the team, although it still has the rights to Vazquez. This draft probably could not have been worse for Orlando. Grade: F

------------------------------------------------------

Redick at least practices hard, but his poor defense has kept him on the bench behind Keith Bogans, Keyon Dooling, and Maurice Evans. Augustine had value last week as an expiring contract, but the Magic didn't trade him. Still, the fact that Redick at least has potential makes this draft look a little better than the previous one. Grade: D

------------------------------------------------------

Note: The Magic were without their first-round pick because they sent it to Detroit as part of the trade that brought Carlos Arroyo and Darko Milicic to Orlando; Detroit used that pick on Rodney Stuckey. Additionally, the Magic sold another second-round pick, 54th overall, to Houston, which drafted Brad Newley.

The Magic have literally nothing to show from this draft, but that's actually not so bad. Otis Smith knew his team would be strapped for cash after signing a premiere free-agent, which Smith did just days later, when he reached a sign-and-trade agreement with the Seattle SuperSonics, who sent Rashard Lewis to Orlando. Still, the other teams in the division got an infusion of young talent (Atlanta: Al Horford; Charlotte: Brandan Wright, used to obtain Jason Richardson; Miami: Daequan Cook; Washington: Nick Young), while the Magic stayed the same. Still, the view from atop the Southeast sure is nice... Grade: C-

------------------------------------------------------

Smith and Twardzik have presided over three drafts for the Magic, yet have have not improved the team at all. Imagine Monta Ellis throwing lobs to Dwight Howard on fast-breaks, or Paul Millsap hauling down some much-needed offensive boards. To be fair, plenty of teams passed on those players, but the fact remains: the draft is a viable way for teams to acquire young talent. For Smith and Twardzik to fail this miserably, year-after-year, is unacceptable.

------------------------------------------------------

Stay tuned for more evaluations of Otis Smith's tenure as Orlando Magic general manager.

Hedo Turkoglu, Maurice Evans, and James Augustine mob Rashard Lewis after Lewis' shot at the buzzer lifted the Magic over the Pistons, 102-100, on Monday night.
Photo by John Raoux, the Associated Press

Brett Edwards is a great blogger. In addition to co-writing The Association with Craig Kwasniewski, Edwards regularly contributes to NBA Fanhouse. I've always enjoyed reading his take on NBA goings-on, even if I don't always agree with him.

That's why I find it so odd that he'd make a post like this one at Fanhouse, in which he tries raining on our parade by writing the following:

That's an okay shot by Shard I guess (it did win the game and all) but he sure needed a lot of rim and backboard to get that thing to go down, didn't he? Hey, how about that three by Chauncey though? It was from about 32 feet, and please, he only took two and a half steps, not four as the ESPN goofballs would have you believe. In the end it was irrelevant, as the Magic got the victory, but to me that was a much more impressive shot than the game-winner from Lewis.

I see Brett's point regarding Rashard's shot: it did bounce around for a while before dropping, which makes it a bit less remarkable. I also agree with Brett that Billups was indeed really freakin' far away from the basket on his shot. But I don't buy his argument that Billups' shot was more impressive. Why? It should never have counted in the first place, and there are two reasons why. First, Keyon Dooling did his best to intentionally foul Chauncey when Billups received the inbounds pass, but the foul wasn't called. Second, Billups took approximately 83,422 4 steps before hoisting that trey, which should have been subsequently waved-off due to traveling. Edwards doesn't think Billups took extra steps, but the tape doesn't lie: watch ESPN's fourth-quarter highlight reel (thanks, YouTube) and you'll see what I mean.

However, I guess we should thank Chauncey for making the basket and the liberal officiating crew for not making the proper calls. In a way, those forces collaborated to make our victory that much sweeter for us, and the defeat that much more bitter for Pistons fans.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch Detroit Bad Boys, Matt Watson concedes in his post-game write-up that Billups traveled. He adds this condescending remark towards the end: "So yeah, unbeknownst to you, me or the Pistons, the Magic viewed this game as their own little Ohio State-Michigan." Yes, the Pistons have every right to talk down to us after having owned us for this entire decade. But is it really so bad that a team celebrates a victory over a tough opponent after years of futility? I don't think so.  

We'll see what happens Friday night in Detroit when these teams meet in a rematch; needless to say, the Pistons will be juiced for that one, especially given our excitement last night. Until then, I'm going to enjoy this victory as I should, and not let other people in the basketblogosphere dampen my enthusiasm.

UPDATE: Two more Pistons-centric views for you.

• Need4Sheed wasn't a fan of Detroit's defense:

  You can't let a team shoot 50% from the floor and expect to win. You can do it...but it's not easy.

• Pistons Nation wasn't happy with the play of the Pistons' reserves:

  The bench, out side of Jason Maxiell (11 pts, 7 rbs / 4 off ), continued to struggle. Jarvis went 0/4 from the field while picking up 4 fouls in 12 minutes of play. Stuckey too continued to struggle matching his point output (2) with his turnovers.

  Until further notice they’re NOT the "Zoo Crew", they’ve been playing more like the animal shelter.

Pistons junkies are lucky enough to have three great blogs chronicling their team. Check them all out.

	vs.
25-17		29-12
Amway Arena
7:00 PM
FSN Florida
Probable starters:
Carlos Arroyo	PG	Chauncey Billups
Maurice Evans	SG	Richard Hamilton
Hedo Turkoglu	SF	Tayshaun Prince
Rashard Lewis	PF	Antonio McDyess
Dwight Howard	C	Rasheed Wallace

Okay, here are my thoughts on the Portland game really quick: the Sentinel's headline the following morning was "Back on Track." As encouraging as it is to beat one of the league's hottest teams, getting too pumped about it will only put us on track for a butt-whipping tonight against the Pistons. The Trail Blazers were on the second night of a back-to-back and weren't aggressive offensively or defensively. So yes, it's a good win, but it didn't turn our season around by any means.

The Pistons clearly have our number, which is 9: the number of consecutive times they've defeated us. But there's no better time than the present to beat them: they're a mere 5-5 this month, and their last three losses have come at the hands of the sub-.500 Bulls, Kings, and Knicks. They appear to be mortal. Then again, they always get fired up to play us, so I don't know what to expect, except at least two buzzer-beating three-pointers from their starters. Detroit pulls miracle shots out of its ass comes up big at the end of shot-clocks and quarters better than any other team in the league, although that opinion is based on observation and not empirical data. Does 82games have anything on buzzer-beaters?

My Scrubway Scrub of the Game prediction: Rodney Stuckey. Wouldn't it be fitting that we somehow shut-down Billups or put him in foul trouble, only to see his backup drop a career-high on us, especially since his backup qas acquired via a draft pick we traded? That's about par for the course, right?

Brian Schmitz notes that Carlos Arroyo will start once again at point guard for Jameer Nelson, who hasn't recovered from his sore foot. Arroyo played 22 minutes against Portland and did not record a single assist. It's the first time in his career that he played 20-plus minutes without an assist. Weird.

Tipoff's at 7 PM on FSN Florida. For Pistons-centric reading, check out Detroit Bad Boys, Need 4 Sheed, and Pistons Nation.