Thursday, December 10, 2009

Pistons hold of Sixers; Stuckey puts on a show



This game was supposed to be all about Iverson, but Stuckey stole the show with his best game of the year. This game was a tight affair throughout, won by the Pistons on a fade away baseline jumper by Rodney Stuckey with 8 seconds remaining. The loss extended the Sixers losing streak to 11 games and the Pistons extended their own 3 game winning streak (and 4 wins in 5 games).

Here are the three keys to the Pistons win…


  • The “Hot Rod” show: Rodney Stuckey is turning the corner. Since Atkins was inserted into the starting lineup and thus moving Stuckey to the two guard spot, Stuckey has flourished, averaging 22 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds on 46% shooting (and leading the Pistons to a 4-1 record). Stuckey just seems to play so much better playing off the ball, relieved of the duties of bringing the ball up the court and getting everyone into their sets.


Stuckey was simply spectacular in this game, putting up his best game of the season. He started it out by scoring the first basket of the game for Detroit, badly crossing Iverson over on this play (0:21 mark), causing Iverson to stumble back on his ass, while he calmly suck the mid range jumper. That was hardly all he did though. Stuckey went on to score 28 points, with 8 dimes and 5 boards. Stuckey started this game out very aggressive, attacking the rim and drawing fouls. But as the game progressed, Stuckey hit the likes of Jerebko, Maxiell and others for open jumpers off of down screens.


After getting blocked by Iguodala on a drive to the rim, Stuckey recovered the ball and put up a fading baseline jumper for the winning score with 8 seconds remaining. It’s worth noting that Stuckey not only had to deal with containing Iguodala on the defensive end, but he also had to do most of his damage against an all NBA defender in Iguodala. Stuckey did catch a bit of a break when he got picked off on an Elton Brand screen, leaving Iguodala wide open for a game winning three pointer, but he bricked it badly and Stuckey made two free throws to seal the win.


  • Strong Second Half: After a lackluster first half, Jerebko was really the difference in the second half. He scored all 17 of his points in the second half, while holding Thaddeus Young to 11 points on 4 for 14 shooting (2 points I nthe 2nd half) and he also grabbed 10 boards. Jerebko had one of the key plays of the game, up-faking a charging Iverson and nailing a wide open jumper to give the Pistons an 84-82 lead with 1:49 left.


  • Iverson Stink Fest: While maybe its too early to say that Iverson can’t be a productive player anymore, he sure looked awful out on the floor tonight. Bad defense and low percentage scoring is par for the course for Allen Iverson, but missing wide open layups like he did last night could be a sign that it’s really time for him to just leave the sport. He does not have the same explosion and quickness to the basket that he once had and that is obvious to anyone that has watched him the last couple years.


Here are the bad plays, no scratch that… embarrassing plays that stand for Iverson in this game.

1. Stuckey putting Iverson on his ass with a sick cross over dribble

2. Iverson airmailing a wide open 15 footer

3. Iverson bricking a layup that missed the rim completely

Iverson was brought in to sell tickets… not to win games. And alas, after selling out Iverson’s first game back against Denver, only 12,000+ showed up for this game.

Just sayin.

Next Game: vs. Denver Nuggets, 7:30, Fri. Dec 10th

Saturday, December 5, 2009

NFL: Week 13 Predictions



My 2009 NFL Record: 100-59 (62.9%)


The Marquee Matchups


Tennessee Titans (5-6) @ Indianapolis Colts (11-0)




My Prediction: Titans 20, Colts 23


Dallas Cowboys (8-3) @ New York Giants (6-5)


My Prediction: Cowboys 27, Giants 30



The Rest of the Pack



St. Louis Rams (1-10) @ Chicago Bears (4-7)



My Prediction: Rams 7, Bears 23



Detroit Lions (2-9) @ Cincinnati Bengals (8-3)



My Prediction: Lions 0, Bengals 21



Denver Broncos (7-4) @ Kansas City Chiefs (3-8)



My Prediction: Broncos 17, Chiefs 14



New England Patriots (7-4) @ Miami Dolphins (5-6)



My Prediction: Patriots 27, Dolphins 14



Oakland Raiders (3-8) @ Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5)



My Prediction: Raiders 3, Steelers 31



New Orleans Saints (11-0) @ Washington Redskins (3-8)


My Prediction: Saints 24, Redskins 14



Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-10) @ Carolina Panthers (4-7)



My Prediction: Bucs 10, Panthers 17



Houston Texans (5-6) @ Jacksonville Jaguars (6-5)

My Prediction: Texans 24, Jaguars 27



San Diego Chargers (8-3) @ Cleveland Browns (1-10)



My Prediction: Chargers 27, Browns 7



Philadelphia Eagles (7-4) @ Atlanta Falcons (6-5)



My Prediction: Eagles 20, Falcons 17



San Francisco 49ers (5-6) @ Seattle Seahawks (4-7)




My Prediction: 49ers 17, Seahawks 21



Minnesota Vikings (10-1) @ Arizona Cardinals (7-4)


My Prediction: Vikings 31, Cardinals 20



Baltimore Ravens (6-5) @ Green Bay Packers (7-4)



My Prediction: Ravens 17, Packers 27

Pistons beat Bucks; stifle Jennings


This was a nice statement victory for the Pistons, winning their first divisional game after losing their first three in the division. Coming into this game, the Bucks were one of the surprise teams in the league, with a 9-8 record (despite injuries to Bogut and Redd) when many expected them to finish near the bottom of the eastern conference coming into the season. And leading the way for the Bucks was rookie sensation Brandon Jennings, but he was far from that tonight.


Here are the keys to the Pistons win:


  • Stuckey: He was just terrific last night, and personally, I feel it was his best overall game of the year. He started the game by being aggressive offensive, hitting 5 of 8 shots for 14 points in the first half on a variety of jumpers and drives to the hoop. Every shot he took was open and on balance. His catch and finish (on a long pass from Gordon) to beat the halftime buzzer was simply spectacular.



In the second half, we saw Stuckey set up his teammates; two dishes to Ben Wallace on pick and rolls for wide open dunks, several passes that were zipped it into open cutters behind the Bucks’ defense, and a nice drive and dish to Charlie V for a corner three (in the first half). Stuckey only took 3 shots in the second half, but he made 3 of them. But it wasn’t his scoring in this game that was impressive… we’ve seen this guy drop 40 before. It was his willingness to pass and look for his teammates first that caught my eye. The only negatives in this game for Stuckey were 3 turnovers on charges and he did leave Delfino wide open on several shots in that first half. But otherwise, an absolutely great game for Stuckey. He finished with 19 points (on 7 for 11 shooting), 9 dimes and 6 rebounds.


  • Controlling Jennings and manning the Paint: This was a big task for the Pistons, slowing down a guy who came into this game with a 55 point game under his belt and averaging 22/6/4 on the season. But the Pistons did a number on him – containing him off the dribble and pick & rolls and forcing him to take jump shots. They executed the strategy to perfection, limiting him to 15 points on 6 for 20 shooting. The Pistons once again dominated in the paint, outscoring the Bucks 46-20, and killing them on the glass, 46-31. Bogut was held in check by Big Ben, forcing him away from the basket and putting immense pressure on every shot (4 for 9 shooting for 8 points). In addition to his usual stout defense, Big Ben also chipped in with 10 points, including 4 thunderous dunks.


There are many positive things that the Pistons can build upon from this game. They cut harder, set better screens and were more active moving without the ball then they’ve been all year (in my estimation). The activity on the offensive end led to 57% shooting and 18 fast break points. But they also a bit frenetic at times, turning the ball over 21 times. Some of that can be credited to the Bucks pressure defense (leading the league in forced turnovers), but far too many of them were careless mistakes. That’s something they’ll need to correct moving forward.


I also didn’t understand why Kuester went back to Chucky Atkins for the final 2:26 of the game. It didn’t make sense at that point in the game with an 11 point lead to put in a 3 guard lineup, which hinders you defensively. And given that most teams don’t respect Atkins or Wallace as offensive weapons, it hurts you offensively as well, as teams sag off and help on the dribble penetration of the guards. This lineup had some sloppy plays in the final couple minutes, which forced the Pistons to have to make free throws to seal the game that they never should have had to make. That was a bad coaching decision by Kuester, but other than that I can’t complain. The Pistons dominated this game wire to wire.


Good win Pistons!


Next Game: Washington Wizards, Sun. Dec 6th, 6:00 EST