Indiana (0-0) at Detroit (0-0)
Game info: 8:00 pm EDT
Wed Oct 29, 2008
TV: FSIN, FSD
By KATE HEDLIN, STATS Writer
Oct 28, 5:42 pm EDT
Many observers felt the Detroit Pistons were due for some rebuilding after a third straight conference finals exit in 2007-08. Instead, the team’s only major change was a coaching one.
Michael Curry makes his head coaching debut as Detroit looks to put last season’s disappointing end behind it, starting with a home game against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday in the teams’ 2008-09 openers.
The Pistons have been one of the Eastern Conference’s elite teams over the past seven seasons, reaching the playoffs each time and capturing the last four Central Division titles. Detroit went 59-23 in 2007-08, but lost to Boston in the conference finals.
Despite its recent status as a perennial NBA title contender, Detroit has won only one championship during that seven-year span, beating the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004. The Pistons have reached the conference finals six straight times - the first franchise to do so since the Lakers went to eight in a row in the 1980s - but they’re also the first in more than a half-century to lose in that round three years in a row.
After last season’s exit, speculation began that Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars would opt for wholesale changes to an aging roster. Instead, all five starters from last season return, although 21-year-old forward Amir Johnson has been inserted into the starting lineup, taking the spot of 34-year-old Antonio McDyess.
Dumars did make one big change, firing Flip Saunders, who coached the Pistons from 2004-08. He promoted the 40-year-old Curry, an assistant under Saunders who has no head coaching experience.
“Patience is always going to be my toughest thing to do,” Curry said. “Being able to lead, communicate and knowing the game are things I’ve always been real comfortable with.”
While Curry is working with the same key group of players that combined to hold opponents to a league-low 90.1 points per game last season, he’ll be looking to work some of the team’s youth, such as 25-year-old forward Jason Maxiell and second-year pros Rodney Stuckey and Arron Afflalo, into bigger roles.
“Our core guys are back, but we’ll be different,” Dumars said. “We’re going to incorporate young talent, and we’ve added a new, young coach.”
Veterans Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton figure to led the Pistons again offensively. Hamilton scored a team-high 17.3 points per game last season, his lowest average since he was a rookie in 1999-2000 with Washington. Billups averaged 17.0 points and 6.8 assists in 2007-08.
While the Pistons figure to contend again for a division title, the Pacers will need to make some big improvements coming off their second straight losing season.
Indiana finished 36-46 and missed the playoffs for the second straight year - the first time it failed to reach the postseason in back-to-back seasons since 1987-88 and 1988-89. The Pacers struggled with injuries to forward Jermaine O’Neal and point guard Jamaal Tinsley, two of their top contributors in 2006-07, and although they averaged 104.0 points - seventh-highest in the NBA - they gave up 105.4, the fifth-most.
“We were so porous,” Indiana’s Jeff Foster said. “We got to get that nailed down and good things will happen.”
O’Neal, a six-time All-Star with the Pacers, was traded to Toronto for point guard T.J. Ford and centers Rasho Nesterovic and Roy Hibbert - the 17th overall pick in the 2008 draft - in July. Ford and Nesterovic are expected to start Wednesday.
Veteran Jarrett Jack and Brandon Rush, the No. 13 selection in the draft, were also picked up in the offseason from Portland.
Mike Dunleavy and Danny Granger turned in career seasons for the Pacers in 2007-08, with Granger averaging 19.6 points and 6.1 rebounds and Dunleavy adding 19.1 points and 5.2 boards per game.
Dunleavy, though, was limited in the preseason by a knee injury and may not start Wednesday.
Detroit swept the four-game series against Indiana last season, winning by 13 and 16 points in the two games at The Palace. The Pistons have won six in a row versus the Pacers and nine of the last 11 meetings.
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Originally Posted by DrRay11
Aw shit bitch!
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