Shorthanded Pistons crushed by shorthanded T’Wolves in the third.
So what, right? Preseason game, two teams with two key players sitting out. Big deal. Means nothing? Probably, but maybe not.
Dave and I had the great fortune of being at the Palace for this one. Surrounding fans aside, this was an enjoyable game. High scoring, 122-114, slashing dunks, Stuckey doing his thing and my first introduction to some guy named Flynn.
Here’s the Garden side’s impression of the game.
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Flynn is gonna be a heck of a player. He looked smooth and controlled.He completely outplayed his veteran backup Sessions. Perhaps having Sessions as the only competition for the starting job is the source of this young man’s confidence.
Stuckey looks like Stuckey. Slashing, pulling up creating and dishing. Fun to watch as always.
Prince just looks out of place. 1-6 for 5 points 1 steal and no blocks in 22 minutes. He never got into a rhythm.
Rip started to look like the assassin he was two years ago. 21 points on 11 shots, lots of baseline movement and quick pop and shoots. He looked good setting up teammates with 3 timely assists.
Charlie V. looked good. 17 points 10 rebounds 3 assists. But (like most of the team) was a no show on defense.
Chris Wilcox was perfect from the floor in 24 minutes at center. 10 points 7 rebounds.
Ben “Shoot it again” Gordon looked like the bench player he is. 3-7 for 11 points in 30+ minutes of action.
Jerebko had a great 5 minutes in the second quarter showing his versatility and quickness on offense, hitting an outside jumper, then slashing to the basket. Eventually, though, he had to play defense. His D from the bench was about as good as his D on the floor. So he spent much of the second half on the bench.
The game was close for the entire first half with the Pistons leading the way pretty much throughout. Dave and I agreed there was not really much reason to believe the Wolves would pull it out. And the home team seemed to agree coming out of the gate hitting shots and playing some defense. They built the lead to 9 and then the bottom fell out. Outscored 22-4 the rest of the third, the pistons never recovered.
It’s hard to put a lot of stock in a preseason game, but this was clearly a game the Pistons should have won. Minnesota was without Love (hand) and Jefferson (evil swine flu, well flu like symptoms). They shot 59% and still lost at home to a team with no inside presence. Defense was the big question I had about the Pistons going into the season, and (again based on one preseason game) it looks like the coaching staff has no answer for me yet.
Other notes:
This will keep me up for nights to come.
Aside from being a Magna Cum Laude graduate of the Jeff Hornacek school of beauty, Oleksiy Pecherov has some serious skills.
Bynum and Maxiell didn’t look like the dynamos off the bench we all expect.
Kwame (hand) and Wallace (knee) sat out the game.
Let’s chalk it up as an off night for a lot of players, but a good night out for the Palace/Garden crew.
