[Detroit Free Press]

Pistons Corner: Starting five altered with Rasheed out
With Wallace out tonight, Davis is ready to play a larger role.

"I haven't really had a lot of opportunities to get out there and mix it up," Davis said. "It'll be good. The season is winding down, and I definitely want to get my timing back and play a little bit and hopefully be able to contribute during the playoffs."

An easy call to make: Dumars Hall of Famer
Dumars couldn't hear a thing. He asked his barber, Willie Rowls, to be quiet. Then he got the news of a lifetime. And then he calmly resumed getting his hair cut.

[Blue Collar Blueprint - Eli Zaret]

Of Stars, Egos and Emotional Ties
Hill may be one of the more selfless stars of this generation. His interests in art and charity give him character and depth well beyond the court. I think he’d be able to be a sixth man if it meant winning a championship and helping him soothe the pain and anguish six years of injuries has caused him. I find myself rooting strongly for this story to happen.

Streak snapped at 73; Rasheed Wallace's suspension upheld

Any hope the Pistons may have had that the NBA would rescind the ticky-tack technical foul issued to Rasheed Wallace on Sunday has been dashed: Stu Jackson, NBA Senior Vice President Basketball Operations, announced today that Wallace has been suspended one game for receiving his 16th technical foul. Wallace will miss Tuesday's game against the [...]


100 Reasons (and more) to love Rasheed Wallace

We got a little nostalgic last week reminiscing about Bill Laimbeer and the rest of the old school Bad Boys. But of the current Pistons, no player more closely embodies Laimbeer's attitude and spirit than Rasheed Wallace. Plus, long-time fans can't help but see the similarity in their games: they're both big men with three-point [...]


Kung Fu King Lindsey Hunter Shows His Skills

If you were paying close attention you caught Lindsey Hunter showing off his Karate skills right before the tip off of the Bucks game. Now I almost missed this because I was at the game but a Need4Sheed reader wanted to see it again and brought it to my attention. This is a good one, even Dyess thinks Lindsey is nuts. The Pistons are truly a close knit bunch.

Micro: Hilarious Video.

[The Oklahoman]

Hornets visit Detroit as race gets intense
By Darnell Mayberry

DETROIT - The race for eighth intensifies tonight as the top two contenders for the Western Conference’s final playoff spot begin their remaining schedules against two of the league’s best teams.

The Hornets, just two games out of the eighth seed, start their final 10 games with a road game against the league’s best team, the Detroit Pistons. The Sacramento Kings, currently in the eighth spot, have eight games left, beginning with tonight’s road game against the Dallas Mavericks, the league’s third best team.

“We’re still looking at other teams and what they’re doing,” Hornets coach Byron Scott said. “We got to keep pace. I think our guys - it took them 70-something games - but they understand that we can’t have a letdown.

(Better late than never - a more substantial article on the Pistons' D-Babies)

The two Detroit Pistons rookies returned to their parent club during a break in Fayetteville’s NBA Development League schedule for some physical therapy and training. They came back to the Patriots with a vengeance Friday, combining for 41 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and four steals in a 106-89 victory over the Albuquerque Thunderbirds at the Crown Coliseum.

[Pistons.com]

FSN SPOTLIGHT - Chauncey Billups
Premiering Sunday, April 9 at 10:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m.
Check local listings

Be sure to tune in to FSN Detroit this Sunday, April 9 at 10:00 p.m. (EDT) to catch the next SPOTLIGHT on Pistons guard Chauncey Billups.

Excerpts from the show:

Billups on his "other" sport as a youth:
"Actually football was number one for me. I love football, man I love football. The only reason I got into basketball was I needed something to do when it wasn't football season. I needed something to do, so I started to play basketball and I just fell in love with it. I played both for like three or four years and then I just quit playing football all together and focused all my attention on playing basketball."

Billups on why he wore uniform #4 in high school:
"It was because of Joe Dumars. I just loved Joe Dumars' game. Magic (Johnson) was my favorite player that I like to watch, but my favorite backcourt was always Isiah and Joe. I wore number 4 because like I said, it had a lot to do with Joe and how he played the game, just so graceful, just so respectful and you never (saw) him out of character out there. And I just think we're similar in that way sometimes."

** Pistonsforum.com registered members, click *here* to get an automatic email reminder that this show will be on. You must be logged into your account to use the link provided.

[The Salt Lake Tribune]

No clear-cut choice for top individual honor
The NBA MVP Race
by Steve Luhm

A heated race in the NBA is coming to a boil.

No, not the less-than-crowded scramble to reach the Finals in June.

Only three or four teams have a legitimate chance to do that, and anything other than a rematch of last year's championship series between San Antonio and Detroit will be a surprise.

A much closer race involves as many as 10 viable candidates for the Most Valuable Player award.
~

[Detroit News]

Pistons reach 60
APRIL 5 - Spooky things were everywhere at The Palace Tuesday night. The bathrooms flooded in lower parts of the arena, sending small rivers of water flowing through corridors and banishing the Hornets from their locker room. Dale Davis started because of Rasheed Wallace's suspension, thereby stopping the 98-game starting streak for the customary five. The Pistons, normally very careful with the basketball, became turnover-happy. And Antonio McDyess set a scoring high as Piston.

In the midst of all this oddity, the Pistons beat the Hornets 101-93 for their 60th victory of the season. The Pistons are closing on the highest victory total in club history, set by the 1988-89 team that finished 63-19.

Pistons are too busy winning to think about history
If the Pistons win their final eight, they will finish 68-14. That mark would tie them with the 1972-73 Boston Celtics for the fourth-best record in history. One loss would give them the fifth-best mark. Michael Jordan's 1995-96 Chicago Bulls posted the all-time best at 72-10.

McDyess thrives off bench
McDyess finished with 26 points, the most in his Pistons career, and 14 rebounds. He played 37 minutes, just short of his season high of 38.

[Detroit Free Press]

Pistons hold off Hornets
The 101-93 win over the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets at the Palace on Tuesday night was the Pistons' 60th this season. Not since the 1989-90 championship season has Detroit won at least 60 games -- and there are still eight games to play.

At halftime, 'The Calm' brings ease to concerns
"When we go into the locker room at halftime, we won't be down, we won't be frustrated," forward Tayshaun Prince said. "We won't be down at all. We won't be nothing. We're like, 'All right, let's go out there and see if we can pull this out.' "

The coaches, plus team president Joe Dumars and vice president John Hammond, meet together in one room, while the players sit in their lockers and talk about those first 24 minutes.

Dive into the NBA's No. 1 rivalry: Pistons-Heat
Thursday is the final time the Pistons and Miami Heat square off in the regular season, but just about everyone thinks the teams will meet again in the playoffs -- potentially in a rematch of last year's Eastern Conference finals. The Pistons have locked up the East's top seed and the Heat is holding the No. 2 slot.

Pistons Corner
Dumars said the best comment he has heard so far came from his 15-year-old son, Jordan, who said, "Well, I guess you were good."

Whom do the Pistons want to face in Round One?
The top-seeded Pistons open the first round of the playoffs against the eighth seed in less than three weeks. Potential first-round opponents, with seedings through Monday.

[Booth Newspapers]

Minus Rasheed, McDyess sparkles in Piston win
McDyess, who already had a season-high 19 points by the end of the third quarter, finished with a game-high 26 points to spark the Detroit Pistons' 101-93 victory against the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets on Tuesday night. It was the 60th victory of the season for the Pistons.

Saunders pleased with Davis' play
With Rasheed Wallace sidelined with an automatic suspension due to having accumulated 16 technical fouls this season, Davis was inserted into the starting lineup for Detroit's 101-93 victory against the Hornets. Davis, who had averaged just five minutes per game in his 21 previous appearances this season, played 23 minutes, scoring four points and getting five rebounds.

"Dale did a nice job. He helped us defensively and scored some in there," said Pistons coach Flip Saunders. "I thought for the first time with extended minutes, he did a lot of positive things for us. We'll continue to play him."

[New Orleans Time-Picayune]

Hornets tank chances; winning streak ends
AUBURN HILLS, MICH. -- If there was ever a harbinger that the Hornets would soon go in the toilet, it was at halftime. Down six at the Detroit Pistons, they walked into their locker room -- which was flooded with toilet water.

In their 101-93 loss to the team with the NBA's best record, the Hornets flushed away their chances in the third quarter, and entered the fourth trailing by 13.

[Need4Sheed.com]

No Need4Sheed in Pistons' 60th win
I am now officially on my Dyess for sixth man of the year campaign. Now I know this is probably not going to happen but I just want a little more attention called to Antonio's great play, then maybe the refs can give the guy a break on the foul calls. Antonio never seems to get any calls go his way. You would think he was a rookie by the way all the calls go against him. Respect for McDyess I say! [Includes new McDyess desktop wallpaper.]

[Detroit Bad Boys]

Question: Why would a team lose on purpose?
Ian mentioned in jest the possibility of the Pistons dropping a game on purpose to help the Hornets into the playoffs and push Ron-Ron and the Kings out. Of course it's ridiculous to think the Pistons would do that, but Mark Cuban has thought of a scenario in which an NBA team might want to lose a game.

Previous topics:
The buzz before tonight's matchup with the Hornets; Joe Dumars sees himself in Chauncey Billups; How do you split nothing?; Darko does Disney: a Magic fan's perspective; 100 reasons (and more) to love Rasheed Wallace [That one's an oldie but a goodie -- highly recommended. - Ed.]

[Palm Beach Post]

Heat don't expect Williams to play for remainder of season
The Associated Press

MIAMI — The Miami Heat do not expect to play point guard Jason Williams in the final eight games of the regular season, so he can rest his sore right knee.

Williams has been bothered by tendinitis in the knee for much of the season. In his place, Gary Payton is expected to start at point guard for the Heat, who are trying to secure the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Heat coach Pat Riley said Wednesday that surgery is not an immediate option, but cautioned that it may be needed in the offseason. Riley said he was confident the rest will allow Williams to return for the first round of the playoffs.




Riley gives wake-up call
Coach keys on power game, holding lead
by Ira Winderman

MIAMI · Substance, not style, is the goal for the balance of the season.

For two hours Tuesday morning, Pat Riley's focus at the Heat's shootaround was returning his team to its power roots.

"To get our overall collective game in sync and clean up some things offensively, get back to really understanding what kind of team we are, which is a power team that attacks," Riley said before his team faced the Bucks at AmericanAirlines Arena. "We haven't done that for a while, really.
.

[Detroit News]

Pistons stay cool with Heat
Pistons coach Flip Saunders said he doesn't think his players are focusing on Wade's offensive outburst in Miami. "Last time he was here (in Detroit), he didn't (score)," Saunders said, laughing. "So that will be in his mind, too. It should be a good game. (It's a) nationally televised game, coming down the stretch, they're going to want to win so they can split the series.

"We'll go down there with the idea of being competitive and continue to play some different lineups, more guys."

A Palace coup for Pistons: Their ratings top the the Red Wings'
Ratings trends indicate the Pistons have surpassed the Wings. Up until the lockout season in 2004-05, the Wings traditionally outdrew the Pistons on FSN Detroit. The disparity was often large, as many as four ratings points in favor of the Wings.
Now, the Pistons are averaging 6.0 for the regular season, while the Wings are at 4.7.

[Detroit Free Press]

Pistons Corner: Plenty of reasons to beat the Heat
There might not be anything tangible on the line, but when the two top teams in the East play, it means something. Every time. Just ask Chauncey Billups.

"It's nothing," Billups said. "Nothing really, just trying to win."

And then, in the next breath ... "We gave a game away when we went down there last time," he said. "So we just want to go down there and try to get it back."

[Booth Newspapers]

Saunders' first priority for Pistons is staying healthy
Saunders has made it clear that his No. 1 goal -- more than setting a franchise record of victories in the regular season or even home-court advantage through the playoffs -- is staying healthy and keeping fresh over the final eight games.

This doesn't diminish the Pistons' desire to win the game, since they're still as hungry as ever. However, it does reveal just how much the Pistons are willing to lay on the line to get that done. "I don't know if it'll take any buzz away because we're trying to win, don't get that all twisted," said guard Chauncey Billups. "It's going to be a playoff game, regardless of who's out there playing."

[Miami Herald]

Williams shut down for remainder of regular season
.... The Heat is 2-11 against other division leaders, with the wins against New Jersey and Detroit. Wade rescued the Heat in that Pistons game Feb. 12, scoring Miami's final 17 points, including the winning basket with 2.3 seconds left, to help overcome a 13-point deficit.

Walker said tonight's game is "psychological for people that don't believe we can beat them in a seven-game series.''

Israel Gutierriez Blog: Falling apart
First it was Mourning's calf injury. Then James Posey and Jason Williams miss games with usage injuries. Then we learn today that Jason Williams is going to shut it down until the playoffs, in hopes that it helps him stay healthy for the playoffs (they're basically crossing their fingers), and Udonis Haslem even has a partially separated left shoulder, which he plans on playing through, but who knows how it could affect him.

I know there are still a couple weeks before the playoffs, but none of these things can help the team prepare for the games that really matter.

[Palm Beach Post]

Ira Winderman Blog: JWill Won't
While Riley said he would consider adding an additional ballhandler, options are limited. With the Heat already at the roster limit of 15, such a move would require waiving a player, such as Earl Barron or Jason Kapono.

The Heat could possibly bring back guard Gerald Fitch, who was with the team until the Feb. 23 trading deadline. But because Fitch was released by the Rockets on March 13, he would not be playoff eligible. The list of playoff-eligible point guards on the free agent market is limited to the likes of Mateen Cleaves, Anthony Goldwire, Travis Best and Kenny Anderson, with some of those already committed to overseas teams.