Chris McCosky / The Detroit News


Friday, October 06, 2006

Johnson is not a 7-footer, yet. But the 19-year-old is close. He was listed 6-foot-9 on draft night, 6-10 last year, and now 6-11 1/2
AUBURN HILLS -- Flip Saunders blew his whistle in the middle of a sloppy scrimmage Thursday morning and sent his players off the court and into the locker room.

Ben rips Flip

ESPN.com - NBA/TRAININGCAMP06 - Sheridan: Ben Ben flips the script on Saunders

Check it out.

Flip outta consider Marty Mohrninweg's legacy before faking another tantrum in training camp.

Ben Wallace's word hang in the air at Pistons camp

Saturday, October 07, 2006
By A. Sherrod Blakely
AUBURN HILLS -- Ben Wallace is gone, but his words -- many of which lately have included some not-so-nice digs at his former coach -- still have a way of resonating loudly with his former team.

Big Ben's bashing suggests parting was best
A Rip at Flip
By Keith Langlois

Another major burr in Big Ben’s behind: In desperate straits in the fourth quarter of Game 6 at Miami, trailing 3-2 in the series, Saunders sat Wallace for the duration, partly because of Wallace’s 27 percent playoff foul shooting and the certainty that Miami would deliberately foul him, partly because the Pistons just plain needed points.
“Let’s just put it this way,” Saunders said. “That’s the only quarter we outscored Miami. … Hey, it was tough for me to watch, too. As a competitor, you always want to be out there. I don’t fault him.”

__________________
With politicians the future lies ahead

(Hope Skiles has alot of time on his hands. )

Wallace Gets FT Pointers From Skiles
At 88.9 percent, Scott Skiles is the fourth-most accurate free-throw shooter in NBA history. At 41.8 percent, Ben Wallace often got pulled from Pistons games late. Sounds like a match made in improvement heaven. "I don't really want to go into it because I don't want to make an issue out of it," Skiles said. "Because I truly believe what I said at [Wallace's introductory] press conference: I don't care if he makes them or not. I don't expect anything crazy to happen where all of a sudden he's leading the league in free-throw shooting. I just want him to relax and work on a couple of things and see what happens."

ChicagoSports.com - Wallace gets FT pointers from an expert—Skiles

__________________
"I'm a diamond, you're a cubic zir-con-ia" - Nice and Smooth via The Low

Mlive Oct. 8
Blakely

Billups sees a lot of good qualities in Blalock's game, but acknowledges that it'll probably take some time.
"The rook is going to be good," Billups said. "He's very, very solid, doesn't make a lot of mistakes . . . just a real good point guard. He's going to need some seasoning, but he's going to be good."
The Pistons plan to pick up contract options before the Oct. 31 deadline on Jason Maxiell and Carlos Delfino. They can pick up the fourth year on Delfino, who was drafted under the old collective bargaining agreement.

__________________
With politicians the future lies ahead

Once Bitten, Twice Shy
Keith Langlois

This year’s Chicago is Orlando. The Magic will have gobs of cap room. Ironically enough, they’ll have cap room largely because the contract of Grant Hill – whose departure from Detroit was supposed to be the final nail in the Pistons’ coffin – finally comes off the books.

Five Tiny Tidbits On: The Detroit Pistons

It's hard to believe, but the NBA season is just around the corner. Let us celebrate with five tiny tidbits on each team. Today we continue with the Central Division