Pistons show moxie at open practice


October 8, 2006

BY KRISTA JAHNKE



The play varied from quick and crisp to laughably error-prone. Such is the norm at a scrimmage bright and early on a Saturday morning after a week of two-a-days.

Porter, Cowens bring teaching credentials to Pistons



Monday, October 09, 2006
By A. Sherrod Blakely

AUBURN HILLS -- The Detroit Pistons added one of the NBA's career assists leaders, along with a Hall of Fame center to their bench during the off-season -- and neither will log a single minute of playing time this season

NBA champs stay the course
Pistons think Heat made the right decision, keeping their roster from title team basically intact.
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Last year at this time, Pistons players were scratching their heads at the changes the Miami Heat made to a roster which had taken them to within one game of heading to the NBA Finals in 2005.

A Piston at last
By Keith Langlois

If the Pistons hadn’t faced such a dire need for a big man in the 2001-02 season, Flip Murray might have been theirs from the beginning. But with Ben Wallace and Cliff Robinson backed by the likes of Mikki Moore and Victor Alexander, the swap of a second-round pick to Toronto for Zeljko Rebraca seemed prudent at the time.

Wallace cries foul over rule
NBA has adopted a zero-tolerance policy, meaning antics directed toward officials could bring a quick technical.
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News


SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- You had to know the Pistons were going to take it personally.

The NBA, in an attempt to cut down on the incessant complaining by players to officials, has instituted what amounts to a zero-tolerance rule this season.

Preseason opener a chance for Pistons to see how new players fit in

Tuesday, October 10, 2006
By A. Sherrod Blakely
AUBURN HILLS -- Tonight's opening preseason game between the Miami Heat and the Detroit Pistons in Puerto Rico will have little bearing on how either team performs this season.
Still, it's a game that for at least one of the NBA's top players -- Heat guard Dwyane Wade -- is still important.
"Every time we play them, whether it's preseason or not, it's always going to be there, not just that respect but also that intensity," Wade told reporters in Miami. "Whoever takes the court has to understand that. If they're on their team and rookies, or on our team and rookies, they've got to understand it's the Heat and Pistons and we always battle when we play."

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Heat's rivalry with Pistons remains even without B. Wallace

By Ira Winderman
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
(MCT)
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Perhaps it's only fitting these teams tip off their preseasons in Puerto Rico. They have, after all, practically spent the last two seasons on an island to themselves, as the East's elite.
But after meeting in the conference finals the past two years, the Heat and Pistons enter Tuesday night's exhibition in San Juan with decidedly different looks.
This time, coming off its first NBA championship, the Heat enters with the swagger. And this time, Detroit enters without All-Star center Ben Wallace.
While Wallace's free-agent defection to Chicago has changed the dynamic of Heat-Pistons, the edge remains.

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The nifty nine
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

The best starting five in basketball. An NBA-record 73 consecutive starts. The same starting lineup for 2 1/2 seasons.
The fab five had been the hallmark of the Pistons dating to Rasheed Wallace 's arrival in February 2004. But even with four-fifths of that unit returning, things are different.


PISTONS 84, HEAT 64: Pistons cool down Heat

Newer players get experience
October 11, 2006
BY KRISTA JAHNKE
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- NBA exhibition games are known for turnovers, low shooting percentages and lineups filled with unfamiliar names.


Retooled bench passes first test
It’s a start
By Keith Langlois

They’ve yet to hand out the Larry O’Brien Trophy in October – nor in Puerto Rico – but the Pistons took enough good signs out of their offshore preseason opener to suggest they might well be playing into June once again somewhere within the continental United States.

Not sure if this one was posted eslewhere, but here is the Miami-Herald's perpective on last nights game:

MiamiHerald.com | 10/11/2006 | Heat scores just 64 points in loss to Pistons

Looks like Pudge got the biggest ovation

McDyess in line for bigger role on Pistons

Thursday, October 12, 2006
By A. Sherrod Blakely
AUBURN HILLS -- When Antonio McDyess arrived in Detroit two years ago, teammates and coaches often referred to him as a sixth starter.
Well, it looks like he'll finally get the kind of minutes to back that up.
Of the handful of issues left to be ironed out by Detroit during the preseason, figuring out McDyess' role isn't one of them.



Saunders focuses on empowering bench

Pistons coach wants all invested in team
October 12, 2006

BY KRISTA JAHNK

And in his opinion, that's a mentality, within the organization, the media and the fan base, that he's ready to change.
"There's a separation, and everyone has bought into that," Saunders said. "My mind-set is to try to do more to blend those guys together, so there's not as much of a separation."
Saunders has promised more bench involvement before, but rarely delivered on those words, for various reasons. This year, he said he is committed to changing the environment of the team by playing the bench more minutes and with the starting unit more often



Players learn to accept playing a zone
Prince is no fan of it, but Saunders says it plays to team's strengths, takes advantage of rules.
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

In scrimmages, Saunders has empowered Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton to call the defense on each possession. More often than not, especially when they need a big stop, they are calling for a zone.
Against the Heat, Saunders had the Pistons go to the zone every time the Heat ran their 2-up play. That's the play designed to get Wade isolated at or near the top of the key -- the one that systematically destroyed the Pistons last season.