Pistons need no rabbit™s foot against flailing Wizards
Jan 14th, 2010 by Aaron Hotchner
Pistons need no rabbit™s foot against flailing Wizards
Washington 13 was a lucky number for the Detroit Pistons Tuesday night, who beat the hapless Washington Wizards 99-90 on their home court. Considering the prospect that losing to Washington would have tied the worst losing streaks in franchise history (14 consecutive games lost by the Pistons in both the ™79-™80 & the ™93-™94 campaigns) Detroit found their resolve & overcame injuries to starters Ben Gordon & Tayshaun Prince to win the day.
The Pistons were led by former UConn standout Charlie Villanueva, who shot a red-hot 69% to end with 23 points & 9 rebounds from the power forward™s position. Guard Rodney Stuckey chipped in 19 points & 11 assists, while Richard Hamilton (another highly-accomplished former Husky) contributed 19 points to the effort. However, with the usually efficient Hamilton shooting a nearly freezing 34% (8 of 23 plus 2 free throws) from the field to net those 19, it seems he continues to struggle with the hamstring injury that has already cost him playing time this season. Jonas Jerebko, Detroit’s Swedish Chef (http://bit.ly/7gapG2) also cooked up a 13 point, 7 rebound night, making his rookie year a continuing bright spot amidst an otherwise dismal Pistons season.
Speaking for the Wizards, team captain Antawn Jamison turned in a characteristically excellent performance with 31 points & 10 rebounds, shooting about 57% for the game. Randy Foye, an offseason pick-up from Minnesota, continued his strong play since taking over starting point guard duties, posting 20 points, 10 assists, & 5 rebounds. With another former Husky in the form of Caron Butler managing 14 points for the Wiz, if Detroit™s Ben Gordon had suited up, an alumni meeting could have been held at center court prior to tip-off.
Washington coach Flip Saunders is probably cursing whatever synapse mis-fire caused him to think this job was a smart move for him. Saunders had a short stint as a television analyst for ESPN, after being fired by the Pistons for the sin of leading them to 3 consecutive Eastern Conference finals appearances. Since signing on with the Wiz in April ’09, Saunders has endured a tragically comic series of setbacks. Mike Miller, acquired along with Foye, missed the game with right calf problems, on the heels of a shoulder injury that sidelined him for numerous games in late ™09. Antawn Jamison & Randy Foye have also missed games from injury, limiting the Wizard™s chances to capitalize on the promising win against the Dallas Mavericks that inaugurated the season. While injuries can be understood as part of the biz in a highly physical & competitive profession, the Wizards will lose more games from franchise outlaw Gilbert Arenas™ suspension than anything else, as Arenas boasted team-high averages in points per games & assists before his banishment by league sultan David Stern.
Per the recognized rules of basketball, someone had to win this game. However given these two teams™ greatest achievements so far have been disappointing loyal fans & testing the job security of their GM™s, neither should be very pleased with their performance. With both squads spinning their wheels for identical win/loss records of 12-25 & trade talk across the league heating up, expect activity from one or both before the Feb. 19th deadline.