Gameday Preview Charlotte Bobcats vs. Detroit Pistons

by David A. Arnott on Apr 10, 2010 10:19 AM EDT

Pump Up Music: Death to Flying Things -- "It Ain't Me, Babe"

(Please forgive my indulgence, posting a song I recorded...)

The Big Picture: The Detroit Pistons come to town at the end of a disastrous season. Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince were injured for long stretches, and, as virtually everyone predicted before the season, Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva, while nice complementary players, are hardly the guys one should want to carry the bulk of the load. Neither has been particularly efficient when they have played, and that's how to blow $100 million.

Of course, Joe Dumars was probably thinking he could replicate the 2004-era Pistons when he put this squad together, or at least he must have thought he could put them well on that road. The problem with that line of thinking, of course, is that if you've got enough cap space for a superstar, you should probably do everything in your power to, you know, land a superstar and not spend it all on two guys who would be lucky to even be considered as an All Star injury replacement.

Back in 2004, that Pistons team was 4 bona fide All Stars and a near-All Star in the starting lineup. In the modern NBA, from Magic/Larry forward, that's the only instance of a non-superstar formula resulting in a Finals appearance.

Key to Victory: At this point, "victory" means having everyone as healthy as possible come playoff time. Will we see Gerald Wallace play under 20 minutes?

Detail That May Interest .08% of You: Neither Gordon nor Villanueva have started more than 16 games this season. But I love that. The opening minutes are the least important minutes of a game. Why play your best players in the least important minutes if they're going to get 36-40, regardless?

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I would add the 99-00 Knicks as another team that made the finals w/ no superstar

That team was fun to watch in the playoffs, though was kind of a fluke season.

by and1droid on Apr 10, 2010 11:16 AM EDT reply actions

LJ's 4 point play

http://sonicsgate.org/movie/index.php?hd=0
F*** Clay Bennett. And Charlotte thinks George Shinn is a douchebag.

by Ben Swanson on Apr 10, 2010 11:18 AM EDT up reply actions

was the bomb

by and1droid on Apr 10, 2010 12:54 PM EDT up reply actions

So wait, David. By song you recorded do you mean this is you on this track?

If so very cool.

"Rufus On Fire" :http://www.rufusonfire.com/ - where even the haters get a little love...or get dunked on by Gerald Wallace. Either one.

by maverick24 on Apr 10, 2010 11:38 AM EDT reply actions

Yup. Recorded everything in the bedroom with Garageband and one guitar.

Rufus on Fire -- SB Nation's Charlotte Bobcats Blog

by David A. Arnott on Apr 10, 2010 6:26 PM EDT up reply actions

Dude i don't normally rep my own stuff but...

I’ve got two band sites. The first is a professionally done recording of one of my old bands here.

www.mypsace.com/colourtheband

the other is some stuff I did myself.

www.myspace.com/travismillsaps

"Rufus On Fire" :http://www.rufusonfire.com/ - where even the haters get a little love...or get dunked on by Gerald Wallace. Either one.

by maverick24 on Apr 10, 2010 11:09 PM EDT up reply actions

oops

www.myspace.com/colourtheband

"Rufus On Fire" :http://www.rufusonfire.com/ - where even the haters get a little love...or get dunked on by Gerald Wallace. Either one.

by maverick24 on Apr 10, 2010 11:09 PM EDT up reply actions

Wow a RoF member with talent

Those were some excellent tunes

by Ft.Mill Bobcat on Apr 11, 2010 9:31 AM EDT up reply actions

Thank you sirrr.

"Rufus On Fire" :http://www.rufusonfire.com/ - where even the haters get a little love...or get dunked on by Gerald Wallace. Either one.

by maverick24 on Apr 11, 2010 12:30 PM EDT up reply actions

I too have often wondered about the importance of starting the starters.

It’s why I suggested benching Tyson Chandler for the first 8 minutes of the first quarter. He had picked up the quick pair of fouls that triggers Larry Brown’s automatic “benched for the half” response so often he was worthless to us as a starter. If we had put Nazr out there, Chandler would be coming in fresh right about the time the bench would be spelling the other team’s starters. He’d be playing against weaker competition and be less likely to miss the time because of the foul trouble. He’d play the exact same amount of scheduled minutes per game – just at a different point in the game. We’d actually have him on the court during the 2nd quarter instead of sitting on the bench collecting dirty looks from coach. I’d recommend a similar thing for Stephen Jackson. You know he’s going to get his points (or at least his shots!) so why not sit him early when it isn’t as crucial and have him a bit fresher at crunch time.

You need to start 3 of your primary starters just to keep the opponents from getting a big early led you have to fight back from, but I always thought it was a sound strategy to hold one or two key players back for a few minutes

by Ourdaywillcome on Apr 10, 2010 2:29 PM EDT reply actions