Detroit Pistons Stick to Small Ball Despite Troubles

The rumors have been flying around Mo-town these past couple of days about who should start for the Pistons: Richard Hamilton, or recently-aquired Allen Iverson.

What did Michael Curry decide to do? He kept both in the starting lineup.

His starting lineup was as follows:

• Rodney Stuckey PG
• Allen Iverson SG
• Richard Hamilton SF
• Tayshaun Prince PF
• Rasheed Wallace C

Here is a quote from the Detroit Free Press direct from Michael Curry:

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“When we looked at everything with the team, we really liked the way we start the first and third quarter, ’cause in the past it had been a problem with this small lineup.

“What we have to do is try to find a way for about 32 minutes of the game to have two bigs out on the court...Regardless of what group starts and plays throughout the game, we’ve got to continue to get better defensively. And I think everyone understands that.”

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Curry said he expects to keep the same small lineup for the Pistons next game, today against Indiana. His reasoning is that the Pistons are going to be faced with smaller, quicker lineups and he wants to post a roster that fits those needs.

In last night's game Rasheed Wallace tagged another technical foul onto his already impressive list. He now sits with 13, and Michael Curry said that 'Sheed needs to emphasize more self-control into his play.

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“He’s got to have more self-restraint. That’s on him. He knows what we demand as a team, and he owes it to us as a team to show better restraint.”

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The Pistons did not score for over the last two minutes of regulation and gave up the go ahead basket with 0.7 seconds left on the clock. They fell to the Bobcats 80-78 last night in the Palace.

Allen Iverson had a few words to say about last night's game—again, quoted by the Detroit Free Press:

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“We need to start playing better than this. It’s as simple as that.  We had a 78-71 lead and couldn’t get it done. That’s unacceptable. They did what they had to do on both ends of the floor.”

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Iverson also went on to say that this game felt reminiscent of the last meeting between these two teams, except this time the Pistons couldn’t close out the game. In the last meeting the Pistons almost blew a 29-point lead, but hung on to win.

Tonight the Pistons will take on the Indiana Pacers in hopes of stopping this two game skid they are currently on.