The almost completely revamped Detroit Pistons open the 2009-2010 season tomorrow night at Memphis (who will possibly be sporting their brand new Allan Iverson). On the subject of the dramatically changed Pistons including the not-so-dearly departed AI, Natalie at Need4Sheed (repping the D regardless of where Sheed is now) had a great Detroit Pistons 2009-2010 Season Preview:
Key Losses: Antonio McDyess, Rasheed Wallace, Amir Johnson, Arron Afflalo, Chauncey Billups (does that still count) (I say "YES"), head coach Michael Curry (a good loss) and possibly the best loss in Pistons history, the end of Allen Iverson in red, white and blue.
Key Additions: Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, Chris Wilcox, Austin Daye, DaJuan Summers, Jonas Jerebko and Ben Wallace.
"One thing is sure, they may not be slotted to make the ECF like they used to, but this Pistons team is going to be fun to watch."
Read on, check out another cool 2009-10 Pistons preview from Pistonpowered.com and meet the new guys in a rather offbeat manner in Absolute Michigan's Offseason Primer.
Party Like It's 1999 2004?
Alert observers may notice two more names from the Pistons 2004 championship to join Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton on this year's squad. Pistons.com blogger Keith Langlois has a nice post about Ben Wallace & Chucky Atkins that quotes new Detroit Pistons head coach John Kuester:
“(Fans) couldn’t see all the things he did from a positive standpoint,” Kuester said. “He has been a great role model for our young point guards. He’s really done an outstanding job of running the team in practice. He’s challenged both (Stuckey and Bynum) every day in practice and I’m very impressed with what he did on the court and off the court.
“It’s huge, for me being a first-year coach and having people I can trust in the locker room. That’s where Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince (are important) and I’ve talked about Ben being such a good influence on our bigs. Chucky has to fit into that category also. I’ve been very impressed with what he’s done so far.”
Along those lines, Matt at Detroit Bad Boys thinks that Chucky Atkins probably made the roster more for what he can do as a role model for Stuckey & Will Bynum than anything else. Over at the Freep they have declared that the Pistons will be a clanking machine if Rodney Stuckey doesn't step up to become a premier point guard, so here's hoping that Atkins (and Wallace) can provide a whole lot of veteran leadership (and maybe a few boards a game).
Speaking of the official Pistons web site, they've added a new Detroit Pistons Twitpic feature to their Twitter that offers some interesting glimpses behind the scenes.
If you're looking to get more in front of the scenes, how about opening night at the Palace this Friday vs the Oklahoma City Thunder? They have upper deck seats for just $15 and it's a benefit for breast cancer research at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute.
Keep up with Pistons news & links all season long at absolutemichigan.com/Pistons and we'll see you out with the first of a three part series "Pistons Recharged" (thanks Detroit Bad Boys for the find and here's part two and part three)
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