This passage, in particular, caught my attention:

In most systems, on most teams, the big minutes in the big games go to those who have already earned them. In San Antonio, Popovich knows those minutes can do a lot to inspire young players to develop. He has long been handing them out to players who would struggle to make a lot of NBA rosters. And he has way more than his fair share of those players evolve into meaningful contributors. Is it just that his front office knows how to find diamonds in the rough? Or maybe Popovich has mastered the art of polishing.

Is Danny Green the kind of guy who nails a buzzer-beater to win a huge game on the road over the defending champs? Most people, maybe even including Green, would have said “no” a day ago. But now he hit just exactly that shot — but for a tenth of a second and video review, the Spurs would have won at the end of regulation. This effect echoes across the lineup. James Anderson drove hard to the left of the lane, looking for all the world like an out-of-control guy not far removed from the D-League. But after drawing a defender, he made a beautiful dish to Splitter. And on and on. The five Spurs who played can all file away memories that prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they can hang.

In the Pistons book I wrote during the lockout (which * ahem * can be purchased in electronic or dead tree form here), I wrote about one of my favorite random memories of the era when the Pistons were yearly title contenders:

I used to sit and gaze in amazement at Amir Johnson’s 2005-2006 NBA D-League stats — 18 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists, 1 steal per game on 62 percent shooting. He was long, fast and athletic. He was young, getting drafted straight out of high school in 2005. Surely, the Pistons would find a use for this kid. Obviously, they never did and Johnson went on to become a solid rotation player elsewhere. But the best moment for Pistons fans obsessed with the team’s youth came in a blowout loss to Milwaukee on April 17, 2006.

The Pistons were resting veterans, preparing for the playoffs late in the season. Rip Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace sat out the game. Chauncey Billups, Tayshaun Prince, Ben Wallace and Antonio McDyess all played less than 20 minutes each. When the Bucks built a huge lead in the third quarter, it was time for the kids to play.

Bolstered by the young trio of Johnson, Jason Maxiell and Carlos Delfino, the Pistons scored 35 points in the fourth quarter. Johnson made all six shots he attempted, even hitting two 3-pointers, to score 18 points. Maxiell was a wrecking ball, crashing the boards and putting down some ferocious dunks to finish with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Delfino ran, he handled the ball, he defended and he slashed to the basket, filling the stat sheet with 18 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals.

I loved that game. Loved it. Watching those guys get on the court and get an opportunity at extended minutes after rotting on the bench most of the season was really rewarding. Looking back, it was also really depressing, as we all know, because with the exception of Maxiell, Johnson and Delfino didn’t become rotation contributors until Detroit gave them away in trades.

I’ve constantly harped on the player development issue with the Pistons. Detroit has done a great job finding talent in drafts. Teams simply don’t often find players late in the first round or in the second round of drafts that turn into rotation players or better. The Pistons have a long, consistent history of finding value late — Brian Cardinal, Prince, Mehmet Okur, Delfino, Maxiell, Johnson, Rodney Stuckey, Arron Afflalo and Jonas Jerebko have all had solid or better NBA careers and none were lottery picks. Only a few teams can claim that kind of record at finding useful players late over the same time period. It’s impressive. What is unbelievably frustrating is, as we all know, five of those eight players have had their best years in other organizations. It’s maddening. It’s a question that, to my knowledge, Joe Dumars has never been competently asked about. The variations of the question I’ve heard asked — either some form of “How could you let Arron Afflalo go for nothing?!” or “OMG! How could you take Darko over Chris Bosh/’Melo/Wade?!” — don’t get at what the real question is. The question worth asking at this point has nothing to do with the individual players. The players are gone and they aren’t coming back. The question is how has Detroit been so savvy and consistently good at finding value in portions of the draft where most teams struggle to find it and so bad at turning that talent into contributors?

The answer, at least partially, is in that Spurs piece linked above: coaching. Particularly, Flip Saunders. Saunders isn’t a bad coach. In the right situation (read: a veteran, talented, self-motivated team; or, the opposite of Washington), in fact, he’s a pretty solid coach. He won in Detroit. The team’s offense became a fluid machine (at least during the regular season). The defense didn’t fall off much (at least during the regular season). But he failed the team’s young players.

Reading Abbott’s piece on Popovich, I was struck by not only the fact that Popovich, on the surface the last guy you’d expect to be patient with youth, plays his young players. It’s that he plays them with the expectation that they will play at a level nearly as high as his regulars. I’m sure Popovich berates those guys, is hard on them and does all the things that you’d expect a cranky old perfectionist coach like Popovich would do to players behind the scenes. I’m sure that if they get into games and prove to be mistake-prone, he’ll bench them, and if they do it a lot, he’ll probably bury them too. But he also understands something that Saunders and, to a lesser extent, Michael Curry never did. Namely, that although it’s important that young players execute, play defense and play mistake-free basketball, it’s just as important that they know you believe in them.

Did anyone ever get the impression that the coaching staff believed in Darko Milicic, for example? There were rumors that the coaching staff was openly hostile to the thought of playing Johnson, disagreeing with the front office’s belief that he could become a capable player. Saunders was never sure Delfino was a better option than Maurice Evans. Basically, with the exception of Stuckey late in the Saunders era (and Maxiell a little bit), no young player got enough playing time to do enough things right to build any kind of confidence. Instead, they fought for scraps, the got occasional minutes in games that meant little to the team and were just being used to rest starters for the playoffs. Compare that to Popovich, playing all bench players in the fourth quarter and overtime against the defending champion (and in-state and division rival) Mavericks. The Spurs and Mavs are only a game apart in the standings. San Antonio at 12-9 actually wouldn’t even have a playoff spot if they started right now. And Popovich sent a lineup of largely untested guys out to close that game? Imagine the impact that would have on your bench guys vs. only playing them extended minutes when a game is out of reach or when your playoff position is already secure.

Most frustrating in all of this is the Pistons actually had a roster set up similarly to the Spurs. Popovich can experiment with his bench like that because he has stars, particularly Tim Duncan, who are not stats-obsessed and who care about winning and going deep into the playoffs. The Pistons had those things, even if they didn’t have an individual player as good as Duncan. I firmly believe that Saunders could’ve gone to his bench much more often. I firmly believe the veteran players would’ve understood it was in their best interest to rest more. I firmly believe that Delfino, Afflalo, Maxiell and Johnson would’ve played well had they been given more minutes. This probably would’ve cost the Pistons some regular season wins, maybe they would’ve been a slightly lower seed in the playoffs, but it also might have gained them some wins in stalled playoff runs.

Saunders’ experience before and after Detroit actually showed he was ill-equipped to handle youth. His most successful Minnesota team came when they added veteran All-Star level players in Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell. When the team went with younger (albeit worse) players around Kevin Garnett, Saunders didn’t last long. It’s also impossible to categorize his tenure with a very young Washington team as anything but a mismatched failure. It shouldn’t be surprising, then, that he wasn’t comfortable with Detroit’s youth.

During Monday’s game against Milwaukee, a clip aired of Dumars talking about the need to rebuild the talent base and the fact that that doesn’t happen overnight. I hope he also realizes that another run as a contender will involve more than simply finding the talent.

I’m just joking. After a visit from Joe Abunassar of Impact Basketball in Las Vegas (seriously, can this guy just be added to the coaching staff?), who he worked out with all summer, Austin Daye showed his full, tantalizing offensive repertoire, the one that made him such an intriguing prospect in the first place, the beautiful skillset that, despite how abysmally he’s played, keeps a vocal contingent of fans strongly in his corner. Daye scored 28 points in 30 minutes and only needed 18 shots to do it. He hit four of his eight 3-pointers.

For the first time this season, he didn’t pass up shots that he can make. He didn’t over-dribble. He didn’t shrink after the few mistakes he made. He played freely, effectively, confident and with energy. As a result, he played 30 minutes in a game for only the 10th time in his career. It’s no secret that Daye’s most dangerous weapon is his jump shot. When he was passing them up to dribble, he was hurting the team. Against Miami, he wasn’t passing them up and, as happens with all good shooters, they started going in. Then, surprise surprise, the defense adjusted, played him tighter and this gave him opportunities to put the ball on the floor, make a few nice passes and show off some other understated elements of his game.

The formula isn’t a difficult one. It’s unrealistic to expect 28 points per game from him, but it’s not unrealistic at all to expect him to play this well. Daye has the ability to be one of the league’s best shooters. Even in limited minutes last year, shooting 40 percent from three wasn’t an accident. He has a pure, natural shot, a quick release and the height to get it off against anyone. He has other offensive skills that are valuable situationally. He can dribble sometimes. He has a mid-range game. He has a nice, un-blockable floater that he can get off in the lane. It’s all dependent on the long-range jumper though. If that part of his game isn’t working, he’s not skilled enough in the other areas to be much of a factor on offense. But if the shot is falling, and with as good as his shot is, it usually should be falling, those more subtle skills he has suddenly make him a more dangerous player and a tougher cover.

Last season, Daye had some success against the Heat, but also made mistakes as a result of Miami’s size and strength on the perimeter. Tonight, that hardly fazed him. Miami didn’t play well and also played without Dwyane Wade. But LeBron James was still around as were Shane Battier and Mike Miller. All three of those guys are much stronger than Daye. All three are solid or better defensively. All three guarded Daye at times and weren’t shy about using their strength advantages to try and push him around.

I’ve seen Daye play well for the Pistons, but even in those moments, Daye’s physical limitations were still very apparent. He still shied away from contact, he still struggled when defenders resorted to clutch and grab tactics. This was the first time I’ve watched Daye in three seasons and didn’t get distracted by his physical strength disadvantages. This season, Daye’s body of work has been far more bad than good, but in a single night, he’s earned his way back into the rotation and for now, that’s enough.

Monroe attones

Monroe had a brutal performance (as did the entire team) against Oklahoma City. He was bothered by Oklahoma City’s strong interior defense and he missed several close-range shots. If he’s truly an All-Star level big man, he can’t miss shots like that, especially against a good team where opportunities around the basket are limited.

He was 8-for-14, he exploited Miami’s weak centers (apologies, Eddy Curry) and he grabbed 10 rebounds. He was back to the Monroe he’s been all season. But, he’s also still a work in progress. The Pistons had no answer for Chris Bosh, and at some point, the Pistons need Monroe to be able to at the very least make things tough for players like Bosh. He and the other Pistons bigs couldn’t do that tonight.

Monroe also had a good look from close range that would’ve given the Pistons the lead in the final minute. He didn’t make it. That’s OK, but the Pistons are also counting on him to be the focal point of the offense, so at some point those are shots he’s going to be relied on to make. For now, it’s progress enough for him to simply bounce back from his worst performance with another strong one.

Wilkins starts for Prince

Tayshaun Prince is still a solid veteran capable of occasional good performances. Much was made of the Pistons re-signing him long-term largely for his intangible qualities — intelligence, leadership, defense, etc. I don’t agree with the signing, but I also don’t disagree with the sentiment. Rebuilding teams that don’t pay any attention at all to maturity, leadership and intangibles in the locker room end up as the Washington Wizards. No one wants that.

My beef though, is that Wilkins essentially showed tonight why the Prince signing was unnecessary. Is Wilkins is good a player as Prince? No. But can he deliver intangible qualities like toughness, defense, intelligence, maturity and being a good teammate for a fraction of the cost? His performance against Miami in 34 minutes gave a resounding ‘yes.’ Wilkins (and Rodney Stuckey, Daye and Jonas Jerebko in more limited turns) did about all a defensive player can do against LeBron James, made things difficult for him. He hustled, played with toughness and played with energy. He didn’t play perfectly — he probably should’ve passed on a couple of his 3-point attempts and he turned it over three times. But he gave decent enough minutes and his energy was a nice compliment to the young players.

The reasons Prince was brought back were valid and justifiable ones. The Pistons just could’ve got those qualities for a much cheaper price.

“It ain’t the same”

A reporter asked Ben Wallace after the game if it was good to hear just a bit of cheers and fans yelling “DEEEEETROIT BAAASKETBALL” for one of the first times this season. Laughing, Wallace responded with the above quote. He’s right — the comparison to the energy of the Palace right now to the Palace during Wallace’s prime years is ridiculous to think about.

But for this team, right now, this is as good as it gets. And for this team, tonight’s game was entertaining. It was fun to see Daye, Knight and Monroe as the team’s driving forces. It was fun to see the team have a chance to win it. It was fun to see Monroe as the guy who got the ball down one in the closing seconds. It doesn’t matter so much that the team lost. What matters is that the young players are asserting themselves and the veteran players are content to let them do that. Even if the results are still a bad team on the court, it’s a positive development compared to last season.

“You need a balance of both, and you always weigh it in terms of the plus you’re getting on the defensive side versus the minus,” he said. “And also, does it help Jonas coming off the bench? … Like I said, we weren’t going to make a knee-jerk reaction. We made the move, and we’re not going to make a knee-jerk reaction now. But you continue to evaluate it, and you weigh all those factors.”

Lawrence Frank has made lineup decisions that I’ve both agreed and disagreed with — love that he kept Brandon Knight in the starting lineup after Rodney Stuckey was ready to return, not the biggest fan of his decision to start Ben Wallace and bring Jonas Jerebko off the bench. But after the last three years where John Kuester and Michael Curry made lineup decisions with no real rhyme or reason to them, then followed those up by inexplicably changing them before they even had a chance to work or fail decisively, it’s good to see Frank’s more patient approach.

The 6-11 Daye –- who made 40 percent of his 3-point attempts last year -– should be able to rise and fire against anything other than a hard closeout from a quick-footed big man or a long-armed wing player. Instead, he’s putting the ball on the floor, and often wasting a potentially efficient opportunity:

As odd as it is on the surface for Wallace to chide his teammate for trying to take the ball to the basket, his prescription is actually correct. You can almost see Daye overthink his way into turnover after turnover in those clips, despite the fact that a very reasonable 3-point look was previously in his sights.

Hopefully, next offseason, he attacks his defense with the same level of commitment. According to Stephen Litel of Hoops World, it sounds like that is on Monroe’s agenda:

In order to improve, you have to be honest and assess both your strengths and weaknesses. Monroe did exactly that after his rookie season, put in the time, and is happy with the early results of his hard work. One area has really stood out to him when determining the areas in which he has improved the most.

“My mid-range shot,” said Monroe. “That’s definitely helped my game out and where I’ve made the most progress so far. I’m just trying to continue to better my game in all aspects. I have to get better defensively. I mean, I’ve gotten better this year, but I still have to get better. I’ve been working, watching a lot more tape and working on different techniques and all that.”

Monroe is also smart enough to take advantage of a pretty good defensive resource:

Monroe appreciates the respect from Wallace and knows it wouldn’t be wise of him to not take advantage of the knowledge Wallace can teach him. Monroe was essentially born a superior offensive player to his pseudo-mentor, but he still has a lot to learn on the defensive end.

“Obviously, his record speaks for itself and it’s definitely a big help to have a guy who has been in the league for a long time that was such a good defender giving you tips,” said Monroe. “He helps me any way he can.”

Ben Wallace might not be in position to contribute that much on the court anymore, but any impact he has on making Monroe a better defender will make his return this season a huge value to the team.

Those two 3s gave him 20 points in that game. He scored 20 again, without needing the garbage-time buckets, against the Rockets. His 29 points in tonight’s loss at Minnesota marked the just the third time Prince has scored 20 points in three straight games in his career. The other times occurred in the 2008-09 season and the 2004-05 season. Thanks to Dan Feldman for that stat, and also this one:

In his last three games, Prince has scored 69 points, the fourth-highest three-game stretch of his career. He scored 73 points during a three-game span of the 2006-07 season – the last time he scored more in a three-game stretch. Prince last scored 69 points in a three-game span during the 2008-09 season, when he did it twice without overlap.

Prince’s health has to be the key factor to his resurgent production. He undeniably looks quicker, he’s looking to score in the paint more, he’s finishing stronger and he’s running the floor more. But he also looks like he’s finding a role in Lawrence Frank‘s offense. Last season, Prince had his normal numbers counting-stat wise. But he got there by having a high usage rate and dominating the ball — or, as the DBB guys refer to it, running the Isolayshaun offense. He’s scored points over this three game stretch using much more variety. He’s running the floor again, something he used to do with more regularity earlier in his career. He’s also moving without the basketball, an element that all but disappeared from his arsenal as he assumed more of a point forward role post-Chauncey Billups trade. Brandon Knight and Rodney Stuckey both found Prince on nice cuts to the basket. When he is catching the ball in the halfcourt, he’s making quick decisions with it. Against Minnesota, he caught and shot or caught and pump-faked then drove inside often. He also willingly kicked the ball back out to the guards when he didn’t have a play, a major difference from last year, when he would’ve just dribbled out and reset the offense himself, often causing the movement of his teammates to stagnate.

Many have been critical of the Pistons re-signing Prince. Joe Dumars’ defense for it is that he didn’t want to let a player with value walk away for nothing. If Prince continues to play this well, that decision will start to look less dubious.

Prince’s performance couldn’t save the Pistons from a loss, and that’s not a bad thing. The Pistons played a competitive game against an up and coming team with an established All-Star and an exciting young point guard. Their young players (minus Austin Daye) played primary roles in the game, took some lumps but also showed some things, and the team came away with a loss, which helps their lottery position. If the Pistons get a productive season out of Prince, continue to see young players in big roles and continue to lose, that’s really the best fans can hope for. The team will still get its high lottery pick and it will also have a veteran player to either use as a transition piece as young guys improve or serve as a trade piece.

Knight still trying to walk and chew gum

The good news for Brandon Knight against Minnesota: his assists were up (six), his turnovers were down (three), and he forced Ricky Rubio into 1-for-8 shooting.

The bad news is that while the running the offense portions of Knight’s game picked up, his shooting — which was strong when he was turning it over a lot — fell to 3-for-11, including several misses at the rim. Now, part of it is a product of Rubio. He’s already one of the better defensive guards in the league, and his length bothered Knight. But Knight also seemed to be slowing down and concentrating on protecting the ball and setting up others (both good things), which may have caused him to rush some shots he had more time on. He’s still a work in progress, but he seems to add new things to his game each time out and I’m excited to keep watching him grow.

Gordon’s answers

Ben Gordon‘s performance wasn’t perfect — technical foul free throws continue to flummox him — but he continued to play solid defense (it helped that Luke Ridnour is mostly content to shoot jumpers, but still, Gordon was solid at that end of the court again) and with Minnesota’s offense finally picking it up in the third quarter, Gordon hit important shots to stop runs.

Midway through the quarter, the T-Wolves went on a two minute run and quickly cut a 13-point lead to five amidst a flurry of Pistons turnovers. Gordon got the ball and aggressively took Luke Ridnour off the dribble, getting off his patented runner in the lane to put the Pistons back up seven. Then, with three minutes to go in the quarter, the T-Wolves cut it to two, but Gordon answered with a 3-pointer to push the lead back to five.

Minnesota tied it with about 10 minutes left in the fourth, and Gordon hit another jumper to give the Pistons back the lead. Down one with seven minutes left, Gordon faked a shot and got all the way to the basket to put the Pistons back up.

Now, all of this was moot since the Pistons eventually ran out of steam and Minnesota won, but hitting those types of shots was a key element in Gordon’s game in Chicago. He’s still too inconsistent and streaky, but taking those shots he used to take all the time is a good sign. This is the most comfortable looking stretch he’s had as a Piston.

Not much success with Love

Part of the reason Ben Wallace was inserted into the starting lineup was to prevent Jonas Jerebko from picking up early fouls. The reasoning was solid. When Jerebko would pick up early fouls, he’d have to come out of the game, sit, and often come back into the game as his super-aggressive self.

The problem against Minnesota is that Jerebko still had trouble staying out of foul trouble (picking up five in less than 25 minutes) and Greg Monroe fouled out in 28 minutes. The problem, obviously, was Kevin Love. Love — who is seriously in fantastic shape and has become even more bouncy than he was a year ago — was able to establish position on the offensive glass at will. The Pistons couldn’t block him out, and their bigs picked up a lot of fouls trying to keep a body on him (Jason Maxiell also had four fouls). Wallace struggled guarding him when Love moved out to the perimeter. Wallace was hesitant to chase him out to the 3-point line, and although Love didn’t shoot that well, he’s also a great passer, so giving him space on the perimeter allows him to find open teammates. I didn’t expect the Pistons to do well against Love tonight, but the sheer amount of pressure he put on their entire frontcourt was amazing to watch.

#LOLDarko

The long national nightmare of Darko Milicic hanging around in the NBA should be just about wrapped up soon. I mentioned in the game preview that despite the fact that he’s on pace for a not so great 40-40 distinction, he’s still inexplicably a starting center in the NBA. Tonight, looking like he just rolled out of bed and like a pair of clippers haven’t touched the back of his neck in months, about seven minutes of playing time was enough. He missed two shots, looked out of shape and was the main reason Monroe eclipsed the point total he had against Houston (four) by scoring five points in the first :90 seconds. Milicic didn’t start the second half, and the T-Wolves clearly were a more fun and more fluid team to watch without him doing his John Cena jog up the court.

They both started, both vanished offensively and both were abused defensively in a 97-80 loss to the Houston Rockets.

The Pistons are stuck in a limbo where their old players are no longer good, and their young players aren’t good yet. It’s not pretty, and nights like tonight display the low end.

Monroe didn’t score until the fourth quarter and finished 2-of-9 for four points. His 11 rebounds and six assists were fine, but his four turnovers stunk. Wallace (zero points and four rebounds in 19 minutes) wasn’t much better.

Monroe, whether matched up with Samuel Dalembert or Luis Scola, struggled to keep the Rockets’ bigs out of the paint. Wallace blocked three shots, but he wasn’t any more effective than Monroe at preventing Dalembert (14 points on 7-of-12 shooting with 12 rebounds, six offensive) and Scola (14 points on 5-of-12 shooting with five rebounds, three offensive) from establishing position inside.

Sure, there will be nights Monroe controls the offense with efficient shooting and passing. There will also be nights Wallace dazzles defensively by showing his legs are just spry enough to allow his supreme basketball intelligence shine. Occasionally, both might happen during the same game, and it will be extremely fun to watch.

But the swings in production have been wild, and they’ll continue to be for the entire team. The short list of Pistons who are theoretically in their prime – Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva – aren’t very good. That leaves a roster full of players too young to play well every night and players too old to play well every night.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of evaluating a player at his best or worst and thinking that’s his real value. Tonight should serve reality check that Monroe isn’t one of the NBA’s top players yet.

The game should also cause Lawrence Frank to revaluate whether Wallace should start. At 37, Wallace is no longer the dependable option he was just two years ago and although Jerebko is an undersized power forward, he might have more success at the position than Wallace.

Bad teams can’t win when their starting big men play so poorly. The good news is they likely won’t look as bad as they did tonight again. Many of us made the mistake of evaluating Monroe at his best. Let’s not demonize him for his worst.

Let’s just respect that he, and his team, have a lot of work ahead.

Tayshaun Prince finally looks healthy

Tayshaun Prince scored 20 points tonight, the same number he scored against the Warriors on Sunday, but I was much more impressed with his play tonight. For the first time since his knee began bothering him, he looked healthy.

Prince made shots to end the first (dunk) and third quarters (long jumper) because he hustled past the Rockets’ defense. I’m not sure he could’ve raced up the court like that a few days ago, even though he said he was healthy.

His points came against set defenses when the game was still competitive, and hopefully, that bodes well for the rest of the four(!)-year contract the Pistons gave him.

Brandon Knight plays hard in face of pressure

As predicted, Kyle Lowry gave Brandon Knight a lot of trouble. Lowry made three steals, and Knight had six turnovers. It appeared the Pistons had enough of the matchup, and Rodney Stuckey spent more time running the offense when Knight was on the court with him in the second half.

Still, Knight (15 points and four assists) showed determination in getting to the rim. His stats are bit inflated due to strong garbage-time play, but I’m happy with him.

Defensively, Knight was just as aggressive, totaling three steals and five fouls. He took one steal coast to coast for an easy layup. I hope Knight continues to gamble a bit more defensively. He has the length to collect more steals, and the ensuing offensive advantage they create provides more value than just staying in front of his man.

Ben Gordon locks down

Ben Gordon not only played hard defensively tonight – he does that more than he gets credit for – he played effective defense. In the process of holding Kevin Martin to 11 points on 4-of-12 shooting and just two free-throw attempts, Gordon had three steals and two blocks – the first time he’s had multiple steals and blocks in a game.

Gordon was solid offensively, scoring 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting, but his defense impressed me much more.

Jonas Jerebko off in first game off the bench

I wouldn’t read much into Jonas Jerebko’s off night. He shot 2-of-8, but a few of those misses were good looks he’d typically make that rimmed out. He was up and down guarding Luis Scola and going for defensive rebounds, but he offensively rebounded well and showed good energy.

• Teams: Detroit Pistons at Houston Rockets
• Date: Jan. 17, 2012
• Time: 8 p.m.
• Television: Fox Sports Detroit Plus

Records

• Pistons: 3-10
• Rockets: 6-7

Probable starters

Pistons:

• Brandon Knight
• Ben Gordon
• Tayshaun Prince
• Ben Wallace
• Greg Monroe

Rockets:

• Kyle Lowry
• Kevin Martin
• Chandler Parsons
• Luis Scola
• Samuel Dalembert

Las Vegas projection

Spread: Pistons +7.5

Over/under: 189

Score: Pistons win, 98.25-90.75

Three things to watch

1. Ben Wallace starting

Keith Langlois of Pistons.com:

#Pistons shake up lineup: Ben Wallace starts due to upcoming rash of post scorers. Jonas to the bench.

LFrank says need to protect paint better, so Big Ben starts for now. Plan is he plays 1st 6 mins of each half, spotted in 2nd, 4th quarters.

Makes sense to me.

2. Brandon Knight’s offense vs. Kyle Lowry

If the Pistons continue to start Brandon Knight, it’s clearly to challenge him. Tonight, he’ll face a stiff test. Kyle Lowry is one of the NBA’s best defensive point guards, and he averages a robust 2.1 steals per game. Knight’s turnovers have been problematic, and unless Knight has made real progress – which he might have – Lowry will exploit this matchup.

Favian Pua of Red94 also sees this as a key matchup, but probably for optimistic reasons than I do.

3. Greg Monroe’s defense vs. Samuel Dalembert

After the Rockets win over the Wizards yesterday, Kyle Lowry said Samuel Dalembert was still working his way back into playing shape. Dalembert still scored 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting against Washington, but at 30 and maybe a touch out of shape, he’s not relying on the type of athleticism that often gives Greg Monroe trouble. Instead, Dalembert frequently established strong inside position, which allowed for plenty of layups and tip-ins.

Monroe’s lack of foot speed makes defense difficult for him, but I think he has the physical attributes – or at least, can more easily develop them – to use his weight to keep bigs out of the paint. Dalembert will be a good gauge of Monroe’s progress in this regard.

“I was in the shower and Ben Wallace told me today, he told me I had my head up my butt because I’m not shooting shots I usually take,” Daye said after the Pistons’ 99-91 loss to the Golden State Warriors.

That about sums it up. Daye is a good, pure shooter. He’s getting open looks. There’s really no rational way to explain why he’s shooting just 20.4 percent from the field and is 0-for-13 from 3-point range after shooting 40 percent from there last season.

Ben Wallace still getting some burn in Detroit. Ben told me before the game tonight this would be his last year. Great career.

No big surprise. Ben Wallace’s contract ends after the season, and he considered retiring this summer. And there were rumors the previous summer he’d retire. And he actually planned to retire the year before after the Suns bought him out.

He’s had a great run – most of it with the Pistons – but eventually age catches up. At 37, Wallace isn’t the player he once was, even if he’s still effective.

I’m certainly going to savor these last 59 games with Wallace, one of the greatest Pistons of all time.