Brown will serve his suspension Monday when the Lakers play the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center.

If everyone shows up for him this time, that’s half the battle.

Barnes was subbed out of the game and is now cursing/gesturing towards one of the Lakers’ assistants. I think Q. Chuck is peacemaker.

Barnes is a bit of a loose cannon, so this isn’t necessarily a redux of John Kuester’s Pistons tenure. Plus, it appears they made up. Kevin Ding of The Orange County Register:

Matt Barnes was visibly upset after getting taken out of the game early in the fourth quarter Saturday night, cursing toward the Lakers’ assistant coaches. Lakers assistant coach Chuck Person tried to calm Barnes down at the time, and Barnes said in the locker room afterward to reporters that he didn’t want to discuss anything but what happened between the lines.

“If you want to talk about the game, we can talk about the game,” said Barnes, who had positive interaction with Lakers lead assistant John Kuester in the postgame locker room.

It was clear Rip Hamilton wasn’t happy as a Piston the last few seasons. What was unclear, however, was who his anger was directed at. The above video from the Oakland Press should clear things up. Some have suggested that he was upset with the coaching staff. Hamilton’s responses pretty clearly indicate otherwise.

First, around the 2:50 mark, Hamilton responds to a question about being painted as the ring leader of the team’s locker room problems last year and says, “Ask the guys in the locker room, they’ll tell you who I am. Ask the coaching staff, they’ll tell you who I am.”

He also says that he felt like the organization lost faith in him and admits that he hadn’t been happy for a while.

The final minute of the video, Hamilton says that he and John Kuester were “good friends” and said that Kuester was put in a tough situation.

But the absolute best part is in the final :10 seconds. A reporter asks, “You’re still friends with Joe (Dumars), right?” Hamilton just responds with silence and a telling smile.

There was an interesting moment in the third quarter of Wednesday’s game.

Frank and Tayshaun Prince were engaged in a lively discussion during a stoppage.

Let’s just say it was far different than Prince’s exchange with former coach John Kuester in Golden State last season, one that developed into a heated confrontation on the floor.

"Tay has a very high basketball IQ," Frank said. "You want to know what they’re seeing on the floor. To be able to engage those guys and activate that knowledge is vital."

To a degree, I think Tayshaun Prince was willing to give a chance to any coach not named John Kuester, whom he might have never respected. If Lawrence Frank can keep Prince engaged and bought in, that would help both in the long run.

Lawrence Frank immediately called timeout, turned bright red and stormed away from Detroit’s bench in disgust.

The play obviously wasn’t a significant one in the game, but it represented the most stark contrast between this year’s team and last year’s. How many times last season did we see lazy defensive plays like that in games the Pistons were losing by double figures in? How many times after those plays did cameras pan to an apathetic John Kuester blankly staring off into space?

I’m sure Kuester was upset in those instances. I’m sure any coach who cares about players respecting the game would be upset. I’m under no illusion that Frank is some type of miracle worker. His task is a daunting one. Like his predecessors, Kuester and Michael Curry, his rhetoric before the season was good. Unlike his predecessors, he at the very least seems to be delivering a message of what is acceptable basketball and what isn’t.

The Pistons lost big to Chicago and were never really in the game. The Bulls didn’t play their best, particularly early on when Joakim Noah was inexplicably waving teammates away to that he could take his man off the dribble and air-balling 18-footers. But the Pistons combined a poor effort shooting from the perimeter with difficulty converting some of the clean looks around the basket Chicago gave early, sprinkled in some poor shot selection and quickly stalled a couple late mini-runs with sloppy passing and turnovers. Detroit has proven early in the season they will play hard and are capable of competing with good teams. They have to be near flawless to do it though, and the Pistons were far from it.

The team has been blown out by good teams plenty over the last two seasons. There wasn’t much positive to take away from this game, but I still can’t deny that I feel much more positive about the direction the team is heading than I did after the first two games of the season.

Moose out-plays Noah

There are still a few areas where Greg Monroe struggles, but those are becoming less noticeable by the game. Monroe finished with 19 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists and a block against Chicago. He would’ve been near a triple double if his teammates didn’t shoot 41 percent (including 16 percent from 3-point range). He was solid on defense early, starting the game on Carlos Boozer and holding him to 2-for-6 shooting in the first quarter. Boozer got it going later and led all scorers with 19, but by then, the entire defense had been broken down to account for Derrick Rose’s slashing and others were guarding Boozer.

Offensively, he scored out of the post. He faced up and put the ball on the floor — including one really nice blow-by and layup with Noah, a good one-on-one defender, guarding him. He looked for cutters, he found open shooters on the perimeter and he still did what he always does, crashed the offensive glass, collecting five offensive rebounds.

He matched the activity of the notoriously active Noah, who finished with 9 points and 11 rebounds (but also turned it over five times because Noah was a little too active on offense). After a rookie season where Monroe showed remarkable improvement on a game-to-game basis, I shouldn’t be surprised that he’s continued that upward trend this year. I keep expecting him to plateau at some point and he keeps getting better.

Brandon Knight is overmatched

Knight got his first look as the top point guard at the start of the second half. Rodney Stuckey injured his groin late in the first half, so Knight started the third quarter. His performance wasn’t pretty.

There was a great sequence in that third with Rose guarding Knight and Knight trying to get into the lane to try and get off his floater. Rose wouldn’t let him get where he wanted and forced Knight into an awkward 16-foot or so floater that ended up about two feet short of the rim. I think anyone watching would look at a floater — a notoriously hard shot to perfect outside of close range — from that far out as a crazy shot that no one should work on adding to their repertoire. Then a couple possessions later, we saw why Knight, and presumably a lot of young guards of all ages, work on that shot: Rose launched a floater from about the same spot on floor, only his was on target. So thanks, Derrick Rose, for teaching a generation of guards to take a shot that only a once-in-a-lifetime type athlete can hit.

Knight is a 20-year-old rookie and was matched up against the league MVP and one of the strongest guards in the league, so no one should’ve been expecting him to get the best of that matchup. He finished with 4 points on 2-for-9 shooting with 1 assist and 1 turnover. He had a couple of nice possessions where he got in the lane and got himself good shots that he was comfortable with. He also missed two open 3-pointers, shots that will presumably be more consistent for him as time goes on. Knight is an exciting, talented young player, but the Pistons still need Stuckey in the lineup.

Let’s slow it down, Will Bynum

As Frank said earlier this week, the Bynum is a nice insurance policy on the bench. With Stuckey hurt, the Pistons needed an extra point guard. But as was the case so many times the last two seasons with Bynum’s role/minutes fluctuating so drastically, he came off the bench like a bat out of hell in only the third game he’s made it into this season. Bynum’s biggest problem was a familiar one: his passing. Twice in the fourth quarter, he was running pick and roll plays with Jonas Jerebko. Bynum used the screen, Jerebko slid to the top of the key where he had an open jumper and Bynum delivered bounce passes back to Jerebko … about three feet wider than where Jerebko was spotting up. Those plays didn’t result in turnovers, but they also took away any chance for the Pistons to score as Jerebko had to scramble to coral the ball. Bynum also turned it over three times, two of which resulted in him getting caught in the air with no one to pass to.

The thing is, though, Bynum actually scored the ball efficiently, something the Pistons could really use off their bench. Stuckey, Knight and Ben Gordon all struggled with their shots. None had much success taking the ball straight at the defense. Bynum, always fearless in that regard, scored 10 quick points on 5-for-9 shooting and, despite a huge height difference between he and Rose, didn’t do too badly defensively. Maybe the problem is the Pistons need to simply stop thinking about Bynum as the third point guard. He’s probably not a player who there is a use for in every game, but there certainly has to be instances when his main skills, getting the basket and speeding up the game, can come in handy. The Pistons don’t have anyone else on their bench giving any kind of offensive punch, so it might come to that at some point.

Gordon was too small

Gordon’s final stats were ugly, and the Gordon detractors, I’m sure, will be out en masse after this performance. He was bad, and I wouldn’t say otherwise, but it’s somewhat understandable given his limitations as a player.

First, he always has pressed against Chicago, his former team. But more importantly, he’s just way too small compared to Chicago’s guards. He was guarded at different times by tall SGs Rip Hamilton and Ronnie Brewer. When he tried to create off the dribble, another lanky defender, Luol Deng, or a big point guard, Rose, were there to give help.

Gordon is a wildly streaky player and has been throughout his career. I expect that he’ll have more games like this during the season, but I also expect him to have more great offensive performances as well. He’s not a difficult player for good defensive teams to stop, so that will pose a problem for the Pistons all season.

Damien Wilkins cementing his spot in the rotation

Other than Monroe, the best Piston on the floor was Wilkins. Since moving into the rotation as a backup wing in place of the ineffective Austin Daye, Wilkins has made hustle plays and been solid defensively. Against Chicago, he added some offense, scoring 10 points (5-for-7 shooting) with 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Daye’s biggest asset to get back into the rotation is the fact that his skillset is shooting and the second unit has had virtually no offense. If Wilkins gives some hustle points along with his superior defense, it’s going to be even harder to for Daye to get his spot back.

Thankfully for Daye, Charlie Villanueva played five more horrible minutes. Beating out Villanueva might be Daye’s best chance to earn back some minutes.

Hamilton, if he plays, will likely get a warm reception from the crowd (and deservedly so … despite the rocky ending, times with him on the team were more good than bad) as other former Pistons like Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Rasheed Wallace received when they returned. Ben Wallace’s first return with the Bulls was more mixed, but the circumstances around him leaving were also different.

Hamilton’s former teammates talked to the media about seeing Hamilton in a different uniform. From Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press:

“It’s gonna be weird,” Wallace said after Monday night’s victory over the Magic. “But for the most part I’m just happy that he’s happy where he’s at. Anytime you see a guy move on that, I feel like he was not only a good teammate, he was one of my brothers.”

From Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News:

The lone key member of the 2004 title team that hasn’t worn an opposing jersey has seen it for everyone else: Chauncey Billups, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, and now, Hamilton.

“It won’t be hard, I’ve had the situation with Chauncey, with Ben, with ‘Sheed,” Prince said. “It wasn’t something I planned on seeing.”

And Ellis also has a great column — go read the entire thing — on Hamilton’s anger at the front office, which he feels disrespected him:

When it became apparent that the Pistons were seeking to move Hamilton as well, it was almost as if Hamilton moved on to his next team mentally — although it took two more seasons for it to actually happen.

In Hamilton’s mind, he sees himself as one of the best shooting guards in the game. So how could the Pistons ever be so disrespectful to a franchise cornerstone?

Hamilton is averaging 12 points per game and shooting 43 percent for the Bulls. Should be interesting tonight.

“It’s hard,” Frank said. “Will’s a very, very good player. He’s obviously a guy we see as a game changer, especially on the offensive end. Someone who … is one of our better pick-and-roll players. But it’s hard to play three point guards, especially cause outside of Rodney our guards are small.

“Will’s definitely going to have his day in the sun. He’s going to help us win games, but right now this is where we’re at.”

The problem with Bynum on the roster is not only is he on the diminutive side, but the organization has more invested long-term in Rodney Stuckey and Brandon Knight. They need minutes. The problem for coaches is that Bynum is one of the hardest working players in the league. Despite some flaws to his game, he’s been productive when given minutes. He’s exactly the type of hard-working, hungry, overachieving player coaches love, which makes it so hard to leave him out of the rotation.

This is another subtle difference between Frank and his predecessor, John Kuester. Kuester simply couldn’t make the necessary step of shortening his rotation. Consequently, he played too many guards, none of them ever felt comfortable in their role and all were yanked in and out of the rotation. I like Frank’s honesty in admitting that Bynum should basically be playing, but the need to have a consistent rotation and the reality of the roster trumps his desire to want to give everyone minutes.

I’m sure Bynum isn’t happy not playing and I haven’t seen him comment on it yet, but Frank not playing him for the time being is what’s best as the team still tries to figure out Stuckey’s best role and tries to develop Knight into a starting caliber lead guard.

The Pistons set an early tone by playing with toughness, contesting Indiana’s shots, running and making hustle plays and Jerebko, who finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds, was the catalyst of that effort. It rubbed off on Monroe who, despite picking up two quick fouls on moving screens, kept himself on the court the rest of the game (unlike in the opener), finishing with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

Knight didn’t shoot the ball well, but he played under control. Rodney Stuckey bounced back from a terrible performance against Boston — 1-for-11 shooting — to score 15 points on 5-for-12 shooting. He and Knight combined for 13 assists and seven turnovers. (* Note: Stuckey’s turnover line looked much better until the final minute or so. He had just two turnovers until Indiana’s late pressure forced him into steals by Paul George and Tyler Hansbrough)

Interestingly, it was the young players, particularly the frontcourt, leading the charge while veterans played the supporting role, something that rarely happened last year. As we’ve seen, defense inside the paint has plagued the Pistons so far this season. Monroe and Jerebko were much better defensively against the Pacers, but both still give up a lot of strength to Roy Hibbert, Tyler Hansbrough and David West. Thanks to veterans Ben Wallace and Jason Maxiell spelling the starters for short but productive defensive minutes, Hibbert, Hansbrough and West barely factored into Saturday’s game. The trio combined for 39 rebounds in the season opener. On Saturday, they combined for 15 rebounds. Maxiell actually gave his first productive minutes of the season with 6 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal and no turnovers in about 13 minutes.

Tayshaun Prince didn’t have a great game, but in a few second half stretches when the Pistons needed baskets, he loomed large. In the third quarter, he hit a running bank shot to push the Pistons lead to 13. Just a couple minutes later after an Indiana basket, he hit a 3-pointer to push the lead to 14. With less than five minutes to go in the fourth and Indiana on a run that cut the lead to seven, Prince hit a three to push the lead back to 10.

Ben Gordon shot the ball well, didn’t over-dribble and for the third straight game, he finished with four or more assists.

But with Indiana making a furious rally in the final minute, down by six points and with the ball after a Paul George steal, it was again the Pistons’ young players putting things away. Jerebko stole the ball from Paul George. Prince missed a jumper with the shot clock running down, but Monroe tipped it in to give the Pistons an eight-point lead and put the game out of reach.

The game wasn’t significant simply because the Pistons got a much-needed win before embarking on a one of the toughest parts of the schedule they’ll face this season. It was important because in getting the win, they looked much different for the first time under Lawrence Frank than they did under John Kuester.

Young players played prominent roles. The guard rotation — with Stuckey coming out early in the first quarter to allow Knight to get into the game early — made sense. Despite the need for Wallace’s defense, Frank resisted the urge to play him too much (an urge Kuester could rarely resist) and limited Wallace to only 10 minutes. The ball moved. Players certainly made mistakes, but also looked to atone for those mistakes by getting back on defense and playing hard.

In short, the Pistons made progress, and not just because they won. Win or lose, this would’ve been the first game Frank would’ve been able to walk away from and reference as an important point when the young players started to ‘get it,’ the veterans started to buy in and as a whole, everyone looked to be figuring out their roles. The win is nice, but the other accomplishments are far more important to a rebuilding team. This team could still lose a lot of games, but as long as they lose playing as hard and as tough as they did against Indiana, fans will continue to buy in and watch.

Frontcourt dominance

Late update via MFMP from Detroit Bad Boys/the comments below:

After plenty of research, I found that only two other players in Pistons history have put up at least 19 points and 11 rebounds in a single game– Bill Laimbeer and Rick Mahorn. Twice in their careers, Laimbeer and Mahorn did what Jonas and Greg did tonight.

On December 8th, 1987, Rick Mahorn put up 20 points and 20 rebounds next to Bill Laimbeer, who scored 30 points and 14 rebounds. Over a month later, on January 22nd, 1988, Mahorn put up 19 points and 12 rebounds while Laimbeer recorded 21 and 14. And for the third time in franchise history, Monroe and Jerebko joined these Pistons greats with one of the three most collectively dominant frontcourt games Detroit fans have ever seen.

Great hustle, Mike. Your looking up obscure basketball stats on New Year’s brought a tear to my eye.

Austin Daye gets benched

One young player who didn’t figure prominently in Saturday’s game was Daye. After hitting 5-of-11 shots against Boston, I was hopeful Daye might be breaking out of his annual beginning of the year shooting slump. But against the Pacers, Daye played about six first half minutes, missed all three shots he attempted (two of them were blocked) and he turned it over once. He’s made just 5-of-22 shots on the season (23 percent) and he didn’t play in the second half. His minutes went to Damien Wilkins instead.

Wilkins didn’t fare much better, missing both of his shot attempts and getting a rebound and an assist. But if Daye doesn’t find his stroke, there’s really not a reason to play him. Wilkins isn’t an offensive threat, but he’s a more natural perimeter defender than Daye and if he comes in, plays solid defense (the Pistons held Pacers wings Paul George and Danny Granger to 6-for-20 shooting) and plays with the energy Frank is looking for, Daye could for the third straight year find himself buried on the depth chart early in the season.

His shot is too good for it to not come around at some point, but with Gordon entrenched in the starting lineup and Charlie Villanueva due back any time, Frank may find that he doesn’t need three offensive specialists in his rotation.

Speaking of Villanueva …

Villanueva’s suspension was over, meaning he actually could’ve played today. Frank said before the game that he didn’t know how much Villanueva would play tonight. Turns out, not at all. Frank said that Villanueva had sat out a practice and he also missed a preseason game tending to a personal matter. The Pistons are too thin up front to not pencil Villanueva into the rotation, but with the Jerebko/Monroe combo going so well and Maxiell playing solid off the bench, the Pistons didn’t have a need to rush him back in today.

Happy New Year!

Have fun out there tonight. Feel free to check back in throughout the evening and leave your surly comments from wherever you might be partying. Be safe folks, and thanks for reading this past year! We look forward to an even more interesting 2012 that hopefully includes less lockouts and player revolts. OK … some player revolts … just less.

That allowed Gordon to keep going, but plenty of talented young players work hard.

Gordon earned  a scholarship to Connecticut, one of the nation’s top basketball programs. But early in his career, he earned the less-than-affectionate nickname “Gentle Ben.” So, he toughened up and led Connecticut to a national championship.

That allowed Gordon to keep going, but plenty of college players win national titles.

In 2004, the Bulls drafted him No. 3 overall and made him a starter. But in his first three games, all losses, Gordon scored just 26 points on 9-of-29 shooting. So, Gordon went to the bench, won Sixth Man of the Year,  and helped the Bulls win 47 games for their best record since they had Michael Jordan.

That allowed Gordon to keep going, but plenty of NBA players thrive off the bench.

By the time Gordon signed a five-year, $58 million contract with the Pistons in 2009, he was a basketball success, though not a superstar. His path to the top wasn’t astonishing, but he simply overcame the fairly moderate challenges in front of him, time after to time.

Now, after the worst two seasons of his NBA career, Gordon faces his supreme on-court challenge: becoming a 20-point-per-game scorer again. After scoring 20.7 points per game in his final season with the Bulls, his average has dropped to 13.8 and 11.2 with the Pistons.

In NBA history, a player has averaged at least 20 points per game in a season only to have his scoring average drop by at least six the next season 116 times. Just five returned to their pre-drop scoring average: Pete Maravich, Bernard King, Kelly Tripucka, Antawn Jamison, and Kobe Bryant.

This is not something plenty of players have done.

Overcoming the decline

Gordon’s challenge is even more daunting, considering his scoring average dropped again between 2009-10 and 2010-11. That puts him in line with a majority of the players who never returned to form.

Only one in the sample of 116, Tripucka, returned to his original average without an immediate bump the year after his drop. Tripucka’s two down years came during a nightmarish stint with the Utah Jazz, and he scored more only after joining the expansion Charlotte Hornets, who allowed him to post a career-high usage.

Other than Tripucka, only one other player returned to even 80 percent of his pre-drop scoring average without improving it the year immediately after the drop – George Gervin, whose second drop was a mere 0.3 points and barely returned to 80 percent of his original scoring.

Excuses

Gordon’s struggles with the Pistons have largely been pinned on three excuses:

• Injury
• Richard Hamilton
• John Kuester

I believed Gordon’s ankle injury, apparently the first serious injury of his career, destroyed his 2009-10 season. When he played even worse last season, that theory became mostly unbelievable. If the injury is still affecting Gordon – either physically or mentally (more likely the latter at this point, if it still still has an effect at all) – that’s a serious problem and one that won’t necessarily be resolved this season if it hasn’t been already.

The theory with Hamilton is having another similarly abled shooting guard on the roster hindered Gordon by preventing him from receiving consistent minutes or getting into a rhythm. In Detroit, Gordon has played 92 games with Hamilton and 52 without him.

• With: 9.8 points per game, 14.7 points per 36 minutes, 52.6 true shooting percentage
• Without: 16.8 points per game, 19.2 points per 36 minutes, 55.8 true shooting percentage

That certainly indicates the Hamilton theory might be true. But Gordon’s without-Hamilton points per game and points per 36 minutes are both lower than his Chicago averages, and remove Gordon’s inefficient rookie year, it’s also true of true shooting percentage.

As far as John Kuester, many claim he managed every player wrong, including Gordon. That doesn’t really jive with the Pistons’ above-average offensive rating last year and Sebastian Pruiti’s frequent praise of Kuester’s plays, though.

Maybe these excuses are valid. We’ll have a much better idea this season.

But remember, the other 111 players who never returned to their original level of scoring all had excuses, too.

Signs of permanent disrepair

As John Hollinger pointed out, Gordon is playing like he’s lost a step. A lack of explosiveness is evident in three stats:

• The percentage of his total field-goal attempts coming at the rim has dropped from 21 to 18 to 16 the last three years.
• His turnover percentage was a career-high 14.4 last season.
• His 2.7 free-throw attempts per 36 minutes last year were, by far, a career low.

The eye test would peg Gordon in his mid-30s. But Gordon is much younger, which makes his decline all the more confusing.

The average age of the players who returned to form was 24.8 in their pre-drop season. The average age of the players who didn’t was 28.1.

Gordon was 25.

Betting on the fluke

Gordon, at his best, is one-dimensional. He doesn’t rebound, pass or defend exceptionally well. He scores a lot, pretty efficiently, and limits his mistakes.

There’s value in a player like that, but when Gordon isn’t scoring, he’s a liability on the court. Set to make $37.2 million the next three year, he’s a liability on the salary cap, too.

It’s now-or-never time for Gordon, if that line hasn’t already been crossed. The Pistons bought out Hamilton and fired Kuester.

They appear willing to bet on Gordon. It’s not’s not a wager I would make, but they might not have another option at this point.

Thankfully, they can hedge. If Gordon doesn’t make they type of turnaround that occurs less than once in a generation, the Pistons have an out: amnesty.

That, I’d bet on.

• Actual record: 27-55
• Pythagorean record: 26-56
• Offensive rating: 105.6 (21st of 30)
• Opponent points per game: 111.4 (26th of 30)
• Arena: The Palace of Auburn Hills
• Head coaches: John Kuester

Leaders

• Points per game: Richard Hamilton (18.1)
• Rebounds per game: Ben Wallace (8.7)
• Assists per game: Rodney Stuckey (4.8)
• Steals per game: Rodney Stuckey (1.4)
• Blocks per game: Ben Wallace (1.2)

Top player

Ben Wallace

Wallace, who turned 35 before the season, nearly retired after the Phoenix Suns waived him, but he accepted a one-year contract with the Pistons. For sentimental reasons, I was on board. For practical reasons, I never jumped off the bandwagon.

Excellent defensively and dependable offensively, Wallace stood out on an otherwise dismal team. He didn’t post the best numbers, but the Pistons always played better with him on the court. It even got to the point I graded players on a curve based on how often they got to play with Wallace.

Key transaction

Signed Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva

OK, that’s technically two transactions, but they both signed on the same day, both went to Connecticut and both received huge contracts. The $95.7 million men have flopped in Detroit and cripple the Pistons’ cap flexibility (and likely will for years to come).

Other moves – signing Ben Wallace, drafting Jonas Jerebko in the second round – were better. None were more significant.

Trend watch

Eight-season playoff streak snapped

Between 2001-02 and 2007-08, the Pistons won 50 game each season and qualified for the postseason each of those years. Even the dysfunctional 2008-09 team made the playoffs.

But the 2009-10 bunch took Detroit’s decline into first gear, leaving Pistons fans longing to be at the losing end of a first-round sweep like the year before.

Why this season ranks No. 57

I was confident the Pistons – with newly acquired Gordon and Villanueva, led by Kuester instead of Michael Curry and minus Allen Iverson – would improve from their 39-win season the year before:

Besides center, the Pistons will be better or the same across the board from last year.

Point guard: Rodney Stuckey is a year older, and hopefully a year better. He improved last year from his rookie season. At worst, he’s the same.

Shooting guard: Richard Hamilton will regain his starting role, and there’s no doubt he’s better than Allen Iverson.

Small forward: Tayshaun Prince is back. No reason to expect much difference.

Power forward: Antonio McDyess played admirably last year. But Charlie Villanueva is also good.

Although he’s not as good defensively, his PER (18.6) was higher than McDyess’s (16.6).

Center: However the minutes shake out between Chris Wilcox, Kwame Brown and Ben Wallace, they won’t be as good as Rasheed Wallace. But Sheed wasn’t that great last year. He looked old and disinterested, so the drop here won’t be too steep.

Bench: Ben Gordon will be a strong contender for sixth man of the year. He’s easily makes the bench better – especially given Richard Hamilton played better as a starter.

Coaching: Michael Curry was terrible. John Kuester will also be in his first year as a head coach. But he spent 13 years as an NBA assistant – 12 more than Curry. Odds are strong Kuester is better than Curry, who set the bar very low.

It didn’t exactly work out that way. Kuester was pretty awful (perhaps not as bad as Curry, though), and Gordon and Villanueva didn’t come close to earning their contracts. Richard Hamilton played just 46 games and Tayshaun Prince played just 49 due to injury, and several other players were hurt throughout the year.

At least the injuries gave Jonas Jerebko a chance to shine. Otherwise, they caused dire effects.

At a certain point, it appeared the Pistons began feeling sorry for themselves, and that crushed their energy. The Pistons repeatedly embarrassed themselves throughout the year, and as much as I wanted to believe they were a better team than they appeared to be, they weren’t.

The on-court problems exasperated some other issues that had been lingering beneath the surface. Their locker room was divided. Villanueva and Austin Daye missed a team flight. Prince clashed with Kuester. At least those issues paled to what would come next.

Previously

• 63. 1979-80 Detroit Pistons
• 62. 1993-94 Detroit Pistons
• 61. 1963-64 Detroit Pistons
• 60. 1965-66 Detroit Pistons
• 59. 2010-11 Detroit Pistons
• 58. 1980-81 Detroit Pistons
• 57. 1971-72 Detroit Pistons