Will the Motor City Madman put a stranglehold on the Nets?

Opponent File
Detroit Pistons
The Pistons play in the The Palace at Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, MI Their 2002 - 2003 record was 50- 32 (first in the Central). Here's what Joe had to say about Detroit in his Central Division Preview. Here's the Detroit Pistons Roster.

Local Paper:
Detroit Free Press
Detroit News
Team Pages:
CNNSI.com | Pistons
ESPN.com | Pistons
NBA.com | Pistons
The Sporting News | Pistons
Sportsline.com | Pistons

Head Coach: Larry Brown
2003 Draft: C Darko Milicic, Serbia (#2); G Carlos Delfino, Argentina (#25); C Andreas Gliniadakis, Greece (#58).
New Players: PF Darko Milicic (draft); SG Bob Sura (Warriors); C Elden Campbell (Sonics); SF Darvin Ham (Hawks); PG Lindsey Hunter (Raptors).
Season Goal: With Larry Brown, it's nothing short of winning the NBA title. Anything else will be considered failure.
Record vs. Nets: 1 - 2
G7: Pistons 98, Nets 84
G28: Nets 82, Pistons 79
G50: Nets 89, Pistons 78
Other Opponent Files

Projected Central Division Standing:
Chris Carrino: 1
Tim Capstraw: 1
Ian Eagle: 1
Joe Netsfan: 1
Steve Politi: 1

Detroit Pistons (43 - 25) - Thursday, March 18, 2004,
7:30 PM - Continental Airlines Arena
Motor City Madman
Oh, what a difference a madman can make...Noted All Star and certifiable lunatic Rasheed Wallace is a Piston now, and the results have been crazy. Since Rasheedy showed up in the Motor City (acquired for a mere bag of shells, really), he's had a strangehold over the Pistons' performance, winning 9 of their last 10 and shutting down 5 straight opponents by holding them to less than 70 points per game. That's insane in this shot-clock age. And the Pistons are well-rested, having played only twice in the last eight games, so expect them to be ready for the free-for-all to follow. The battle for second place overall in the Easter Conference is on - who wil finish with the better overall record? Will the Nets not only top 70 points, but keep the offense flowing from the blowout win over the Kings on Tuesday and live it up at the Continental? Or will the Pistons bite down hard and leave the Nets' "O" paralyzed with yet another defensive stand?
- Joe

Detroit Pistons Cheat Sheet
The Story from Detroit: Perry A. Farrell (Detroit Free Press) has the many reasons why the Pistons defense, which is based on plenty of help defense and trapping on the ball, has been so good. The acquisition of Wallace, plus playing time for backup pointguard Lindsey Hunter. A sampling of commentary:

"Obviously, he (Rasheed Wallace) has been in somebody's system," said assistant coach Mike Woodson, "whether it was at (North) Carolina or the time he spent in Portland in terms of weakside defense and trapping on the ball. I told Larry (Brown) the other day that I think that he is the best big man that I've seen since I've been coaching in the league in terms of defending pick-and-rolls and in terms of help-side defense. He's great at trapping the ball to the point where you can't get the ball across court where teams want to get the ball."

"The double threat is having Ben (Wallace) on one side and Rasheed on the other side," Woodson said. "It makes our defense click."

As for Hunter, Woodson said: "Lindsey really came in and jump-started our defense during the West Coast trip. To be a good defender in this league, especially on the perimeter, you can't get picked. You have to be able to keep your guy in front of you and control where you want him to go, and Lindsey can do that."

Pain Game: F Tremaine Fowlkes (back) is on the injured list. F Tayshaun Prince (shoulder) is questionable.

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