FanHouse Pistons

PHOENIX -- The NBA's schedule is never something that teams will use as an excuse for playing particularly poorly in any single game.

But sometimes, the way things shake out, it can definitely be seen as a legitimate reason.

The schedule dictated that the Pistons finish up their four-game, West coast swing against a Suns team that averages 117 points per game on their home floor. And coming off of a tough, overtime loss in Utah the night before, Detroit never had a chance.

DENVER -- Five years after the "The Malice at the Palace,'' Ron Artest isn't showing remorse. In fact, one could say he is embracing his infamous place in history.

Artest, a Lakers forward, said in an interview Friday with FanHouse he's making a movie about his life. He said he made sure to touch upon the Nov. 19, 2004 brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills in order to "kind of spice up the movie a little bit.''

In that basketbrawl, Artest, then with Indiana, charged into the stands in the final minute of a game at Detroit after a fight had broken out and a fan had thrown a cup of beer at Artest. The game was called, and there were nine players suspended for a total of 146 games. Artest got the worst penalty, being sat down for the final 73 games of the season.

Thursday marks the fifth-year anniversary, and Artest will play that night at home against Chicago. Artest, who celebrated his 30th birthday Friday, was asked if he's matured and is a different person since the brawl.

"Not really,'' he said before the Lakers were crushed by Denver 105-79 at the Pepsi Center. "I'm the same person.''

It's rare that we have back-to-back Stinkface. As a matter of fact, yesterday's Stinkface and today's are the first time we've gone back-to-back.

That's fine by us. NBA teams go back-to-back an average of 20 times a season. Far be it from us to complain about it.

Also, we have an excellent reason for our quick turnaround: Detroit's Will Bynum.

Video after the (two-footed) jump.

I wrote in September that perhaps there would be no worthy center to start for the West in the All-Star Game.

But this isn't the way I want to see that solved. Do it on the court, not with the ballot.

When the All-Star ballot came out Tuesday, Phoenix power forward Amar'e Stoudemire strangely was listed as a center. Yes, Stoudemire has played center before, but he's started all eight games for Suns this season at power forward, with Channing Frye being the starting center.

It is true the ballot, which was selected by six media members from around the country, had to be decided upon before the season began in order to provide time for printing. But it has been apparent since at least September that Frye would Phoenix's starting center, with Stoudemire at power forward.

Until last week, the last time the Detroit Pistons played a game in which neither Rip Hamilton or Tayshaun Prince started was the 2001-02 season -- when Prince was a senior at Kentucky and Hamilton still coming into his own playing alongside Michael Jordan in Washington.

Needless to say, adapting to life without those two mainstays -- Hamilton suffered a high ankle sprain in the season opener, and Prince joined him on the trainer's table with a back injury two games later -- has been an unexpected hurdle for first-year head coach John Kuester, who's now tasked with helping a starting lineup featuring four new additions to the team develop chemistry.

ORLANDO -- Pistons general manager Joe Dumars signed broken-down Ben Wallace this summer to be a figure-head, to serve as a low-budget example for his young, talented guys to see where hard work could take them.

Dumars never expected this kind of start.

Wallace, 35, is one of the biggest and most pleasant surprises of this young season. In the first five games, he has averaged 10 rebounds in 31 minutes while also playing the kind of hard-nosed interior defense that once helped him anchor Detroit's NBA championship team in 2004.

"I just thought he'd be great for the young guys to be around, an undrafted guy who worked his way up without any shortcuts. Just for the young guys to see him every day. That's why I got him,'' Dumars said Friday before the Pistons played in Orlando. "But he's been better than I ever imagined. It's like an added bonus.''

Even though Ben Gordon has played a handful of preseason games in front of lackluster crowds at the Palace and one regular season game on the road wearing Pistons red, white and blue, it wasn't until his name was announced to a sold-out crowd at Detroit's home opener Friday night that he was officially welcomed to the team by the fans.

And as fate would have it, Gordon's introduction came with all the fanfare and pyrotechnics befitting the arrival of a budding star, as he was introduced along with the rest of the starters, filling in for the injured Rip Hamilton. It's a nice start for his Pistons career -- and should provide a fitting conclusion for a documentary seven months in the making.

In the tradition of Kobe Bryant's Doin' Work and LeBron James' More Than a Game, Gordon is the subject of a forthcoming documentary, A Scorer's Aura, which will tell the story of his final months as a Chicago Bull up until his first home game as a Detroit Piston, offering fans an insider's view of what it's like to be a coveted NBA free agent signing with a new team for the first time in his career.

FanHouse previews a player to watch from each NBA team in advance of the 2009-10 season.

The trade of Chauncey Billups was purportedly meant to clear the path for the "too-good-to-come-off-the-bench" Rodney Stuckey, but the dreadful 2008-09 Pistons season really never allowed Stuckey to blossom. Now in his third season, with Billups gone and Allen Iverson exiled to Memphis, Stuckey really does have the room he should need.

Not that there isn't still pressure. When you replace a former Finals MVP dubbed by fans as "Mr. Big Shot," you have your hands full. And while Detroit seems to adore Stuckey, there's a lot of talent competing for minutes around him.

---

---

FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.

Everything that could go wrong for the Pistons did last year, from front-office blunders (the Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson trade), indefensible coaching decisions (three guards and Tayshaun Prince as a power forward?) to a rash of injuries (only two starters played more than 67 games).

We could rehash the depressing nitty-gritty details, but why bother? It's a new season, and this year's squad looks very little like the one swept out of the playoffs in front of a turncoat Palace crowd.

Instead, let's focus on the changes, which should destroy your outdated notions of what Dee-troit Basket-ball is all about. First and foremost, the Pistons went from being one of the oldest teams in the league to one of the youngest -- and not just because four rookies will make the roster.

---

---