FanHouse Pistons

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.

---

---

Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 season. On Wednesday, there are 13 days remaining.

Brent Price never was as good as older brother Mark, a four-time All-Star, but for one brief stretch he was better than anyone else ever was in the NBA.

Brent Price set an NBA record in 1996 -- matched the next season by Terry Mills -- by making 13 consecutive 3-point shots over three games, a mark that none of the game's more heralded shooters ever has matched.

Much like his brother a few years before. Brent Price came into the league as a second-round draft pick, known purely as a shooter. And for one shining season, he was the best shooter in NBA. It was during that 1995-96 season -- his third -- that Brent broke the record previously shared by Jeff Hornacek and Scott Wedman.

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- The arrivals of Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva in Detroit made headlines across the entire NBA this summer. The return of Ben Wallace, on the other hand, was barely a footnote.

In a way, it makes perfect sense. Overlooked and ignored at the start of his career -- Wallace spent four anonymous seasons bouncing around the league before emerging as one of the most dominant defenders of his generation in Detroit -- it's only fitting for him to be written off yet again as he nears the end.

But what first looked like a purely sentimental signing by the Pistons might prove to be so much more as Wallace makes his case for a starting job -- something that even Wallace admits has caught him by surprise.

"I had absolutely no expectations at all," Wallace told FanHouse after Sunday's win against the Hawks. "I didn't even come back here expecting to get a jersey. I'm just coming in here and working hard and whatever happens, happens."

The Pistons have four rookies on the roster. Two of them have been suspended by the league for the season opener because of preseason scuffles. (You are on high alert, DaJuan Summers and Deron Washington!) The league announced today that Austin Daye, Detroit's No. 15 pick in the June draft, will be suspended for the first game of the season due to a fight with Bucks forward Carlos Delfino on Wednesday. Delfino will also miss the opener.

Earlier this week, fellow Pistons rookie Jonas Jerebko was suspended one game for a Tuesday altercation with Heat center Jamaal Magloire. Magloire was docked two games. If nothing else, Jerebko and Daye are showing that while the roster has turned over, the ol' Detroit Bad Boys attitude still exists in Motor City.

(While we're on the subject, by the transitive property: Omri Casspi beats up Austin Daye, Austin Daye beats up Carlos Delfino ... therefore Omri Casspi could beat up Carlos Delfino. Can't wait to see that.)

The NBA announced suspensions for Miami's Jamaal Magloire and Detroit's Jonas Jerebko on Thursday, the result of a brief altercation between the two players in Monday's game in Detroit.

After getting tangled while going for the same rebound in the fourth quarter, the two players fell to the ground, where they each took a swing at each other before being separated by teammates. The incident happened quickly and television replays failed to capture a clear angle of what happened, but in the locker room after the game, Jerebko was quick to admit his involvement.

"He got me, I got him back," he told FanHouse. "That's what happened."

For the second game in a row, replacement officials have completely botched routine free-throw procedures in Detroit.

During Monday's game between the Pistons and the Heat, the referees failed to whistle a dead ball after Ben Wallace tossed up an air ball on a free-throw attempt in the first half. Worse yet, in the fourth quarter, the officials allowed Will Bynum, a career 77.8% shooter from the stripe, to shoot free throws for Maceo Baston, only realizing their mistake after Miami's bench complained when Bynum drained them both. After conferring, the officials took the points off the board and sent Baston to the line, where he missed both attempts.

Bynum pleaded innocence after Monday's game, telling FanHouse he heard a referee tell him to take the line. From the officials' perspective, I'm not sure what's worse: Bynum telling a fib, which shows how easily they were fooled; or Bynum telling the truth, which proves that all three refs weren't on the same page. Either way, it looks bad ... but not as bad as what happened Wednesday.