Former Detroit Pistons forward Antonio McDyess returned to Detroit tonight as a member of the San Antonio Spurs, where the Spurs won 112-92 to hand Detroit their 11th straight loss.  McDyess was with the Pistons for 5 years and he said the Pistons’ current situation “is sad.”  McDyess, along with most, blame it on the November 4, 2008 trade that sent Chauncey Billups to Denver for the past-his-prime, shoot-first Allen Iverson.  With Billups as their team leader the Pistons had great chemistry and won the 2004 NBA Championship.  They also made it six straight Eastern Conference Finals, winning it twice.  For some odd reason, Pistons’ team president Joe Dumars thought that the Pistons needed to rebuild, despite their success, and the Pistons have been going downhill ever since.  They lost all of their chemistry and their winning ways, with McDyess speculating that he and Rasheed Wallace would probably still be Pistons if Billups had never been traded.  Their current 11-game winning streak is the worst since the 1993-94 season.

The Pistons have gotten Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince back from injury and it should inject some energy into the team. Hamilton has played in 4 games (all starts) this season for the Pistons and he is averaging 32.5 minutes, 19.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Prince has played in 4 games (all starts) this season for the Pistons and he is averaging 35.8 minutes, 11.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. If the Pistons don’t start playing better soon they might try to move these guys near the trade deadline if they can stay healthy that long.

Jonas Jerebko, a native of Sweden, has been playing very hard for the Detroit Pistons all season.  Jerebko doesn’t just bring hustle though, as he is a very capable player.  Jerebko was a little bit of a question mark coming into this season, as many doubted whether he could handle the NBA style of play.  He has more than handled it and has been one of the best rookies so far this season.  See where he ranks in my list of the Top Rookies in the NBA so far this season.

The Detroit Pistons (6-12) shot the ball terribly last night and fell to the Chicago Bulls (7-9) on the road.  Ben Gordon made his first return back to Chicago, and the former Bull’s top scorer did not shoot very well.  He had 18 points, but only hit 6-16 shots from the field and also had 5 fouls.  Nobody shot very well for the Pistons, as they finished the game 39% from the field and 25% from three.  They only scored 10 points in the first quarter, and when you come out that flat it makes it very difficult to come back and win.  John Salmons led the way for the Bulls with 22 points and Derrick Rose added 19 points, 6 assists, and 4 rebounds.

The Pistons will be without starting small forward Tayshaun Prince for a while as he is out indefinately with a small rupture of a disc in his lower back. Prince has played in 3 games (3 starts) for the Pistons so far this season and he is averaging 38.7 minutes, 12.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. Rookies Jonas Jerebko and Austin Daye will likely get most of the playing time at small forward while Prince is out of action. Jerebko has played in 4 games (3 starts) this season and he is averaging 20.0 minutes, 4.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 1.3 blocked shots per game. Daye has played in 4 games (0 starts) this season for the Pistons and he is averaging 10.3 minutes, 4.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. This injury will hurt the Pistons as Prince is one of the best all around players on the team.