Toronto Raptors [39-42] 111
DETROIT PISTONS [27-55] 97
Complete Game Info
PART 1 - The Twitter Effect
As soon as you read Charlie Villanueva’s tweet from yesterday afternoon …
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Pistons’ Charlie Villanueva guarantees win against Raptors
“Guarantee win tonight, yeah I said it,” is a tweet that appeared on Villanueva’s account about 2:35 p.m. today.
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you just knew that the Raptors would be good to go into Detroit last night and pummel the Pistons.
PART 2 - The Big Ben Effect
Although Ben Wallace/C has had a decent year, defensively, in his return to Detroit, it was rather comical to see the combinations of:
i. He and Jonas Jerebko
[-9 vs Bargnani/Johnson; +2 vs Bargnani/Turkoglu], or
ii. He and Charlie Villanueva
[-4 vs Bargnani/Johnson; -1 vs Bargnani/Turkoglu], or
iii. He and Tayshaun Prince
[-6 vs Bargnani/Johnson], or
iv. He and Jason Maxiell
[-6 vs Bargnani/Johnson]
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PLUS/MINUS STATS FOR THE PAIRS OF CENTERS AND POWER FORWARDS
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#
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C
PF
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Bargnani
Johnson
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Bargnani
Turkoglu
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Bargnani
Evans
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Bargnani
Weems
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Bargnani
Nesterovic
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Johnson
Turkoglu
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S#
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Dur
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+/-
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S#
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Dur
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+/-
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S#
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Dur
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+/-
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S#
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Dur
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+/-
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S#
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Dur
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+/-
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S#
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Dur
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+/-
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1
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Wallace
Jerebko
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1
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03:26
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+1
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2
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00:14
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+2
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3
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00:29
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-2
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4
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01:45
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-4
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5
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01:28
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-4
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TOT
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07:08
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-9
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TOT
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00:14
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+2
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2
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Wallace
Villanueva
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1
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02:40
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-4
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2
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01:46
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-1
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TOT
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02:40
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-4
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TOT
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01:46
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-1
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3
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Wallace
Prince
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1
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02:33
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-6
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TOT
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02:33
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-6
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4
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Wallace
Maxiell
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1
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03:48
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-6
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TOT
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03:48
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-6
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5
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Maxiell
Villanueva
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1
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02:46
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+4
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2
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01:17
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-2
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3
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00:20
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+4
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4
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01:11
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+1
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5
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00:28
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+2
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6
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01:06
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+4
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7
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02:02
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0
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8
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00:14
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-3
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9
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00:50
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+3
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10
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01:23
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+5
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11
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00:55
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+1
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12
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01:01
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-3
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13
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01:27
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-1
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14
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00:16
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0
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TOT
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01:18
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+5
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TOT
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06:49
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+9
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TOT
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02:44
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-4
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TOT
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00:14
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-3
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TOT
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01:23
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+5
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TOT
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02:48
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+3
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6
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Maxiell
Jerebko
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1
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01:54
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+7
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2
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00:54
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-4
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TOT
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00:54
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-4
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TOT
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01:54
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+7
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7
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Maxiell
Prince
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1
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01:01
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-2
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TOT
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01:01
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-2
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LEGEND: C – Center; PF – Power Forward; S# - Shift number; Dur – Duration of shift; +/- - Plus/Minus total for shift; TOT – Totals.
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attempt to guard a perimeter oriented C like Andrea Bargnani … who was shooting the ball well last night … and an energetic under-sized PF like Amir Johnson.
PART 3 - The John Kuester Effect
At the 10:14 mark of the 2nd quarter, with the Raptors leading by 3 points [28-31], Pistons’ head coach, John Kuester:
i. Replaced Ben Gordon/OG with Will Bynum/PG;
ii. Shifted Rodney Stuckey/PG to the OG position; and,
iii. Replaced Charlie Villanueva/PF with Jonas Jerebko/PF-SF;
while keeping Austin Daye/SF and Ben Wallace/C on the floor, against Toronto’s 5-man unit of:
Jarrett Jack, PG
Marco Belinelli, OG
DeMar DeRozan, SF
Hedo Turkoglu, PF and
Andrea Bargnani, C
Jay Triano did not respond with a substitution which created the following individual defensive match-ups for Detroit:
Bynum vs Jack
Stuckey vs Belinelli
Daye vs DeRozan
Jerebko vs Turkoglu, and
Wallace vs Bargnani.
This shift of 14 seconds produced a +2 gain for the Pistons.
At the 10:00 mark, however, Raptors’ head coach, Jay Triano, replaced Hedo Turkoglu/SF-PF with Amir Johnson/PF.
John Kuester did not respond with a substitution for the Pistons which created the following individual defensive match-ups for Detroit:
Bynum vs Jack
Stuckey vs Belinelli
Daye vs DeRozan
Jerebko vs Johnson, and
Wallace vs Bargnani.
This shift of 29 seconds produced a -2 loss for the Pistons.
At the 9:31 mark, Jay Triano replaced DeMar DeRozan/SF-OG with Sonny Weems.
John Kuester did not respond with a substitution for the Pistons which created the following individual defensive match-ups for Detroit:
Bynum vs Jack
Stuckey vs Belinelli
Daye vs Weems
Jerebko vs Johnson, and
Wallace vs Bargnani.
This shift of 1:44 produced a -4 loss for the Pistons … and was halted, temporarily, by an official’s time-out, with Detroit trailing by 7 points [32-39].
Coming out from this time-out, John Kuester responded by replacing Jonas Jerebko/PF-SF with Tayshaun Prince/SF.
Jay Triano did not respond with a substitution for the Raptors which created the following individual defensive match-ups for Detroit:
Bynum vs Jack
Stuckey vs Belinelli
Daye vs Weems
Prince vs Johnson, and
Wallace vs Bargnani.
This shift of 2:33 produced a -6 loss for the Pistons … and was halted by a regular time-out, called by Detroit, with Toronto leading by 13 points [34-47].
Coming out from this time-out, John Kuester:
i. Replaced Austin Daye with Ben Gordon/OG-PG;
ii. Shifted Rodney Stuckey/PG-OG to the Small Forward position; and,
iii. Replaced Ben Wallace/C with Jason Maxiell/PF;
while keeping Will Bynum and Tayshaun Prince on the floor, as the PG and PF, respectively.
Jay Triano did not respond with a substitution for the Raptors which created the following individual defensive match-ups for Detroit:
Bynum vs Jack
Gordon vs Belinelli
Stuckey vs Weems
Prince vs Johnson, and
Maxiell vs Bargnani.
This shift of 1:01 produced a -2 loss for the Pistons.
At the 4:13 mark, John Kuester:
i. Replaced Rodney Stuckey with Charlie Villanueva; and,
ii. Moved Tayshaun Prince back to the SF position.
Jay Triano did not respond with a substitution for the Raptors which created the following individual defensive match-ups for Detroit:
Bynum vs Jack
Gordon vs Belinelli
Prince vs Weems
Maxiell vs Johnson, and
Villanueva vs Bargnani.
This shift of 28 seconds produced a +2 gain for the Pistons … and, finally, stopped the Raptors’ run, with Detroit trailing by 13 points [36-49].
This is the type of poor personnel use …
[for example]
a. Having Ben Wallace attempt to check Andrea Bargnani
b. Playing Will Bynum and Rodney Stuckey together;
c. Playing Will Bynum, Ben Gordon and Rodney Stuckey together;
d. Playing Tayshaun Prince at PF with Ben Wallace/C; and,
e. Failing to have Villanueva check Bargnani;
by John Kuester which has been responsibile for the bulk of the Pistons’ internal problems this season.
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If the Raptors could just play a steady diet of opponents the same quality as this year’s Pistons … re: coaches and players … then they would have been able to qualify for the playoffs a long time ago.