Experiments for teams continue at Verizon Center
As rookie coaches trying to win with new lineups, the Wizards Ed Tapscott and the Pistons Michael Curry have similar challenges. The urgency of their tasks is different, however, when one considers the records of their respective teams.
Tonight when Detroit (11-8) faces Washington (3-15) at Verizon Center, it will be a matchup of perennial playoff contenders, struggling to find chemistry and identity. For the injury-plagued Wizards, the struggle has been more pronounced.
Tapscott summed up the difference.
“[Detroit] is still a veteran team, one that plays hard all the time, knows how to win games,” said Tapscott. “They’re elite because they play their game at a high level and they sustain it.”
But wins for the Pistons have been harder to come by after sending Chauncey Billups to Denver for Allen Iverson. Since the trade, Detroit is 7-8. Tonight the Pistons will try a smaller starting lineup, inserting second-year man Rodney Stuckey at the point, shifting Iverson to the wing, and sending former Wizard center Kwame Brown to the bench.
Washington was stymied Saturday night by the small lineup employed by the Chicago Bulls, who registered season highs in assists (31) and 3-pointers (11), and matched its high in points (117).
“We can match up small or big. It shouldn’t be a problem,” said Wizards forward Antawn Jamison. “It’s been dribble penetration. Guy gets the ball, he has nothing but the paint. If I’m a guard and I see all that red, I’m going straight to the paint.”
Closing off the lane won’t be easy against Detroit’s new starting five, which includes center Rasheed Wallace and forwards Tayshawn Prince and Richard Hamilton. All can shoot and all but Wallace are proficient drivers.
“You don’t want there to be a big doughnut hole in the middle of your man-to-man defense,” said Tapscott. “You want to pack it in, so when the guard catches the ball, he sees bodies in the lane.”
