[FadedMario]

Detroit Pistons (3-10) at Houston Rockets (6-7), 8 p.m. (ET)



Things haven't exactly been going well for the Pistons this season.

The struggling team is set to take on a surging Houston club in South Texas on Tuesday, a difficult enough task considering Detroit is just 1-5 on the road this season.

But basketball took a back seat for Detroit when the team's chartered flight reported problems with the hydraulics operating part of the aircraft's landing gear, forcing an emergency landing.

Fortunately everyone escaped the scary situation unscathed and the Pistons will now try to halt the momentum of a Rockets team attempting to get back to the .500 mark on Tuesday.

Detroit comes in after losing for the seventh time in eight contests on Sunday in Auburn Hills, falling to Golden State 99-91.

Greg Monroe scored a game-high 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds in that one for the Pistons, who, at 3-10, are in the cellar of the Central Division. Tayshaun Prince added 20 points and Ben Gordon had 15 and six assists.

"They were just a step quicker, a step faster, a step more aggressive," said Pistons coach Lawrence Frank.

The Rockets, meanwhile, won their third straight game in the nation's capital on Monday after Kevin Martin posted 25 points and matched a career-high with eight assists to help Houston beat the lowly Washington Wizards, 114-106.

Samuel Dalembert had 20 points and seven rebounds for the Rockets, who improved to 6-7 overall on the season. Luis Scola added 18 points and Kyle Lowry scored 16 to go along with six assists, five rebounds and three steals.

Houston, which is a solid 4-1 at Toyota Center, open a three-game homestand tonight and will play seven of its next eight games on its home floor.

"We've started to settle down," said Lowry. "We've got a nice homestand coming so we've got to get those games at home."

The Rockets have won two straight and five of six overall vs. Detroit.

[FadedMario]

My wife and I made about 50 Jello Shots. Gonna be a fun game tonight!

[mn3]

Dalembert is another good test/measuring stick for Monroe.

[FadedMario]

Originally Posted by mn3

Dalembert is another good test/measuring stick for Monroe.

I'm hoping Knight has a really good assist game. Hopefully 6 or more. Would be nice if the majority are to Moose.

[FadedMario]

Would be nice to see Stuckey shoot a high percentage game too. He needs it. I'm pretty sure he's shooting around 30% for the year.

[Orwellian O.]

I will be @ the game tonight in either Lions hat or Red Wings Jersey.

[Stefan S]

Not worthy a thread but priceless:

Ben Wallace offers Austin Daye thoughtful advice to break out of his shooting slump
By Patrick Hayes • 2:40 pm • January 17, 2012

From Dana Wakiji of Fox Sports Detroit:

“I was in the shower and Ben Wallace told me today, he told me I had my head up my butt because I’m not shooting shots I usually take,” Daye said after the Pistons’ 99-91 loss to the Golden State Warriors.

That about sums it up. Daye is a good, pure shooter. He’s getting open looks. There’s really no rational way to explain why he’s shooting just 20.4 percent from the field and is 0-for-13 from 3-point range after shooting 40 percent from there last season.

Ben Wallace offers Austin Daye thoughtful advice to break out of his shooting slump PistonPowered

OK, for all of us hard on Austin, please allow me to reiterate,
as a team we frequently are + when he is on the floor.

(I know, it is so totally crazy, maybe everyone loves him so guys play extra hard
I cannot explain it, but it's a fact.)

[Stefan S]

Originally Posted by Orwellian O.

I will be @ the game tonight in either Lions hat or Red Wings Jersey.

why not Santroum T-shirt, oops, wrong thread both?

[Orwellian O.]

I am leaning toward the Lions hat.

I'm not sure people will "get" the Red Wings jersey....but it is an opportunity to break it out, however.

[Orwellian O.]

Originally Posted by Stefan S

why not Santroum T-shirt, oops, wrong thread both?

blue/gray hat with bright red jersey?...I don't know how that works from a fashion perspective.

[Whiteman]

Ben Wall is starting tonight over Jonas

[mn3]

Yechh....

[Stefan S]

Originally Posted by Orwellian O.

blue/gray hat with bright red jersey?...I don't know how that works from a fashion perspective.

only slightly better than a santorum t-shirt
the Wings at least have some of the colors the same

have lots of fun!

[Hobbs]

Wallace starting is our best chance to win games. Not sure if that is good or bad at this point. It will be interesting to see if this lasts as there are an awful lot of back to backs and some back to back to backs that will be horrible for Ben.

[Kstat]

Jonas was given more than enough of a look at starting PF. He simply can't play there. Either he's not strong enough, or not tough enough. Time to let him go back to his old role as a combo backup, where he was successful his rookie year.

The next step should be to install Stuckey back into the starting lineup with Knight.

[Hobbs]

Monroe with a slow start. Gordon looks better than he has in a while.

[Kstat]

Monroe will have adjustment issues against Dalembert. Hopefully he will settle down.

[Hobbs]

Tay keeping us from getting absolutely destroyed. Monroe and Knight look awful.

[Kstat]

knight looks like he's settled in, at least.

Jonas not looking any better off the bench.

[Orwellian O.]

It is hard to appreciate how terrible this team is until u see them in person.

Stuck is the only bright spot. Jonas, Monroe, and Knight have been awful!

[Stefan S]

despite of the terrible shooting
only -6

[whoDean]

The Jerebko as starter experiment failed, and he isn't the salary boat anchor of say Villanueva but that long term deal was a waste.

[Kstat]

Jonas actually looked better as the game went on. He's comfortable so long as you keep him away from post players.

[Hobbs]

Bullshit. Jerebko is still way underpaid. That was a great signing.

Knight has settled, but Monroe is still awful. Rockets helping out with some dumb turnovers.

[Stefan S]

"Knight with a beautiful release"

I have to suffer through Drexler and co
but they finally gave the rook some love

[Kstat]

Drexler is has spent the entire half bashing Brandon Knight and calling him a wasted draft pick. I don't think he's commented on anything else.

Knight can't finish, can't pass, can't play point guard, should have stayed at Kentucky, yet he's got 11 points, 2 assists and 2 steals at halftime.

[Hobbs]

The Rockets seem to go out of their way to find the worst announcers. Obliviousness is their number one priority it seems.

If we want to stay in this game then Monroe needs to show up. This is as bad as he's played since the first month or two of last season.

[Hobbs]

When Knight misses, man does he miss. None of that almost going in stuff for him.

[Kstat]

Well, the bigger lineup has been a success defensively. Houston isn't killing us inside like everyone else does.

Problem is, we still can't score. Knight is starting to defer to Taysahun, and that is never a good idea.

[Stefan S]

They are +8 on the boards +3 Offensively
they are just too big especially when both dalambert and Scola are on the floor

[Hobbs]

Monroe looks like Eric Montross out there.

[Kstat]

Games like these are why I wish we could get a legit center and move Monroe to PF.

Dalembert is having his best game in years because Monroe can't deal with his wingspan.

[Kstat]

Originally Posted by Hobbs

Monroe looks like Eric Montross out there.

He's missing shots because he's thinking about Dalembert on every shot. He nearly airballed a wide open layup because he was looking for him.

[Stefan S]

It looks like may be this last night



shook us up

[Hobbs]

Our bigs have scored 2 points. Houston's have scored 30.

[Kstat]

sigh....

Jonas checks in, and the first play they go right at him in the post and Jonas gets backed down again like a little girl.

Either hit the weights, or find a new position to play.

[Hobbs]

We've done a pretty good job on their 1, 2, and 3 positions, but the bigs are just destroying us. Monroe is practically crying on the court. Max is normal Max. Ben hasn't been a factor at all. Jerebko is not particularly great, but he's at least hit a couple shots. Down 10 and I can't see us turning that around with no help inside.

[Stefan S]

The dominate us on boards
if not for TOs (and Tay), it would be 20 points game

[Hobbs]

Jesus fuck Knight loves making the bad turnover.

[Kstat]

Knight can't stand there and wait to get trapped. He's trying WAY too hard to run a play. You'd think at some point, Frank would tell him to just go out and create and not stand there and wait like it's practice.

[Orwellian O.]

Jonas is really embarraing himself, the Pistons, the Detroit metro region, and his family tonight.

[Kstat]

Miami has outscored the Spurs 69-29 in the 2nd half. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

[Kstat]

I like that we at least look like we're trying to play like a team, but do we really need to take 20 seconds off the shot clock before every shot?

[Stefan S]

JJ and Stuckey are the only + players

(our O is painful to watch)

[mn3]

It's hard to watch us and believe there's any chance we're not going to finish with the worst record in the league.

[Kstat]

Nobody on this team wants to shoot. it's hilarious. Last year we were the most selfish team in the league. This year? We'd rather throw the ball away than take a shot.

[Kstat]

You wonder if we might become the lowest scoring team in NBA history (post shot clock). We never, ever play aggressive aside from Stuckey.

Brandon Knight looks like he's too scared of the coach taking him out to play on instinct. He looks like a robot out there.

[mn3]

The most discouraging thing about tonight's game is Monroe being dominated by Dalembert.

[Kstat]

When Knight attacks, good things happen.

When he stand at halfcourt and plays hot potato with it, it's a turnover.

[Kstat]

...and on cue...two more ridiculously predictable turnovers. We try to run a play, and everyone in the building knows there the ball is going.

it isn't even like he's trying to make something happen. He's standing there at midcourt being told to run these stupid plays, and the other team jumps every pass.

For fuck' sake, no team does this every time down the floor. Let the kid do SOMETHING other than stand there and be a target. Give Knight an option if the other team jumps the damn play.

Of Knight's 6 turnovers, 4 of them should never have happened. This happens far too often every game for this to be constructive. Brandon is bring reigned in too much. Let the kid play his game, damn.