Vince Carter debuts for Orlando; Ben Gordon debuts for Detroit
Vince Carter
Of the four teams that played in last night’s NBA preseason games, three were of the “new-look” variety: Orlando, Dallas and Detroit. Most relevant to the 2010 championship race, the Magic debuted Vince Carter in their win over the Mavs. Starting at two-guard next to Mickael Pietrus at the three and Rashard Lewis at the four, Vince scored 21 points on 7-of-18 shooting, 3-of-12 beyond the arc. Dwight Howard had 17 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks, and Rashard scored 18 with four threes … Dirk Nowitzki — looking like an awkward Thor with the long-hair/headband combo — scored 23 points (17-19 FT) for the Mavs, who were without Shawn Marion (rest) and Josh Howard (ankle) … In what we called “The Polish Hammer Bowl” yesterday, Marcin Gortat didn’t make much of an impression, going scoreless with five rebounds in 16 minutes. By the end of the year, the Mavs could easily end up more pleased with Drew Gooden, who put up 18 points and six rebounds … Orlando’s other big summer acquisition, Brandon Bass, had 13 points, six boards and three blocks off the bench, and White Chocolate added four points and six assists … The Pistons rolled out (some of) their new roster, beating Miami with help from Ben Gordon’s 11 points (2-9 FG, 6 turnovers). Charlie Villanueva didn’t play due to a sore hamstring … Detroit started Rodney Stuckey and Rip Hamilton in the backcourt, Tayshaun Prince and Ben Wallace at the forwards, and Kwame Brown at center. That might be the least offensively-talented starting five we’ve seen in a long time, with Big Ben and Kwame taking a big percentage of that label … Dwyane Wade had 18 points, five dimes and four steals, while Mike Beasley had nine points … One time on a D-Wade breakaway, Austin Daye caught him from behind like Tayshaun and sent Wade’s layup out of bounds. It could’ve given you deja vu considering Daye looks just like Tayshaun in uniform … Injury updates: Robin Lopez will miss 6-8 weeks with a broken left foot, and C.J. Miles has to get surgery on ruptured ligaments in his thumb, but no timetable has been set for his return. Lopez is supposed to get some decent minutes this season, if only because the Suns have zero frontcourt depth after Amar’e. Miles is Utah’s starting two-guard, and a lot of people think he’s ready to blow up this year … As if Braylon Edwards wasn’t giving Cleveland fans enough reasons to boo him, now he’s done the unforgivable: Make LeBron mad. Over the weekend, Braylon allegedly chin-checked one of LeBron’s buddies at a nightclub, a move LeBron called “very childish” and suggested there was “a little jealousy” going on between the two camps. Braylon clearly thinks a lot of himself, but — if what LBJ says is even partially true — even he can’t be so delusional that he believes he should be the biggest star in town, right? … And how about ‘Bron indirectly emasculating his boy? “My friend is 130 pounds. Seriously, it is like hitting one of my kids,” LBJ said … They’re waiting for Eddie Jordan to unveil his Princeton offense in Philly, but considering he’s got Lou Williams, Sam Dalembert and Willie Green prominently involved, nobody should be shocked if the Sixers aren’t ready come opening night. Not to worry, Coach says: “We have other things we can go to if they don’t get the grasp of the offense early in the season,” Jordan told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “We have normal NBA sets in our package. When I see them struggle, we’ll go to some standard stuff. I tried to do that in practice the other day, and they went back to the Princeton. That’s what they like to do.” Translation: When things break down, we’re clearing out for Andre Iguodala or dumping it in to Elton Brand … If you haven’t seen NBA TV’s “Real Training Camp” on the Celtics yet (that white #45 blanket on the court isn’t another championship banner; it’s Mike Sweetney’s jersey), you’ve got to either find it or track down some photos of Rasheed Wallace from practice. We know it’s not time to appear on national TV yet, but ‘Sheed looks tragic. Has he been hanging out with Bin Laden in a cave somewhere for six months? That was the first time Chris Tucker’s “His head looks like a bunch of spiders are having a meeting” crack ever applied to somebody in real life … We’re out like the Bad Lopez …
October 6th, 2009 at 2:19 am
Bill says:
The leauge be more scurred of sheed now
October 6th, 2009 at 2:33 am
BRUCE says:
Thor is gay. Here is my list of terrible comic-books heroes.
Thor
Aqua-man
Banshee
Flash
Beast
All of now, feel free to add!
October 6th, 2009 at 2:48 am
Sambuu says:
12 threes? JJ missed 3 freebies…
October 6th, 2009 at 2:57 am
rick773 says:
I dunno Bruce Flash was that dude
October 6th, 2009 at 3:01 am
RonnaBonBon says:
lebron has no right to say what is chlidish.
no shaking hands after games. Confiscating the dunk video. Act like a man lebronnnnnnnn
October 6th, 2009 at 3:11 am
BRUCE says:
Havok!
Multiply Man!
Atom!
Many of the DC characters are terrible.
Marvel has better characters.
October 6th, 2009 at 3:38 am
gregory says:
That long hair headband look by Nowitzki was awful. He looked like someone from flashdance. His getup should have been a leotard than a basketball uni.
Someone on the Mavs broadcast compared it to Bjorn Bjorg, who also wore a headband to go with his long flowing locks. It was an iconic look for him. But unlike Nowitzki, he put the headband over his hair, not under and around. Nowitzki really needs to ditch it. It’s like he jumped the shark after the ordeal with his ex-fiance and the supposed pregnancy.
October 6th, 2009 at 3:45 am
quest??? says:
no mention of jj barea?
October 6th, 2009 at 4:10 am
DopeyFox says:
between the four bigs for the pistons they hit something like 15 of 18 against the heat, thats not bad when u consider Kwame and Big ben were playing.
Wilcox will explode this year, wait and seeeee
October 6th, 2009 at 4:15 am
sh!tfaced says:
LOL@the Sweetney home jersey.
Dirk’s do was fuckin’ ugly and gay.
Worst comic book heroes:
Plasticman
She-Hulk
Judge Dread
Robin
The Wonder Twins
and the freakin’ worst of them all: STEEL
October 6th, 2009 at 4:19 am
sh!tfaced says:
You can add Space Ghost and Birdman (the cartoon, not the player) there too. LOL.
October 6th, 2009 at 4:19 am
Mr. Wang says:
captain america always seemed fruity to me, i mean that shield! oh and those wings on the side of his head, bahaha
October 6th, 2009 at 4:56 am
BRUCE says:
Ultra-Man
Ultra-Magnus
Quick-Silver
The Power-Rangers
Captain Planet
October 6th, 2009 at 5:04 am
luckylester says:
Can you really count all those people as super heroes? And Captain Planet was a bad-ass, stop the hatred. Gonna bring pollution down to zero, too, so lay off.
And Thor is legit.
Onto basketball stuff, can someone please tell me what Will Bynum has to do to get the keys to Stuckey’s starting PG job? I feel like he’s outplayed him for the better half of the last year… I know Stuckey is Dumars little pet project, but Bynum just gets it done. Does anybody think that the Pistons bench big men are better than their starters? Wilcox and Jason would give Kwame and Big Ben fits.
I hope Sweetney gets a job, that guy was a beast at Georgetown back in the day.
12 freaking triple attempts in something like 20 minutes, with that athletic ability, dude’s trying to get ABA numbers…
October 6th, 2009 at 5:38 am
Sweet English says:
Wasn’t that birdman dude like a criminal lawyer or something? Thats not a superhero, thats a lawyer dressing up like a parrot. You deserve to go to jail if you hire a man dressed as a tropical chicken to defend your attempted murder trial.
And lay off the power rangers. That show taught me all my racial and sexist streotypes. All girls are pink, black guys dress in black and the chinese one was of course yellow. Easy.
And Daye REALLY REALLY looks like Tayeshaun. New name. Ausitn Taye.
October 6th, 2009 at 7:28 am
YOUNGFED says:
For more info on the Lebron fight
http://detnews.com/article/20091006/SPORTS0101/910060328/1127/SPORTS0102/LeBron-James-criticizes-Braylon-Edwards-over-alleged-club-fight
BTW Thankx for keeping the Piston hate alive n well in the DIME office as usual (sad).
October 6th, 2009 at 7:32 am
YOUNGFED says:
@Luckylester
I dont know why Stuckey is starting over Will cause I see a much better player in Bynum than Stuckey. I would say Stuckey is better in practice but he’s not. Must be the shoes lol
October 6th, 2009 at 8:31 am
BERN BROGDEN aka says:
@4 – I’m wit u, Flash was that dude.
@ 13, you answered your own question – “I know Stuckey is Dumars little pet project” –}} and that’s where Bynum’s life as a starter comes to an end.
“The Bad Lopez” —}} hahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahWOW
Funny Dime, that’s a good one.
October 6th, 2009 at 8:41 am
rangerjohn says:
i NEVER think of thor as a comic book hero, he is a norse god above and beyond, and he is a gods god in norse mythology.
wost comic book hero, any of those douche bags who where on that stan lee show a yr or so ago “who wants to be a hero” or something like that.
October 6th, 2009 at 9:23 am
Dagomar says:
Rona: believe it or not there’s a difference between not shaking hands and beating the shit out of someone half your size.
I would change this sentence fragment: “beating Miami with help from Ben Gordon’s 11 points (2-9 FG, 6 turnovers)” to “beating Miami IN SPITE of Ben Gordon’s 11 points (2-9 FG, 6 turnovers).” I have a feeling that Gordon will put up points this year but he won’t contribute to that team winning. Bad signing by Dumars imo.
October 6th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Chicagorilla says:
Will “The Thrill” Bynum should have that starting job and Stuckey should be the 2. Gotta trade RIP for that to happen though and I doubt they will. Pistons will suck this year because they have no idea what type of team they want to have…defensive or run-n-gun. That’s going to hurt them big time.
Lebron and Braylon should have a boxing match to settle this. I bet Braylon swung on Dru Joyce or that cat from the commercial who gets his car broken into.
October 6th, 2009 at 9:25 am
Chicagorilla says:
Oh yeah
“beating Miami with help from Ben Gordon’s 11 points (2-9 FG, 6 turnovers)”
I remember when he used to “HELP” the Bulls like this…. you are so welcome Detroit.
October 6th, 2009 at 9:26 am
Reddi Red says:
i agree with some on here regarding the Pistons.
1. Will Bynum is totally outplaying Stuckey and should be starting!!!
2. Wilcox is going to BLOW UP this year & avg 15pts&10rbs.
3. maxiel looked nice last nite.
4. big ben actually looked good last nite.
Tayshuan for Stephen Jackson !!!!!
Stuckey and Rip should battle over SG starting job.
Personally, I think Joe D has a plan. part of it might be that Stuckey start but Bynum will get more & more mins and eventually take the starting spot by Dec.
I think Joe D has come to grips with rip being expendable and hopefully he puts a nice package together to get a true “go to” guy!!
October 6th, 2009 at 10:05 am
Hi Jurg from Denmark says:
hi from beautaful copenha’ denmark.
i like today smack.
this from jurg, hi hi. please dont foget jurgos twitter that helena helped before jurg helped self to helena. she the best english teacher so good. and a big hi hi to helena who is reading all the time. and stupid vladamir.
from jurg.
October 6th, 2009 at 10:09 am
Boomhauer says:
Braylon would be tough in a fight since he has hands of stone.
October 6th, 2009 at 11:02 am
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
I’d be jealous too if I played on the worst team in the NFL and I was just an average wide receiver in the league.
October 6th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
jzsmoove says:
cant get any more gay than The Ambiguously Gay Duo.
…If Sasha Vujabitch and Scola they would fit right into the title. No offense to Luis who is a solid NBA player.
October 6th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Promoman says:
LeBron shouldn’t be giving any statements about maturity, jealousy, or arrogance.
October 6th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
LakeShow84 says:
“Braylon would be tough in a fight since he has hands of stone.”
Classic lol..
Worst superheroes?? THE WONDER TWINS & AQUAMAN..
You guys is tripping.. Space Ghost banged many hoes..
October 6th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
LakeShow84 says:
Space Ghost can sell ice to an eskimo..
October 6th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
LakeShow84 says:
Also on a bball note..
New Team – check
New bball smart coach – check
Preexisting Alpha Dog – check
SAME OLD VINCE CARTER #’s..
October 6th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
scar all boros like chuck says:
anyone mention Quasar or Wonder Man yet?
October 6th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
BRUCE says:
Power Ranger and Captain Planet were knocks off the real original — VOLTRON!
October 6th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
fatty says:
so somebody caught a punch from Braylon Edwards, which coincidentally will be the only time you hear the words “Braylon Edwards” and the word “caught” in the same sentence all year.
October 6th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
fan says:
The magic don’t make the finals w/o Rafer Alston,Turkolou,& Courtney Lee.
October 6th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
johnny says:
Is there a joke about how the Suns have Robin Lopez and Taylor Griffin on their team? There should be.
October 6th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
johnny says:
Pistons looked better than I coulda hoped for last nite.
BG was clankin. Charlie was sitting. Didn’t matter.
October 6th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Mack Brownee says:
Big Fat Vagina Head – the gayest super hero of all
October 6th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
rune my k says:
I say catwomen.
October 7th, 2009 at 12:33 am
Tim says:
Yeah…after watching the Pistons first game…its gonna be interesting….BG missed a ton of shots and CV didn’t play…the rookies looked good…Daye’s first 3 was nice….And Big Ben looked happy to be back. One thing to note..BALL MOVEMENT. Its such a beautiful game when that ball just moves around all the time…poor Jonas Jerebko…sweet ole’ Magloire had to go bust him in the face wiht his fist…
Wilcox will be good for us this year..I’ve always liked him…and with a decent environment to be in…watch out.
AND HOW ABOUT KWAME! HOLY CRAP! The move he put on J O’Neal was hilarious. O’Neal just threw him out of bounds after he got burned big time…
Its also nice to see the Pistons getting points in the paint…I think that’s the first time in like idk 5 years…I’m so used to some underachieving PF sitting behind the 3 and just launching bricks to build his new home in Boston…
Will Bynum is a beast…I’m not sure if I’d want him starting just yet though…he seems better suited as a change of pace guard to me.
I also like Kuester…I mean, compared to Curry, he actually sounds like he knows what he’s talking about…