FS Detroit Broadcast Lineup

Pistons In-Focus 7-7:30 p.m. Pistons Live 7:30-8 p.m. More info on the Pistons & FS Detroit

Key Matchup (2008-09 statistics)

Prince 82 14.2 5.8 3.1 .450 Games PPG RPG APG FG% 79 18.9 5.5 1.7 .453 Gay Is Tayshaun still an elite defender? Last year he was left off the All-Defensive Team after making four straight seasons. Though he routinely draws Detroit’s toughest assignments, the question seems to get whispered a little louder each year. This much, however, is clear: at the small forward position, the Pistons don’t have anyone better, especially Wednesday night. It will be up to Prince to pursue 6-foot-8 Rudy Gay most of the night, a task that won’t be easy on his cut foot. “Nowhere near 100 percent but it has improved,” Tay said of the injury Tuesday. He’s played in 436 straight regular-season games, the longest streak among active players. “I’m not going to use that [injury] as an excuse; I’ve got to figure out a way.” Gay, an explosive fourth-year swingman, should lead the Grizzlies in scoring this season, if his trigger-happy teammates allow him. His numbers dipped slightly from a year ago (18.9 ppg), but he should average 20 points a night, minimum. In the preseason contest vs. Detroit, Gay scored a game-high 25 points and was stunningly efficient – 7-10 FGs, 9-10 FTs and 2-3 on threes. Gay’s going to get his 20-25 points – but it will be predominantly up to Prince to determine if he’s going to get there in 10 shot attempts or 20.

Overall, I’m predicting 43-39 for the Pistons this season, so, yes, I will predict the Pistons to lose some games along the way. Don’t freak.

Head coach John Kuester isn’t tipping his hand in regards to his starting lineup, and Ben Wallace said, “tune in” when asked if he’d be a starter (8 p.m. on Fox Sports if you wish to heed his advice). The consensus emerging is it will be Stuckey, Rip, Tay, Charlie Villanueva and Ben Wallace.

Don't forget former Grizzly Kwame Brown, though. He’s going to give it a try despite a left hand that’s been bothering him most of preseason; x-rays recently turned up negative. Starting center Marc Gasol (7-foot-1) and 7-3 rookie Hasheem Thabeet offer plenty of size for Memphis up front that Detroit could only counter with Kwame, the team’s lone 7-footer, unless Kuester tries to make Memphis adjust to a more diminutive lineup.

And he might have to. Kuester will be working with a short bench after the one-game suspensions doled out to rookies Austin Daye and Jonas Jerebko for separate preseason incidents. That’s a shame for Jerebko, who performed well against Memphis in the preseason contest (12 pts, 4 rebs, 6-9 FGs in 17 min).

With Daye out, Deron Washington surprisingly cut Monday and Prince (see key matchup) still hobbled slightly by a cut on his right foot, small forwards are in short supply. All the more reason to believe we’ll see a lot of three-guard lineups.

One of the most intriguing matchups is the duel of third-year point guards between Stuckey and Mike Conley, who for the time being doesn’t have to endure the stress of playing alongside Allen Iverson, as Stuckey did a year ago. Conley tweaked an ankle in the preseason finale, so expect Stuckey to go at him immediately and test how he’s moving.

It looks like Iverson will not play after missing the entire preseason with a torn hamstring. Personally, it would have been delightful to watch Iverson try to keep up Detroit’s new stable of shooting guards, especially Will Bynum, who last season thoroughly outperformed Iverson at his forte – penetrating defenses and getting to the rim. Bynum had a team-high 19 points in the preseason meeting.

As was the case with the Pistons toward the end of last season, the Grizzlies might achieve better balance and chemistry at both ends without the aging former scoring champion. Iverson’s absence should allow the Grizzlies real scoring threats to shine, as they did in the 115-94 preseason win over the Pistons Oct. 17. Swingman Rudy Gay scored 25 points and shooting guard O.J. Mayo added 21. The prolific duo shot a combined 59.0 percent from the field (13-of-22).

“They played awfully well against us and our transition defense was a huge part of their success,” Kuester said Tuesday. “We’ve got to do a great job of getting back because they’ve got a lot of guys who are very athletic and very effective in the open court.”

I wouldn’t read too much into preseason statistics, but you can generally take some impression from head-to-head meetings. The Grizz were the NBA’s second-worst offensive team last season, averaging just 93.9 points per game – yet scored 115 points on Detroit’s defense, shooting 52.6 percent from the field. Ben Wallace says that should give confidence to a team that has a winning percentage of .276 since 2006.

“Yeah, we’re starting off with a team that’s going to be very confident,” he said. “They handle us pretty well the last time we met them. They’re going to be riding high. It’s going to be a great challenge for us.”

The Grizzlies were 25th in the NBA in opponents’ field-goal percentage last season, and their two headline off-season acquisitions, Iverson and Zach Randolph, aren’t exceptional defenders, which makes me think it will be a big night for shooters. Advantage: Ben Gordon, Rip Hamilton and the Pistons.

The X-factor will be Randolph, who could potentially give Memphis a scoring presence in the paint when they’re not able to score in transition with Mayo and Gay. Jerebko wouldn’t be a stopper, but his energy and 6-foot-10 length would have done nicely to harass the 6-foot-9 Randolph, who had 17 points and a game-high 12 rebounds Oct. 17.

Sometimes, it doesn’t matter who’s guarding Randolph. I saw it happen last March with the Clippers, he couldn’t hit anything yet kept taking shots away from talented rookie Eric Gordon, leading to a 4-of-17 performance and just three rebounds. It was selfish, disinterested performances like that one which raised many questions about how he’d fit in on a young Memphis team searching for chemistry. In preseason, however, Randolph seems to have found his niche, averaging a team-high 8.1 rebounds and coming in as the team’s third leading scorer behind Gay and Mayo.

Preventing the Grizzlies’ from scoring in transition and bottling up Randolph - 20-point scorer last season -- in half-court sets might be too tall an order for Detroit’s defense out of the gate. If this were at The Palace I’d swing the score the other way, but …

Pretzer’s Prediction: Grizzlies 106, Pistons 101

Coach’s quote:
“There’s an excitement, I think there’s a tremendous amount of excitement when you’re getting ready to play your first game. I think for both teams the energy level is tremendous,” Kuester said. “The key is being able to sustain that for 82 games and having that type of excitement, which is hard.”