I know I haven’t caught up with you guys in a while, but so much has been happening all at once. On November 2nd we had our opening day, followed by two quick back-to-back games, and then before I knew it we were on a weeklong road trip. I learned real quickly that being on the road is a lot different than in college. Whether it is traveling on the bus or on the team plan, going to shootarounds, playing games – it’s all basketball all the time. And one thing is for sure: time keeps flying by. Yet, I still don’t actually have that feeling that I’m in the NBA. It will come though, I’m sure of it.

So, first of all, let’s do a quick recap of how we are doing. We are seven games into the season and so far we’ve done extremely well. At 7-0, we are the only undefeated team left in the league. I couldn’t be more impressed with the way the team is playing. Everybody is ready to get down to business this year and we want that home court advantage come playoff time. It is like Chauncey says, ‘we are just taking it one game at a time’. All around, we’ve surprised a lot of people and are really racking up some points on the scoreboard, something fans in Detroit aren’t used to seeing. We’ve kept it exciting too, pulling out several close ones late in the fourth quarter, including a buzzer beater by Rip in Boston! We are really showing the league that we are a clutch team. We play the full length of the court and handle our business the right way.

Now let’s travel back to our first regular season game of the year: Opening Day. Now that was an experience. I arrived to the arena a few hours before tip-off sporting a black dress shirt and slacks. At Cincinnati we never had a dress code, so this was kind of a new experience for me. I wasn’t too worried about it though, luckily I already had a nice little stack of suits and sweaters in my closet. That is how I dress sometimes when I go out, so it really wasn’t a problem. Anyhow, after getting to the locker room I suited up in my Pistons warm-ups for my first official NBA game…

I get a lot of people asking me if I have any superstitions or rituals that I do before a game. But basketball is what I do. I just come to play. I don’t really have any sort of routine or anything like that. I have started listening to some tunes. Ben and the guys have gotten me listening to T.I., but usually I just listen to some smooth R&B.

Anyway, out on the floor, the place was packed. Seeing the Palace sold out really gave me a glimpse of what the home of Detroit basketball is all about. The whole day felt a little different than the preseason – a little more real. On that night, we were playing Philly and everyone was ready to “go to work”, as they say in the D. It was time to get down to business. The whole game was full of energy and there wasn’t really much room for improvement. Everyone played well, especially Rip who had 37 points. My favorite part of the night though, was Big Ben’s huge dunk in the third quarter, it was sick. It got me real hyped for when I got in the game. The nerves were there of course, but like I said, this is my job. I’m here to play basketball, so that is what I have to focus on. That’s why when I got my chance I had a big dunk of my own. Knowing that I have that ability to get the crowd excited is amazing.

After Iverson and the Sixers we hopped on the plane to Boston where Rip hit his big shot. Then the following night we were back at the Palace to face Toronto before taking off again on Sunday night for a three game West Coast road trip.

The road trip was long, and it was hard. It was a lot different from what I was used to at Cincinnati. In college, if we had several road games in a row, we had to come back between them for classes. So our road trips never seemed quite so long. This trip sent us to Sacramento, then to Phoenix, and then back up to Portland in six long days. The nice thing about the trip was that it gave me a chance to see my family. I grew up in Phoenix and most of my family still lives there. I haven’t been home since the middle of the summer so it was nice to have the chance to see them. I also know some of the players from Portland, so we all hung out a little bit while I was in town there. The thing about rookies is that a lot of us know each other pretty well. We’ve met either playing in college or at different camps or even at the NBA Draft. I’m looking forward to running into those guys on the road throughout the season.

In my first West Coast swing I was sure to pack the two things that are a must-have when I travel. The first thing is that I have to bring my PSP, or PlayStation Portable. I have this tennis game called Virtual Tennis that I always play. I have no idea why I like it so much; I don’t even play regular tennis. The other thing that I always bring with me is a picture of my girlfriend, Brandi. Her and I talk a lot on the phone when I am relaxing in my hotel room, she keeps me from getting too lonely.

After the long trip, we finally got a day off on Saturday. On my days off I like to just chill and relax. I have DirecTV so I have tons of sports and movies to watch all the time. If I want to get out I usually go to Wal-Mart, it reminds me a lot of my Grandmother. She and I used to go there a lot when I was growing up.

Yesterday we finally returned back to a packed house at the Palace to once again play the Celtics. We knew Boston would be pumped, especially after the way they lost in the first game. Chauncey made it a little difficult for them, particularly in the third quarter when he scored 14 straight points. We pulled out another one and proved ourselves once again winning 115-100.

There will be a little down time the rest of this week, before we hit the road again on Thursday for back-to-back games in Houston and Dallas on Friday and Saturday. Yep, it’s another road trip. Next week though, we’ll have two home games the day before and the day after Thanksgiving. You guys better come out and see us play…hopefully we’ll still have our streak alive.

I’m out.

Jason Maxiell
#54

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ROOKIE UPDATE

In three games, Jason Maxiell is averaging 2.0 points on 50.0 percent shooting and 0.3 rebounds in 4.3 minutes per game.

Rookie guards Amir Johnson (Westchester HS) and Alex Acker (Pepperdine) have been on the Detroit Pistons’ Inactive List so far this NBA season. Coaches have until an hour before each game to switch active and inactive players.