Pistons: Notebook

Office shooting rattles Pistons

Ted Kulfan / The Detroit News

Orlando, Fla. -- This one-day stay proved to be more noteworthy than usual for the Pistons.

While preparing to play the Magic, the Pistons and everyone else in downtown Orlando were affected by the office shooting which kept the entire area on edge Friday. One person was killed, five were wounded.

Practically the entire downtown area was on lockdown as the shooter, 40-year-old Jason Rodriguez, was on the loose. He was apprehended at his mother's home several hours later.

The Pistons' hotel was approximately one mile from the office building where the terror was unleashed.

"I was aware of it," said coach John Kuester, who added the team sensed something was going on when passing the building and seeing gathering police cars and fire trucks. "It's sad. You hate to see anything like that occurring anywhere in the country, It's one of those things, when it's close to where you're staying, it kind of hits home."

Richard Hamilton, recuperating from a sprained right ankle, said he didn't leave his hotel room -- knowing what was going on on TV and realizing the shooter still was not caught.

Several players said they heard numerous police sirens after coming back from the morning shootaround.

But the normal routine for a game day wasn't affected.

"Not really," Kuester said. "But our thoughts and prayers go out to the families who were affected today in Orlando."

Heat check

A prolific scorer, Ben Gordon knows when it's going good.

"Definitely," Gordon said Friday morning, after the Pistons completed their shoot-around. "There's a feeling the basket gets a lot wider and the basketball seems to stick to my hands. When it's going good, you can definitely feel it, and my teammates try to feed off of it at the same time."

Gordon scored 20 or more points in each of the first five games, then added 19 in Friday night's 110-103 loss to the Magic, providing the Pistons with the type of offense they expected when they signed him as a free agent last summer.

"I'm just trying to be aggressive," said Gordon, 26. "With two of our starters out, guys have to step up and make the best with whatever is going on. If we continue to do that, when those do come back, it'll make us a better team."

Injury update

The Pistons didn't have Hamilton (sprained right ankle) or Tayshaun Prince (back) against the Magic.

"It's day to day with both of them but we're getting better news on each one," Kuester said.

Hamilton said he's still not ready to test his ankle on the court. Friday's game was the fifth in a row he's missed, and third for Prince.