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Originally Posted by Dumars4Ever  Well, complain all you like, but I'm very happy to get this win. A two game losing streak coming into the world champs' building, and the Pistons pretty much never trailed on the way to winning. Sheed was the MVP with 23 points and 15 boards, and Lindsey did a terriffic job early in the 4th quarter when the Spurs were looking to climb back in it.
The huge first quarter was the key to the win, with the Pistons going on a 22-2(!!) run as Tay, Sheed, and Rip all rained in points while the Spurs struggled terribly. The Pistons got in the lane to the tune of a 28-16 advantage on PIP by halftime. A crappy third quarter with stagnant offense (only 13 points) let the Spurs crawl back in it a bit, but the defense never let up in the second half as the Pistons gutted out the win after the Spurs cut the lead to as little as 5.
Yes, Pop is a HOF coach whom I'd rather have than Flip any day of the week, but let's face facts, Pop might very well have lost this game for the Spurs in the first quarter. They outscored the Pistons by 5 the rest of the way, but they got absolutely torched in that period while Pop sat there and watched it happen. No timeout called while the Pistons went on a 16-0 run. |
Pop has his reasons. IIRC, he benched the entire starting 5 one time, and also Bowen at the end of a game b/c he was getting lit up by Baron. I just can't compare the two. Flip coaches scared. Sometimes it's good to embarrass the starters (which is what i think he was partly doing)
In this game, the Pistons outplayed the Spurs for the most part. I'd like to be like look how motivated Flip made them, and look at our great adjustments, but the reality is the Pistons always get up for the Spurs, and we made no adjustments.
I'm not knocking the fact we won. Just the way we did doesn't seem conducive to long term (playoff) success.