Originally Posted by Lee356

Just a meaningless game to close out the season. But hey, its still Cleveland, no Piston fan wants to see us lose to them ever. And our bench came thru. 59 wins, tying the Bad Boys for 3rd best ever record. Flip's first year was the record while the Bad Boys also have the 2nd best. That is something this group can be proud of, but later. Something called the playoffs coming up.

What did we do to prepare for the playoffs? No injuries. The starters only played in the first quarter. They did not do so well, with Rip leading the way to horridness with 1-8 shooting. At least they started the first half of the quarter playing good D. (No Bron, no Big Z. So it did not have to be that good really.) Our starters only scored 13, but we still stayed within 10 as Cleveland did not score that much either. More on playoff prep as I go.

Our bench played the next 3 quarters, winning all three. Pulling away for a 10 point win in the last minutes of the game. Afflalo got player of the game with 15 points, 4 assists, 8 rebounds, and a couple of steals. The one part of his game that still needs sharpening is the three pointer. (He took no threes in this game.) Afflalo's highlights included, one, making all his free throws, two, taking Verejou (sp) off the dribble from the perimeter and reversing, taking it strong to the hole on a fast break for a 3 point play. He also hit several outside shots, mostly in the lane. He scored on a cut to the basket as well. His closer in shots are ready for the playoffs, but not his three point shooting.


Stuckey did not do that great on offense, but yet he continues to get to the hoop with his speed and quickness, and making all his foul shots. Stuckey is not the greatest defender, but he does rebound quite well. Often you see several people, several taller people, go up for a bound but Stuckey coming down with it. Too bad Stuckey was injured early, he could have used more time learning defense. (But the silver linging might be the extra time Afflalo got due to that injury.) His driving to the basket and making free throws is getting very effective, he is playoff ready on that score. One highlight for him was a major dunk off a pass from Dixon.

Amir did nothing special, and got into foul trouble. Not to worry though, as he just simply fouled at his usual rate rather than adjusting to playing major minutes. Maxiell hit some jumpers.

The playoffs are arriving with our rotation not set. We have 14 guys ready to play though, and that is a good thing. But who will dress and who won't? Its not that clear at this point. Most of the uncertaintly revolves around Jarvis Hayes. Jarvis Hayes is a majorly weak link in our defense. Tonight, he did hit a couple of shots, but he gave up a myriad of points. The option of using Dixon as a backup shooting guard while Afflalo is the backup small forward can't be ignored. Nor can the option of using Herrmann.

For this game, Dixon on D was a mixed bag. He can't begin to guard most of Cleveland's guards. Not by any stretch. But he did manage to do fine on Jones, a very one dimensional player these days who just jacks up outside shots - if open. Dixon did well staying with Damon in the 4th. But in reality, Cleveland would never be so kind in a playoff game to ever let Dixon only guard Jones. Which leaves Herrmann. There is no way we are going to dress Dixon over Hunter unless we are desperate for a shooter. But we can choose to dress Herrmann instead of Hayes.

On offense, Dixon hit several shots, and dished 9 assists out. Quite impressive on that end of the floor. But our next opponent is Philly. Guards that would tear Dixon a new one if we let him play any. But then maybe Orlando next, where a guy like Dixon could guard Orlando's short person. Hey, if we can get Dixon into a game where his defense does not hurt us, then for sure we should use Dixon instead of Hayes. (With Afflalo playing backup small forward.)

Herrmann nailed 3 triples. One of them had to be this season's record for longest three made out of a half court set. The game was in Cleveland, but Herrmann shot that one from about the Palace of Auburn Hills. Herrmann also had one of his awesome inside scores where he puts the ball in one mit. His defense did not look that bad. He is slow, but he does have good footwork, something Hayes lacks completely while only being slightly faster.

Well, everyone take a bit of a break. And even after this first round starts, it will often be a long time between games. The Pistons will have plenty of practice time. Hopefully, they will be working mightily on solving the backup small forward problem.

GO PISTONS!!!!!