I am still very angry about this game. Not that we lost, but how we lost.

I read somewhere (too much reading trying to find some closure to remember where) that with LB you had to play D to get on the court, with Flip you have to play "O".

This myth about the Pistons playing good defense has to be put to rest. They play defense in spots. There is no emphasis on defense from Sheed, CB or Tay. Their effort waxes and wanes game-to-game. The only guys playing with any defensive pride game in and game out has been Rip, Ben and recently Delfino.

How the heck does Wade score 17 straight without an adjustment? Without a timeout? Tay was left on an island, an island we know he cannot master as evidenced by last year's ECF.

In fact, with the exception of a few good regular season games, Tay's last great defensive stand was in the 2004 playoffs against Kobe. I'm not picking on Tay. I don't doubt he's giving a solid effort, but finishing the game with no fouls, and the coaching staff doing NOTHING to take Wade out of his game was STUPID.

Flip better get his act together. He better find a way to reign in these guys. CB's shot selection and offensive execution in the 4th Q has taken a dramatic step backwards since the New Year.

The players win and lose the game, but Flip is not making use of the bench (again no Hunter, after Flip mentions publically that LH will get run), Delfino taken out when all we really needed was to lock down Wade a little longer. Davis and Dice absent late in the game as usual, and THREE players with 40+ minutes.

And people think LB was too short and hard headed with his rotations...

I can handle losing to Utah, NJ, even Cleveland at home. I can understand dropping a game against Atlanta, and Indy is always scrappy without their main pieces.

But this was the Pistons game to win, and they folded. No stops, no execution, no clever substitutions, nothing. It was like watching water drain out of the kitchen sink after the dishes are done.

Still very, very mad. Either DW was proof positive tonight that Joe screwed up drafting Darko, or that Flip is not an adequate replacement as coach because this is the part of the season when the boys should really be hitting their stride and the rotation should be somewhat sorted.

Is Flip in over his head in the Eastern Conference? Are the starters running the show?

All I know is that we have dropped our last 4 against EC contenders. Miami, Indy, Cleveland and New Jersey. And that makes me ill. We've got 9 more games against these teams.

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To all of my friends, comrades and companions at PF.com

Thank you for another great season!