Second half adjustments. I know there is a contingent that will never give Flip any credit, and that all good defense is driven by the players, but I thought that the defense was tremendous on LittleBronJames in the second half. Flip let Lindsey rackup 4 fouls in 13 minutes, but seriously disrupt THE KING's offense. He trusted Hunter to come in and he performed as a catalyst.

LBJ said in the post game interview that he saw every possible defense he will ever see in his career during this game. Half court traps, over the screen, under the screen, Flip just kept bodies running at and double teaming him.

Yeah, the double teaming burned us in previous games, but it can be effective when called at the right time.

So if Flip coached several games poorly, I will call this 18 point win, with stifling defense and a new playoff opponent scoring total record set a success.

The second part of my statement is that there were absolutely NO adjustments by Mike Brown in the second half. Was he suddenly brain dead or were Flip's adjustments too extreme for him to compensate for on the fly? I'd say it was the latter.

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Sure about that? As far as I know, the previous low was 69 points of the Nets against the Pistons in 2004- they mentioned that during the game and showed it on the screen...
Ben's complaining about O just sucks- he got the ball early in the game and produced one turnover, one miss and one pass. His behaviour is just childish- like a young kid who wants it too much and just sucks. Also, did you see what happened when they got him on Lebron after the pick and roll? Lebron just went straight past him for a dunk. Ben was at best when he defended their bigs and grabbed it- his rebounding skills are still good.
But when I see someone like Snow walking through our defense than I notice that there#s something wrong- a season ago, his shot would have been swatted into the stands and know he gets a foul call or even makes the shot. Or, if a small guy misses, scrubs like Varejo got the rebound (remember- I'm talking about the first half).
Sheed should jack up 3's only when not covered well- it was ok in the regular season, but in the playoffs he should concentrate on taking good shots. I mean, his shot selection was more than just poorly. What's up with Dyess' fadeaway? He even makes a fadeaway when uncovered is he afraid or something? Last night he showed everyone how high he can jump when he crashed the boards so why don't we use him more in the O? Is it a mental thing or what?
I loved that pass at Lindsey by Tayshaun- didn't look good at first because Lindsey was quite far away but he got it. As for Ben... just stop it... concentrate on D, that's your home...

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Good adjusments by Flip especially:

• Defensive adjusments at the half to get the Pistons to stop James. Lebron only had 6 points after the break on 1-9 shooting. Even better thought the Pistons kept the entire Casv team to 19% shooting and a NBA Playoff record tying 23 points in the second half.
• Getting Lindsey in the game. the game was still close about halfway through the 3rd quarter, but Lindsey helped spark the Pistons to the win.
• Flip and the players kept getting the ball to Tayshaun to help get them the win. If Wade gaurds Tay or even if Posey does we should go to him a lot.

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"That's the end, man." Rasheed Wallace

2005 Game 7:

Dice sitting out with 4 fouls in the Finals?
Tay guarding Duncan?
Spurs walloping the Pistons in the first 2 games of the series and everyone thinking the series was over.


Stackhouse taking a boneheaded jump shot instead of driving on the last play. The Mavs would have blanked the Spurs 4-0. Now they are tied 3-3.

Even with a great coach (LB) and an up and coming one (AJ) s*&t happens. I am not remotely equating Flip with LB. I just think its too early to bury him as a dope. On top of Flips lack of adjustements, the players really did a poor job of executing in this series. The FT % was atrocious, that is indicative of the Pistons feeling the heat. Everyone shot like they were blind. If the Pistons atleast get to the Finals I think Flip would have earned his spot.

Hers is a Chauncey quote from MLive:

"Anytime you get to a Game 7, it's just will," said Pistons point guard Chauncey Billups, who had 12 points and eight rebounds. "You're not going to trick them with anything that you do and they're not going to trick us with any plays. We know them inside out. I know what those dudes had for breakfast. You're not going to trick them, so it's going to come down to will."

ben needs to do a better job of hitting the boards. too many times i saw ben being blocked out. his man leaves to double or help ben should be diving to the hole. ben needs to stop worrying about offense and get his defense and rebounding together. he gets no pass from me because he's the dpoy. i tell you what if ben wasn't an unrestricted free agent i think flip would have went to mcdyess a long time ago. mcdyess had almost as many rebounds in half the time on the court.

you can't scout us if we have 5 guys that could potentially be the hot hand. riding tay in game 7 was the best move flip did offensively. i do agree rip needs to run off his screens more. i just dont' agree with ben getting more touches. he doesn't create offense it's just a wasted pass. i think ben should get the ball in position to dunk and that's it.

yes. i know ben covers lebron better than mcdyess. it's just nobody has to cover ben on the other end. don't underestimate the impact bens' man playing zone and double teaming has on our offense. yeah i think ben should have been more aggressive against lebron and used his fouls some hard ones too. i mean what is he saving them for?? i just think mcdyess should be in there when we are struggling with offense and we don't have a great low post player to defend. ben should be in there against duncan or o'neal. mcdyess makes the other team play both ends of the court and ben doesn't. they both have thier uses for this team. i just don't think ben wants to accept a role on the team he wants to be a star.

last year lb misused elden. he should have started elden against shaq because miami likes to go to shaq early in the game because shaq is pooped after half time. wade's time is in the second half and ben could have got the majority of those minutes. ben can check a tired shaq.

Charley Rosen has a good explanation of Flip's adjustments in the 2nd half of Game 7. He makes it sound like the Pistons were holding some things back all series, and only pulled out the final defense on LeBron at the last minute as if Coach Brown (and more likely LeBron) could have countered anything if they had time to plan. Maybe the Pistons were hoping they could dispatch the Cavs easily and still hold back some tricks for next year's playoffs? Regardless, I think we most all underestimated the Cavs - they won 50 games after all (how many did the Pistons win in 2004 when the East was weaker?) and have an uber-player.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/5627958

I think I heard Flip say this during the postgame: "We all know that defense wins championships." Yep, Flip is learning what Ben has always known. This team hangs its hat on defense. Flip, perhaps, has always known it, superficially, but never got a real taste of it until yesterday. Wow, 61 points.

Still, it seems there have been more isolation plays and less ball movement on offense. I loved the ball movement during the regular season and hope they can return to it. Sheed was ALWAYS shooting wide-open 3's during the season but not at all in this series.

Glad this series is over. Enjoy the Game 7s tonight, fellas. Something tells me the Spurs find a way to win. Just a hunch.

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okay time for my postgame report. first, i can't believe people are still dogging ben like he sucked this series. except for the missed free throws he brought it. people are saying lebron got by him easily and dunked on him? good lord...ben helped us win game 6 by limiting lebron's and-1s. lebron would drive, ben would either foul him hard and prevent the easy basket, or he'd block the shot. doesn't anyone remember lebron going full speed for the dunk and ben blocking it, and lebron nearly twisting his ankle as he fell to the ground?

tayshaun was the player of the game. he got us 7 quick points early, and iced the game down the stretch. i think brown decided lebron was tired and didn't have him defend prince as much in the post so he'd have his energy on offense. well, prince abused whoever was guarding him, even lebron the one time he tried to. it's amazing how TP backed him down and he gives up so much weight.

varejao is still a joke, flinging his head back like he's constantly getting fouled, and setting massive illegal screens every play. i don't mind relaxed rules on screens, but what this guy does shouldn't even remotely be allowed.

perhaps i'm going to have to yell 'noooooooo lindsey' his first shot of every game. last time i did it he went off with all those 3-pointers, and again last night he made the basket and pimped out the rest of the game. he should have drawn a charge on lebron, and it was so incredibly obvious, but somehow he got called with the blocking foul.

as an fyi, that was the 6th game 7 for lindsey and dale davis. that experience surely helped lindsey tonight. also, the crowd was really into it early, then slacked off just like the pistons, and finally brought it again in the 2nd half when it was needed. it's hard to keep your energy the entire game and it must be even harder for the players. but either way i was proud of the loudness - and trust me it was bananas, despite what terry foster would have you believe. granted there are more 'wine and cheese' folks who go there to be seen, but it's not as many as he says. either that or since i moved to the upper bowl for the playoffs i see the majority who are the rabid fans. there was a 'wine and cheese' guy in front of us who brought earplugs (wtf?) so my buddy and i made it a point to clap our thundersticks right behind his ears i also sustained injuries in the form of 2 broken thundersticks from pounding so hard, and had to finish the game with 1. to make up for it i resorted to the low-pitched 'hooooooooo' that you hear every defensive possession at MSU games.

oh yeah and you guys should be amazed at the defensive lockdown in the 2nd half. it was similar to watch the pistons go on a 30-4 run against indiana last year (of which the 4 points came on free throws that shouldn't have even been fouls). you definitely 'witnessed' history in the making, and it just proves what detroit can do when it's focused and on top of its game.

still, this series should have never been this close. if i can think of anything else i'll post it later.

Damn, some of y'all cats is felonious. Ben does not want more SHOTS on offense, there is a huge difference in wanting more TOUCHES, and SHOTS. Our offense is at it's best when the ball goes inside/out, moves strongside to weakside and we make the extra pass....... all Ben wants is for our offense to run "the right way". When we run it the right way Ben gets touches-period, that doesn't mean shots, it just means touches, it may just be on a Ball reversal to Rip on the weakside, but he touches the ball. It's damn near impossible for a player to get into the flow of the game with a great focus if he's totally detached from it on the floor in certain aspects. This also makes you have to account for Ben on offense because the threat of the lob is always there, and the fact that there are gaps in a defense when you ake them move, gaps where Ben can make passes or have a driving lane open up from time to time.

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