The camera shot of the Bulls on the bench in the final minutes, starting with Ben and ending with Skiles, told the whole story. Those are the kinds of faces you usually see on the losing team at the end of the series, not after just two games. These guys know it's over. This is a pretty hard fall for a young team that has just swept the defending world champs in the first round.

This was a strange game in many ways. The number of Pistons fouls and turnovers was unreal. Most of their fouls looked basically intentional, like they didn't care who they sent to the line or who fouled out. Not a lot of free chili in this one.

Ben led the Bulls with 7 rebounds. Here are the Pistons who matched or exceeded that number:

9 Rip
8 JMax
7 Tay
7 Sheed
7 Webber
7 Dyess

I feel really bad for thinking that the Pistons weren't going to come out with the kind of energy they did in Game 1. I knew they weren't going to think it would be easy, as several of them stated that they didn't anticipate blowing Chicago out any other game this series, but I thought maybe their focus would be slightly blurred by the Game 1 rout. I'm so glad I was wrong. Other than the 21 TOs and excessive fouling, there wasn't a whole lot I didn't like about this game. I hope in Game 3 they feed the 'Sheed a little more and make him be agressive on the offensive end. His defense was great again, even though he played limited minutes. To which I might add: Thank God for our frontcourt depth! I loved Maxiell's little shove that got him the T. Was that his first T of the year? Of his career? Hmm... Anyway, here's to more of what we saw in the first 2 games and to Dee-Troit dominace in Game 3! CHEERS!

P.S. Flurray played?

Here is how I see this game.

If you ignore free throws, and only look at actual baskets made, we beat them 92 to 50!!! If we would have got the calls and they wouldn't have (switch the FTs around), then we would have won 129 to 66.

That is absolutely ridiculous that they even had a chance mid way through the 4th quarter. Nice reffing.

You got Sheed and Tay getting chopped as they're dunking and nothing.


All in all, I'm glad that Sheed and co. have something to be pissed off at.

No worries...I didn't realize the link was in the Quick Links menu (although that makes logical sense).

Pistons won games 1 and 2 convincingly but we shouldn't get to happy until we win one on their court. I only say that because the Rockets won games 1 & 2 and they are watching the playoffs from Tear mac's garage.

Three things we need to be concerned about, will the Bulls shoot better at home, will the Pistons continue to outrebound the Bulls and will the refs continue to provide the Bulls with bonus points.

We can only hope that the Pistons come out with the same intensity and play agressive enough to get a few calls themselves and put these guys on the ropes and take game three. No prisoners, no let ups. They can rest in July. The best scenario is the next time the Pistons play in the palace it is game 1 of the ECF one day next week.

Yes that was a very strange game. Result is all the counts though. Pistons are up 2-0 and I don't think the Bulls ever got to within 13 once the Pistons pulled away.

Good old playoff basketball. If it looks different from game #1 and very different from the Orlando series thats because it is. Flip has been making some great game to game adjustments. No free Chili tonight as the Bulls used to embarass us with that during the reg season. Some of the defensive breakdowns could have been because Sheed was not in there and some of it was the guards losing focus on defense and allowing some penetration. Flip may have to adjust that zone because the only concerning thing was that for about 5-7 mins of the 4th the Bulls started looking like they may have found something that worked.

There were also some bad calls. I thought those 2 Sheed got on Nocioni were garbage. Especially that one when Nocioni was all over him and Sheed gets the offensive call for trying to clear some space. When Sheed is on the floor it seems to make everything go so much easier for the Pistons on both ends.

Gordan has been in consistant foul trouble for both games. If both Sheed and Gordan sat out I would that that in the Pistons favor. Although Gordan deserves his fouls wheras some of Sheed were junk. Sometimes the Bulls defense appears to consist of fouling on every play to see if they can get away with it.

Thats why you develope the bench. Can't go into the post-season with only 3 or 4 playable bigs. There will be some games like this when you need the extra staff to secure that home court series leading 2-0 win.

Jmax - way to send a statement on Deng. During the season Deng thought he could fly in for uncontested dunks whenever he wanted - no more. On the other side I thought Ben Wallace's no-fly zone accepted plenty of traffic there last night. The man is still deadly but he can't seem to jump like he used to. Not a good thing for a 6.6" center. Hopefully Cwebb can continue to take advantage of that.

Sorry for the delay on the 6th X.

Let's just take 2 on their court and get ready for the ECF.

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What Max said!

LAst year with the type of plays we had, if you weren't one of the annointed 5, you were a liability. This year Rip is getting into the lane, Webber is rocking the high post. Sheed is going inside and out instead of just out. They have to adjust to the attack and that leaves Davis, Maxiell, and even Delfino with better scoring opportunities. They may not have put up great numbers but MAxiell was in there on the glass and Dyess was doing his thing spelling Sheed for extended minutes.

I'll give FLip Sr. credit for having this team focused with consistent effort, consistent execution and good depth.

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The bench didn't hurt us, which in itself is a good thing. Now, no starter played too much especially with 2 days off in between the games.

Unfortunately Pistons give us reasons to doubt their effort. They've been known to coast, even in the playoffs. Who's to say they are not going to think that this series is over at this point. I sure hope they keep that door shut. So far this year they haven't given us that reason, but somewhere deep in the back of my mind...