I'll take an ugly win over a pretty loss any day of the week. The Pistons just didn't come out breathing fire in this game. What does it take to motivate these guys? I wonder what was going on with Chauncey, his ball handling tonight was so sloppy and he wasn't looking for his shot until the 4th quarter? Thankfully Rip was having a really great game and the Detroit defense was there when it counted the most. Is Lebron ready to have the pressure of having to carry the whole team on his back and take them to the promised land? I know what Larry Bird would say about taking the last shot of the game -- absolutely! Now if that shot had gone in and the Cavaliers had won there would have been no second guessing but fortunately it didn't go in. Tay is just worn out from having to play Lebron full on for 40 minutes and it annoys me no end that Delfino doesn't get more playing time. You can't even evaluate his contribution when he only gets 4 friggin' minutes! Flip just keeps going to the well with the oldsters (Dice, Davis and Hunter) and begrudgingly plays the young-uns.

I'm all for the Pistons putting the Cavaliers out of their misery and winning this as fast as they can. Cleveland is just not mentally ready to take the next step, I read a quote from one of the Cleveland players that just was hilarious, he was actually happy they only lost by 3 since last year they lost game 1 by 20. That's a loser's mentality and that's not going to get you to the championship.

i'll have my hog blog later in the morning, but to quickly answer your question, it was not a clear path foul, and the pistons were not in the bonus yet.

But if not clear path (because Chauncey didn't have the ball) I have to think it should have been called an intentional foul. At the time I was pretty ticked off about the refs not taking a stand on that one.


Oh well, Tomato Tomahto. We won the game.

The Cavs probably feel good about the next game, figuring that at least now the Pistons have to key in on Ilgauskas which will open up things a bit for LeBron.

Hopefully the Pistons players and staff realize that all they need to do to limit Big Z's production is to do a better job on the defensive glass.

What a MONSTER game from Sheed last night....WOW.

didn't see the first quarter.
i know we dodged a bullet on marshall's missed 3.
i agree that we should never have been in that position.
we played badly and still won.
we gutted it out.
that makes me happy.
i'm not sure sheed did the wrong thing (if he doesn't come toward lbj, then lbj goes to the rack with a half step on tayshaun and maybe finishes and gets a free throw; or if lbj misses and there's no call the weak side board is cleveland's.).
if marshall shoots that three 1000 times, i'd say he makes 351 of them. oh, wait, it's the playoffs. 381 of them. okay, maybe sheed shoulda stayed home.
i don't know.
brahma. should play more. whenever v is in.
z alone will not beat us (2nd half).
z + v can make it close (1st half).
i really despise V. everything he does looks like an accident. including running.
i say bring in dale just to break V's knees. i'll feel less irritated.
sheed (post-game): so articulate and intelligent. i think he reads a lot. i mean it.
lebron is a sissy. and i hate him too.
i hate that the announcers couldn't stop talking about him. most egregious instance: rip hits his 24th point of the game on a jumper (or maybe his 20th) and they are talking about how lbj will probably still wind up the leading scorer. no mention of rip's j.
good d.
cwebb has heart (spirit is willing, but flesh is weak).
sheed: a beast.
rip: sweet shooting.
cbill: a liability til the end, then he got it together.
hunter: ehhhh.
don't stop moving the ball.
for the umpteenth time: we're better than these guys. but not if we don't show up for 48 minutes.

__________________
All things difficult are as excellent as they are rare.

Lots of thoughts there. I am pretty sure I'm in agreement with you on all of them.

Game 2 adjustments and intensity will be everything.

You have to credit the Cavs for pressuring Billups, a player who has benefitted from the depth of talent on this team by almost never seeing a double team or hard trap. It's a well known secret that Billups has the ball in his hands a lot and he can be rattled.

Expect the Pistons to put the ball more in Tayshaun's hands and let Billups play off the ball, expect us to have less turnovers but most importantly, expect LBJ to be much more aggressive next game.

After the post game comments, we can expect a return from James to his barrelling to the hoop style, trying to initiate contact. We can't count on Sheed blocking that many shots again. The Cavs are going to try to ugly it up and get even more physical.

At what point does the CWebb experiment come to an end? It's not easy winning when one of your 5 is really bad, and we've been doing it, but I don't expect it to continue. I'm just not seeing any heart from this guy and it's disturbing. He wanted redemption in Michigan, and a championship would assure that, but he's in fact gone completely in the opposite direction and become a boat anchor.

Even if Flip switches Webber onto Gooden, it will be the same result. He doesn't have the athleticism to extend his defense and everyone knows he can be exposed in the pick and roll.

If McDyess wakes up, we'll be good. At this point, I'm almost wondering if Maxiell provides more than Antonio can.

I'm tremendously happy with this win. A lot of folks in chat were out of their minds with anxiety during the last 3 minutes, but I knew they would get it done. This team rarely loses the battles of inches. When they blow it, they like to blow it big.

Let's get'em again and increase the pressure on LBJ to answer his critics. Boy would it be nice to extinguish his flame in the Eastern Conference.

__________________
Competition is merely the absence of oppression.
- Frédéric Bastiat

Nothing much to say after reading all the prior comments. Bad game for the Stone's, pretty decent game for the Cav's. I expect the Pistons to play much better next time. I think it was perfect game for the Pistons to play, grinding out the victory and eeking out a close one will hopefully keep the boys focused and not get big headed. I didn't want a blow out, just a more comfortable margin.

7.


I'll guess this wasn't a popular game for the general NBA fan but I'll take it. I think LeBron would have been praised as a great team player who has finally grown into a facilatator etc.etc.etc. if Marshall would have knocked down that wide open three. But he missed it so LeBron should have shot it.

Dyess was missing shots that were automatic the second half of the season...that's troubling.

Agreed.

I'm not so sure, however, that something can be both well known as well as a secret.