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Originally Posted by 1989 Re: Inconsistency. I contend that there's a difference between not having the extra gear required to destroy a desperate team on the ropes, and showing up only every other game. This last phenomenon is not something I ever really associated with this Pistons team until these playoffs. |
there is a difference, no doubt and it's a useful distinction to draw. my question in that case would be how many guys have to "show up"? Because for me the thing of late has been that one guy shows up, and then another disappears (like chauncey showing up tonight, and tay disappearing; after chauncey having been gone for several games, and tay having been strong).
It's a rough guesstimate for sure, but I'd say we are most definitely not talented enough as individuals to win against top teams when only 1 guy shows up. with luck, we'll win occasionally when only 2 show up, depending on which 2. then, we tend to win most games when 3 show up. and dominate when 4 or more show up. Tay, for example, has been huge of late. But I don't agree with people who see his showing up as the key to our success. I think it's more critical important that Chauncey, Rip, and Sheed show up (assuming of course I'm not allowed to just have everyone show up). Tonight, Chauncey was pretty much there the whole game. Rip was there the first half. Sheed was there the second. I'm just kinda watching these games to see who is getting close...
miami really didn't beat us by much tonight, despite playing at home, despite huge games from wade and shaq, despite that we really had only 1 full guy, and 2 half guys show up. Of course, that doesn't make this a necessary loss -- on the contrary it proves your point that this was an unnecessary loss. but it doesn't make it for me a disheartening loss.
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Originally Posted by 1989 Re: What is "necessary". What is "necessary" in my opinion is a consistent effort from one game to another. Even with such an effort, the team may need to go the distance, or even come out on the losing end. I can live with that. But without a consistent effort, they lose games "unnecessarily", to say nothing of losing my support. |
10-4. I can accept that definition of an "unnecessary loss". But I'd still maintain that unnecessary losses have been a fairly regular part of this group's playoff history going back to 2003. Perhaps not to the degree we've seen since game 3 of the Cavs series this year. But the unnecessary playoff loss is not in my view new to this year's squad. And i guess, finally, that i don't need them to bring consistent effort to maintain my support. i've said lots of times that it's part of what endears them to me. their inconsistency makes them feel a lot more like me; as, i'd like to think, does their reliability when the chips are down (even or especially because the holes they climb out of are self-dug).