| Re: Portland Dec 5 7:30pm
Now that was ugly. You let a young team hang around and sooner or later they begin to believe they can beat you. The one thing sorely lacking from the Pistons is the ability to club someone when they’re down. They go up by five early in the first and then play even until into the third when the wheels come off.
- 50% shooting in the first drops to 41% for the rest of the game
- Although Nazr only picked up three boards, the Pistons only rebound when he is in the game, 10 and 11 in the first and third, 6 and 8 in the second and fourth. The small ball lineup works o.k. most of the time on offense, but rebounding stinks with Tay at the four.
- Dice/Defl/Murray shoot 9 for 14 but by and large sit in the second half. Dice gets two minutes in the second half and Delfino none. Flip plays the entire fourth once the other Flip figures out he forgot to sub in the third, but is ignored by the rest of the team.
- The final margin is all from the line. Both teams get 32 FGs (Pistons +4 in threes). No drives, no glory.
CB – Actually not an awful game – 5-12 / 4-9 with 8 assists and seven boards. Unfortunately Dr. Billups disappears at the end and Mr Big Shot reigns and falls. For 35 of his 40 minutes he was solid.
Rip – Starts out hot – 5-6 / 5-5 in his first stint, but goes 4-15 starting late in the second and for the rest of the game. 25 points, but nothing when it counted.
Tay – Stinks. 4-13 / 1-5, 6 boards in 40 minutes, more turnovers than assists. With a lot of that time at the four spot. No blocks, no steals, no impact.
Sheed – Doesn’t shoot well – 3-10/1-3, but gets 9 boards, two assists, two blocks, 1 steal, and no turnovers. Goes 3-5 in the first and fourth, but a goose egg in the second and third. 39 minutes is too much. Works really hard though – Zach didn’t have anything easy.
Nazr – The big enigma. The team seems to play better with him on the court, but he doesn’t seem to be doing a lot. The Pistons haven’t figured out how to play without Ben yet and even a shadow helps them get organized.
Delf – I thought he had a nice game in the first half. No clue why he sat the whole second half.
Dice – Shot the ball well, the most productive rebounder per minute. No clue why he only made a token appearance in the second half.
Flip – Maybe his best game as a Piston. But the defense really lags with him on the floor (-9 for the game) and CB doesn’t pass him the ball when they are in together. Unless he is playing the point he doesn’t score – gets five shots in the second, one in the fourth.
The Big Flip - Lost? Confused? Having a bad hair-day? Bad job.
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"But first, are you experienced? Or have you you ever been experienced? Well, I have."
Jimi
Last edited by dba : 12-06-2006 at 09:01 AM.
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