Besides the loss, I think that was one of the most helpful game the team has played the entire season. I learned a lot about the team that makes me think we have a legitimate chance at a finals. First, most of the team has the flu. It is obvious. They are lackluster and a step slow. Nevertheless, they showed me a few things:

1. Prince has instilled confidence in me that he may finally "get it." With Hamilton / Webber out, there are many more shots open and Prince has taken them. Not only is his jumper falling, but he is back to scoring off his man. This is pivotal as he maybe are best mismatch come playoff time.

2. The defense is becoming just sick. During the two runs (2nd qtr / 4th qtr) the defense played awesome. Finally, I saw the team defend the pick and roll with some precision. This maybe because Maxiel was in instead of webber, but most of the time it is the guards fault for recovering to late and forcing the switch. As bad as they played today, I thought all the perimeter players did a good job at that.

Second, the trap defense employed by Flip was awesome, maybe better than when we ran it with LB. The trap forced a lot of bad decisions, but didn't (as many traps do) lead to uncontested layups by the Bulls, because the help side D was there.

Basically, the reason that I am so optimistic is because the sudden loss of all these players is forcing or allowing Flip to try a bunch of stuff. Were as most teams run a single type of offense (p & r, motion) the Pistons have the versatility to run a bunch of types. Hopefully, Flip is smart enough to use them all. Also, the multiple defensive looks that the Stones can now run will make it really hard for opposing offesnes to cue up on one particular weakness. This diversity of skills the team has I think is what will separate them from the rest. Especially in the playoffs were the ability to adapt is what makes the win. This is were we are different from last year where we had to rely on Hamilton / Billups creating and the LB ere man on man defense.