Watching today, it reminded me that the Pistons are the coolest team to watch. When Sheed is not making faces and throwing his hands around in disgust, this team is unflappable and no matter what, they are always, always in the game. The just do not fold.

Good game and I have to say, I have not seen Shaq look so good in a long time. It must be those almost 40 games he missed early in the season. He looks in super shape and is playing very well.

But, it was still the Pistons.

Now, in a couple of hours, I can watch the Magic.

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Things appear to be at their darkest . . . . . . . . . just before they go totally black!!

nice game, but nobody cant guard Shaq..That is what pisses me off. Whatever we won and I think the Miami is beatable in the PO too, this year.

Good game, good comeback, good win. It would have been very upsetting to lose to a team that missed 14 free throws. Heat wins over the Pistons seem to inspire them to greatness, witness the win a couple of months back without Wade, the 13 point come backer last season when Wade went crazy, and game 1 of the ECF when they took the wind out of our home court advantage (or did the Cavs do that in the previous round?)

Anyway this was a statement win to say that we were not going to let them roll over us without Wade in our own crib!! The media said the Pistons were the best in the east>>>>then back it up brothers!! The defensive intensity was in effect in that 4th and Hunter didn't even play during that stretch despite some stellar play from him in the second qtr.

Glad to see that Rip had a long rest and he looked good out there and didn't get overplayed by Flip sr. He didn't take any bad shots and hit all seven of his free throws. Delfino hit some key shots in the 4th and appeared to be the only Piston man enough to bull his way into Shaq when he was fouled in crunch time. Everyone else seemed afraid as usual. Stiil good bench play from him and Dice with 12 points apiece and Flip jr who was running the offense well during the 4th to help the Pistons get back in the game. Hunter contributed 2 three balls in the second quarter. Good job of Flip playing 11 men to Riles 8> Gotta wonder why he didn't give NAZ a little burn too though. But good sign that he is starting to trust everyone in these high profile games.

Go Pistons...magic number to clinch EC/HC is now lucky # 7

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"Once you go Barack, you never go Bak" Mario Cantone 2008

Pretty much the best game Flip Saunders has coached this season. He followed the simple principle that you don't win it in the 2nd quarter. The subs were doing ok, and he kept them in right until the end of the half. Then, he even followed principle number 2. If your bench is doing well in the fourth quarter, leave them in a bit longer. He brought Billups and Tay back in with about 4 minutes to go in the game, after the bench erased a 12 point deficit. Even more good coaching; when Dyess fouled out, he brought in the right guy for the job to end the game, Davis, instead of Webber who would have killed our defense that was going so good. Now Webber did do some good stuff while in, several assists, but he is a zero when it comes to guarding Shaq.

Ok Maxiell only got 2 minutes. He missed a 19 foot fall away and he got caught attempting to steal. For sure Maxiell should have gotten a bit more burn than that, but thats pretty good when I can only find one fault with a coach. Definite A+ for the coaching in this one.

Fllip Murray had a decent game. Not great. The best thing he did was get inside their defense several times, mostly choosing to dish off for assist, but one time to dunk it himself. Plus he hit one cluth jumper late, part of that 12-0 run that got us back into the game. His defense could improve, especially avoiding getting picked, and not recovering back to his man after the pick. Oh, and the bench had like a 13-1 run in the 2nd quarter, and Murray was part of that too. (paired with Billups)

The bench looked bad for a moment when Hunter and Murray were first paired up, midway 2nd quarter. Miami had an 8-0 run there, but they managed to do the job. We ended the 2nd down 5 points, but I thought we had the game won, because we had some fresh starters for the 2nd half.

Delfino was brilliant in that 12-0 run. He either assisted on or scored all 12 points I believe. A midranger when left open, a jumper off the move, a steal and dunk, and two made free throws after driving inside and drawing a hard foul. He also had fast break layup and a couple of made free throws in the first half to go with that. He was part of that 13-1 one run, the last half of it.

Sheed played good D on Shaq some, and stayed in the game well despite five fouls early in the 4th quarter. A timely triple late, and a clutch jumper closer in.

Billups played a good floor game, with virtually no turns while he was running the show. Not a good shooting game. Defense lacking as he is certainly not well yet. (After getting off a back to back playing major minutes, I expected him to come into this game with some problems from sitting around the last two days. They said he toyed with the idea of sitting out a week, but chose not too. Oh well, hope he heals by the playoffs-I still say sit him.)

Rip did well after initially being off on his shot. Ended up scoring 19 including a cluth shot late. Tay started 0-5 but got some scoring going inside in the 2nd half. He is either fatigued or that thigh bruise has not healed.

Considering all our starters were back, and all started, and all were dealing with injuries or flu effects, good solid win. The bench won the game for sure. If Flip keeps coaching like this, so we actually have a bench for the big dance, and our starters are allowed to mend, we just might be able to beat Miami even if Wade returns healthy. And don't count that out. They said Wade is doing so well that surgery may never be needed at all. I'd count him as coming back 100% against us. Our team needs every advantage we can get. As good as we did today, we can do better, AS FAR AS DEVELOPING THIS TEAM. GO PISTONS!!!!!

We need to play frantic with Delfino, Murray and Hunter (not necessarily together) to beat teams like Miami and the Spurs who generally out execute us. That is how we need to compete.

We need to use our speed when we can since these two teams (who we have match up problems with) have older players in key spots. Hamilton on defense was great and that is what we need from him to go with his mid-range game. Enough of his driving in to get nothing except beat up (latest a concussion).

Why the slow starts? It is what I have been fearful of all year. We don't really have a purpose and a flow to the offense. To counter Shaq and the Heat efficiency early, we may need Davis and his fouls defensively and a sharper offense. This means getting Tay and Sheed the ball where they don't have to do much. It means Chauncey just taking the shot in form, in rythym, on purpose.

The key shot today was Murray's jumper late in the fourth. Chauncey would have waited or faked or hesitated. They laid off of Murray and he popped em. Dagger.

Posey and company are not better shooters than our guys. THEY GET THE BALL IN THEIR SPOTS AND THEY KNOW WHAT IS EXPECTED OF THEM. The only team that plays with a make- it -up -as -you -go offense is Dallas and of the elite teams, Dallas is the team I fear the least.

I am happy with the win but we need to have better offensive execution to go far. This Heat team is scary. We at least have found a formula that hearkens back to our "ship" and that is to bring in guys and play frantic defense.

Good posts folks.

LAPiston - it's not so much frantic, as "with energy". Our starting lineup except Rip is very low energy, low key. Their relaxed approach is an Achilles Heel.

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They are the archetype for dominance. They are the gatekeepers of the conference. They are the Detroit Pistons.

I called for a 15 pt run to get us back in contention-----glad Flip heard me.

LOL

Heat ain't all that even with Wade. They've been beating everyone else. Let Shaq have his and when he wears down, shut the rest down.

Just saw a highlight of the Delfino steal and dunk on SportsNet Ontario.

I forgot to mention how sweet it was to see Delfino aggressive, taking the right angle and most importantly he got his second hand up at the rim to make sure it was a good finish. Very savvy play.

DRE - Is that Magic # of 7 relative to Cleveland?

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They are the archetype for dominance. They are the gatekeepers of the conference. They are the Detroit Pistons.

At his age, Tay should have a little more quick in his step. Though I really like the guy, I sometimes nod off when he starts backing down an opponent. He doesn't board aggressively either. I keep wishing Kander can put some meat on those bones...but even if that happened, you can't teach quick...it's either there, or it ain't.

Amir coming back after his excellent Sioux Falls stint could be Tay's biggest nightmare if Flip gives him some minutes...maybe not the rest of this season, but definitely next.