the only reason we had that lead was because we made the jazz get turnovers in the first half. the pistons did bad rebounding in the first half too but since they created TO's they had a good lead. once they stopped creating turnovers the whole defenbse collapsed. bench did good should of had more pt.

The Pistons have been hiding a LOT of deficiencies by forcing turnovers. You see the wins, and the incredible offense and it can carry you away sometimes.

But if you go back to the box score, or watch the ebb and flow of the game, these guys still have a LOT to work on before they could beat last year's squad.

Physicality, rebounding, hustle (from the starters), consistency.

If I find time this week, I'll dig into Minnesota's work under Flip to see if it is a systemic issue or just a lack of discipline.

Himat, Mwave. Current Pistons play is starting to remind me of the mid 90's Sonics. They got out rebounded a lot and caused a lot of TO's. Great records but never got very far in playoffs except for one year.
With the exeption of whatever is wrong with Ben it looks like just plain not putting the effort into crashing the boards. Too easy to get by without it as long as the team is winning.

I would be very interested in reading more on Flip in Minnesota and if this is his usual style.

Its important to realize that the Pistons know how to succeeed in the post-season so if its done right the coach can learn from the players as well as the players learning from the coach.

Pistons have the talent to fix the rebounding issue. Were rebouding great to start the season so just get back to that. Whatever they were doing back then go back to it. Put in the effort and try out other players like Maxiel.

I haven't watched the Pistons enough to know the answer: Is the rebounding problem caused because more and more of the starters are camping out by the perimeter and they simply can't get to their own missed shots? I guess that could only be part of the problem, the offensive rebounding problem.

REBOUNDS!!! That's what i've been talking about for the past 5 games. Got outrebound by more than half??? That's not DETROIT BASKETBALL!!! Flip has a big problem. Maybe it is due to the zone defense he is trying to implement to the team. If it is and it did not work (for 5 straight games) and got embarassed last nite, just let the boys play DEFENSE they way they were playing for the past few years, for heaven sake.

As for Big Ben, if he is really bothered by his knee and ankle, maybe he need some rest. And rest, I mean, take a few games off. Dale Davis can start in his place, Dyess coming off the bench as usual, and Darko to get his minutes and show us what he can do. If he still fail to perform, TRADE HIM!!!

This is the time where Flip should play the bench more and rest the starters if they are really injured. We do not want Ben to have a long term injury.

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DETROIT BASKETBALL

. . . it might be a GOOD time to start Darko, telling him he has a few games to start, and see if it gets his motor running. Bring Dyce and JMax off the bench, and we will see who the main part of the PT should go to for the balance of the season, between DMC and JMax. See which one gets the job done better now and we can then concentrate on getting one of the two ready for the playoffs. We know Dale will be professional about it and be ready, but even when he is in there, he does not light anything up.

Our bigs that have the potential of lighting it up, besides Dyce, are between DMC and JMax, so we should find out which one SOON.

And it would give Ben time to heal for the rest of the season.

@Max - Good call on the Sonics. That was a team that used gimmick defenses.

@jzchen - I don't think it is the zone. I'm working on some numbers now and through tomorrow. The problems may not be defensive rebounding...

@lazy - you are kidding right? The problems are rebounding, hustle and energy plays. Starting DMC over Dice and Davis is not an option. I would start Davis with Sheed due to their past familiarity playing with one another, and promote Darko back to 4th big if Ben had to miss any time.

The last thing Darko needs is to be thrown into the water to see if he can swim. There is some very tough competition coming up...

Nope, I was not kidding in the least. Given 20-25 minutes, DMC would out rebound, out score, out block Dale in any given game.

And we "know" Dale will be ready but we need to get a decision between DMC and JMax by all-star break so we know who to concentrate on for the late season. Dale does not have enough of an impact on a game to depend on him for more than fill minutes.

If DMC knows that he is getting a chance to play, REALLY getting a chance to play, and has to fight off JMax to get the minutes, he should be ready. And if he is not, we should know it.

What would happen if this injury or whatever it is with Ben, does not straighten itself out by later in the season. We had better have someone else ready other than Dale Davis.

darko has done well in a starting role before. it's not like it's the nba finals or the knicks. i don't see why darko wouldn't do well. i agree lazy that darko and jmax are unknowns we need to get them on the floor and see what we have. no more 3 minute auditions when the game has been decided. ben's hurt he needs a few games and we will be going on a home stand. it's a great time to work in the youngsters.

You mean like when they say "any given Sunday" in football right? Like, "anything could happen"....

Right now, DMC can't outdo anyone except at blocks perhaps. He's not bringing 100% consistently. And like it or not, that is how it works. The player brings consistency, and then the minutes get consistent. Not the other way around.

When he gets in an NBA regular season game, that is a REAL chance to play. It's a chance that thousands of us would kill for, even if we were abused by our opponent and completely humiliated.

If he hasn't clued in that he needs to fight off everyone for minutes by year 3, and that every moment on the court counts statistically, with the fans, his own self-esteem, justifying his paycheck, his value for future negotiations, Serbian pride, you name it, then this guy is a colassal bust.

What I am saying is, please eliminate the naivety. Darko is either overmatched, lazy or dumb. I'm sure you will prefer overmatched. I'm leaning towards lazy although a strong case could be made for dumb.