I actually feel kind of sorry for you. You seem unable to appreciate the team's success thus far because all you care about is Darko. It's unfortunate.

When we're getting beaten on the glass, I promise you that Darko is not the answer. Rebounding and playing physical underneath are not his trademarks (regardless of what you think of him).

Dale Davis would be an appropriate response in situations like that, and I would like to see him get a bit more run to give Ben a rest, especially on the second night of back-to-backs. I think he's earned a shot at some minutes and can help us.

Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing a Darko/Dale pairing. Their strengths (quickness & shotblocking + toughness & rebounding) might complement each other pretty well.

You just had to know we were not going to miss that 60 second joke.

I was born at night . . . but not LAST night .

It was a 2nd of a back to back. And the coach seemed to forget this. The subs were doing just fine in the 2nd quarter, but he took them all out for the last five minutes of that quarter. Big mistake. Sure, we got a lead on some rediculously good shooting by Sheed, but the starters had nothing left for the 2nd half.

And then to compound things, Flip went back to his starters too early in the 4th quarter.

Go with the bench. If a particular individual blows an assignment and makes the whole bench look bad, take that player off the floor. Not all the bench players with him. What I see is over-reacting by Flip. Too worried his starters have to be out there. Like some kind of security blanket. Let the bench play. Let them flat out fail on occasion. Tinker with the bench. Work it. Get some use out of it.

This two game set was a good start for Flip. He did indeed go to his bench a lot in the first game of this back to back set. Just failed to carry the theme forward. We got more back to backs coming up real quick. Indeed, the next few games are all at minimum the 3rd game in 4 nights. In one case, it will be the 4th game in 5 nights. Flip is going to have to trust his bench. And play every last one of them until he finds something that works. He simply can't afford to keep overplaying his starters.

By the way, a thought occurred. We may have simply gotten off to such a great start because Flip played the bench so extensively in pre-season.

yeah got to go with you there. the starters got a good start, and when they struggled the bench got us comftarble again. when the bench struggled the starters got the big lead back, but flip did not go to the bench when the starters started to struggle again in the 3rd quarter. good sign was dice's jumper is coming back.

Alas, I was at the game.

"Are we in Utah yet"?
"No son, but in one more block we will be leaving the subdivision"

So 5 hours (and 35 "are we there yets" later) we arrive. Well, Salt Lake City is not what I expected. Basically, factories. Yuck. And lots of people walking around in Jed Clampett type black suits. The mormon churches are beautiful, naturally. The streets make no sense:

Mrs. Darth "We better ask directions"
Darth "No"
Mrs. Darth "Why not"
Darth "I don't think these people speak English"

So the hotel is 2 blocks from the Delta Center. We take the free trolley. The Delta Center is very nice. All lit up for Christmas. We walk in. They scan (don't tear) our stubs. Is this a new thing. Anyhow, some young blonde in an elf suit does it so I don't ask questions.

I am sporting my new red & blue Piston sweatshirt. My wife sports a Redwings jersey. My 7 year old son is wearing a sonics jersey and has colored his hair red, white & blue (my wife let him do this...not me). My daughter just wears whatever girls wear.

Some old usher comes up to me and says "Just one favor please don't beat us too bad today". I tell him "Its the last day of a road trip. It's gonna be tough". He then goes on about "Miller returning so the Jazz may do well" I'm wondering "who is Miller, but walk off hoping the blonde usher will stop me next. No such luck.

The Delta Center is just like the Palace inside, but somehow roomier. I liked it.

Star Spangled Banner. Chauncy is looking at the crowd. He points in our direction and whispers to Carlos Delfinos. Delfinos looks & nods. I'm pretty sure Chauncey spotted the blonde with the wings Jersey and the dork with the Pistons sweatshirt. I shoulda waved.

The game starts. Well, Pistons played not too good the first half but get a nice 13 point lead at the end because Sheed hit some 3's and Dice was scoring. Utah was missing everything. Balls bouncing in and out for Utah. The crowd was quiet. It was like they knew what was coming. Oh yeah, quite a few Pistons fans there...cheering.

2nd half. The Pistons forced some nice turnovers and it was like they were trying but they were slow. They could not hit a shot for their lives, starting with Sheed missing a 3 and everything bounced out. A couple of times big baskets were called off because the refs said the fouls occured before the shots. Both teams were arguing with the officials all game. Sheed got a foul (it looked to me like it was a Rip foul), and I thought he was gonna get thrown out. Ben got ticked too and caught a tech at a really bad time.

Every rebound there were a bunch of white dudes swarming (obviously not us). I'm telling you we handed them this game. If anyone on the team was hitting their shots the Pistons win. Memo hit that 3 in the 4th to put Utah up 5 and that did it. All of a sudden the crowd got loud.

The fans apparently attribute the win to owner Larry Miller being at the game (hence the ushers comments) Apparently, he got so upset with his team losing to New York on Nov 11th that he ranted at them and refused to return to watch them play at Delta Center. (He did this last year too).He also has accused Boozer of not wanting to play for the Jazz in the past, but has backed off that stance. Anyhow, he decided for whatever reason to go to the game and all the players talked about how this inspired them to victory. The papers there often referred to the Pistons as "the best team in the NBA".

At breakfast a man & his wife approached my table. I had on my sweatshirt, of course. "Thanks for the early Christmas present...we needed that". So anyhow, the fans were really happy they beat the best.

I was facing the pistons as they walked into the tunnel. They looked very angry and embarrassed at the same time. I really wished Flip would go to his bench earlier in the 3rd quarter that game, but knew he wouldn't because Utah cut 10 points off the lead so fast that Flip probably hoped to build it a bit before switching.

Again, they were playing like their heads were in a fog. Not like they didn't care, but like they thought they could just walk out & beat these guys. NOT. But again, the Jazz had 5 guys injured and aren't too good. If one bench guy or starter was hitting then we win. I mean 27 points in a half????

Oh ,almost forgot. I think I saw our very own Slippy at the game. Well, there was a dude with a Wallace Jersey and fake fro. I think it was slippy because he rooted for the Pistons but every time his fantasy guys scored (Kirlienko and Memo) his arm started to go up subconsciously in celebration and he fought to hold it down like the dude in Dr. Strangelove.

By the way Slippy. I love your new avatar (yoda) and your new name (Slippy's tater mashers). But beware my friend. Yesterday was Star Wars. Tonights fantasy flick is going to be "The Empire Strikes Back" Darth wins in that one if you recall.

Well, you know guys, I can't do the play by play recaps like Lanier fan (or even Lee),it's not my forte. So this is what you get with Darth. Crappy game but we had a ball.

Oh, did Ben even play? Yeesh he looked awful. Memo looked really good. Kirlienko hurt us too, but I think if the Pistons play their game he is easily neutralized. The crowd booed Arroyo and told him he sukkkked when he was out there. The Pistons all missed easy shots but they were from outside. They didn't get too many up close. Live by the jumper...die by the jumper. Overall, Flip's done great. No complaints from me & I like him better than Larry. However, this is one game I think they win with Larry because they looked undisciplined. Plus Larry always did magic with his timeouts. Flip didn't in this game at least.

OK, that's it for me. Over & out.

P.S. The Jazz dance squad is Darth will return.

__________________
"Quite simply captain, I examined the problem from all angles, and it was plainly hopeless. Logic informed me that under the circumstances, the only logical action would have to be one of desperation. Logical decision, logically arrived at." -- Spock

DMC could also make the best Pizza in the world. And join together with Bono to save Africa. Hit jumpshots from midcourt. Dominate in tennis. Write the great Serbian novel. Cure cancer. Talk to dogs.

Where does the unwaivering faith in this guy come from? I have been willing to give the kid a chance, and see how he develops, but... The guy doesn't even play. Why does everyone care so much about this kid?

LOL. I think he could also tell us where Bin Laden is hiding. (Maybe they share the same barber)?

uhmmm...Welcome to my "past"

I replied right after reading BBJays post (when will I learn?) and didn't bother to read the rest of the posts for the day. Looks like Micro covered it all before I did. And with style! I like the kitten part.

I have friend who has a theory that Darko really is a "special" kind of player, and thats why he has shown no progress, and seems to lack a fundamental understanding of the game.

The theory is based on the idea that Darko's agent, family, and translators were able to hide the fact from the Pistons based on the lanquage barrier.

Scout to Darko: So, why do you want to make the transition to the NBA, and what do you think you can offer the Pistons?

Darko to translator: I want to ride in a firetruck!

Translator to Ronzone: Darko believes that he can compete at the highest level. He looks forward to learning from the worlds best coaches, and contributing to a championship caliber team. Darko believes that he can immediatly contribute on defense and rebounding while learning the finer points of the American game.

Ronzone: That sounds great! Thank you for your time, we look forward to seeing you in workouts.

Darko: I like jello with my dinner.