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Great win for the Pistons tonight! The big news is that the bench played BIG minutes in the 4th quarter, and they played extremely well. It was tied going into the 4th, and in the first few minutes of that quarter, there were NO starters out there for the Pistons. After a few minutes, Rip came in for Flip Murray (a good switch, Murray had a horrible game), but the other bench guys stayed out there for a few more minutes. JMax, Delfino, Dale, and Blalock all played at least half the 4th quarter, and they did a great job, setting the Pistons up with about a 5 point lead, after it was tied going into the 4th. JMax and Dale both played awesome defense, with 5 blocks between them, and JMax had an absolutely insane dunk earlier in the game--I think I know what one of DrSimp's plays of the week will be! The Pistons lost the lead after Billups and Tay came back in, but they went on a huge run in the last couple of minutes, keyed by some more great D. Rip and CB combined to go 20-29 from the floor, with 53 points between them. Kristic was the big scorer for the Nets, with 27, but Vince had a horrendous game, only 5-21 from the floor.

Blalock's first significant minutes of the season were quite successful. Didn't get on the stat sheet too much, but he moved the ball well on offense and played some good solid D. Quite an encouraging debut. He even had a strip on Kidd in the 4th quarter that keyed a fastbreak, which I think ended up with Fino getting fouled and hitting 2 free throws.

microcap

OK, I won't bore you with my usual comprehensive coverage and entertaining insight.

Death by a thousand cuts

From the lost opening tip leading to a Vince Carter triple, this game had Texas chainsaw, steel cage death match road loss written all over it.

But we got a ray of hope when Jason Maxiell entered the game, followed shortly after by Will Blalock in his NBA debut.

The Nets led 49-44 at the half but surprisingly points in the paint were 16-16 and the Pistons had attempted only 4 three pointers to New Jersey's 12.

Who let the dogs out?

From the moment Dale Davis hit the court, he brought a lot of toughness that Antonio McDyess and Nazr Mohammed sorely lack. Tangling with European star Nenad Krstic, Davis got the better of the Serbian center and as the game wore on, started to get inside his head.

Jason Maxiell was also a force, throughout the fourth quarter, consistently going up for blocks, and contesting everything that was shot over Davis.

I had a nice chuckle when Richard Jefferson, who was having trouble getting shots off over Maxiell, drove into the paint and lofted a moonball towards the backboard, obviously conscious of the Brahma's ability to swat balls away.

Flip Saunders Kidnapped by Aliens

Something is wrong with Flip. He's coaching like a real NBA coach. He used his bench, he rode the hot hand, and he resisted the urge to put his starters in early.

He seemed to punish Flip Murray, Antonio McDyess and Nazr Mohammed for less than efforts and rewarded the younger fellas who were wise to make Flip look very smart by playing well tonight.

The question is, will Flip be able to keep this up? Is it a mirage or charade? Is Joe Dumars meddling in the bench rotation strategy?

Flip played the bench (Delf, Davis, Max, Blalock) for the first 7 minutes of the 4th giving the starters enough rest to close out the game in the final two minutes with 8 straight points.

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to

I would be totally remiss if I didn't mention that Jason Maxiell and Mikki Moore were going at each other during the late stages of the game. Maxiell had the upper hand, outplaying not only Moore, but his own teammate Antonio McDyess.

Dale Davis should be starting at center for this team. He was an absolute enforcer in the paint, and seemed to shed 10 years off his age after throwing Nenad Krstic to the floor in retaliation for receiving an elbow to the head. After he roughly tossed the larger Krstic to the ground, Dale seemed to have an extra two or three inches of lift elevating for blocks and rebounds.

Great Pistons victory, this was old school, grind it out, kick their asses, rip their hearts out in their building, humiliate their coach, play the bench, Detroit down and dirty attitude.

My good guys: Jason Maxiell, Will Blalock, Carlos Delfino, Rip Hamilton, Chauncey Billups, Dale Davis.

My bad guys: Flip Murray, Antonio McDyess, Nazr Mohammed, Tayshaun Prince.

My player of the game: Dale Davis.

Best quote: George Blaha on the New Jersey Nets - "This may be a funky building, but this is not a funky team".

Good recap Micro.

I don`t think Flip was kidnapped by aliens though, he just had a good long talk with Joe D.

There is no other logical explanation for Flip`s sudden regaining of his senses, than a good old fashion ultimatum from his boss.

I asked on NBA radio today to Fred Carter who might be the beneficiary of 'Sheed's minutes and I'm glad Flip spread it around. I expected a loss from the Nets, but also heard that Jefferson might not play. Doubly nice win since Jefferson did play and we still beat 'em.

The big news has to be the play of the bench unit of Maxiell, Davis, Delfino and Blalock. The preseason experts described the Pistons as old, slow and lacking depth. Tonight they looked young, athletic and deep.
Two play makers, a ferocious inside finisher , a defensive rock and they all got after it on defense. If Flip is such a genius then he should be able to think of twenty different ways of using this unit to our advantage.
For the first time I saw the bench bring sustained energy while Chauncey rested. I need to see more of this. If these guys can keep this up, Joe should trade Nasr and Flip M. for a back up three who can defend, shoot the three and pass the ball(Sega trade- Shane Battier).

alec, I think Joe has talked himself into a corner.

Either Flip keeps playing and developing the bench, or Joe has to make a move around the deadline. He's said repeatedly (including the pregame tv show tonight) that he can't evaluate the team until they get to the mid-way point, and then muttered a lot of bravado about making fearless trades.

So we'll see. I'd rather keep Nazr and trade McDyess if possible. Nazr does have some size, and despite his shortcomings, is outperforming Dice minute for minute.

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

Just got off Real GM looking for a thousand ways to trade Dyess.

Flip Jr is not getting the job done, he absolutely sucks as a so called backup PG and his lazy reaching, half asleep defense irks me big time.

The reason the bench looked good tonight has a great deal to do with Will Blaylock. The kid is pure a GRADE-A PG, he is absolutely perfect for what we need right now, a low cost PG to back up an all-star, that is OK and effective playing 10-15 mpg. Lindsey and Flip at the point do absolutely horrible jobs of running the team and getting them into sets. I'm completely convinced that Will wasn't playing because Flip has no idea how to use a pass first, non-scoring PG that just wants to distribute the rock and get the team into their sets. Flip wants his PG to be offensively aggresive i.e. "shoot too much", he doesn't know how to use this pure thoroughbred PG that has mad handles and likes to dish the rock and actually run a fast break correctly, and who knows how to feed the DAMN POST!!!!!! man I'm happy for the kid tonight-ZERO TURNOVERS too!!!!!!!

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Play hard, Play smart, Play together, share the ball, have fun....Play the right way!!!!!!

Absolutely Micro,

What a difference to see someone man up down low beside Sheed --and Davis did that. Even when we win, I hav trouble swallowing our soft play down low. Can Davis show Nazi how to play?

Just as important was the youth of Maxiel. I have been calling for our need to have a young big in the mix. Tonight, Maxiel did the trick. With Maxiels play, we go from a bit old to young and menacing down on the block.

Rip and Chauncey played like all stars.

Blalock is a point at least. Too early to tell if he will be effective.

Dale Davis.

He comes the closest to giving us what Ben did. And he actually adds a little of the bad boys style. He actually seemed to scare NJ tonight. Dale Davis wants to do the dirty work that nobody else is interested in. I had no idea that this guy could bring this much to the table. It is making me think that this season is not just a big dead end.

Nazr showed some surprisingly good passes tonight though. He would be a fine backup center.

This game tonight seemed to give us forumites everything we've been asking for from a coaching standpoint. I'm just hoping that once Saunders sees what these guys can all do, he will put them in to win, not just to develop them. This team can be killer if we routinely get everyone involved. It builds comraderie when everybody feels like they are contributing and they all have a role.

Oh, and what brilliant performances by Rip and CB!!! And their freshness at the end seemed to be a factor.

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"I’ll just say this: We’re not talking to teams about their second- or third-best players." Joe Dumars talking about his plan to get other teams' 4th best players.