Maxiell had the 2nd most FG's on the team and he only played 17 minutes. It is time to play him until he gets in foul trouble every night. Let's get some use out of a young guy before his contract is up.

Murray was really chuckin the ball early. Did Delfino even take a shot?

No matter how everyone does, I like these games where we just throw bodies at em. It keeps the energy level up and has got to be good for the confidence of the bench.

My random thoughts:

A GREAT game from the bench both in terms of minutes and production. And it wasn't even a back to back! We need more of these.

Only 2 starters with more than 30 minutes tonight.

J-Max has officially arrived. He truely is a beast. He has forced Flip to play him.

Varejao is a flopper. The league needs a diving rule like the NHL. All potential "flops" should be reviewed. A fine each time and a 1 game suspension for repeat offenders should do the trick. Crap like that is embarrassing for the league and the game. I only caught parts of the game but I saw a minimum of 2 blatant flops in the short time he was on the court.

The Flopping got me thinking about another problem that I see with basketball... the obvious drawing of fouls by the offensive player. What if there was a rule that any time the offensive player invites contact, it is not a foul? Why should it be a foul if they were seeking it out?

You could still pump fake and draw the foul going straight into your shooting motion. But these guards that jump into the defender should not get the calls.

Varejao really got embarrassed on that 2nd flop attempt though. ha.

Not sure what to make out of that game, if it was Clev not hitting any shots or the D or whatever. I will take it.

NBA.com: Pistons at Cavaliers Boxscore

You just knew someone was going to take over the game in the 4th. Tonight it was the Pistons.

What is up with the bench? Or Flip playing them? What this team needed, just almost shocked that Flip is playing them. Really amazing to see Blaylock out there before Flip Murry. Maxiel continues to play great and Dyess even had a good game.

Great point. I totally agree. D-Wade is really bad for that.

I couldn't believe it either. I turned on the t.v. when Blalock was in and was like "Who the heck is that?" I thought it was Acker at first and I was watching a repeat from an old game or something.

Then I saw J-Max & Delfino in as well and figured that Flip must have either been ejected or out sick.

I have a feeling that Joe had a little tete-a-twitch and gave Flip a little free advice.

"Flip, I advise you to start playing the bench if you want to remain employeed."

The Maxiel effect. Maxiel gets in the game and suddenly we become a fast, aggressive team. He energizes everyone. Even Dice woke up and played like Maxiel. If this guy is for real we could be in for a long ride this year.

Maxiell played a heck of a game (As usual). Once he starts hitting FTs (he was much better in college), he'll be unstoppable. If Dice gets his form back we'll have quite bench. He needs to be the 1st man off the bench simply to bring the energy he does early on.

Murray Sucks. Not much else to note. He's worse than Mo Evans. I get the feeling that Flip sees it too though.

Delfino can't score, but at this point I don't mind. He still has a big impact on the court with his rebounding and defense. Good to see that Flip seems to be seeing some of the other things he can do on the court now. Next step: Get him slashing.

Blalock was decent. Biggest thing is he defends and he keeps the ball moving. That's all I ask from him. I fear that when Hunter comes back he'll bring the bench back down with him.

Dice was Dice. FINALLY. Keep playing like that and we can get a core big-man rotation going of Sheed, Max, and Dice. With Nazr and Dale splitting the extras.

If we are this excited to see some new guys bringing some energy can you imagine the impact it has on the other players? Guy like Maxiel comes in and totally changes the way the Pistons were playing inside. Even inspired Dyess to pick it up.

The Blaylock come in and does a solid job holding down the fort and sticking with the way Billups was managing the pace. That had to inspire Billups to turn his offensive game around in the 4th quarter.

jammer Glad its happening and hope it continues. Perhaps with Hunter out Flip finally figured out that playing Murry 30 mins is not going to get it done.

Nice, plain and simply put NICE!!!!!.
After watching Colriss play in the second game it is COMPLETELY obvious that Max brings to the table everything Corliss took when we shipped him to Philly for DC, man we were missing IT for 2 full seasons, a tough-strong-contact LOVING presence inside. Man it's good to see a big that loves to battle and can actually intimidate in the paint. For crying out loud the sonics thought he was 6'11"

A good tough win where we won the board war and the points in the paint and held their scoring down.......for a minute I thought I was watching the Blue Collar boys "Goin' to Work" again.

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

Max,

The other night, Davis was blocking shots with Maxiel. Maxiel is there waiting to block shots and the other guys--tonight it was Dice--feed off of that and have someone to work off of. It is a beautiful transformation to watch. I just hope it is real. It sure looks real.

Our pace is slow--that is the way we play and we play to win. No complaints. Larry always wanted someone off the bench to change the pace. Now, I see why. Maxiel comes in and the other team is totally not prepared for what he brings. It gives us another dimension.