Funny question. Did Darko ever get 5 blocks in 8 minutes with us or for that matter 5 blocks in a game with us?

Ask it again in a year or two and let us know what your answer is.

The third quarter blitz was all was needed for the Pistons to put away the Hawks as seven players were in double figures by the end of the 3rd qtr. Tay was the man hitting 9/12 shots for 23 pts as the Pistons shot 52% of their shots. Tay, Sheed and Hayes were all perfect from behind the arc at 2-2. Jr was 0-3.

Max came in near the end of the third to spark the Pistons, but Hunter was up to his usual self stalling the offense and allowing the Hawks to creep back in it midway thru the second.

Scrubs didn't do anyone any favors by allowing the Hawks a 34 point 4th quarter despite the five blocks by Amir in garbage time. Flip SR nervously looked at the clock as the lead went from 25 to 10 in 2-3 mins. Garbage time officially started at the 8:36 minute mark of the 4th qtr and during those last 8 minutes, Flip jr took 8 shots, hayes took 3, nazr took 1, Afflolo took 1 and AJ didn't take any.

Luckily the game was in hand and in the future Stuckey will be running the scrub unit until he gets in real game shape.

Darko has gotten 3 duckdowns and 2 moveovers in 8 minutes with us.

Multiple times.

I don't think Darko ever played 8 minutes in a game for us. LOL

Things that make you go ummm??? Dupree needs to communicate and demand to be played or traded

Amir is the new Human Victory Cigar. However those Blocks could be used in the first half of any games to keep the opposition at bay.. hopefuly Flip and Joe realize this before February.

This is his third game in a row doing this. I actually kept track tonight from the 8:48 mark (when AJ came in) of offensive possessions. Ther were 6 times when Jr. brought the ball up the floor and did not make A pass. He was the only one to touch the ball on those possessions. One of those was his dunk but that is a pathetic number. Especially with a 24 second shot clock.

You figure 2 possessions a minute per team and Flip was shooting the ball without a pass every third possession of ours. Nail his ass to the pine and let Stuckey come out and play. Pretty Please?

__________________
Damn Right I DID!!!!
Whatcha gonna say now????

Make that the third game in a four game five night stint....in four cities.
Make that the third game in a four game five night stint....in four cities.
Make that the third game in a four game five night stint....in four cities.
Make that the third game in a four game five night stint....in four cities.
Make that the third game in a four game five night stint....in four cities.

As long as we continue to win I am happy with him getting 8 - 10 minutes a game right now. I don't care if its garbage time or not. This is still basically his rookie year even though technically he isn't a rookie.

I don't know how many people noticed it, but mlive.com reported yesterday (I believe) that Flip Murray was out of the rotation now that Hunter was getting some playing time. Tonight marked the 3rd straight game where Hunter spelled Billups in the first half and Murray did not play except in the 4th quarter. (with leads of 19, 20, and 26 as he entered the game.


Tonight, a lot of fans are quite angry with Murray. It was pretty obvious he was calling his own number before he even brought the ball up the floor - something he did not manage to do a few times as Atlanta quickly cut that 26 point lead down to 12.


Amir kept getting blocks on one end, and was ignored on the other. Afflalo finally did get one shot - and made it - at the end of this crazy 4th quarter. Hayes scored about 5 points in the 4th. Murray did score some, just enough to have the starters not come back into the game.
Ok, lets start with Hayes. Ten points in the first half when they counted. The guy gets his shots off quickly and accurately against pressure. He ended up with 17 points in 17 minutes to get sub of the game honors.


Tay did not even shoot in the first quarter if I recall correctly, but ended up with 23, going inside right thru their shot blockers and making lots of outside shots as well. Very impressive. And a couple of blocks too.
Dyess got about a dozen. Good outside shooting, and just enough inside play that I won't talk too bad of him for the moment. Keep it up. His defense was none too good in the first half as Atlanta continually was scoring at the hoop on us. Things did tighten up in the 2nd half though.
Sheed played very little due to foul trouble, but did get into double digits with a pair of 3's and some inside scoring.


Billups managed a double double, 10 points and 10 assists, in just 3 quarters. This is the 4th game in a row where he was not needed in the 4th quarter. Billups was very opportunistic, getting to the basket whenever they fell asleep.


Rip hit some shots, dished 7 assists. Flip Saunders has quite pulling him early in the 1st and 3rd quarters. But Rip should quit crying about it and get use to it. The more Afflalo plays the more this team will be ready for the playoffs. Rip has to get more in tune with the greater good of the team.


Afflalo did play. He got to help a bit in holding Joe Johnson to miserable 2-10 shooting. In other words, they were not letting Johnson shoot, and what he did shoot was forced.


Amir played the last 8 minutes of the game. A lot of people were getting nervous about that, as the lead was dropping so fast we were worrying that Amir might not get time. Which is another thing. Why all the sudden is Johnson only getting garbage time? Coincidentally, thats all Murray is getting. A bargain was struck maybe? Amir had a bunch of blocks. Not sure if they all went in the books though. (maybe one or two were blocks of the shot, preventing the score, but after the guy was fouled by someone else already.)


Maxiell was not quite as dominant as last game, but he had himself a pretty good highlight real with some spectacular dunks. One alley - oop did not work out as planned, so Maxiell landed, went back up and softly layed it in. He also hit an outside jumper, knocked down both free throws when fouled to stop him, and even knocked down a free throw to complete a three point play. Last game we saw a blip in his free throw shooting. Hopefully, only a blip, and tonight he was looking very good at the line again.


Hunter did not do much. He has always been able to get the ball up the floor though, and he lets other people shoot. I will take that any day over the display we saw from Murray tonight.


There ain't that much negative to say really about a 4th straight blowout win. The starters minutes are staying down. Afflalo is playing. Maxiell is getting that expanded role promised us fans. Stuckey's return is around the corner. And people hope that Stuckey will be giving Amir the ball.


GO PISTONS!!!!!

Gee, he really did get 5 official blocks. (and a couple of unofficial ones that still prevented some scoring.)

Like Dumars said, he fights complacency everday. Do you want to be one of the people he fights, or join him in encouraging constant improvement in this team? Amir needs to play - for the Pistons to become the best they can become.