rip's head can be messed with. he probably was just as pissed off with lb's insistance on running the same play instead of drawing up some new ones to get him open. even stan van gundy drew up some new plays to get his boy wade open. surely hof lb can do that. rip had a bad series but i don't think it was totally rips fault.

I hope Rip works on his post game because we could really use that against San Antonio When Bowen switches on Chauncey, and mijit Parker is gaurding Rip.

Rip let Bowen get into his head. Period. It's on Rip for not keeping his composure against arguably the most annoying player in the league. Bowen drives every one he covers to the brink of insanity.

But Rip was a defending champ and should have showed more discipline. I don't buy the BS that everything was on LB. The players have to be accountable for what happens on the court, otherwise everything good Rip has ever done in the last 2 years is due to LB drawing up the right plays for him.

Rip screwed up. Heck, he was such a mess he couldn't even dominate Parker in Game 7. SHAME ON HIM. I love Rip, but sometimes the players you love just plain screw up.

This culture we live in where the finger always gets pointed elsewhere will be the downfall of western society. Accountability. Great players have it.

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Competition is merely the absence of oppression.
- Frédéric Bastiat

no i didn't say everything was lb's fault. i said everything wasn't rips fault. i dont' know about you but if my main offensive player is having trouble scoring i change the plays up to get him open. even if that means bringing in darvin ham to lay some serious wood on bowen a few times. rip was frustrated by the dirty play of bowen but rip would not have been frustrated if he was getting open after the holding and grabbing. rip was playing handicapped against a player that was very good at guarding that style of play and the defensive player knew the play every time.

Yeah. If you want to blame Brown for the plays he called or the players he chose to use , that's arguable at least. I don't see how you can blame a guy in a suit standing near the bench for a player get ticked off and messing up because he was angry about getting bumped by another player or whatever.

Agreed Micro Rip let it go to far on a one game basis I can see but letting it get to him over the series was plain ol' stoopid.But he got caught up in it hopefully he stepped back and learned from it.

As far as Indy we handle them when it counts and this year we have an upgraded bench I think so with that and the mission we should be on to knock the chip off our shoulders the series with Indy if it happens won't last long.

I was so ticked the way we lost for about 3 weeks then it popped into my head that overall this could help the Pistons. Yeah I know this sounds stupid because how could losing in a Game 7 be good especially in the Finals? But I thought that this could make our players even more determined to win so our team would become even better. Also I thought this could teach the Pistons to finish off a team when they got an opening not to just make comebacks.

bball jay, the list of players that have lost their cool against Bowen is large. It's not plays. It's patience, confidence and discretion. Something we lacked all year.

Rip is 50/50 when he gets mad. He either goes off, or shuts down. Game 7 wasn't a good time to roll the dice. Those comments he made in the press about Bowen after Game 3 or 4 didn't help either. You never bait or taunt an opponent in the press. Not a guy like Bowen who takes a lot of pride in playing hard every single second he is on the court.

Yeah, LBs offense lacked creativity. But Bowen was DPOY runner up. You aren't going to create some magical play to fool him. He's a legit lock down defender. His sole purpose is to shoot 3s and lock down the other teams best PG-SG-SF-PF. And he is one of the best at that. The dude embarassed Ray Allen and Shawn Marion earlier in the playoffs. Gotta give props to Bowen for being flat out better.

__________________
Competition is merely the absence of oppression.
- Frédéric Bastiat

i don't think rips frustration was with the bumps. his frustration was not getting open looks and not knocking them down. if rip was still putting up 20 a night he would have smiled in bowens face after every game. i blame brown for not getting his #1 scoring option open. pop knew rip is what makes our offense go and he shut that down. lb did not adjust rip's anger has nothing to do with lb not making the adjustment. he should have made the adjustment before rip got mad. but it's ok we have a coach in here that will run more than 1 play.

Just to interrupt.

This is our best debate so far. Thanks bball jay. It feels good to argue a bit. I sometimes wander back to the News just to kick dirt on someone's shoes.
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