The real reasons we are losing are very simple.


1)The Pistons have no leadership. Flip Saunders can't make a in game adjustment to save his life. With the game on the line we watch the Pistons come out and play hot potato with the basketball with no set play or we watch the Chauncey show and see him jack up a 3 pointer from 6ft beyond the line. Chauncey is not a leader. He doesn't seem to get angry or call anyone out. It is all buddy buddy. Where are the players only meetings? Where is the calling out of your teammates holding them accountable?

2)The Pistons have played alot of basketball and prehaps are living too much off of what they have done in the past. Eventually this type of behavior catches up with you.

3)The Pistons are a dying breed. We are too slow and too old. The few young guy's we do have are just not talented enough or undersized. How many times have we seen Daniel Gibson or LeBron blow by a Piston player with one step and see this Piston defender chase behind the Cav player with a hand up?

__________________
FIRE CURRY!!!!!!!!

I'd say the real reason is that this team ain't got no one who's even close to a slasher. No player is able to create his own shot or get to the foul line often. You need someone who can draw attention or open up the zone if your jumpshots don't fall. Detroit doesn't.

the real reasons we are losing are:

1We are not using our players effectively. I keep hearing announcers talk about Rip coming off the curl, but, really I don't think I've seen that since the LB days.

2Mr. Big Shot is taking big shots when we don't need them. He is doing just what LB had reigned in on his game: jacking up 3s. Chauncy's great, but, as series go on he becomes more and more lax in controlling HIMSELF in games.

3We have no low post presence, offense or defense. the webber experiment worked at first because of the novelty; but a guy his size at center only works if he's athletic like an Amare Stoudemire. he can be an effective backup.

4.Flip (Saunders, Murray, Wilson, whatever) Flip Saunders is a "systems coach" and he has a team that is not built for his system. These guys are man on man defenders. The zone as laid out by flip has a big hole in the middle. With the D 3 second call in the NBA the only really viable zone is the 3-2. On offense we just can't always rely on "making our shots". these guys just aren't that great shooters, that's why the offensive droughts have snuck back into games, albeit not like in the past.

I give Billups credit for trying, its not like he could rely on anyone else so why not step up to the plate? The reason we did so bad in games 3 and especially game 4 was Prince. He couldnt stop James, was afraid to take a hit in the lane and couldnt doing ANYTHING offensivley.

Cuz

The Pistons got no identity and they couldn't hit a jump shot.

You need to have a reputation as a defensive team in order for the referees to allow you to be a defensive team. (San Antone).

You need to have a reputation or star in order to be a team that drives to the rim. If you don't, you don't get the foul calls you need to be effective.

You need to have an identity or super star to succeed. If you aren't known as an "X" type of team; the officials don't know how to officiate your team.

__________________
Posted by SonicD:
If I had to classify whistles I would have three categories Good, Crappy, and Train.

Heard a quote from tim Duncan a few days ago. It went something like this; It doesn't matter to us if we are the number one seed or the number eight seed. We spend about 75 games each year finding out exactly what each and every player on our roster can and can't do. We know we have enough talent to get into the play offs; we want to know each others game once we get there so there are no surprises and we can rise to the top as a team. We treat the regular season like 82 scrimmages and practices so that we are a well oiled machine when the real season starts.

__________________
Posted by SonicD:
If I had to classify whistles I would have three categories Good, Crappy, and Train.

No rebounding or post defense.

Ben was our only star. Our only star who would get star treatment from the refs. When was the last time Ben Wallace fouled out?

Instead we have our backcourt trying to draw fouls instead of trying to make shots, then getting frustrated when they don't get the star calls. maybe they should ask their agents for a refund on their All-Star bonuses.

Sheed on the other hand gets absolutely no respect and that is his biggest handicap. If the refs treated Sheed like any of the other top 10 PFs, he would put up another 4 PPG easily and probably earn less techs out of frustration.

__________________
There is no such thing as a good time for bad luck. - Down, On March The Saints
Progress cannot be organized. - Ludwig von Mises
You cannot stop innovation. - Sun Tzu

Trust.

It seems towards the latter part of the season the team who put the T in team stopped believing in one another not in the coach. Evryone wanted to do it themselves. The ball movement that was so successful earlier in the season turned into a stagnant one on one, let`s hold the ball for 3-5 seconds while everyone else stands around and watches offense.

Lack of a Leader.


CB was the captain of this team in name only. His leadership skills to me consist of hitting a game winning shot from time to time. IMO, his teammates lost perhaps, a little confidence in his play in crunch time in the ECF. Sheed tried to step and lead by calling a players only meeting, only to be tossed out of the following game. These are the two that should have been leading this team.

Coaching.


I am not going to blame this meltdown all on Flip but he must take his fair share of the collapse. His lack of or late adjustments can`t be overlooked. Neither can his lack of trust in his bench. Mike Brown outcoached him in the simple things, like distributing PT to his players.

__________________
"You got to go wit da flow" Rasheed Wallace responding to Rip Hamilton's disbelief of him becoming a Boston Celtic.

To a bigger extent I think this is an indictment on Joe Dumars. He needs to provide Flip with quality bench players that can push the starters for playing time. Sometimes a guy needs to have that fear of the guy behind him and have that fear of looking over there shoulder. Joe Dumars built this team to match up with the Heat. So when the Heat got eliminated it made the Pistons a match up nightmare versus the Cavs. We can't continue to hid Amir or say he is not ready. Other teams play youngs all the time. The young guy's have to learn and play against NBA level talent to get better.

__________________
FIRE CURRY!!!!!!!!