Miami Feb. 6th, 7:30 PM - Page 4 - Detroit Pistons Fan Community

KGREG · #31 (**permalink**) 02-07-2008, 12:31 AM

Bad Weather, really bad weather. Bad opponent, I mean really bad opponent. Bad atmosphere, really bad atmosphere. Stevie Wonder could've seen this one coming. You had to know that the starters we're going to play uninspired, would have been a perfect game to give Stuck, AA and AJ extended mins to send a message. Would have rather loss this one by 20 with the young'ns than barely beat the worse team in the league by playing the "Core" for extended mins.

Also, while I'm a HUGE Maxiel fan, why is he being given mins these days, AJ has been really outplaying the guy for 2 weeks. It should be Max with the situational mins and AJ in the rotation these days. I'd love a good ol P.T. Dog-Fight for that 3rd big position.

Was it me or was Stuckey completely STAR-STRUCK by D-Wade tonight?

**max** · #32 (**permalink**) 02-07-2008, 01:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KGREG

Was it me or was Stuckey completely STAR-STRUCK by D-Wade tonight?

I don't know. Stucky did not seem to back down after Wade blocked one of his shots. It was just good D by Wade I think but Stucky was missing some of those 5' floaters that he was making in the prior 2 games.

Wade took about 33% of their total shots. Sheer volume got his his 30. 11-25 for 44%. Kind of reminds me of that one year when Stackhouse was pretty much our offense. Wade did get 12 assists though.

FreshPrince22 · #33 (**permalink**) 02-07-2008, 03:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KGREG

Bad Weather, really bad weather. Bad opponent, I mean really bad opponent. Bad atmosphere, really bad atmosphere. Stevie Wonder could've seen this one coming. You had to know that the starters we're going to play uninspired, would have been a perfect game to give Stuck, AA and AJ extended mins to send a message. Would have rather loss this one by 20 with the young'ns than barely beat the worse team in the league by playing the "Core" for extended mins.

Also, while I'm a HUGE Maxiel fan, why is he being given mins these days, AJ has been really outplaying the guy for 2 weeks. It should be Max with the situational mins and AJ in the rotation these days. I'd love a good ol P.T. Dog-Fight for that 3rd big position.

Was it me or was Stuckey completely STAR-STRUCK by D-Wade tonight?

Seemed like the regular old Flip Saunders rotation and play calling tonight. Amir plays 2 minutes against the worst team in the league, with no bigs, while the team is obviously lacking energy(idiotic). Stuckey is back to being the stand on the perimeter and wait for someone to post up guy (no P&Rs). AA was playing well, and he gets a nice quick seat on the pine. Starters (Rip, Tay, and Chauncey especially), were quite obviously tanking this one, and they still play 38+ minutes.

Jarvis still can't play ANY D. How many times can he get caught in no-man's land? AA and Walter should be playing all of his minutes. Selfish shots and bad D = Bench, IMO.

lpgrl26 · #34 (**permalink**) 02-07-2008, 04:10 AM

^

It's the damn practice that did it. They had time off, practiced on Mon, and Flip managed to teach them how to suck again.

Flip epitomizes the phrase "You can't teach an old dog new tricks". Sometimes i think the starters try to play sucky so they can get benched and it doesn't happen.

Also,
I think we need to start a FREE AMIR petition or something. Maybe people should start chanting at games. Hell i'd do it if i didn't live in NY.

Lee356 · #35 (**permalink**) 02-07-2008, 06:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by max

I don't know. Stucky did not seem to back down after Wade blocked one of his shots. It was just good D by Wade I think but Stucky was missing some of those 5' floaters that he was making in the prior 2 games.

Wade took about 33% of their total shots. Sheer volume got his his 30. 11-25 for 44%. Kind of reminds me of that one year when Stackhouse was pretty much our offense. Wade did get 12 assists though.

Wade grabbed Stuckey's uniform to avoid being posterised. One of the worst non-calls this season. To call it a block means you did not see the play.

Lee356 · #36 (**permalink**) 02-07-2008, 06:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by max

I can see the headlines now "Flip Saunders fired today for not playing Amir Johnson". He used a combination of trickery and deception to give the illusion of playing him but he was not really playing him. Just an elaborate illusion.

Games like this sometimes its good to step back and take a look at how the Pistons could be right now. Only 2 years ago Miami beat us in the ECF and now they are in last place. That could be us. Miami has plenty of young guys and D-leaguers to watch everynight.

Bench would have played more if they played better. Sheed and Dyess both played great, thats why Amir did not play more. He is afterall still the 4th big off the bench.

I thought Hayes and Afflalo played well but that was about it. Stucky was so so. Sheed was the player of the game. Slow start in the 1st quarter kind of surprised me. Tons of jump shots and no real plays ran. I am sure they had a plan but players were settling for the 1st open J.

A win is win..

You did notice that Amir did not play bad? Why should his minutes go down? Did you notice that Dyess only had 4 rebounds in the 2nd half, two of those quickly to start the 2nd half. Maybe he could have used a bit more rest.

**dba** · #37 (**permalink**) 02-07-2008, 08:13 AM

This one was one bad call away from being tied with eight seconds left. Prince clearly fouled Davis on that three and the Heat should have been shooting free throws.

Too many days off between games added to an empty building really seemed to suck the life out of the Pistons. It's got to be tough to come out and play under those circumstances.

How else to explain one board and two turnovers from Max in 18 minutes? Well, he has already played 135 more minutes this season than all of last season. That's a big ol' wall he's running into.

Probably best for Stuckey not to get into one-up kind of games with Dwayne Wade. He need to stick with picking on little kids from Dallas. I thought that took him out of his game.

Time to forget this stinker.

BillLaimbeer · #38 (**permalink**) 02-07-2008, 10:38 AM

I wonder if people in the Celtics and Suns forums complain about how their teams win.

TaShawn · #39 (**permalink**) 02-07-2008, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillLaimbeer

I wonder if people in the Celtics and Suns forums complain about how their teams win.

Come on man, the "best starting five" in the league barely beat the worst team in the league (who was missing one of the greatest big men ever) at home. If that's not a win to complain about, then what is?

Our biggest weakness last night, lethargy, could have been corrected with our bench's great strength, energy.

At the stage we are at, how much does a win really matter anyway? Sure, if we lose a few in a row, there starts to be a negative vibe. But we can easily play .500 ball from here on in if we wanted to. It's all about developing players to the point where Flip can trust them in a playoff situation. If he doesn't trust them with the lead against Miami, then he has work to do.

ggazoo69 · #40 (**permalink**) 02-07-2008, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by max

I don't know. Stucky did not seem to back down after Wade blocked one of his shots. It was just good D by Wade I think but Stucky was missing some of those 5' floaters that he was making in the prior 2 games.

I agree. I thought Stuck played fairly aggressively. He did not seem afraid out there. Made Wade play D.