Minnesota January 15th, 3:30 PM
TV - FSN (Local) NBALP


After a nightmare of a week playing teams at the bottom of the heap, the T`wolves come to town sporting a winning record, and holding second place in the Northwest Division.

Does this mean the Pistons will play up to their competition??
We will see...........

Easiest two weeks of the season ... so far they haven't answered the bell... is this a good enough matchup to motivate Sheed?

This might be a Dyce game.
from Fox Sport:
--Power forward Antonio McDyess played two of his best games last season against Minnesota, averaging 13.5 points on 52 percent shooting. McDyess has been quiet offensively the past five games, which coach Flip Saunders attributes to Chauncey Billups' calf injury. McDyess usually shoots off pick-and-rolls, but Billups' fill-ins haven't been able to free up McDyess, who has also been bothered by back spasms.

Chat should open magically at 3:00PM. Don't forget the game tips off at 3:30PM.

Gooooo Pistons!

Yet another loss. Minny got a big early lead, then the Pistons got right back in it going into halftime. It was back and forth for most of the second half, Minny went ahead with a few minutes left, but Dice led a comeback at the end to get it to OT. Wolves hit too many big shots in the OT for the Pistons to overcome, with Mark frickin' Blount hitting a 3 in the last 30 seconds to give them a 4 point lead. Dice had a great game, but it wasn't enough.

Hopefully Chauncey and CWebb will both be in there on Wednesday against Utah. Also, Lindsey made his return today, with some familiar good energy on D and, also familiar, not much offense.

Just another example of how much the Pistons miss Chauncey. Rip plays major minutes and is expected to win the games at the end and he's pretty much out of gas. Why did Maxiell rack up a DNP? I sure hope that's not a sign that he's going to be traded since that would make me really unhappy. Nazr and Flip are the two players that should be traded since they just don't fit this team. Delfino plays his heart out again and then Flip pulls him early in the 4th never to be seen again except for the last 2 plays of the game. Dale Davis also was a disappearing act in the 2nd half and Flip Saunders rotation is just a thing of mystery to me. Sheed was working hard but his offensive game is just terrible lately, where did his shot go? Things have to get better because the team is pretty stale right now. Nice to see Lindsey Hunter back and doing what he does best, a disruptive force on defense.

Brief impressions:

Flip Murray: 38 minutes, 9 assists, 12 points on 13 shots, 4 steals... got lit up by Randy Foye in the 4th and OT
Rip Hamilton: good offense if occasionally bad decision-making... below-average defense... missed some big shots... some of that was the playcalling, but mostly just missing open shots
Tayshaun Prince: 42 minutes of the invisible man... got 7 assists somehow... shot 6-for-15... got worked over on defense and rebounding by Hassell
Rasheed Wallace: 39 minutes... shot 1-for-11... defense decent... rebounding good...
Dale Davis: played less than 20 minutes... didn't do much, either good or bad
Antonio McDyess: offense excellent... rebounding decent... defense very good except for a few major lapses
Carlos Delfino: 3-for-7 on jumpshots and missed a tipin... missed some open jumpers... defense good except for one major lapse... rebounding good... decision-making decent... only allowed to play PG on one possession
Nazr Mohammed: played 16 minutes... 4 rebounds, 4 fouls
Lindsey Hunter: played 10 minutes... some good decision-making... excellent defense
Jason Maxiell: DNP
Ronald Dupree: DNP
Will Blalock: DNP

Flip Saunders: substitutions didn't always make much sense... he had the sense to make a defensive substitution at the 1 a few times, but not at the 3 or 5... playcalling out of timeouts questionable... went to zone late, which gave up several open jumpshots

Damn why another loss? this game was theres. Chauncey needs to come back on Wednesday. If he comes back, the Pistons will rack up those wins.

These DNP's for Max are really starting to piss me off . . .

Same ole stuff from Flip Sr...been here a year and a half and hasn't coached a single game since he's been here. No one will be more relieved to have Webber and whoever we get in the impending 'trade'. Flip needs players that are talented and can manage themselves...heaven knows he can't manage them.