Did you guys notice Flip's interview right before halftime where he basically threw out his weak sauce analysis "... yeah, I thought that they did a good job hitting shots, and we didn't hit as many shots, so that is something that we are going to have to do better in the 2nd half..." yeah. He always does that.

Anyways, Herrmann being the Dirk stopper and also leading the team in assists was pretty unexpected.

Stuckey with 3 steals.

Whatever, Dallas was hitting shots and we weren't and we have to do a better job of improving that ...

__________________
"If I'm sitting there arguing with the officials, I'm giving an alibi for the team." MC

I decided not to watch the second half and just review the box score...the rebounds were even, assists about the same. About the same number fouls called on each team too. The difference of course was in the shooting., plus of course they beat us in the paint 38-26 so what else is new.>?? You know if tay gets stuffed on a dunk attempt in the opening minutes, it will be long game for him and yep he was 1-7 from the field including one real weak shot in front of the hoop after grabbing a rebound. The posteration of JMAX by Bass in the second qtr must have have damaged his psyche as he was 1-5 from the field.

Our bench got out pointed 41-31 and it is obvious bringing JTerry off the bench is working great for the Mavs....Stackhouse sat out last Sundays game with a injury just so he could torch us tonight and sure enough three pops from beyond the arc did some damage. but alas it was the Dirkster who did us in with array of rainbow shots over Sheed and Dice.

One positive tonight was that Fabio broke out with a nice defensive effort on dirk in the second qtr..otherwise Dirk ,may have scored over 30...plus Fabio led the team in assists with 4

Young players. The announcers really made something out of the garbage time our young players got. Sorry, touting the party line does not make it any less painfully obvious that Amir Johnson did not get to play, even in a blowout, until less than 3 minutes left in the game.


Just to give everyone a taste of what Saunders thinks of young players playing, Zaret started the broadcast by saying Stuckey and Afflalo were making mistakes from being nervous in the Boston game. (Quoting Saunders) Really. Did Zaret watch the game? Afflalo only played 3 minutes of that game. Stuckey had his minutes limited, never getting any chance to really get into the game. Neither player showed any signs of nerves. Indeed, neither player has yet to do so this year. These two are a couple of very poised players. But, hey, back to this game.


Dyess started the game. Why? He made a couple of jumpers after we got way behind in the 1st quarter. He drew no fouls. He played no D. He was basically a very bad fit for this game.


Anyone else notice that during our comeback in the 2nd, Tay and Rip were missing their shots? Some help. Now, for the game, Rip did make some shots at least. Can't complain too much about his performance.
Billups hit his share of shots too. Sheed did too, while playing decent D, sometimes all alone though.


Hayes was invisible. Another guy Flip just automatically gives minutes to, regardless of the situation.


JMAX gave us some energy, but had somewhat of an offnight on his scoring. But then again, he did not play that much either. He should be starting. (While Dyess fights for minutes between him, Brezec, Herrmann, and Amir.)


Hermann got to play a lot. But yet, as many have pointed out, he could have come in early in the 3rd quarter after it was obvious he could guard Dirk. Indeed, really he should have started the 3rd quarter. Yes, and on the subject of getting prepared for the playoffs, the fact that Herrmann played is a very good thing. To me, its more important that he got the minutes he did vs. the outcome of this still early in the season game.


Amir had a highlight, getting a fast break rebound putback slam. Afflalo got hot shooting in the 4th. Stuckey got to double figures. Stuckey played 22 minutes. And since Dallas did for some odd reason keep some of their starters in during garbage time, it was better than usual garbage time practice for Stuckey at the end of the game.


Our starters should be rested for SA at least.

Found this on mlive's comment section. Guy has some great points.

I think they still are in Toronto and forgot to leave. At least that's what it looks like. Ringing up wins against weaker opposition, and when going gets tough the team just falls apart. Hey, I'm not going to call this panic time, but it's just not looking good. I will allow that team can have a couple of bad games after an 11-game winning streak, but why wouldn't the youngsters get the playing time when the game is over?

As they said in the old days Right on Mik. 11 wins over a few non contenders and now they come up against some real comp and their weaknesses are exposed. But lets not past judgement yet until we see what team shows up tomorrow night...the second best team in basketball or the sixth best behind the Celtics, Mavs, Suns, Spurs and Lakers.

At least I got lucky to watch the game with that FF button.

I just read an article where Flip said Hermann was the only guy that oculd stop Dirk. So why didn't he start the 3rd quarter, or come in after a few minutes?

Because he does not sit a starter unless he has multiple fouls or misses the bus. Otherwise you get to start and there are no lineup changes no matter how bad the designated starting five are playing. I mean these are grown men and he shouldn't worry about hurting anybody's feelings, but Flip is stubborn and relies on vets whether they are rundown or not and that is why he has never got that 12th victory in the post season. I sure hope he has his laptop with him and reads this tonight

It just sounds retarded. I have a guy who can neutralize the best player on the opposing team, but I'll keep him stuck to the bench because I have the "designated starters". Oh yeah, I also have a defensive stopper on the team, but I'd rather keep him on the bench too because I may hurt Rip's feelings. Is it a coincidence, but Pistons best defense was played in the 2nd quarter with mainly reserves on the floor.