That's not true. Neither JMax nor Dice were in foul trouble when Herrmann came in during the 2nd quarter; in fact Dice ended up not committing any fouls at all for the whole game, and JMax only had one. Sheed was playing with 2 fouls, but he was the one big man out there with the small lineup as Herrmann guarded Dirk.

Now, I agree that something should have changed in the third quarter once it became clear that the starters were reverting to the same crappy play from the first quarter. I'm not sure that bringing Herrmann back in would have been such an obvious answer--the starters did play pretty good D at the beginning of the quarter, but fell behind because of stupid forced Js. But an adjustment should have been made nonetheless.

I sure hope it's not true, but it could be that way.

Going into the Celtics game, the Pistons had won 18 of 20. There are a couple of teams in the NBA that are actually better than Detroit. The Pistons just happen to be playing 3 of them in a row.

We're not talking about wins and losses. I am happy with the record of the team. We're talking about the adjustments necessary to win. Flip didn't even try - he has that blind faith in the starters that hurt them two years in a row in the conference finals, and that's where it will end this year as well unless something changes. He has to at least try something different if the "good old way" is not working. He is at the frontline and he has to fight the complacency. If player is not performing and his head is not in the game - sit him, don't stick with him until the game gets out of hand. For the most part, Flip has done good job managing the minutes, but he has to be firmer with starters. Nellie kept his three top players on the bench for the most part of the Portland game because they didn't produce.

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I think the Washington Wizards have got to be the dumbest team in the history of civilization. - C.Barkley

Maybe if Lambieer was coaching a young lottery team. He would not take that approach with a veteran team like the Pistons.

Don`t get me wrong, I am not saying it shoudn`t be done, just not by a rookie coach like Lambieer.

The issue is about the pick n roll, and getting into the paint. Not Piston tradition!!

Brandon Bass was impressive.

I like Stuckey.

Brezec was a lot faster than I remembered him as being. Not that he's Amare Stoudemire, but he's not completely stiff.

Laims seems to me he would be a "no nonsense" coach who would tell it like it is. It wouldn't matter if it was year 1 or 21.

Do you think any one of those players would have been able to argue they were playing like garbage?

The problem is that this is players league. If players tune out the coach, who do you think loses his job? Joe's not going to trade the entire team.

If the team is not performing and a tongue lashing gets them out of the funk?