Toronto Jan 15 7:30 PM - Page 4 - Detroit Pistons Fan Community

lapiston · #31 (**permalink**) 01-16-2008, 12:06 AM

Lee,

The Pistons now should be focused only on the ultimate goal of the playoffs. Agree.

lpgrl26 · #32 (**permalink**) 01-16-2008, 12:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warthog

saunders was quoted after the game stating that he and joe talked and that joe wanted to shorten the rotation for the time being to make sure stuckey the backup G minutes (at the expense of afflalo for now), so he'll be ready for playoffs.

I can deal with that (if it's temporary), but i don't think it's necessary. There are still enough min left over for AA if Rip plays less. But that would require playing Stuck/Afflalo together so i can see the hesitation at times.

Quote:

i haven't seen stuckey hurting us defensively though...i thought he's been a very solid defender, and the turnovers aren't a big deal right now. stuckey said after the game he still is a bit tentative in deciding when to attack the basket, and 2nd-guessing himself at times, but he'll get over it. and i believe that's true - the way chauncey was penetrating tonight, i thought stuckey could've killed toronto the same way.

He seems to have trouble getting through screens and sometimes gets blown by/loses his man requiring the defense to have to collapse. It's not an all the time thing, but something i've noticed the past few games. The turnovers don't bother me all that much. He's a rook. I'll give him leeway.

Quote:

oddly at the palace tonight, they sung the national anthem like 10 mins before announcing the lineups, which was pretty strange. there were quite a few raptors fans, and they started to chant "let's go raptors" in the 4th, but a sheed dunk and and-1 quickly shut them up. the family in front of us, i'm pretty sure they were from toronto (no team apparel either way) because the dad was clapping when the raps scored, and then when his kid cheered along with pistons fans he kind of made his kid stop heh.

LOL

Lee356 · #33 (**permalink**) 01-16-2008, 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warthog

saunders was quoted after the game stating that he and joe talked and that joe wanted to shorten the rotation for the time being to make sure stuckey the backup G minutes (at the expense of afflalo for now), so he'll be ready for playoffs. i haven't seen stuckey hurting us defensively though...i thought he's been a very solid defender, and the turnovers aren't a big deal right now. stuckey said after the game he still is a bit tentative in deciding when to attack the basket, and 2nd-guessing himself at times, but he'll get over it. and i believe that's true - the way chauncey was penetrating tonight, i thought stuckey could've killed toronto the same way.

let's give credit to chauncey and the pistons for pushing the ball up the court more, and for chauncey driving to the basket. there were a few times early they were trying to draw fouls instead of just making the basket, but they corrected themselves later. after being at the palace so many times, the pistons knew they were never in danger of losing this game, and i think that's why they relaxed a little bit at the end of each quarter after building a lead. to their credit, after the debacle near halftime, they really came out in the 3rd with a purpose. toronto is an okay basketball team, but not great. bosh is too weak for our frontline, and without bargnani playing well they have no chance in the playoffs.

oddly at the palace tonight, they sung the national anthem like 10 mins before announcing the lineups, which was pretty strange. there were quite a few raptors fans, and they started to chant "let's go raptors" in the 4th, but a sheed dunk and and-1 quickly shut them up. the family in front of us, i'm pretty sure they were from toronto (no team apparel either way) because the dad was clapping when the raps scored, and then when his kid cheered along with pistons fans he kind of made his kid stop heh.

something is definitely up with tay though. in the first 5 minutes of the game he missed an offensive rebound that was bouncing right to him, simply because he was standing still and didn't take one step to reach the ball, and then he let bosh rip a defensive rebound right out of his hands. i don't know what his problem is, but if anyone has seemingly grown complacent, i think it's tayshaun over anyone else. but i seem to remember a slump like this every year for tayshaun, and then in the playoffs he steps up. no excuse, but still.

2-0 with the maxiell jersey. he's struggling lately as well, but he still makes hustle plays and tough plays that don't always pile up on the stat sheet. he's learning to pass out of double teams and is making teams pay for putting him at the line, drawing fouls and making his FTs (over 73% in january, getting better every month).

I wonder just how that conversation went. No way I think Dumars approached Flip with idea of dropping Afflalo out of the rotation. Besides, for all practical purposes, Afflalo has been out of the rotation for quite some time now.

Think of it this way. If Stuckey needs all this time to get ready for the playoffs, then how about Afflalo and Amir? Seems they could use some time playing to get ready for the playoffs.

Here is a very simple fact. All we have to do is cut down on Rip's minutes to get Afflalo time to play. It ain't rocket science or anything. Flip's excuses are amusing, but of no substance whatsoever.

TaShawn · #34 (**permalink**) 01-16-2008, 01:10 AM

Here is what I liked about this game:

1) We pushed the tempo. We can mostly thank Rip for this. Every time we got a long rebound or a steal, Rip was looking for the ball and sprinting down court. We were getting layups. But we were also getting those mid transition buckets where we would try to push it and then kick out to an open shooter trailing. It was brilliant. 92 possessions for us in this game compared to our average of 88. Our players make such smart decisions that we can handle the chaos of the faster tempo. Also, Dyess's steals gave us opportunities.

2) We got inside. Billups and Stuckey were both driving and finishing as well as kicking out for open J's. Also, guys were cutting. Rip, Dyess, Sheed, and Tay all got point blank hoops off of cuts into the lane. It was especially nice to see CB look to create. We got to see what a good passer he still is when he decides to penetrate (and how about that lightning behind the back pass to Rip underneath the hoop?).

3) Flip left our traditional lineup in there to crush Toronto's small lineup in the 2nd half. Instead of reacting to them, he decided to push our advantage. Immediately, we were keying on their weakest link until they finally relented and went bigger.

4) Rip Hamilton- If you ignore free throws, then Rip Hamilton outscored the entire Toronto Raptor starting five 37 to 35! His jumper was automatic, he was getting inside, he was initiating the fast break, and his defense has been ridiculous. I think that we really need to start considering his D to be on par with Tay and Sheed.

Also, big minutes for Stuckey and Maxiell paid off, as they were both great. 9 boards for Max and 5 assists for Stuck.

Of course we didn't get a big dose of Afflalo and Amir, but there were a lot of big picture positives in terms of our gameplan tonight.

LA Dre · #35 (**permalink**) 01-16-2008, 02:12 AM

One last thing, they beat us on the boards 42-38, but we finally won the battle of the paint 36-28...

mikhail1973 · #36 (**permalink**) 01-16-2008, 02:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lee356

I wonder just how that conversation went. No way I think Dumars approached Flip with idea of dropping Afflalo out of the rotation. Besides, for all practical purposes, Afflalo has been out of the rotation for quite some time now.

Think of it this way. If Stuckey needs all this time to get ready for the playoffs, then how about Afflalo and Amir? Seems they could use some time playing to get ready for the playoffs.

Here is a very simple fact. All we have to do is cut down on Rip's minutes to get Afflalo time to play. It ain't rocket science or anything. Flip's excuses are amusing, but of no substance whatsoever.

Quote:

Saunders said that for now, Arron Afflalo would be out of the rotation.
"After talking to Joe (Dumars ), we decided to shorten our bench somewhat to facilitate Stuckey," Saunders said. "We want to get him out there with more of our main guys to try and help him out."

That's how it went, I guess, at least that's what media is reporting.

lpgrl26 · #37 (**permalink**) 01-16-2008, 02:23 AM

To his credit Afflalo seems to be taking it well. Said he's going to work harder, get better, and earn the trust of the staff, and make it so they HAVE to play him.

I hope he doesn't get discouraged when he realizes it's not that simple with Flip.

FreshPrince22 · #38 (**permalink**) 01-16-2008, 03:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OLD SKOOL HQ

Now THIS was athrowaway game! Not impressed at all.
Sheed-nuthin
Tay- nuthin
Max-nuthin
Bench-nuthin

Just agood shooting night by the Palace Guards. wont get it done in ECF!

Imagine Chris Bosh on our team NOW!

Max-nuthin? He had 8 points, 9 boards, and 2 assists in 26 minutes. His defensive rebounding tonight was big. Not sure what else you want from him. Stuckey was solid. 8 points 5 assists. A couple rookie mistakes, and his shot appears to be busted, but more good than bad easily.

As for the rest of the bench. We need a shooter who can show up relatively consistently. Jarvis is great for about 3 games a month. Otherwise he hurts as much as he helps (if not more). I would still like to see AA play some SF. A Stuckey/Rip/AA lineup would workout much better than the Stuckey/AA/Prince (or hayes) lineups that Flip goes to when he's playing the rooks together. They're scrappier defensively, and Rip isn't a reluctant scorer like Tayshaun. While AA won't get hot like hayes occasionally can, he'll take better shots, and bring a lot more defensively. I don't think he's as streaky either.

Lee356 · #39 (**permalink**) 01-16-2008, 03:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikhail1973

That's how it went, I guess, at least that's what media is reporting.

Sure would love to see the whole conversation. How much of it was discussing, vs. Flip begging to get his own way. Maybe he made some promises to Joe to do some things later, like play Amir. If Dumars fell for that, thats just shame on Joe.

max · #40 (**permalink**) 01-16-2008, 04:06 AM

For me Afflalo is not a deal breaker. I would like to see Amir play because we really could use him in the post season. About 25% of Afflalo's shots are 3's and he has hit 5 out of 26 so far. Actually has played a decent amount of time for one of our rookies. He will be back. I am sure its only temporary.

Nice game by the way. Toronto is not a pushover.