Everything went according to Flip's plan. Starters got overplayed, rookies barely got any playing time. The bottom line is: Flip doesn't seem to be getting the point that this town cares about playoffs not regular season wins. Stuckey seems to have lost all the offensive speed. He indeed turned into Chauncey 2 where he just stands on the top of the key dribbling and then just throwing the ball to Sheed or Rip. He's not doing anything to initiate the offense, and he's not looking to run or drive. He is just tentative. Great job, Flip.

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

I was openly rooting against the Pistons by the end of the first half. It is hard to put into words how angry Flip Saunders makes me. If I wanted to watch someone stupid do stupid things, I would go look in the mirror. He might as well take a metal chair to one of the starters knees at this point.

Well that was the first game in quite some time where the bench completely lost the game. Chauncey had one of his best games of the year, flirting with a triple double. 11 FT's was great. He was going inside and scoring from the outside. His 3 point shot is what really separates him from Stuckey right now. Chauncey is actually having an easier time getting to the rim because they are paranoid that he'll hit 3's unless they cheat out on him.

Sheed was pretty bad tonight with his shot selection. I don't mind it when he shoots 3's, but those flippant fade aways from 2-3 feet outside the line are just not going for him. And most of the time, he could just creep up and shoot the standard 3.

Anyways, I wish the bench would have played more, but in this case, I don't think that it would have resulted in a win. But that's OK. I would rather take a good loss with a full team effort and development than what we had tonight.

One other thing, Jarvis Hayes misses almost every single shot when he isn't 100% set. It's getting ugly.

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"I’ll just say this: We’re not talking to teams about their second- or third-best players." Joe Dumars talking about his plan to get other teams' 4th best players.

Yep, I would hate to see Cleveland make this trade.

Did we see the same game? The same 2nd quarter that Stucky played in and was totally lit up by their guards? What was Flip supposed to do put him back in against Kevin Martin and Mike Bibby in the 3rd? Well he kind of did.

My point is? To keep Stucky in there for 10 mins when he was getting stuck by their guards, taking ill advised shots and not making any of them was generous. It was purely a case of player development. If he had played better then he would have gotten more time. That 20 MPG is not to be handed down it has to be earned. We got a taste of what real player develpment is like. Its not a magical formula. You put the guy in for as long as the team can hold its own.

I agree. And the starters are not total wusses either. I think they can handle a game another game tomorrow after that 3 day rest. Its the 4 game in 6 night deals that are the killer.

Remember. The Pistons had a pretty good record on the 2nd game of back-backs from last season to early this season. They can handle more than we give them credit for.

You want something to complain about? Why is that hack Wally dude in there , playing out of positon, instead of Amir? That I can agree with. Last thing this team needs is another 3-pt shooting PF.

Anyway. I am out. Another game in 17 more hours. Team will be motivated for the Bulls. I guaransheed it.. Rack it.

Where has Rodney's aggressiveness gone? Ever since he has gotten into full-contact practices, he never drives the ball. It's always dribble up and pass to Rip for an Iso. Why is he even playing if that is his role? He's not out there for his D or his spot up jumper. He's in the game to attack off the dribble. I just don't understand Flip's gameplan here. Does he play against players strengths just for kicks?

Flip can't coach at all. I remember the starters getting worse the 2nd half of the 1st year when Flip started implementing his "playbook". Same thing seems to have happened to Stuckey.

I just skimmed through this thread so i'm probably repeating some things, but he's clueless. I give him props for going to AA and Hermann, but he has no idea what works and what doesn't.

AA was playing solid. Bench him.

Hermann playing solid. Bench him.

He then puts in Stuckey wayyy too late in the 4th quarter, and puts Jarvis Hayes back in who has been sucking all game. Apparently Walter cannot play the 3. Also pulling Max again for Dice; when it's obvious who should be finishing games.

Stuckey got lit up, and Hayes was usual defensive self. He has no idea what creates a winning basketball team. The starters got overplayed. The palace looked mostly empty again. The Cavs are 7 games back. Amir got no playing time yet again.

Good times.

hayes is 2-for-23 in his last 4 games.

i realized why i was so p1ssed off at the palace last night, and why i got worked up again when i got home. i was so mad because artest was being a d*ck the entire game, blowing kisses at the crowd a lot more times than you saw on TV. that would've been fine if we won. but the pistons didn't respond and didn't care, and that's what upset me.

if that happened during the Bad Boys era, we would've won by 30 last night and shoved it in his face. these pistons didn't care. they didn't care that the one player the crowd hates more than anyone was back at the palace, they didn't care that he was mocking the fans, and they didn't care that they had one of the best regular season crowds all year. i know a lot of people that went to the game who might attend 1 game a year (or less), and they had to pay to see that? if i was a player on the bench that would've been all the motivation i needed.

chuck daly was on local radio this week and his advice was to always win at home, and i think he was onto something. i can see why the pistons are such a good road team though.

this wasn't as bad as a game last year when i felt like i should've gotten my money back, because it was still a close and exciting game near the end, but it still worries me (and that doesn't happen often). this team can be scary good when they want, but the question that's going to make or break them in the playoffs is, how good do they want to be?

This team is not the Bad Boys. Those wre the Isiah and Laimbeer led teams with attitude. Our team today is a Joe Dumars led team which believes in a kinder and gentler NBA. Can't coach assertiveness. That's why we may struggle in the playoffs. We need the Zoo to be ready for playoff action. They need to be our x-factor off the bench. I certainly don't want another Billups off the bench. We're at 29-11. We need to finish with around 53 wins. That means going 24-18 the rest of the way. Play the rookies and take your lumps. Let's have 9 players in the rotation every night. Let them ALL average 20-32 minutes per game. We know how the starting five play. Let's see the others.

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"Like in many situations, though, maybe some people don't understand the job you've done until you're gone," Flip Saunders