Ha ha ah ah ha ah a a ha ha ah ha a ha ha

Nice overall game for him, only 5 points, few rust-related misses, but a very solid game for him. Afflalo too. Stuckey got fouled on that missed dunk too.

Wll it appears that Amir finally got that picture of Flip in an uncompromising position and he had to play him. In fact both kids from California, AJ and AA got more minutes than both Max and Hayes, and they made the most of it. Although AJ missed a couple of ez putbacks in the 4th, he still scored 5 pts. grabbed 5 boards and blocked 2 shots. He may not be a prolific scorer like Hayes, but his defense and board work made up for it.

Well, well, look who got minutes tonight...Amir and AA each played 14-15, as 10 players in all saw the floor. The starters all played between 35 and 38 total, but not many together as a unit, as there were a lot of different combinations out there. JMax only played 10 minutes while Hayes had 6. The Sixers crashed the boards for a big advantage, 47-33, but the Pistons took advantage of lots of Philly turnovers and also had a big edge at the FT line. Rip and CB going 15-24 from the floor was the big factor on offense.

AA and Amir played together for much of the 2nd quarter, hustling on both ends and making a nice impact, mostly in a unit with Tay, CB, and Dice. That 5-man group turned an even game into a solid lead, which stretched out to 9 by halftime. The Sixers got back within 5 a couple of times in the second half, but never got any closer than that.

He is a better scorer than Hayes.

I know, but we are waiting for Flip to let him prove it to us

That wasn't so hard now, was it? I was falling asleep on (Not falling off) the couch when the Amirgeddon happened. He doesn't have to dominate, just 5-8 minutes to help keep the main cogs fresh. Anything else is a bonus.

I almost can't believe the box score when I look at the minutes. It doesn't seem like the starters played that many minutes. Even when I win, I lose.

That was as close to resembling a rotation as I've ever seen from the Flipster. There is definitely room for improvement, but I'll take what I can get right now.

Amir as the 4th big? AA playing small forward? I think it was take suggestions from the form night. Please keep it up.

AJ is an impact player.

Have to believe that Joe read Flip's comments about possibly benching Stuckey, and he realized that he better put his foot down and get some pt for the kids before they became the next Darko and Delfino's and started demanding one way tickets out of Detroit.

Great game. It was not perfect, but a great step toward playoff preparation. Tonight, I am only going with positives.


Stuckey did not play a ton in this game, but he played enough. He got some late 2nd quarter minutes along with about 5 minutes between the quarters each half. He was part of a shutout pitched against Philly to start the 4th quarter. He did not score, but he did not hurt us either while giving CB some rest.


Afflalo got 15 minutes. A fiery ball of energy out there. He got to the rack a few times for us for scores.


Amir was pretty awesome. Yep, he came short on his few post moves, but remember, those are like the first set of post moves he has been given to take in well over a month. Amir does normally make those shots. Amir also got 15 minutes. Five rebounds, 2 blocks, a bunch of shots they could not take or missed from his presence, and a few times where we got the ball from him fighting for a bound. He did make a couple offensive rebound putbacks and one of two at the line.


Hayes was limited to 6 minutes, and Saunder kept him off the floor when Stuckey was out there. Afflalo got his minutes in the 2nd half. (Which resulted in no points for Philly while Afflalo was out there.)


The Pistons took control of the game in the last minutes of the 1st half,with both Stuckey and Amir on the floor.


For the most part, despite some really hot shooting by both Billups and Rip in the first half, all our starters did all game long was trade baskets with Philly. In the first half, we scored plenty, but so did they with our starters in the game. In contrast, when guys like Afflalo and Amir were in, the Philly team just could not find a bucket except by shear luck upon occasion.


Tay had a decent game. So did Sheed, although his rebounding and points totals were low.


Dyess played about 35 minutes.


While Philly was manhanling our starters on the boards pretty badly, Amir and JMAX turned the tide our way when they were in. Stuckey and Afflalo also help on rebounding.


We did get to see Amir and JMAX together as a pair of bigs briefly. Other than Dalembert scoring on Amir the one time, it worked out fine. But it was a rather brief time. Maxiell only played 10 minutes in this game. He got stripped on a couple of post possesions, but he had some fine moments on the offensive glass too. I am not too worried about Maxiell playing short minutes in this game as he has been complaining about tired legs of late.


Hayes made a short shot on a cut to the basket.
Stuckey had a steal, and had an easy dunk attempt. He did not miss for nothing. A replay showed he was fouled. (His leg was hit to knock him off course.)


Feelings of elation were frequent and long from watching this game. A whole lot of people loved watching Amir play tonight. Like a cool drink of water in the desert after a long, long thirst.


If this keeps up, with the youngsters playing, I suggest everyone start buying tickets again, as they will go fast.


GO PISTONS!!!!!