This game was the classic example of a coach losing the game. This is not a rag on Evans, he did what he's supposed to do. Drove to the rim, hit the open J, but his weakness is D, and it was weak tonight. The Pistons lost the lead, not from a lack of O, but from a lack of D. When Flip says he'll base bench time on situations, well shouldn't that mean play players according to the situation? We needed D tonight, which means players that can play D.

There's no reason Flip can't use Evans and Delfino together or alternatively, they cover each others weaknesses, but Flip cares about one thing, and one that's hitting the open J. Color me officially worried.

Defense is never a "situation" with Flip. Notice how he always dodges questions about defense, and somehow relates it to offensive execution? That's just Flip being Flip.

Good Morning, or is it just Morning? I get out of bed, eager to see the results, and I'm thinking, this cannot be true. But it is true.
From the boxscore I read giving away a 16 point lead, poor rebounding, and again lost it in the paint.
I read a lot of people getting worried, angry, scared, whatever. You better be, because IMO the Pistons will not reach the Finals. They have
the players to do it, but not the coach. And don't say something like: "Relax, there are still 16-17 games to play". You don't create momentum by switching it on and off like the Pistons do right now.
And what worries me the most, is an organisation well aware of their history of defensive play, and nobody stepping up to put a stop to this. Flip needs some serious talk.

All I can say is what I remember being quoted in a movie once from An Officer and a Gentleman- Sgt Foley....."and that cant happen ..ever!" We should not have have even been worrying about the last two minutes, because this should have been cupcake city! All I said all night was "Just Stop Crawford!!!!" And we had Evans on him??....Then Sheed and Rip decide to take the night off for no danggone reason!!..Dallas beat wash by 10, who we lose to by 18!!! This was a terrible night for this team and I never hear any of our suckup beat writers getting on Flip. I been around long enough to know 51-13 doesnt mean a damn thing!...Still think we should have got rid of Milicic?Dale Davis gives us NOTHING! Lindsay is on his last legs and Dice ran out of steam by the third quarter. i think he missed the FT's on purpose cause there's no way he couldve have gone OT! We better get our butts in gear and i believe Sheed and Rip owes this team and us fans something special next game. We'll still be 66-16 but it better not be because we lost to Maimi, phoenix or Dallas. they owe us that much.

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I have to believe Joe D is sick about this too. He knows what this team has done in the past, he knows what his own team did with defense. I have to believe he'll be talking with Flip very soon. I hope. This is not good. the boys need to sit down and watch that game 7 again. I think that was fresh in their minds at the beginning of the season and thats why they played with a sense of purpose. It wasn't flip thats for sure.

And for the love of God Flip you can't play Delfino when your - two starters??!!! Exactly what kind of "situation" are you waiting for

I just finished the watching the game via my DVR. ( I went to see Dave Chappelle's Block Party thinking this game was a slam dunk win!) WTF happen? It's late and I have no one to banter with, but how did we blow a 16 point lead?

Before the hotheads Rip and Sheed decided to take off, we were already fading as we let what look like an insurmountable lead dwindle down to 7. I knew then that things did not look good. What happen to our championship defense? Once again we let a team near the cellar beat us. Yeah we may have "outscored" them if Sheed and Rip had been in the game, but still I ask where is the defense?

How come the Mavs can handle the Wiz convincingly and we get blown out by them and then lose to a team that is even worse? The Spurs also take care of what is supposedly the 4th best team in the league Sun with no problem. If we are supposedly the best team, why are we having problems with lower eschelon teams?

For those of you who say that we are OK with this 51-13 record, please wake up and realize that this is not the same team that played so well through January. The defense is lacking focus and intensity and they are not playing it on consistent basis night in and night out. If Delfino or Davis can play some D then they need to be inserted in the game for defensive stops and Flip has to stop relying on Evans if he is getting continually beaten by his man.

We won almost every statistical category tonight with exception of the total points, the shooting % and the points in the paint. Looks like Sheed was having a good game, but then he has to start shooting his mouth off. He and Rip cannot get away with these shanigans when the refs are already stacking the deck against you. The problem is some of our guys complain on every call instead of letting it go and just playing their game to win. Joe needs to step in and get these guys back on track if Flip can't do it. That HCA is looking very shakey now with the Mavs actually having the advantage and momentum at this time. (tied with a victory already over the once might Pistons)

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"Once you go Barack, you never go Bak" Mario Cantone 2008

when sheed got bounced early. i wish we had darko to come in and fill in for sheed. instead we had mcdyess playing heavy minutes and getting tired. we also had a 75 year old dale davis come in.

glad flip is running delfino off too.when delfino is done "earning" his minutes maybe he'll go to the magic and be the small forward when g. hill retires.

i like delk i think he was a good pickup. i still don't think he's as good for us as arroyo. in the situation last night arroyo could have came in and ran the point while cb was at sg. too bad we traded our future away to keep our past happy.

You have to wonder if there is something behind the scenes going on with Delfino. There has to be some personality conflict...which I mentioned in one of the chats that I got a sense of during a game when Delfino seemed to ignore Flip while Flip was talking to him...

The fact that Marbury was talking about how much he would like Flip to be his coach again is also troubling. I f Marbury likes you can that be good?

I ignore flip and I'm starving for anything from the pistons organization.

Ben and Joe have to step up and get this team playing the way it needs to be. I feel like the pistons are the incredible hulk. You back them up against the wall and they somehow turn into this unstoppable machine. Right now its like putting bruce banner in a zen monastery where he can meditate peacefully on all the good things he could do when he hulks out again. Keep dreaming boys.

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I guess we're all digging out from under some stunned disbelief this morning. I too was hoping for a new hulkish team to emerge from the timeout after the ejections. And I sat during the fourth also wondering if it was about time for Joe D to make a strong visit to the locker room after a serious come to Jesus one in the coach's lounge.

We've talked in several threads last week about the rest of the season falling into an easy stretch, a hard stretch, and then a mixed bag to finish it out. Well, the easy stretch isn't really turning out that way and I can't seem to stop the nightmare scenario running through my head of getting beaten by Miami, Indy, New Jersey, Dallas, Phoenix, Miami, and then ending with a complete blowout on the road in Orlando. AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH.............................. .

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"But first, are you experienced? Or have you you ever been experienced? Well, I have."
Jimi