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They are the archetype for dominance. They are the gatekeepers of the conference. They are the Detroit Pistons.

Close shave for the Pistons, but they pulled it out. CWebb hit a ton of big shots in the fourth quarter, and Rip played some big D on Ray Allen. They managed to stop him whenever he had to penetrate, although he hit a bunch of insane 3s to keep them in the game. No one was playing much of any D in the third quarter, but a good string of stops by the Pistons got them a 10 pt lead early in the 4th, as they continued to take advantage of the sieve-like Sonics D. Questionable play call by Seattle right at the end, down 2, when they iso'd Ray for a drive, which hadn't been working for him. They didn't send anyone to set a screen for him, stupidly; that would have had a much better chance of working.

Couldn't find our reps there---but a great game just the same.

Amazing D by Rip and Sheed at the end.

Ray Allen was just on fire. It doesn't mean that it wasn't good D before he finally started missing. But when a guy is in that kind of zone, you need to get up in his grill 5 feet outside the 3-point line... even when he doesn't have the ball. And that is what Rip did.

Pretty much a nice contribution from everyone. Webber of course. Flip Murray, Delfino, Chauncey with a huge 3.

Fun game to watch.

This West Coast road trip is the best medicine for the Pistons. It's going to be a dogfight to see which team ends up in the first spot and I'm glad that Cleveland is breathing down our necks, keeps the boys motivated. Seattle is a fun team to watch and I like several of their players. I'm a big Chris Wilcox fan and for the first 8 minutes of the game he looked All-Pro and then then went away from him. Earl Watson is a very capable guard and he played his heart out. The Pistons just wanted to win this game just a little more and even Flip Murray was playing hard and in control and he was a positive tonight. Where would we be without Chris Webber? He's really one of our keys, he keeps the offense flowing, scores his points, isn't a ball hog and just fits in with this team so well. Delfino made the play of the game by scoring those all important 2 points near the end of the first half. Delfino should be called the "ball whisperer", the basketball just finds its way to his hands sometimes. Now if he would just take some more shots but he's gunshy for some reason.

Webber did not get his usual 20-10 game tonight, falling short by two rebounds. However, I won't complain greatly about 24 points on 10-13 shooting, 8 boards, and 6 assists. Kelser loves to mention how Webber likes to post up at a good angle for the bank shot. Webber did it twice in a row in this game, from each side of the hoop. Mostly, he made a living on post up moves tonight. For fans who love the inside game, Webber is truly a blessing.

Sheed did not do that great on O, but he was a big factor on D, managing to get his hands on the ball plenty when not invited to do so by Seattle. He did get burnt several times in a row by Wilcox though to start the game.

One of the big stars from last game, Jason Maxiell, got about 6 minutes in this one. Not much from him, but hey, again, he just played the 6 minutes. Him and Rip failed to connect on an alley oop, but still good practice for them trying one, and JMAX got one shot from the post and missed. Still NBA experience.

Dyess got 4-8. I don't recall him hitting an outside shot.

Delfino played enough, scored 4, got his hands on plenty of rebounds and loose balls. Flip Murray had a good game, scoring 8 points, and keeping it down to two bad shots.

CB did not do a whole lot of scoring, but he did hit that one huge triple late in the game to answer one by Allen who was shooting and hitting from four miles out or so. Rip was his usual steady self in scoring.

Tay scored just shy of 20 points on a mix of shots inside and out. Not a bad job defending Lewis either.

Flip kept his bench in longer than usual in the 2nd quarter. Maybe he is actually learning how to coach? Lets see if that continues. Good job of trusting the bench a bit for this one.

Thats 3 of 3 on this West coast road trip. Thats solid, no matter how a good a team you are, or who you are playing. GO PISTONS!!!!!

Another good road win and one that was needed since our Eastern competition appears to have found the key to winning (Cavs have won six straight, Heat 7 straight and Bulls and Raptors 3 in a row.) Even the Hawks have a 4 game win streak without Joe Johnson. The Cavs won big tonight without king James? Now the question is how come these teams can win without Wade, James and Johnson and we struggled without Billups???



A game that could have gotten away from us as we let Ray and Earl get off to many three balls. Funny thing was Ray was 5-9 from beyond the arc but 2 out of 15 from inside it, so good idea of getting him to force that fadeaway from the right in the closing seconds. Dang..wish Joe had pulled the trigger on that Mohammad or Davis for Watson deal

However he gets major kudos though for grabbing homeboy Cwebb, because he has been the difference so far on this road trip averaging 21 and 9. (and lets not forget the assists). He helped the pistons dominate the paint 50-32.

In summary the guards took the night off, but Tay hit a lot of key shots in the second half and Sheed hit a couple clock beating 3 balls in the first. . Got 20 from the bench including 8 from Flip jr despite his pourus defense. My old buddy Delfino hit an acrobatic funny shot to end the half after we had surrendered a 10 point lead and those points proved to be very valuable at the end of the game.

Thanks to Aurora Kim and Linwood for providing the PF road karma to secure the win. Wood, it's on you tomorrow night bro..

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

No such luck, eh?

Allright, I've just returned from the game.

Here's what I noticed.

Ronald Murray really wants to be a Piston. Just before the game started all the Pistons took their place on the bench. Flip was the last to sit down, and he made a point to greet and give secret handshake to all Pistons. from Chauncey to Double D, Flip worked his way down the line, making friends with all the Pistons. For the most part, the team was game. The only exception was McDyess, who turned around to get some Gatoraide right as Ronald reached out to shake his hand. Dice is one cold dude...

Game starts. For the first 9 minutes, it's Pistons vs. Chris Wilcox. Chris exploits the slow front line of our boys in blue, and scores the first 10 or so points for the Sonics.

At the end of the first quarter, I watch the bench. Flip Saunders is very active. He wields the clipboard. Chauncey pays attention. Rasheed doesn't. Ron Harper gives a pep talk. Terry Porter hangs out and looks cool.

Ronald Dupree is dressed in a very nice sport coat, pressed white shirt, and expensive looking jeans. His diamond earing catches the light and shines in my eyes, 9 rows back. Super Dupe follows Terry Porter around and apes his every move. He studies the clipboard. He folds his arms next to Terry. He offers words of encouragement to the bench. Could he be vying for the hallway coach position?

Nazr Mohammed is a true professional. Dale Davis eyeballs the Sonics cheerleaders.

Second quarter affords a few minutes for JMax. Man, this dude is short. NBA short, not real life short. I would guess that he is about 6'6", tops. The Brahma doesn't have much luck against a young, athletic Sonics frontcourt... I think they may be on to him.

Halftime. I went out to smoke a cig.. er get some fresh air. Talked to many Pistons fans. Talked to a woman from Dexter and the Boulevard. She's been here about 12 years. Talked to lots of other Detroit expatriates. Key Arena was about 40 percent Detroit fans.

Second Half:

Rip becomes frustrated. Flip wisely pulls him before he draws a foul or technical. When Turbo goes to the bench, he takes his mask off and throws it at Arnie Kandor. Arnie has no chin. He picks up Rip's mask, and spends a few minutes fixing it. This happens several times during the game.

About halfway through the 3rd, the guy with the Rodman jersey sitting behind me points out the fact that Tayshaun has 15 points. "Quitest 15 points I've ever seen, man" This seems to be Prince's Modus Operandi. I've heard people say the same thing since his freshman year at UK.

Tayshaun plays great defense on Rasard Lewis and Ray Allen. If he can't cover them, he does a great job steering them into Rasheed Wallace or Antonio McDyess. With Tay on the job, the Sonics two leading scorers never get a good look on an uncontested shot.

Sheed is a superstar.

Chris Webber has saved the Piston's offense.

Flip Murray played his first 6 or so minutes without taking a shot. I think he played well.

Carlos Delfino is a compulsive gum chewer. He had a few fans from Argentina sitting close to me. They had an Argentinian (sp?) flag they were waving around. This cat has talent, and could be a nice piece as the Pistons move forward.

Sonics keep the game close during the fourth, and the game is decided in the final seconds.

Great game.

This post is getting pretty long, so I will try to wrap things up.

Overall impression: The Pistons with Cwebb are a team of savy vets. they are calm under pressure, execute thier plays well, and seldom make mistakes. This is why they win games.

On the flip side, this team of savy vets is old and slow by NBA standards, and gets beat by younger, more athletic players. See Chris Wilcox's opening 11 points.

Old vets who play the right way can win championships, as proved by the Pistons in 2004 and the Heat last year. I think this team has another year, two tops before age overcomes experience. Enjoy the ride, because it's a great one.

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"Eastern Conference regular-season champs, baby," said Chauncey Billups. "This is what we set out for when we started the season in training camp. We did it and we're happy." (2003)