Pistons assistant GM says Rattler may start for Sheed.

oh, and...

Chat is open!!!

http://www.pistonsforum.com/misc.php?do=flashchat

Joe got my text message and had Flip start Theo. ...he got the first Pistons points on a dunk, played 6 min and was then replaced by AJ

Halftime;

I'm sorry but it's comical at this point. Dixon's "defense" was responsible for that run (the Knicks that is). 3 straight bad defensive possessions that put a teammate in an awkward position. Alot of energy and no result. It's no wonder Flip likes him.

Afflalo hasn't gotten off the bench, and i'm curious to see how much time he does get now that Rip had an emotional breakdown.

I give up. Flip will never "get" it.

Joe needs to give him just 10 players and that's it. If you give him a choice, he'll always make the worn gone.

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The culture of the Knicks = lunch pail = blue collar.
Miami is more sophisticated than West teams ?
No Cleve is not MSG ?????
I must be a lunch pail kind of guy...

At the least, soup and sandwich.

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

Typical Pistons game of late.

The 4th quarter execution sucked. When it hit 9 i was thinking it will be 2 by a min left into the game. Sure enough 6-0 run. These last whaterver-0 runs are extrememly troubling as well as our inability to create anything resembling offense on the other end.

Flip's sub patterns continue to puzzle.

Amir should've played more. Dixon minus a few made shots was awful. Afflalo was solid though if he can't even get major PT when Rip is ejected it looks bleak. He showed he should play over Dixon even in that short stint.

Something is wrong with Dyess or he is just bad.

The only bright spot in this game was Theo.

edited to add; Stuckey was another bright spot who deserved more PT.

I guess you missed Stuckey having an excellent game, plus some solid scoring for JMax, aside from too many bricked FTs. Tay did a great job filling in for the missing production of the injured Sheed and the ejected Rip, with 28 pts total and a huge clutch basket in the last 10 seconds. The bench scored 46 points total!

Another tough game as a lower tier team gets up for the Pistons. Sheed is out resting his ankle and Rip decides to make it interesting by shooting off his mouth and getting sent to the showers early. We should have traded him to the Knicks for Crawford and Lee

The Zoo crew made up for their "in awe" performance in beantown the other night by scoring 46 points with Stuckey having one of his best shooting games (6-9). Max was a +8, Johnson had 3 blocks and Dixon dished out 4 assists. Theo started for the injured sheed and had 2 dunks and two blocks and some intimidations.

Dice continues play like this is game 82 and Tay was once again our hero scoring 28 points and an impressive 9-9 from the line.

For the second time this week the Pistons score 50 points in the paint (20 above their average) and shoot exactly 50% from the floor. You can attribute that to only 8 three ball attempts as the zoo crew relies more on the high % shots than the starters...with No sheed in there our 3 ball attempts were down.

Pistons are now 27-1 when they score 100+ and have clinched a playoff spot.

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

Good game. Amazing what a difference playing the bench can make. Last time we played the Knicks, we got slaughtered. I laughed when the announcers were talking about missing Sheed and Rip. Gee, like what good did they do the last time we faced the Knicks. Not much. I was also amused as Kelser was saying how energetic the team was. At a moment when none of our starters were in the game.


Not to pick on you Oracle, but hey, I am going to pick on you in fun. Still think Stuckey is a situational player for the playoffs? Nope. This is one rookie who can play the game. First, his D is solid. Second, the way he shot tonight, you better expect just one thing - it will get better even yet. And Stuckey finds open players well and passes well. Pull up jumpers, getting to the basket some.


Dixon started the 2nd half after Rip was tossed for two techs arguing the same play. He did little in that 2nd half besides give up points to the other team. Although I think he did hit a triple in the 2nd half so he did something. His first half was better, with him making several alert plays. But nothing Afflalo can't do, and Afflalo plays so much better D its just not funny. We barely won this game. Without the 6 minutes of decent perimeter D by Afflalo there to start the 4th, this probably would have been another loss.


Amir had some nice moments. A few blocks in the first quarter after he was the first big off the bench. A couple of baskets on cut ins. A couple of free throws. I do wish both he and Maxiell would start hitting more free throws when they get the chance.


Maxiell made double figures in scoring. A couple of outside shots made, some dunks, a free throw or two. He did a decent job guarding Curry for a spell also.


Billups? Did he play in this one? Kind of overshadowed by the play of Stuckey in my opinion. Rip added a lot of energy when he was in, hitting some shots and making their defense really work hard to keep up with him. Them grabbing him to slow him down is what got him tossed when he complained.


Tay was the scoring hero. 28 points. He worked outside and in. Good solid job of scoring.


Hayes hit an outside shot. More importantly, he played a lot and did not muck it up too bad on D so that Tay could catch some rest.


Welcome back Theo. He played fine D on Curry for the most part, blocked a shot, and scored some on cuts into the basket. He airballed his lone outside shot. As I guessed, he did not play that much even though he started, coming out early, like at the 6 minute mark, in each half and then getting another stint later in each half.


Dyess gave us a worthless outside shot or two. Not even thinking it might help to go inside and draw fouls. He did have one of the keys to us winning though. He played less than usual. (And this is truly a good sign, considering Sheed was not playing? No, Dyess was just in foul trouble. I am sure Saunders would have messed this up if he could have.)


In all a good game. Another win. Clinched a playoff spot. Our youngsters all played, though Afflalo did not play enough and did not shoot enough. (He needs more in game practice.) A new player was added to the rotation, one who can help. (Theo). Even though I don't like seeing Dixon getting Afflalo's minutes, I still like the added depth he brings us, and that he played minutes tonight is not a bad thing.


In my opinion, our active roster should consist of the following 12 guys when the playoffs get here:


Billups, Stuckey.


Rip, Afflalo


Tay, Amir


Sheed, JMAX


Theo, Dyess


Dixon and Samb as the last two guys dressed.

I mentioned Stuckey.