Forgettable game against a pathetic team with an active roster that barely exceeds the D-League. Somehow the Heat were still in it early in the 4th quarter before the Pistons ended it on a big run. That has to be the least satisfying 16 point win I've ever seen!

On the plus side, AA had a really nice game, and he even hit a jumper.

It's a travesty that after Dixon comes back, we're not going to see Afflalo again until next season

Pistons Win Ugly and Clinch Divison

Pistons 85, Heat 69

The Pistons played uninspired ball the first 22 minutes of the game and trailed at the half by 2.

Either the Pistons Defense took over after the break or the Heat D-Leaguers finally showed their ineptness scoring only 34 points in the second half. It was obvious that the starters were more concerned about hanging out wherever Rip was than playing against some guys they didn't recognize. There was no Shaq, no Wade, No Zo, No Haslem, No white chocolate...the Pistons would have been more lively if they had been playing the MSU Spartans. 10 day guy Brain Ahern led the Heat with 15 points including 13 in the first half when he kept the heat out of the reach of a Piston lead, but was a -18 in the second half. He contributed to the Heat miserable 2-15 shooting beyond the arc.

Alf was the playa of the game playing good defense and scoring a career high 15 points and was a +25. Sheed, Billups, and Alf were all 5-9 from the floor and Sheed hit the only 2 three balls of the night for the Pistons. Max had his best game in weeks and Tay had one of his worst shooting nights in a while.

Stats of the night
Dice played 30 mintes and only got 2 boards
Fabio played less than 2 mins and scored 2 pts
Hayes played 13 mins and scored 0 points

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

We played a bunch of guys on ten day contracts, and still had a hard time winning a game. At least until Flip finally decided to pair Stuckey and Afflalo up in the 2nd half. Pretty easy after that. As good as Stuckey and Billups are individually, together they seldom do much.
Hunter played again. Another absolute zero on offense from him. Another conditining game for him. Good thing it was just Miami.

Amir played plenty, and even got to take few shots, all around the basket. One went in. One was close. Two looked not so good. He needs a ton of gametime shots to get back to where he was before sitting so long. Still nice to at least watch him play D.

Afflalo not only started this one, he got starters mintues. He tied Maxiell with 15 points for game high. One or two jumpers made and the rest going inside. Anyone want to bad mouth his offensive game tonight. Those who do just have not seen Afflalo play enough yet. Good solid D too. He checked Davis quite well.

Stuckey did not do that great, but he did can another couple of shots. But nothing inside today - against Miami?

On getting ready for the playoffs: All four of our key young players played. Check. We still did not replace Hayes at backup small forward, so Tay ended up playing a lot of miutes in this meaningless game against an opponent that should not be allowed in the gym with us. Very much unchecked.

Sheed and Billups hit a few shots. Dyess got to the line a lot, which is helpful toward a win. Nice if he would make some, but really he should be getting several days off instead.

Tay played a lot. Did not do much except hit an occasional jumper.
Hayes did not score. Still a mystery why a guy we picked up for a no risk look, and who can't play D, is still in our rotation.

This was a good win. Played our youth. Rested Rip. Did not overplay most the starters. Hunter got revved up a bit.

Herrmann got in for a bit of GT, and made a nice reverse. Theo got the night off. Hamilton was listed as questionable and then did not dress. Dixon did not dress either, which is why Herrmann was activated.
I will say this once more. If we go with a rotation based chiefly on the following eight players, we will win it all:

Billups, Stuckey, Rip, Afflalo, Tay, Amir, JMAX, Sheed.

And tonights game helped us prepare toward this.

Dyess and Theo are extra bigs for if we go up against a truly large player like Shaq or Howard.

Hunter gives a bit of added depth at guard for a quick minute or two of defensive work. Samb should be the 12th guy. One more shotblocker in the mix can't hurt.

This leaves Dixon, Hayes, and Herrmann out of the picture.

Thats my opinion. Whats yours?

GO PISTONS!!!!!

GO AHEARN! Only Missouri State player I've seen in the NBA since Kelby Stuckey!

AA, 33 min, +25, 15 pts

Stuck/AA = who should be backing up Chaunce/Rip

That is all.

Ugly win, The Heat actually had a lead at some point. Looks like that player meeting didn't do the trick.

Great game & great win! We Piston fans are a spoiled lot when a 16 point win clinches another Central Division title and it barely causes a ripple.

This was a statement game to the rest of the league. What's not to like? There's a directionless offense that seems to operate without a purpose 90-95% of the time. A defense that feels the need to trap the Chris Quinn's and American Idol semi-finalist Blake Ahern's of the world for some reason. Per usual, this team is rolling heading into the playoffs under the steady hand of Flip Saunders and is ready to take on the world.

Nice

And to that I will add...

Held them to 69 points. That's pretty good. Our youth injected the energy that we needed.

Nice games from Maxiell and Afflalo.


I'm a little unsure of why Herrmann never got a real stretch of consistent PT this year to see what he can do. He seems to be the man in short bursts. He plays really hard D and looks like a natural on offense.

With Hayes' streakiness, it just seems like we would have experimented a bit.

Oh well. Not to be.