YEAH!!!

GO PISTONS!!!!

Anyway, I'm celebrating coz this is the 2nd Pistons game (goes to show the respect TV networks over here have for Detroit) I've seen this season and so far I'm 2-0 when I watch. Yeah!!!

Looking forward to the Dallas game tomorrow. Most people are predicting the streak to end tomorrow but I'm hoping we have enough juice to squeeze out another victory.

Anyway, from what I saw:
1) Liked the way Darko backed up that elbow into Mutombo's arm with a block on the finger-wagging whiner. I'd like to see him get some more playing time though.

2) Dice looked horrible at times out there. Definitely out of sync.

3) Evans is great.

4) Arroyo still tends to overdribble but man does he have great handles.

5) Glad we have main man Tay locked up.

6) Defense looked sluggish at times. Maybe tired from this extended road trip.

7) We're 8-0!!!!

Lee....

Are you sure you two aren't related?

Gazoo you couldn't have been more right.

Arroyo sucked tonight. Besides not turning the ball over, he really didnt help the team much. The offense stalled with Arroyo in the game. We're lucky Chauncey didn't foul out. Everytime Arroyo came into the game we loss momentum and Arroyo became a target on defense, so much so that Chauncey had to return a little bit earlier than preferred to stablize the team. Walton probably makes the most ridiculous takes in sports, but he was dead on about Carlos tonight. He does seem to dribble too much at times. Arroyo has been on and off as far as effectiveness is concerned. Arroyo has nights, like tonight, where he just doesn't quite figure out a way to create easy buckets for his teammates. Other nights he seems to show the aggresiveness and creativeness that our team desperately needs while Chauncey is resting. Consistency is an issue here.

The bench player I was most impressed with tonight was Mo' Evans. I thought Maurice gave some very valuable yet limited minutes tonight. His baskets seem to have come at all the right times. I agree that Darko should have seen more time. I was very impressed with his defense. Nice job Darko!

Overall, a great win. All the starters played pretty decent, I would just like to see the bench bring some energy to the game rather than fight to simply maintain the lead. Often times our bench is playing their bench and we are not growing the lead. So far, the level of offensive execution and defensive intensity seems to go down a notch whenever our starters leave the game. In fact, the second unit's contributions seem to more often than not come from Tay remaining in the game and becoming the number one option on offense. We can't have this.

Flip needs to work harder at getting his bench more minutes but I think it starts with Arroyo, the second unit's floor general, working harder to keep those guys on the court.

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arroyo had a decent game. like lee said he got people shots but they missed them. you can't blame that on the point guard. yes walton thinks arroyo overdribbles but so what. from watching the game i don't think walton knows the pistons personel too well. walton took some shots at darko too. walton would never say stockton over dribbles and he dominates the ball just as much if not more than arroyo. arroyo over dribbles but it usually ends up in a shot for his teammate. arroyo is much better than people think we would have lost this game if we had to bring in lindsey as our backup point with cb in foul trouble.

on the bench.
i'm not worried about bench minutes right now. i feel we will start seeing more of the bench after we lose a game or two. in my opinion we are seeing too much of dice off the bench. the only bench player i could justify getting more minutes right now is darko because the player in front of him isn't playing extremely well. delfino, arroyo and evans are caught behind tay, rip and cb who are playing great right now so they are getting the bulk of the minutes.

i think the second unit has to play as a unit like they did in the preseason. the dos los backcourt really has potential. yes arroyo tends to over dribble but on more than 1 occasion he seemed to have wesley off balance almost falling. i will admit he is inconsistent that's why when he's in the game carlos delfino needs to be in the game too. delfino doesn't over dribble he's going straight to the hole and he passes well. he creates shots for us too just like arroyo. evans just doesn't give arroyo much backcourt help so of course arroyo dominates the ball.

in the preseason the second unit was developing a kind of chemistry like the starters already have. i wish flip would have kept with this. the second unit was forming an identity all thier own. a much more uptempo run and gun style second unit that still had defense. also remember that the second unit's # 1 option on offense was supposed to be mcdyess who is off to a slow start this year. give the second unit time they will become a force.

Agreed. The second unit really doesn't have a second option as a ball handler...which is why we probably see Tay infused with the second unit so often making the decisions. Delfino could definitely help out in this regard as he is without question one of the most capeable ballhandlers and creative offensive players coming off the bench. Maybe you should send Flip a quick email reminding him of what made the bench so effective in the preseason.

the first 2 games rip stepped up the next 2 tay stepped up then chauncey was huge the next 3. now the wallaces stepped up huge down the stretch to stop the rockets comeback. tay also did great, but it was sheed taking care of swift and ben hounding yao down the stretch of the game that won it for us. how many times did ben make yao get a TO or how many times did ben block his shot? ben new what he was going to do every time when he got the ball. this is the first game chauncey had less than 8 assists he was in foul trouble though and arroyo did well when he was out. dice needs to get back in sync, and after all i've seen on darko i believe he'll be a huge force in the paint defensively, but i think it will at least take him to the playoffs or next season to be a force offensively. don't confuse this flip will definently use darko on offense, but he won't score as much as the other guys he has the talent but he'll need more game time to get better which is what lb didn't give him. also evans did great those 2 offensive boards and putbacks were huge he did very well. the bench is doing great just wait till dice starts doing good.

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"That's the end, man." Rasheed Wallace

Actually, this is what the Arroyo adulation is all about: a dislike of Lindsay Hunter. If Hunter ever comes back, there will be so much "Lee Love" for Arroyo that everything Hunter does will be subpar and everything Arroyo does will be golden. We've all seen it before. Frankly, I'd like Hunter to quit mostly because I don't think he'll be the same defender he once was. He should become a bench coach and teach players like Arroyo how to play D.

david wesley is a good player for them he can be the guy to help mcgrady on the perimeter. i don't know why they don't use him much? he can shoot well.

Ugly game, ugly win. No need to rehash what everyone else has covered, so here's something different: Can Arroyo play the 2 for brief stretches?

I'd like to see if Delfino can run the halfcourt offense for the second unit. There aren't many clubs whose bench can pressure the ball, and he's a more willing post feeder than anyone else we've got. (I'm longing for those victory cigar days when we knew Darko was going to get force-fed on the block.) Our offense could be much more balanced, and Dice might find his game again if he played inside-out.

like to see more of Delfino. He's played pretty well in limited minutes recently and I agree with the earlier posts about Tay being overplayed.

Lee, Arroyo did overdribble.