did the pistons shoot better from behind the 3-line than in front of it? The box score has a 58%.

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1st half

Again, the Pistons let the other team get off to a hot start. Again, the Pistons cooly withstood the initial onslaught and wound up ahead by 5 after 1 quarter of play. CB is the hot guy tonight, and he has about 18 points so far without checking. He is drawing fouls going inside and hitting from the outside.

Tay has hit a couple of jumpers. Little from Rip. Sheed a bit of offense inside and one made outside jumper. Ben hit his first free throw but missed both later, the first real badly.

Arroyo played about 7 minutes, did not do much, and he was about minus 5. But I would not blame that on Arroyo. Evans was having a bad night. Sure, you think I am picking on him. But he had a bad night. Missed his shots, could not handle the ball, and did not do much good on defense. He was in there battling for the ball but did not give us much for all that. I'll take the energy at least.

Defino got into this game for quite a bit in the first half as compared to earlier games. He hit a couple of shots and seemed to have a pretty good nose for the ball in rebounding. On his defense, I did not see anything to report. Maybe when I review the game this weekend.

The national announcers are being fair in the coverage of both teams, but then again, Collins is pretty good for that toward us.

Dyess has made some shots outside and scored inside strong once too. Marion can't check him. Good to see Dyess have a good 1st half scoring.

No Darko. Nine man rotation. Delfino mostly was subbing for Tay after Evans subbed for Rip.

We got 52 points for the half, but gave up 52 also. Bad defense by us? Nope. This team is hitting their shots with 5 made 3's and lots of other outside shots made. If they cold on their outside shooting, they will be in deep trouble. GO PISTONS!!!!!

game report

Gee guys, no good comments about Arroyo. Funny, but he took us from down 10 to nearly tying it up in the 4th quarter. Good solid play once again by Arroyo going mostly unrecognized on this board. Mostly. Still lots of Arroyo fans. Speak up. Don't let these negative posters shut you down.

This game had three eras. The CB era, the first half, where the Piston road his hot hand. That killer triple to seal it must of course be mentioned too. The 2nd era saw Prince heat it up in the 3rd quarter when we really needed the O. Then the 3rd era. Rip. In the 4th quarter. Anyone remember Rip's first year with us? He would score plenty but be nowhere to be found late in the game. What a difference a couple of years make. Mr. Clutch tonight.

Ben tried a bit too much here and there on offense, but man did he have a game on the boards and on putbacks. Sheed hit some key triples. Dyess did nothing more in the 2nd half. Only Evans joined Arroyo and Dyess from the bench in the 2nd half. Evans hit a shot when they left him wide open on a defensive gaff. (or maybe someone tripped?) Other than that, he simply stayed out of the offense and played D.

Phoenix never cooled at all on outside shooting, but at least their triples quit falling. In the end, they had no inside game to go to though. But really, we won this one on our own hot shooting to a great extent. Yes, it did help though all the times Arroyo attacked the basket and got out O going toward the hoop.

111 points. Gee, out 102 average just went up. This team is scoring. Two great things tonight. CB's first breakout scoring game this year. And, for the 3rd game in a row, Prince took over the offense for a good stretch. Three games in a row is certainly getting to be a trend. And Rip, well, just steady. Its amazing how little love this guy on a poll about who the most talented Piston is. The guy is flat out good.

It might have been bad coaching that won this one for us. Taking Barbosa out for Grant. Got me scratching my head but I won't complain. Another mighty Piston victory. GO PISTONS!!!!!

Holy crap, what a win. Rip really woke up there in the 4th. Chauncey is the man.

And that dunk by Ben was the best of the season so far! Sheed shooting the 3. I'm pumped.

1) 37-22 in the 4th...Now that's an Oldskool-Zeke and Joe spanking!!
2) We imposed our will...Like Rodman, Mahorn, Bill and Buddah!
3) If u aint up by 20 , it aint over!
4) I love dat white boy in the valley. Thank God Steve aint on The Pacers!!
5) We got TNT love...I cant believe it. Brak may be stupid, But he speaks the truth! He loves dem Pistons!
6) I goota find the game 2morrow
7) whattuop with George goin solo on the coast?
8) Sheed is great-Ben is better!!Who can stop those 2?
9) TayTay is HayHay!! Owned the third qtr!
10) the best backcourt the last four years needs to start the allstar game. Get the ballots ready NOW!!!!!
....my bruddahs!WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

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I was jumping up and down for ten minutes. I know it is early but please realize that we are winning without going to our lock down defense much. We are just jogging along with teams, matching scores and then going for the knock-out. Amazing. This team may already be at another level than last year. If our guys had been allowed to play their game offensively last year, I have little doubt that this would be a 3-peat year. This is just fun.

i know....i'm just playin'

what an amazing game

It was great to see the poise they played with in the final 5:00 minutes.
I thought Phoenix played about as well as the possible could without a true inside presence... their shooting up until the end was excellent.
I was also impressed with their help defense on our bigs... I won't blame Sheed for not forcing it inside on a double team.
The Pistons made the extra pass and made them pay.

I was hoping the Pistons would have drafted Barbosa over Delfino... he just keeps getting better.

Could this be the year we have 3 all-stars?

Haven't checked the box score yet but it looked like Tayshaun won the battle over Marion tonight... a 6' 9" guy hith range and PG type handles... he's sic with talent.... what would Tay's price tag have been if Joe waited for him to be an RFA?

Ok, let's wrap up this West coast sweep (gotta like how that sounds) and then take care of the C's... We might face Dallas without Dirk and the Rockets without T-Mac.

I'm still cautious about the quality of opponent so far (Phoenix losing all three at home)... I won't proclaim greatness until we beat Dallas at their house.... Still what a sweet comeback tonight... I thought the bench was used just right... I'm not sure this was the right matchup for Darko... maybe the kind of game where he gets in foul trouble....
He should play plenty against Portland though... we might be able to use his height against 7' 1" Przybilla.

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With politicians the future lies ahead

Oh yeah... luved Rip's comment after the game "tell Doug Eminem Collins to change his hair" LOL

I was starting to get a little worried about the weakside help and interior defense, but when the stones needed the lockdown, it was still there. Also, the zone didn't work out, but I sorta liked it for a change of pace, especially against a team that was working the Pick n Roll. The reason it led to 3 straight scores is a good job by nash and hitting the jumpers, but also Ben would go inside on a drive instead of letting the low zone guys pick up the penetration. He basically went to man and left the outside open. But with some practice, it will be a good change of pace -- not a system. Plus, you have to love the intimidation factor of putting the DPOY out there front and center against the opposing teams point. Like a pitbull!!

total team effort. tayshaun is downright scary ... he exploits his mismatches and plays aggressive and hits the shots to boot. if he keeps this up...

since it's late and i'm tired i won't add much more to this other than...the monster putback by ben wallace clinched the game for us. when he made the whole suns crowd audibly gasp, the suns were effectively done, cooked, finished.