Pistons win 103-98

NBA.com

I don't know how you cannot be happy with the way the Pistons have been closing out these games down the stretch. And they are doing it amongst a sea of back-back's.

Maybe they are not playing quite the way you want them to. Perhaps the coach is not playing the guys you think he should. One thing you have to give this team is their near flawless execution in crunch time. Thats the way championship teams play which is renewing my belief that the Pistons will be a team to contend with this spring.

Ros highlited the stats. Our favorite neglected player got some burn tonight and made a lot out of it. Delfino actually played the 2nd most mins off the bench. Even edging out Murry by 2 minutes. Almost on que with the Delfino chatter today.

4 game win streak folks.

Pistons did indeed play well in the 4th, and Delfino made some nice plays in a rare 3rd quarter stretch of playing time for him. Dice was HUGE on the boards in the 4th, which was a great shot of energy that the team really needed. Fortunately, the Hawks went ice cold and committed some terrible turnovers in that quarter as well. Zaza in particular made some comically ill-advised decisions.

The execution was good in the 4th but for much of the game, we didn't seem to have an offensive concept. At one point, Flip was obviously trying to let Murray be the go to guy and he just didn't make shots. He hit a nice three but that was on a catch and shoot.

Back to the positive: Tay and Sheed down low and with movement around them, is something that can work most nights. Even when Tay misses (he missed some easy ones tonight), so much of the defense is frozen that it leads to good things like the Dice slam.

Ok. More positives. Delfino may have a role filling in for Tay (on the first unit). He can D up his opponent and keep the ball flowing. If he hits his shot--that's gravy. But on that second unit, his inability to hit consistantly hurts because that unit does not score well as we saw again tonight.

Then, we can save Tay some minutes and use him, as we have, at the end of games. Tay should get more touches throughout the game in the flow.

Delf did all the little things, I like that. Dice did good on the boards. Flip didn't do too much today. Dale had some good minutes as well. Chauncey, Rip, Tay, and Sheed all did extremely well. Nazr was doing good until he fouled out. I think some of the fouls were unfair. J Max didn't play. The guy has earned the minutes he's probably worked the hardest this year.

That was some hard D from the Pistons tonight. Rip was really clinging to Johnson and seemed to be frustrating him toward the end. Sheed is playing like an all star. Dyess with 2 one-handed offensive rebound jams. And of course our main man Delfino with some grit.

I don't care if we win or lose, as long as we put this kind of effort in on the defensive end.

Nope, I slow mo'd every one of his fouls. Always the correct call, even the one the announcer tried to stick up for him on. On that one, like most, sure enough you see Mohammed throwing his body into the offensive player. (Yes, at first glance, I wondered on that one, as the hands got ball, but the offensive player got nailed pretty hard by Mohammed's body.)

Small ball is somewhat of a myth. All the sudden, we are playing small ball to close out games. Not tonight. We closed it out with Dyess and Sheed up front. Basically this talk about needing to go small is just a polite way of saying that Mohammed is slow footed.

Of very much importance, we see Delfino playing extensively with the starters, or at least the guys who should be starting for us for the most part. All thru preseason, and up until this point, only Flip Murray, or sometimes Hunter, were allowed to be the first guard substituted in for any half. Tonight, Delfino was the first guard subbed in, and quite early in the 3rd quarter.. Like I said, first time, and I certainly hope we see it often from now on. (And Delfino ended the 2nd quarter with mostly starters-and not Mohammed) Like someone commented, it leaves Tay fresher for the end of games. And, it also leaves Tay able to help the 2nd unit out with ball handling chores. (Of course, playing Blalock could solve a whole lot of that difficulty.)

Is Flip and CB playing a psychological game with Delfino? I find it peculiar that after the polite calling out of Delfino he responded with a fine game, not to mention some PT in a very important stretch of this game.

I believe CB and Flip realize they need Delfino`s production off the bench to be successful. His defense and rebounding alone can help - scoring a few points would be nice also.

Back to reality Carlos, you will get your normal 4-6 minutes on Friday..........

Sure, but play the Brahma then. I wanna see the kid rock the rim...