Chat is scheduled to be open between 7 and 10:15 PM. If there is a problem and chat is not open, please PM an online staff member, and they should be able to assist you.

The game on channel 669 FSN Detroit Plus...........

Gee, lots of fun at the Palace tonight, good seats (over halfway up the upper bowl, but sitting just a couple sections away from midcourt), got to watch Johnson play some, got to watch Stuckey hit some outside shots and look good doing it, but man what a downer. I guess we have to look for the proverbial silver lining in Stuckey getting his hand broke. Its pretty clear Stuckey will play for us. And now Afflalo will be getting more time than he would have.


Of course, the bad is we have to watch Flip Murray play more. But tonight, Flip Murray had a pretty good game. Not great on offense, but he got inside for us some and he played on the defensive end much better than usual for him. Lots of nice assists from him too. There was quite a stretch there where I was pointing out good things Murray was doing to the group I was with.


Amir did not play a whole lot. I hope that it does not surprise anyone that he made the few shots he took. The comments I got from my group all started with Amir needs to gain strength. But then again, my comment back was twofold - he could play small forward, and we have another players who is not good at holding position either. Hey, Amir can play the game.


Hayes had another fine shooting night. Looked great to the fans. Unless they were paying attention at the other end where Washington was continually scoring on Hayes. Good shooting or not, it just does not impress me if the defense is not part of the package. Mind you, I see no lack of hustle on Hayes' part, just lack of quickness. If Hayes can shoot like this a whole lot, I am sure the team can find a way to help him out with his defensive work. Lets hope.


Sheed scored so easily its like cheating. Long range to midrange shots that kept finding nothing but net. Tay was hitting some shots. Mr. Big Shot hit some. Rip is still injured.


Dyess, not good. Mostly outside shooting that gave us nothing. Dyess still does have an inside game - he just needs to use it.


JMAX looked pretty awesome out there. Tons of boards, good, inside play. Anyone want to guess who I think should have Dyess' starting job?
Can't say Afflalo had a great game, but I still liked seeing him out there playing some pretty darn sound D.


Mejia and Samb played little, and my group left early so I can't say much about their play. I can mention that Samb was nailing those outside shots well in pre-game practice. We were down on the floor until game time, getting a good look at everyone shooting the ball. Amir is pretty impressive shooting outside shots too, with very good range. Sheed did not make any of his halfcourt left hand shots. (One was just barely short though)


Mohammed played, got some stuff done around the basket. (But note, no post up play.)


Always fun to watch a win. GO PISTONS!!!!!

Good recap. That's the only thing holding me back from liking Hayes. It doesn't matter if he scores X amount of points, if he gets lit up all the time. He might improve. He has been on the Wizards after all so who knows. But i am not looking forward to having another Flip Murray if he doesn't.

The funny thing about Murray is that he has some tools to be a good defender, but he seems to have a short attention span. Or he jusr doesn't try b/c he doesn't have to.

Dyess will be better when the season starts.

He's not going to sprain an ankle in pre-season.


I wouldn't mind seeing Maxiell in his spot, but Jason wants to be part of the action, and he will probably be the man on the bench unit. In a way, that may be better for him. He can dominate his defender a little easier and he can shoot the ball every time he touches it.

At the same time, Dyess and Sheed could be an awesome combo. Either can stretch it out and they can both go to work in the post. We'll have to wait until they play for reals.

__________________
"Defense fuels your offense. No mystery about that." AA

Real bummer about Stuck. I was looking at the game and saying damn, this is a darn good team 1-12, with 2 solid d-league prospects in 13 & 14, and a good solid player/coach/vet leader @ #15 in Lindsey Hunter....Sorry Dupe, we'll miss ya. This is the best team we've had since the 'ship. 1-12 everybody can play and contribute.

Stuck going down may be a blessing in disguise, contrary to what others think and say, Flip Jr has been looking damn good out on the floor, yes he has trouble staying in front of his man sometimes but so does CB, Tay and Rip...don't get it twisted, we do not have a feet moving- lock down, perimeter defender. But this team is good. We are deep and versatile at every position. Even Lee is right about AJ being capable of playing the 3 (Bring me the white jacket, check me in, lawd ha'mercy - I'm agreeing with Lee) even though that is not his position. But every player on this whole team can easily play 2-3 positions.
CB-PG/SG
RIP-SG/SF
TAY-SF/SG/PG
DYESS-C/PF
SHEED-PF/C/SF
MAX-PF/SF/C-in very specific situations
STUCK-PG/SG
AA-SG/SF; PG-defensively
The list goes on and on, this team can and should make it to the finals this year, Flip Sr is the wildcard here because Joe D has assembled one helluva team with an array of skills and talents.
For the record Hayes played decent defense, he just kept getting burned by Butler and Jamison, just like the rest of the Pistons and the rest of the NBA for that matter, I mean they avg close 20ppg for a reason.

__________________
Play hard, Play smart, Play together, share the ball, have fun....Play the right way!!!!!!

the way stuckey was able to move his fingers on the bench after the injury, i'm thinking this won't be too serious of an injury. let's hope.

at least flip has been playing well and (for the most part) under control.

i also don't have a problem with hayes' defense, i thought it's been pretty good throughout the preseason. combine that with the fact that he'll be guarding more bench 3s than starters, and we should be fine.

good job max grabbing 9 defensive boards - he's looked really good the past few games boxing out and playing smarter on the defensive end.

Let me go on record to say Dumars did not go out and get Jarvis Hayes for his defensive prowess. The guy is a scorer.

In his short career as a member of the Wiz, he only heard the talk of playing defense. IMO, his defense can and will improve if his current team shows effort and desire to play consistent agressive defense.

FROM LEE:JMAX looked pretty awesome out there. Tons of boards, good, inside play. Anyone want to guess who I think should have Dyess' starting job?


FROM ME: Thats what I have been saying...Dyess is a six man now..leave him as a sixth man!

The Pistons biggest problem the last couple of years has been lack of bench scoring. Maxiel can help in this department as the first big off the bench. McDyess as the 5th option in the starting unit is a good thing, if you ask me. I like a 2nd unit of Stucky, Afflalo, Hayes, Amir, and JMax. They not only have the potential to be effective, they could be a whole lot of fun to watch.