Spacing wasn't great on the offensive end, but for a first game with a new system it was encouraging. (Add a beautiful Hamilton layup off a give&go from Sheed to Low's list, BTW.) The team did score a lot of easy points on the break, generally took care of the ball and made sound decisions.

Here is what McCosky had to say:

http://www.detnews.com/2005/pistons/...D01-346297.htm


Krista Latham:

http://www.freep.com/sports/pistons/...e_20051012.htm

hmm...

wonder why the rooks didn't get any burn?

Solid defense last night. Sheed is in mid season form and very active. For those looking for more Sheed inside fuhgedaboutit in this offense. This is not a post up offense by any means, it relies on alot of jumpers. As The Low said earlier, not alot of scoring going to the basket in the paint. Darko held his own, good interior defense, and he's playing alot stronger and confident.

Delfino is a playmaker on defense, but still lacks lateral foot speed to keep HIS man in front of him. Delfino has huge hands that are very quick, he plays passing lanes very well. He reminds me of a corner that gets alot of interceptions, but gets beat alot also.

Maurice Evans is going to be a nice fit, tough as frikkin nails, doesn't get alot of love from the zebras though. Dude plays the interior like he's 6'8" for real. Imagine a Darvin w/out the butterfingers, and a respectable shot from outside, that can handle the rock a little.

Again I wasn't really impressed by Darko, but I was satisfied and happy for the kid, he's better, he looks like he's ready to contribute, learn and work in this league. Once DMC gets a better rhythm his J will start falling alot more, that said he didn't seem like he was in love with the perimeter, he constantly hit the block to post up and called for the ball. Good job DMC.

Hmmm ... I'm worried about this. We were all screaming for Sheed to post up more last season. Are we gonna lose C-Note's post-up ability, too, when he has a mismatch? The NBA has turned to the vomit offense in recent years (just throw it up there). Not sure that's good for the Pistons.

I second that. We saw too many jump shots. It is the first preseason game though so I am going to hold back judgement right now until I see a more polished product.

Really, I don't live that far from downtown Detroit, and I could have sworn I saw the preparations for a parade.

Re: Your metaphysician. Are you sure that was a cat he found in the cellar that was not there, and not WMD?

FWIW, it was the 1st game, and we were playing against a team with a very good defensive system. Also, we were always a jumpshooting team before. Except this time the shots will actually be open, and we will get a lot more fast break buckets.

As the season wears on I'm sure Flip will see things that work well and use them (ie. Chauncey posting up, Sheed posting up, etc). As it sits, 27 assists and 13 TOs is pretty impressive for Game 1 with bench players playing most of the minutes (compare that to Chicago's 13 assists, 16 TOs). And look at the assist distribution:

Sheed- 3
Tayshaun- 2
Ben- 2
Rip- 3
Chauncey- 3
Arroyo- 3
Delfino- 3
Dice- 5
Darko- 2
Dupree- 1

So, everyone is sharing the ball well, and hitting the open man. And as Flip said, they are working on the rebounding today in practice. It's not like this is a finished product we're looking at. It should be good news that the coach sees the same problems we do.

Last night was a pre-season game and the main thing that I wanted to see was the PISTONS not the Detroit Timberwolves. LB may be gone but his teaching remains. This team still thinks defense first, and unselfish basketball. Rip is still moving, Chauncey is still Conducting, Ben is still thinking enough offense to make defenses honest, Sheed....oh Sheed looks MORE focused, Tay.......

We all dscussed how Flip would effect Sheed, would he get lazy and slack off??? We discussed Chauncey, will he become a shoot first PG at the sake of the team?? I think we saw the answers to those 2 ponderances, but the question nobody asked is......Would Tay revert back to being tenative without LB screaming for him to be more aggrresive?? if last night was an indication......well I don't want to go there.

Too late, you've already been there twice. I get the feeling that the Passive Tay issue is rising to the top of your chart, with a bullet.

Maybe Tay has $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ on his mind right now. Know what I mean.

After the contract gets inked I bet he starts tearing up some A..

I hope it's just a security thing.