http://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/team/DET_3079.gifhttp://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/team/at.gifhttp://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/team/BOS_421.gif

Matchup: Pistons 1-0; Celtics 1-0.
Tip-off: 7:30, TD Banknorth Garden, Boston.

TV/radio: Fox Sports Net; WDFN-AM (1130).

http://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/pistons/ben_wallace.jpghttp://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/team/vs.gif http://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/celtics/mark_blount.jpg
Ben Wallace..............Mark Blount

http://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/pistons/rasheed_wallace.jpghttp://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/team/vs.gifhttp://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/celtics/raef_lafrentz.jpg

Rasheed Wallace...........Raef LaFrentz

http://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/pistons/tayshaun_prince.jpghttp://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/team/vs.gifhttp://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/celtics/paul_pierce.jpg
Tayshaun Prince...............Paul Pierce

http://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/pistons/richard_hamilton.jpghttp://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/team/vs.gifhttp://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/celtics/ricky_davis.jpg
Rip Hamilton..................Ricky Davis

http://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/pistons/chauncey_billups.jpghttp://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/team/vs.gifhttp://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/celtics/delonte_west.jpg
Chauncy Billups...........Delonte West

Starters Matchup Info & Stats (http://www.nba.com/celtics/schedule/Matchup11042005.html)

Celtics 2004/05 Stats (http://www.nba.com/celtics/stats/2004/index.html)

Pistons 2004/05 Stats (http://www.nba.com/pistons/stats/2004/index.html)

Injury Report:

Boston Celtics:
Tony Allen G Knee Surgery Return early December
Marcus Banks G Foot Return around all-star break

Detroit Pistons:
Lindsey Hunter G Ankle Return early November

Overview:
The Celtics opened their season Wednesday against Larry Brown's new team, the New York Knicks, and won, 114-100, in overtime. Boston outscored New York, 20-6, in overtime and spoiled Brown's debut. But with so much youth -- Paul Pierce is the oldest player at 28 -- it will take time before the Celtics develop into a title contender. The Pistons played at near-perfection Wednesday against Philadelphia, but at times last season they had trouble sustaining intensity. A lag would help the young Celtics. Tayshaun Prince will guard Pierce.

Comments on the game?

Should be a good one! The Prince/ Pierce matchup should be awesome.

Yippee. I get to see the local Celtics broadcast. If I had hi-def, I could measure the veins in Tommy Heinsohn's forehead whenever a Celtic is called for a foul.

He's not with the Celtics anymore, but all you Antoine Walker fans (and there are many, I know) will enjoy this:

http://nbasource.blogspot.com/2005/08/oh-places-antoines-shimmy-will-go.html

I like the "Thriller" parody and the puppets best, but the hippo is unforgettable.

He's not with the Celtics anymore, but all you Antoine Walker fans (and there are many, I know) will enjoy this:

http://nbasource.blogspot.com/2005/08/oh-places-antoines-shimmy-will-go.html

I like the "Thriller" parody and the puppets best, but the hippo is unforgettable.

Oh man, this is hilarious. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

reason for shooting so many 3s was good, Because there are no 4s.:eyebrows:

That's funny. That reminds of Woody Hayes when he would go for two when he just scored a touchdown on UM in the last seconds of the game to go up by about 40. He was asked why he went for a 2 point conversion and he replied because they would'nt let him kick a field goal. :)

My favorite Chauncey Moment came against the Celtics, last year, Chauncey hit a last second shots, then he walked up and (tap)smacked Ricky in the face, and walked away calmly... priceless

beating boston never gets old.......too bad we can't see Antoine shoot 20% from the field while we beat them.

....This game can be seen on NBATV FREE PREVIEW. Pistons just need to pound them down low and work the fast break off there defense. Detroit by 19...too easy- MY BRUDDAS!!!

Good to see him playing with starters like Ben.

Pistons down 5. :(

Chauncey is cold. Sheed is suckin.

The Celtics are being very active on D and on the offensive glass. They are tougher than I thought they would be.

True, but no Piston can hit a shot. Need a energy shot

They normally play Detroit tough at the Garden. I'm just surprised at how poor the shooting is from both teams and how many defensive assignments have been blown. Delfino was "covering" Pierce early on. Yeah, right. :confused:

Pistons look very lethargic...

I expected more from them this year. They need an attitude like Isiah had the year after they won the title. I remember the game we beat Seattle at the old key arena (I loved that place-Slick watts and Fred Brown). after trailing by 25 in the third quarter...This was a game that I expecting Sheed and dice to 'dominate'!!!

No offense sets down low..the Wallace and Dice have 10 points and Dice took NO SHOTS!....This is where we'll miss lB , cuz he'll put those guards in check. Darko looked very comfy and hit a nice jay but we ran no plays at him or Dice......Very disappointing...and like I said - West is a stud- a more atheletic Dennis Johnson.

Will keep u informed....Im listening to George interview Bob Ryan on radio- 2 class acts..and I wanted to smack JKidds wife too...my bruddah!!

For the first time I'm excited about our young Serb... forget the mid range shot... the work around the paint was excellent!
The most impressive play was when he was backed down and showed quick hops to recover and block Lafrenz's shot.
Equally impressive was his boxing out and getting after the boards... now that's what we've been waiting for!

Oh, yeah we're losing...
Prince hasn't shot consistently since spraining his ankle against the 76'ers in the playoffs.
Delfino shoulda left his sneakers in the locker room... BS performance so far.

Rip looked outta control (Larry woulda loved that :^)...

2nd half... comon Sheed take advantage of that weak matchup!

i'm guessing this game is as ugly to watch as it is to read.

missed jumper, turnover, foul. missed jumper, turnover, foul...

when it comes to playing his bench.

If this type of coaching continues its going to be a long long season.

Wow. We're going to have 3 starters play 40+ minutes in the second game of the season....

This is a hard game for me to follow. LaFrentz and Davis are on my fantasy team. :(

This is the 2nd night in a row that Pierce has been missing FT's in crunch time that could seal the win for his team.

Wow. We're going to have 3 starters play 40+ minutes in the second game of the season....

This is a hard game for me to follow. LaFrentz and Davis are on my fantasy team. :(

I've got Pierce and Blount. Look who just might have won the game for Boston. :mad:

Holy Cow!!!!!

Wow!!!

GOT IT !!!!!!TAKE THAT LARRY!!!!!!!for going to Sheed all the time at the buzzer!!!WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!

The blame game was reeeeeady ... never mind we'll take it!

priceless!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The blame game was reeeeeady ... never mind we'll take it!

I dunno. A lot of stuff to be negative about. Sheed hit the big 3 but was terrible on offense. What mismatch? Is LaFrentz that good a defender? I guess so. He blocked Rip's shot the possession before when everyone in the building knew Rip was gonna shoot it. Poor offensive set there when it really counted. Just a poor night all around. No sure why Milicic didn't get more burn. I can't believe I'm saying that (and agreeing with Lee), but it's true.

Man, did Detroit steal that one!

Just looking at the box, 18 TOs, 17 assists, 4 players with 39+ minutes. This was the perfect game to take the euphoric edge off of the first win. The Ps win, but don't look like world beaters.

It's back to work as usual and the Pistons play until it's time to punch out.

Great game by Rip, look for heavy bench minutes tomorrow.

I dunno. A lot of stuff to be negative about. Sheed hit the big 3 but was terrible on offense. What mismatch? Is LaFrentz that good a defender? I guess so. He blocked Rip's shot the possession before when everyone in the building knew Rip was gonna shoot it. Poor offensive set there when it really counted. Just a poor night all around. No sure why Milicic didn't get more burn. I can't believe I'm saying that (and agreeing with Lee), but it's true.

Completely agree with this... Sheed was indeed very disaponting (till the end)... whassup with Dice?
Rip played average at best (all them t.o.'s) but you gotta luv his never die mentality.
This game on Nov 4th could be pivotal at the end of the season.

Hey I hope someone got a pic of all the Celtic homos huggin' on the floor before they lost. :P

They gotta play tomorrow too, so surprised that Flip went that long with the starters. :confused: It was a struggle out there as our bigs barely showed up and the guard play was erratic with exception of Rips' late heroics. If they had been playing the Spurs, Bowen would have been in RIPS' shorts :eyebrows: on that last play.

McDyess and Delfino better be ready for tomorrow's game.

Rip played average at best (all them t.o.'s) but you gotta luv his never die mentality.

Agreed, the Pistons played like they've been there a million times before. The Celtics start the celebration with time left on the clock. Really tough to score for Detroit tonight. Rivers had a good game plan til the end when Rip roamed unmolested. The easiest shot he had all night. :laugh:

Very good sign that this will be a great season. Sometimes there is a pivot game like this early in the season where things happened that should have caused you to lose but the team wins anyway.

Kind of got boned by the refs on several occasions and the team won anyway.

I was listening to the game on the radio (I live in DC so no TV for me tonite). I'm relieved but not exactly happy. The Knicks played the C's close in Boston, so beating them is no great accomplishment.

Obviously you lose a lot when you can't see the game, but the assist-TO ratio was lousy and it sounded like Chauncey and 'Sheed couldn't buy a bucket 'til 'Sheed came up big (to his credit) at the end.

Dyess I'm pretty miffed about. Not sure what's up with him. Frankly, it sounded to me like Darko was more effective and probably should have gotten more of a shot.

Obviously way too many minutes for the starters. Hopefully that doesn't continue. Only good thing I really have to say is that we dug down and pulled it out when we needed to. These are the teams that we have to beat if we want home court this year.

We got lucky tonite. I hope we realize that.

Watching the game on gamecast, it showed us down, 79-80, 1 second left. Then it went final, Boston win. Start playing Civ IV, then hear we won on the Knicks post game, WTF? Sweet.

Perfect game for us, take some of the cockiness out of the team. We're good, but not good enough to coast. I'm starting to have a little simpathy of Larry. With the Knicks, it doesnt matter who he plays, they all suck. But with the Pistons, which Flip has just discovered, he has the best starting 5 in the league, and in tight games, doesnt want to take any of them out. Most teams have a scrub or two in the starting lineup, which makes it easy for the coach's to get bench players pt.


BTW, in LB's post game interview, a NY reporter asked him why he let Channing Frye get PT considering Larry's view on rookies. LB said "Why wouldn't I play him? He needs to play so he can improve"

http://espn-i.starwave.com/media/apphoto/MACK10711050314.jpg

If you look past rip's leg it almost looks like it says 'Celtics Sham Foundation'.

HAHA!

I'm starting to have a little simpathy of Larry.
I never thought I would see a :flypig:

1st half report:

1st quarter, Boston got 18 points. As our bench rotated thru, we kept a slight lead. Then with our starters all back in, we got down by 7.

Darko hit a 19 footer, and had a block. While in, Boston was not scoring inside. Why he was taken out is beyond me. With Boston running, a guy like Darko is what you want, a center who can get back real well.

Boston is running continuously, and fairly effectively. They started out well to begin the game, consistently beating us down to the basket. But they seemed to run out of steam later in the quarter, and as their subs came in. But to end the half, their starters were back in, running again, and our starters did not seem to be up to it.

Flip is not letting our bench play as a unit, but rather keeps rotation different people in. Nothing really established as a rotation and you can see its going to take a while to get our players comfortable with playing together at this rate.

After the game:

Sheed went inside a ton in this game. Did not get much from it except he did draw some fouls. But when we really needed him, he hit that triple. Nothing wrong with Sheed shooting a triple of late. A whole lot have been going in. On that inside play, remember this: Sheed going inside a lot like this tonight will make him better at it for next game, so its good to see even if he was missing.

Tay had one his "Miller's". Helped set the tone for the start of the 2nd half where the Pistons retook the lead. Arroyo was the first sub off the bench, about 4 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. And we went up a few points with Arroyo in. Arroyo hit a couple of shots, and kept control of the ball as plays developed. Some people call this overdribbling. I call it doing a point guards job. Controlling the ball. Being ready to make the pass at the right time.

We stayed even as our bench rotated thru. Arroyo, Evans, and Dyess got minutes in both halves, although Evans was limited a bit with foul trouble. Delfino and Darko each got about 4 minutes (Maybe less for Delfino I think) in the first half. So ten guys were involved in the rotation altogether. Since two played so little, lets call it about a nine man rotation.

Evans hit another triple. This one, he should not have been given. Boston just played off him. Big mistake and they made him pay. I doubt the league will miss that Evans can shoot for long though.

Despite a lot of running up and down the floor, and a whole lot of shots, Boston just got 81 points, so you really can't say we did not play good D.

The shot. We had .8 seconds on the clock. Rip used his speed to lose his guy, received the pass from Tay who was passing from the right sideline, turned and shot. The light went off just after it left his hands. We win. Man us Piston fans were ecstatic. Just like the Boston fans were a moment early when Blount hit his shot. But the Piston fans stay happy tonight.

Twice in this game, Tay faked in, stopped and popped. With his height, and most nights having a mismatch, it would be great to see a whole lot more of this. Tay also kind of faked a move toward the basket, forcing Boston to double team, all the while waiting for Sheed to become free for that triple. Great decision making by Prince.

I see FSD is learning. In the past, they routinely lost their audience right after the game, switching to coverage of other sports. Someone finally mentioned to them that basketball fans were tuned in hungry for more hoops coverage. Good job tonight staying with the main story.

Boston is maybe two quality bench players from a decent team. They will not make the playoffs this year. But yet with Peirce on the team, I can't say that with any certainty. And Delonte West is coming on. They went to him late for a score inside on us. About the last thing the Pistons expected at the moment.

Dyess did not even take a shot until the 2nd half, and I don't even remember him scoring at all. But good to see we could win despite that. I think our bench scored 11 points all told. Speaking of scoring, Rip's total for the first two games of the season ranks #2 all time for the Pistons. Stack remains #1.

2-0. And Darko has played in the first half of both games. Indeed, the only really bad stretches in the game occurred with all our starters in. We fell behind at the end of the half, and fell behind late in the 4th before rallying to win it. Anyone still want to propose that fantasy that we can't win if Darko gets time? It may not be much, but its time with real meaning. I love seeing Darko getting this time.

Evans continues to be one of the first couple guys off our bench. But note it was Arroyo in first in that 2nd half. Lets see if that trend continues as Arroyo continues to do well out there. Not saying that Evans is doing all that bad, but he certainly does not make us a better team when he subs for Rip or Tay. Big dropoff either way. When Arroyo subs for CB, I really do not see a dropoff from that.

I still want to see our bench come in as a unit. Lets see how they play. Worst case it does not work and you try somethng else. Best case, you got a solid 2nd unit all comfortable playing together, leaving your starters together that much more too.

I never thought I would see a :flypig:
nice of you to quote my typo's. But you know, it does snow in Hell, Mi. Watching LB tonight he had no choice but to play his rooks considering how awful his starters are. Flip went through his subs in the 2nd, but in the 3rd and 4th, the game was close, his starters are so good, he doesnt know what the subs can do, I dont think he has a choice but to keep them in.

The difference is I think Flip will try to give the bench every oppourtunity to prove themselves, so that they improve, and so Flip will feel more comfortable subbing in close game situations.

And Darko has played in the first half of both games. Indeed, the only really bad stretches in the game occurred with all our starters in. We fell behind at the end of the half, and fell behind late in the 4th before rallying to win it. Anyone still want to propose that fantasy that we can't win if Darko gets time? It may not be much, but its time with real meaning. I love seeing Darko getting this time.
I would like to see him and the rest of the bench get more time. All these minutes will lead to an unnecessary injury or two. Pro B Ballsers can't continue to play these kind of minutes night in and night out without their bodies weakening and becoming more prone to injury.

Maybe it is just a matter of time before Flipper gets more comfortable with the bench. If not, its going to be a long season for us Piston fans.

nice of you to quote my typo's.
Ah, don't sweat it bro. We all make them. Everyone understands what you meant.

But you know, it does snow in Hell, Mi.
I considered using the snowman smiley, but man I was dying to use that flying pig one.

I hope the DMC folks are ok with him getting meaningful minutes even if they are few and far between.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/statistics

I expect Rip to lose his lead for good in a game or two. I seem to remember Stackhouse having the scoring lead pretty late in the season at one point in 1999-2000, when he averaged 29.8. AI and Kobe will probably battle it out for the scoring lead this year while their teams go nowhere in the playoffs. For us, we'll get Ben up there in boards, blocks, and top 10 or so in steals, and that's about it. Except for that future league leader in blocks coming off the bench...

I considered using the snowman smiley, but man I was dying to use that flying pig one.

ROFL i just had to look, i thought it was an icon of a My Little Pony, i was like what the?? haha

plain and simple, this was a sloppy game all around. lots of turnovers from forcing the run & fast break, and taking shots early in the clock with no one to rebound. flip said he couldn't see much to work on after game 1...he sure does now. :)

we'll take the win!! go pistons!! we need all the wins we can get with the tough WC trip comin up

It is hard to gauge this type of game. It was almost like a playoff for Boston. We went to Sheed, we took a few good threes and we got some early fast break points. Sheed did not do well down low but got that three and the tip in late. Those threes and early fast break points saved us--I think we would have lost this game last year. We looked a lot like last year but not in the best sense. We still struggled at times. Dyss does not look ready yet. Teams will continue to focus on Chauncey as they watched SA last year. Rip is fresh again and what a difference! I am excited about Evans game. Still very concerned about Arroyo's passing skills--not his shot. We still over pass near the hoop--can't blame Larry, now. Well, it is early and this is a marathon. But we have a ways to go.

Watching the game on gamecast, it showed us down, 79-80, 1 second left. Then it went final, Boston win. Start playing Civ IV, then hear we won on the Knicks post game, WTF? Sweet.

Perfect game for us, take some of the cockiness out of the team. We're good, but not good enough to coast. I'm starting to have a little simpathy of Larry. With the Knicks, it doesnt matter who he plays, they all suck. But with the Pistons, which Flip has just discovered, he has the best starting 5 in the league, and in tight games, doesnt want to take any of them out. Most teams have a scrub or two in the starting lineup, which makes it easy for the coach's to get bench players pt.


BTW, in LB's post game interview, a NY reporter asked him why he let Channing Frye get PT considering Larry's view on rookies. LB said "Why wouldn't I play him? He needs to play so he can improve"

Fortunately for us, the announcer was saying there was time left. Still, just for a moment I thought we had lost.

Ugly game but both teams played their guts out. In some ways it reminded me of how Philly played against us -- they missed some makeable shots early, tightened up and started taking harder shots. We started off at a breakneck tempo and rushed things all night.

It's hard to identify anyone on the Pistons who played well, and I guess it's a positive thing that you can say that yet still win.

Ben was terrific on the boards, but we got killed as a team. Sheed was doing a lot of the right things, but his shots weren't falling. Nice clutch shot and tip at the end. Meanwhile Hamilton won the game but did a lot more to try and lose it, with terrible defense (how many times did he fall down out there?) and a million bad decisions. Billups got outplayed by West and never really asserted himself. I think the Cs have found their point guard. Prince looked a step slow and got badly burned by Pierce, but Pierce is a handful for anybody when he's fresh.

This was a deja vu game from two years ago ... watch our backcourt struggle, see Rip go 1 on 4 a few dozen times, yell at Prince to be more assertive, wonder why the heck the bench isn't getting more play. In both cases it was early on in a new coach's system. We'll see what happens.

Bench notes: McDyess is a zombie out there. He gave us nada and almost seems disinterested. On my team he's one bad appearance away from becoming our sixth big. Evans made a big 3 but is still sort of waiting around for someone to pass to him. He hasn't figured out the offense or his role. Delfino needs to play more, and I think he will. He wasn't terrible against Pierce in brief service but the lineups didn't favor him this night.

Arroyo didn't do great as a playmaker but is really shooting well. I'd like to see him play alongside Chauncey a little more. Darko played good, just not enough. Feed him the ball, you dopes. He had low post position several times but never got the ball. His one jumper showed how much he has loosened up in game situations, quick-triggering it late in the clock while someone was rushing out at him. Tellin' you, when his shot has that high arc it's the best barometer of his offense.

Celtics announcer and all-time homer Tommy Heinsohn was actually insisting that Boston would be better than Detroit this year because they were more committed to developing a second unit and not burning out the starters. I scoff at that, but I also wonder if there isn't a grain of truth in it ... we'll see.

Actually, watching and listening to Tommy Heinsohn crap his pants when Rip hit that shot was worth a dozen ugly games. And even better was listening to all of the MAHRAL VICTRY talk from Bob Cousy with that thick Boston accent after they came back from the break. Thank you league pass.

I expected more from them this year. They need an attitude like Isiah had the year after they won the title
Definitely. Isiah was on a mission in the '89/'90 season. He wouldn't let the team sleep on anyone, especially as the season wore on. Without that kind of edge, we can't go all the way.

Lots of people have mentioned this already, but I was surprised to see in the box score that the starters were playing in the neighbourhood of 40 minutes for the second game in a row. Maybe it's just early in the season, and the bench guys will work their way into the rotation soon. If it doesn't happen, the starters are going to be tired again, and there's no way that we'll be the last team standing next June.

As for Tommy's comment, there's no way that the Celts are better than us this year, but he does have a point. (As an aside, I really love the announcing team for the Cs. Mike Gorman is easy to listen to and calls the game well, and Tommy kills me -- yeah he's as much of a homer as you can get, but I love his enthusiasm.)

Actually, watching and listening to Tommy Heinsohn crap his pants when Rip hit that shot was worth a dozen ugly games

:D I wish I could've heard that!

^^^Thing about Tommy is that you know he's a homer. But lately he's getting a little self-important -- awarding his "Tommy Points" like an archbishop bestowing a benediction, then bellowing how Justin Reed is the closest thing they have to ... "Waltah."

As he was drawing out the comparison to its ultimate punchline, I was trying to guess what fabled Celtic player he was comparing him to. Cedric Maxwell? Satch Sanders? But no, it was Walter Friggin' McCarty. Bet ol' Justin can hardly sleep tonight with the excitement that he's become Tommy's pet. :)

Just watched the re-broadcast. I head the original ending on the radio and Blaha gave the impression that the Pistons got the bad whistle on Pierce's last foul and the double-dribble by Blount. Watching it myself I can see how these calls were made even though I question the last foul on Pierce.

Just a great win. Winning a game in 0.8 secs does not happen very often.

I would not worry about the bench. Key here is to make sure the money players are well rested for the last half of the 4th quarter which they were.

Its not so much total mins played you just do not want certain players having to play 12-20 min stretches which you have to do without a 4th big or 4th guard/SF type of guy. Pistons have added Evans to round off a core 8 ( which Delfino may take over ) and Delfino/Darko are there to take up the slack. Plus they will play more as the season goes on.

The one thing that is hard to listen to on those Celtic broadcasts are when Heinsohn issues one of his "Tommy Points" for a hustle play. They interrupt the next play while some intern posts a little Tommy with a big "thumbs up".

http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2005/01/13/1105639399_9928.jpg

To go along with what Max said, I thought this was a very fairly officiated game. They swallowed their whistles most of the night and let the guys on both sides play. I don't know how a second-year guy like Delonte West gets to take full overhand swings at the ball without even the whisper of a foul, but Steve Javie usually does a very good job.

Speaking of Delate West, he has definately made strides at the PG position. His defense looks pretty tough - tho on a night like that looks might be deceiving. Jameer got the press coming out of St. Joe, but this kid may be a better all around player..

And while I'm at it, what's up with Darko's hair? Last night he was using product for that Count Chocula/Eurotrash look.

Somebody needs to put together a gallery of all the bad hair phases in this young man's time with the Pistons.

Lots of people have mentioned this already, but I was surprised to see in the box score that the starters were playing in the neighbourhood of 40 minutes for the second game in a row.

31 - Tayshaun Prince
19 - Rasheed Wallace
36 - Ben Wallace
38 - Richard Hamilton
32 - Chauncey Billups

Average: 31.2

And LOL yah Darko's hair...what's he doin?? Him and Delfino need haircuts badly

bench wasn't too effective last night- I hope that's only an exception.
Only 4 mins for Darko, although he did ok- worries me in some way.
I hope Saunders trusts the starters because he wants a good record at the start not to get miscredits and plays the bench more down the stretch of the season.

And while I'm at it, what's up with Darko's hair? Last night he was using product for that Count Chocula/Eurotrash look.

Somebody needs to put together a gallery of all the bad hair phases in this young man's time with the Pistons.

:laugh:

I thought, damn Eddie Munster grew up. He was better off with the stylishly messy look that Delfino does...

One other funny thing from last night. Rip was asked if he was impressed with the Celts...in his answer he mentioned that "both teams played hard..." and immediately started to chuckle and could barely finish he sentence. Sheed had to be in the area.

Thanks Warthog for posting the minutes from the Philadelphia game. Now I don't know what the hell I was thinking! :doh: Must have confused one box score with another....

Last night they played more, but maybe it was just because it was such a tight game. I don't think I expected it to be that close, even if it was in Boston.

Who do think called that final play.

31 - Tayshaun Prince
19 - Rasheed Wallace
36 - Ben Wallace
38 - Richard Hamilton
32 - Chauncey Billups

Average: 31.2

And LOL yah Darko's hair...what's he doin?? Him and Delfino need haircuts badly

I expect the bench to play a lot more against a crapp toronto team today. Great shot by rip, but i was so ticked when they didn't call that double-dribble on mark blount. what i don't think anyone else has talked about here is thyat in my opinion we would have never made that shot if lb was here. larry would waste that whole timeout trying to tell the refs that they should of called the double-dribble, when it would be too late to change the call then the pistons would have little time if any to get a good play off and motivation from the coach. flip said (after the game) that he told his guys that they could steal the win.

Big steal though we turned the ball over, we missed a lot of shots, and we lost the board war yet we still hung in there to win it. you know what really pisses me off though is that when the pistons face a team in a close game down the stretch on the road when the other team has a superstar. for example last nights game I sae ben gat clobbered in the paint in the last 2 minutes and he didn't get the call, and paul pierce got a foul called on sheed when he shot a jumper that sheed only contested. If we didn't win I'd be really mad right now, good thing we did.

I hope the DMC folks are ok with him getting meaningful minutes even if they are few and far between.

If it was last year it would have been a DNP- coaches decision and the minutes would have gone to DD. So its good. I'd like to see delfino earn more PT.

When I heard the last shot and the talk about it I thought there was a lot more to the play than Rip curling around 3 guys. He looked like he just outran his guy. were the C's playing to counter a Tip in/dunk play?

If you blinked, you missed it. The Pistons played it at the beginning of the fourth quarter, gave up a bunny real quick, and then abandoned it.

were the C's playing to counter a Tip in/dunk play?

I know that is what I was looking for. I was surprised when Taysh inbounded because I thought that with .8 left, it would be a tip-in dunk to Tay, like Rip is so fond of doing. And Tay gets so high that it is hard to defend.

But what better play do we have than Rip scraping people off using two screens?

Anyway, a steal is a steal. :bump2: :bump2: :bump2:

I thought we'd gat the ball to sheed he can shoot good shot quick if he needs to. we should of won that game anyways that was clearly a double-dribble on mark blount. so i say we stole their steal.

GREAT game last night!!! I loved the sick look on the faces of pierce and especially ricky davis after Rip sent them all home broke, dusted, and disgusted (LOL)!!! The Pistons clearly did not play their best game last night however still found a way to win. Sheed & Chauncey in particular did not play well at all but they still showed up for us when it counted most.

The refs certainly didn't do the Pistons any favors last night to say the least! First they allowed pierce to blatantly travel for that short jumper, he basically took his 2 steps with an extra (pro) hop as well. Then I also recall the nice fast break that rip pushed up at a blazing pace ending with Ben laying it in and getting blatantly hacked by pierce. The final straw was the clearly OBVIOUS double dribble by blount, I mean I've seen refs make that call in the 10 and under youth league games I coach for cryin out loud (mind you this is a league where they allow the young players to travel and double dribble a bit). No doubt about it allowing blount that extra/illegal double dribble was an unfair (home cookin) advantage for beantown. The equivalent of allowing one to attack an opponent off the dribble, stop, pump fake, and then just start dribbling again... WTF?!?!?
Anyway with all that cheating our boys still came out on top, if Flip drew that play up exactly like that he gets nothing but Kudos from me! Nice screen by Sheed and an absolutely BEAUTIFUL clutch stroke by Rip Hamilton... He doesn't get all the credit for stepping up big in crunch time like C-note but he indeed has bailed us out his fair share of times and no doubt came through again last night!!!!!! GO PISTONS!

Excellent observation Slippy, it did seem like they were all packed in the paint to prevent some type of alley oop or tip in... SUCKERS, LOL! However they should have known better in a way, Derek Fisher already proved you can get away with getting a shot off in like .4 seconds (just ask the 2004 spurs, lol). Therefore .8 seconds was plenty of time to get a decent jumper off.

This was a toughee, but it's games like this that we need to win. The great teams of The isiah years had amany buzzerbeaters and they all added up to W's!!!We need wins by any means neccesary!!We need home court this year more than ever. We dont lose deciding series wins at home. I loved this game cuz of the fight!Blowouts teach us nothin come clobberin time-come playoff time! My bruddah!

We can rag on the officials all we want, but at the end of the day we are a much better team than Boston and you CANNOT allow a game to be determined by the referees.

Any time you allow an inferior team to stay close, you run the risk of a bad bounce, bad break, or bad call losing the game for you.

I'm proud of our guys for coming from 7 down with four minutes left. They showed heart and character, although we already knew they had that. BUT, we shouldn't have been in that position to begin with.

Speaking of Delate West, he has definately made strides at the PG position. His defense looks pretty tough - tho on a night like that looks might be deceiving. Jameer got the press coming out of St. Joe, but this kid may be a better all around player..

I was very impressed with his play yesterday as well. He fills up the stat sheet: blocks, rebounds, steals, assists...why did they sign Dikau again?

^Because he's white.