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Pistons vs Cavaliers
April 2nd, 2006 ~ 8:00 pm
The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, MI
TV: ESPN
Radio: WDFN


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KingJ and the Cavs are bringing it lately. The men should be fresh and need to send a message, F.U. KingJ, no KingJ rules here.
Ps 98
KingJs 85

Will be nice to face King James in a meaningful game at seasons end. Would be even better to end his 1st post season reign in the 2nd round.

Hughes is back, and Flip Murray was an excellent addition for the Cav`s. They come in riding his majesty`s coatails with wins over Miami (that`s not really saying too much) Dallas, and ended NJ 14 game win streak.

Confidence vs. Determination in this one. I predict the Pistons will run the table at home, from here on out, let`s start with the King, in our Palace!

Murray was incredible tonight (last second win by the Cavs vs Hornets)...
Larry Hughes gives them more depth at SG... should be a challange for Evans/Delfino.
No big Z tonight...

Hey, Yao broke his foot tonight:wacko:

If Ben Wallace shows up and plays well, this is a win. If Ben isn't "DPOY Ben", James will abuse Tayshaun.

SA Spurs won again. Therefore there is plenty of reason to win this game.

1. HCA still not decided yet. As long as we win the next 2 games, we have HCA thru out. Mission 3 out of 4 accomplished.

2. One more win to tie the best regular season of the franchise.

3. With Z who should be back in this game, we might be facing our 2nd round opponent at full strength. Got to win this to make sure they don't the confidence if they really face us in the playoffs.

Should be a great game. If we can contain LBJ, we should win.

DETROIT BASKETBALL!!!

There ain't no party like a Detroit party....

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Looks like Big Zeeeee is all partied out!

Time for Sheed to step up after Ben's monster game the other day. He's owned Cleveland this year. 25 and 15 would be good for tonight.

Going up against both the hottest team in the league (well, one of two) and a potential playoff opponent ought to provide some motivation.

This should be the best Cavs, Pistons match up of the year. Thats what I think if Z plays tonight. It will have a playoff feel to it because hands down this could be our secound rd opponent.

I think Cleveland can beat Washington in the first round, but if Washington is healthy they are also capable of beating Cleveland. No message needed for Cleveland tonight they already know they can't beat this team. Look for Lebron to have a big night and the two players we need to look out for is Flip Murray and Larry Hughes.

Pistons take the win in good Pistons Basketball fashion 89 to 80

If Ben Wallace shows up and plays well, this is a win. If Ben isn't "DPOY Ben", James will abuse Tayshaun.
I agree. If Ben isn't "Vintage Ben", we will lose. He should be hanging out behind Prince most of the game waiting to help on Lebron.

Also, I think Delk will play a big role. There is no one that can guard him one-on-one, and they don't play great help D, so he should be able to get to the rack and score some. Especially if Flip plays it smart and forces the Cavs to put Damon Jones on him by pairing him with bigger players or starters (ie, not Lindsey).

I agree. If Ben isn't "Vintage Ben", we will lose. He should be hanging out behind Prince most of the game waiting to help on Lebron.

Also, I think Delk will play a big role. There is no one that can guard him one-on-one, and they don't play great help D, so he should be able to get to the rack and score some. Especially if Flip plays it smart and forces the Cavs to put Damon Jones on him by pairing him with bigger players or starters (ie, not Lindsey).

The way he played sunday i don't think it would matter.

Chat is open, see y'all around 8:00!

http://www.pistonsforum.com/news/853-pistonsforum-com-game-chat-debut.html

Big game tonight, let's be big time fans!

It was good to see a blow out tonight. Pretty predictable though since you know our Pistons wanted to send a message. Can't wait till the playoffs!

Pistons good. Cavs not so good. Lebron hurt. Varejealveo ejected. Mo GT hero.
ESPN cut short coverage of the game by 1 quarter.

Pistons good. Cavs not so good. Lebron hurt. Varejealveo ejected. Mo GT hero.
ESPN cut short coverage of the game by 1 quarter. It was a FUN night in the chat room...thats all i wanted!

I believe we've gained a new term in our collective sports vocabularies -- one that defines a beating so savage, so unilateral and so uncontested that its Armageddon-magnitude impact ripples throughout the universe and forces ESPN's LeBron-loving broadcast team out of its hyperbolic orbit.

The term, dear friends, is "bonus coverage."

Yes, we now have the broadcast equivalent of averting one's eyes at an accident scene ... of getting 86'd at the bar, rejected by the host body, left at the altar while your fiancee runs off with Dustin Hoffman in "The Graduate." Combined with the incredible ineptitude of the four teams competing feverishly for the 9th spot in the East, this is the kind of game that could contribute to the Pistons literally dying of boredom.

Mike Tirico and Bill Walton is the best duo in the NBA today, even ahead of anyone + Doug Collins/Hubie Brown/Marv Albert.

Decent game until the "bonus coverage" point.

I believe we've gained a new term in our collective sports vocabularies -- one that defines a beating so savage, so unilateral and so uncontested that its Armageddon-magnitude impact ripples throughout the universe and forces ESPN's LeBron-loving broadcast team out of its hyperbolic orbit.

The term, dear friends, is "bonus coverage."

Yes, we now have the broadcast equivalent of averting one's eyes at an accident scene ... of getting 86'd at the bar, rejected by the host body, left at the altar while your fiancee runs off with Dustin Hoffman in "The Graduate." Combined with the incredible ineptitude of the four teams competing feverishly for the 9th spot in the East, this is the kind of game that could contribute to the Pistons literally dying of boredom.
You gotta love that the Bad Boys totally screwed with the NBA marketing "Michael" and 17 years later, the Pistons are messing with the incumbent godhood of "LeBron".

I caught "Bron's" postgame hallway interview on NBATV (didn't get the game). Let's simply say, he's no Sidney Lowe when it comes to hallway interviews. Despite a barrage of questions about his ankle, you could tell he had just suffered an ass whupping of cosmic proportions and wanted to run away to cry himself to sleep.

Beautiful. Now I will go see what Cleveland fans are saying on their forums. MUWAHAHAHA!

On RealGM, the Cleveland fans had turned their game thread into a discussion of the 1995 Indians and the Browns' upcoming draft pick, maybe all of three pages after predicting victory.

major props to lanierfan and microwave for eloquent, cultured, humorous and savage posts! i felt truly uplifted. brought a smile to my face.

the rest of this is pretty much off-thread unless maybe the ilgauskas - sheed - varejon incident somehow connects it (so change the channel if you want)

ron artest on best damn sports show period or whatever it's called:

asked who, besides himself, should get the nba's mvp award: "i think one of the pistons should get it... chauncey, rasheed, richard, or ben... the way they've been playing"

then playing the question and answer game "my favorite things" (questions in parentheses following ron ron's answers)

dennis rodman (favorite basketball player all time)
eatin' beans before games (superstition)
martin lawrence (tv show)
beans (favorite meal)
mike bibby (favorite current nba player besides himself)
circuit city (favorite job outside of pro basketball) -- did it as a rookie with chicago: wtf?
meeting mike tyson (favorite moment on best damn)
lebron icky shuffle (favorite dance move)

oh, and then he did a little song. apparently he did an apology song a couple of years ago when he had yanked paul pierce's shorts down during a game. so tonight they played a video of pierce singing: "ron, ron, ron, ron, ron...i accept your apology. it's good to have you back. next time they hit you with a beer, try not to react." artest was almost doubled over laughing. "that's platinum," he said. invited to respond on the spot, he said again, "that's platinum. i'm gonna have to think on that. that was really tough."

i suppose it is some sort of sacrilege to say so here (i remember micro and my shared shame at confessing on the chat that we both drafted ron to our fantasy teams), but i just can't not like the guy...he totally cracked me up.

wtf?Ron-Ron got a job at Circuit City during his rookie season just for the employee discount on electronics.

OK that's three straight nationally televised games vs Heat, Pacers, and Cavs that we blow out a potential playoff foe. Throw in the wins vs western powers, Suns and Mavs the prior week and the message has been sent around the league that Pistons are running on all cylinders and ready to reclaim the crown. Hate to use that cliche' but it is true in this case. Yeah there was that two pt loss to the Magic, but we know what happen there.

Tonight's game was over before LBJ went down, so hopefully the no Piston haters will say that we won because he was down. Four games left, and we should clinch the overall HCA on Friday vs the Rapts, or definitely at home Sunday vs LB's bricks:eyebrows:. After that Flip can rest the starters as both the Bucks and the Wiz will be playing for positioning next week. Good production by the bench, good defense and a lot of hustle.

Good time in the Chat room tonight as my bruddah HQ mentioned. Good discussion with pistonchickforever as we had her and a short visit by Armygirl to add some softness to the mix.

To bad the ESPN bonus coverage had to ruin it, but since we are are almost in bracket mode, I understand that fans of team on the bubble want to see a little bit of their teams in action......funny no Magic highlights or bonus coverage......:laugh:

Actually Artest's moonlight job was at a New York electronics store called Nobody Beats the Wiz, and he did indeed do it for the discount so he could keep all his family and friends in gifts.

The guy has a really good heart, but he will always be a knucklehead.

That game did have a playoff type atmosphere to it. Pistons started playing D in the 1st quarter instead of the 4th like they usually do. Bens defiance in the Orlando game has kicked the team into playoff mode.


From the last 1st quarter onward the Pistons out-scored the Cavs 40-10. Varajao's cheap retaliation for the Ilgauskas head injury earlier this season definetly backfired. Sheed was not hurt ( thank god ) and Verajao was exposed for the punk he is on national TV. Plus it inspired the Pistons to totally bury the Cavs. I am guessing here that if the Pistons do meet the Cavs in the 2nd round Varajao will get run by the refs. Something should have happened to him for his 1st hard foul on Dyess they let it go and he did something worse to Sheed.

I enjoyed that game. Sent a strong message to the Cavs on what to expect in the post-season. This is our likely 2nd round opponent.

James injury does not appear to be serious.

notable quotes from the game:

cavs coach mike brown: "Flip outcoached me and their players outplayed us on both ends of the floor," Brown said. "Even their cheerleaders did a nice job."

sheed: "It was just another soft foul," Wallace said. "I don't know what he was trying to do, but it didn't work."

this was total domination. i especially liked our defense of lebron, playing slightly off him, having one of the big men step out a little bit so they were always ready to trap, and always had 2 lines of immediate defense to go with the 3rd line at the basket.

I believe I called for a double digit victory. Now that BBen has all the guys ear, until we go bench expect all the games to be double digit victorys. Oh, and expect no mercy.

It was wickety wack how they started playiing other games when Lebron got taken out. And why does Shaq, the onlt player i see in the nba, get a lane violation called on the opposing team when shooting fre throws??

Cleveland fans were distraught last night. Everyone from Gooden to Hughes was the devil.

The best line I saw was a Cleveland fan answering back a post from a Detroit fan with "You better hope you can handle the Spurs!"

I guess that is like when you wish the other guy good luck in the next round, but not too much luck. :laugh:

I'm kinda wondering, but does all of the LeBron attention turn you off? I know the Darko attention turned me off to him, I just can't seem to get on James' bandwagon despite his stellar abilities. He's sold as so much more than a good player. If you listen to the hype, he's redefining fashion in Paris, he's living larger than Tommy Lee, he's the cure for diseases yet to be discovered, and in his spare time he just might figure out cold fusion.

The dude is not even quotable.

The LeBron thing seems kind of ... forced. People go nuts (as they did last night) for the same breakaway, posterizing-NOBODY dunk he always does, but on the whole his game just isn't that interesting to me.

He seems like a good guy and he's incredibly effective, but it's all straight lines and him barging to the hoop with that great speed-strength combination. Kinda like a Herschel Walker-Earl Campbell type of football player, who can bull through you or outrun you until he gets that first bad injury.

Wade is a lot more fun to watch, but ESPN has clearly bet the house on LeBron. If the Cavs had won last night, it would not have been buried as deep in the sports recaps as the Pistons' win has been.

The LeBron thing seems kind of ... forced. People go nuts (as they did last night) for the same breakaway, posterizing-NOBODY dunk he always does, but on the whole his game just isn't that interesting to me.
Yep, I'm so tired of that dunk. They could probably put the same clip in the nightly highlights and no one would be the wiser.

I'm kinda wondering, but does all of the LeBron attention turn you off? I know the Darko attention turned me off to him, I just can't seem to get on James' bandwagon despite his stellar abilities. He's sold as so much more than a good player. If you listen to the hype, he's redefining fashion in Paris, he's living larger than Tommy Lee, he's the cure for diseases yet to be discovered, and in his spare time he just might figure out cold fusion.

The LeBron thing seems kind of ... forced. People go nuts (as they did last night) for the same breakaway, posterizing-NOBODY dunk he always does, but on the whole his game just isn't that interesting to me.

I'm with you on the attention thing. How seriously can you take someone who does commercials with dolls? I kinda want not to like him too, but the man brings a serious game. Very few players have dominated so many statistical categories at such a young age, maybe no one. He plays more minutes than anyone else, is second in triple doubles, efficiency rating, total points and still manages #16 in steals per game, #19 in defensive rebounds, and the list goes on and on. If he can cut down on turnovers (which I'd say will come with a couple of better teammates) and learn to lead a bit more, it's hard to see many limits for him.

The only thing that put Brand over James in the MVP race for me was the larger improvement the Clips made over last year versus the Cavs. But that was before the last couple of weeks. Today, I might have to give the edge to Lebron.

Will the Cavs put the right players around him and will he find the fire down deep seem to be the only things you can question. If the Cavs come up with a Pippen, a Grant, and a couple of others, and still find a way to pay James, it's going to be fun times on Lake Erie for a long time to come.

Micro, what Darko atten.? Did I miss something. He never played. No one ever claimed him to be next coming, after the first year. I'm sure it wasn't all the atten. he got in the forums.
...I like the ESPN James commercial were the dude takes his huge chair, then pretends like nothing is wrong. The dudes head barely clears the armrest.