SanAntonio At Detroit - 12:30PM

http://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/team/SA_827.gifhttp://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/team/at.gifhttp://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/team/DET_444.gif

TV: ABC
Radio: WDFN

Max's Notes: Put the Festivities on hold for this one. 1st meeting between the 2 teams since the 2005 NBA Finals. Both teams will be warmed up and new players integrated. Will be a great one. Pistons were 2-1 at Home against SAN in the Finals blowing out SAN in both games.

Probable Starting Lineups

Your Detroit Pistons

Ben WallaceRasheed WallaceTayshaun PrinceRip HamiltonChauncey Billupshttp://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/pistons/ben_wallace.jpghttp://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/pistons/rasheed_wallace.jpghttp://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/pistons/tayshaun_prince.jpghttp://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/pistons/richard_hamilton.jpghttp://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/pistons/chauncey_billups.jpg

NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs

Rasho NesterovicTim DuncanBruce BowenMichael FinleyTony Parkerhttp://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/spurs/radoslav_nesterovic.jpghttp://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/spurs/tim_duncan.jpghttp://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/spurs/bruce_bowen.jpghttp://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/spurs/michael_finley.jpghttp://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/spurs/tony_parker.jpg

~Tale of the Tape~

http://www.pistonsforum.com/images/picdump/sa122505-1.png
http://www.pistonsforum.com/images/picdump/sa122505-2.png
http://www.pistonsforum.com/images/picdump/sa122505-3.png

BoxScoreAndPlaybyPlay - From nba.com (http://www.nba.com/games/20051225/SASDET/boxscore.html)

We're going to hand out some posting awards in the New Year as voted by the membership.

As this Christmas Day game is nationally televised, most everyone should be able to watch it providing the family obligations are met. ;)

Here is the scoop.

Write your best pre-game analysis or post game wrap up.

No plagiarising, and linking images will be worth ZERO points. You need to provide TEXT to be considered.

Offer stats, humour, insight but offer YOUR TAKE. Make it original and you might end up on the receiving end of some Pistons or forum schwag.

Please don't post or PM questions. Give us your best work (meeting the above two conditions) and you will be eligible.

Gotta bring our A game for this one. I have a feeling Lindsey's presence will be missed against Tony Parker. His dribble penetration is going to be brutal.

Gotta bring our A game for this one. I have a feeling Lindsey's presence will be missed against Tony Parker. His dribble penetration is going to be brutal.

Billups should make him play both ends. Billups should post parker at the offensive end and probably draw some fouls on him.

The Pistons will win this one because

(1) It's a home game

(2) Come on, you know this is the game they've been waiting for since last year (It won't be nearly enough vindication to compensate for the playoff loss but they need to know they can beat these guys). San Antonio will be pumped but not nearly as much as Detroit (because they won).

(3) Ginobli is out

(4) The Pistons are damned good (well, at least 5 of them are).

(5) I'll be watching the game on TV, but the Darth curse only works against us when I watch it live in a visiting city. (I do have to admit I loved the Jazz colors and even ALLOWED the kids to get some overpriced Jazz souvenirs...ok...get over it already, Darth).

I can't see Detroit losing this one. That's not a knock on the Spurs, but I'd be very surprised to see them beat us tomorrow.

Here are a couple of articles on the game

http://sanantoniolightning.com/spurs1now.html

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/5191234?CMP=OTC-K9B140813162&ATT=73

No question that home court advantage will be a major factor. The Pistons have been playing very well this year, but even so, they will need the extra boost from the crowd if they are to get an assured victory. Rasheed and Ben will need to play great defense and stop the penetration by the Spurs. If we can keep them from driving to the hole like they did in the 2005 Finals, we'll be alright.

the spurs had trouble with the lakers because of their offense. the pistons now with flip play both O, and D.

That is the test. We need to use Sheed both down low and out on the arc. Make Duncan uncomfortable--he doesn't want to come out. Drive on Parker and post Horry over and over again. Take the quick look to keep them honest and then pass, pass, and pass as their defense does not want to go late into the clock as they become vulnerable. Forget the baseline drive--they want you to and are ready to collapse/trap. Use Tay from the top but let Tay shoot the bomber to open up the SA defense. Screen off Bowen as other teams are doing. Remember, they could count on us last year to not take the open look, to use Tay driving the baseline and to use Rip and Chauncey in one on one situations. We gave them what they wanted. If we make them really play defense, they will break down.

First, if Sheed leaves Horry open on the arc we'll have to question his intellegence.... Ben is a better matchup on Horry (and Sheed on TD)

I think Tayshaun has a lot of proving to do after the champ series... he should be motivated... I really believe his ankle was bothering his mobility in that series.

I hope Chauncey & Rip have it worked out if Bowen picks up on C.B.... Rip has to make them adjust to Parker gaurding him.

S.A. has trouble with up tempo teams... we need to look for some breakouts instead of always playing the half court game.

I would start the game with a hard foul on Parker...just for fun :^)

If Finley is starting... the Pistons will exploit his age with Rip... we can crash the boards on these guys.

As Jzchen mentioned Chauncey must make Parker pay down low.

Yep Max, Christmas is on hold for this one.

I expect this to be a bit of a more up tempo game. Also the players might run more today thinking that by running the game will end faster and they will get to their Christmas dinner's faster. LOL

By the way I heard rumors that there is another basketball game on the tube today. Though I can'd confirm if its a pro game or amatuer game.

Happy Holly Days to everyone.

Write your best pre-game analysis or post game wrap up.

Very late, around midnight before I can watch the game and write a report on it.

@lee - There was no time limit indicated. We'll say 2 days...



Game Chat is open for anyone interested.

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

This is it folkes. One hour to the biggest game of the season. Time to see what our team is made of.

With Ginobili out Parker will have to make up his offense and he will have to do it against the best defensive point in the league C.Billups.

You know they will switch Bowen over on Rip since that worked so well in the Finals and with Rip's sore back he may have trouble. So to me the keys are for Billups to stay on the floor as much as possible to neutralize PArker and take advantage of Parkers smaller size offensivly, Tay to step up offensivly against Finley and Sheed to keep Duncan busy.
Above all keep Netrovic, Mahomed, Marks and everyone else off the offensive glass. Spurs do not have anyone averaging over 2 offensive boards a game so lets keep it that way and limit their 2nd chance scoring opportunities. If there is one achillies heal thats it and we can lose this game by simply giving up more shot opportunities.

With that said I believe the team will step up with Ben Wallace leading the way having a huge game defensivly and on the boards.

Pistons 94 Spurs 88

Whether its Rip or CB, we have to take advantage of Parker's height and size offensively. Sheed, stay out of foul trouble. Tay and Ben, do what you always do.

Has anyone wonder, has any of our opponent's big 3 (SF, PF and Center) foul out playing against us???:confused:

I'm gonna barf if they don't stop talkin about WNBA's Tony Parker..:frusty:

I'm gonna barf if they don't stop talkin about WNBA's Tony Parker..:frusty:

It is okay if we talk about the Smush Parker?

Actually on that note I think I will start a new thread. Smush or Tony Which Parker would you choose?

It is okay if we talk about the Smush Parker?

Actually on that note I think I will start a new thread. Smush or Tony Which Parker would you choose?
We'll see how much they talk about Smush in the next game..

lol bill walton ... the score is 6-4 and he goes 'tony parker is outscoring the entire pistons team' ... just wow.

Another win by our Pistons.. McDyess was a beast!

Without any injuries to the starting five it is possible.

Box Score (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boxscore?gid=2005122508)


Just wanted to let everyone know that the Chat will probably stay open through the Heat/lakers game, or as long as Zoso is willing to keep an eye on it.

go pistons!!!!

I mean only a 57-30 rebound edge.... bench scoring... 21-20 detroits favor... all those doom sayers are right :eyebrows:

Lovely game from what I see, only bad thing was i had to listen to it on the net, but will be stateside to see a beat down on Miami later this week.....

a few questions... has van exel lost something? the two "STUD" bench players they added don't seem to be all that... or did the stats not tell the whole story today?

Box Score (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boxscore?gid=2005122508)




Just wanted to let everyone know that the Chat will probably stay open through the Heat/lakers game, or as long as Zoso is willing to keep an eye on it.

Everyone left, so I closed the room.

So what is pop thinking now? I think 6-4 was their last lead.

Everyone took this game seriously and worked hard today. Dice got big minutes & a double-D.

Before today, this game scared me. The Pistons ARE real!

Darko's got a tough row to hoe.

He actually had floor time but doesn't show in the box as even a DNP. :ohwell:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boxscore?gid=2005122508

:smow: i think all the spurs players are saying ba humbug. Merry Christmas go Pistons

Not an impressive game. Fine board play by the Pistons masked what I thought was a curiously uninspired performance, particularly at the start of the second half.

Both teams looked at the calendar, saw December instead of June and dialed it down a notch. But it's a win, and a win over a real team.

Spurs are jingle-jangle-jinglin', but the tune is "Post Championship Blues."

They played without Manu which really hurt them. The key match-up of our offense vs. their defense did not always go well for us. I thought I was watching last year for awhile. Rip under duress taking it to the hoop or not getting separation. Chauncey going one on one. We used Sheed inside with not great results but we beat them when Sheed went OUTSIDE in the fourth. Tay finally took and hit the three in the 3rd quarter when our offense was almost dead. In the 4th, Sheed went up top which opened the middle for the back door to Dyss. They do not like to take Duncan away from the hoop. We finally went inside out with the kicker to Sheed who was about 8 feet wide open at the top. Finally. We will not beat SA if we try and pound the ball inside. They can stop Rip, Slow Chauncey and slow Sheed inside. They did it again. But they cannot pack us down AND cover our three ball. That is where they break down.

And McDyess is back doing what he can do. Evans gives us some nice energy and rebounding. Evans needs to become more automatic with the three. Arroyo we have to live with: the good and the not so good. But our offense is still the achilles heel. It ground to a halt on a couple of occasions. We did not pass the ball much but went to our one on one way too much. We tried to drive down low instead of taking the short jumper or poping the ball back out. SA can stop us when we play offense like that. They can beat us when we play like that. We still have a ways to go.

Evans gives us some nice energy and rebounding. Evans needs to become more automatic with the three.

I think Mo would have nailed that three in the 2nd half if it weren't for having just missed that dunk. I think it rattled him a bit.

Being that I'm way over here, they're showing the Miami-LA matchup and the Pistons-Spurs tonight.

THough I know the Pistons win, I'm still gonna watch it.

It's nice to see Dice getting his shot on. And the boards advantage was great. But Manu wasn't there but like what Pop said, I doubt he would have made up for that disadvantage they had on the boards. Points maybe, but that 57-30 edge wouldn't have been overcome.

Good win for Detroit.

Next awaited game this friday here, Miami.

Go Detroit! :nod:

Gotta bring our A game for this one. I have a feeling Lindsey's presence will be missed against Tony Parker. His dribble penetration is going to be brutal.
we didnt even need our A game. Just some much needed toughness for a change to this soft play we've had on the interior lately. We wouldnt let Randolph and Diogu score like that in a playoff game, my bruddah! Great gift...better than underwear:laugh:

Darko's got a tough row to hoe.

He actually had floor time but doesn't show in the box as even a DNP. :ohwell:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boxscore?gid=2005122508:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: he's just so non-existant! funniest moment of the year, His last 40 seconds was just that irrelevant! I love it!:laugh: hahahahahahhahahhahha:laugh:
hooohohoohoohoooooo!:laugh: heheheheheeehehheheheeeeee:confused:

things i saw tonight is that duncan will need help on the glass, the pistons can win with rip sucking, we still have great D, and our bench is solid. when lindsey comes back he'll kill their gaurds.

We are deep. Understand Flips lineup, and it's a 9 man lineup. Still think Delfino is better than Evans, but Flip likes Evans style versus Delfino, so unless Delfino can prove he is SIGNIFICANTLY better than Evans, he's not getting the PT. Evans muffed that dunk, got cocky, tried to make ESPN. Bet Flip liked that. Delfino makes a mistake on a bad pass or dribble, Flip would go crazy. Though did not like the way Evans was sulking after the missed 3 after the missed dunk, he looked scared.

Flip is playing 3 bigs, that's it. Barring injury, nobody else is getting any real pt for the rest of the season. As Dice gets better, Ben and Sheed will get more rest. But no way Flip ever has Ben and Sheed out of the game at the same time for the rest of the season during real game time.

Darko has to lose the Stash, and now, I'm serious. He was joking with Fabricio though, I guess Delfino taught him some Spanish. JMax showed some good gt effort, but showed me nothing to indicate he can guard a true 4 or 5 in real time.

Biggest suprise of the game was how inactive Ben is on O. Zero effort in making picks or working for a shot. His entire game was towards Offensive board position. Occasionally his man would leave him and somebody would hit him for a dunk. Not complaining, that seems the best way for Ben to play on O, that's how Rodman played. But Ben shouldn't be complaining about touches if he plays like that.

Good game, being that deep, we really do have a shot at winning 70. And I hope Darko, DD, and JMax stay alert, cause they aint getting any PT unless there is an injury, but if there is, we need them to be ready.

PS, Brother HQ, you disgust me, real Pistons fans dont cheer somebody mocking a Piston. Like Michael said to Fredo, never take sides against the Family.

PPS, Arroyo does overdribble

great game on the boards.
I was very pleased, especially with the scene when Mc Dyess grabbed an defensive board by jumping higher than anyone else. damn, that man still can jump.
Spurs were able to shut down Hamilton AND Billups at first, but so they started to turn on the "D" and showed that they still got it when needed.
And damn Jmax is looking huge, he's got an "hulkalicious frame"

PS, Brother HQ, you disgust me, real Pistons fans dont cheer somebody mocking a Piston. Like Michael said to Fredo, never take sides against the Family.



Whatever.

You are always cool with me, HQ...My Bruddah:nod:

The backup on Joslyn road heading in to the Palace was pretty bad.

A lady was sitting in my seat when I got there with my son. I tried to get him to sit next to her when she moved over but he wouldn't. I got hit with XMas thunderstix on one side from her and on the other side from him throughout the game.

Neither team looked like they wanted to be there. Chauncey was the most fired up player on the court. Clapping his hands and looking pumped right after the Anthem.

The Spurs had a ton of good looks in that first quarter but nothing was falling.

Very frustrating to be in the next to last row when Automotion started dancing in butt twitcher skirts.

Dice was sure aggressive on the boards today...good game. Also Maurice Evans brought a huge energy lift from the bench.

Stayed after to listen to Blaha interview Dice but could only hear the questions. Dice answers were just mumbles.

Traffic after the game was a bastard as usual.


Conclusion. 10 year old son had a blast. Dad might have seen a better game at home on TV.

Are you kidding me?????????? The Nay-Sayers of this board found bad in this game? We played great D (8 points in 1st quarter) Great Bench work. Yes Mo missed a dunk but Ben avg. about 20 a game sometimes. They all showed great energy. Rip was off, but he will almost always be against bowen. AM was awesome.

Lets please remember we just beat the defending champs and the 2nd best record in the NBA by 15. No we didn't play a perfect game but we had a great win. Lastly, who did scottie pippen say would win 70 games?

I'll take the win good effort on the boards.But like everyone else has said it didn't seem like the teams were always into the game maybe wishing they were at home with family.No Manu so it kind of lost a little thunder.Timmy has that plantars peanut thing with his feet like Sheed had when he first got here so he wasn't at full throttle.

I liked that we shut Finley down for some reason his pickup by the Spurs doesn't scare me as much maybe playoff time I'll be more concerned or he'll choke.Rip got shut down by Brooce,bad back or Deja Vu?

A win, best record in the NBA but I don't think this game answered alot of questions about this team.Right now I think Miami will be a much better test and I'am looking forward to it.

When they announced the starting lineups before the game on TV, one guy on each team did it. C-Note did it for Detroit and proclaimed himself the "best point guard in the league." I liked that. :nod: I thought Arroyo played a lot. Seemed that way. I thought he played very well and seemed to be thinking with a little more forethought. He made a great pass to Tay on a break, which had me cheering. He'll always commit a few dumb fouls, but nothing too awful today. I thought he represented well today. He seemed to be more in control today and really rose to the occasion. Looked to me that Bowen continues to own Rip and something needs to be done about it. Parker's success proved how much trouble Detroit has with the dribble-penetrators of the world (Wade, B. Davis), but the Pistons shut him down in the second. Nobody on the Spurs looked good to me at all. Finley tried to post somebody up and do a turnaround at some point, and I was laughing because I knew there's no way he can shoot that shot, and of course, he looked bad on it. Strictly a jump shooter. Sheed got hosed on a few calls as usual. I don't think he'll get many calls when he has the ball because of all his complaining, but I think the complaints help him get fewer things called on him when he's on D. He's right a lot about his complaints, too. Overall, I thought the guys stepped up when they needed to today. Not a great game from an aesthetics standpoint (LanierFan mentioned this), but the rebounding was such an advantage, and I thought Ben was a monster. 21 rebounds. 21-3. Hard not to smile. :)

The ESPN sideline guy interviewed Dumars during the game and asked if he thought the Pistons would make any trades this season. I think Dumars said, "I hope not," but it did not sound very solid. Clearly, Joe D. didn't want to deal with the question but it didn't sound as if he was ruling anything out either. :confused:

Disgust too strong, my bad. But making fun of the kid aint right. This team is going to win 70+, time to start enjoying the ride.

Two problems with glorifying this win too much. No Ginobili, and Tim Duncan is suffering with a foot problem. We still were not ahead much to start the 4th. And our offense did not go well at all. We basically won on the strength of our rebounding, and thats it. Other than Dyess, nobody shot too well, although CB did hit some very timely triples toward the end of the game.

The game started out with Parker doing a lot of damage breaking down our defense. But heck, you know a team is going to have a real hard day if they are going to try to make a living of getting past CB, then contending with Tay, Sheed, and Ben inside. The Pistons cut Parker's water soon enough, and basically, SA had nothing after that. Duncan did have an ok game for sure, but nowhere near a dominating game with that foot problem.

Rip was missing his shots. How much credit to give Bowen on that? Well, maybe Bowen was making Rip think a little too much. We have seen Rip hit those same shots on his good nights. Maybe this was just a bad night. Or maybe Bowen has gotten into his head a bit.

Tay is not being too aggressive. Seems he is more concentrating on extending his range than anything. I'd call that important. Not everything a guy does in a game is strictly toward winning the game at hand. Maybe next game Tay needs that range and has it.

Sheed continues to do damage from the post. Its hard to remember, but last couple of years Sheed working in the post was a rare occurrance in comparison. And he still hits those threes, and its still amazing that streak of him getting at least one three is still going. Someone should check to see just how long this streak is.

Ben was well, active, on the boards. A 20 rebound game. Combine that with 13 for Dyess and you got utter domination of the boards, especially the offensive boards. But remember, Duncan is hurting. We can't count on this happening at the end of the season.

Dyess continues to hit outside shots. And occasionally cut in for an easy one. And tonight, he was rebounding everything in sight.

Our bench operated differently form last game. Arroyo and Dyess came in first. They came in with aobut 2 minutes left in the 1st quarter, and were the only subs until about 4 minutes into the 2nd quarter. Then, Arroyo sat and Evans came in. Again, just two guys out there from the bench. But then Delfino came in for about 4 mintues and we had 3 bench guys out there. Arroyo hit a shot that just barely caught the front of the rim and crawled in. He also had 4 assists to one turn. His one turn was a traveling violation. His most dramatic assist was a repeat of last game where he hits Tay with a long pass for a fast break bucket. Real good control of the ball as usual, and the announcers mentioned that Arroyo is now top 5 in the league in assist to turn ratio. (That 8 assist game to 0 turns just now moved him from 8 to 5.) That is quite an accomplishment. We should be very proud of Arroyo for this, as of course we should be proud of Billups for leading the league in this stat.

Our bench did fine tonight. Indeed, SA did not score at all for quite a stretch there after Arroyo and Dyess came in. We went up what, about 12 points or so before SA finally did score. The 2nd half again saw the bench have no problem rotating thru. But Tay got no rest in the 2nd half as Delfino did not play any except a minute of garbage time in that 2nd half.

Delfino did nothing special in his time on the court. He did attack the basket once but could not make the shot. Still like to see him attacking like that keeping the other team on its toes.

Evans got tore up by that lousy national guy, Bill Walton. Evans missed two wide open triples and an uncontested dunk attempt. But what does Bill Walton know. Hey, that is the first dunk attempt like that Evans has missed this year. It happens. No big deal. And missing two triples. So what. You can't expect a guy to hit one of two triples every time. The guy would have to be about the best triples shooter in existance for that. Get a life Bill Walton.

Evans, for the 2nd game in a row, showed us something more than spot up shooting. He dribbled in from the left right thru a couple of defenders and layed it in. Good job and I hope we see more of that. (Last game it was a dribble away from Davis and a pull up jumper made.) Evans also had an offensive rebound, an offensive rebound tap back, and a tip to a teammate.

Dyess played right thru to the end of the 2nd quarter. In the 2nd half, we pretty much put in all three of our bench guys at once, with a little bit of time to go (like a minute I think). Thats Evans, Arroyo, and Dyess. Sheed was in a bit of foul trouble, so Dyess played well into the 4th, but the other two were out with 8 minutes to go in the game. In all, the bench gave the starters plenty of rest except for Prince. And the bench did fine as far as keeping leads in this game. In other words, they certainly did their job. The bench both kept leads ( and actually extending it), and provided rest for the starters for the most part.

Tay had a day off, and he only played 29 minutes in the last game. And he has rest time before the next game. Playing a bit too much today is not going to hurt him at all. Heck, he probably needs the work.

Merry Christmas everyone. 22-3. Absolutely number 1 in the power rankings tomorro. GO PISTONS!!!!!

Now for the bad part. Darko did not play. Clock is still ticking. We are not ready to play a healthy SA team in a 7 game series. And we won't be until Darko is getting some time in the rotation. Five minutes every other game is about enough. Just like he was getting the first 14 games of the season. Come on Flip, these regular season wins are not going to win you a championship. Having your roster ready will.

Now for the bad part. Darko did not play. Clock is still ticking. We are not ready to play a healthy SA team in a 7 game series. And we won't be until Darko is getting some time in the rotation. Five minutes every other game is about enough. Just like he was getting the first 14 games of the season. Come on Flip, these regular season wins are not going to win you a championship. Having your roster ready will.</B></B></B>
I think Darko is done as a Piston. If Joe were smart he would be shopping him right now while he can still get an NBA quality player for him.

DMC does not have a Piston attitude toward the game. He is all about himself and not the team. I believe Joe D. would have gotten rid of him last year but he was hoping a change in coaches might make a difference. Clearly it has not.

DMC is taking up space on the bench that could be used by someone with a Piston attitude and some ability.

The ESPN sideline guy interviewed Dumars during the game and asked if he thought the Pistons would make any trades this season. I think Dumars said, "I hope not," but it did not sound very solid. Clearly, Joe D. didn't want to deal with the question but it didn't sound as if he was ruling anything out either. :confused:

Dumars went on to say that he hopes that the group of players he has can get the job done.

When asked if this season is justifying Flip coming here and Brown leaving, Dumars said its not a matter of justification. Brown did a great job, we are deeply appreciative of the championship he helped bring us, and that Flip is here to finish the job Brown started.

Now for the bad part. Darko did not play. Clock is still ticking. We are not ready to play a healthy SA team in a 7 game series. And we won't be until Darko is getting some time in the rotation. Five minutes every other game is about enough. Just like he was getting the first 14 games of the season. Come on Flip, these regular season wins are not going to win you a championship. Having your roster ready will.

These regular season wins with SA and Dallas nipping at our heels for best record in the league will help towards winning us a championship as homecourt would have last year with the short bench Larry played.Two 7 game series on the road killed us Darko had nothing to do with it then as he will not this year.

Prove me wrong Darko prove me wrong.:hail:

Hate to be you. Simply put, we got 96 minutes of Big Guy Time, for 3 guys. 32 min per. Obviously Ben and Sheed are playing more, but as Dice gets better, his min go up, their's go down. Flip doesn't need to play anyone else. Not unless its GT, or he feels they can challenge for pt. DD, if he hasn't done it now, he's not going to do it. JMax, maybe, Corliss type player, we'll see. And Darko, really believe he has the ability, but again, Coach has no reason to play him, unless he's better than Dice.

Feel bad for the kid, play better than Antonio McDyess, and you can get pt, otherwise ride the bench. Still a DHOF member, so DMC, prove you're better than Dice, and get yourself some PT. Either way, Pistons win.

Hate to be you. Simply put, we got 96 minutes of Big Guy Time, for 3 guys. 32 min per. Obviously Ben and Sheed are playing more, but as Dice gets better, his min go up, their's go down. Flip doesn't need to play anyone else. Not unless its GT, or he feels they can challenge for pt. DD, if he hasn't done it now, he's not going to do it. JMax, maybe, Corliss type player, we'll see. And Darko, really believe he has the ability, but again, Coach has no reason to play him, unless he's better than Dice.

Feel bad for the kid, play better than Antonio McDyess, and you can get pt, otherwise ride the bench. Still a DHOF member, so DMC, prove you're better than Dice, and get yourself some PT. Either way, Pistons win.

Darko must play, or we won't have a fourth big to keep us out of foul trouble in either the Miami series nor the SA series. We will not win a championship unless Darko is part of the rotation. Who is better is not the question. It does not matter one bit. What matters is what it takes to win a Championship. Depth at center is needed. And don't anyone tell me thats Davis. Against Shaq or Duncan Davis is pointless.

I guess the Game Cap Contest is to see who can usurp Lees strangle hold on the recap. Maybe Lee can learn something. He gets my vote for sheer reliability and consistancy. Here goes.
************************************************** *****
...The Piston Forum Fans were huddled with fear as the mighty Spur Champs brought all of their gear. A Christmas gift for BSA, say. Nay.Nay. Nay.
What of our rebounding.
And their dribble penetration.
Who can contain Timmay and Tony.
And the wicked R. Horry.
When the game started there arose such a clatter.
Someone said Tony is out scoring the Pistons what's the matter?
Our hero Rip couldn't losen Bowens grip.
Then what to my sleepy eyes did appear, Mo off the bench with much energy.
He drained a three, leaped up for a tip in. Then crashing the boards he threw down a miss. OOOOHHHH!
Big Ben at the rim with 21 boards!
The Spurs closed to ten.
Timmay was lose.
On Bup Bup on Sheed on Tay and Dyess.
Road Champ Spurs pay the price...LOUOUOSERZZZ :)
Go make'm some tamales BSA.

We will not win a championship unless Darko is part of the rotation.
Pretty bold proclamation there with the Pistons 22-3 without Darko...are you really that comfortable with it?

Who is better is not the question. It does not matter one bit.
:confused:

Depth at center is needed. And don't anyone tell me thats Davis. Against Shaq or Duncan Davis is pointless.
I hope DD's as pointless as Elden was.

Are you trying to say that Darko can handle Shaq & Timmy?...seriously? Apparently JD, LB & Flip haven't bought into your theory.

we have plenty of bigs, DD will get the time in the playoffs and he'll do the job...i wish we had used elden more last year actually in the finals.

i don't buy into needing darko to win a championship AT ALL, i think it's a pretty hilarious statement actually. and now i feel vindicated saying before the season that evans/dd was much better than getting finley. after this game, anyone care to argue?

we have plenty of bigs, DD will get the time in the playoffs and he'll do the job...i wish we had used elden more last year actually in the finals.

i don't buy into needing darko to win a championship AT ALL, i think it's a pretty hilarious statement actually. and now i feel vindicated saying before the season that evans/dd was much better than getting finley. after this game, anyone care to argue?

I agree about Elden in the playoffs last year. The DHOF club is always harping about Tayshaun having to cover Tim, but I personally don't think the Great White Hope was the solution. I would have played Dice till he fouled out, and tried to get Elden in there too.

I would like to see Dale get some minutes a little closer to playoff time, just to get him in game shape. I think he could really contribute and shore up some of the interior D.

Pretty bold proclamation there with the Pistons 22-3 without Darko...are you really that comfortable with it?


:confused:


I hope DD's as pointless as Elden was.

Are you trying to say that Darko can handle Shaq & Timmy?...seriously? Apparently JD, LB & Flip haven't bought into your theory.

Darko does not have to "handle" Shaq or Duncan. Just give some reasonable amount of time against them, with reasonable effectiveness. Darko can do that better than Davis. And good enough such that Ben, Dyess, and Sheed can do the rest.

No, DD is nowhere in guarding Shaq. Not even a little bit. Don't equate the two at all. Dale Davis can't even begin to play Shaq.

And EC could not guard Duncan. Too slow. Dale Davis will fair no better. Flat out the wrong guy for us in either of these series. Dale Davis, if we actually played him a lot, which I doubt will happen, could help us out with depth at center for the regular season. But for the playoffs against Shaq or Duncan, just no help at all.

Darko on the other hand has the height to bother Shaq's shot and the quickness and height needed to bother Duncan. Just enough. Without Darko, yes, we will not win a championship.

Last prediction I made like this was similar. Last year I said that if Arroyo was not established as out backup point, we would not win the championship. I hated being right then, and I certainly don't want to be right this time. But what I want has precious little to do with it. We will not win without Darko.

Still looking for original recaps to combat the inevitable and repetitive Darko game thread transformations. Win cool stuff, free your mind.

Still looking for original recaps to combat the inevitable and repetitive Darko game thread transformations. Win cool stuff, free your mind.

Darko needs his own site. Can you set him up?

Joe got him for a reason. With Shaq's age, he might be able to stay with him. Davis can at least spell Ben. Ben wasn't really guarding Shaq well either for that matter. Davis is quality and proven like Dyss. Wait and see. I have no comment on Darko other than the coach does not think he is worth minutes.

No, DD is nowhere in guarding Shaq. Not even a little bit. Don't equate the two at all. Dale Davis can't even begin to play Shaq.

yes because you have so much experience watching dale davis guard shaq...oh wait no.

Last prediction I made like this was similar. Last year I said that if Arroyo was not established as out backup point, we would not win the championship. I hated being right then

that's just rich...again you skew something to fit your view. you say you were 'right' about something that you cannot prove. nice job.

Whether we won or not, San Antonio's open looks were not going their way at all today. I'm happy with the win, there's just a few things we could clean up:

1) Parker's dribble penetration. Though there's not much to stop it, our interior defense needs to knock him down. Everytime a slasher comes about, our defense falls apart. We're lucky Ginobili wasn't playing this game as he would be doing the same thing...

2) Duncan's pick and roll with Parker. Whenever Sheed tried to get in front of Duncan to deny the feed, Duncan would roll to the basket with success. Maybe rotate someone over, or just double Duncan with our center (because Rasho/Nazr suck), because Parker's jump shot is his weak part of his game.

3) Prince's post game. EVERYTIME Prince got the ball in the post, he was doubled and collapsed on. Either tell Prince to make quicker moves on the post on Ginobili/Finley or have multiple open kick outs for an open look. THIS MATCHUP HURT US IN THE FINALS.

4) Bench development. I'm impressed with Arroyo against NVE and Dice against Horry. Even Evans showed signs of "Hey I'm better than Delfino" with the way he brought much-needed energy to a slow game. But Delfino got doghoused today. He got choked by the Spurs defense on a drive and didn't get back on D. After that play, we didn't see him the court the rest of the game until garbage time. Solution: Someone remind him that Spurs' defense isn't afraid to collapse on a slasher and have him take the Rip role off screens instead. As long as Bowen isn't on him, I'm sure Delfino can get a good shot or pass.

5) Rip vs Bowen, Prince vs Ginobili. The small forward defensive stopper seems to be a key. If we were ever have a chance, Rip needs to find a way to shake off Bowen because Bowen gets into his head. I find that Rip seems to rush his shot with Bowen on him, and we all know Rip tries too hard when he puts the ball on the floor. Maybe have Rip pump fake when he receives the ball to get fouls on Bowen, I don't know, anything. Rip needs to score at least 15 a game in a seven game series. On the Flip side, Prince needs to be the Bowen guy and deny Ginobili on every level: 3-ball and slashing.

Defensive roles:
Billups/Hunter on Parker
Sheed/Ben/Davis on Duncan/Rasho/Nazr
Prince/Hunter on Ginobili
Rip on Bowen

Dice on Horry
Arroyo on NVE
Delfino/Evans on Barry/Finley

Darko = Oberto i.e. useless

As you can see, with the development of our bench swingmen, we can hang 7 games with these guys without a question.

Prince NEEDS to find his post game against the Spurs, whether a quicker move or a multiple options on a kick out (via slashing or open 3).

The difference between San Antonio's defense and Detroit's defense: San An's not afraid to double and we rely heavily on rotational defense.

Prince NEEDS to find his post game against the Spurs, whether a quicker move or a multiple options on a kick out (via slashing or open 3).

The difference between San Antonio's defense and Detroit's defense: San An's not afraid to double and we rely heavily on rotational defense.

the problem is tay usually posts and ben wallace's man doubles him. we need to have a scorer there for the kickout. when tay gives it up to ben it's basically making us have to setup our offense again with lots of time off the shot clock.

Joe got him for a reason. With Shaq's age, he might be able to stay with him. Davis can at least spell Ben. Ben wasn't really guarding Shaq well either for that matter. Davis is quality and proven like Dyss. Wait and see. I have no comment on Darko other than the coach does not think he is worth minutes.
Shaq is so fat this year he can't even jump anymore. The guy will be worn out or injured again by playoff time. He will not be a consideration.

I would worry more about Indiana and Cleveland than the Riles Roosters.

Evans had two taps to teammates, and yet a third where we almost got the ball. Pretty darn good game by Evans, and in general, it looks like SA is a good team for him to play against. Lots of so so offensive players Evans should be able to guard ok.

On Delfino doubling Duncan. Gee, Duncan had darn good position there. Nope, I am not going to fault a guy for doing something perfectly natural to do. Should he have? Questionable. If thats the worst thing you can say about a guys 4 minutes stretch of play, thats pretty good.

Our bench in all put us up plus 10. Thats plus 6 in the first half, and another plus 4 in the 2nd half. Now, I am only counting until Sheed sat with foul touble with about 7 minutes to go in the game. Dyess was still out there, but it was for foul trouble vs. the normal bench rotation. Still, great job by the bench all the way.

I watched just how good Bowen was guarding Rip. Pretty darn good. Rip tended to rush things it seemed whenever Bowen was not guarding him. Its like, oh my, wow,no Bowen, better shoot the ball now before the guy shows up. Yes, it appears Bowen has gotten in Rip's head a bit.

Duncan has been suffering from Plantar Faceitus (sp) since training camp. This is curable over time. Lots of stretching. No overdoing it. More stretching. Stretching before you walk in the morning. And more strething. Been thru it. Now, with the Pistons way ahead of the Spurs, I wonder if they just shoot now for best record in the West. In other words, work more on Duncan getting his foot better vs. winning every possible game. But you know, even with Duncan just doing half way ok, SA beats us in this game if Ginobili is playing. Finley was just plain bad.

So Delfino gets the ball into Maxiell on the left. Maxiell is fouled and missed both free throws. Arroyo gets the ball to Maxiell on the left again. Maxiell has his left leg forward, threating to drive by his guy to the right. His guy is off balance. Maxiell pivots back on his right foot, gets darn good elevation, and nails a jumper. Sweet. If he could have made his free throws, that would have been 4 points in a minute. About the most important thing Maxiell can do right now to earn floor time is too simply improve his free throw shooting. Kudos to Delfino and Arroyo for giving Maxiell those reps.

C'mon, Lee -- TWO recaps? Competitiveness is often an admirable trait, old chap, but it simply isn't done. Bad form.

I say give it to ojay, even though he wussed out and added a follow-up.

I say give it to ojay, even though he wussed out and added a follow-up.
The competition is retroactive to Sept 1 and runs through the end of this calendar year.

Appreciate the contributions of basketbills, ojay, lee etc but I was hoping for a bigger turnout. Keep on going.

Man a brotha' was in church yesterday praying for the preacher to pick up the pace so I could see the game. Only missed TP's first 6 pts.

Injuries are part of the game so I don't give a flying flintstone about who was hurt for them, they lost, and they'll lose again.

On xmas day, we played Piston ball. We have been fussing about our rebounding and defense, we finally get a game where we dominate the boards, play suffocating D, win the bench war and y'all make excuses for the other team........UNBELIEVABLE:frusty:

The Spurs are 2nd best team in the league, the defending champs, and we beat them making them play catch-up the whole game.....c'mon. Folks try to understand, these 2 teams have battles not games, the defense throws off the rhythm of both offenses making it difficult to can jumpers even when you're open. Funny how we forget that we all felt that we lost that series because we couldn't shoot the 3 and stretch the D, so we pined for JoeD to get Finley or a player that could shoot the 3........we ALL felt as that was the differnce in the series last year. Well lookie here now,it seems as if this time we were the team to hit the "TIMELY" trey's and WE WON. Seems as if it wasn't an issue of us not being ABLE to stroke the 3, but just NOT shooting it enough to get comfortable with it. Look folks get used to it, neither teams offense is going to look good in one of these battles.....it'll always be about Defense and Rebounding....and that's what we did,and that's how we won.

If Ginoboli retired right now, SA would still be the 2nd best team in the NBA. So having him out is not the deciding factor.

I agree with Greg, style points do not matter when these 2 teams go at it.

The good news for the Pistons is that when Bowen shuts down Rip, we have other options. That is the benefit of balance.

Homecourt is more of a deciding factor, and that is why we are busting our collective asses to get it.

Prince NEEDS to find his post game against the Spurs, whether a quicker move or a multiple options on a kick out (via slashing or open 3).

The difference between San Antonio's defense and Detroit's defense: San An's not afraid to double and we rely heavily on rotational defense.
I re-watched the game on my Tivo and noticed something big. Yea, Tayshaun was doubled every time he tried to post up, but they were doubling off Ben, Sheed, and Dice. Those 3 alone combined for 15 offensive rebounds. Seems like every possession they would double, we would make one or two passes and launch a shot. If the shot didn't go in, the Bigs that went to double were out of position, and our guys were gobbling up those easy boards for put-backs or kick outs. So, I think it really ended up hurting the Spurs in the end. It may hurt Tayshaun's numbers, but we'll kill them on the glass because of it. Gotta pick your poison.

remember we have an offensive minded coach who got his first look at how his plays run by a great starting 5 are defended by SA. Don't you think that next time Prince will be told how to pass out of the double teams better, and Rip will add a new wrinkle or two game. I think that we are in for a war come playoff time, but i think were going into the battle with a coach that is going to adjust better to whats being done to us then LB. That is the one fault i have with him in the two years was the ability to change offensively. He was great at changing things up defensively. I believe that he never had a team that was able to do the things we could and thus maybe had never been able to make the type of changes that were needed at that level of NBA playoff basketball. And maybe, just maybe if he hadn't been awol most the year, we would be talking about a 3 peat just now.

wow that was long winded....

need to add our bench will be just fine against all comers come playoff, our starters minutes were just fine yesterday. They will give us enough rest to keep the starters rested.

'Sheed moment: After Rasheed Wallace was whistled for a foul on Rasho Nesterovic, Sheed told an official. "Tell him to hit the weight room, that's all."

You gotta love the guy. :pound:

Nice post turnout for this game.

To me that was a classic getting back to the roots kind of win. Pistons fell back on their D and rebounding which is a proven formula.

That game showed me that when the chips are down the Pistons know what beats great teams. And you can throw all that poor rebouding out the window that game. 2nd chance points made the difference. That was what got the win.

I hope so. We were bottled up too many moments in the game. I don't look at the final score. They were in the game with us and with Ginobli--they would have scored a bit more. I am not comfortable with how easy they seem to stop Rip. We need Rip for our offensive balance. I stated before the game that Tay posting up on this team was a waste. They want teams to go baseline and are ready to collapse the defense. Tay got nothing last year doing this against SA. Tay's biggest shot was the three in the 3rd quarter when we looked dead offensively. We need for Tay to take the quick look and operate from near the top against them. Notice how open Sheed was on the kick out for the three in the fourth quarter. These guys can be had but not by pounding the ball in on them offensively--not the strength of our guys vs them. Sheed was effective down low only on the offensive boards. We should take what their defense gives us. Even Chauncey threw up some wild shots on his drives in the second half. We need to go 3-4 passes against these guys and it will open up.