8PM Wed Nov1 Milwaukee At Detroit

Regular Season starts for the Detroit Pistons with this home opener against their 1st round opponent of last season.

LocalTV - myTV20

It sounds like Bogut is trying to make it back for the season opener.

Villanueva reminds me of Lamar Odom... skilled offensive player but lazy on defense.... Sheed should dominate him.

Ruben Patterson historically gives Tayshaun trouble... however the no hand check rule should allow Tay to get him in foul trouble.

Mo Williams can go either way... turnover prone or a pesky penetrator.

We all know Redds abilities... Rip needs to make him work hard on defense.

Should be interesting to see who Maxiel is matched up against Gadzuric, Skinner?

Anyways it's gr8 to finally have a real game to discuss

Probable starters (http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/MILDET_061101_starters.html)

Game Notes (http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/notes.pdf)

Keep an eye on Gadzuric. This is a guy I wouldn't mind having on our squad if he could be had reasonable. He's athletic and scores where big guys should score. In the paint.

Keep an eye on Gadzuric. This is a guy I wouldn't mind having on our squad if he could be had reasonable. He's athletic and scores where big guys should score. In the paint.
Co-signed

In my NBA Live 2007 simulation we win by 20 and Sheed is the player of the game with 24 pts 11 boards 4 assists and 2 blocks.

In my NBA Live 2007 simulation we win by 20 and Sheed is the player of the game with 24 pts 11 boards 4 assists and 2 blocks.
Whew that's good news... now I can skip this game...Ladies billiard trick shots are on ESPN that night.

In my NBA Live 2007 simulation we win by 20 and Sheed is the player of the game with 24 pts 11 boards 4 assists and 2 blocks.

I wouldn't mind that. Hopefully Sheed tries to be that player.

Maybe I'll sim out the entire season and post the results. Should be interesting to see what happens.

i'm still up in the air about my jersey. you see, i always have a jersey for pistons games (not those $150 replica jerseys, but the $70 next-best-things, not the cheapos). however, i wanted a maxiell one this year.

but that doesn't exist. :( in fact, you can't even buy a mohammed jersey. right now and for the foreseeable future, you can only get these for rip, chauncey, sheed, and prince. i'm gonna see if i can get one custom made, just have the blank jersey and put the maxiell 54 on the back, but we'll see. if not i'll have to choose someone to wear (because i ain't wearin #3 anymore).

Of course you can get a custom. Just go to nba.com

however, i wanted a maxiell one this year.

but that doesn't exist. :( in fact, you can't even buy a mohammed jersey.
Hello marketing opportunity

Of course you can get a custom. Just go to nba.com

there's a slight difference with the jerseys though. if you look at the picture of the $59-69 replicas on nba.com, they are ones the pistons sell for $43. then you compare the authentic jerseys, and nba.com sells them for $189 while the pistons sell them for $137.

in between are 'swingman' jerseys, which look just like the authentic ones but are $69 on pistons.com, but unavailable at nba.com. so either i'd have to cough up $189 for a nice-looking maxiell jersey, or go with a cheaper-looking one for $60.

hopefully that wasn't confusing :O

I got it. Good luck finding one though.

In my NBA Live 2007 simulation we win by 20 and Sheed is the player of the game with 24 pts 11 boards 4 assists and 2 blocks.Im praying for a sex simulation game starring Janet Jackson, Alissa Milano, Christina Milan, Teri Hatcher and Lucy Lui. If Im their cable guy and I come over in the midst of a pajama party to fix their picture, what would be the final score?

Any chats on our 1st game this season?:noidea:

Milwaukee without TJFord and Bogut should be a cakewalk.

Famous last words.

Bogut is supposed to play.

MILWAUKEE, United States (AFP) - Andrew Bogut (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3927/), the top pick in the 2005 NBA draft, is expected to play when Milwaukee opens the new season at Detroit despite suffering a serious leg injury just three weeks ago.
Bogut was cleared to resume full basketball activities Monday, at least three weeks ahead of the diagnosis he was given by team doctors on October 9 for a lower leg sprain.


Aussie Bogut cleared to play in Bucks opener - NBA - Yahoo! Sports (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Aq6ussNaNXM5ix5OLfARTS2kvLYF?slug=afp-basketnbaausbogut&prov=afp&type=lgns)

Any chats on our 1st game this season?:noidea:
haha!

Yes indeed!

CHAT WILL OPEN AT 7:30 PM

Click QUICKLINKS, FLASHCHAT to enter the CHAT.

I hope Bogut plays.

As always for me, hopefully Bogut will have a good game but the Pistons still win.

1 Stat:

4th Qtr - Game PIP:

MIL 70 - DET 28

Flip was 9-1 in season openers before tonight. The last time he lost an opener was 2000.

Tonight continued a string of disappointing games dating back to last playoffs. It wouldn't be so bad but the Bucks are lousy and they never gave up the lead all game.

They out quicked the Pistons, they out hustled the Pistons and they out shot the Pistons.

When you shoot 21 treys and turnover the ball 22 times, you are not going to beat anyone.

And Sheed was a big fat zero on offense before getting his second technical for talking to the ref, ejecting him from the game.

Joe has a lot of work to do. Someone call Jalen Rose.

BOXSCORE (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boxscore?gid=2006110108)

In my NBA Live 2007 simulation we win by 20 and Sheed is the player of the game with 24 pts 11 boards 4 assists and 2 blocks.

Well, so much for that! Can we sue NBA Live for false advertisment?

This one is all on Flip, maybe a little on Sheed, 80-20?

38, 38, and 35.

Minutes played by Rip, Tay, and Billups. Thought this was the year to play the bench? Jmax wouldn't have gotten in if Sheed hadn't fouled out. Delfino played GREAT, yet got 8 minutes. Flip is horrible on D, shoots too quickly, but got 18 minutes.

Wonder how many minutes the starters/bench get on Friday, the first half of a back to back, right before a west coast trip. This could get ugly real fast.

Bright spot, Flip could get fired real fast.

BTW, either the zone D doesnt work, or Flip hasn't taught the players the right way to play it. Either way, any poor job of coaching.

Also, BTW, early prediction of McCoskey's column (after consulting with Flip): Sheed thrown undert the bus, would have won if players listened to him, Flip and JMax were bright spots (JMax really was, the Brahma is starting to win me over), and ZERO mention of Delfino.

Joe has a lot of work to do. Someone call Jalen Rose.

No. Carlos did good today. I'm surprised he didn't get his number called much in the third today. I don't mind the loss because these guys need to understand that they can't sleepwalk and win games. I don't blame Sheed for the techs fully. He did nothing the first time, and the second time he was talking to Villanueve not the ref. He needs to understand that he has to let it go though.

Besides Rip no one went inside. The one thing that the loss of Ben will cause that is good is less double teams. They have make use of it, and take it inside, and move the ball. Hopefully this loss gets a message through these guys's skulls because they still don't get it.

Sheed needs to show up next game. I'm looking for 10 boards and 2-3 blocks. I really don't care about a 20 point game. Even if he has points someone will fill in the points for the Pistons. For now though we need his help in the paint. Tayshaun is too something. I can't find the word for it. He took too many jumpshots and kept losing the ball inside. He needs to show up next time as well. Nazr just has to hustle. Get the offensive boards, and get bigs in foul trouble. Get confidence and keep possesions alive. He really needs to stop fouling too. Dice missed layups, and dunks! I won't be too worried about it for now. He is still on the unlucky side of the whistle so he has to do whatever he can. Rip should stick to doing what he did. Don't settle for the jumper, and take it inside. He shouldn't force it too though he should drive and create as well. Delfino did good, hope he gets more time when the starters are sucking next time though. Maxiell needs to learn to let the game come to him. He had a Ben prescence there though. He got the whole team pumped up with his blocks and boards, unfortunantly that was when the Pistons missed 5 bunny's in row. If he does that still though that would be good. Flip Murray shot good, but I hope Flip plays the 2 rather than the 1. This Piston team needs to put an all out effort, and work harder next game.

It's better to learn your lessons right now so you can work to fix it for the whole year. Last season the first time the Pistons faced problems was not for a long time, but it was at the worst time. If the team stops more penetration. If less jumpshots are taken. If Sheed asserts himself more I won't be ticked about this loss. Heck if one of this things starts to improve by Friday I'll be good.

It won't be easy to get over the loss of Ben by any means, and most of us should of anticipated something like this to happen.

I really don't care about a 20 point game. Even if he has points someone will fill in the points for the Pistons.????.......This is why I love Garnett. he's 20 and 10 on a BAD NIGHT. If this is truly "PISTONS PAST" then this old ghost needs to go...0 and 3?????jeez

I really don't care about a 20 point game. Even if he has points someone will fill in the points for the Pistons.????.......This is why I love Garnett. he's 20 and 10 on a BAD NIGHT. If this is truly "PISTONS PAST" then this old ghost needs to go...0 and 3?????jeez

You also love Garnett because he'll take away all your money, right? I'm not saying I don't care. I will care when it comes crunch time. I'm saying that he should put a larger effort on defense.

It was a picnic at the hoop for the Bucks. Our defense is way down from Deeetroit basketball. But where is the Flip offense? Just as dis-jointed as last year's playoffs.

It is only one game...

I really think if the bench gets in there and starts schooling other teams the starters will get motivated to play harder. It shouldn't even be like that though they should play hard from the beginning. Hopefully thinks get better at Boston.

Well that was bust. Only an 8pt loss and I am still shaking my head trying to figure out how this was not a 20+ point blowout. I left the game thinking that Milw appeared to get 80% of their points on 2' shots and easy dunks. Turns out I was right.

This team played like the Pistons minus Ben Wallace. Also minus Sheed for all practicle purposes and minus a half way decent backup guard with that performance by Murry. How Dumars/Hammonds could think a TO proned shoot 1st guard who no one else wanted could be their answer off the bench I just cannot grasp.

We will be ok. Saw flashes of Chili type defense in the pre-season and the team always adjusted for the next game so hopefully that will carry over with the regulars.

Looks like Saunders is gravitating to a short bench again with Dyess and Murry as the main guys. Delfino played 12 mins and Hunter made a brief appearance. Maxiel played but that was probably only because Sheed teched out. Maxiel was promptly benched after contributing to 1 of the Pistons 22 TO's. Either that or perhaps Flip reacted to one of his players actually blocking a shot without fouling or throwing the ball away.

Its only the 1st game folks and Milw has always given the Pistons problems. Team has some work to do. I would have thought that they would have worked a lot of this out in practice but I guess not.

GOING TO WORK
DEEE-TROIT BASKETBALL
WE'VE GOT HORSE POWER!!
http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/6700/horsepowervh6.jpg

1 Stat:

4th Qtr - Game PIP:

MIL 70 - DET 28

Low you hit the hammer on the nail buddy, and the next four Piston opponents will look at stat and we could be 0-5 before we knew what hit us. I say we could probably survive getting 30-35 points in the paint ourselves and win a game, but no way the Pistons can give up more than 55 points in the paint and expect to win a game. . This trend started near the end of the season and the Bucks just exploited it more.:(

We got excellent production out of the starting guards, except for Rips 5 TO's and CB 1-6 3 ball attempts. but Sheed was no show even before he got thrown out. I guess as predicted he became the first victim of the Sterns winey rules:Cry:

Nice prodiction out of for Tay too, especially in the third qtr, but again 5 TO's to offset it,
Neither Jalen Rose or Ben wallace would have helped tonight. Sheed appears to lazy and both Dice and Nazr appeared to slow to stop anybody in the paint. Joe start looking and packaging...

Dre and Low many of the PIP came because of the to's. Don't panic yet.

On the bright side...
Mohammed managed to get 12rebs, 4 of them on the offense- and he's still recovering from Ramadan a lil bit
The Bucks got outrebounded by 10
Fino played and did ok- he showed he deserves more playing time
I don't want to talk about the bad things as everyone mentioned them already; but I simply have the feeling that something was missing... not exactly Ben, but a player with his attitude (his attitude before last season).
The Pistons need someone who can fire it up by blocking a shot into the third row or by throwing down a thunderous dunk.
Sheed was a disappointment, his presence is even more important now that there ain't no Ben over here anymore.

this is gonna be one long season

Bballjay, any words? or will you hide?

Interior defense as of game 1 is the worst in the league minus Ben. Darko looked liked hamster vomit first game.

We gotta lotta work to do. Joe please pickup Jalen Rose as soon as possible. We need swagger and leadership.

:frusty: 70 points in the paint for the Bucks??? Bogut outplayed Sheed???

Hopefully, things can get better.......that's all I can say now.:help2:

Dre and Low many of the PIP came because of the to's. Don't panic yet.

Nothing wrong with pointing out the obvious, himat. I doubt anybody is in a panic after Game 1. 81 more to go. Pretty poor performance outta the gate, however.

WHATS WITH THE TURNOVERS? Did the Pistons just get back from a wesson oil party? Why did they turn it over so many times? They could use some of K Rogers pine tar!! They need to have Sheed wear a ski mask so the ref's can't see the expression on his face. Or maybe Sheed could have botox treatments to freeze his face! The turnovers need to stop!

The points in the paint did not come from turnovers. That's just wrong. The entire first quarter Milwaukee went inside on most halfcourt possessions and scored at will. Their big guys destroyed Mohammed and Sheed (later, their guards started penetrating and scoring inside at will). The only reason the game wasn't a total blowout is that Milwaukee settled for early jumpers too often once they had a decent sized lead.

There are definitely a ton of games to go, but Sheed will get thrown out a lot this year, Mohammed will foul out a lot, and we will give up a ton of points in the paint.

I couldn't make out exactly what the Pistons were trying to do on defense, but it obviously wasn't working.

Reminded me a little of the '89 Finals when the Bad Boys sliced and diced the Lakers with passes to setup layups. Dumars to Aguirre, kicked back out to Thomas flipped inside to Rodman, layup. Like that.

I don't want to read too much into the intimidation factor of Ben, but the rotations were VERY slow and VERY sloppy. Mohammed, Dice and Sheed were exposed, but as has been the problem since 03/04, it's the perimeter guys not getting involved.

I swear that sometimes our PG thinks he's in good position if he stands between the arc and the low block, between two men but covering neither.

Like a hybrid pylon zone.

Don't know if I can watch this all year.

Nazr is not great, but I think that he did his job last night in getting easy points and easy rebounds. He needs a lot of help from Sheed a/k/a the straw that stirs the drink. Unfortunately, Sheed provided nothing.

Dale Davis may have a role here in providing real defense on the interior.

I agree that it was painful to watch our team get out manned by the Bucks.

For the last few years, every time we lose a game, it has been because we weren't trying, we weren't hitting shots, or the other team was on fire. Last night was none of those things. The other team was just plain taking advantage of our softness.

I swear that sometimes our PG thinks he's in good position if he stands between the arc and the low block, between two men but covering neither.
Like a hybrid pylon zone.

I agree that was the main problem. Opposing Guards should not be getting that close that easily to begin with.

Our guards are used to having some backup. This is why people said that Ben Wallace made CB and Tay overrated defenders. They gotta back off a little bit now and allow more open J's.

Bballjay, any words? or will you hide?

-----------
lol
:stirthepot:
let him get his morning brew.
---------------------
Thanks for the BOX Cro.

Yeah, I'm afraid that CB making the all defense team may have put a big target on his chest. He isn't that good defensively and a lot of guards who didn't make it may be interested in proving that.

Maybe it's new shoe deal. "Kicks" magazine. "Can't stop this Starting 5"
or something like that.

In my NBA Live 2007 simulation we win by 20 and Sheed is the player of the game with 24 pts 11 boards 4 assists and 2 blocks.
How much will that game fetch on ebay?

How much will that game fetch on ebay?

That and a buck won't get me a cup of coffee. Fun game, though. Maxiel is pretty decent.

This team will not be interested until the playoff stretch, I will take back that they will play .650 ball until the new year it will be closer to .500. wins and loses will not concern this team anymore unless they lay an egg like they did.

Sheed gave nothing, the soft rotation on D, and to many turnovers was the real issues other than that they looked the same. lets see how the road trip Pistons look if they come back stuperfied than lets just wait.

wins and loses will not concern this team anymore unless they lay an egg like they did.

It should concern them. This is not the same team that went to back to back finals. They can't afford to coast through the season.

Or maybe Sheed could have botox treatments to freeze his face! The turnovers need to stop!

That reminds me of that simpsons episode when Lenny got plastic surgery on his face and had a permanent smile. Hilarious!
'This is the worst day of my life...'

I couldn't make out exactly what the Pistons were trying to do on defense, but it obviously wasn't working.


If they tried to use zone it couldn't have worked with 22 turnovers. There would be no time to set. We'll have to see what happens Friday.

Bballjay, any words? or will you hide?

Interior defense as of game 1 is the worst in the league minus Ben. Darko looked liked hamster vomit first game.



i'll agree darko didn't have a great game. he did look better than ben though so what does that say about ben??? darko was playing good interior defense nobody scored on him. his offense will come around. he won't really start to get off until b. hill puts him on the court with d. howard at the same time.

ben got treated like a girl by dwight howard repeatedly. i mean highlight type stuff.

Dre and Low many of the PIP came because of the to's. Don't panic yet.

Nevermind the fact that they did NOT come because of TOs. They came because of a donut defense that did nothing to stop the Bucks from getting to the rim at will.

I don't care if the points came because of gremlins, you aren't going to beat anybody getting your ass handed to you in the paint like that.

Nevermind the fact that they did NOT come because of TOs. They came because of a donut defense that did nothing to stop the Bucks from getting to the rim at will.

I don't care if the points came because of gremlins, you aren't going to beat anybody getting your ass handed to you in the paint like that.

Enjoy this while you can. Pistons are not going to play that bad very often. I see your guy Ben had a whopping 5 boards and 0 blocks in his new teams loss to the Magic.

Enjoy this while you can. Pistons are not going to play that bad very often. I see your guy Ben had a whopping 5 boards and 0 blocks in his new teams loss to the Magic.

I really don't care what "my guy" puts up in numbers in CHI. What I do/did care about is his impact and necessary input on THIS basketball team which is/was constantly being downplayed and rewritten by revisionist historians.

okay i was at the game, and finally have a chance to give the writeup. needless to say, there was no banner-raising ceremony for the new 'central conference 05-06 championship' banner lol. the flames were still cool, and now they have smoke (like a work whistle) that comes out above the basket, not attached to the flames (so it can be used during timeouts and such). i bought a tayshaun jersey since i couldn't get the maxiell swingman, and the big boy hamburger was good but could used some, ya know, lettuce like i'm used to big boy burgers having (maybe that's what the extra $1 for a 'super big boy' woulda gotten me). automotion has new outfits that accentuate their cleavage and are very nice. chauncey is now the last one announced instead of ben. subway used to give free 6" subs if the pistons scored 95 points, but now they have to score 100 AND you only get $1 off. totally lame. subway tastes good but it is the most overpriced fast food chain out there. prices for sandwiches literally go up at 3x the rate of inflation, and it's really annoying.

hah - so now that that's out of the way...

nazr started the game terribly - in fact none of the pistons looked like they new how to rebound, like they were waiting for ben to snag them. nazr had his stone hands going, which cost us 3 straight baskets at the start of the game. he did settle down later and was able to grab boards, so i don't think his rebounding will be a huge issue during the season. tayshaun stepped up with 11 boards and dice was active as well. granted the bucks took 91 shots, but rebounding wasn't our problem today.

nazr was extremely slow. dice was slow. sheed was slow. all 3 looked like dinosaurs out there, and this is a huge, huge problem. even the bucks' big men like bogut were dribble driving past them, forcing us to foul or go for an awkward block. on a sidenote, a lot of these were offensive fouls but not called, like bogut wrapping his arm around sheed to get by him. bogut has also been taking lessons from the Gordon Bombay / Manu Ginobli School of Flopping. darn softy euros.

our guards also gave up the baseline a LOT...something that should never happen. flush them to the middle!! we're going to have problems this year if steve blake (STEVE BLAKE!!) can dribble penetrate and dish for easy layups. listen detroit, it's not steve nash ... let that 2nd/3rd string point guard drive if he wants and make a play - he most likely won't. that was more annoying than anything - 3 guys collapsing on one guy driving, instead of sticking to your man - and any of the other 4 guys were bigger threats than blake. it's not like it's d-wade.

i liked how aggressive delfino was. making the shots was a huge bonus and great for his confidence. it looks like he's been practicing catch-and-shoots, because he was very quick to release and shoot once he caught the ball. hey if he's comfortable doing this like rip, that's a good weapon to have. he should've gotten a lot more burn in the 2nd half, he earned it. plus he was defending redd pretty well. do you know who wasn't guarding redd well? flip murray. redd just owned him every single time - and the height disadvantage didn't help. flip in general was non-existent out there - he only had 4 points in significant minutes (until garbage time when he drained a couple 3s). for now i'll attribute that to first-game jitters. he really looked like he didn't want to shoot or try to penetrate for fear that he'd come across as a me-first player or ball hog to start the season.

maxiell had an excellent game. he should've been 3 for 3, but those 2 close baskets barely missed. 3 blocks in 12 minutes is impressive though. more importantly, he absolutely annihilated charlie villaneuva (sp?). charlie went after max on about 4-5 straight possessions and didn't score once - and j-max had a sick block to go with it.

i hate to say it, but we would've been better off with amir johnson and maxiell the whole game - and we might need amir come 2nd half of this year, because our bigs just look really, really slow. i don't think sheed has alley-oop slammed since his first year here.

i described in my other post about sheed's ejection. it was pretty weak, but he didn't show up anyway. terrible effort. he was also getting double-teamed low and couldn't get open for many shots, or when he did try to isolate bogut, he started way too far away from the basket. as for the other starters, prince got open many times and was never afraid to shoot, which was great. rip was really aggressive and both him and chauncey took advantage of the new no-hand-checking rules to get to the basket for easy layups or fouls.

the best way to describe our offense was in one word: forced. we passed into the post when our big men didn't have position, resulting in several turnovers. we played 1 on 1, and hardly passed the ball around. they were double-teaming our bigs down low and we never took advantage. we made terrible passes in transition, tried to force shots downcourt, miscommunicated and passed balls out of bounds, etc. hopefully you can say this is because we've got a bunch of new players into the mix and it will take awhile for everyone to get used to each other.

one of the main things this game lacked was momentum shifts. we never had a lead, and never really threatened. we got within 2-3, then sheed got tossed, and the game was collectively over. it wasn't like last year where we knew the pistons could get stops and go on a run and we'd win the game. i turned to my friend and said 'even if we score, we can't win if we can't get stops or force turnovers.' and that's exactly what happened. something definitely felt missing without ben there - a killer instinct or confidence perhaps.

i guess there's consolation in the fact that we outscored them by 1 over the last 3 quarters, and still came close to winning despite giving them 20 more shots. at one point early in the game, they had around 50 shot attempts and we had 26...that's not how you win a ballgame. also when the bucks had 30 points, 26 were in the paint, 1 was a free throw, and the other was a 3-pointer. in fact, only 12 of their 100+ points came off of 2-point jumpshots - 18 if you count 3-pointers.

so anyway, it's only 1 game. we're going to have a slow start this year with 5 of 7 games on the road (including 3 on a west-coast swing that always gives us trouble). but look - miami lost by 42 to chicago, then chicago lost to orlando. the lakers beat the suns without kobe, and the knicks won in triple overtime. sh*t happens.

one thing's for sure - this is going to be a long year. at least on the forums we're not going to have a shortage of topics to debate this year!! :) last year got boring nitpicking over playing time or how we only won by 8 instead of 15. hopefully people don't commit suicide during game chats - because i remember how livid people got at our play when we were cruising to victories. heh.

GREATTTTT post, Lord Hoggmeister. Evry thing was right on point and you didnt exacurate a thing..well, maybe the desire to have a BigBoy with lettuce, but i posted yhe exact same thing about not being able to make stops. I remember back in the day when we have the streak of games under 70 pts on D. We played the Nets and with 2 mins to go they had like 69 pts with our starters on the bench and they STILL couldnt get 70(or was it the sixers) Anyway that mentality is gone. I could accept it if we would have broke out with a 115 pt game. Its a long time to April though. Its so far away I should have my HDTV by then. So lets see what happens.....:sssh:

Low - Thats alright. Just get it all out of the way. Here is your chance. All the I told you so's. You got your perfect game.

I agree everyone was a half step off in our non-existant frontcourt that game. I was there too as I am for the majority of Piston games. We all were dissapointed that the team was not prepared for opening night.

I know a couple of things. One Ben would not have bailed us out that game. When everyone chooses not to play D one guy is not going to get it done on his own.

Secondly those days of under 70 games are a thing of the past. They really only happened for a 4 month period between March and June of 2004. In 50 some years of Piston bball a 4 month stretch is not going to define your francise.

Ben left the same way he came - with a smart business decision. He left a Magic team who were favorites at the time to take the East in order to come to an uncertain 00-01 Piston team. With Chic he chose not to leave 12 mil on the table and thats about it.

Downplaying his accomplishments? If I had to trade in a BMW for a Ford then what good would it do me to dwell on my old BMW? Nazir is not Ben but he is making almost 1/3 the amount which will free up a lot of cash to keep a lot of good players on board in the future.

Ben has not exactly been playing like the 60 million dollar man in his 1st 2 games so take that for what it is.

Warhog, great recap!:thumb[1]:

Sorry to hear about the lack of lettuce. :P

:yellowprison: I just would like to know how DARKO AND BEN GOT INTO THIS THREAD? Do we all have a.d.d. and can't keep our mind on the subject? Or are we senile people, living in the past? Can't we have a separate Darko thread and Ben thread and talk about them their own threads instead of every thread being theirs'. It's like we only had two team members. I would much rather had Carmelo but you can't go back. I would rather have Duncan for a center but that's the breaks. :lalala: :lalala: :deadhorse :noidea: :yawn: :loco:

:yellowprison: I just would like to know how DARKO AND BEN GOT INTO THIS THREAD? Do we all have a.d.d. and can't keep our mind on the subject? Or are we senile people, living in the past? Can't we have a separate Darko thread and Ben thread and talk about them their own threads instead of every thread being theirs'.

We tried that....Its futile!!!!
All I know is being in chat really bummed me out.

:yellowprison: I just would like to know how DARKO AND BEN GOT INTO THIS THREAD? Do we all have a.d.d. and can't keep our mind on the subject? Or are we senile people, living in the past? Can't we have a separate Darko thread and Ben thread and talk about them their own threads instead of every thread being theirs'. It's like we only had two team members. I would much rather had Carmelo but you can't go back. I would rather have Duncan for a center but that's the breaks. :lalala: :lalala: :deadhorse :noidea: :yawn: :loco:

I agree with you on Darko, however, this was our first game without Big Ben. Ben was our team leader, our identity for 6 years. He helped bring a Championship to the city. He put Detroit back on the basketball map. I think its natural to talk about him in the first game thread since he left.

Darko was some kid with a bad mustache that sat at the end of our bench for a few years.



(Yes I know that the mustache was only fleeting... but I couldn't resist.)

WHATS WITH THE TURNOVERS? Did the Pistons just get back from a wesson oil party? Why did they turn it over so many times? They could use some of K Rogers pine tar!! They need to have Sheed wear a ski mask so the ref's can't see the expression on his face. Or maybe Sheed could have botox treatments to freeze his face! The turnovers need to stop!
:rofl: :laugh:

I just would like to know how DARKO AND BEN GOT INTO THIS THREAD? Do we all have a.d.d. and can't keep our mind on the subject? Or are we senile people, living in the past? Can't we have a separate Darko thread and Ben thread and talk about them their own threads instead of every thread being theirs'. It's like we only had two team members.I would much rather had Carmelo but you can't go back. I would rather have Duncan for a center but that's the breaks. :lalala: :lalala: :deadhorse :noidea: :yawn: :loco:

:pound:

A Most Excellent Rant!!!:rant2:

:dizzy2:EasyBuckets You Have Won Me Over With These Two Posts Today!!!

Low - Thats alright. Just get it all out of the way. Here is your chance. All the I told you so's. You got your perfect game.

I agree everyone was a half step off in our non-existant frontcourt that game. I was there too as I am for the majority of Piston games. We all were dissapointed that the team was not prepared for opening night.

I know a couple of things. One Ben would not have bailed us out that game. When everyone chooses not to play D one guy is not going to get it done on his own.

Secondly those days of under 70 games are a thing of the past. They really only happened for a 4 month period between March and June of 2004. In 50 some years of Piston bball a 4 month stretch is not going to define your francise.

Ben left the same way he came - with a smart business decision. He left a Magic team who were favorites at the time to take the East in order to come to an uncertain 00-01 Piston team. With Chic he chose not to leave 12 mil on the table and thats about it.

Downplaying his accomplishments? If I had to trade in a BMW for a Ford then what good would it do me to dwell on my old BMW? Nazir is not Ben but he is making almost 1/3 the amount which will free up a lot of cash to keep a lot of good players on board in the future.

Ben has not exactly been playing like the 60 million dollar man in his 1st 2 games so take that for what it is.

OH, NOW I get it! Ben Wallace is crap. Who wants a 4-time DPOY anyway? Losing him means nothing...we are better now than we ever were.

Flip Saunders is a coaching mastermind.

30-Mil is cheap so we'll have more money on the table to go after KG and we're going to win the title in a full playoff sweep. What am I worrying about?

I think from now on, I'll just enjoy the ride to the ring. Yee Haw!

OH, NOW I get it! Ben Wallace is crap. Who wants a 4-time DPOY anyway? Losing him means nothing...we are better now than we ever were.


Its not a question. See thats the problem. There is no question and no more choices in the matter. Ben is gone and there is nothing anyone can do about it.

If you think you can influence these things you can't. Only way would be to not go to the games.

Its not a question. See thats the problem. There is no question and no more choices in the matter. Ben is gone and there is nothing anyone can do about it.

If you think you can influence these things you can't. Only way would be to not go to the games.
Maybe if we all formed a line from here to Chicago in protest... and chanted "Ben gone no more" Paxson will have a change of heart and release him back to us because he feels sorry for the Pistons.
:pirates: Arrr mates... we're mad as hell and we ain't gonna take it no more.