Detroit At Orlando
7:00 PM

TV: tv20 Detroit
Radio: WDFN


Notes: 3rd and Final seasonal meeting between the 2 teams. Will the 2 home games have given Orlando the edge? Will this game have playoff significance? I say not. Except for the Pistons trying to get another win.

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GUESS DARKO'S STATLINE!
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Find a way to stop Jameer Nelson from completely killing the Pistons and we win.

Games taken on a bit more meaning with the trade and Darko's parting words of what a nighmere playing ( or sitting ) for the Pistons was.

Will the team even remember that or even care? Extra motivation playing against 2 of their former teammates? Or will they mail in a sub-par effort thinking they can coast against the Magic? Will Darko choke like he did in the NY game? How will Arroyo do against his former team?

Of couse they are still bench players. Stopping Nelson and Howard is the key. Am looking forward to seeing this Darko stopping entire teams thing.

Lookin forward to this game, I wanna see how Darko rersponds to seeing Ben and Shee in a game instead of practice. Im sure they will be buddy buddy...but I wouldnt be surprised if they lay a little lumber to him.

Looking forward to seeing Orlando play Detroit. The Magic will play hard. Howard, Stevenson, and Jameer Nelson can bring it on some nights.

I see Ben throwing either Arroyo`s or Darko`s shot in the stands, then patting him, as he says, "nice try young fella.

After the win last night and HCA almost a done deal, Flip please rest our starters in this one. I think Cato would like to play against his former team too.

Delfino, Delk, Dyess, DD, & Lindsey should be able to handle Orlando.

Let Mo get some rest......:laugh:

http://img348.imageshack.us/img348/7050/txmilicicgetty5pg.jpg

Remember when Darko was happy and smiled all the time?

NOPE, ME NEITHER.

GO PISTONS!

I remember that happy go lucky smiling Darko


http://tinyurl.com/je8dm

All downhill after that.

I would guess that the Pistons are not thinking about showing up the ex-Pistons in this one. Thats mainly something sportswriters and fans like to talk about.

I can see this as a typical back-back road game against against a team we should beat. Slow start and scrambling back to tie it sometime in the 3rd and then winning by 7 or 8.

the darko dwight frontline will dominate our bigs. b. hill doesn't use this lineup too often. he's saving that for next year. in 2 years it's going to be like our sheed and ben wallace frontline except better. good thing detroit doesn't rely on points in the paint darko is shutting all of that down.

i sure would love to see darko go against dale or cato. he'd eat them alive and posters would still say they would take the vet over a young buck. :doh: some people will never admit that joe might have made the wrong move in handing orlando the dominant frontline of the next 10 years. darko could have helped us this year and so could arroyo. they certainly have helped orlando. anybody miss arroyo last night when lindsey was running the O. i predict tonight arroyo will eat lindsey alive. tony will get ate up on d but at least he'll shoot arroyo's eye out.

the darko dwight frontline will dominate our bigs.

They should out score us by about 20 points lets say


i sure would love to see darko go against dale or cato. he'd eat them alive and posters would still say they would take the vet over a young buck.


Let's say Darko outscores the old guys by about 15 points?


darko could have helped us this year and so could arroyo.

Yeah, instead of the best record in the league we would be better than the best.

. i predict tonight arroyo will eat lindsey alive. tony will get ate up on d but at least he'll shoot arroyo's eye out.


Arroyo outscores those two by about 15 points shall we say?

OK according to the prognostications on bballjay we lose the Orlando game by an approximate score of 100-50? You would't want to lay any money on that would you bball?

Bball, go over to the articles page on the General Discussion forum and have a nice time with the latest link. A sample quote:

"For these three years they killed almost everything in me," Milicic said, referring to the Pistons. "I never got a chance to play. I'd work every morning knowing that I wouldn't get a chance to play at night. That was a killer."

Maybe Darko can ask himself how much it killed Joe Dumars to take crap for someone who repaid him by standing around like an autistic punk in games.

Screw Darko. If the Pistons were like the Bulls or the Nets they'd have held him hostage out of spite, instead of responding to his trade request by sending him to a team where things are easiest for him. I hope the Wallaces make a point of kicking his butt, but I doubt they'll bother. Detroit wins this game easy.

Screw Darko. If the Pistons were like the Bulls or the Nets they'd have held him hostage out of spite, instead of responding to his trade request by sending him to a team where things are easiest for him. I hope the Wallaces make a point of kicking his butt, but I doubt they'll bother. Detroit wins this game easy.

yup. i agree detroit will win this game. but please believe that howard and milicic are going to give wallace x2 a preview of what's to come over the next few years.

the trade request was the least joe could do after the lackluster job of developing darko the pistons did. the guy could play and 2 coaches wouldn't play him cause they wanted to prove points. darko is going to prove a point to all parties involved. i hope joe learns from this and demands more development of youth from his coaches. it looks like he hasn't learned cause delf is stuck on the bench too.


Yeah, instead of the best record in the league we would be better than the best.


yeah instead of lindsey running the point and destroying leads we could have arroyo in there extending them or at least maintaining them.

i'd take darko against duncan or shaq or o'neal before i take davis or cato. just because we have a good record doesn't mean it was a good move. this trade will hurt us in 3 years not right now.

http://www.pistonsforum.com/images/picdump/orlando.jpg

Looks like Carlos and Darko found time to do some sightseeing!

Photo courtesy of Need4Sheed (http://www.need4sheed.com)

The Pistons will be without Rip, has personal family things to take care of. This is not bad becuase the starters should rest no matter what now.

Tonight playing Orlando they still should win even though Orlando will come out looking for an upset, and seeing how the former Pistons will perfom. Even without Rip Detroit should be able to win this game, Orlando is about the same as NOK, and Detroit handle that team at home without Sheed. the point guard play will be crucial and we have the depth to make up for Rip's scoring.

This will be a close game and I first I had a feeling Detroit was going to lose this game, and when I herd no Rip for tonight I thought AH HA. THen I came back to reality and Detroit is just the better team. Pistons 96 Orlando 93

Thanks for sharing the photo of bballjay visiting with Darko and Arroyo, Micro.

Lanierfan ...Maybe Darko can ask himself how much it killed Joe Dumars to take crap for someone who repaid him by standing around like an autistic punk in games.

That's good....

I hate to say it but I still wish we had Darko. I know he was a pouter and all but we could have found 10 minutes for him to keep him happy. I respect Dumars however for giving Flip his space. I just wish we were a little more successful with diplomacy. Or at the very least, market him a little better by playing him once the decision was made to trade him. We could have gotten alot more for him. Oh well. Dumars is allowed to make a few mistakes I guess.

Maybe Darko can ask himself how much it killed Joe Dumars to take crap for someone who repaid him by standing around like an autistic punk in games.

In the midst of being torn up about whether we did the right thing in trading Darko, we can't lose sight of the effort this guy gave when he got in the game. We can't blame the organization for his lack of effort or maturity.

He didn't show championship DNA. Hopefully, for his sake, he'll mature by the time he's 25 or 30.

Mine will be Darko. A Lot Better I Hope. Bills and Nier, Darko should have refused to go on the court in games in his last full year here...he was not a member!!! Everything else is BS and I know you know that.
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For the Magics Double D to dominate us, all that is needed is 6 points more in the paint. 15 would be an embarrassment...please nooooo!
I've hit the Pistons Pt. Total 2 times in a row and I don't want to wreck my streak. Rip out Cato out. Delk in large. I should pass.
Wouldn't miss out for my life...
Ps 98, M 96 or Ps 90, M 89 or M 100, Ps 90 noooooo!!
Double U, baby :nod:

In keeping with the utterly unpredictable Pistons coaching moves, I'm calling that if Rip is indeed out tonight, Delfino will start and Delk will come off the bench.

You heard it here first.

interesting

http://www.pistonsforum.com/images/picdump/orlando.jpg

Looks like Carlos and Darko found time to do some sightseeing!

Photo courtesy of Need4Sheed (http://www.need4sheed.com)


Darko looks like he might be mesmorized by an electric light.

Darko looks like he might be mesmorized by an electric light.
Actually, he's kinda "Pavlovian" that way. In Detroit, Flip would get on a step ladder and write a tiny note at the top of the locker room wall where it meets the ceiling. He would then tell Darko that he could play when he can read the note from his locker.

Hence the wincing stare. He's not mesmerized, he's concentrating on something small (his PT). ;) :D

Chat is OPEN!!!

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

Darko fans are welcome. If the main game room is unfriendly or Darko negative, we have another room set aside for Magic/Darko fans to use.

Great disneyised photo of the Darko stare, Micro. He looks a George Bush what am I doing here stare? and who is this guy I'm hugging?

No Rip, no win! That was story of this game even though we only lost by only 2 points. Both Wallaces sat out the 4th quarter or most of it anyway as Flip tried to see if his 10 and 11th man could contribute>>Max and Davis score 2 & 4 points.

Delfino started for Rip and was 1-5 and a TO. He contributed nothing and his lack of input in the first half could have been the reason we were down by 15 at the half. Not to put everything on him though as the Wallaces had 9 pts and 11 boards between them. (for the game and did not play in 4th)

Delk was the hero in the second qtr with 14 points, but was the goat in crunch time having a shot blocked and then missing the front end of a potential tying FT.

CB who was abusing both Nelson and Arroyo midway through the 4th qtr and making 8 straight FT's went away from that when it counted in the last 2 mins when they went up by four. Should have tried it when the game was tied instead of an il-advised tree ball. Also despite CB going 12-12 from the FT line, the rest of the team went 9-19. They also got us on the boards too as Ben did not have an inspired game. (5 boards). He must have been still feeling the pains of Shaq's elbows.

Neither Tay or Evans could stop Turk until the game was over when Evans and Dice fell on him. The Pistons casts offs, Arroyo & Darko didn't actually win the game for them, but contributed 18 pts, 5 brds, 5 assts, and 1 block.

This was about Rip not being there and Flip experimenting with his bench. It almost worked out and there is no need to panic as we know we could have won this one going away if the key players had been there. Everybody should be back by Sunday and ready to win!!!:eyebrows:

Pistons did not play at all in the first half--a give away game. Delfino does not have a consistent shot. His role will be as a spot defensive player in the playoffs. I don't care how smooth he looks. He doesn't sink his shots consistently at this stage of his career.

Delk is a major coup for Joe. He brings way more to the table than Arroyo did. And Chauncey took Arroyo to the cleaners. Arroyo's not a bad player but we would probably see those turnovers we saw tonight in key points in the playoffs.

Darko will be a decent player in about two years--probably not a star. I doubt he will ever be a double digit rebounder.

Flip Saunders post game press conference attached to this post as an MP3 file.

Interesting that both Wallaces said they "couldn't go" back into the game.

watched the game at the bar. sheed and ben took the night off, no rip, and the 11th/12th guys played big minutes down the stretch. no biggie, although i wouldn't have minded if flip put the starters in for the last couple of minutes so we could win and further distance ourselves away from san antonio (who is currently down 4 to dallas with 5 minutes to go).

what did i take away from this game? that our bench will be just fine in the playoffs, and picking up delk was a flat out STEAL. unlike arroyo he can shoot the three, create his own shot, finish on drives, and defend, and he costs us far less.

arroyo didn't look bad (he actually made shots, a little less surprising since it was latin america night in orlando (LOL), but he was abused on defense. darko had some nice moves in the post and played a nice game, but he gets fooled by any semblance of a pump fake.

in any case, this just shows that joe made a great move with the trade. we have a better roster at a far less price. we've got our 3 starter bigs and davis/cato should we need experienced big men in the postseason.

so now the question is to all the delfino lovers...what do you make of his subpar game? nerves from starting? is he just inconsistent? does he try too hard? or did he just happen to have a bad game? i'm with lapiston - delfino will just be a spot defender for wade in the playoffs.

I'll put this one on Flip... nice to give everyone some PT... last I checked we had nothing wrapped up for HCA... I also did not like failing to call a time out when they were obviously tired with one possession left (Chauncey chucked up a wild one).

Ok, before we go handing over the Darko better than Sheed award we might want to consider the opposite scenario... Orlando coming off a hard fought physical game... Darko has already played a full shift... and we're at Detroit... nuff said.
With that I still like Darko at PF vs Center... he has a chance to dominate there.... he's at PF by default because most teams will put their 5 on Howard.
Darko's 2nd half was completely different than the first half... typical of a young player.
We'll see if this game ends up being important... if not ... nice move keeping Ben & Sheed rested... for the first time we've got some injuries to heal up.
With the Spurs losing maybe resting the bigs worked out ok (not that Flip knew this).

I'll put this one on Flip... nice to give everyone some PT... last I checked we had nothing wrapped up for HCA... I also did not like failing to call a time out when they were obviously tired with one possession left (Chauncey chucked up a wild one).

I guess you're right about not getting a TO there, but going to the trap was what got the Pistons back in the game, so I give Flip credit for making that adjustment in the 3rd.

Darko's face when Maxiel came into the game...Priceless!

But really, I don't have much regret for this loss. Tony had a great game, while Darko and Arroyo had an Ok game. I was surprised to see Darko make those post-up moves because he sure did not do them in Detroit.

We just did not bring it in the 4th and everytime we stepped it up, the Magic pushed us back down.

Note: Anyone know what was up with Ben and Sheed in the last second? I'm all for Maxiel, but just not this late in a Nail-Bitter game.

I'm ok with this loss. Carlos Arroyo played the way I expected he would. Carlos Delfino did not. Delfino absolutely sucked out there today. Evans was ok, but he's pretty sucky too.

No Rip, and I'm not buying that Flip was saving the Wallaces or they had serious injuries. Serious enough to stay out of the game that is. Something is up there, if they were being rested, all Flip has to say in the presser is that "We planned to rest them late in the game as we prepare for the playoffs'.

Something else must be going on. I will say this. I've never seen Sheed move so fast in his life as when he was defending Darko at the end of the first half. Maybe he pulled an entire group of muscles! ;)

Delk seemed genuinely disappointed in the locker room interview. He realizes he came up lame down the stretch.

Onward and upward, let's bring on the Pacemakers.

Micro - Both Wallace's sitting out crunch time is the main thing puzzeling me. They have never done that before. Outside of the final 2 games of last season both Wallace's have never before said "I cannot go coach".

What is up with that? Final 6 mins, now its bad enough we don't have Rip, only 2 starters finished the deal. Should go all out until HC is a done deal. Then they can all sit out the last week of the season.

Could have built a 4 game lead tonight.

I am not knocking Max and Davis as they both gave it 100% but finishing with the Wallace's would have increased the chances.

http://www.pistonsforum.com/images/picdump/orlando.jpg

Looks like Carlos and Darko found time to do some sightseeing!

Photo courtesy of Need4Sheed (http://www.need4sheed.com)


That's not funny at all. Somebody please take that mouse's tail out of Darko. The pain on his face shows the abuse he's suffering at the hands of these Pedophiles.

I am not knocking Max and Davis as they both gave it 100% but finishing with the Wallace's would have increased the chances.

maxiell came up with a big play on the offensive and defensive end. we had a chance to tie it with delk he's just no cb. he is a great pickup off though and he will have chances to redeem himself. i think this was a good way to get the bench some playing time under meaningful circumstances. flip didn't wait until hca was wrapped up to put these guys in during some meaningless games.

in any case, this just shows that joe made a great move with the trade. we have a better roster at a far less price. we've got our 3 starter bigs and davis/cato should we need experienced big men in the postseason.



Not only that but we have a 1st round draft choice in the low twenties coming our way. Don't forget Tayshaun was #23. :nod:

All I have to say about this game is :ohwell::P. This is probably the one loss that I didn't care about. San Antonio lost so we're still 3 games ahead with 6 games left for both teams.

When Flip doesn't play the bench in crunch time, you guys complain. When he does play the bench in crunch time you guys still complain. Can't have it both ways.

Flip said he would play the bench and he did. Deal with it!!

When Flip doesn't play the bench in crunch time, you guys complain. When he does play the bench in crunch time you guys still complain. Can't have it both ways.

Flip said he would play the bench and he did. Deal with it!!

I don't think anyone was complaining about it. I think many people didn't care about this loss much either.

I want to see the bench play MEANINGFUL minutes, not CRUNCH TIME minutes. Only 2 starters closing out a close game? :confused: Plat the bench in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd Q or the first half of the 4th. But not to close out a close game. That wasn't what I had in mind for "get the bench some minutes".

Oh well. I'm not really upset by the loss, it was just a great opportunity to gain a game on SA.

I want to see the bench play MEANINGFUL minutes, not CRUNCH TIME minutes. Only 2 starters closing out a close game? :confused: Plat the bench in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd Q or the first half of the 4th. But not to close out a close game. That wasn't what I had in mind for "get the bench some minutes".

Oh well. I'm not really upset by the loss, it was just a great opportunity to gain a game on SA.

I'm not too worried though. Both us and the spurs have 6 games left and we are 3 games up and we have the tiebreaker advantage.