7:30 PM

On FSN Detroit & League Pass

ROY Chris Paul and the retooled Hornets visit the Detroit Pistons in Auburn Hills.

NO/Okla.City at Detroit Nov 15 7:30PM

tv: FSN. Just checked and ESPN has not picked this one up.

Per WDFN 1130 AM

Lindsey Hunter has a sprained ankle, Flip doesn't think it is serious.

Rip practiced for the second straight day and despite lingering pain, may play tomorrow night.

This should be a tough one. The have a quick penetrating point guard who can kick it out to a deadly shooter and a tall shock blocking center... 2 of our vulnerabilities will be tested.

I have a confession.

I think Desmond Mason is a good basketball player.

Desmond mason is like Tay lite. He contributes intangibles...the threat of a slashing scorer..pressure defense that results in a steal. a couple hustle plays. Not a fantasy type player but an important piece in the real world.

Peja was hot last night. But Tay has always owned him. Hopefully the trend continues.

They are playing back to back and we are very well rested. So no excuse to lose this game especially we also have RIP back.

CP3 was 0-8 and played 4 minutes in the 1st half before being subbed out. Were they resting him for tonight? Or was he worn out from trying to carry the team on its road trip?

This is a game where we need hunter in front of Paul. Hornets will be without David West who is the key to this team's offensive flow. Without West, the Bobcats collapsed effectively on Paul and shotblocking monster Okafor was there to negate his penetration to the basket.

The Hornets sport an array of active big men that tend to botch plays but clean up a lot of garbage. With Chandler in the mix, the Hornets are one of the top offensive rebounding teams.

The Hornets bench get a lot of opportunities to contribute and both Pargo and Jackson can get to the basket. Cedric Simmons looks to have a solid solid game if we come out lacksadasical.

Keys to the game.
Take the initiative. Come out with energy and its a cakewalk. Give up the initiative and embarass yourself so you can deny ever being embarassed on TV. Embarassing.

Get on the blocks...And don't fadeaway! Sean May had 17 pts shooting from the low and high posts and ocassionally getting a put back. A few days earlier, Brand went for 22. The Hornets sport Bass (who?) Simmons and linton Johnson at the F spot so drop step these guys baseline or pivot to the middle...That means you, Sheed!

Stop Penetration. Duh!

I also think that this is the game for AJ to play in. Hornets sport quick but light in the pants garbage collectors. We could use AJ's mobility down low.

According to the Rotowire, Chandler did not make the trip to Detroit, so there is one big man out of the way tonight. Will hurt me too in the fantasy league,as he grabbed 15 boards before departing.:(


Tyson Chandler: Suffers Mild Concussion

Tyson Chandler: Suffers Mild ConcussionRotoWire.com Staff - RotoWire.com (http://www.rotowire.com/users/ad_jump.asp?id=999)
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Update: Chandler grabbed 15 boards Tuesday but had to be helped off
the court after getting elbowed by Sean May (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3939/) on a rebound with 2:15
left in the fourth quarter. He sustained a mild concussion and is listed as day-to-day. Recommendation: Chandler only scored two points before departing,
and we'll update his condition when more information becomes available. It appeared as though
Chandler lost teeth in the collision, so he may have to sit out a few games this week.

Ouch, that really sucks for him.

JMax is going to knock somebody's teeth out too before the year is through.

they're missing david west too. with a shortened lineup on the 2nd game of a back to back, we should take 'em to school.

they're missing david west too. with a shortened lineup on the 2nd game of a back to back, we should take 'em to school.
I hope you realize that if the Pistons don't win, I will have to buy mops for the tears that will be cried here tomorrow.

For the sake of the forum the Pistons better win. We have fired the coach ( as usual ),traded CB and Sheed, benched Prince, concluded that the Pistons are unable to develope anyone and even knocked Rip for taking too many jump shots. All par for a humiliating loss combined with a few days before the next game.

If the Pistons want this one they can win it easily. We will see.

I have a confession.

I think Desmond Mason is a good basketball player.Met Desmond and his wife when we were in Milwaukee. She is a fine snow bunny!! She looks like a mischevious Kelly Ripa!!!

CHAT IS OPEN! (http://www.pistonsforum.com/misc.php?do=flashchat)

Best line in chat tonight....

[mercury] 9:40 pm: I'd gladly take some techs and stupid fouls at this point

flip murray sucks. why is he on the floor???
lindsey sucks and is old why is he on the floor???

is anybody else ready to give blaylock some run?? our backup guard situation is terrible. the loss of carlos arroyo is killing us. i'm all for delfino running some point.

Its almost like Flip was trying to lose this one.

Delfino's minutes have been steadily going down. The only positive is that he plays every game.

I am so upset right now I can't say any more.

3-5, it's coming more and more like a 5-11 start, somebody please, tell me it ain't true ! :(

We are worse than even I imagined we'd be. sad.

The wrongness of this game is mind boggling.
9 games into the season, we're 1/2 game ahead of the Knicks.
The top 2 picks in one of the greatest drafts of all time are 1 and 2 in the EC, but we traded ours.
Delfino has played well, yet his minutes have dropped.
Murray and Hunter have played badly, yet their minutes have increased.
Starters are supposed to be saved for the playoffs, but played 38+ minutes.
NO was missing 2 STARTERS.
60 points in a half, I guess Murray gets to practice on his D.
Close game at the end, and we send in the worst shooting PG in the history of the NBA, who immediately jacks up a 3.

If Joe doesn't fire Flip soon, he might as well keep him for the whole season so we can get the best chance at Noah. But even if we drafted him, we'd probably stick him in the NBDL.

ITS TRUE! TOLD YA111


BEN
BEN
BEN..BEN..B-BEN..B-B-BEN
BEN
BEN
BEN!
BEN-B-BEN..BEN-B-BEN!
BENNNN!
B-BEN
BN
B-B-B-BEN
B-BEN
B-B-BEN
B-BEN]
BN
B-BEN
BEN
B-BENNNNNNNN
(sung to the tune of the EMPIRE "S MUSIC from Star Wars)

3-5, it's coming more and more like a 5-11 start, somebody please, tell me it ain't true ! :(

I don't know. Its almost surreal watching the past 2 games. Hate to say it but this does remind me of the way our 92/93 season started when every young guy was having their breakout games against the Pistons.

No I don't think we will finish 20-62 but this team has problems. I still think we have the talent to make things happen but you are not going to win very many games playing the guys Flip was down the stretch. Especially getting killed on the offensive glass and you go small ball.

At least he finally threw in the towell on Murrys night and got Hunter in there.

I am starting to see how Flip lost in the 1st round for 5 years straight. The guy just does not learn from his own mistakes.

I'm almost at peace with this... it's good that the deficiencies are front and center now.

I'm almost at peace with this... it's good that the deficiencies are front and center now.
Ditto.

It's like achieving a zen like state of absolute clarity from being beaten into submission.

My only question is when will the local beat writers admit there is a problem, and admit that it is more than "a lack of energy" from the starters. Starting with Nazr stinks, Murray is out of position, poor substitutions, Zero D, and just bad coaching. Doubt any of those points gets mentioned. Curious how McCoskey will be blame this on Delfino.

Its the defense yaw....They let rookies and second year men beat and out hustle both the starters and bench scrubs. In fact their scrubs outscored our bench to the tune of 33-11. :frusty:

Two other stats that stand out >Hornets had 19 offensive rebounds!!!
Pistons missed 9 FTs without Ben Wallace in the lineup:hoops: that is a stat you look at when lose a game by one point.:(

Why were there so many 3 ball attempts when the Hornets two big men West and Chandler were sitting at home? Sheed wasted to much time out on the perimeter, when he could have owned those two younger guys in the paint on the offensive end. :mad:

it's good that the deficiencies are front and center now.

I think our deficiencies are coach and center. :P

I think our deficiencies are coach and center. :P


lol Jammer.

I didn't expect this. Uggh.

They got 60 in the first half where the game was lost. We actually played some ball in the 2nd half. Trouble is we squander opportunities to take over with wild fast breaks and over-doing the three when the lead is in our hands. Sheed's shot near the end was made much harder as he too, put a little too much "show" in it.

We are getting nothing much from the bench. The team has been put together on the cheap and we really do not have top notch talent or much youth on that unit. Even Maxiell was abused defensively in his short stint. And we never seem to have players playing for the right reasons as was pointed out.

They got 60 in the first half where the game was lost. We actually played some ball in the 2nd half. Trouble is we squander opportunities to take over with wild fast breaks and over-doing the three when the lead is in our hands. Sheed's shot near the end was made much harder as he too, put a little too much "show" in it.

We are getting nothing much from the bench. The team has been put together on the cheap and we really do not have top notch talent or much youth on that unit. Even Maxiell was abused defensively in his short stint. And we never seem to have players playing for the right reasons as was pointed out.

The 3's were nothing new since Flip Saunders joined us. And he did not play the right subs. He should have tried playing Amir tonight. Instead he ride on the starters. Maybe he does not know what 'matchups' means.

We might lose more than 40 games this season and still would not have develop the bench.

And that, my fellow forumites, is SAD!!!

I see two bench-related problems.

One, the current secondary players are not used in roles that play to their strengths. For example, Murray is a scorer and not a point. Hunter can only be on the floor in a defensive situation, etc. Here the issue may be coaching

The second problem is that we have skimped on paying talent since the championship. I am not sure that our talent on the bench is all that outstanding. They had chances tonight and did nothing. Maxiell, Dyss, Hunter and Delfino and Flip. Here the issue may be management (dollars).

We also seem to need a live, young big. Sheed is being asked to do everything down low. Joe will notice this I am sure.

Finally, when are we going to get a back-up point and or some bonafide scoring off of the bench?

Why would a power forward take a 3 pointer with 20 seconds left in a tie game, when all it takes is getting fouled to win the game?

Why would a power forward take a 3 pointer with 20 seconds left in a tie game, when all it takes is getting fouled to win the game?

That question should be pasted on Sheed's locker when he opens it tomorrow. Joe should be asking Flip why that play was called and asking CB why he passed it to him that far out. Where was Rip and Ty during this time frame? And don't forget about the sequence in the 3rd quarter when the Pistons shot 5 threes in a row?? The first one by CB tied the game and the second one put them up by three. Then instead of going to the inside game for some potential and one situations, they jack up 3 more threes that miss and then the Hornets regain their composure and extend the lead back to five to end the qtr. They just don't play smart and Flip has no control over these guys.

LA Dre,

I also saw the third quarter that way. We had them on the ropes...

LA Piston...did you go to last Fridays game at Staples? Supposedly it was Deja Vu and they looked like the 2004 playoff championship team that dominated the Lakers then too.

i'm pretty sure sheed had a brain fart and thought he could still get the 2-for-1 if he tried that shot (but guess what, 3-pointers take awhile in the air and the rebounds are long, which killed the 2-for-1 idea). secondly, we never exploited our extreme size advantage. third, it's 3 seconds left and all you need is a rebound / full timeout after a missed free throw so you can inbound at halfcourt. what does flip do? leave his short guys in, and chauncey promptly gives up the offensive rebound for the game. what the hell kind of coaching is that?

we played well in the 2nd half and our starters had decent games, but why did delfino only get 9 minutes and maxiell only get 6? i'm all for playing amir johnson at this point ... he's quick enough to defend whatever guy blows past chauncey / flip.

like i said in the previous game wrap-up, these kind of games need to happen. had we won, chauncey woulda been back to his 'we do what we do' speeches, etc. we gotta get our @$$ kicked a few more times to realize the playoffs aren't a guarantee this year and the team has a LOT of work to do.

what does flip do? leave his short guys in, and chauncey promptly gives up the offensive rebound for the game. what the hell kind of coaching is that?


Guess he did not think of it. They probably would have tried to run it up the court instead of calling a TO anyway like in the Utah game. I think we had a small lineup in that game also.

Flip's strategy obviously is to play the starters and make them getting a lead- he only substitutes to give them a rest, not to change the game.
If the starters don't get a 10pt lead, Flip doesn't know what to do and simply plays the starters more, hoping they finally get it done. I wonder if that had been his strategy since he arrived in the Motor City? I also wonder if he's thinking to overhaul it since it seems as if the starters simply ain't good enough to pull 10pts+ leads whenever they're in.

The reason why Flip takes that shot, is that this offense and system dictates, take the open shot, regardless of time and score.

And that is something stodgy old Uncle Larry would never do. You were always looking for a smart shot in that system.

We can all point to mistakes made down the stretch of the 4th quarter, which were there, but the second half wasn't the real problem last night. The Pistons won that half 50-40, which would be plenty enough to win on most nights. The main problem was that they played no defense and got no rebounds in the first half.

News flash...The Pistons suck this year! Get rid of Saunders, he never did anything for the Timberwolves except to make them "almosters".
Bring back Carlisle!

News flash...The Pistons suck this year! Get rid of Saunders, he never did anything for the Timberwolves except to make them "almosters".
Bring back Carlisle!

Bring back Curry then, too.

Pistons are simply lulling everyone in the league into a false sense of security. Glad Hilton did good last night (UConn) just wish it hadn't been against the D.

Read something funny in the power rankings: Detroit being called "Etroit" as in "No D."

The reason why Flip takes that shot, is that this offense and system dictates, take the open shot, regardless of time and score.

And that is something stodgy old Uncle Larry would never do. You were always looking for a smart shot in that system.

I think there were about 44 seconds left when the Pistons grabbed that rebound and headed down the floor with the score tied. I know there was enough time for a two for one, but I don't think all of the players realized it and the play took to long to develop. I think LB and most other coaches would have still called a time out to set up a sure play...But not Flip...and his superstar assistants :noidea: Somebody needs to talk to these fellas about the art of coaching in the last 2 minutes....well maybe a full 48 minutes since there was no coaching or defense in the first half ..

LA Dre,

No, I didn't go to Staples this time because I have been disappointed in what has happened to the team since last spring.

Even last night, they looked good in the 3rd quarter. But something still seems to be wrong--can't figure it out. I am sure Joe is watching...

Do you think CB is sending a message? No leadership [stupid play] on the court. We are smarter than this.
Looks like I might have to go up to the Palace and get in some faces.

Looks like I might have to go up to the Palace and get in some faces.

'YOU CAN DO IT'....