At NY Knicks December 27th, 7:30 PM
TV 20 (Local) NBALP


The Pistons make their first trip to the Garden to take on the Knicks who have won 3 of their last 4 games.

Overtime wins against Utah and Charlotte, and a victory over the Bulls last week after the brawl was encouraging to the Knicks. The only loss of the week came against Philly.

The Pistons play their 2nd game of a back-to-back, where they have been very successful. This Knick team is playing inspired ball right now. The Pistons can`t let the Garden crowd get into the game.

Over-under on total hard fouls:
Adopted kids by Madonna=== 4 ===adopted kids by Rosie O

Knicks are gonna run us off the floor.

Flip was resting up the Goon Squad tonight so that they would still have some hard fouls left for the Knicks.

Got to watch out for Eddie Curry. PIP. Don't think Nazr will be able to guard him one on one.

CB and the bench got to make up for last nite's game.

Chat is open!

http://www.pistonsforum.com/misc.php?do=flashchat

See you there soon!

flipstone murrayrock's first half:
4 minutes
3 fouls
3 turnovers........

oy!!!

flipstone murrayrock's first half:
4 minutes
3 fouls
3 turnovers........

oy!!!

Looks like he's trying to better Dice's stats from the last game.

Looks like he's trying to better Dice's stats from the last game.
Best move of the year: Delfino getting Stone's 2nd half minutes!..MOOOhahahahhahamOOhahahhaa! :MusicBigGrin:

Delfino just said "BYE BYE fLIPSTONE!!!!!!!"...MOOOHAHAHAHAMOOOhahaha!

this was one of Chauncey-making-his-boy-look-good games....Jimmy Crickets...Marbury????/

delfino is the man. i called the 3. i want everyone to remember that. i called the 3 to make it go into the first ot.

I couldn't watch this one, or listen to it on the radio, because I now live on the F$#$in' West Coast. However, thanks to diligent typing by the Professor, Dlev,D4E, and others, I was able to read a thrilling play by play in game chat.

1 minute breakdown:

Career high scoring for Rip, nice hustle by 30mill, a 3 by Delfino to take the game into the first overtime, three more overtimes, Nazr wins all the tips, Tay gets a couple of blocks... exciting stuff. Lots of (missed) 3 point attempts by Mr. Big Shot may have cost the Pistons the game.

Wish I could have seen it.

Well that was the craziest Pistons game since the 3 OT loss to the Nets in the playoffs...Knicks won this one 151-145 in 3 OTs. Pistons choked away some chances at the end of regulation, especially a MISSED DUNK by Sheed, but Delfino hit a 3 in the last 5 seconds to sent it to OT (as the idiot Knicks didn't use their foul to give). Billups ended up as the escape goat, dribbling the clock down like a moron at the end of the first OT before bricking a 3, missing a FT at the end of the 2nd OT to allow Frye to tie it at the buzzer, missing another 3 in the next OT, etc. Really a terrible game for him. Crawford went insane in the last OT, hitting a bunch of ridiculous running jumpers with defenders all over him. Too bad Rip's career night was wasted...he went for 51! Good games for Nazr, Dice, and Delfino as well.

I couldn't watch this one, or listen to it on the radio, because I now live on the F$#$in' West Coast. However, thanks to diligent typing by the Professor, Dlev, and others, I was able to read an thrilling play by play in game chat.

Career high scoring for Rip, nice hustle by 30mill, a 3 by Delfino to take the game into the first overtime... exciting stuff. Lots of 3 point attempts by Mr. Big Shot may have cost the Pistons the game.

Wish I could have seen it.

Hey I can`t take the credit for the play by play because I was reading as you were bro. I was unable to watch this game also, and thanks to everyone who was watching especially the Professor and D4E, I too got the chat play by play, which was great.

I hope I don`t have too be in chat without watching again.........

That was a fantastic game and would have been one for the ages if the Pistons had won it. Hard to believe the Knicks are a bottom feeder team after the way they played tonight. Do all teams just play their best games against the Pistons? Why don't they play that way against the Heat as well? Chauncey and Rip just ran out of gas and I'm not going to second guess Flip but does he have such a lack of trust in his bench that he won't let Maxiell and yes even Flip Murray get some needed burn in the crunch? I'm glad Delfino showed he can hit the big shot but fresh legs might have won that game before it went into 3OT.

Hey I can`t take the credit for the play by play because I was reading as you were bro. I was unable to watch this game also, and thanks to everyone who was watching especially the Professor and D4E, I too got the chat play by play, which was great.

I hope I don`t have too be in chat without watching again.........

Fixed it. Hopefully we can both watch the next one!

Sheed with an absolute monstrosity of a game. Give some of his minutes to Max.

I am emotionally drained from watching this one. A lot to remember. Here goes. First, Rip scored 51, most of it in regulation. Rip has all the sudden added the drive and pull up to his arsenal big time. He is shooting with range. He is driving in. He is just shaking people off. Still the occasional hitting one off a pick. Pretty amazing. Just not quite enough tonight in this triple overtime Piston loss.

Mohammed had a decent game. He scored out of the post several times, which the first time this year I can say that. Still, our middle is soft, and Marbury racked up about 40 points coming right down our gut. Mohammed played most of the OT's since Sheed fouled out. He scored a couple of big hoops, and got 4 straight key points at one time. And about 14 boards or so.

For them, first Marbury, then Crawford had big games. Channing Frye hit the big shot for them to send it into the third overtime. Oh, and Curry was huge for them in the first half with 21 points. All in all, NY is showing it has a very talented group of players, and whats scary is Zeke has them playing some pretty good team ball.

Billups flat out stunk late, missing a ton of shots, and committing those fouls that let them get back into the game when the game seemed sewn up for us. And he missed a clutch free throw that would have sealed it. Oh well on that, he can't be perfect, but he could have let someone else shoot the ball or drive in. More next post. This is going to take a while.

Flip Murray barely played in this one. Four horrible minutes where he could not hang onto the ball, and the one time he did, you got it, called his own number and missed badly. Delfino got to play the whole 2nd quarter, and half the 4th quarter. And most of the OT's since Sheed fouled out. Even with Delfino though, I am not fond of small ball, especially with Mohammed as our only big.

Delfino hit his first 4 shots, and then sent the game into the first overtime with a triple. And he did his usual fine defending and rebounding.

Maxiell did not play in the 2nd half nor in any of the OT's. Not a whole lot from him, but I must say he came on with Flip Murray so that is not fair to him.

Dale Davis played plenty, as Mohammed only played about 5 minutes in the first half of the game. Davis played something like 12 straight minutes from early in the 1st quarter until several minutes into the 2nd quarter. He also played the end of the 3rd quarter and I think the beginning of the 4th quarter. But never in OT. No comment on that or anything else about the rotation since, hey, with a little smarter play from Billups in the 2nd OT we win this one. Still, I do wonder if a little bit of energy from either Maxiell or Davis might have helped a bit.

Several players, Rip, Tay, and Billups I am sure, ended up with over 50 minutes after getting around 40 last night. Talk about some fatigue. Considering this, no way will I be at all harsh on any of these 3 about how they did late in the game.

Blalock played. His 2nd half stint went just a bit longer than usual, but Saunders still won't loosen up and let him get more playing time in the 3rd quarter. Billups needs the rest. The game is not won in the 2nd quarter. Let the kid play.

Dyess had a pretty good game. He played the whole 4th and ended up with a double double I believe and about 15 points. Best game of the year for him, but like Delfino's best, and Rip's best, it was all wasted. (and I'd say Mohammed's best too.) Quite a game. The Pistons are still on a pretty good tear despite the loss. GO PISTONS!!!!!

PS, I can't even remember at this point a whole lot about how Sheed or Tay did. Just drawing a blank.

Fixed it. Hopefully we can both watch the next one!

I certainly will. Heading home tomorrow from Atlanta. My brother in law is a football fan. He has The NFL Ticket, but no League Pass................:shout:

Sheed with an absolute monstrosity of a game. Give some of his minutes to Max.
Sheed's one of those guys that you have to watch his minutes... he vaporizes with time.
They must of had some wobbly legs out there.

Another point to make about this game was that the refereeing was really terrible. Any game that long is bound to have some missed calls, but these guys were sucking all night long. Both teams had some very bad ones go against them. One really egregious call that benefited the Pistons was a ridiculous flop by Rip to draw Marbury's 6th foul in one of the overtimes.

Old Skool HQ had the best reference of the night in chat, saying "Mendy Rudolph is rolling over in his grave." Now that's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendy_Rudolph) old-skool!

Exciting game to watch, but plenty of bone head plays by the boys in Red to blow this one. Couldn't put it away in regulation as Naz misses several bunny/dunk oportunites in the last 50 seconds and CB makes several questionable decisions in the overtimes.

Marbury zips through the lane to make several floaters and layups in the paint to score 41. Although it was a triple-OT game, Pistons allow four Knick starters to score 26+ points including Curry starting off 8-8 from the field and Frye hit several uncontested jumpshots. In the OT Crawford came alive to hit several key jumpers.

Knicks score 66 points in the paint including 40 in the first half. However the Pistons responded with 60 in the paint themselves thanks to 27 offensive rebounds and timely put backs by Dice and Nazr. Despite the fact that he appeared out of his element in crunch time, Naz was still a force as Sheed pull a no show and fouled out prior to the end of regulation.

The Pistons had only 1 assist at the end first period and finished with only 22?? With 145 points you would expect more, but the Knicks had only 24 themselves. The knicks also shot 63 FT's:ohwell:

This was supposed to be a game that RIP celebrates a win with the 50+ points, but instead the game ends with him getting a tech and he goes home mad. He should be mad at his backcourt mate CB for trying to be the hero and making silly fouls. Rip had 37 points at the end of 3 periods, but only scored 2 points in the 4th period and 2 in the first OT before finally making some hoops in the 2nd OT. He should have scored 60!!

First time this season we have lost a game after leading after 3 (was 14-0) and the first lost on a back to back I believe.

Good play by Delfino and Dice out there tonight....Murray was awful for his stent in there> 4 mins, 3 fouls, 3 turnovers nothing else. keep him on the bench and keep Delfino and Blaylock ahead of him. :yellowprison:

With the exception of Rips 51 this one can't be mesured in the boxscore, don't even look at it. Some may argue bad defense, but bottom line the NBA is full of great players who when they get it going offensively no defense can stop them. For our team that player was Rip, for their team it was Curry and Marbury. Bottom line was when buckets were needed a playmaker made them, and sadly for us we didn't make enough plays to win this one.

Don't sweat the rotation stuff, you never sub a player in OT, you go with your horses with the exception of those off/def subs to get stops or save a player in foul troule. In OT you ride a guy, because if they sit for a few they stiffen up and the sub has no time to get any offensive rhythm. But at the end of the game Big SHot lost this one for us, remarkably he lost it on both ends of the floor trying to make plays that screwed us into an L. Ahh well as Lee said he ain't perfect but he flat out Stunk it up tonight.

"....talk about this and that
how much money u done spent
swear u believe boy
it was all heaven sent...
chill now
u better bring the check around
its yo man 'OLD SKOOL"
and his DIRTY LOW DOWN!........"

iM GONNA do somethin different as I have resurrected from the Sith to my true self as OLDSKOOL HQ. I want to give the inside lines to what happened, yknow..."The game within The Game"....Tonight it was CB vs Marbury.
CB played his typical "Im gonna let my boy get his props cause Im gonna win in the end" game. Lots of NBAers feel that CB thinks he's more of a star than he really is. He goes to the basket only when he thinks he is gonna draw a foul. And he thinks he 'really is' an All-NBA defender.
I have people in this house who mcan prove to you that before Flipstone Murrayrock got here, the name u hear most out of my mouth is "CHAUN_SEEEEEE!" or "DAMNIT, CHAUNCEY!"
CB needs to go back to the LB films. I knew when Flip got here that this 'new' CB would arise. His stats on this game were horrendous for a team that still "only lost in 3 OT's".....
3-13 fg's...2-9 3ptFg...9-11 FT's...only 10 assists in 51 min and 137 FGA by team
I know he is due for a bad stretch but this team just lost to an Iverson less Philly team by 19 pts. What the hell is Flip doin? I dont know. But three people will keep us from our destiny in the long run...
Flip Saunders
Nazr Muhammad
and Chauncey Billups....

...the dirty Low Down...nuff said!

microcap

Nights like tonight are maddening.

You see the Knicks, trading lead changes with the Pistons 20+ times and know that they are playing one of their absolute best games this season.

And on the other hand, you have the Detroit Pistons, unable to slow the Knicks, unable to build a big lead seemingly stepping through the motions until it was too late to pull one last rabbit from the hat.

It's enough to shake your faith in Detroit Basketball.

This game had it all. Clutch baskets, big plays, questionable calls, and three overtimes.

At the end, the Pistons inability to close out an opponent, to put their foot on the throat of the Knicks and choke them into submission was why they lost. It's a tired routine we have seen many times.

It was Chauncey Billups inexplicably jacking up 3 pointers early, in the middle and at the end of shot clocks during the late game. It was his inability to stop dribble penetration from Marbury, whom he was probably too busy taking notes from on how to finish at the hoop.

It was Nazr Mohammed unable to convert tip ins during overtime with stone hands.

It was Rasheed Wallace fouling out after never really starting the game from a mental standpoint.

It was Flip Saunders also cruising in a kind of semi-retarded haze benching the Goon Squad and allowing Wallace to foul out when he could have been a late game factor.

It was one of the most incompetent referee crews I have ever observed.

We learned a couple things this game.

Flip Murray is possibly the worst player on the Pistons.
Chauncey Billups is in a dangerous funk.
Will Blalock is only a stop gap at backup PG.
Carlos Delfino is making a case as the most valuable bench player on the Pistons.
Antonio McDyess can still play a power game if he doesn't lean exclusively on his turnaround jumper for scoring.
Tayshaun Prince is too much in love with open jumpers even when they are not falling.
Nazr Mohammed is limited, but very valuable.

Here are the Pistons 2nd thru 4th scoring options and their sum shooting stats.

Tay 4-16, 1-7 from 3
Sheed 4-14, 0-4 from 3
Billups 3-13, 2-9 from 3

That's 11-43 and 3-29 from 3. And yet between Rip, Nazr, Dice and Delfino, we almost won this game.

The brightest point in what was a disappointing loss had to be Rip Hamilton. Entering tonight's game, his previous career high was 44 points. Tonight he had 51, seemingly scoring at will, avoiding 3 pointers and slashing to the basket. That's the 6th 50 point game in Pistons history.

Here is the history of the Pistons single game scoring record that I could chase up

Jerry Stackhouse - 57 points
Kelly Tripucka - 56 points
Dave Bing - 54 points

I'm pretty sure George "Bird" Yardley scored 50+ as well for the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons.

Anyway, it's late and watching that game was exhausting...

My Good Guys: Rip Hamilton, Antonio McDyess, Carlos Delfino, Nazr Mohammed

My Bad Guys: Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace, Flip Saunders, Flip Murray, Tayshaun Prince

Pistons player of the game: Rip Hamilton

Another point to make about this game was that the refereeing was really terrible. Any game that long is bound to have some missed calls, but these guys were sucking all night long. Both teams had some very bad ones go against them. One really egregious call that benefited the Pistons was a ridiculous flop by Rip to draw Marbury's 6th foul in one of the overtimes.

Old Skool HQ had the best reference of the night in chat, saying "Mendy Rudolph is rolling over in his grave." Now that's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendy_Rudolph) old-skool!:pound: Yeah, I cracked myself up over that one!:pound:

Gotta give credit where it's due. The Zekes played with composure and great resolve. Damnit !

Good performances, bad performances, frequent whistles, fatigue, MSG crowd, prooved no match. We played above it all, almost. I can see committing the foul once, on the three point try. CB lost his head in the heat of the moment. But, how did he not learn from it. How did he loose recognition of time/score/situation, again. :confused:

Is this a burn the film situation ?

Great game, unfortunately we lost. I'm glad I couldn't get tickets, woulda been pretty po'ed sitting at the Port Authority after that loss, knowing I've got an hour ride home.

Props to:
Flip Saunders, good substitutions. Can't believe I'm saying this.
Rip, en fuego, until the final OT.
ScarFace (CD), great game, simply great in all aspects. If this doesn't earn him more PT, nothing will. He may be a streak shooter, but his form isn't broken (like LH), he simply needs the confidence.
Dice and Nazr, both strong games

NorthFace:
CB, poor decisions all game, bad shots, bad fouls.
Flip Murray, haven't seen that bad of a 4 minute performance in awhile. Did everything wrong, lackadaisacal, bad shots, turnovers, just horrible.
JMax, totally outmatched by David Lee. Big slow guys, JMax does well, young fast medium guys, JMax gets crushed.
Entire team in OT, we got away from team play, and it was one on one bball. I can understand that from Rip, he was on fire. But not one pass from CB and Rip to anyone else but themselves in OT.

Bottom line:
Delfino needs more PT with the starters, Murray needs out of the lineup, Jmax needs to be played only when matchups are right, and Flip needs to keep on doing what he's been doing the past couple of weeks.

One more thing. Don't believe the hype that Isiah is dumb and the Knicks are bad.

Isiah is pretty good and the Knicks are loaded with talent. Sure they are paying for it, but MSG is the largest owner in the NBA. They can afford to overpay everyone.

The problem with the Knicks, is that last year, LB did zero team building and this season, Zeke has basically had to start development from scratch.

Marbury is the butt of a lot of jokes, but he has always had the kind of game he showed tonight. Jamaal Crawford is the best guard in the NBA that no one talks about. David Lee, Channing Frye (when he plays well) and Renaldo Balkman comprise a super promising front court and Eddy Curry is on the verge of being the next Shaq, bullying his way in the paint and dominating every player smaller than him (which is most).

If not by the end of this year, next season the Knicks will be a handful every single night for opponents.

RosCoe's ReCap: impressive....most impressive!

..... and Eddy Curry is on the verge of being the next Shaq, bullying his way in the paint and dominating every player smaller than him (which is most).

For all of his bulk & strength, he doesn't dominate the D glass or paint.

He's a strange beast. Strictly a scorer. I think that is why he was so effective with Tyson Chandler. They were completely the opposite player.

Where Chandler played defense, blocked shots and rebounded, Curry made his living off of dunking the ball and soft layins.

One good thing about the knicks winning is the fact that the Bulls and Knicks switch 1st round picks this year.

Very exciting game and it deserved a better ending than a missed call and a T for complaining. Zero tolorance was back for that game. Pistons could not even talk about the calls with any kind of emotion. No way should that last tech have been called. One thing to miss a call but then to T the guy up as well? Some crews let you vent and others don't. Just boils down to more variablility and inconsistancy in a league that was not exactly the model of consistancy to begin with. NBA needs new refs. When you see these type of crews in the introductions you just know some team is going away feeling like they got stiffed.

A lot of positives regardless of the outcome. Not just a run of the mill game for a core 8 or whatever. Pistons got better that game. Mohammed gained more confidence and Delfino was spectacular. Congradulations to coach Flip for finally promoting Delfino over player Flip - lets hope the trend continues. Already made the decision to bring in Blaylock as the main PG sub and now hopefully Delfino will be the main guy at the other 2 spots.

There is just no way Flip Murray could have played a game like Delfino did for us last night. I am not talking points - his defense, taking charges and all the hustle plays.

Pistons are getting better as a team and thats definetly what we all wanted to see this season.

I think i'm the only person that didn't enjoy this game. We couldn't play defense to save our lives and it seemed like we missed 506854 point blank oppurtunities to ice the game.

Also, something is seriously wrong w/ Chauncey.

MaOne good thing about the knicks winning is the fact that the Bulls and Knicks switch 1st round picks this year.

Very exciting game and it deserved a better ending than a missed call and a T for complaining. Zero tolorance was back for that game. Pistons could not even talk about the calls with any kind of emotion. No way should that last tech have been called. One thing to miss a call but then to T the guy up as well. Some crews let you vent and others don't. Just boils down to more variablility and inconsistancy in a legaue that was not the model of consistancy to begin with. NBA needs new refs. When you see these type of crews in the introductions you just know some team is going away feeling like they got stiffed.

A lot of positives regardless of the outcome. Not just a run of the mill game for a core 8 or whatever. Pistons got better that game. Mohammed gained more confidence and Delfino was spectacular. Congradulations to coach Flip for finally promoting Delfino over player Flip, at least for that game, lets hope the trend continues. Already made the decision to bring in Blaylock as the main PG sub and now hopefully Delfino will be the main guy at the other 2 spots.

There is just no way Flip Murray could have played a game like Delfino did for us last night. I am not talking points - his defense, taking charges and all the hustle plays.

Pistons are getting better as a team and thats definetly what we all wanted to see this season.

Max, a good, positive post. Thanks.

When Flip S was rolling with

Nazr
Tay
Delfino
Hamilton
Billups

it was kinda exciting, like not wearing underwear or drinking milk directly from the carton. Exciting and naughty!

I think i'm the only person that didn't enjoy this game. We couldn't play defense to save our lives and it seemed like we missed 506854 point blank oppurtunities to ice the game.

Also, something is seriously wrong w/ Chauncey.


As I posted earlier, I didn't get to see this game, just followed the play by play.

I think TheLow would agree with you. The lack of defense can be very frustrating, and it seemed like I kept reading, Marbury for the layup, Marbury to the hoop, etc, etc.

We know the team can play defense. Just not sure they will play defense.

Great game, unfortunately we lost. I'm glad I couldn't get tickets, woulda been pretty po'ed sitting at the Port Authority after that loss, knowing I've got an hour ride home.

Props to:
Flip Saunders, good substitutions. Can't believe I'm saying this.
Rip, en fuego, until the final OT.
ScarFace (CD), great game, simply great in all aspects. If this doesn't earn him more PT, nothing will. He may be a streak shooter, but his form isn't broken (like LH), he simply needs the confidence.
Dice and Nazr, both strong games

NorthFace:
CB, poor decisions all game, bad shots, bad fouls.
Flip Murray, haven't seen that bad of a 4 minute performance in awhile. Did everything wrong, lackadaisacal, bad shots, turnovers, just horrible.
JMax, totally outmatched by David Lee. Big slow guys, JMax does well, young fast medium guys, JMax gets crushed.
Entire team in OT, we got away from team play, and it was one on one bball. I can understand that from Rip, he was on fire. But not one pass from CB and Rip to anyone else but themselves in OT.

Bottom line:
Delfino needs more PT with the starters, Murray needs out of the lineup, Jmax needs to be played only when matchups are right, and Flip needs to keep on doing what he's been doing the past couple of weeks.

I feel your pain. You know Delfino was open, and ignored, even though he had the hot hand earlier in the game. Heck though, he might have missed and spoiled a perfectly good game from him. Yeah, I wish they had let him take a couple of shots though, cause CB was obviously not making any.

it was kinda exciting, like not wearing underwear or drinking milk directly from the carton. Exciting and naughty!

:pound::pound::pound::pound::pound:

As I posted earlier, I didn't get to see this game, just followed the play by play.

I think TheLow would agree with you. The lack of defense can be very frustrating, and it seemed like I kept reading, Marbury for the layup, Marbury to the hoop, etc, etc.

We know the team can play defense. Just not sure they will play defense.
Naw, I'm telling you when you're a baller there are some nights where you just say "You can't stop me" and it becomes a scoring contest. In the beginning nobody could stop Eddy "Shaun Rogers JR" Curry in the paint, nor could anyone (Chuancy, Rip, Tay, Blalock) stop Starbury, and in the end Crawford was on some 'oh my gosh, I can't believe he hit that' type stuff. Tonight it wasn't bad defense, just really good offense.

As I posted earlier, I didn't get to see this game, just followed the play by play.

I think TheLow would agree with you. The lack of defense can be very frustrating, and it seemed like I kept reading, Marbury for the layup, Marbury to the hoop, etc, etc.

We know the team can play defense. Just not sure they will play defense.

That was pretty much it.

It's just gotten to the point where i feel like if we don't have 6+ point lead in a game we're not going to win. I don't have confidence in their ability to get stops down the stretch anymore and i don't think they do either.

Ma
Max, a good, positive post. Thanks.

Thanks Lee, don't know about Positive. Still a little ticked off how the whole thing ended. So they don't call the foul for Rip, then don't call it on the other end either.

Such a shame for the most exciting game of the season in the entire league to end like that.

Well, guess if Mr Big Shot had hit at least one of his many 3's it would not have come down to triple OT. I am not going to rake the guy over the coals over 2 bad games though.

So we can miss one starter ( Sheed fouled out ) and have another, Billups, turn in that kind of a game and still score 145 points in 3 -OT's. Its nice having a bench.

In summation, the real issues were that Flip wasted to much time with Sheed in there who played as if the game was won before they tipped off. Maybe taking a chance on playing Max in the 3rd & 4th qtrs would have stopped some of that dribble penetration by Marbury.

The other thing was that we could never extend the lead beyond 5 points. Getting it up to a three possession game in either of the first two OT's would have probably won this one, but a bad shot or missed putback on our end and the two silly fouls by CB allowed them to stay around and prevail.

Otherwise good game for a team that played the night before and travelled 900 miles. Let's give some credit to Zekes knicks too who have gone 4-1 since their brawl winning all of their home games.

I still don't get it. This game was suppose to end just like hundreds of other wins. Make foul shots, then defend desperation shots, rebounding the eventual miss which eliminates all doubt of the outcome.

The Stones win in their sleep like that. What made Chauncy commit the second foul.

Anyone notice how Blaha and Kelser acted as if nothing happened.

When Flip S was rolling with

Nazr
Tay
Delfino
Hamilton
Billups

it was kinda exciting, like not wearing underwear or drinking milk directly from the carton. Exciting and naughty!ever drink milk from a milk carton wearing your underwear on your head...butt-naked?:bow1:

Naw, I'm telling you when you're a baller there are some nights where you just say "You can't stop me" and it becomes a scoring contest. In the beginning nobody could stop Eddy "Shaun Rogers JR" Curry in the paint, nor could anyone (Chuancy, Rip, Tay, Blalock) stop Starbury, and in the end Crawford was on some 'oh my gosh, I can't believe he hit that' type stuff. Tonight it wasn't bad defense, just really good offense.

Allright, I can accept that. In fact, that s@!% happens to me all the time.




(guys lighting it up against me, that is)

I think i'm the only person that didn't enjoy this game. We couldn't play defense to save our lives and it seemed like we missed 506854 point blank oppurtunities to ice the game.

Also, something is seriously wrong w/ Chauncey.

i DID enjoy the game (probably mostly because i was in the chat which was fun), but these three complaints absolutely sum up the most frustrating points. i know marbury's a great player, that's fine. but he doesn't get 41 on everybody! and what about curry?? is someone willing to tell me that he's as good as shaq ten years ago -- cause that's what he looked like. we were absolutely retarted on paint defense tonight -- a disappointment after our improvement in that area over the past few weeks. it took about a year for us to start doubling in the post (a simple, no brain adjustment that the knicks were totally unable to deal with. i'd have to see the game again, but i think just about everyone of our runs was triggered by a knick turnover after a pistons double team in the post.

which brings me to "at-sea note", whose worthlessness on defense is becoming more and more apparent. he creates so many problems for the bigs by his inability to stay in front of his man and his weird floating rotations to nowhere land. when he doesn't execute on good judgment plays and on top of that makes poor decisions with the game on the line, it's hard to see mr b.s.'s upside (but no, i haven't forgotten all he's done over the past few years). a personal gripe here: that %%%%-eating grin after the foul on marbury's triple try (from about 50 feet!!) drove me up the wall. i get that he was probably embarrassed (assuming he's capable of that feeling), but it seems too much of a piece with the smooth persona that never admits anything is wrong with his game. how do you get better with that attitude?

finally, somebody tell me how 6-11 guys can miss dunks. i mean, really, convince me that it's acceptable. i'm not talking about missed taps from four feet away with eddy curry hanging on your shoulder. those i get. but missed dunks, missed layups....oy!! how much energy does it take to get your body -- what? -- ten inches off the ground and drop a ball into the basket?? IT'S THEIR JOB!!! making excuses for that is just lame. like me not turning in grades at the end of the semester. i mean i'm worn out at that time of year too. but it's my job and it doesn't take a whole lot of energy or skill to type in the letters and click "submit" on the computerized grade sheet.

okay now that i've ruined the excellent succinctness of lpgrl's complaints by venting, let me add that the game itself had plenty of enjoyable things: for me the ones that stand out most were 1) delfino's hustling d in the 2nd quarter which then turned into smokin' shootin' late in the game (more than his tying triple, i liked his shot in the first ot where he faked the three, shortened the shot with a couple of dribbles, and buried a 20 footer); 2) dice's numerous offensive board put backs, lots of energy from him, like he'd finally found something to do out there on the floor, and of course 3) rip's rolling energy and efficiency throughout. nazr would get more love from me in this game (he did some things very well and i just like the guy) if he hadn't made curry look like -- well -- wilt chamberlain, or amir johnson.

What an entertaining game. I'm not really upset about the ending. If the ref doesn't see the contact, I would rather they don't call it. The foul was quick and on the wrist where it did a lot of harm, but with all the crowd noise, they have to go by visual only. The worst case scenario is when they assume contact and decide the game on a phantom call.

Besides, we won on a no-call last night. And Delfino hit the game tying 3 to get us to that point for crying out loud. For some reason, when he was inbounding the ball, I thought that they were running the play for him. I was very surprised at how pure it was though.

There were many plays that we can blame... Sheed's missed dunk, CB's missed free throw, etc. But the main factor was the enormous number of tough shots that the Knicks made. They must have felt that way about Rip as well. Crawford was pretty dangerous, eh?

Nazr- he's a slow jumper, but has quick hands. They only seem to be made of stone when guards rifle passes to him. On rebounds, they are pretty sticky.

Delfino- sort of a breakthrough game for him in the eyes of Flip Saunders you would think. He played solid, made hustle plays, hit the game tying shot, and performed well in the 4th quarter and 3 OT's. He just seemed trustworthy out there.

Rip- 38 shots?!?! (plus another 8 or so where he was fouled). That means that he put it up there 45+ times! They are going to need to ice his arm like a pitcher's.

And Dice- Just when I thought he couldn't do anything worse, he goes and does something like this... and totally redeems himself. He seems to be playing his best ball in the last 2 minutes of games this year. It must be an intensity thing for him.

Late.

Well David Stern :icon_evil: has done everything he could to make True Piston Basketball a distant memory. Folks with the new rule changes there are going to be nights like this. Congratulations Mr.Stern, we concede to you, you have taken away our brand of UGLY grind out tough basketball. :yellowprison: You have what you want know......ARE FRIKKIN U HAPPY NOW!!!!!!:gun1:

I still don't get it. This game was suppose to end just like hundreds of other wins. Make foul shots, then defend desperation shots, rebounding the eventual miss which eliminates all doubt of the outcome.

The Stones win in their sleep like that. What made Chauncy commit the second foul.

Anyone notice how Blaha and Kelser acted as if nothing happened.
Got the MSG crew on League Pass and they can run rings around the Pistonites in spite of Clyde who talks like he's swallowed a thesaurous. they are very truthful, call it both ways(I actually thought McDyess committed that delayofgame penalty against Knicks..they called it right saying it WAS Francis) and fuss at their OWN team. Blaha is not as amusing anymore in this world of League Pass. He's probably headed to Heinsohn-territory.

What's the deal with CB? Dumb shots (3's) and dumb fouls. It looked like he threw the game. 2 for 14 shooting 3's in the back-to-back...4 for 23 overall.

Even though he takes WAY too many 3's, I can excuse it as a shooting slump. But he made two really stupid fouls down the stretch. It doesn't look like his head's in the game lately.

Blaha is not as amusing anymore in this world of League Pass. He's probably headed to Heinsohn-territory.

WHAT?!! Blasphemy! :gun1::gun1::gun1:

It doesn't look like his head's in the game lately.

Do you think his impending free agency is having an impact?

I've never really bought into the "contract year" talk, but who knows.

Got the MSG crew on League Pass and they can run rings around the Pistonites in spite of Clyde who talks like he's swallowed a thesaurous. they are very truthful, call it both ways(I actually thought McDyess committed that delayofgame penalty against Knicks..they called it right saying it WAS Francis) and fuss at their OWN team. Blaha is not as amusing anymore in this world of League Pass. He's probably headed to Heinsohn-territory.
Yeah, our crew dropped a notch in my book for swallowing their whistles, err microphones on those fouls.

I didn't see the whole game but a loss was predictable beforehand with big games coming up. With New Jersey and Ny, we have been going through the motions defensively as players both nights were getting easily into the paint. It is the regular season and can't make too much of it. A good yardstick is if the opposition scores more than 90 points, then we are usually not as intense.

Good to see Dice and Nazi and Delfino do well. Where is Maxiell?

Billips is on one of his Mr. Point Guard modes. He needs to get into an offensive rythym early both for himself and the team.

Big games coming up with Indiana and Phoenix.

Hope to see our defense return.

WHAT?!! Blasphemy! :gun1::gun1::gun1:

Actually, it's BLAHAsphemy! :MusicBigGrin:

Nice no call by the refs late. :rolleyes1: That's no excuse though. The Pistons could of easily put that game away, but didn't. Chauncey is doing bad right now, he'll bounce back and have a good game on Friday against the Pacers. Rip was amazing today. Unfortunate loss, should of been a win. I was pissed at the no call, that may have changed the outcome but the Pistons still choked away leads late.

6th game in a row or so that i couldn't watch. bummer. but hey, everyone said at the beginning of the year that if we sacrificed wins to develop our players, they'd be fine with that. well look at what happened:

- dice getting his groove back, posting a double-double.
- nazr getting his 2nd double-double of the season, got experience in crunch time, and did well.
- delfino got crunch time minutes, made big time plays, and gained confidence.
- blalock got some more development time.
- flip murray is being pushed out of minutes and that's a good thing. he's shooting under 40% this year, under 70% from the line, and his season-high is only 15 points. delfino's shooting % is just as poor, but he's a much better defender, might as well give him the minutes.

and look on the bright side, if chauncey has more games like this, it won't cost so much to keep him next year :D

was going to stay up for this one. kind of sorry and glad i didn't at the same time.

hmm, pistons used to be the masters of winning in OT, remember that streak a couple of seasons back?

trivia: (not that i know the answer)
but what is the pistons record in more than 1 OT games?

and look on the bright side, if chauncey has more games like this, it won't cost so much to keep him next year :D

Thanks - I needed that.

Yes he definetly took a blow to the Mr Big Shot image in that game. If he would have just hit one of those 3's or made that 1st free throw or did not foul Marbury on the 3-pt shot.

Can't blame the coach though for leaving him in. He is our money player and there are plenty of games when he was able to recover and make some clutch plays for us. He did rack up quit a few assists.

Missed another game down here in the mountains.

Many thanks to everyone who summarized and recapped - really brings some life to the box score.

Naw, I'm telling you when you're a baller there are some nights where you just say "You can't stop me" and it becomes a scoring contest. In the beginning nobody could stop Eddy "Shaun Rogers JR" Curry in the paint, nor could anyone (Chuancy, Rip, Tay, Blalock) stop Starbury, and in the end Crawford was on some 'oh my gosh, I can't believe he hit that' type stuff. Tonight it wasn't bad defense, just really good offense.

I'll grant you that it was mostly good offense on all the crazy shots that Crawford was hitting in the third OT, but Marbury's huge number of uncontested waltzes to the hoop and the lack of doubling on Curry until late in the game (as the prof pointed out below, it seemed to work really well once the Pistons finally got around to doing it) was simply terrible defense.

Anyone notice how Blaha and Kelser acted as if nothing happened.
Yep.

Listening to them during a loss is tough. Too much sunshine for my taste.

Another game that I couldn't log into the chatroom because of the cable disruption from the earthquake in Taiwan. Really wished to have watch the game and chat with my bros and sis here at the forum.

Zeke is a good coach and I wouldn't mind him as our Pistons coach anytime over Flip. He ride with whoever is hot (Curry, 7-7 at one time) and Marbury. Later in the game when Marbury fouled out and Curry almost passed out from the heavy minutes and heavy body weight, it was Crawford's turn to explode. Early in the game Crawford was the playmaker for the Knicks (11 asst as SG).

What really surprise me in this game is Curry with no fouls for the entire game with 3 OTs. WTF??? Don't our bigs know how to draw fouls???

We took 36 more shots than the Knicks for a total 123 FGA and we ended up with 22 assts. WTF??? Most forumites have already pointed out that we are a jump shooting team and jump shots would usually come from a direct pass, so where are the asst??? Too many one on one ball recently, no good. CB, start makin plays and move the ball instead of jackin up 3s when your shots are not there.

Flip Murray, 4 mins with 3 TOs when the rest of the team ended up only 7 TOs in 63 mins. WTF??? Sit him and the end of the bench for heaven's sake.

We would have lost the Nets game if the refs have a foul on the last play. So, I have no complaints on the non call on Rip. We shouldn't have come down to that play if CB play smart. Just a tough lost.

Hopefully they have enough rest for the Pacers game. Lost once to them, wouldn't wanna lose another and go on a losing streak.

GO PISTONS!!!

It is weird that Curry didn't end up committing any fouls, but his pathetic inability to block anyone out gave the Pistons tons of second chances, and the fact that he never fouled anyone on those plays is a pretty bad indictment of his lack of hustle. Late in the 4th quarter and in the OTs, the Pistons had at least three possessions where they got a MINIMUM of 4 shots up on the same trip down the court. Their inability to finish those hurt them way more than not drawing any fouls on Curry did.

Delfino is going get confident after this game. Lots of things were good. Sheed and CB will bounce back so things are still great. I want to see Chauncey on the bench more. He always goes in a hibernation mode to save energy. He plays so much better when he's rested, he actually looks like an all defense team player when he's rested.

It's just gotten to the point where i feel like if we don't have 6+ point lead in a game we're not going to win. I don't have confidence in their ability to get stops down the stretch anymore and i don't think they do either.
This team has a different philosophy now. They believe they can win the game on offense, not having to rely exclusively on defense and turnovers.

The only thing that concerns me is that Billups won't stop calling his own number if he is cold, and Tayshaun and Sheed seem unwilling to get the dirty physical baskets when it's a one point game.

A general acceptance that an open 3 is the best shot even if 1 point will tie and 2 will win. I'm trying to keep an open mind.

and look on the bright side, if chauncey has more games like this, it won't cost so much to keep him next year :D

If Chauncey keeps having games like that one, we won't want him back next year. lol.

The only thing that concerns me is that Billups won't stop calling his own number if he is cold, and Tayshaun and Sheed seem unwilling to get the dirty physical baskets when it's a one point game.

Sheed certainly but I recall Tay taking a couple hard to the hole when we needed. I will give FlipS credit for the late game play he designed for Tay to penetrate and dish to a wide open baseline cutter for a dunk.

A general acceptance that an open 3 is the best shot even if 1 point will tie and 2 will win. I'm trying to keep an open mind.

Have you noticed that this is also becomming a widely used practice in the college game. With the expectation that refs will not blow whistles in these situations I wonder why we don't see guys drive, slightly pushoff, then pullup for a mid-range J. Ref Chauncey -vs- Arenas a couple of years ago.

This team has a different philosophy now. They believe they can win the game on offense, not having to rely exclusively on defense and turnovers.

The only thing that concerns me is that Billups won't stop calling his own number if he is cold, and Tayshaun and Sheed seem unwilling to get the dirty physical baskets when it's a one point game.

A general acceptance that an open 3 is the best shot even if 1 point will tie and 2 will win. I'm trying to keep an open mind.


Even if you have an open 3 why not take a dribble or two and a couple steps and pull up for a nice 18 ft jumper.

Also there is no defense on this team at all. Giving up 61 points in the first quarter to the Knicks is a joke. Giving up that many points used to be unheard of unless we were playing a Western Conference team like Dallas or Phoenix.

I'll agree that it is a lot less likely for a guy to draw a charge call in today's game, particularly late.

That Wizards game was one of the few times when Billups drew contact in the clutch and didn't bail out on the shot.

The only thing that concerns me is that Billups won't stop calling his own number if he is cold, and Tayshaun and Sheed seem unwilling to get the dirty physical baskets when it's a one point game.

A general acceptance that an open 3 is the best shot even if 1 point will tie and 2 will win. I'm trying to keep an open mind.

Exactly, I don't mind CB calling his own shot or play, but with 25 seconds left in a tie game, and all you need is a point to win, it would make since to either drive to the hoop or have a play option set up to feed one or two men. Both he and Rip shoot 88% from the FT line and there is 75% chance that either of them will get the call if they attack the rim properly (25% is the no call on Rip last night). The game could have been over then without all of the OT drama and disapointment for Pistons fans.

We all love Prince, but obviously he still hasn't gained that toughness we have hope for and the only remaining toughness in Sheed is his mouth :Cry:

Dale Davis was +6 in just under 12 minutes. I cannot understand why we wouldn't play Dice at 4, Dale at 5 and save Sheed's fouls. Quite frankly, Sheed is a much better big shot maker than Billups given that he gets far fewer attempts.

Could of easily got a better shot, but don't you think Chauncey knew he could get a better shot? A player will worry so much about the clock. Chauncey wanted it so the Knicks would have no shot attempt so he waited till 5 seconds were on the clock. By the time things started to get open it was a little late so Chauncey jacked it up. No doubt it was a bad shot, but it's not likely he called his own number every time.

CBill took 7 shots in the fourth quarter and overtime. All 7 were treys. He made none of them.

CBill took 7 shots in the fourth quarter and overtime. All 7 were treys. He made none of them.

Ouch. Too bad he couldn't have shot 14% during that timeframe.

This after dicing up the Knicks for 22 and 18, 3 weeks ago. Not good.

Another game that I couldn't log into the chatroom because of the cable disruption from the earthquake in Taiwan. Really wished to have watch the game and chat with my bros and sis here at the forum.

Zeke is a good coach and I wouldn't mind him as our Pistons coach anytime over Flip. He ride with whoever is hot (Curry, 7-7 at one time) and Marbury. Later in the game when Marbury fouled out and Curry almost passed out from the heavy minutes and heavy body weight, it was Crawford's turn to explode. Early in the game Crawford was the playmaker for the Knicks (11 asst as SG).

What really surprise me in this game is Curry with no fouls for the entire game with 3 OTs. WTF??? Don't our bigs know how to draw fouls???

We took 36 more shots than the Knicks for a total 123 FGA and we ended up with 22 assts. WTF??? Most forumites have already pointed out that we are a jump shooting team and jump shots would usually come from a direct pass, so where are the asst??? Too many one on one ball recently, no good. CB, start makin plays and move the ball instead of jackin up 3s when your shots are not there.

Flip Murray, 4 mins with 3 TOs when the rest of the team ended up only 7 TOs in 63 mins. WTF??? Sit him and the end of the bench for heaven's sake.

We would have lost the Nets game if the refs have a foul on the last play. So, I have no complaints on the non call on Rip. We shouldn't have come down to that play if CB play smart. Just a tough lost.

Hopefully they have enough rest for the Pacers game. Lost once to them, wouldn't wanna lose another and go on a losing streak.

GO PISTONS!!!For someone who missed the game, that was the best post I ever read!!! Very ON the Ball, Bro Chen....But WTF with the WTF???:pound:

CBill took 7 shots in the fourth quarter and overtime. All 7 were treys. He made none of them.

That's disturbing.

I really think Chauncey is one of those players that can't function properly (mentally and physically) when he plays alot of minutes. The last few games he was playing less minutes and he looked fantastic down the stretch and in general (even on defense!)

Blaylock (sp?) is doing good. He needs to play more. Unfortuanately when things get tight or we're down, Flip always brings CB back in before anybody even if he's having an off game.

This was a game of lost opportunities. Flip has been letting Blalock play down the stretch, but this time I think he was hoping the boys would come back and close it out.

When they didn't and the stakes (minutes invested) got higher, he was committed to playing Billups to that point of intersection where his fatigue starts to retard his better judgement.

It's not all CBill either. He certainly didn't put his guys in a position to win, but Tay and Sheed were foolish conceding techs, and that young Knicks core of Balkman, Frye, Lee and Jeffries rendered JMax ineffective.

After almost 24 hours, the one thing I still cannot understand is why Dale did not get more minutes. We needed someone to "tough it up" and Nazr/Tay are not the frontcourt for that mission.

After almost 24 hours, the one thing I still cannot understand is why Dale did not get more minutes. We needed someone to "tough it up" and Nazr/Tay are not the frontcourt for that mission.

Nobody is going to score 145 points on the goon squad.

Too lazy to read all the posts here but I'm ok with losing a triple OT game on the raod on a back-2-back against an athletic team...
No secret with what C.B. has looked like the last two games but this is a long season... he could be playing like an allstar next week and we'd forget about this blip on the radar (no I'm not ready to pay him near Max $)....If Chauncey signs long term he could wind up like Joe D, playing decent minutes as a combo guard... he is an awful defender at PG.... yet he's a bully on offense... only Jason Kidd can match him physically... take the good with the bad.
Sheed... he's just plain lazy... yet a gifted defender in the post... length can make up for multiple sins.... what was with that blown dunk that would have sealed the W?... it was Darkoesque.

It's not all CBill either. He certainly didn't put his guys in a position to win, but Tay and Sheed were foolish conceding techs, and that young Knicks core of Balkman, Frye, Lee and Jeffries rendered JMax ineffective.

After almost 24 hours, the one thing I still cannot understand is why Dale did not get more minutes. We needed someone to "tough it up" and Nazr/Tay are not the frontcourt for that mission.

Say what you want about Zeke and his GM skills. Those young guys (Lee, Frye, Balkman) are the real deal and are only going to get better as they play more together.

Say what you want about Zeke and his GM skills. Those young guys (Lee, Frye, Balkman) are the real deal and are only going to get better as they play more together.
Watch the Knicks a lot, David Lee is the real deal, and the last nail in Larry's reputation. That fact that LB would not play the kid, when everyone in NY, knew he was a playa is mindboggling, almost as crazy as LB not playing Darko:pound:.

Balkman is a minny Rodman, all energy, plays 6 inches bigger. Will have a long career in the NBA as a defensive specialist.

Frye is hit or miss, really good games, then really awful.

After almost 24 hours, the one thing I still cannot understand is why Dale did not get more minutes. We needed someone to "tough it up" and Nazr/Tay are not the frontcourt for that mission.

Yep. That is the one thing that frustrates me. With Rasheed's injury, Flip stumbled onto the combination of Davis and Maxiell and caught lightening in a bottle. They work so well together and make such an intimidating duo.

Since Rasheed came back it seems like they never get on the floor together. Is it a question of hierarchy? First Nazr has to get his minutes, then McDyess, then Maxiell or Davis.

Screw all that crap! Davis and Maxiell are absolute dynamite together.
FIND a way, CREATE a way to get them on the floor together.

Too lazy to read all the posts here but I'm ok with losing a triple OT game on the raod on a back-2-back against an athletic team...


Thank you. If these things become consistant than yeah, gripe all you want. These things happen all the time. If Chauncey keeps doing what he did in NYC than yeah tear him apart. This has only happened a couple times this season, and it happens to every team. Even if these are problems it's better to deal with them now, while you have time to fix it.

I started reviewing the game. So far, I have looked at Mohammed's minutes in the first half. This took me not too long, as Mohammed only played 5 minutes in the first half.

In sum, it could not get any worse. Mohammed was pushed away out of the play by the slightest flick of Curry's arm for Curry's first bucket. Worse yet, Sheed had to foul to try to cover for Mohammed.

A moment later, Curry bulls thru Mohammed in about 1 second to lay it in.

Next we see Mohammed way too lazy about getting back, and Curry scores by leading a fast break, unopposed.

These are some of the highlights, there is more. Suffice it to say it gets worse. I will write again after reviewing his 3rd quarter play.

lee, if you get a chance, please also review Sheed's play. He's getting paid 2+ times as much!

I started reviewing the game. So far, I have looked at Mohammed's minutes in the first half. This took me not too long, as Mohammed only played 5 minutes in the first half.

In sum, it could not get any worse. Mohammed was pushed away out of the play by the slightest flick of Curry's arm for Curry's first bucket. Worse yet, Sheed had to foul to try to cover for Mohammed.

A moment later, Curry bulls thru Mohammed in about 1 second to lay it in.

Next we see Mohammed way too lazy about getting back, and Curry scores by leading a fast break, unopposed.

These are some of the highlights, there is more. Suffice it to say it gets worse. I will write again after reviewing his 3rd quarter play.

What point are you trying to make. ...that Mohammed cost the Pistons the game? That he got manhandled by Curry? Have you seen Curry's stats the past couple of weeks? He's manhandled everbody!

Thanks for all the great reviews and comments. I've been out of town and was shocked to see this in the news... triple OT! But now I feel like I kind of sort of watched it through the eyes of the collective PF brain.

How come Eddie Curry was -12 for the game (the worst on the Knicks) and Nazr was +0 on the game (the 3rd best for the Pistons)?

If other players were dragging Eddie down, then they would show a worse number.

What point are you trying to make. ...that Mohammed cost the Pistons the game? That he got manhandled by Curry? Have you seen Curry's stats the past couple of weeks? He's manhandled everbody!

The only point I am making here is that Mohammed was a total zero for us in those opening five minutes. And that I will review the rest of the game yet. Hold your horses.

Ok, I watched the rest of the game. Whether it was Mohammed getting better, or him just resting most of the 1st half while Curry was playing most of it and getting tired, Mohammed guarded Curry just fine in the 3rd quarter. Mohammed also knocked down 8 points for us. Indeed, Mohammed had a good 3rd quarter. He did get pushed aside once by Curry, but thats pretty good for a whole quarter. He also stayed home a time or two with his man instead of helping out on the drive.

Unfortunately, the rare occurrance where Mohammed does decide to help out, all he does is weakly fouls the guy, never managing to make a play, never managing to challenge the drive enough to make the player back off or even pass the ball to someone else. This does create a problem for the Pistons, as the other team always knows the middle is open with Mohammed playing center for us. Still, for this game, there was not a whole lot of that to talk about concerning Mohammed. About 4 plays total thru the end of the first overtime. (I am not going to reviews the last two overtimes.-ran out of time for now.)

So in all, did Mohammed have a bad game or a good game. Lets call it average. Nothing at all in the first half, a good 3rd quarter, and a decent OT period.

I also reviewed Flip Murray's play. You know, it is not what Flip Murray does that is so bad. Its more what he does not do. He just does not ever show up at the right place on defense or offense. Most of his "bad" play all occurred in a span of a minute, the last minute of 4 he played in this game. (Not counting the brief appearance at the very end of the game.) In the first 3 minutes, during an 11-0 run for NY, he simply did nothing.

It is interesting to note that immediately after Murray left the game, a four minute stretch where we never stopped them hardly at all and scored not at all ourselves, we went on a 12-2 run. The announcers were mentioning how the Pistons were running a clinic on how to play. And Delfino was being mentioned as a huge part of this over and over. Talk about night and day. Could Murray be that bad. Hey, watching who came in when, there seemed no other trigger for what happened besides Murray getting off the floor. Having five solid NBA players out there instead of just four really does make a difference.

The only point I am making here is that Mohammed was a total zero for us in those opening five minutes. And that I will review the rest of the game yet. Hold your horses.

Ok, I watched the rest of the game. Whether it was Mohammed getting better, or him just resting most of the 1st half while Curry was playing most of it and getting tired, Mohammed guarded Curry just fine in the 3rd quarter. Mohammed also knocked down 8 points for us. Indeed, Mohammed had a good 3rd quarter. He did get pushed aside once by Curry, but thats pretty good for a whole quarter. He also stayed home a time or two with his man instead of helping out on the drive.

Unfortunately, the rare occurrance where Mohammed does decide to help out, all he does is weakly fouls the guy, never managing to make a play, never managing to challenge the drive enough to make the player back off or even pass the ball to someone else. This does create a problem for the Pistons, as the other team always knows the middle is open with Mohammed playing center for us. Still, for this game, there was not a whole lot of that to talk about concerning Mohammed. About 4 plays total thru the end of the first overtime. (I am not going to reviews the last two overtimes.-ran out of time for now.)

So in all, did Mohammed have a bad game or a good game. Lets call it average. Nothing at all in the first half, a good 3rd quarter, and a decent OT period.

I also reviewed Flip Murray's play. You know, it is not what Flip Murray does that is so bad. Its more what he does not do. He just does not ever show up at the right place on defense or offense. Most of his "bad" play all occurred in a span of a minute, the last minute of 4 he played in this game. (Not counting the brief appearance at the very end of the game.) In the first 3 minutes, during an 11-0 run for NY, he simply did nothing.

It is interesting to note that immediately after Murray left the game, a four minute stretch where we never stopped them hardly at all and scored not at all ourselves, we went on a 12-2 run. The announcers were mentioning how the Pistons were running a clinic on how to play. And Delfino was being mentioned as a huge part of this over and over. Talk about night and day. Could Murray be that bad. Hey, watching who came in when, there seemed no other trigger for what happened besides Murray getting off the floor. Having five solid NBA players out there instead of just four really does make a difference.

This was a fair commentary. I'm just curious as to why you saw it fit to do a Mohammed/Murray analysis when it seems fairly obvious that other players played a larger role in the Pistons loss. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were picking on them.

Lee, you think Amir could do all these things Nazz didn't?

Even if you have an open 3 why not take a dribble or two and a couple steps and pull up for a nice 18 ft jumper.

Also there is no defense on this team at all. Giving up 61 points in the first quarter to the Knicks is a joke. Giving up that many points used to be unheard of unless we were playing a Western Conference team like Dallas or Phoenix.

Something like this perhaps?

YouTube - Chauncey Billups game winner vs Chicago (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZQzLOmFv0Q&NR)


But its not like he hasn't won the game from 3 before.

YouTube - Top 10 Pistons Buzzer Beaters of the Past 10 Years (2006) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raVPYRXDFTU)

I miss Jon Barry. I like guys who run around when the shot goes down bouncing off his teammates and shaking his fist at the crowd. We need some more of those guys.

For those that missed this triple OT thriller, NBA-TV will have it at 4:30 PM on Saturday, 12/30/2006...........