Indiana December 29th, 8:00PM
TV - FSN (Local) NBALP


The Pistons get to avenge their only loss in the last 8 games as the Pacers come to town. Al Harrington (16 ppg, 6.4 rpg) is playing well alongside O`Neal (18.7 ppg, 10.2 rpg).

Pacers vs. Pistons is usually an entertaining affair, and this game should follow that script. One interesting note; 30 games in and the Pacers are actually healthy!! Tinsley and O`Neal have a missed a game here and there, but the usual 30-40 game stint from either or both of them hasn`t happened, yet.

Look for a low scoring game in the low to mid 80`s for a final score.

After the triple OT thriller against the Knicks, I guess nobody cares about this game.

I will be looking to see how tired the Pistons are (they really shouldn`t be at all) and how Flip plays his bench. The Pacers always get up to play Detroit. We could be looking at a two game losing streak here.

Chat is open!

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

Nice to see George and Greg gushing about the 50 pt game. Nevermind the loss. Nevermind the fact that showing all of the Piston players in history that have scored 50 also shows you a list of Pistons teams that never had a remote opportunity for a Championship.

The points are ALL that matter. So Exciting.:yellowprison:

My guess is that the Dolphin will place Delfino on the IL after tonight.

Then run into Joe D's office and slam the door, "It's either him or me, Joe!....HIM OR ME!"

If that`s not a cramp CB suffered, and Sheed is hobbling............hmmmmmm this could get real interesting..........

How many character building games do the Pistons need? This one almost went to overtime and I'm not going to say one bad word about Delfino fouling Armstrong on the last play of the game. He was trying to be aggressive and stop a basket and it just wasn't happening. His techinical by the way (throwing the ball against the stancion in front of the ref) is what gets him the flyswatter award tonight. I sure hope Chauncey's all right, maybe all that bad karma of us talking about trading him. Now we'll see for a couple of games what it's like not having Mr. Big Shot running things. I predict it's not going to be pretty and Phoenix will be in town on Sunday.

Terribly frustrating loss tonight. I can't believe we can't beat these guys.

Pistons started horribly out of the gate, down 12-2, even though Nazr was playing well and even blocked a couple of shots. Pistons responded with a big run to tie it, and with JMax and Delfino playing the last few minutes of the quarter, they even pulled ahead by 10. The Pistons' lead extended to 15 in the second quarter, as the Pacers really struggled on offense, but they went on a massive run and actually went into halftime up 1. The bench played extremely well in the first half, 19 points off the bench, led by Delfino.

Rip got his 4th foul early in the 3rd quarter, so Flip came in and played the rest of the quarter. Pistons had no ball movement whatsoever, couldn't make any shots, nothing...a disastrous stretch that got them down 14, as they scored only THREE points in the first SEVEN MINUTES of the quarter. JMax hit a couple of jumpers and helped spark another Pistons run, and when Chauncey banked in a halfcourt shot at the buzzer, the Pistons were only down 3.

Fourth quarter was back and forth for the first six minutes or so, a big change from the game of huge runs that it had been up to that point. Then there were a few mini-runs: Pacers 4-0, Pistons 6-0, Pacers 5-0. That Pistons run was keyed by a huge JMax rejection on Jermaine. Down 6 with 2 minutes left, Dice missed two free throws, and even Chauncey missed a free throw, but somehow the Pistons were within 4 and had the ball with a minute left. Then Rip drove into 3 defenders and turned it over, so now it really looked like it was over. But the Pistons were still down 4 when they got it back with 30 seconds left, and Chauncey hit a 3 from the corner...only to go down with some sort of cramp or charlie horse that took him out of the game. Pistons got within 2 with 8 seconds left after Granger missed a free throw, and Rip drove into the lane, drew an incredibly stupid foul by Jackson, and tied it from the line with 3.5 seconds. So, overtime, right?

Nope. Pacers threw it down the court, the ball was tipped in the air, and Darrell Armstrong picked it up along the baseline. Delfino, running in from midcourt, WENT FOR THE PUMP FAKE, and barrelled into Armstrong on his way down. DA actually missed the first FT, but he made the second to win the game. Delfino did have another good game overall, but man, that was one of the worst fouls ever committed.

Pistons were just too inconsistent tonight, and they killed themselves with some really bad turnovers. The bench brought some good energy and production, but it wasn't enough in the end.

not delfino's fault flip never should have taken him out. flip just feels tayshaun and rip have to finish the game. rip was hogging and wasn't hitting shots. i do however like the hard foul delfino gave him after armstrong got him up in the air.

bball jay, geez man. I don't know how Delfino walks straight with you blowing all that sunshine up his tooshie!

0.9 seconds left in a tie game is not my idea of the right time for a hard foul.

Nope. Pacers threw it down the court, the ball was tipped in the air, and Darrell Armstrong picked it up along the baseline. Delfino, running in from midcourt, WENT FOR THE PUMP FAKE, and barrelled into Armstrong on his way down. DA actually missed the first FT, but he made the second to win the game. Delfino did have another good game overall, but man, that was one of the worst fouls ever committed.

just forget about the 2 rebounds delfino just gave us to put us in position to get that close. delfino played great and that wasn't even delfino's man that he fouled. who was supposed to be checking armstrong who let the long pass get all the way down the court???


Pistons were just too inconsistent tonight, and they killed themselves with some really bad turnovers. The bench brought some good energy and production, but it wasn't enough in the end.

the starters were inconsistent. the bench was playing great and flip feels some kind of responsibility to put the starters back in no matter how the bench is playing.

not delfino's fault
Ah, yes, yes it was. It was a genuinely dumbass play. And, he managed to get himself up into the air with no help from Armstrong, especially given that Armstrong was already well covered by Prince.

I've only watched two or three games this year, but that two-man dribbling game that Chauncey and Rip were playing for most of the second half isn't a regular feature now, is it? I have a hard time believing that even Flip's point-guard-pounding offense would devolve that far.

just forget about the 2 rebounds delfino just gave us to put us in position to get that close. delfino played great and that wasn't even delfino's man that he fouled. who was supposed to be checking armstrong who let the long pass get all the way down the court???

Oh, so it wasn't his man. I guess that makes it OK.

And I did say that Delfino had a good game overall. But not in the last 3.5 seconds.

the starters were inconsistent. the bench was playing great and flip feels some kind of responsibility to put the starters back in no matter how the bench is playing.

Minutes played:

Rasheed 21
Nazr 17
JMax 27
Delfino 23

What the hell are you talking about?

UNBE-FREEEKIN-LEEBABLE!!!Why cant we just blow somebody out....

Heres the DIRTY LOW DOWN>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Rasheed Wallace is a punk of all nature. Its amazing how sick these $5large players get when they just have to play as hard as possible for 25-30 minutes.I saw Jordan sick as a freekin dawg win an NBA Finals game in worse conditions than Sheed tonight. Ive had it with him. he's the Magglio Ordonez of this team. Where was he last year when it mattered? Where will he be this year when it matters? HE let his boy ONEAL go off again and then looked pretty healthy to me in the last twenty seconds. We need MEN this year. Im not saying start Max but he needs his 25 just like tonight, Im just tired of this being the only team in the league that cant win by 10 points on there home court unless they
play somebody missing 5 of its players?

Trade Sheed.

Another loss. What did we gain? Billups will now get some rest. Thats good. If we had a coach worth a darn Billups would have been getting rest, not going for a career high in minutes. Hey, just maybe this 12 year NBA coach can learn. Meanwhile, at least CB will get some time off.

You can sure go from near hero to goat quick. Delfino got the offensive rebound that allowed CB to to tie the game with a triple with 3 seconds left. But then he ran into Armstrong with 9/10 a second to go to put Armstrong at the foul line. Darn. Delfino had a good game early offensively, and played some pretty darn good D, especially in the first half.

Murray was not apparently going to play in this game, but Rip picked up his 4th foul early in the 3rd quarter and Flip got some time. We did ok with Flip in there. Nothing Flip did mind you, but Dale Davis and Jason Maxiell soon entered the game and things went well. Sheed had the flu, and Mohammed, well, he was just being himself. Dale Davis and JMAX represented a major upgrade at that point.

JMAX hit several shots, mostly just going up and over people. But note his range. Out to 18 feet. And that stepback that his coaches would not let him shoot, he shot one, and nailed it. Baston was defending him so he just took a hard stepback and swished it. This is Jason's best move, something that simply can't be stopped without a double team. Let the guy shoot it.

JMAX also had a serious stuff of O'Neal, as well as just helping keep the ball away from O'Neal. Defense, offense. Yes, JMAX should be starting over Mohammed.

Tay got some scoring, but that outside shot has deserted him-probably something to do with playing over 50 minutes two nights earlier. Rip did ok. Another ho hum 20 something game for him. Some rattled out early or maybe he would have had another huge game. CB got just over 20.

Our bench just seemed fun to watch in that 2nd quarter. Flip should not have taken those guys out. Certainly not Maxiell, and certainly not Blalock cause anyone with any common sense about basketball knew Billups needed the rest. All we got from returning our starters is a lead lost, and more importantly, a great chance to rest our stars completely blown.

Dyess played the 4th, did ok. He hit an outside shot.

No, I do not like to see our rotation shrink. If Flip wants to quit using Flip Murray (good choice) play Amir Johnson in the rotation. I really don't think its a good idea to play Delfino 16 straight minutes. Amir Johnson can spell Tay.

Still obvious that our starting unit has no plays written for Delfino.

Next game Sunday at 4pm, Phoenix. I will be there. GO PISTONS!!!!!

Ah, yes, yes it was. It was a genuinely dumbass play. And, he managed to get himself up into the air with no help from Armstrong, especially given that Armstrong was already well covered by Prince.


I've only watched two or three games this year, but that two-man dribbling game that Chauncey and Rip were playing for most of the second half isn't a regular feature now, is it? I have a hard time believing that even Flip's point-guard-pounding offense would devolve into that bull%%%%.
it's all the jealousy of the bench players. rip should have passed to delfino several times with the game on the line. yet he drove to the hole and turned it over.

bball, what does that have to do with fouling a 88% FT shooter in a tie game with only seconds left?

Oh, so it wasn't his man. I guess that makes it OK.

And I did say that Delfino had a good game overall. But not in the last 3.5 seconds.


it doesn't make it ok but at least he was there to make a play at all.



Minutes played:

Rasheed 21
Nazr 17
JMax 27
Delfino 23

What the hell are you talking about?

it's not how much they played it's when. when the bench was making a run flip feels obligated to put the starters back in.

bball, what does that have to do with fouling a 88% FT shooter in a tie game with only seconds left?
i don't mind bad plays when they are done aggressively. yeah it was a mistake but he made several great plays to get us in the position we were in anyway. nobody is talking about rip and chauncey jacking shots and turning it over. flip murray wouldn't have even been on that half of the court. if he was he would have gave a soft foul and da would get the and one.

Jay, you want Delf on the court, so then don't pull this "Flip murray" jazz when Carlos makes a mistake.

You're right. He screwed up. The other night, everyone was falling over themselves to give him kudos. When you play, you're the hero or the goat. Not everyone can be like Tayshaun, start and float 8 games out of 10.

Chauncey-had a career high 12 rebounds. The Pistons outrebounded the Pacers well, but were beat by stupid turnovers, and slow rotations. It can easily be fixed, but it still has to be fixed. Flip should of made these guys work their butts of in practice after Wednesday, but I bet he didn't.

I'd fall for that pumpfake. In that situation Delfino thought there was very little time left and that Armstrong had to put up a shot. It was a great veteran move. Speaking about good veteran moves why in the world would Flip make the guys run a halfcourt press. Does he seriously think he'd get a TO and a shot for his team running that? The Pistons should of ran back and gaurded the hoop and allow a half courter in the first place.

Chauncey is going to be out 10-14 days according to WDFN. Even if he's only out 10 days he'll miss games against the Suns, Hornets, and Bulls. I hope Chauncey stays out for 14 days or possibly more than because the week after the Bulls game is a cakewalk if the Pistons do what they are supposed to do.

Don't let the score fool you. Pistons should of lost that game, and were clearly outplayed. It's simple stuff that have been so frustrating so far this season. Slow rotations, turnovers, boxouts. It's time to get it fixed, and have a meaningful win.

The main problem tonight was turnovers. They've only averaged 11 per game this season, but they had 19 tonight. If they had taken care of the ball like they usually do, they would have had a pretty solid win.

The main problem tonight was turnovers. They've only averaged 11 per game this season, but they had 19 tonight. If they had taken care of the ball like they usually do, they would have had a pretty solid win.

Stupid mistakes. A key one was a Granger steal on Rip.

As for the Chauncey injury. It's so easy to see that he's getting worn out. Is Flip the only one blind to this?? Stop playing him more than 40 minutes every game. A player would not get injured the way he did if he was well rested. His legs gave out on him. Keep him on the sidelines for a while Joe. Playoffs are what matter.

I'm so glad I can come here and have spirited discussions about the Pistons. I live and die with these guys and one good thing about tonight's game (serious no monkey here) at least we're not talking about that 3OT game in New York anymore. In the misery loves company department I got great joy in seeing that Kobe was both the hero and the goat in his game tonight. He scored 58 points but pulled a couple of bone-headed plays including fouling a player shooting a 3 point shot. See it's not just bench players that make errors, even Hall of Fame players make mistakes. If basketball was mistake free what fun would that be? You have to feel the pains of heartbreak sometimes to really savor the victories. I hate seeing the Pistons lose two games in a row that they could have easily won but that's what builds character.

I'm so glad I can come here and have spirited I hate seeing the Pistons lose two games in a row that they could have easily won but that's what builds character.

I agree with you their. I'm not ticked about the loss. The only way I will be is if nothing is gained out of the loss. What I am ticked about is Flip substitution pattern. He had it for a while thier things were going great. He keeps riding Chauncey. Chauncey said that he felt something pop, he probably right.

bball jay, geez man. I don't know how Delfino walks straight with you blowing all that sunshine up his tooshie!
Delfino becomes an axe murderer... and there's BBall saying it was Ben playing Jedi mind tricks on him.
it's ok BBall, Delfino and Darko are not perfect.... and Ben's a good player.... seek the truth and you will be free.

This is a bad patch for the team.

Delfino made a very bad play. Rip hit two key free throws but he also got stripped going one on one late. But these are small matters.

Here is what really bothers me:

1) We just got out played again by Indiana. We truly miss Ben against this team and we have to prove that we can beat them without Ben. Of course, Sheed was basically out which helped them. They controlled the game at key points just as we usually control the game. We were problably tired from the Knick game. Still, they took the game at the crucial times like a team is suppose to and held on.

2) How shortsided was it to play our key guys so many minutes in that meaningless Knick game and not have them ready for the Pacers and now the Suns.

3) The Chauncey injury sure looks like it might be based on too many minutes in a short span...

4) Was that a little bit of playoff fold in the 2nd and 3rd quarters and the inability of the coach to reverse his team? This felt too much like last year. We did come back though.

5) We are just not intense like the Spurs and Suns to name two top teams. We get the lead and float and then we start to press, go one on one and it just gets worse. Sometimes we don't play with the proper amount of fear...


Positives:

Davis defense, Maxiell's play and jumper. Our best team late against many teams may be Prince, Sheed and Maxiell on the front line. Maxiell's development may be the key to the season.

This game was lost in the second qtr when Flip brought all of the starters back in. Rip was forcing shots and Sheed was a step slow with the flu and probably should have never came back in after the first quarter. O'Neal tookoff the previous game with the flu just so he'd beready to terrorize the Pistons and of course he did!!! (Don't NBA teams give mandatory flu shots to all of their players?)

Too many TO's and for the 3rd game in a row, we struggle offensively vs a team that although good we should have beaten. When the lead got up to 15 in the second qtr, I like many thougth the game was over. In fact I told my wife who sat through the game with me that if the lead gets to 20 the Pistons would win and we could flip to another game. Of course as is Flips forte, he saves his time outs and lets the Pacers pull off a 13-2 run before he decides to call a TO.

The Pistons start off slow in the third as once again Rip tries to get off and Tay again relies on jumpers or scoop shots instead of taking it directly to the hoop.

Nice game by the bench, but recall a stat midway through the second qtr (before Flp pulled them) indicating that they had 25 of the 43 points. Unfortunately they only scored 2 the rest of the game....

Can't fault Delfino for the late foul as it could happen to anyone. We should have never been in the situation in the first place. Armstrong scores 1 point, the winning pt, so he is the playa of the game.

The bad CB down for the next 5 or so games and both Ben and Labron cheering that injury since they both win and are now only one game back. The good, CB gets the rest and we get to see how the Blaylock and Murray fair in possible starting roles.

AI plays 40+ all the time and drives into the lane and gets hammered.

Maybe CB should have spent the summer with a personal trainer. It's flat out embarassing when Flip Saunders says the best player in training camp was Dale Davis.

Shameful for the brahma, Delfino, Billups, Tay even Hamilton.

Roscoe, AI is unreal. Not everyone is like him. He's one of the toughest players this league has ever seen.

Nice game by the bench, but recall a stat midway through the second qtr (before Flp pulled them) indicating that they had 25 of the 43 points. Unfortunately they only scored 2 the rest of the game....

I don't think that's right. My notes say that the bench had 19 in the first half. They had 27 for the game, so they did score most of their pts in the first half, and it looks like Delfino didn't score at all in the second half. But JMax definitely hit a few shots in the second half.

In the press conference they noted that from the midway point of the 2nd qtr to the midway point of the 3rd we got roasted......that's the starters time, the bench was phenomenal, the 4+1 system really does work well for us. 2 things went wrong tonight
1-Sheed should never have returned in the 2nd qtr, even before they said he was sick it was obvious that we was a step slow tonight, the last few weeks for that matter, and he just absolutely killed us.

2-Mr.Big SHot/Big Head; again tried to do too much. Blalock "runs the offense", BS thinks HE is the offense. His Defense has been AWFUL as of late and his decision making is lost. It kills me how he won't look in the direction of Delfino and Maxiel when he's on the court with them.

There's no way I see Joe not breaking this group up, they're not good enough to win a championship.

I don't think that's right. My notes say that the bench had 19 in the first half. They had 27 for the game, so they did score most of their pts in the first half, and it looks like Delfino didn't score at all in the second half. But JMax definitely hit a few shots in the second half.
you may be right there. I just recall seeing that 25 pt stat, and thought it was posted in the first half. I get upset when they lose give out the wrong info.

The good thing is that the Lakers lost in a triple OT with Kobe scoring 58, after the local radio guys were cheering that they would come home with a 4-2 east coast swing. 3-3 is what it is without Odom.

i don't think anyone should be riding carlos. he had a fantastic game. his foul was with 0.9 SECONDS LEFT. would YOU be thinking the guy is gonna pump fake, when he's got almost no time left to shoot? i would've went up to block the shot too and taken my chances that my opponent wouldn't risk not getting a shot off in time.

carlos had a great game, tayshaun looked good early when he was driving the basket, maxiell was our best offensive weapon by far, flip shoulda played blalock at the start of the 4th rather than mid-way through to give chauncey the proper rest, and at least rip is driving to the basket trying to make plays, instead of settling for long jumpers.

as i've said before, these kind of losses need to happen. the pistons need to keep realizing they must improve. our bench has been getting more and more experience, which everyone said they'd gladly sacrifice a few wins for. and for everyone saying trade CB, if he's out for 10-14 days you're about to find out how valuable he truly is (even though i thought he sucked AGAIN tonight, despite the 12 boards).

we lost when it was 43-29 and we stopped being aggressive because indiana couldn't hit a shot to save their life and we felt safe not scoring. i'd have kept the bench in the rest of the 2nd quarter.

2-Mr.Big SHot/Big Head; again tried to do too much. Blalock "runs the offense", BS thinks HE is the offense. His Defense has been AWFUL as of late and his decision making is lost. It kills me how he won't look in the direction of Delfino and Maxiel when he's on the court with them.



Chauncey looks like the best PG or one of the best when he's got energy. On the flip side he looks like one of the worst when he's tired. No joke he looks like he's not even a top 20 PG when he is tired.

I think 4-5 minutes off his playing time will do the trick. I would love for it to be more, but that would be just fine. 4-5 minutes doesn't seem to be a big deal, but the reason guys get worn out is when they play these minutes for a long time constantly. There are only a few people who don't let it effect them.

We were playing really poorly against both NY and NJ. Worse, our guys played too many minutes only to LOSE against NY. Losing during the regular season is one thing, but then to lose AND not be ready for the better teams is not what a veteran team does.

Now, the Pacers can have some real confidence against us which bothers me. I agree with DRE that the game was lost in the 2nd and 3rd quarters where they took it to us. They controlled the game--that is what we are supposed to do.

We sure do not look ready for the Suns, another key game.


Ok. What is encouraging is that we can get some real D from Davis--he can play bigger minutes in the playoffs. And Maxiell has a jumper. League, watch out!!

we lost when it was 43-29 and we stopped being aggressive because indiana couldn't hit a shot to save their life and we felt safe not scoring. i'd have kept the bench in the rest of the 2nd quarter.

I have seen other coaches leave their bench in for an entire quarter or even 8+ minutes either to rest their starters or to punish them, but Flip always brings his back in even when the bench is superb.

For the life me I just cannot fathom why he continues in everygame letting the opposition put together a double digit run before he calls a TO. It happen in NY and three times tonight when they jumped off to a 12-2 run and then closed out the second qtr on 19-4 run and started the 3rd qtr with a 12-3 run. I notice both Zeke and RC called TO's anytime the Pistons ran off a 6-0 run at minimum.

Isn't this what we have Flip Murray for? Insurance.

Again, I'm flabbergasted that Chauncey takes criticism for his play in this game. He led the team in points, rebounds, assists, and steals. Then he hit a big 3-pointer at the end to give us a shot (and he did it off of 1 leg). This is not a good opportunity for anyone. This is just a chance for us to lose games. Blalock has been getting an amazing amount of PT already for a guy who takes ZERO shots per game. Acker would be nice to have right now, but he's kicking butt in Europe at the moment.

Here is my real question though:
How can Jermaine O'Neal get 25 points and 10 free throw attempts, when Nazr and Davis only had 1 foul a piece. Did Dyess do all of the fouling? If so, then he shouldn't have been guarding him.

JMax and Delfino were the positives. Delfino made a mistake by fouling at the end, but otherwise played well. He'll learn from the experience.

TaShawn,

Oneal's play is what bothers me against the Pacers. We use to contain him well with Ben. This is one team not having Ben seems to matter. you are right--we only played so-so. We did not put the hammer down when we had the chance. Of course, Sheed wasn't really there to help.

Agree on Blalock. He hasn't shown much offense and that is a problem.

Maxiell is a big bright spot. I don't see the better teams having the personnel to contain him.

Chauncey said that he felt something pop

Hopefully Flip will feel something pop too soon, and his brain will start working again.

Just a side note, Indiana play Charlotte tomorrow which will mean they play two teams in a row coming off 3OT games.

Again, I'm flabbergasted that Chauncey takes criticism for his play in this game. He led the team in points, rebounds, assists, and steals. Then he hit a big 3-pointer at the end to give us a shot (and he did it off of 1 leg). This is not a good opportunity for anyone. This is just a chance for us to lose games. Blalock has been getting an amazing amount of PT already for a guy who takes ZERO shots per game. Acker would be nice to have right now, but he's kicking butt in Europe at the moment.
I disagree. This is a good opportunity for CB to get some rest and for the team to explore it's depth. Can Flip Murray play PG on this team and win games? Does Will Blalock have any more to offer? Can Lindsey Hunter make a comeback?

Here is my real question though:
How can Jermaine O'Neal get 25 points and 10 free throw attempts, when Nazr and Davis only had 1 foul a piece. Did Dyess do all of the fouling? If so, then he shouldn't have been guarding him.
Remember in the Austin Powers movie when Scott Evil tries to say something to his dad Dr. Evil, and he gets "Zip it". "Zip it". over and over?

I had a point but I forgot it.

Oh yeah, that's like McDyess picking up fouls.

Foul. Foul. Foul-Foul. Foul.

I didn't see this game. After 2+ seasons, I don't need to in order to say that McDyess when matched up on a superior offensive player, just starts hacking like a madman.

I'm with Roscoe.

Chauncey needs to work on his conditioning.

I'm with Roscoe.

Chauncey needs to work on his conditioning.

Just think.

If CB would have played this past summer in the World Games he would be through about now if he really has a problem with his conditioning!

I agree with both Roscoe & Tashawn... we'll get a real look at Blalock (Kgregs boy) and we could lose more games at the same time.... but this is a necessary excersise for Joe to see what his prospects are made of... hopefuly it doesn't cost us a playoff seed.
Now what happens if we go on a winning streak with Chaucey out... hmmmm?

What happens is you count your depth and move on. CB is the PG and if someone takes charge then more chow fer yer coin. More bang for your buck. Or maybeeee, Flip Saunders learns he's got a bench?
The Pistons and injury problem go together like the Lions and championship, no? Kander gets paid for this.

Now what happens if we go on a winning streak with Chaucey out... hmmmm?"
Wonderful !

Now what happens if we go on a winning streak with Chaucey out... hmmmm?


We go on a losing streak when he returns. What else???

Blalock has TWO baskets this year. He is averaging 5 assists per 40 minutes. Chauncey is averaging about 9! FG% is 45 to 22.

Other teams will make an adjustment when Blalock is playing against their starters. Everything will dry up for him if he can't provide some sort of offense himself. Right now he is a "single threat" point guard with passing being his only weapon. If he can't shoot, then he needs to drive and finish.

Maybe he can score, but he hasn't shown it. I hope he's about to unveil it.

Blalock has TWO baskets this year. He is averaging 5 assists per 40 minutes. Chauncey is averaging about 9! FG% is 45 to 22.

Other teams will make an adjustment when Blalock is playing against their starters. Everything will dry up for him if he can't provide some sort of offense himself. Right now he is a "single threat" point guard with passing being his only weapon. If he can't shoot, then he needs to drive and finish.

Maybe he can score, but he hasn't shown it. I hope he's about to unveil it.

Excellent observation Tashawn.

Perhaps, Blalock is trying extra hard not to make any mistakes and his primary responsibilty was to distribute the ball.

With CB out hopefully he will get the green light from Flip and the confidence to score. His greatest asset is to go to the basket, as he seems to have some quickness along with his handle.

If he can do that Detroit has the advantage because teams will have to adjust to him.

.

Just a side note, Indiana plays Charlotte tomorrow which will mean they play two teams in a row coming off 3OT games.

I guess Charlotte matches up better with Indiana than the Pistons did as they had no trouble putting them away on the Pacers on home floor 113-102. Harrington who was so prolific from 3 pt territory in the Palace because we dared him to shoot it, was 1-6 in trey attempts vs the Bobcats.

And guess what Flip>the Bobcat bench had 39 points because Bernie plays them. Those youngsters can survived triple OT's on a back to back and we couldn't with one days rest. And oh by the way Mr. Billups/bigshot,>>>Raymond Felton dropped 19 dimes. . Sorry to vent, but instead of being 2.5 games up on the charging Bulls, we are hanging on to a half game lead:mad:

For the life me I just cannot fathom why he continues in everygame letting the opposition put together a double digit run before he calls a TO. It happen in NY and three times tonight when they jumped off to a 12-2 run and then closed out the second qtr on 19-4 run and started the 3rd qtr with a 12-3 run. I notice both Zeke and RC called TO's anytime the Pistons ran off a 6-0 run at minimum.

I don't know, LA Dre. It's unfathomable really. The only thing that I can come up with is that Flip has a "formula" for the way he handles substitutions and timeouts and play calling and he adheres to it rigidly and doesn't let the game events dictate his decisions. It's incredibly irritating. I personally believe that he is a very stubborn and inflexible coach who is incapable of thinking on his feet.

They are saying Billups will be out from 10 days to 2 weeks with a strained right calf so thats 4-7 missed games. He is kind of a big guy for his size so thats a lot of extra weight going on those muscles playing those kinds of minutes.

We have been very lucky the past few years with injuries so I suppose its about time for that luck to run out. Injuries can be a positive things forcing players to expand their games and for coaches to play other players, making the team stronger.

In that game. I am not totally faulting Delfino for that last play. That was a hail mary type of pass that you don't expect to be that accurate. Live and learn. Now he knows to be more carfull on the last play of a game like that. It did not look like he was even trying to foul, just got careless. We would not have been in that game anyway if it were not for Delfino.

That game was lost in the 2nd quarter as others here pointed out. Same old same old - get a big lead and let the other team back in. Get off to a nice lead and get away from what got you there. Will they ever learn?

And guess what Flip>the Bobcat bench had 39 points because Bernie plays them. Those youngsters can survived triple OT's on a back to back and we couldn't with one days rest.

I don't know, LA Dre. It's unfathomable really. The only thing that I can come up with is that Flip has a "formula" for the way he handles substitutions and timeouts and play calling and he adheres to it rigidly and doesn't let the game events dictate his decisions. It's incredibly irritating. I personally believe that he is a very stubborn and inflexible coach who is incapable of thinking on his feet.

Guys, the Pistons bench played more minutes against the Pacers than the Bobcats bench did. That's a fact--I just checked the two boxscores. Bobcats had 3 guys who played between 39-42 minutes (Felton, Morrison, Okafor), while the Pistons only had one in that range (Chauncey) and no one else who played more than 32 minues. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the point you all are making, but I don't see how you can compare these two games and come up with the same old same old about how everyone else plays their bench except Flip.

Guys, the Pistons bench played more minutes against the Pacers than the Bobcats bench did. That's a fact--I just checked the two boxscores. Bobcats had 3 guys who played between 39-42 minutes (Felton, Morrison, Okafor), while the Pistons only had one in that range (Chauncey) and no one else who played more than 32 minues. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the point you all are making, but I don't see how you can compare these two games and come up with the same old same old about how everyone else plays their bench except Flip.

Lets put it more simple. CB has been battling a hamstring problem. Hamstring problems translate thruout the leg causing problems. No way, no how should he have played 40 minutes in this game. Especially after just finishing playing about 90 minutes total in a back to back set just two days earlier. It does not matter if most of your players got the rest. They all need the rest, especially CB. Flip messed up in this game simply by limiting CB's rest in the 2nd half to just 2 minutes. And he messed up by not using Blalock more in the 2nd quarter when Blalock and the bench were doing just fine.

Flip will claim that he lets the trainer make such decisions. Which is a copout. An NBA coach with 12 years experience coaching should know this kind of thing, and should have been monitoring how many minutes CB got on a bum leg. (Which I am sure he meant to, but as usual, Flip Suanders can't control what he does in a game when he chokes and forgets his game plan.)

I have reviewed the game. Nothing new really at this point to mention except about that Delfino play.

I watched this a few times. At first, I thought Delfino just royally messed up. I though Tay was there and so Delfino had no business even worrying about the situation. However, first impressions were wrong.

Looking a little closer, what I found is that no, Tay was not in position to stop Armstrong from shooting. Tay was in position after the pump fake, but not before. In other words, if Armstrong had shot the ball instead of faking the shot, and Delfino had not went for the block, there is a very strong likelyhood that Armstrong would have made his shot. The shot was going to be from just 8 feet. Without Delfino in the play, this would have been an unpressured 8 foot shot by a highly experienced NBA shooter. I doubt it would have missed. Delfino did not make such a mistake after all. PS, Delfino came from 3/4 court to make that play on the baseline. Pretty good hustle.

The pass was into O'Neal, but Tay went up and got a piece of the ball, batting it away from O'Neal and starting the clock ticking. Armstrong came up with the loose ball. If not for Delfino flying toward him, Armstrong could have calmly sank a banker. Due to Delfino coming at him, he had to go for a pump fake. Smart, savvy decision by an experienced vet. Nothing Delfino did wrong at all.

I understand the colateral damage thing about the hammy but that had been defused weeks ago? I think dude just broke down. I think we were due. Well over due.

:pound: :pound: This is the most overblown thread in NBA history:pound: :pound: POINT: Players get hurt .PERIOD................next

Most every thread here is over blown.

Guys, the Pistons bench played more minutes against the Pacers than the Bobcats bench did. That's a fact--I just checked the two boxscores. Bobcats had 3 guys who played between 39-42 minutes (Felton, Morrison, Okafor), while the Pistons only had one in that range (Chauncey) and no one else who played more than 32 minues. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the point you all are making, but I don't see how you can compare these two games and come up with the same old same old about how everyone else plays their bench except Flip.

I may have overblown it a bit, but it is not just the minutes, its when to play the bench. In other words, when your bench was hot like they were in the second qtr, why take them all out because you got the big lead. See if they can extend it and if your starters come out flat to begin the 3rd, pull them early and get the guys who are in synch back in there.