At Seattle March 13th, 10:00 PM
TV 20 (Local) NBALP


The Pistons travel to the Pacifc Northwest for the front end of a back to back, to face the Supersonics. The Pistons defeated Seattle back in December 97-93. The Sonics were outrebonded by the Pistons 54-32 but shot 50% from the field in that contest.

I'll be there!

I'll be there!
Recap and photos. Pls.

Recap and photos. Pls.

You got it. I will definitely get you some photos from the Portland game, since I have floor seats. FLOOR SEATS!

Look for me on the local broadcast, I will be wearing my Pistons gear, and painted red and blue.

I'll be there!

Me too. Linwood and I are going to try and meet up at halftime and take a picture.

As for my attire: Rip Hamilton medium blue jersey with red letters, red white and blue Mardi Gras beads around neck and wrists, and red sequin baseball cap. My long hair will be in a braid because there's nothing worse than having the name and number of one's favorite player hidden by waist-length hair. It's a definite fashion no no. If I get really ambitious I'll do my fingernails in red and blue polish.

My sister and I are sitting as close to the Pistons bench as I could get us and still be as close to the floor as possible. So maybe you'll see me in my Pistons regalia.Look for the red sequin baseball cap and a long dark blonde braid. No one else will have that hat! We're in the corner on a diagonal from the basket in Row 11. I'm hoping I might be able to slap five with a Piston on the way to the locker room.

GO PISTONS!!!!

P.S. I am so excited! I have gone three years now to see the Pistons play the Sonics (my only three NBA live attendances), but I never sat this close. I think I might even be able to encourage Flip Sr. from my seat! Example: "Hey, Flip, have you thought about running a play after this timeout?"

I think I might even be able to encourage Flip Sr. from my seat! Example: "Hey, Flip, have you thought about running a play after this timeout?"
You're great. :thumb:

LOL @ Aurora and Linwood. You know, RC, Ive lived in 7 different cities and Germany , and I gotta tell ya...WEVE GOT TO HAVE the loudest and raucous fans in the world. U always hear Piston fans at road games. I mean, I had people throwin popcorn at me in Houston! Everybody get a good nap b4 the games and lets load the CRoom 2nite!!:MusicBigGrin:

Me too. Linwood and I are going to try and meet up at halftime and take a picture.

"


Looking forward to seeing the photo of you and Linwood. Maybe the two of you can get one with your buddy Rip:hug: .

Me too. Linwood and I are going to try and meet up at halftime and take a picture.

As for my attire: Rip Hamilton medium blue jersey with red letters, red white and blue Mardi Gras beads around neck and wrists, and red sequin baseball cap. My long hair will be in a braid because there's nothing worse than having the name and number of one's favorite player hidden by waist-length hair. It's a definite fashion no no. If I get really ambitious I'll do my fingernails in red and blue polish.

My sister and I are sitting as close to the Pistons bench as I could get us and still be as close to the floor as possible. So maybe you'll see me in my Pistons regalia.Look for the red sequin baseball cap and a long dark blonde braid. No one else will have that hat! We're in the corner on a diagonal from the basket in Row 11. I'm hoping I might be able to slap five with a Piston on the way to the locker room.

GO PISTONS!!!!

P.S. I am so excited! I have gone three years now to see the Pistons play the Sonics (my only three NBA live attendances), but I never sat this close. I think I might even be able to encourage Flip Sr. from my seat! Example: "Hey, Flip, have you thought about running a play after this timeout?"

I really hope you have a great time. You do know of course that if you are spotted, there will be a screenshot of you on PF.com...:stirthepot:


Unfortunately, I'm going to miss game chat because I'm getting a birthday dinner at Lawry's (sp?) Steakhouse. Mouth-watering....mmmmmm!

Unfortunately, I'm going to miss game chat because I'm getting a birthday dinner at Lawry's (sp?) Steakhouse. Mouth-watering....mmmmmm!


Happy birthday Low---enjoy:chef2: :cheers: :party2:

Happy birthday Low---enjoy:chef2: :cheers: :party2:

Why, thank you sir...I will make every effort to enjoy it. That...you can count on.:MusicBigGrin:

Unfortunately, I'm going to miss game chat because I'm getting a birthday dinner at Lawry's (sp?) Steakhouse. Mouth-watering....mmmmmm!
Low, I predict that in honor of your birthday, Flip will get ejected with 9 minutes left in the first quarter, and the Pistons will win by a final score of 55-41.

Low, I predict that in honor of your birthday, Flip will get ejected with 9 minutes left in the first quarter, and the Pistons will win by a final score of 55-41.


Damn, that would be a dream come true for me, too.

Me too. Linwood and I are going to try and meet up at halftime and take a picture.



Beauty and the beast part 2? :pound:

I'm excited for both you guys and hope you have a great time at the game.

Poor Flip...he'd better coach well :nerd2:or Kim will give him an ear full... guaransheed!:MusicBigGrin:

You got it. I will definitely get you some photos from the Portland game, since I have floor seats. FLOOR SEATS!

Look for me on the local broadcast, I will be wearing my Pistons gear, and painted red and blue.

Really? Just so I know who to look for.

Pre game breakdown:

Center:
Webber vs. Collison

Webber wins this one hands down. 6'9" Collison is a good hustle guy, and should be able to grab some boards and score on some putbacks with his superior speed, but he won't be able to cover Chris, and the savy vet should have his way with young Nick.

Power Forward:
Wallace vs. Wilcox

Wilcox is fast, and is a good finisher on the break, but his defense leaves much to be desired. This one also goes to the savy vet. If Sheed decides to play in the paint, he should have a 20 and 10 game pretty easily.

Small Forward:
Prince vs. Lewis

Rashard Lewis is very, very good. Tayshaun will have his hands full trying to guard Rashard. Although Rashard isn't a great defender, he is pretty big, and should be able to bother Prince in the post. Expect Tayshaun to get most of his points from outside, hopefully his shot is on tonight.

Shooting Guard:
Hamilton vs. Allen

Ray might be the best shooter in the league. I expect him to come close to 30 points tonight, even with Hamilton playing good defense. On the flip side, he isn't a very good defender, and Rip should be able to get his without much problem.

Point Guard:
Billups vs. Watson

Earl is quick, and a pretty good defender, but he is no match for Bup Bup. I wouldn't be surprised if Chauncey finds his shot tonight, and the 3 ball rains down. I think we may see a little competitiveness tonight as Mr. Big Shot dukes it out with Ray.

Coach:
Saunders vs. Hill

I'm not really a fan of Flip, but I still think he brings more than Hill. Or maybe the Pistons just have a bunch of allstars.

Prediction:

If the Pistons come out strong, this one should be over early. If they take this lightly, expect the Sonics to score alot and put the scare into the boys in blue. That being said, the Sonics can almost always find a way to lose a game that they have won, so...

Pistons 105 Sonics 95

Really? Just so I know who to look for.

Yeah. My friend got two tickets from his boss, and he told me they are on the floor. I can't wait. I'm going to try to grab some red or blue face paint, so I can get on the TV. I'm sure I will be the only guy in the expensive seats with facepaint!

Addendum to pre game predictions:

Maxiell vs. Gelabale:

This should be a great matchup. Gelabale (pronounced Jello Ball) is tall, quick, and can score. No way he can stop Max from dunking on his head... but he will also be a handful for the Brahma to guard, if they matchup against one another.


Off to the game!

Got the Sonic announcers tonight. Just watched the Heat come back from 17 to beat the Jazz-----Looked to me like Shaq rules were in effect. Jazz with the ball and 3.7 secs and throw the ball away by a misplay on Williams getting in front of Okur to get the ball. Had another chance with 2.7 and couldn't make the shot.

Sorry for the delay folks.

Chat is open!!!

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

I'm a-knockin and no answer!

My bad. Chat is NOW open!

Close shave for the Pistons, but they pulled it out. CWebb hit a ton of big shots in the fourth quarter, and Rip played some big D on Ray Allen. They managed to stop him whenever he had to penetrate, although he hit a bunch of insane 3s to keep them in the game. No one was playing much of any D in the third quarter, but a good string of stops by the Pistons got them a 10 pt lead early in the 4th, as they continued to take advantage of the sieve-like Sonics D. Questionable play call by Seattle right at the end, down 2, when they iso'd Ray for a drive, which hadn't been working for him. They didn't send anyone to set a screen for him, stupidly; that would have had a much better chance of working.

:cheerleader: Couldn't find our reps there---but a great game just the same.

Amazing D by Rip and Sheed at the end.

Ray Allen was just on fire. It doesn't mean that it wasn't good D before he finally started missing. But when a guy is in that kind of zone, you need to get up in his grill 5 feet outside the 3-point line... even when he doesn't have the ball. And that is what Rip did.

Pretty much a nice contribution from everyone. Webber of course. Flip Murray, Delfino, Chauncey with a huge 3.

Fun game to watch.

This West Coast road trip is the best medicine for the Pistons. It's going to be a dogfight to see which team ends up in the first spot and I'm glad that Cleveland is breathing down our necks, keeps the boys motivated. Seattle is a fun team to watch and I like several of their players. I'm a big Chris Wilcox fan and for the first 8 minutes of the game he looked All-Pro and then then went away from him. Earl Watson is a very capable guard and he played his heart out. The Pistons just wanted to win this game just a little more and even Flip Murray was playing hard and in control and he was a positive tonight. Where would we be without Chris Webber? He's really one of our keys, he keeps the offense flowing, scores his points, isn't a ball hog and just fits in with this team so well. Delfino made the play of the game by scoring those all important 2 points near the end of the first half. Delfino should be called the "ball whisperer", the basketball just finds its way to his hands sometimes. Now if he would just take some more shots but he's gunshy for some reason.

Webber did not get his usual 20-10 game tonight, falling short by two rebounds. However, I won't complain greatly about 24 points on 10-13 shooting, 8 boards, and 6 assists. Kelser loves to mention how Webber likes to post up at a good angle for the bank shot. Webber did it twice in a row in this game, from each side of the hoop. Mostly, he made a living on post up moves tonight. For fans who love the inside game, Webber is truly a blessing.

Sheed did not do that great on O, but he was a big factor on D, managing to get his hands on the ball plenty when not invited to do so by Seattle. He did get burnt several times in a row by Wilcox though to start the game.

One of the big stars from last game, Jason Maxiell, got about 6 minutes in this one. Not much from him, but hey, again, he just played the 6 minutes. Him and Rip failed to connect on an alley oop, but still good practice for them trying one, and JMAX got one shot from the post and missed. Still NBA experience.

Dyess got 4-8. I don't recall him hitting an outside shot.

Delfino played enough, scored 4, got his hands on plenty of rebounds and loose balls. Flip Murray had a good game, scoring 8 points, and keeping it down to two bad shots.

CB did not do a whole lot of scoring, but he did hit that one huge triple late in the game to answer one by Allen who was shooting and hitting from four miles out or so. Rip was his usual steady self in scoring.

Tay scored just shy of 20 points on a mix of shots inside and out. Not a bad job defending Lewis either.

Flip kept his bench in longer than usual in the 2nd quarter. Maybe he is actually learning how to coach? Lets see if that continues. Good job of trusting the bench a bit for this one.

Thats 3 of 3 on this West coast road trip. Thats solid, no matter how a good a team you are, or who you are playing. GO PISTONS!!!!!

Another good road win and one that was needed since our Eastern competition appears to have found the key to winning (Cavs have won six straight, Heat 7 straight and Bulls and Raptors 3 in a row.) Even the Hawks have a 4 game win streak without Joe Johnson. The Cavs won big tonight without king James? Now the question is how come these teams can win without Wade, James and Johnson and we struggled without Billups???

:focus:

A game that could have gotten away from us as we let Ray and Earl get off to many three balls. Funny thing was Ray was 5-9 from beyond the arc but 2 out of 15 from inside it, so good idea of getting him to force that fadeaway from the right in the closing seconds. Dang..wish Joe had pulled the trigger on that Mohammad or Davis for Watson deal:yellowprison:

However he gets major kudos though for grabbing homeboy Cwebb, because he has been the difference so far on this road trip averaging 21 and 9. (and lets not forget the assists). He helped the pistons dominate the paint 50-32.

In summary the guards took the night off, but Tay hit a lot of key shots in the second half and Sheed hit a couple clock beating 3 balls in the first. . Got 20 from the bench including 8 from Flip jr despite his pourus defense. My old buddy Delfino hit an acrobatic funny shot to end the half after we had surrendered a 10 point lead and those points proved to be very valuable at the end of the game.

Thanks to Aurora Kim and Linwood for providing the PF road karma to secure the win. :cheerleader: Wood, it's on you tomorrow night bro..

Low, I predict that in honor of your birthday, Flip will get ejected with 9 minutes left in the first quarter, and the Pistons will win by a final score of 55-41.

No such luck, eh?

Allright, I've just returned from the game.

Here's what I noticed.

Ronald Murray really wants to be a Piston. Just before the game started all the Pistons took their place on the bench. Flip was the last to sit down, and he made a point to greet and give secret handshake to all Pistons. from Chauncey to Double D, Flip worked his way down the line, making friends with all the Pistons. For the most part, the team was game. The only exception was McDyess, who turned around to get some Gatoraide right as Ronald reached out to shake his hand. Dice is one cold dude...

Game starts. For the first 9 minutes, it's Pistons vs. Chris Wilcox. Chris exploits the slow front line of our boys in blue, and scores the first 10 or so points for the Sonics.

At the end of the first quarter, I watch the bench. Flip Saunders is very active. He wields the clipboard. Chauncey pays attention. Rasheed doesn't. Ron Harper gives a pep talk. Terry Porter hangs out and looks cool.

Ronald Dupree is dressed in a very nice sport coat, pressed white shirt, and expensive looking jeans. His diamond earing catches the light and shines in my eyes, 9 rows back. Super Dupe follows Terry Porter around and apes his every move. He studies the clipboard. He folds his arms next to Terry. He offers words of encouragement to the bench. Could he be vying for the hallway coach position?

Nazr Mohammed is a true professional. Dale Davis eyeballs the Sonics cheerleaders.

Second quarter affords a few minutes for JMax. Man, this dude is short. NBA short, not real life short. I would guess that he is about 6'6", tops. The Brahma doesn't have much luck against a young, athletic Sonics frontcourt... I think they may be on to him.

Halftime. I went out to smoke a cig.. er get some fresh air. Talked to many Pistons fans. Talked to a woman from Dexter and the Boulevard. She's been here about 12 years. Talked to lots of other Detroit expatriates. Key Arena was about 40 percent Detroit fans.

Second Half:

Rip becomes frustrated. Flip wisely pulls him before he draws a foul or technical. When Turbo goes to the bench, he takes his mask off and throws it at Arnie Kandor. Arnie has no chin. He picks up Rip's mask, and spends a few minutes fixing it. This happens several times during the game.

About halfway through the 3rd, the guy with the Rodman jersey sitting behind me points out the fact that Tayshaun has 15 points. "Quitest 15 points I've ever seen, man" This seems to be Prince's Modus Operandi. I've heard people say the same thing since his freshman year at UK.

Tayshaun plays great defense on Rasard Lewis and Ray Allen. If he can't cover them, he does a great job steering them into Rasheed Wallace or Antonio McDyess. With Tay on the job, the Sonics two leading scorers never get a good look on an uncontested shot.

Sheed is a superstar.

Chris Webber has saved the Piston's offense.

Flip Murray played his first 6 or so minutes without taking a shot. I think he played well.

Carlos Delfino is a compulsive gum chewer. He had a few fans from Argentina sitting close to me. They had an Argentinian (sp?) flag they were waving around. This cat has talent, and could be a nice piece as the Pistons move forward.

Sonics keep the game close during the fourth, and the game is decided in the final seconds.

Great game.

This post is getting pretty long, so I will try to wrap things up.

Overall impression: The Pistons with Cwebb are a team of savy vets. they are calm under pressure, execute thier plays well, and seldom make mistakes. This is why they win games.

On the flip side, this team of savy vets is old and slow by NBA standards, and gets beat by younger, more athletic players. See Chris Wilcox's opening 11 points.

Old vets who play the right way can win championships, as proved by the Pistons in 2004 and the Heat last year. I think this team has another year, two tops before age overcomes experience. Enjoy the ride, because it's a great one.

Thanks Linwood. That was a fun read. You done good.:thumb:

Great recap linwood. Thank you very much!

Nice leecap too!

Hey guys, what did you think of Johan Petro? I really liked his game. He's a much better passer than I thought he would be.

Seattle, no blocks this game!

NBA.com: Pistons at Supersonics Boxscore (http://www.nba.com/games/20070313/DETSEA/boxscore.html)

PopcornMachine's GameFlow - Detroit @ Seattle (http://www.popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/gameflow.cgi?date=20070313&game=DETSEA)

I've watched Petro play a few games. He's a legit 7 feet tall, as the Sonics fan sitting behind be kept reminding me. Everytime Petro grabbed a rebound, he would yell "that's why we have a LEGIT 7 footer!"

Also, another fan was very excited about the possibility of a JP double double. He was one rebound away when Hill pulled him, and the fan was very hurt. Hill inserted him later when Tay was at the line, and both guys got very excited.

I think Petro will be a pretty good player in a couple of years. He's tall, quick, has a decent jumpshot, and the beginnings of some nice post moves. I'm not sure he will ever reach Darko potential, but I do think he will be a real contributor pretty soon.

The Sonics fan remarked: If he played for a contender, he would be considered an up and comer, but he plays for Seattle, so ESPN commentators just mispronounce his name.

Great recap linwood. Thank you very much!

No problem, I hope it was coherent. I got home pretty late. After the game I ended up hanging out with some Pistons fans at the local watering hole. I figured Lee did a great job covering the game play, so I would try to cover the "human interest" side.

I'm looking forward to the Kimmiecap. She brought binoculars (I think she was only about 10 rows back from the bench), and watched Flip Sr. during timeouts. She may be able to tell you what went down in the huddle.

Excellent recap Linwood. One of my favs so far.

Great courtside-cap, Linwood! I like the bit about Super Dupes aspiring to hallway coach status. :laugh:

During the game last night, when Rip hit a big shot in the 4th quarter, I heard someone screaming in the audience, and I guessed on chat that it might have been Kim. But if almost half the fans there were cheering for the Pistons, I guess it might have been someone else...:cheerleader:

I'm looking forward to the Kimmiecap. She brought binoculars (I think she was only about 10 rows back from the bench), and watched Flip Sr. during timeouts. She may be able to tell you what went down in the huddle.
I'm interested in reading too. I have my guess as to the huddle:

FLip: ok guys they're getting to the basket at will. I want you guys to shoot better so it doesn't happen. All right? Ok. Get back out there.

Great recap Wood,... Pistons fans dominate all venues. Expecting another good recap from you for tonights victory:) Did you hook up with Kim at all?

I noticed at the Clip game that Dale Davis was having a good time on the end of the bench and turned his head the other way and laughed everytime Flip Sr looked down there and told Dice to get in there. Int was if he was was telling one of the fans "I know he's not putting me in so I ain't going to budge"

Also noticed that right before the end of the national anthem, Dice breaks the statue like line and runs behind every Piston player giving them a slap on the back before the song was over. Has anyone else noticed that at the palace?

That is what I like about LIVE recaps. I dont care too much about what I SEE at the game, its what I DONT SEE that's cool. I spent about 75% of the game rewinding to catch a glimpse of Piston fans in the stands. Thats why I didnt come back in the chat cuz I was bout half a quarter behind yall. I thought the "one I hate" had his best game as a Piston and I believe he finally played within his talents except for that one fade away in the 4th. I think just based on his and nazr's attitude alone, they should get at least 10 min per game. I hope FlipSr saw how a fresh team in the 4th qtr pays dividends.
But, I hope they dont paly 'givaway' tonight with a better frontcourt in Zach and Aldridge looming. ....
...anybody seen Kim?......check DD's room!:MusicBigGrin:

for me. I only get Nat TV games so I like the recaps. the 'scene of the crime' recaps are very cool.

That was a good recap Linwood. Did you take notes at the game, or did you remember all that?

I'm looking forward to the Kimmiecap. She brought binoculars (I think she was only about 10 rows back from the bench), and watched Flip Sr. during timeouts. She may be able to tell you what went down in the huddle.

Here is the aforementioned Kimmiecap.

Okay it's long post. I’m not going to try to edit it, because I’m afraid I won’t send it at all if I do.It’s more about the experience of the game than the game itself to warn those who are looking for specifically Pistons play related observations.

First of all, I had the GREATEST time at the game. I waited a whole year to be able to see the Pistons play live again and it was worth it. This year I had seats 11 rows back to the far side behind the basket. We were so close to the Detroit Bench. Yes I did take binoculars. Now these are serious binoculars. They are like bird-watching level binoculars and old style. They are all black with big huge lenses and they magnify like crazy. So I knew we were all set.

I took my sister as my guest to her first NBA game. We rode over to Seattle on the ferry from Bremerton. We were both be-decked in Pistons regalia. My sister wore my road red Big Ben jersey and hoped no one would be offended because of him being no longer a Piston. I told her not to worry, most of the Sonic fans wouldn’t know the difference especially because Rasheed is a Wallace too. Besides, Ben will always be a Piston first and foremost to me.

Lo and behold on the ferry were a group of eight similarly highly decked out Pistons fans. They all had jerseys, and there wasn’t a single Sonics jersey on the ferry! We were in the majority of fans on the boat! They were older teenagers and this was their first NBA game ever too! They were so pumped up. We were all so excited we could barely contain ourselves on the one hour ferry ride.

We get to Key Arena and find our seats. The Pistons are warming up right near us. After just watching them on tv for so many games, every year I see them live I’m always in that weird awestruck fan mode. “Oh my God, there’s Rip!!! Oh my God, there’s Sheed. And Tay is here too!!! Wow, Chris Webber is…HOT!” LOL. Anyway, I can never quite believe that they are real people and not some hologram or something.

So the game started. We had such good seats and about halfway through the quarter my sister said it was great, fantastic and she couldn’t believe how much better basketball is live. She’s right, in some weird way the movement up and down the court seems much slower and easier to watch. I usually feel mildly stressed out trying to follow the action back and forth on tv, but watching live is positively relaxing and stimulating at the same time.

Our defense looked pretty lax to me in the first half. There were times when my sister and I agreed that it looked like the team was standing around watching while one of our guys (usually Rip) tried to defend whoever had the ball. I was pretty disgusted with a few possessions where none of our bigs even put an arm up in the paint. It looked like they were all watching the ball. You know when they think they can tell it’s going to go in and it’s too late to stop it so why bother? I know that sounds harsh, but something about seeing it live really exposed the lack of defensive fire. In the fourth quarter however they turned it on huge and didn’t even look like the same team.

Okay my favorite thing that happened other than winning the game of course was on a timeout. You know these giveaways they have for the fans. It’s the end of the 2nd quarter and the Pistons have a slight lead. There were A LOT of Pistons fans at this game considering how far away Michigan is. All savvy enough to get their tickets near the Pistons bench so there was a really rooting contingent making noise through the whole game. So they have the drum roll and announce the row in the arena that is going to get the Starbucks coupons and who do you think it is? LOL. It’s the row of eight young Pistons fans from the ferry boat. Now these guys are pumped. Of course the spotlight goes to that row and it’s an entire row of rowdy red and blue jerseyed Pistons fans. Then they put them on the JumboTron and they go absolutely nuts. They are all jumping up and down pulling their jerseys out at the chest where it says Detroit and basically being totally obnoxious in the Sonic’s house. Now when the rest of the arena sees this on the Jumbotron there is a huge collective BOO. Which delights our delirious Pistons row to no end. Oh yeah, even better is that when the whole arena booed so loud, the actual Pistons who were standing in a huddle looked around to see what the fuss was about and started laughing when they saw the spotlight on this row of Pistons fans. It was PRICELESS.

I did want to say that when the chips were down in the fourth quarter our defense was incredible.To me it seemed that when there was a defensive lapse it had to do with speed and not effort. I was so glad to see that intensity and skill. Ray Allen’s attempt to dribble to the basket when our Pistons had decided to put down the hammer was great to watch. It’s still my favorite kind of basketball to watch and I’m glad the game was close enough at the end that it forced them to do it.

Okay two other things. One is Sheed. I didn’t notice but my sister (who doesn’t watch basketball but is a very observant clinical psychologist) said that it look like Sheed was hurt, that he was limping a little and moving very carefully. After taking a long hard look through the bird watching binocs, I agreed. It looked like late in the game when he came to the bench that one of the trainers (Arnie?) was working on his leg too. Anyway, I hope he didn’t reaggravate his ankle, but I hate to think that he is playing on what looked to be way less than 100%. My sister: “Why don’t they take him out? It’s obvious he’s hurting.” Me: (sigh).

And the last thing. Flip. I spent quite a good amount of time observing the team chemisty. Not having a lot to compare it too, and then Linwood’s comment later that our veteran players have had a ton of games and a ton of coaching, I hesitate to bring it up. But it did seem to me that when Flip was talking in timeouts in the huddle that the players, especially the starters, were borderline just tolerating him and not very focused on what Flip was saying. As I say this could be the case with many player/coach game dynamics. But it seemed more pointed than that to me. Sheed doesn’t even bother to pretend he is listening and paces the scoring table, not even making eye contact with Flip at all. And Rip and Tay looked to me like they were just waiting for the end of the lecture. Chris Webber looked like he had mastered the art of spacing out while appearing as though he were listening. Chauncey did seem focused, present and engaged.

At one point Flip was out there on the floor during the action (not too far). Someone passed to Delfino and Flip motioned for him to pass the ball. My sister: “Why didn’t Flip let him shoot?” Me: (sigh).

I think it’s a good thing Flip has Chauncey. Flip himself surprised me. He didn’t look nearly as twitchy in person maybe because of the lack of close-up and maybe the camera people are just drawn to all that nervous bodily activity he does. In general, it was good to see Flip coach for me. I think seeing the effort he expends and the genuine desire he has to see them excel and the energy he tries to imbue them with was a good thing. The thing you can’t really see on tv, because it’s always going to commercial, is how many words Flip uses. I mean in those timeouts he is talking as fast as he can without stopping for a long time. I empathize because I do the same thing with my high school kids. I talk and talk and talk and talk and I think that if I can just get through to them they’ll translate all those words into results. But people can only stand to be yakked at so much and I think the tune out Flip factor I noticed might be more self-defense than marginal insubordination. Sometimes less is more when it comes to yakking. Especially with a group of savvy vets who have to have heard it all many times by now.

In conclusion, the game was fantastic. My sister called yesterday and said “Wait! Can’t we get on the ferry and go see the Pistons again? I don’t want to go back to normal life.” Also she said after the game that she felt HIGH for hours after the game as did I. Being a Pistons fan is the best.

This is the longest post I ever wrote. I’m going to post it now as I promised D4e and Linwood I would do a Kimmiecap. Oh also, I’ll be posting a picture of me and Linwood at the game once I get my disposable camera put on a cd or however all that works.

Here is the aforementioned Kimmiecap.

Okay it's long post. I’m not going to try to edit it, because I’m afraid I won’t send it at all if I do.It’s more about the experience of the game than the game itself to warn those who are looking for specifically Pistons play related observations.

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The kimmiecap was well worth wait. I am glad you enjoyed your self and you brought the west coast PFkarma to secure a Piston victory. You are right, you got to be there to really enjoy it, especially when the pistons are playing great and they seem to get more cheers than the home team!! Always great walking into a foreign arena and there seem to be more Pistons apparel than the home team's colors. :) Happen in LA, Orlando, and suprisingly a lot in Dallas too. I am sure you heard the dettroiit bassketball chant too!

Nice cap Kim. As far-off-fans, you, Linwood and Dre have a good handle on the 'human interest' stuff that add perspective to me as to the underpinnings of the Pistons...beyond caps that are, for the most part, stat regurgitation.

:thumb[1]: to all PF.com Piston fans outside of metro Detroit.

Awesome recap aurora, definately well worth the wait. We are getting excellent reports out west on this road trip as the team hits its last stop. Cant wait to see the pics of you decked out in pistons gear :)

That was an enjoyable read. I tried to spy you out and couldn't find you on TV. No matter, just as much fun reading everyone's personal exploits. Only thing I hate about being down here in the Ozarks, no pro sports close to watch and the media has tunnel vision in that college rules and nothing else matters-----unless you're a Cardinal fan.

Bravo Kim. :p_welldone:

Thanks, Kim. That was a great post. Thanks also to Dre and Linwood for the excellent in-person recaps.

This is the longest post I ever wrote. I’m going to post it now as I promised D4e and Linwood I would do a Kimmiecap.

That was awesome! Best re-cap ever! :hail::whoo:

Okay two other things. One is Sheed. I didn’t notice but my sister (who doesn’t watch basketball but is a very observant clinical psychologist) said that it look like Sheed was hurt, that he was limping a little and moving very carefully.

He tweaked something I think in the first half getting fouled. He was wincing at the line before the free throws.