Miami Heat April 1st, 1:00 PM
TV - ABC

In the last few weeks the Heat have went from not being in the playoff picture to as high as the 3rd seed in the playoffs. At the time of this posting they are holding in the 4th seeded position. The Heat and Pistons collide at the Palace this afternoon. This is the third meeting bewteen these two, each winning once, both games were played in Miami.

D-Wade has been practicing and is expected back in a week or so.

http://img161.imageshack.us/img161/5180/ph2006061201748uh6.jpg

http://img161.imageshack.us/img161/3517/163623113ddd06eed3bqm6.jpg

http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/2235/antoinelb4.jpg

I think some one, I don't know who, will press firmly on Wade's shoulder as soon as he comes back.
98 to 88
Hurt them

I have missed so many games lately with my vacation, looking forward to this one.

According to Keith Langlois at Pistons.com (http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/practice_070331.html), Rip has been suffering from a concussion for the last two weeks and is questionable for the Heat game. He may need a helmet to go with the mask.

And March saw Rip Hamilton miss the last four games with both flu-like symptoms and the after-effects of a mild concussion.

That was Saturday’s news, when Hamilton skipped the Pistons’ brief practice in preparation for Sunday afternoon’s Miami visit to The Palace of Auburn Hills but worked out afterward under the supervision of strength coach Arnie Kander.

“One of the doctors I went to see said, ‘Did you get hit in the head lately?’ ” Hamilton said. “I never woke up in the middle of the night with my head banging like that.”

As best Hamilton can figure, the concussion occurred two weeks ago when the Pistons returned from their five-game Western road sweep to play Dallas in another Sunday matinee. Hamilton got jolted twice in that game – once when Webber inadvertently elbowed him, causing a three-stitch gash above his eye, and again when Dallas center Erick Dampier shoved him from behind under the basket and he crashed hard to the floor.

He may need a helmet to go with the mask.

That might make him the coolest player of all time!

Having the flu AND a concussion could certainly affect a guys game.

http://img483.imageshack.us/img483/8683/image1514539xa3.jpg http://img481.imageshack.us/img481/4957/image1514539ts2.jpg

According to Keith Langlois at Pistons.com (http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/practice_070331.html), Rip has been suffering from a concussion for the last two weeks and is questionable for the Heat game. He may need a helmet to go with the mask.Well...that explains a lot of things to me. Rip really hasn't looked himself.

http://img483.imageshack.us/img483/8683/image1514539xa3.jpg http://img481.imageshack.us/img481/4957/image1514539ts2.jpg
LMAO! I see those Photoshop lessons are paying off...that 1st pic is a work of art! :pound:

i'll be there cheerin!! no camera again though :O

Hog, say hi to Matt, Ian and Natalie for me will ya?

i'll be there cheerin!! no camera again though :O
lookin forward to thev "Hoggcap"! Find out about Dwade for me too....:pound:

Chat is open!!!

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

4th quarter is fino time. i mean the guy is clutch.
flip murray is back on my good side. i like the guy.


great game by the pistons.
i did not want to lose to miami without wade.

Game balls go to Rasheed, Rip, Delfino, and Flip Murray.

Chauncey Billups showed why he's The Best Defensive Point Guard in The NBA, and Chris Webber showed why he's a power forward. Tayshaun Prince showed that he still can't solve a double-team.

BIG WIN FOR THE PISTONS! Their 4th quarter comeback was absolutely awesome, keyed by a 14-0 run with Dice and Fino playing huge. After a disastrous first quarter, the bench did a great job getting the Pistons back in it, particularly Flip Jr. and Lindsey, who actually played really well together in that quarter. Pistons kept it close in the third with Rip coming alive on a bunch of cuts to the basket, and after a terrible start to the 4th quarter, the huge run got them back in it. Down the stretch, Rip, CB, and Sheed hit 3 incredible clutch shots, and when Posey missed a wide open three, the Pistons wrapped it up at the FT line.

Halfcourt trapping defense helped key the big run in the 4th, as the Heat got totally disoriented for a few minutes. Dale did a nice job bodying up Shaq in the 4th, as Flip Sr. left him in for crunch time after Dice fouled out. One major negative in this game was Webber trying to guard Shaq...an utter disaster. Gonna have to mix it up more on him.

Still, I'm pretty thrilled with this win. Great production from the bench, getting them back in it from double digit deficits in both halves, and some excellent clutch play from the starters.

Also, credit to Flip Sr. for getting a tech called on Posey--he pushed off after turning it over, and Flip went crazy running to midcourt to scream at the refs, which paid off in the tech being called.

Good win.

Some may say it`s troubling because of a close game and no D-Wade. I say BS, a win is a win. The game would have been played totally different if Wade was playing and only God knows if it would have been a win or loss.

Key moment in the game for me was at about the 3:35 mark of the 4th Q, Flip took Fino and Flip Jr out and put Tay and CB in. At the time I thought Flip has made a bonehead move, well it was a good one as both Tay and CB turned in a couple of huge plays in the final minutes of the game.

I am sick and tired of these slow starts and brain farts at times during a game, only to come back. Not all the comebacks are wins!!!

Anyway huge win, let`s kick the Pacers %%%%% on Tuesday!!

I think some one, I don't know who, will press firmly on Wade's shoulder as soon as he comes back.
98 to 88
Hurt them
Hey I got 1/2 right. 94 to 88
Fino came up big with hustle and 3s

Now that was a fun game and Carlos showed today why he deserves a solid 15-20 minutes in the rotation for the playoffs. Tayshaun is just dog tired playing 40 plus minutes and on that skinny frame of his he's just not built to play so much. Rip will play himself back into game sharpness so I'm not worried about him. If the Pistons could learn to play better 1st quarters they would be downright scary. You got to believe that none of the Eastern teams want to tangle with Detroit in the playoffs which are geared to our strength. I love the grind it out defensive struggles and low scoring games anyday over the run and gun style in the West. Miami just doesn't have a go to guy in the crunch and Shaq is the only thing standing in the way of them having an early exit this year from the playoffs.

Rip will play himself back into game sharpness so I'm not worried about him.

He looked out of it in the first half, but he got going in the third quarter by cutting to the hole without the ball and getting layups. He was great in the second half, and he played some good D on JWill, who was red hot for most of the game when he was torching CB.

Watching today, it reminded me that the Pistons are the coolest team to watch. When Sheed is not making faces and throwing his hands around in disgust, this team is unflappable and no matter what, they are always, always in the game. The just do not fold.

Good game and I have to say, I have not seen Shaq look so good in a long time. It must be those almost 40 games he missed early in the season. He looks in super shape and is playing very well.

But, it was still the Pistons.

Now, in a couple of hours, I can watch the Magic.

nice game, but nobody cant guard Shaq..That is what pisses me off. Whatever we won and I think the Miami is beatable in the PO too, this year.

Good game, good comeback, good win. It would have been very upsetting to lose to a team that missed 14 free throws. Heat wins over the Pistons seem to inspire them to greatness, witness the win a couple of months back without Wade, the 13 point come backer last season when Wade went crazy, and game 1 of the ECF when they took the wind out of our home court advantage (or did the Cavs do that in the previous round?)

Anyway this was a statement win to say that we were not going to let them roll over us without Wade in our own crib!! The media said the Pistons were the best in the east>>>>then back it up brothers!! The defensive intensity was in effect in that 4th and Hunter didn't even play during that stretch despite some stellar play from him in the second qtr.

Glad to see that Rip had a long rest and he looked good out there and didn't get overplayed by Flip sr. He didn't take any bad shots and hit all seven of his free throws. Delfino hit some key shots in the 4th and appeared to be the only Piston man enough to bull his way into Shaq when he was fouled in crunch time. Everyone else seemed afraid as usual. Stiil good bench play from him and Dice with 12 points apiece and Flip jr who was running the offense well during the 4th to help the Pistons get back in the game. Hunter contributed 2 three balls in the second quarter. Good job of Flip playing 11 men to Riles 8> Gotta wonder why he didn't give NAZ a little burn too though. But good sign that he is starting to trust everyone in these high profile games.

Go Pistons...magic number to clinch EC/HC is now lucky # 7

Pretty much the best game Flip Saunders has coached this season. He followed the simple principle that you don't win it in the 2nd quarter. The subs were doing ok, and he kept them in right until the end of the half. Then, he even followed principle number 2. If your bench is doing well in the fourth quarter, leave them in a bit longer. He brought Billups and Tay back in with about 4 minutes to go in the game, after the bench erased a 12 point deficit. Even more good coaching; when Dyess fouled out, he brought in the right guy for the job to end the game, Davis, instead of Webber who would have killed our defense that was going so good. Now Webber did do some good stuff while in, several assists, but he is a zero when it comes to guarding Shaq.

Ok Maxiell only got 2 minutes. He missed a 19 foot fall away and he got caught attempting to steal. For sure Maxiell should have gotten a bit more burn than that, but thats pretty good when I can only find one fault with a coach. Definite A+ for the coaching in this one.

Fllip Murray had a decent game. Not great. The best thing he did was get inside their defense several times, mostly choosing to dish off for assist, but one time to dunk it himself. Plus he hit one cluth jumper late, part of that 12-0 run that got us back into the game. His defense could improve, especially avoiding getting picked, and not recovering back to his man after the pick. Oh, and the bench had like a 13-1 run in the 2nd quarter, and Murray was part of that too. (paired with Billups)

The bench looked bad for a moment when Hunter and Murray were first paired up, midway 2nd quarter. Miami had an 8-0 run there, but they managed to do the job. We ended the 2nd down 5 points, but I thought we had the game won, because we had some fresh starters for the 2nd half.

Delfino was brilliant in that 12-0 run. He either assisted on or scored all 12 points I believe. A midranger when left open, a jumper off the move, a steal and dunk, and two made free throws after driving inside and drawing a hard foul. He also had fast break layup and a couple of made free throws in the first half to go with that. He was part of that 13-1 one run, the last half of it.

Sheed played good D on Shaq some, and stayed in the game well despite five fouls early in the 4th quarter. A timely triple late, and a clutch jumper closer in.

Billups played a good floor game, with virtually no turns while he was running the show. Not a good shooting game. Defense lacking as he is certainly not well yet. (After getting off a back to back playing major minutes, I expected him to come into this game with some problems from sitting around the last two days. They said he toyed with the idea of sitting out a week, but chose not too. Oh well, hope he heals by the playoffs-I still say sit him.)

Rip did well after initially being off on his shot. Ended up scoring 19 including a cluth shot late. Tay started 0-5 but got some scoring going inside in the 2nd half. He is either fatigued or that thigh bruise has not healed.

Considering all our starters were back, and all started, and all were dealing with injuries or flu effects, good solid win. The bench won the game for sure. If Flip keeps coaching like this, so we actually have a bench for the big dance, and our starters are allowed to mend, we just might be able to beat Miami even if Wade returns healthy. And don't count that out. They said Wade is doing so well that surgery may never be needed at all. I'd count him as coming back 100% against us. Our team needs every advantage we can get. As good as we did today, we can do better, AS FAR AS DEVELOPING THIS TEAM. GO PISTONS!!!!!

We need to play frantic with Delfino, Murray and Hunter (not necessarily together) to beat teams like Miami and the Spurs who generally out execute us. That is how we need to compete.

We need to use our speed when we can since these two teams (who we have match up problems with) have older players in key spots. Hamilton on defense was great and that is what we need from him to go with his mid-range game. Enough of his driving in to get nothing except beat up (latest a concussion).

Why the slow starts? It is what I have been fearful of all year. We don't really have a purpose and a flow to the offense. To counter Shaq and the Heat efficiency early, we may need Davis and his fouls defensively and a sharper offense. This means getting Tay and Sheed the ball where they don't have to do much. It means Chauncey just taking the shot in form, in rythym, on purpose.

The key shot today was Murray's jumper late in the fourth. Chauncey would have waited or faked or hesitated. They laid off of Murray and he popped em. Dagger.

Posey and company are not better shooters than our guys. THEY GET THE BALL IN THEIR SPOTS AND THEY KNOW WHAT IS EXPECTED OF THEM. The only team that plays with a make- it -up -as -you -go offense is Dallas and of the elite teams, Dallas is the team I fear the least.

I am happy with the win but we need to have better offensive execution to go far. This Heat team is scary. We at least have found a formula that hearkens back to our "ship" and that is to bring in guys and play frantic defense.

http://www.nba.com/media/pistons/MIADET_070401_009.jpg
:winner_first_h4h:

Good posts folks.

LAPiston - it's not so much frantic, as "with energy". Our starting lineup except Rip is very low energy, low key. Their relaxed approach is an Achilles Heel.

I called for a 15 pt run to get us back in contention-----glad Flip heard me.

LOL

Heat ain't all that even with Wade. They've been beating everyone else. Let Shaq have his and when he wears down, shut the rest down.

Just saw a highlight of the Delfino steal and dunk on SportsNet Ontario.

I forgot to mention how sweet it was to see Delfino aggressive, taking the right angle and most importantly he got his second hand up at the rim to make sure it was a good finish. Very savvy play.

DRE - Is that Magic # of 7 relative to Cleveland?

Good posts folks.

LAPiston - it's not so much frantic, as "with energy". Our starting lineup except Rip is very low energy, low key. Their relaxed approach is an Achilles Heel.At his age, Tay should have a little more quick in his step. Though I really like the guy, I sometimes nod off when he starts backing down an opponent. He doesn't board aggressively either. I keep wishing Kander can put some meat on those bones...but even if that happened, you can't teach quick...it's either there, or it ain't.

Amir coming back after his excellent Sioux Falls stint could be Tay's biggest nightmare if Flip gives him some minutes...maybe not the rest of this season, but definitely next.

DRE - Is that Magic # of 7 relative to Cleveland?

Yessir, with 8 games remaining games for the Cavs, the max they can win is 52 games. Right now if the Pistons win 7 of their remaining nine, they finish with at least 53 victories. (by the way the most da bulls can win is 51.)
So magic # is 7 to clinch outright conference best and six to clinch a tie.

Good posts folks.

LAPiston - it's not so much frantic, as "with energy". Our starting lineup except Rip is very low energy, low key. Their relaxed approach is an Achilles Heel.

i agree rosc, bu i might add a twist to this: the relaxed -- or maybe as someone else said unflappable -- approach is what makes them so hard to rattle in the homestretch of games. maybe the key -- if i'm not stating the obvious -- is for flip sr to know when each kind of demeanor is needed during games...

Yessir, with 8 games remaining games for the Cavs, the max they can win is 52 games. Right now if the Pistons win 7 of their remaining nine, they finish with at least 53 victories. (by the way the most da bulls can win is 51.)
So magic # is 7 to clinch outright conference best and six to clinch a tie.

I forgot to correct this since the Cavs lost last night so actually the magic # is 6 since the Pistons only need six wins to get 53 victories and 5 to clinch the tie.

Thanks Dre.

After the last game, I was starting to get down on Flip again, but he did pretty well yesterday. That string of DNPs really did miracles for his game.

Also, Flip and Delfino are really starting to play well together. And I was more impressed by Delfino's bounce pass to McDyess than the steal and dunk.

For the first time in awhile, I'm starting to feel confident about this team. Starters and Dice are what they've always been, but Flip and Murray improving adds a lot. And Sr. actually changing some of his ways, trusting the bench more, and dare I say it, making ingame adjustments, is icing on the cake.

Saw most of the game. The Heat simply out shot our guys early in the game. Great shooting. But they did fade late.
Shaq goes high off the glass so his shots can't be blocked. I wish our guys did that.
CB was cold in the 1st Q, as he seemed determined to take control early. He was 3 of 8 and we fell behind by 10. But you could see he could see the floor well as he cut to open areas, just couldn't finish. So I think he played with good aggression but maybe not with good smarts.
Bad bio-rhythms.
Lee~clutch

Rip really played some great D down the stretch. Mr. Big Shot hits the big shots at the end. Pistons get the job done.

Hubie Brown fawns all over Shaquille O'Neal. I think he may be shopping for the next body for his undead soul.

not much to say - wanted to get there for the DBB/N4S blogfest but they were meeting at 11:30 and i didn't get to the palace until close to 1 PM, and an exit was blocked so i had to turn around, etc...but it was cool because we got to park in a closer VIP lot since everything else was full.

no hot chicks today, just lots of people with huge beak noses, a girl who looked like Meg from family guy, and another guy who looked like einstein. the first 3 quarters were like a regular season game, the last was like playoffs and it was LOUD. you could see genuine hate for miami from the crowd, and you could see it in the players too.

not much else to say, sorry there's not a better recap. sidenote, they gave out whoopie cushions after the game and i've been having fun with those ever since.