Cleveland comes to town 1Pm start on ABC

SHEED MUST NOT BLEED!

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Tomorrow Piston win 105 94...CB 32:)


DETROIT BASKETBALLLLLLLLL:cheerleader:

Goooooood Morning Pistons Fans!

Don't you just love the smell of napalm in the morning?

It's the last couple weeks of the season, we're playing #2 in the division, a team that is easy to hate with infamous ballers such as

Sideshow Varejao
Sneaker Slavemaster Lebron James
Reverse Soul Patch Drew Gooden
Zydrunas "the Bleeder" Ilgauskas

Only a few more of these meaningless games against wannabee contenders before the matches get tense and nerve-racking.

LET'S GET IT ON!

Haha, I love those nicknames roscoe.

Go pistons!!!:cheerleader:

BUST EM DOWN TO #8 AND SWEEP EM OUT THE DOOR!!!

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Kiss me baby, nothing makes me sick!
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Chat is open!!!

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

I will see you chatty-cats soon! :)

Yall hold it down 4 me. I gotta work(or volunteered,..didnt HAVE to) I want us to get PONTINUS PILATE on those Cavs today! Serious Roman-Greco their butts!!!!!!!! Lets drop em like bad easter Eggs!! Lets roll over them like the stone Jesus rolled out the cave TO RISE AGAIN!!!! Crucify these CAVS jerks!!....


BTW, HAPPY EASTER ALL!!!
PEACE AND LOVE.....:)

The Pistons got the victory today but in my opinion a step backwards and not letting the bench play in the 2nd half. Is this going to be Flip's playoff strategy to have his starters play even more minutes? Just really annoys me that the coach is so short-sighted for the somewhat meaningless regular game win over the bigger picture of being fresh for the playoffs. Mike Brown is not immune in that area since he played Lebron 43 minutes on a gimpy knee. Notice that Lebron missed those crucial free throws when it mattered but fatigue has a way of catching up to you. Now why aren't I more happy with a Piston's win? I like to see all our key players contribute so this does not bode well for the playoffs. I really think that Flip Saunders believes in his mind that only Tayshaun Prince can guard Lebron and no one else on his squad can handle the duties.

Good statement win for the Pistons now reducing magic # to 3 over the Da Bulls and 2 over the Cavs.

Not sure what we will do tomorrow since Tay, Billups and Rip played the entire second half logging 41-43 mins. Dice, Sheed and Wallace shared the other minutes in the second...No one else got off the bench. Delfino, Murray, Hunter and Max played in the second quarter and gave up a 14 pt lead, scored 1 pt courtesy of a FT by Max and weren't heard from again.

Double-doubles from CB, Webber, and Dice who started in place of Sheed who had his minutes reduced due to a nagging injury. Sheed scored 10 points including the first 8 of the 4th quarter to get the Pistons going.

The Prince kept the King in check as most of his damage came from the FT line although he missed his last 2 key attempts with less than 45 seconds to go.

Happy Easter and have a good rest of the day!

Might as well get the bench thing out of the way...
they somewhat set their own destiny with their poor production in the first half... Cleveland also rode their starters the whole game so there wasn't a disadvantage overplaying the starters... until tomorrow in NY.
I don't think the bench would have done a better job than the starters did taking their PT.... this was a huge step towards HCA.
Great 4th qtr by Sheed (why wait til the end?)... credit where due... he gives us the clear advantage in a playoff series with the Cavs.
How many steals did we have this game.

CB just upped his FA anti with this national TV showing.

We better beat the Cavs at home after three days rest and them coming off a game.

Good win, but as far as getting us ready for the playoffs, a big step backward. Our bench was so rancid in the first half, it never saw a second in the 2nd half. The only guy that came off the bench in the 2nd half was Sheed, who did not start due to a hand injury, and Flip Saunders wanting to limit his minutes some.

Chauncey Billups was the hero down the stretch, making two jumpers, two clutch free throws, then penetrating and dishing for assists or to get us to the line from there. For the game, CB was pretty darn brilliant. We got way up on Cleveland in the first half with him in as point. Too bad he has no backup on the team.

Webber got a couple of hook shots down early, made an outside jumper. And he continued to work the post. Sheed missed a few three's going for number 100 for the season. They mentioned that it is quite rare for a player to get 100 3's and 100 blocks in the same season. Sheed did it last year, and he still needs one more 3 made to do it this year. Now, in the 4th, Sheed started working the post and did wonders

I think Dyess just made one of his outside shots of several taken. That part of his game, most nights just hurts us. He has to hit a real high percentage of those shots before it actually helps. His outside shots never draw a foul, and never leave him in position for a rebound. He did do some damage inside also.

Rip started out hot and seemed to over the affects of that knock in the head / flu. Good to see him back.

Tay hit some outside shots and went inside some. He was a big factor in the 3rd quarter. And his defense on James was outstanding.

We got nothing at all from the bench. Saunders again paired up Hunter and Murray. This is a disastrous combination. A total of zero ball handling skills in the halfcourt between the two. JMAX got in their for a brief moment or two and did fine. Delfino got zero time in the backcourt for us. Other than bringing the ball up well a couple of times he contributed nothing. They did not even put him on James for a moment although we know from past games he does well defending him. Hey, but James was contained quite well for this game so that does not matter I guess.

Our bench, not counting Dyess nor Sheed, got one point. A sizeable lead did not totatlly disapear with the bench in, but it sure has heck killed all momentum we had by putting this completely inept unit on the floor. Too bad too, cause the national announcers were praising the recent play of the bench. Unlike the national announcers though, yes, I am concerned about what happened today, cause I know Flip is plotting somewhere in the back of his mind on how he can start his vacation quicker. I believe Flip is a loser, and this game just reinforced that notion quite a bit.

Might as well get the bench thing out of the way...
they somewhat set their own destiny with their poor production in the first half... Cleveland also rode their starters the whole game so there wasn't a disadvantage overplaying the starters... until tomorrow in NY.
I don't think the bench would have done a better job than the starters did taking their PT.... this was a huge step towards HCA.
Great 4th qtr by Sheed (why wait til the end?)... credit where due... he gives us the clear advantage in a playoff series with the Cavs.
How many steals did we have this game.

CB just upped his FA anti with this national TV showing.

We better beat the Cavs at home after three days rest and them coming off a game.

Mercury, Hunter, Murray, Delfino, and JMAX-none of them played over 5 minutes. Most of this time saw Murray and Hunter paired in the backcourt, resulting in Murray, lost as to what to do, trying some tough shots against Snow, a solid defender. Given the circumstances, just how could they have produced anything?

Mercury, Hunter, Murray, Delfino, and JMAX-none of them played over 5 minutes. Most of this time saw Murray and Hunter paired in the backcourt, resulting in Murray, lost as to what to do, trying some tough shots against Snow, a solid defender. Given the circumstances, just how could they have produced anything?
Like they did in other games

Like they did in other games Its happened in a very small handful of games. Remember, Hunter was injured to start the year. Then, when he came back, he completely displaced Murray in the rotation. Of these few games, there have been a couple of times where the combination managed to do well enough, but never that good except in one instance. Mostly, it has not worked.

I enjoyed this game a lot. I missed the first half so I never saw the bench play but I didn't feel like we needed it. Some games you want that bench in there. I didn't feel like this was one of those games. The team was doing a great job of focusing on Lebron. He got a few open shots but for the most part, they made it hard on him.

Dyess was great with his shooting and being active around the offensive bucket. Sheed scored like 8 straight from the post. The team moved a lot...even CB was cutting. Rip was very aggressive.

The one thing I'd really like to see a LLLLLOOOOOTTTTT more of is Rip and Tay out on the open court running. IMO, that's where Tay excels.

Its happened in a very small handful of games. Remember, Hunter was injured to start the year. Then, when he came back, he completely displaced Murray in the rotation. Of these few games, there have been a couple of times where the combination managed to do well enough, but never that good except in one instance. Mostly, it has not worked.
While these two players combined is not the ideal match-up we have to look at our alternatives... you may choose to make your playoff bed with an untried rookie (Blaylock) I would prefer to go with a guy that has some experience... whether or not the Blaylock shun is legit... it's too late to gamble... this is not a Michael Curry/ Tayshaun situation where everyone knew that Curry was a waste of pine.
Who knows... with a little more time together we might have a Pit bull reincarnation.

Classic Sheed. Sheed has that Ali swagger in his quotes.

McDyess started ahead of Rasheed Wallace (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3006/), whose playing time Saunders said he wants to limit because of a hyperextended finger on his left (non-shooting) hand.
"I tried to be aggressive and it worked to my advantage," McDyess said.

Wallace scored the first four points of the fourth quarter after being held scoreless and finished with 10 points. "I didn't miss no practice so I don't know what it was for," he said. "Y'all gotta ask Flip. ... I was out there. I'm cooler than a fan."

While these two players combined is not the ideal match-up we have to look at our alternatives... you may choose to make your playoff bed with an untried rookie (Blaylock) I would prefer to go with a guy that has some experience... whether or not the Blaylock shun is legit... it's too late to gamble... this is not a Michael Curry/ Tayshaun situation where everyone knew that Curry was a waste of pine.
Who knows... with a little more time together we might have a Pit bull reincarnation.

Who would you go with, you did not say. Hunter? Ancient. No motor left. Yeah, he can still rally for some good stuff, but you better really watch his minutes. A defensive specialist, no more. Or do you like Flip Murray. Flip Murray played the point in highschool. So you want a highschool caliber point guard for the playoffs? Again, please let me know exactly who you want over a 4 year college player from a good program. Rookie or not, Blalock plays good D, can run the offense, can penetrate and dish consistently, and can even shoot if in he gets the in-game practice to get comfortable. By the way, was this your same take on Prince. Prince was another 4 year college player from a good program. Look, a lot of rookies these days do come straight out of highschool and give rookies in general a bad name. But like Prince, Blalock is ready. For a certainty, neither Hunter nor Murray ever will be ready to play point for us.

Who would you go with, you did not say. Hunter? Ancient. No motor left. Yeah, he can still rally for some good stuff, but you better really watch his minutes. A defensive specialist, no more. Or do you like Flip Murray. Flip Murray played the point in highschool. So you want a highschool caliber point guard for the playoffs? Again, please let me know exactly who you want over a 4 year college player from a good program. Rookie or not, Blalock plays good D, can run the offense, can penetrate and dish consistently, and can even shoot if in he gets the in-game practice to get comfortable. By the way, was this your same take on Prince. Prince was another 4 year college player from a good program. Look, a lot of rookies these days do come straight out of highschool and give rookies in general a bad name. But like Prince, Blalock is ready. For a certainty, neither Hunter nor Murray ever will be ready to play point for us.
This really should be in a different thread (ok with me if a mod moves this PG discussion)... I think Hunter is fine for short stints at SG (not PG)... I have not been a supporter of Flip Jr... but he has demonstrated some PG skills recently... actually looking for the open man and less ball hogging... players can improve when they become more comfortable with a system... any open minded poster would also change opinions if the player showed improvement.
I'm not sure where all of this Blaylock pining is coming from... he hasn't shown much of anything... certainly hasn't shown he can hit the open J with any consistency...
If you're the opposing coach and the young kid misses his shots, what will you tell your team?... sag in and clog the lane... this hurts all of your post players game.... let's add the fact that he has zero playoff experience... yeah I'll take Hunter & Flip Jr instead if my playoff hopes depended on it.
Blaylock deserves every chance to win a roster spot next year... by then we may have the next can't miss 2nd rounder. lol

This really should be in a different thread (ok with me if a mod moves this PG discussion)... I think Hunter is fine for short stints at SG (not PG)... I have not been a supporter of Flip Jr... but he has demonstrated some PG skills recently... actually looking for the open man and less ball hogging... players can improve when they become more comfortable with a system... any open minded poster would also change opinions if the player showed improvement.
I'm not sure where all of this Blaylock pining is coming from... he hasn't shown much of anything... certainly hasn't shown he can hit the open J with any consistency...
If you're the opposing coach and the young kid misses his shots, what will you tell your team?... sag in and clog the lane... this hurts all of your post players game.... let's add the fact that he has zero playoff experience... yeah I'll take Hunter & Flip Jr instead if my playoff hopes depended on it.
Blaylock deserves every chance to win a roster spot next year... by then we may have the next can't miss 2nd rounder. lol

Blalock knocked down 9-14 in his last game. And in the preseason, before Flip iced him for a good long, long time on the bench, there was no problem with Blalock's shot. Nine for 14. Seems open minded posters here could change their opinions. Me, first I watched Murray fall out of the rotation after never giving any effort on defense, save against Minny when he thought he might get traded there. Then I saw him get another chance and do well the first four games. Then I saw a big dropoff in effort, continuing to this game today. Some of this was going thru the flu, but I belive most of it is just Flip Murray being Flip Murray, whenever he can get away with it. And the Flip Murray he wants to be, I don't like. PS, open minded or not, I watch every game a 2nd time to check my observations. This one, I have already watched twice. Murray does not belong playing point for us.

As for this going to a different thread, I strongly disagree. In this game, we saw no bench in the 2nd half, and a non-functional one in the first half. I say its Flip's choice in who he uses as backup point. Lessons learned from a game certainly belong in that games thread.

It's nice to see two of my old compadres debating in such a civil manner.

Just goes to show that we can all get along.

This was a good win. The kind the Pistons can build momentum on.

I'm concerned about tired starters and injuries though.

It's nice to see two of my old compadres debating in such a civil manner.

Just goes to show that we can all get along.

This was a good win. The kind the Pistons can build momentum on.

I'm concerned about tired starters and injuries though.

Hey, we have to get along or you would ban us. lol. As for this game building momentum, I see it as the opposite. But I will withhold judgement until I see how Flip Saunders uses his bench on the tail end of this back to back set tomorro night vs. NY.

Blalock knocked down 9-14 in his last game. And in the preseason, before Flip iced him for a good long, long time on the bench, there was no problem with Blalock's shot. Nine for 14. Seems open minded posters here could change their opinions. Me, first I watched Murray fall out of the rotation after never giving any effort on defense, save against Minny when he thought he might get traded there. Then I saw him get another chance and do well the first four games. Then I saw a big dropoff in effort, continuing to this game today. Some of this was going thru the flu, but I belive most of it is just Flip Murray being Flip Murray, whenever he can get away with it. And the Flip Murray he wants to be, I don't like. PS, open minded or not, I watch every game a 2nd time to check my observations. This one, I have already watched twice. Murray does not belong playing point for us.
Yes Blaylock had his first good shooting game against D-Leage defenders (he's almost up to 37% now lol)... how many of those shots were from the perimeter?
But thank you for your expert player analysis...
BTW how is Pepe Sanchez & RW doing on their teams in the NBA?... CBA?...YMCA?

Yes Blaylock had his first good shooting game against D-Leage defenders (he's almost up to 37% now lol)... how many of those shots were from the perimeter?
But thank you for your expert player analysis...
BTW how is Pepe Sanchez & RW doing on their teams in the NBA?... CBA?...YMCA?


Wrong thread for that for sure. As for Blalock, like I said, he had no problem with his shot in preseason, against NBA players. How many were outside shots, I did not see the game. But I do know he hit a clutch jumper in the last minute to tie the game in the one Skyforce game I watched from about a week ago. In that game, Blalock was taking shots, though missing them, cause he needs the practice, and that is what he is down there for. I would be more than willing to bet you an I told you so that several of those makes were outside shots. And if they were not, getting to the basket for 9 layups in itself would be pretty impressive.

:6shoot: Yessir one "I told ya so" at high noon (cue the good, bad & ugly)... I'll meet ya at the corner of Broken Dreams and Brickshot.

Hopefully Blaylock will get a decent opportunity next year... I'll be pullin' for the kid.

To answer your earlier question "who would you rather have".... Barbosa... this is the guy I was hoping we would draft instead of Delfino.
Heck even Frank Williams is doing ok with the Skyforce.

"Unlike the national announcers though, yes, I am concerned about what happened today, cause I know Flip is plotting somewhere in the back of his mind on how he can start his vacation quicker. I believe Flip is a loser, and this game just reinforced that notion quite a bit." ~Lee356(?)

Eh?

Lee has a very active imagination.

"If you play well, and you lose the ballgame, you can be satisfied," said James, who made all nine of his free throws before missing two in the final minute. "We gave ourselves a chance to win against Miami, and we gave ourselves a chance tonight. That's what you look at."

Spoken like a true loser.:loser:

Hey team, why so down? We finished 2nd today. That ain't too shabby.

Slavemaster Bron only gets upset when his Nike check is late.

The team had four days rest and the coach wanted to get his key guys ready. I am ok with the minutes today. Now we can coast with the number one seed.

I am uncomfortable in that we were not handily beating Cleveland with a lot in our favor today. They hung around. We have let Chicago outplay us this year and the Spurs have beat us fairly soundly. We will be all out to beat a Miami with a Wade at 85%.

We are the only elite team that is hard to rate. I have watched the Pistons all year and can't figure out the team's level. I have caught glimpes of brillance but certain weaknesses/tendencies persist.

We still had that drought in the 2nd quarter.

We still allow too much penetration by dribblers at times.

Our guys seemed relaxed which is a good sign. They think that they think that they are still special so I am going on that. But the evidence is murky. Bring on the playoffs already. Has this team just coasted this year or have they taken a step backward stemming from last year's finals? Can they overcome not having Ben in the playoffs? Can Webber give more than he has been giving lately (is he coasting?). I am positive on the team but they must now go out and prove it. Can they take their game to another level?

So the Bulls, Heat & Cavs all lost tonight... looks like a restfull night.
Dwade played tonight

Main thing is locking up that #1 seed so the starters can rest next week. 6 more games to go with Phil, Tor and Boston as the final 3 games in which the bench can play most of the mins.

Thing is overall the team played better when Murray was out and Delfino was in. I know Murray had a couple of good games and all but he will do that sometimes. Does not mean you have to play him every game.

AFAIK, we did not lock up the #1 seed. Chicago is 4 games back, with 4 of their games to play, and 6 of ours.

Hopefully we lock it up tomorrow night.

So the Bulls, Heat & Cavs all lost tonight... looks like a restfull night.
Dwade played tonight


Nocioni and Wade return and both of their teams lose. Dwade had six TO's...maybe it takes 4 weeks for him to get his act together and they get bounced in the second round!!:)

Pistons magic #2 with six games to go!:cheerleader:

Main thing is locking up that #1 seed so the starters can rest next week. 6 more games to go with Phil, Tor and Boston as the final 3 games in which the bench can play most of the mins.

Thing is overall the team played better when Murray was out and Delfino was in. I know Murray had a couple of good games and all but he will do that sometimes. Does not mean you have to play him every game.
Absolutely... in effect we will be playing the bench more (later) by playing them less this game... hopefully we'll get an overdose of bench PT the last three games.
I just hope our starters don't go into the playoffs rusty like last year... I'd like to see them play decent minutes the last game of the season.

Nocioni and Wade return and both of their teams lose. Dwade had six TO's...maybe it takes 4 weeks for him to get his act together and they get bounced in the second round!!:)

Pistons magic #2 with six games to go!:cheerleader:

Yeah, and he also had a near triple double in short minutes. And he got hit hard, by a huge center, in that arm. That hurt.

he also had a near triple double in short minutes.

i thought he was 7 rebounds away from a triple double? you must be talking about his turnovers, he was 4 away from a 10 in that respect. pretty good for a first game back from a dislocation.

was it really a dislocation?

“If you play well, and you lose the ballgame, you can be satisfied,” said James, who made all nine of his free throws before missing two in the final minute. “We gave ourselves a chance to win against Miami, and we gave ourselves a chance tonight. That’s what you look at.”

Spoken like a man who will never get past the conference finals.

i thought he was 7 rebounds away from a triple double? you must be talking about his turnovers, he was 4 away from a 10 in that respect. pretty good for a first game back from a dislocation.

was it really a dislocation?

Yep, Wade only had 3 rebounds, but had 6 turns. Anyway, I went by what the announcers said, not the boxscore. I only watched the 2nd half of the game. At one point the announcers said he had 8 rebounds to go with his 12 points. Obviously they meant to say 8 assists. Later they mentioned 8 assists and never retracted the 8 rebound thing. Oh well.

LeBrick.

lebron is now 0-12 from 3-point range with less than 2 minutes to go in the game, and the score for both teams within 3 points of each other.

there were quite a few cavs fans at the game - i counted 15 charter buses in the parking lot. pretty impressive - you can tell they are desperate to become a contending team because they were pretty spirited and had no problems bantering with pistons' fans (are walking at the entrance to sections and yelling GO CAVS really loudly). funny how you never see anyone with a jersey other than lebron's. it was mostly young people, but there was one lonesome old man with a nice cavs leather jacket, jersey, pants, hat, etc. who walked out after everyone had left. he's probably been a fan for life and, poor guy, hasn't gotten to see a championship. but he won't be seeing one this year either, so NEENER NEENER NEENER!!

after the game the banter between pistons and cavs fans ensued in the parking lot. the one i remember is someone yelling "GO BACK TO CLEVELAND", and hearing a response of "YOU STILL HAVE FLIP!!"

and yeah. everything else has pretty much been gone over. not too worried about the starters all playing the 2nd half since we had a lot of rest, we need to get our starters back in sync with each other, this was nationally televised with long timeouts (and a 16-minute halftime instead of 12), and this game was far more important than our game with the knicks.

if sheed didn't get hurt last year, and if no one gets hurt this year, we should make quick work of the cavs.

lebron was booed heavily during his first few touches. the crowd was pretty good, but also pretty quiet at times - especially during the 2nd quarter, and even late in the 4th when everyone was waiting for crunch time.

not too worried about the starters all playing the 2nd half since we had a lot of rest, we need to get our starters back in sync with each other, this was nationally televised with long timeouts (and a 16-minute halftime instead of 12), and this game was far more important than our game with the knicks.
SOLID W.H.

I'm surprised the Ira Newble jerseys don't fly off the shelf in Cleveland. :nerd2:

"NEENER, NEENER, NEENER"

lol Pistons fans are as classy as they come.

oh yeah i forgot the best part. after the game there was an old man walking through the aisle to leave the section. no joke, he had one hand on his crotch and just squeezed his junk repeatedly, like he was trying to get juice to come out of an orange or something. completely random, completely blatant, and completely hilarious.

oh yeah i forgot the best part. after the game there was an old man walking through the aisle to leave the section. no joke, he had one hand on his crotch and just squeezed his junk repeatedly, like he was trying to get juice to come out of an orange or something. completely random, completely blatant, and completely hilarious.


And with these comments, that closes this thread:movingon: :laugh:

Nice try Nero. Too many points
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Old dude probably had 6 beers in him. You do the math.
Shot of the nite... Bup-Bup one legged 16 footer.