04/13/2007
7:00pm

@ Toronto

NAT : NBALP
LOC : FSN Detroit
RADIO : 1130 WDFN AM

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We don't need this win, so maybe we play some backups. I'd like to see how we'd do against these guys going full bore.................

Prediction: Raptors win 96-88:stirthepot:

well, 3 friends and i are taking a little road trip across port huron tomorrow and going to the game. we'll be behind the basket closest to the pistons, row 8. i'll have my blue tayshaun jersey and red shirt, my buddy will have his blue chauncey jersey on. look for us!!

anyone else goin?

well, 3 friends and i are taking a little road trip across port huron tomorrow and going to the game. we'll be behind the basket closest to the pistons, row 8. i'll have my blue tayshaun jersey and red shirt, my buddy will have his blue chauncey jersey on. look for us!!

anyone else goin?

I am going to the Philly game Sunday, and Toronto on Tuesday. Hope to catch you at the Palace someday.

PLAY AMIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This will be the last live televised regular Pistons game here, but I hate to find out that I must be on the road by the game time to-morrow morning and, you know, we don't have WDFN here. Will check the recorded game on screen tomorrow evening and enjoy our young players' game, uhm . . . will he play them ?

I'm 5 kinds of excited that the bench is going to get some playing time these next few games. I just read that the Pistons recalled Amir! I've never thought I'd be this stoked about a Pistons-Raptors game!

Although we don't need this win and the starters are going to get some much deserved rest, I believe Detroit shall be victorious. Final score: 98-93.

Chat is open!!!

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

Great shot on the Toronto feed at the end of the game, Anthony Parker and Kris Humphries running down the tunnel back to the locker room, and in the corner of the shot, Brian Colangelo is high fiving his guys. He tries to get out of the camera's view, but for a fraction of a second you can see it is him.

I like stuff like that.

Bench played in the 2nd and 4th.

A lot of Pistons played bad and we were in it until the very end.

Meaningless game, no one got hurt, CB didn't play.

I'm sure someone else will add more.

I don't care what anyone says. I don't like giving away any games. We had these guys down and Flip went with the scrubs for the last 10 minutes and they were outscored 23-7 to close it out. You knew the scrubs were not going to hold the lead. This proves for certain that Hunter cannot lead a team down the stretch as we stalled when he entered the game.

At least he could have left in Dice or Flip jr. for offense, but for at least 3-4 minutes it was all about Delfino and everyone else watched. (3-9 for shooting ouch). CWebb was atrocius out there too going 1-9.

Lets just hope they can please the home fans with a couple of wins in these last 2 remaining games there.

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...and the Pistons go to Ronald Dupree...

You know, the bench did ok. Good enough anyway. But playing Dupree? That was maybe the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak. I will not blame the loss on Dupree of course, but man, we could have dressed Dale Davis and be talking about a Piston win right now.

Message to Joe Dumars. Anyone who wants to see the Pistons win it all this year, get this message to him somehow. Call on the radio. Whatever. We have no backup point guard. Bring up Blalock, it will improve the team by a lot.

Our point guard play varied. First, nothing whatsover from Flip Murray the first five minutes of the game. He finally did get to the line, and missed both free throws. Oh well, at least it was the first ok he did in the game to that point. Flip Saunders went to a zone about then to hide Flip Murray's poor D, which worked, and Flip Murray rallied to play decent as a point guard for a while. We started a major run. The zone held extrememely well.

Then Hunter came in, and struggled. But then he rallied to do a few good things. Trouble. Then Flip came back in and we had a Flip Murray, Hunter backcourt. Again, we stalled out at first, but then rallied a bit with the same backcourt.

Then came the 2nd half. Flip Murray and Hunter had used up all their tricks. Absolutely horrid play from both point guards in the 2nd half. Flip Murray could not play D at all and we used the zone less.

Anyone that understands the playoffs knows this, the other team has like 7 games to adjust to what you are doing. Hunter and Flip's bags of tricks are very limited, we are going to get killed in the playoffs whenever Billups sits. Foul trouble or injury to Billups will lead to disaster.

Meanwhile, down in the D-league, we have an actual point guard, a four year college player from a good program, just playing minor league ball.

What we could have been seeing all nite long is Blalock getting inside their defense and giving us easy shots. And Blalock often finishing himself with a bucket. More next post.

Amir did ok. Only one bucket, on a cut to the basket. Of note, this was one of a couple of good passes from JMAX. Amir got two blocks, but I don't know if the official scorer gave them to him. One time Blaha announced Tay had stole the ball, but Amir had snaked his long arm around and blocked the ball to Tay. The next block Blaha initially credited to JMAX, but later gave Amir some credit at least. But it was Amir. Amir also had a steal. On defense, he was very active. He chose the wrong direction here and there, which is natural when you are finding out your role, but he was always moving his feet.

We lost the game on a missed call by the officials. Toronto kicked the ball. Now of course JMAX then proceeded to throw away the pass after picking up the ball, but the kicked ball should have been called.

JMAX did not have a great game. OK, not great. Part of that is real simple. Those post shots he took tonight, he should have been taking those shots all season long in game time conditions. He still managed to do some damage around the boards. And upon review, I see that shot Amir Johnson offensively goal tended was going to go in.

Dyess played a lot in this one, shot 4 for 5 in the first half and kept up some pretty good shooting in the 2nd half.

Rip was on fire, moving very well to use picks and screens. 24 points in 26 minutes ain't bad. He is ready. Sit him next game. Bring up Blalock. Billups is suppose to play Sunday from what Blaha said. Billups did not dress for this game.

Tay hit some threes, but he looked exhausted in the 2nd half. He probably should have came out sooner. Of note, Amir Johnson played as a small forward in this game, usually playing with Dyess and JMAX. Now put Delfino at shooting guard and you got something.

Forgot to mention the offensive rebound off a missed free throw by Amir. Expect that a lot with this pogo stick of a player.

Webber did not do much. Played too long. I know they say he needs to play himself back into shape right now, but just maybe he needs a game off. Maybe rest is what he really needs. Having the flu ain't no picnic. Webber and Flip Murray did connect on a couple of plays, each giving the other an easy score inside.

Delfino had a brief good stretch in the 2nd quarter, getting inside for some scoring. He missed all his outside shots. But he needs the practice so I say keep shooting. He tried in vain to help with the ball handling skills, but hey, you really need two guards out there who know what they are doing for things to work. Delfino alone can't fix how bad Murray and Hunter are as point guards.

All in all, disregarding two things, not having a point guard and letting Dupree play, Flip coached a good game. The bench needs the practice, and it got a lot of it. The starters got some burn to keep reasonably sharp. Only three games left, still time to fix our main problem, having no backup point. GO PISTONS!!!!!

Dupree has been watching from the bench all year - usually in street clothes. He cheers on his teammates, doesn't complain and works hard in practice.

I don't mind Flip throwing him a bone in a meaningless game at the end of the regular season when we have nothing to prove.

Once playoff time comes, the next time Super DNP touches his uniform will be to clean out his locker.

Dupree has been watching from the bench all year - usually in street clothes. He chears on his teammates, doesn't complain and works hard in practice.

I don't mind Flip throwing him a bone in a meaningless game at the end of the regular season when we have nothing to prove.

Once playoff time comes, the next time Super DNP touches his uniform will be to clean out his locker.

It would have been nice to see Amir & company be part of a win, but like you said, that game really means little. Amir will have to settle for the fact that he was part of that very good defensive stand in the 2nd quarter.

Amir really didn't look comfortable out there. His dribbling was shaky. Good D, though. Amir stuffed Neck-4. I don't see why everyone's hating on Lindsey. Delfino was the goat, in my mind. He takes too long to make simple post-feeds and swing-passes.

Amir really didn't look comfortable out there. His dribbling was shaky. Good D, though. Amir stuffed Neck-4. I don't see why everyone's hating on Lindsey. Delfino was the goat, in my mind. He takes too long to make simple post-feeds and swing-passes.

The point guard perhaps should do something? Remember this, Kelser loves to point out faults with Delfino. Delfino could have tried to make that post pass, but it was not so clear whether it would have gotten thru. I guarantee you, if Delfino attempts a post pass, and it gets stolen, a whole lot of people would choose to hate on him for that. A point guard is suppose to get inside the defense and get an easy score for a teammate. Delfino did so late in the game, setting up Hunter for that three. Where were the setups from our supposed point guard? Between Flip and Hunter in that 2nd half, there was practically no point guard play at all from either of the guys Saunders has chosen for that duty.

I have no problem with Flips decisions here. If Billups was not hurt then he would have played all the starters for about 1/2 the game and used the bench for the other half.

These 4 games are a great opportunity to test the bench under real conditions. You can't get this kind of competition level in the pre-season. If the team improves by giving the bench guys some extra burn then its only going to help us in the post-season. Plus we get to see if Amir is ready for next season.

Up next are one more with TOR and BOS,Philly so we will not lose them all and the bench may actually improve.

The TOR starters could not hang with the Pistons starters ( minus Billups ) so the Raps had to realize that.

The point guard perhaps should do something? Remember this, Kelser loves to point out faults with Delfino. Delfino could have tried to make that post pass, but it was not so clear whether it would have gotten thru. I guarantee you, if Delfino attempts a post pass, and it gets stolen, a whole lot of people would choose to hate on him for that. A point guard is suppose to get inside the defense and get an easy score for a teammate. Delfino did so late in the game, setting up Hunter for that three. Where were the setups from our supposed point guard? Between Flip and Hunter in that 2nd half, there was practically no point guard play at all from either of the guys Saunders has chosen for that duty.

Sure. But, you've forgotten about Carlos' shot selection and pass-to-an-invisible-person in the fourth quarter that led to a SC violation. Carlos is as inconsistent as Rasheed, it seems. How is Lindsey supposed to help Carlos make a swing-pass? Maybe Lindsey's problem is that he doesn't tell Carlos to not take three-pointers four seconds into the shot clock. I really don't care about what Kelser says. I've never actually heard him talk about Carlos' faults. Most post-feeds are never entirely clear. But you're right about Carlos setting Lindsey up for that three-- and Lindsey actually made it. I'm a Carlos supporter, . . I just get confused at times over what goes through his mind when he dribbles the ball around the perimeter for ten seconds and then decides to pass the ball to someone in a position similar to his own.

The TOR starters could not hang with the Pistons starters ( minus Billups ) so the Raps had to realize that.

The TOR starters could barely hang with our bench. I was reading over some of the Toronto boards' post-game reaction, and . . well, . . most of the conversation amounted to Detroit's bench being just as good as our starters. Riight. Friggin' Dinosaur-fans.

I just got thru watchin the game DVR style, so let me say this on behalf of my $11 bottle of wine..THE RAPTORS ARE A BAUNCH OF NO CLASS PUNKS.!!!! They left Bosh and Ford in and back in my day, I would have went John stockton/Karl malone on both of them. Then the bench and fans and PA announcers actin like they have no clue who we have in the game. A 40 yr old PG, a Spaniard goatee wearing girl, A NBDL allstar, A jr college hustler-rusler and Ronald " givme a mudda frickinbreak" Dupree!!!!!!!!!!!! I am not mad we lost...Im mad Toronto won! I want them in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd round. i want to baste their behinds like A SOUTHERN HAM!!! They umpin around like they gave their daughters a 17-0 lead and won 19-17. I WANT THEM BACK!!!!!!!!!!

Normally Kelser loves to go on and on and on and on about how wonderful Delfino is.

I listened to the Toronto feed. Their announcers are far superior to ours. Less marketing of Air Canada Centre events and more in depth discussion on the opponent. In this situation it was the Pistons and I love to listen to even-handed 3rd party opinions of the Pistons.

For example, the Raptors had this video in their pregame. It was a look back at the last time the Raps were in the playoffs, against Detroit. I remember that series well including the missed shot as the Pistons eliminated Toronto.

WARNING! Uncle Cliffy, Damon Jones, Jon Barry and Michael Curry make appearances in this video. Not safe for children. ;)

YouTube - Raptors Pistons Retrospective (http://youtube.com/watch?v=HNa2tWhamXA)

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Normally Kelser loves to go on and on and on and on about how wonderful
Delfino is.

I listened to the Toronto feed. Their announcers are far superior to ours. Less marketing of Air Canada Centre events and more in depth discussion on the opponent. In this situation it was the Pistons and I love to listen toeven-handed 3rd party opinions of the Pistons. OH YEAH...thats whaqt else ticked me off. Why wasnt Kelser goin off on Mitchell for leving his starters in? Surely that suckup Blaha would have followed his lead. Mahorn needs to switch to TV or we need to get Versace back. Kelser wont stand up for this franchise(other tahn they pay him to) because we got rid of him for a player who number hangs in history. I hate our TV production staff and I hope tonite was a good indicator to u all of why.....



...and BTW, OB Won Kenobi just cut Anikan's legs off...again....


i love this movie..:jedi2: :darthvader: =:starwars:= :yo: me

Sure. But, you've forgotten about Carlos' shot selection and pass-to-an-invisible-person in the fourth quarter that led to a SC violation. Carlos is as inconsistent as Rasheed, it seems. How is Lindsey supposed to help Carlos make a swing-pass? Maybe Lindsey's problem is that he doesn't tell Carlos to not take three-pointers four seconds into the shot clock. I really don't care about what Kelser says. I've never actually heard him talk about Carlos' faults. Most post-feeds are never entirely clear. But you're right about Carlos setting Lindsey up for that three-- and Lindsey actually made it. I'm a Carlos supporter, . . I just get confused at times over what goes through his mind when he dribbles the ball around the perimeter for ten seconds and then decides to pass the ball to someone in a position similar to his own.

We scored virtually nothing in the 4th quarter. Meanwhile, Carlos Delfino most certainly needs some practice taking shots. No way I am going to fault Carlos for taking a shot. Especially when the point guards we chose to use so often choose those very same early shots. Sure Carlos made some mistakes, and for sure he could not have a worse outside shooting game, but no, when the ball handling is non-existent, I am not going to blame the offguard-I am going to blame the point guard, the guy who is suppose to be running the show.

Carlos is not the goat in this one because the Pistons simply did not try to win this game. That's another discussion for another thread.

But one thing consistently is an issue for Delfino, and to a lesser extent Maxiell. They are both very one dimensional offensively.

Maxiell has one move in the post and scores many of his points on putbacks. His jumper is underdeveloped and he is not extending his range like he did in college.

Delfino doesn't have a go to move. No cross over dribble. No turnaround jumper. No post up moves. As long as he relies on spot up jumpers and the odd drive into traffic for points, his scoring won't be consistent.

Both are great at finishing on the break, but neither is polished enough to start and contribute consistently for a good team.

Now both guys are young, but time is starting to tick off the clock for Delf. He's going into his 4th season and at this point, Tay could post up (albeit one handed), shoot the jumper decently and run the break. And we always want more, with more consistency from Tay.

Sometimes some of you people make me feel ashamed to call myself a Pistons fan.

We're all proud Pistons fans POP. We take the business of losing seriously, perhaps too seriously sometimes.

Carlos is not the goat in this one because the Pistons simply did not try to win this game. That's another discussion for another thread.

But one thing consistently is an issue for Delfino, and to a lesser extent Maxiell. They are both very one dimensional offensively.

Maxiell has one move in the post and scores many of his points on putbacks. His jumper is underdeveloped and he is not extending his range like he did in college.

Delfino doesn't have a go to move. No cross over dribble. No turnaround jumper. No post up moves. As long as he relies on spot up jumpers and the odd drive into traffic for points, his scoring won't be consistent.

Both are great at finishing on the break, but neither is polished enough to start and contribute consistently for a good team.

Now both guys are young, but time is starting to tick off the clock for Delf. He's going into his 4th season and at this point, Tay could post up (albeit one handed), shoot the jumper decently and run the break. And we always want more, with more consistency from Tay.

First, this is Delfino's first full year for us completely over the knee surgeries. Tay has had thousands more minutes, and myriads more shots, vs. Delfino over the past few years. Certainly not comparing apples to apples here.

Second, Delfino can shoot the three,and can drive in. He also moves well without the ball, and knows how to move with the ball quite well too. Plus he plays solid D. A very well rounded player with skills on both ends of the floor. Lots of them. More will become obvious to you if he ever gets more regular minutes, and a more established role.

On JMAX, he has a great jumper. He has lots of moves. But he has only played 800 minutes this year, much of the time with inept point guards. Be patient, you will get to, someday or another, see what Maxiell can do.

Lee, would you say that Delfino is a bigger offensive and/or defensive threat than Tay was in his second season?

I dunno. I'm old school. I sucked at free throws until I spent an entire summer shooting them. I had to build up muscle memory and comfort.

Maxiell has a lot of untapped potential. But the onus is on him to tap it. You don't get heavy minutes unless you have something to contribute, or your team is not planning to make the playoffs and will spend a season or two developing young guys.

Likewise with Delfino. If he can get some more consistency with his jumper, and maybe develop a back to the basket move, he would be a tremendous asset. His energy and hustle are (usually) decent to very good.

Some games, Delf will be feeling it and hit his shots open, guarded or otherwise. But on the nights he isn't, he becomes a liability. An NBA player must be able to create his own shot, either from post up position or the perimeter.

Saw the second half. Was unimpressed with our young guys. I mean in the 4th, it looked like only Hunter was going to get us points, Hunter.

JMax has not moved up since early in the year offensively. Delfino can't carry a group like this. He is better with the starters. Several times he had the ball and did nothing to create. He is a "flow" player. Did not see enough of Amir.

Hey, just waiting for the playoffs. Watched a bit of Wade tonight scouting them out.

Saw the second half. Was unimpressed with our young guys. I mean in the 4th, it looked like only Hunter was going to get us points, Hunter.

JMax has not moved up since early in the year offensively. Delfino can't carry a group like this. He is better with the starters. Several times he had the ball and did nothing to create. He is a "flow" player. Did not see enough of Amir.

Hey, just waiting for the playoffs. Watched a bit of Wade tonight scouting them out.

Sometimes it helps to know what you don't have. If Jmax cannot carry the load next season then its best to know now before the summer.

Ros - Never heard the TOR announcers so I can't comment. I know our guys are homers but I have been listening to them for so long that they seem like old friends. Blaha and Kelser were always my favorites so its been very enjoyable with them teamed up together.

Kelser does give you more insight than most guys do. It is mainly about the Pistons but thats because we are good and the team can stand on its own in keeping the audience. There was a time when they did talk up the other team more to keep people interested.

Just watched this thing rapid fire on the DVR after a long night bar hopping in Chi-Town.

Overall impression... Toronto got lucky as hell as the end. Banking in a 3 pointer? Amir Johnson goal tends Maxiel's shot, which was good as in. Then Linsdey dribbles the ball off somebody's heel.

Whatever. Good learning experience for Amir.

Except... it was a little weird watching Delfino try to create for himself over and over... bad idea. I like Delfino and all, but he just wasn't passing the ball to the new kid.

I can watch 4 more of these before the real season begins.


Rip and Dyess were money, so we got that going for us.

Toronto Star's version of the game:

TheStar.com - Sports - Raptors pull one out (http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/203091)

Lee, would you say that Delfino is a bigger offensive and/or defensive threat than Tay was in his second season?

I dunno. I'm old school. I sucked at free throws until I spent an entire summer shooting them. I had to build up muscle memory and comfort.

Maxiell has a lot of untapped potential. But the onus is on him to tap it. You don't get heavy minutes unless you have something to contribute, or your team is not planning to make the playoffs and will spend a season or two developing young guys.

Likewise with Delfino. If he can get some more consistency with his jumper, and maybe develop a back to the basket move, he would be a tremendous asset. His energy and hustle are (usually) decent to very good.

Some games, Delf will be feeling it and hit his shots open, guarded or otherwise. But on the nights he isn't, he becomes a liability. An NBA player must be able to create his own shot, either from post up position or the perimeter.

On free throws. I played a lot of cut-throat. You make a basket, and then you shoot free throws. If you make your three free throws, you get the ball out for the next play. I got to 100% on free throws. So did the other guy who was always one of the captains when we chose sides for five on five. The solution was they kept moving the free throw line back until we were shooting double length free throws. Otherwise, we could not keep the other guys interested in playing. (Not to much fun if me or the one other guy won every game.)

Now for Delfino. Tay was very passive in his first full year playing. He averaged about 10 points a game I believe, with starters minutes. Delfino, given the same starts, would have scored more. On defense, Tay was pretty good, but lacked the size to guard some of the more physical small forwards. Overall, Delfino is the better defender vs. what Tay was that year. While both players can help handle the ball, for the most part, you would rather have the ball in Delfino's hands cause that tends to make the ball move around a lot better.

One thing about Tay, we have virtually never used the guy as a shooting guard. If we had, it might have helped his scoring average some. With Amir and JMAX in as our two forwards a lot last night, it suggests we could now use Tay at shooting guard yet for this playoffs. Depending on who the opposing point is, you could then move Delfino to point. How about this: Delfino, Tay, Amir, JMAX, Dale Davis.

My first impression of Amir was that he does get pushed around down low (Bosh abuse)... and he hasn't experienced the type of help defense that goes on in the NBA....but it's just one blip on the radar. With a strength program this summer he should be able hold his ground better.
I just see this kid as a can't lose prospect... but it may take a couple years to blend his full game... I'd like to view him as a new lotto pick from this point forward... gotta get him signed first

I like the Raps announcers. They do seem to have a lot more knowledge of opposing teams and the game.

Blaha and Kelser also don't really add to the excitement as announcers, kind of bland and predictable, whereas someone like Kevin Calabro from the Sonics adds that extra oomph to the game. He is my fav commentator. Can make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.

You can hear him in action in this Shawn Kemp Top 10 Plays video. (All except plays 9 and 2)

YouTube - NBA Legend Shawn Kemp Top 10 Career Plays (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtwbI0_bU6o)

okay guys, better late than never on the hog-cap eh? it was a looong weekend (traveling to toronto then hitting the bull riding at the palace and softball practice sunday).

my friends and i got to the air canada centre about an hour before the game and were treated to excellent seats in the 8th row. the arena seems pretty crowded, as the seats feel on top of each other, whereas the palace is more wide open. Raptors TV was broadcasting from within the concourse and it was cool to see them have 4 guys dedicated to the game like it was ESPN or something. the place was pretty empty until game time, but it was completely full at tip-off. we really didn't get any heckling, and there were plenty of Pistons fans walking around.

now, last year the Palace had a deal where they would buy a section of tickets in a group. last year when my friends went, they said there were at least 50 people and the section was pretty loud. this year they sold 8 tickets total, and it was noticeable, as the Pistons fans were scattered around the arena and were pretty quiet throughout. at most we generated some laughs, as the toronto fans cheered loudly after a made free through, and then when he missed on the next shot we mimicked them. i truly believe there would've been more Pistons fans there, but they were all going to the Tigers game instead.

what was really interesting (and makes me remember what is so nice about being a Pistons fan) is that the Raptors were really, really proud of winning the Atlantic Conference. i saw at least a hundred fans wearing 'Atlantic Conference Champs' shirts, whereas we don't even bother printing that stuff up anymore. one nice thing about the Palace is the lack of advertising. the jumbotron here had constant advertisements both before and during the game.

as for the game itself, it was cool to see amir get some time, and he looked great in person. he immediately made 2-3 impact plays, although i forgot what they were...but in general, the way he fought for offensive boards and snatched them from other players (like bosh) was really impressive. he doesn't give up on plays and that was nice to see. he was blazing fast and in control for his size. that's not to say he was perfect - he bit on pumpfakes, ran out unnecessarily at times, and was pushed around by joey graham ... but that will come from experience and realizing he's not in the D-League anymore. you could also tell that joey graham had been looking forward to this game for a long time. he made it a point to get back at maxiell and had a sick posterizing dunk over him. i was actually pretty disappointed in max's play, which seemed forced...and he's going to have a hard time trying to be a starting power forward in this league. bosh owned him hardcore...granted bosh has a significant size and experience advantage, but that lack of size was definitely an issue.

no one is mentioning how awesome the bench played in the 2nd quarter, with a versatile lineup including amir at the 3 and delfino at the 2. toronto wanted to run, and we ran right back at them and beat them at their own game. i truly believe they could've won in the 4th, but the refs completely swallowed their whistle and called it one-sided ... then throw in the no-call on the kicked ball and the lucky banked 3-pointer, and that's the game there. it was great to get the bench some crunch time minutes, and also nice to get dupree in that situation for one game this year. other random points - tj ford can't shoot, and toronto will never beat us in a series as long as we have sheed guarding bosh and their guards remain terrible shooters. also flip murray couldn't contain ford or calderon to save his life. it was brutal to watch.

as for toronto, the crowd was fantastic. they really want to see a winner and are excited that their team has become good. they were easily silenced / frustrated by a couple of plays that went poorly, but they were very loud toward the end of the game. they didn't seem to care that their starters were barely winning the game against our bench. they were very loud and it will not be an easy place to play in the playoffs, but i will give credit to the Pistons bench, who played under control and were not really affected by this. but, once dice went out, we had absolutely zero go-to players for offensive production, and that showed. i mean, who are you going to get points from with a group of dupree, delfino, amir, max, and hunter?

again there was not much heckling after the game. a group of opposing fans were exchanging 'Let's go XXXX!' chants, but that's about it.

final notes about toronto:

- very cool city, especially being able to travel between the hotel and 'mall' section without going outside
- canadians love the word 'centre'
- it was nice to stay at the hotel while the 'model and talent search' was going on
- The Keg is a great place to eat and i highly recommend it for the food, atmosphere, and all of the tall blonde waitresses / hostesses
- lots of canadians are far more concerned about their appearance than in the US
- i should have pictures later, and i tried to get some good ones of the Lady Raptors who beat Automotion in the Dance Team playoffs
- that cop on the highway came out of nowhere!!!!