The Cavaliers travel to the Palace the day after going to overtime with the Celtics. The Cavs used only 8 players and all of the Cleveland starters went 40+ minutes:

James 46 min.
Pavlovic 43 min.
Gooden 43 min.
Gibson 41 min.
Ilgauskas 40 min.

Meanwhile, the Pistons have had the last two days off. We'll see if it makes a difference.

Game time : 7:30 eastern

The Cavaliers travel to the Palace the day after going to overtime with the Celtics. The Cavs used only 8 players and all of the Cleveland starters went 40+ minutes:

James 46 min.
Pavlovic 43 min.
Gooden 43 min.
Gibson 41 min.
Ilgauskas 40 min.

Meanwhile, the Pistons have had the last two days off. We'll see if it makes a difference.

Game time : 7:30 eastern

I noticed that and was waiting for this thread to be put up to comment on it. Even though there is a strong rivalry between the Cavs and Pistons I think the Cavs will also suffer some kind of emotional let down tomorrow after tonights win.

We have no excuse for not winning tomorrow.

:hoops:

Is Sheed scheduled to play in this one?

I noticed that and was waiting for this thread to be put up to comment on it. Even though there is a strong rivalry between the Cavs and Pistons I think the Cavs will also suffer some kind of emotional let down tomorrow after tonights win.

We have no excuse for not winning tomorrow.

:hoops:
Great game between the Celtics and Cavs...Agree that the real Pistons should be well rested enough to win this one as the Cavs should be playing off emotions and Fred McLeod's exhuberance, but the question is which Piston team will show up?? The one that is smarting from last years ouster or the passive one that played in last years ECF...:confused:

Knowing Detroit, knowing Lebron, knowing the kind of play they tend to do, well, I'll play the pessimist in this one.

Pistons give it away.

Gone are the guarantees, Sheed.

Well, surprise me Pistons. I'm never giving up. :nerd2:

Is Sheed scheduled to play in this one?

James back to bedevil Pistons (http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071128/SPORTS0102/711280374/1127)

Both Sheed & Rip is expected to play. Z will not have enough legs to last the whole game, Boobie and the rest would not have enough legs to shoot jumpers above 40%, no excuse to lose this game. Simply no excuse.

Hopefully, someone in the Piston uniform will make sure Gooden do not score more than 10 pts. He's been talking too much bout this rivalry.

We have no excuse for not winning tomorrow.

Which is precisely why they will probably allow some ballboy off the CLE bench to go for 30 tonight and come up short.

Damn I was kinda hoping Rip didn't play or they brought him off the bench due to the flu or something and Afflalo got the start. I really don't want to see Gibson or Pavlovic (sp?) go for 37.

I have a feeling this game will be painful. Luckily i have class from 6:30 to 9:20. The drive home after that should be enough time for me to miss the game. The last thing i need is getting home to us being down 2 points and Lebron dunking on somebody. I'm Tivo'ing and only watching if they win.

Memo to Flip, play the right ppl off the bench please.

edited to add;

I just read the article. Did Flip Saunders not watch the SAS/CLE series? They trapped James. He got the ball back, they trapped him again. DG dominated us b/c Chauncey Billups let him.

without varejao there to get flop calls i can't see us losing this game

without varejao there to get flop calls i can't see us losing this game


The way they looked vs the Celtics last night, them maybe one sideshow Bob away from returning to the ECF this year vs....the Celtics:yellowprison:

I don't want to be a pessimist, but we may have witnessed a the preview of the ECF last night.

However I will be an optimist here and say that the 2008 ECF matchup will be the Pistons vs Magic

The way they looked vs the Celtics last night, them maybe one sideshow Bob away from returning to the ECF this year vs....the Celtics:yellowprison:

I don't want to be a pessimist, but we may have witnessed a the preview of the ECF last night.

However I will be an optimist here and say that the 2008 ECF matchup will be the Pistons vs Magic

As I recall they didn't look any better last night in fact even worse than the Magic did when the Magic beat the Celtics in Florida, because it took the Cavs overtime to beat the Celtics whereas the Magic did it in regulation.

So I guess we will be looking at an ECF of the Magic vs the Cavs, which I think actually has a real possibility of happening.

:hoops:

the magic have 0 chance of getting to the ECF if they play detroit in the 1st or 2nd round

OMG, the NBA season is what? 13-15 games old and you guys are talking ECF already!!!!!!???


Relax folks, relax...............

Orlando started with a similar record last year I think.

I like their Ariza for Cook/Evans trade though.

OMG, the NBA season is what? 13-15 games old and you guys are talking ECF already!!!!!!???


Relax folks, relax...............


Remember that's how Sheed and Billups look at it too...these first 82 games mean nothing to them...:)

the magic have 0 chance of getting to the ECF if they play detroit in the 1st or 2nd round

Who has been to the ECF most recently Orlando or the Celtics?

I rest my case.

:hoops:

Chat is open!!!!

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

Only 25 points from the starting backcourt and the Pistons win by 35. I like seeing that. A lot.

With Lebron injuring his finger on a Nazr foul in the 2nd quarter and missing the entire 2nd half, the Pistons' starters pushed a 5 pt halftime lead out to almost 20 by the end of the 3rd, and then the 4th was garbage time on the way to a 35 point blowout. The Pistons did have great ball movement all night long, with 16 assists on 21 FGs in the first half, but the Cavs kept it close at that point thanks to a few lucky shots and star calls for LeMessiah. No doubt about the outcome once he got hurt, but it was encouraging to see the Pistons fiercely attacking through the lane in the 3rd quarter and wasting no time blowing it open once they got the chance.

By LARRY LAGE, AP Sports Writer
November 28, 2007

AP - Nov 28, 9:13 pm EST

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- LeBron James (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3704/;_ylt=AnXr1C1cSC0ucYWhQowB0HKQvLYF) did not duplicate his last performance at The Palace.

An injury wouldn't let him.

James sprained his left index finger in the second quarter Wednesday night, and did not return, and the Detroit Pistons (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/teams/det/;_ylt=AuQxzj5U8JnT2jDcTOTg.lOQvLYF) went on to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/teams/cle/;_ylt=ApUEo3yMZQV5MwFm01JEfIqQvLYF) 109-74 Wednesday night.

The Cavs said X-rays were negative, adding he would be evaluated again Thursday.

James returned to Cleveland's bench late in the third quarter, sporting a suit and turtleneck, with tape wrapped around his index and middle fingers on his non-shooting hand. Late in the half, ice was packed and wrapped briefly over his left hand.

He appeared to be injured with 4:41 left in the first half, when Detroit center Nazr Mohammed (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3272/;_ylt=Ah2p_OJMvaUJbPKR23J76ZKQvLYF) fouled him. James made both free throws and stayed in the game.

James had 15 points and three assists in the first half, accounting for more than one-third of the Cavs' points, in a rematch of the Eastern Conference finals.

He had been sensational recently, including Tuesday night in an overtime win over Boston, and entered the game averaging 31.7 points, 8.5 assists and eight rebounds a game this season.

When it comes to Cleveland vs Detroit this is just another example of how the media loves the Cavs and hates us. But then Lage has had a lifetime membership in the hate Pistons writers club for a long time.

Lage does eventually write a few words about us in the article. How lovely nice of him.

NBA - Cleveland Cavaliers/Detroit Pistons Recap Wednesday November 28, 2007 - Yahoo! Sports (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2007112808)

:hoops:

Tale of two halves. Close game in the first half. Bron is injured, and does not play the 2nd half. We win the 2nd half by 30.
Billups started out things on the right foot, posting up on Gibson. The post up theme just kept on going. And going, and going. Murray successfully posted up Gibson a couple of times. Rip worked the post a bit. Sheed a bit. Dyess some. Maxiell a lot.


Speaking of Maxiell. I, many others, noted last year how much better Maxiell did when he got playing time. Is he rebounding better now - sure he is. But its not because he got better. By playing a lot, he has just gotten more comfortable with his role. He is getting automatic on his short jumpers, and at the free throw line.


Neither Amir nor Afflalo got any playing time other than garbage time. Amir got to shoot a bit, working inside and scoring a few times. Made his free throw too. A meaningless dunk at the end of garbage time was his highlight.


Rip was hitting his shots. Tay was too plus getting inside on them. Did I mention he was posting up.


Hayes had a terrible game really. Sure he scored some points in the 2nd half when the game was not in doubt. So what. In the first half he gave us nothing, and gave Bron an easy way to score buckets.


Mohammed did not do much. Played quite a few minutes.


Hunter played backup point, while Murray played backup shooting guard. Hunter did ok on defense, and dished a few assists.


Ok, great we won a game. But another huge step backward in our preparation for the playoffs. Two straight games now without Amir nor Afflalo in the rotation. No Samb. Apparently Stuckey will be back soon. And Afflalo already is not playing. Not a good sign.

Not much to say on this one. 5 point halftime lead by Pistons that should have been 10. Nazr foul injures La Bron. if Nazr had played in game 3 of the EC finals and coincidentally caused the same foul, Pistons win series 4-0:)

The Pistons offense played well in the second half, and piled up 30 assists on 58% shoooting for the game....but with plenty of defensive boards and offensive opportunities with King James missing, who knows what the real outcome would have been. Either way it gave Flip Sr a chance to get more PT for his bench. ...even if it was in garbage time. Should have played the newbies earlier...

Hopefully La Bron's injury is not to serious.... I need his triple doubles for my fantasy team:)

Hayes had a terrible game really. Sure he scored some points in the 2nd half when the game was not in doubt. So what. In the first half he gave us nothing, and gave Bron an easy way to score buckets.

Mohammed did not do much. Played quite a few minutes.


Hayes: 4-6 FG, 1-1 3FG, 2 reb, 1 ass, 2 stl, 2 blk, 9 points in 18 minutes

Mohammed: 3-4 FG, 1-2 FT, 5 reb, 1 ass, 7 points in 19 minutes

And most important stat of Mohammed in this game: 1 injured LeBron.
:MusicBigGrin:

Jeez, you guys realize that we would have lost this game with LeBron in. He would have hung 38 points and we'd have lost by 3. Gaaaah.

:gun1:

We need more NazMo, the enforcer! The DECIDER!

Ok, great we won a game. But another huge step backward in our preparation for the playoffs. Two straight games now without Amir nor Afflalo in the rotation. No Samb. Apparently Stuckey will be back soon. And Afflalo already is not playing. Not a good sign.

I wonder if Flip is ever going to try Afflalo on LeBron or continue to let him light Hayes up or play Tay 48 min a game.

The fact that Afflalo is a stud, played well, was aggressive, and gets no playing time aggravates the hell out of me too (and him too i'm assuming)

If by the all star break, both those guys aren't getting solid important minutes something is seriously wrong.

Lebron = MVP

They really suck without him.


Every single Piston had a good game.

How about that pass from Murray to Mohammed? Who would ever think that combo would produce such a nice highlight.

Amir with some great athletic post moves. He was going left both times. Looked comfortable finishing with his left hand too.

Rip showing why he shouldn't be traded.

Dyess putting in another solid performance.

Maxiell grabbing rebounds for real.


Would have been a perfect game to put Samb in. Up 20+ in the 4th quarter at home against a team that has the MVP in a suit. If he doesn't get in this game, then they may as well ship him to the D-League.

Ok if we just base the game on the 1st half, it was real solid. Great ball movement and balanced scoring. Rip was moving off the ball, Tay and Dyess were also getting enough touches to contribute. We also held them to only 43 pts in the first half. The 2nd half we got to get extended mins for Amir and he played well. Some real positives in this game.

The one Big Negative was the fact that all of a sudden Flip wants to get Lindsey integrated into the system. WTF???? AA plays very good one game, the next game he gets limited mins (3mins) but still played solid ball, the next game he gets benched in favor of Lindsey until garbage time??? If we weren't blowng this team out he wasn't even going to play?? Man thats some BUUUULLL. I think it's clear Flip reads this site and wants all of us to know that AA is not going to get anywhere near the starting lineup, or become a regular rotation player. I guess he showed us.

On a side note, Rip looked good starting because he was moving off the ball, the team was SHARING the ball so Dyess and Tay didn't froze out. However Billups and Sheed probably had a night off.

I suspect that if it was completly up to Flip he would only play Flip Murray, Hunter, Hayes, Maxiel and Mohammed off the bench. He does not want to bother with young players.

Main problem is we would basically be swapping out Cwebb for Jarvis Hayes compared to last season and last seasons squad did not get it done.

A pattern is developing here. We will see once Stucky gets back if he can get a fair shot against Flip and Hunter.

Cavs sure are pathetic without Lebran.

Meaningless win unfortunately. Without Lebron they're probably the worst team in the league. Not to mention they were playing their 4th game in 5 nights (after an OT game to make it worse).

Nice move from Flip yanking Amir and Afflalo from the rotation entirely in favor of Hunter, Nazr, and more Flip Murray. Typical. If Lebron plays the 2nd half, Amir gets a 2nd DNP in a row, and we're lucky if Afflalo gets his usual 20 seconds to end the 3rd quarter. Flip lucked out that the Cavs packed it in, so now it looks like he made an attempt to play them.

Not sure why Flip Murray should ever be on the floor with Chauncey unless Rip is in a suit. And I hope Flip learned his lesson about putting Jarvis on Lebron. Probably not though.

Max looked great. 9/10 in 15 minutes. Amir finally got a chance to play some offense, and he showed a solid post game.

heh, sorry for the scattered thoughts.

I suspect that if it was completly up to Flip he would only play Flip Murray, Hunter, Hayes, Maxiel and Mohammed off the bench. He does not want to bother with young players.

Main problem is we would basically be swapping out Cwebb for Jarvis Hayes compared to last season and last seasons squad did not get it done.


Actually he is swapping out Webber for Nazr and Delfino for Hayes.

:hoops:

Antonio McDyess had 14 points, eight rebounds and two blocks off the benchNo James, no chance (http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071129/SPORTS0102/711290456/1127)

Who started then?

Pistons coach Flip Saunders agreed with that point.
"The one thing I noticed about both of those teams (Boston and Cleveland)," Saunders said, "was that neither team has a lot of depth. Both played their starters more than 40 minutes."

Gooden finds plenty of rivals on the court (http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071129/SPORTS0102/711290405/1127/SPORTS0102)

Even when we have more depth, you don't play them unless it's garbage time. Does Flip knows what he's talking about?

Just to get back to a couple of positives from this game, most of which were apparent in the first half even before LeBron got hurt:

-- Tay and Rip both had extremely productive nights in the same game, which hasn't happened much yet this season.

-- The ball movement was great, with almost every basket in the first half coming off an assist, so the isos were kept to a minimum. And the few they went to were usually productive, like when Flip Jr. backed down Boobie and torched him twice within the span of one minute or so in the 2nd quarter.

I thought Lindsey was actually being pretty disruptive on defense. I like to see him in there with that high energy annoying D.

But, I'd like to see this for about 5 minutes maybe once or twice a game. If he's forcing turnovers, let it ride, but if the other team deals with it, get him out of there.

At this point, he is a very unique role player.

Yeah, against teams with weak ball-handling second units, he could be useful for a few minutes here and there. Just don't use him as any sort of primary backup PG.

i don't really have anything to complain about, other than Hayes can't guard Lebron and as soon as Hayes entered the game, they went after him and scored some buckets.

In the first half, and especially the 1st quarter, we had a solid gameplan. Rip showed why he he's a starter, and was used in a way that actually played to his strengths, and he didn't force anything. I like how Tayshaun is being more aggressive and selfish, looking for his own offense and doing very well with it. When he gets in the lane that jump hook is money. We got payback on Gibson - got rid of his offense by making him play defense, and completely obliterating him. He shouldn't be running the point for that team. We gave Lebron a couple hard fouls, and Nazr did his job, and even gave the quote of the night after. Lindsey played well and really bothered the Cavs with the trap. It looked like we were giving Cleveland a taste of their own medicine from last year's playoffs, and I liked that we were making them play our game, rather than reacting.

Flip Murray actually played under control offensively, and was clearly looking for Amir in the 4th quarter. Sounds like someone had a talk with him. Maxiell was great and continues his run of strong play against the Cavs, and without Varejao there was no one to take away rebounds from him. Amir has a knack for putting the ball in the basket even though his moves don't look like traditional post moves. He looks like Maxiell last year though, not boxing out for rebounds or positioning himself all that well, but he'll learn that as he goes along. You could see Nazr's experience getting rebounds over Amir, even though he's far less athletic and can't leap as high.

So again I have nothing to complain about. None of the starters played heavy minutes, and our bench got time and obliterated the Cav's bench.

My favorite part though, was the post-game. Eli Zaret got OWNED by Kelser and Blaha. First Eli tried to do some of his own editorial, talking about other arena's PA announcers saying he thought they were getting annoying and intrusive. Blaha tried to help him out but Kelser just laid the smack down, stating he didn't notice anything like that at all. Then Eli was clearly flustered and tried to recover talking about the Bucks, and asking what they thought of that Chinese Center Yi, at which point Blaha corrected him and stated he was a Power Forward. Great stuff.

You know what was intolerable? Listening to McCleod off the Cleveland feed through league pass.

He was going over board to show the Cleveland fans that he doesn't have any feelings for the Pistons.

Every borderline call, he would get up in arms over. Then he said something like "All year long, Detroit fans have been dwelling on the fact that Detroit continuously let Lebron get to the rim. Well toooooo bad."

What a ________.

For all the whinig and complaining that I do I just realized something. For us to get to the Finals we only have to prove that we can beat 3 teams: Boston, Clev and Orlando. Well we beat Orlando earlier and I don't think that they have enough to beat us yet, we just beat Clev (if we're only counting the 1st half) all thats left is Boston. Aside from all the crap we spew, one thing is certain, we can still beat the rest of the contenders in the east and we are going to get better. This team has not played it's best ball yet and that ios a good thing. Just wishh they'd work a lil harder and play with more consistency.

For all the whinig and complaining that I do I just realized something. For us to get to the Finals we only have to prove that we can beat 3 teams: Boston, Clev and Orlando. Well we beat Orlando earlier and I don't think that they have enough to beat us yet, we just beat Clev (if we're only counting the 1st half) all thats left is Boston. Aside from all the crap we spew, one thing is certain, we can still beat the rest of the contenders in the east and we are going to get better. This team has not played it's best ball yet and that ios a good thing. Just wishh they'd work a lil harder and play with more consistency.

We have to beat Stern and his minions and the media. We didn't succeed the last two years even though we had home court advantage and going against Boston, if that who we wind up playing in the ECF will be even harder.

Boston back in the NBA Finals. That will definitely raise the TV ratings increase the advertising revenues etc etc. It doesn't matter if they win, like last year it didn't matter if Lebron won, just as long as he/they got there.

Is there anyone who can deny that a Boston against Team X Finals won't draw a lot more attention and higher TV rating then the Pistons against Team X.

This doesn't mean that we can't beat Boston if we play them in the ECF but is there anyone here who will gladly give them the home court advantage? Not this guy.

:hoops:

For all the whinig and complaining that I do I just realized something. For us to get to the Finals we only have to prove that we can beat 3 teams: Boston, Clev and Orlando. Well we beat Orlando earlier and I don't think that they have enough to beat us yet, we just beat Clev (if we're only counting the 1st half) all thats left is Boston. Aside from all the crap we spew, one thing is certain, we can still beat the rest of the contenders in the east and we are going to get better. This team has not played it's best ball yet and that ios a good thing. Just wishh they'd work a lil harder and play with more consistency.


I concur here, we have to play consistently and that hasn't happen yet because we have been without Billups, Dice, Rip, and Sheed in most of the games due to injuries and our supposed backup guard is still sitting on the shelf too. I say that if the old bones of the starters can get healed in the next two weeks and Stuckey can be up to par by x-mas, then we should go into 2008 as a solid healthy team. (Please stay healthy Tay). All is needed is to play smart and the consistency will play out itself. We still got to deal with Flip, but hopefully by then he wouldhave realize that this team is going no where in the spring if he doesn't integrate the other 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year men in.

The new Boston Garden isn't haunted like the old one, right?

For all the whinig and complaining that I do I just realized something. For us to get to the Finals we only have to prove that we can beat 3 teams: Boston, Clev and Orlando. Well we beat Orlando earlier and I don't think that they have enough to beat us yet, we just beat Clev (if we're only counting the 1st half) all thats left is Boston. Aside from all the crap we spew, one thing is certain, we can still beat the rest of the contenders in the east and we are going to get better. This team has not played it's best ball yet and that ios a good thing. Just wishh they'd work a lil harder and play with more consistency.

There is a rumor floating around that Miami is trying to trade for Mike Bibby.

Saw the game on a delayed telecast.

Anyway, Amir looked good man. Some more playing time would do the kid good. He looked a little bit flustered when he got the ball and lost his dribble a few times but gathered himself and put together great moves.

One thing though, he needs more bulk to post and push against the premiere post defenders. But those rolling finger rolls and semi-hooks were good. Defensively he is there despite losing his man once or twice. He was on almost every ball that was up in the air to block it. And that energy is good.

Afflalo is good man. I hope he sticks. Good player from a good program. Defensively and offensively. He does not play to score but stays within the game. That shot looked sweet man. Hunter retires, Stuckey gets in. Afflalo should be just as much a Piston as anybody, so find a place for him Joe. He should be primary behind Rip, and lose FlipM.

Rip, stop those iso plays and post-ups, run through screens man. They are there for you to use.

That foul by Nazr didn't even look like a foul that could have damaged anything. Anyway like he said, it's easy to sprain a finger. Can't blame the Cavs if they take precautions. After all, without Lebron they are the worst team in the league. :nerd2:

Perfect finish to a perfect day. For 5 months we have all but declared our guys nad-less for allowing the King free rein of of the Palace Paint. Yesterday was a dream come true. We have finally authored Chapter 1 of the James Rules, titled "Hack Them Hands Hard".

Sometimes it's just the simple things. Who knew?
It's unbelievable how an innocent act became such an effective tool, even failing to draw the kneejerk tech 2 flagrant.

NazMo just rose a few notches in my book.