At Atlanta Dec. 4th, 7:00 PM

TV20 Detroit, NBALP

The Pistons roll into Atlanta on a three game win streak with an average margin of victory of over 20 points! This is the third game in a five night stint, in four cities...........

Pretty tough stretch coming up.

Pretty tough stretch coming up.

Indeed.

Make that the third game in a four game five night stint....in four cities.


Say that 5 times fast.............:MusicBigGrin:

This is exactly when the pistons start to get me scared. When they start thinking that they are elite and unbeatable. That is the moment we get beat so hard. I hope we don't get this attitude again this year. At Atlanta Dec. 4th, 7:00 PM

TV20 Detroit, NBALP

The Pistons roll into Atlanta on a three game win streak with an average margin of victory of over 20 points! This is the third game in a five night stint, in four cities...........

Pretty tough stretch coming up.

Not as tough as the Celtics schedule. LOL

:hoops:

This is exactly when the pistons start to get me scared. When they start thinking that they are elite and unbeatable. That is the moment we get beat so hard. I hope we don't get this attitude again this year.

I'd rather be talking about 20-point wins than 20-point losses.

I too am in favor of the 20 points wins.

I too am in favor of the 20 points wins.

Ditto!!


:hoops:

I'd rather be talking about 20-point wins than 20-point losses.

I wouldn't mind an 82 20-point win season.

Dec 4th is a day of mourning.

It is the annual anniversary of the official breakup of Led Zeppelin.

It is also the anniversary of Sherman's march to the sea in which he burned Atlanta.

Hopefully we can burn Atlanta good tomorrow without any loss of personnel.



1864 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1864) - American Civil War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War): Sherman's March to the Sea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman%27s_March_to_the_Sea) - At Waynesboro, Georgia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waynesboro%2C_Georgia), forces under Union (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States) General Judson Kilpatrick (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judson_Kilpatrick) prevent troops led by Confederate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederate_States_of_America) General Joseph Wheeler (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Wheeler) from interfering with Union General William T. Sherman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_T._Sherman)'s campaign destroying a wide swath of the South on his march to the Atlantic Ocean (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Ocean) from Atlanta (Union forces did suffer more than three times the Confederate casualties, however).
December 4 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_4)

:hoops:

Chat is open!!!!

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

Chat's open!

Another second quarter when the offense drops off after either Murray or Hunter enter.

:hoops:

Another game where the starters are still in the game with a 20+ 4th quarter lead.

Joe can't see the writing on the wall? Flip will never change his sneaky ways.

When Hot Rod starts playing he will pass the ball to AJ, unlike Murray.

I expect to see AJ start to score more when Hot Rod starts playing.

:hoops:

I think AJ had one touch during the eight minutes he was in and got 1 assist.

In fact he got more touches on defense (5 blocks) while he was in then he got offense.

Who was guarding Stoudamire in the 4th quarter.

Flip Murray makes me sick.

:hoops:

When Hot Rod starts playing he will pass the ball to AJ, unlike Murray.

I expect to see AJ start to score more when Hot Rod starts playing.

:hoops:

Agree.

Ronald Murray is only good for jacking up shots....no, he's not even good for that.

Way to go .... point guard off the bench.

A question that must be asked: How come Dupree isn't getting any burn?

Another question that must be asked: Is Amir the new Darko?

When Hot Rod starts playing he will pass the ball to AJ, unlike Murray.

I expect to see AJ start to score more when Hot Rod starts playing.

:hoops:


God i hope so

Yet another blowout win...it's nice getting used to this while it lasts. The Hawks were getting in the lane pretty well in the first half, but some good Pistons D and hot streaks by Tay and Jarvis pushed the lead to 9 at halftime. Hawks offense went in the tank in the 3rd as the Pistons blew it open to a 26 point lead. Rip struggled from the floor again, though he did have 7 assists. Sheed got into foul trouble and only ended up playing 16 minutes.

Lots of garbage time in the 4th, but the scrubs almost played themselves out of it as the Hawks were on the verge of cutting the lead into single digits. But some blocks by JMax and Amir (5 blocks for him alone in 8 minutes!) sparked a little run to keep the lead at a comfortable level. Flip Jr. jacked up an absurd number of shots and got no one else involved at all, for whatever that's worth. Hopefully Flip Sr. will keep him on the pine next time if he does that again.

A question that must be asked: How come Dupree isn't getting any burn?

Another question that must be asked: Is Amir the new Darko?

Funny question. Did Darko ever get 5 blocks in 8 minutes with us or for that matter 5 blocks in a game with us?

Ask it again in a year or two and let us know what your answer is.

:hoops:

The third quarter blitz was all was needed for the Pistons to put away the Hawks as seven players were in double figures by the end of the 3rd qtr. Tay was the man hitting 9/12 shots for 23 pts as the Pistons shot 52% of their shots. Tay, Sheed and Hayes were all perfect from behind the arc at 2-2. Jr was 0-3.

Max came in near the end of the third to spark the Pistons, but Hunter was up to his usual self stalling the offense and allowing the Hawks to creep back in it midway thru the second.

Scrubs didn't do anyone any favors by allowing the Hawks a 34 point 4th quarter despite the five blocks by Amir in garbage time. Flip SR nervously looked at the clock as the lead went from 25 to 10 in 2-3 mins. Garbage time officially started at the 8:36 minute mark of the 4th qtr and during those last 8 minutes, Flip jr took 8 shots, hayes took 3, nazr took 1, Afflolo took 1 and AJ didn't take any.

Luckily the game was in hand and in the future Stuckey will be running the scrub unit until he gets in real game shape.

Funny question. Did Darko ever get 5 blocks in 8 minutes with us or for that matter 5 blocks in a game with us?

Ask it again in a year or two and let us know what your answer is.

:hoops:

Darko has gotten 3 duckdowns and 2 moveovers in 8 minutes with us.

Multiple times.

Darko has gotten 3 duckdowns and 2 moveovers in 8 minutes with us.

Multiple times.

I don't think Darko ever played 8 minutes in a game for us. LOL

:hoops:

A question that must be asked: How come Dupree isn't getting any burn?

Another question that must be asked: Is Amir the new Darko?

Things that make you go ummm??? Dupree needs to communicate and demand to be played or traded:):)

Amir is the new Human Victory Cigar. However those Blocks could be used in the first half of any games to keep the opposition at bay.. hopefuly Flip and Joe realize this before February.

Flip Jr. jacked up an absurd number of shots and got no one else involved at all, for whatever that's worth. Hopefully Flip Sr. will keep him on the pine next time if he does that again.

This is his third game in a row doing this. I actually kept track tonight from the 8:48 mark (when AJ came in) of offensive possessions. Ther were 6 times when Jr. brought the ball up the floor and did not make A pass. He was the only one to touch the ball on those possessions. One of those was his dunk but that is a pathetic number. Especially with a 24 second shot clock.

You figure 2 possessions a minute per team and Flip was shooting the ball without a pass every third possession of ours. Nail his ass to the pine and let Stuckey come out and play. Pretty Please? :sssh:

Indeed.

Make that the third game in a four game five night stint....in four cities.


Say that 5 times fast.............:MusicBigGrin:
Make that the third game in a four game five night stint....in four cities.
Make that the third game in a four game five night stint....in four cities.
Make that the third game in a four game five night stint....in four cities.
Make that the third game in a four game five night stint....in four cities.
Make that the third game in a four game five night stint....in four cities.

Things that make you go ummm??? Dupree needs to communicate and demand to be played or traded:):)

Amir is the new Human Victory Cigar. However those Blocks could be used in the first half of any games to keep the opposition at bay.. hopefuly Flip and Joe realize this before February.

As long as we continue to win I am happy with him getting 8 - 10 minutes a game right now. I don't care if its garbage time or not. This is still basically his rookie year even though technically he isn't a rookie.

:hoops:

I don't know how many people noticed it, but mlive.com reported yesterday (I believe) that Flip Murray was out of the rotation now that Hunter was getting some playing time. Tonight marked the 3rd straight game where Hunter spelled Billups in the first half and Murray did not play except in the 4th quarter. (with leads of 19, 20, and 26 as he entered the game.


Tonight, a lot of fans are quite angry with Murray. It was pretty obvious he was calling his own number before he even brought the ball up the floor - something he did not manage to do a few times as Atlanta quickly cut that 26 point lead down to 12.


Amir kept getting blocks on one end, and was ignored on the other. Afflalo finally did get one shot - and made it - at the end of this crazy 4th quarter. Hayes scored about 5 points in the 4th. Murray did score some, just enough to have the starters not come back into the game.
Ok, lets start with Hayes. Ten points in the first half when they counted. The guy gets his shots off quickly and accurately against pressure. He ended up with 17 points in 17 minutes to get sub of the game honors.


Tay did not even shoot in the first quarter if I recall correctly, but ended up with 23, going inside right thru their shot blockers and making lots of outside shots as well. Very impressive. And a couple of blocks too.
Dyess got about a dozen. Good outside shooting, and just enough inside play that I won't talk too bad of him for the moment. Keep it up. His defense was none too good in the first half as Atlanta continually was scoring at the hoop on us. Things did tighten up in the 2nd half though.
Sheed played very little due to foul trouble, but did get into double digits with a pair of 3's and some inside scoring.


Billups managed a double double, 10 points and 10 assists, in just 3 quarters. This is the 4th game in a row where he was not needed in the 4th quarter. Billups was very opportunistic, getting to the basket whenever they fell asleep.


Rip hit some shots, dished 7 assists. Flip Saunders has quite pulling him early in the 1st and 3rd quarters. But Rip should quit crying about it and get use to it. The more Afflalo plays the more this team will be ready for the playoffs. Rip has to get more in tune with the greater good of the team.


Afflalo did play. He got to help a bit in holding Joe Johnson to miserable 2-10 shooting. In other words, they were not letting Johnson shoot, and what he did shoot was forced.


Amir played the last 8 minutes of the game. A lot of people were getting nervous about that, as the lead was dropping so fast we were worrying that Amir might not get time. Which is another thing. Why all the sudden is Johnson only getting garbage time? Coincidentally, thats all Murray is getting. A bargain was struck maybe? Amir had a bunch of blocks. Not sure if they all went in the books though. (maybe one or two were blocks of the shot, preventing the score, but after the guy was fouled by someone else already.)


Maxiell was not quite as dominant as last game, but he had himself a pretty good highlight real with some spectacular dunks. One alley - oop did not work out as planned, so Maxiell landed, went back up and softly layed it in. He also hit an outside jumper, knocked down both free throws when fouled to stop him, and even knocked down a free throw to complete a three point play. Last game we saw a blip in his free throw shooting. Hopefully, only a blip, and tonight he was looking very good at the line again.


Hunter did not do much. He has always been able to get the ball up the floor though, and he lets other people shoot. I will take that any day over the display we saw from Murray tonight.


There ain't that much negative to say really about a 4th straight blowout win. The starters minutes are staying down. Afflalo is playing. Maxiell is getting that expanded role promised us fans. Stuckey's return is around the corner. And people hope that Stuckey will be giving Amir the ball.


GO PISTONS!!!!!

Gee, he really did get 5 official blocks. (and a couple of unofficial ones that still prevented some scoring.)

As long as we continue to win I am happy with him getting 8 - 10 minutes a game right now. I don't care if its garbage time or not. This is still basically his rookie year even though technically he isn't a rookie.

:hoops:

Like Dumars said, he fights complacency everday. Do you want to be one of the people he fights, or join him in encouraging constant improvement in this team? Amir needs to play - for the Pistons to become the best they can become.

Like Dumars said, he fights complacency everday. Do you want to be one of the people he fights, or join him in encouraging constant improvement in this team? Amir needs to play - for the Pistons to become the best they can become.

AJ is playing.

Would I put him ahead of Maxey at this point? No
Would I play him at the 3? No
Would I put Maxey at the 3? No
Would I play AJ ahead of Nazmo? Yes

:hoops:

Just got back from the game and have to say I missed the hometown crowd versus this lame ATL one. My only observation is that Nazr produced 1 bobbled pass, a missed rebound, and a few blown defensive assignments. I know he has been playing "OK" recently, but are you telling me AJ couldn't have produced that stat line? I am not for playing guys for the sake of playing them, but if a young guy is as good as the other play him. For the record, Nazr is not in any of the longterm team plans so there is no feasable explanation for his PT unless he is contributing something, which he isn't. Also, Maxiel is really coming into his own. I always thought he would only be a bench guy, but the guy could start on many teams. Also, Afflalo is a keeper, reminds me of a shorter version of Battier.

That's cool that you got to see the game, kpaav. You could hear some Pistons fans whooping it up in the midst of the typically sparse Atlanta crowd on the TV broadcast; I assume you were one of them!

Real good Piston game tonight. I like to look at things from an objective position, and this season FlipM and Nazr have been doing OK, even though most folk hate those guys. But Tonight......uuugghh.

FlipM, what a dope. That type of performance should be an automatic DNP-CD for at least 2 games. Sad day in Piston land when I'm screaming for Lindsey Hunter to come into the game.

FlipS did a VERY GOOD job on the sub patterns tonight with one exception, Nazr. Atlanta has a bunch of tweener players that Amir could have really matched up well against, Marvin Williams and Josh Smith will often play the 4 and face up the oppositions bigs, not a good game for Nazr to be in, but a perfect one for Amir and MIP. Normally I'm not one to scream for PT for AJ, but tonight the coach missed a great opportunity to get Amir alot of meaningful-quality PT.

I don't know how many people noticed it, but mlive.com reported yesterday (I believe) that Flip Murray was out of the rotation now that Hunter was getting some playing time.

He sure as hell is playing like a guy upset about being out of the rotation, jacking up all those shots. Man oh man. I hope Stuckey can get acclimated quickly otherwise this backup PG situation could get very awkward.

Real good Piston game tonight. I like to look at things from an objective position, and this season FlipM and Nazr have been doing OK, even though most folk hate those guys. But Tonight......uuugghh.

FlipM, what a dope. That type of performance should be an automatic DNP-CD for at least 2 games. Sad day in Piston land when I'm screaming for Lindsey Hunter to come into the game.

FlipS did a VERY GOOD job on the sub patterns tonight with one exception, Nazr. Atlanta has a bunch of tweener players that Amir could have really matched up well against, Marvin Williams and Josh Smith will often play the 4 and face up the oppositions bigs, not a good game for Nazr to be in, but a perfect one for Amir and MIP. Normally I'm not one to scream for PT for AJ, but tonight the coach missed a great opportunity to get Amir alot of meaningful-quality PT.

It could be that AJ's ankle is still giving him some problems and tightening up after he comes out, so Flipper doesn't want to give AJ a few minutes here and a few minutes there during a game but play him in longer time stretches for now,which would mean garbage time until AJ's ankle is completely healed. That is the type of problem that the Lakers are faced with regarding C. Mihm, though Mihm's injury was a lot worse than AJs.

Of course this is just speculation or maybe rationalization. LOL
:hoops:

It could be that AJ's ankle is still giving him some problems and tightening up after he comes out, so Flipper doesn't want to give AJ a few minutes here and a few minutes there during a game but play him in longer time stretches for now,which would mean garbage time until AJ's ankle is completely healed. That is the type of problem that the Lakers are faced with regarding C. Mihm, though Mihm's injury was a lot worse than AJs.

Of course this is just speculation or maybe rationalization. LOL
:hoops:

But isn't 6 minutes quality PT > 8 minutes garbage time?

But isn't 6 minutes quality PT > 8 minutes garbage time?

That is true.

Their is and advantage to playing a 20 year old rookie in garbage time and that is that there is a lot less pressure on him and when he messes up, which all players do, especially the young ones, he probably won't get so stressed out about it and as a result compound his errors.

I don't think it would be too good to give him quality playing time and have him not initially cut it because of mistakes due to lack of experience, and then have to put him back to playing garbage time.

Look at Maxey. He was a four year college guy at a very good program and he is just now in his third year getting some serious burn as the main big off of the bench and he is still making mistakes due to lack of experience. Could he have played more the last two years? Yes. Would we be better off today for it? Probably. Would we have been better off the last two years? Open to debate.

AJ is only 20 and this would be his junior year in college. The season is young and he is young. We are winning and playing good ball even without Hot Rod, who will lots of mistakes, especially as a rookie at the point, but will still be a big upgrade from Murray and Hunter, so why put the pressure on AJ.

Let the game come to him. Who knows what his role will be by the end of the year.

My only concern if that if we get a stretch of 5 or so games or even more that are all close that AJ may not get any burn for a couple of weeks. This I don't think would be good, but for now I am glad to see him out there and gaining experience, but I will be a lot happier when he can play at the same time as Hot Rod rather than Murray.

:hoops:

FM was definitely ball-hogging, I can't deny that, but that dunk was sweet.

Maybe Dumars let Murray know that we are trying to trade him and he needs to increase his ppg by any means necessary. The Pistons are probably mailing DVD's of all his highlights to other teams and editing out the misses.


Amir with 5 blocks? That is insanity.


The best part about this game was that Saunders didn't freak out and re-insert the starters when it got close at the end.


Also, just a note for all you guys on the local feed, the Atlanta announcers were in shock at how much better Det looked than in the last meeting.

This I don't think would be good, but for now I am glad to see him out there and gaining experience, but I will be a lot happier when he can play at the same time as Hot Rod rather than Murray.

:hoops:

Totally agree with you here.

Maurice Evans erm... Jarvis Hayes - 17 points in 17 minutes.

Great game. I know everyone wants to cry for AJ, but his body isn't there yet, and he is only just starting to find a rhythm. Remember, part of Darko's problem was the unrealistic expectations heaped on him early by the fans. Be patient.

Flip Murray is showcasing for a trade, I am pretty sure of that. But with Stuckey out and Hunter playing so-so, it's too early to shorten the guard rotation that much.

Another blowout, another game with rest for the starters, another 100+ offensive night, 7 players in double digits for scoring.

Great, great, GREAT GAME!

Also, just a note for all you guys on the local feed, the Atlanta announcers were in shock at how much better Det looked than in the last meeting.

They were also making fun of Flip Murray talking about his shot per min rate, and how he's going to need ice after the game.

They had a shot count going for awhile LOL

Great game. I know everyone wants to cry for AJ, but his body isn't there yet, and he is only just starting to find a rhythm. Remember, part of Darko's problem was the unrealistic expectations heaped on him early by the fans. Be patient.


Great, great, GREAT GAME!.
there is no incubation period. you either learn to play as part of this team or you don't. the team needs to integrate stuckey and amir...both in minutes and roles. The alternative is bringing the same underacheiving team to the playoffs again. i dunno...maybe that's by design.

But isn't 6 minutes quality PT > 8 minutes garbage time?

That is a good question. I had a few others I would like to get some opinions on.

1) Is 6 minutes of first half play better than 12 minutes of garbage time minutes?

2) Is a made lay up in the first half better than a foul on the oppositions player and missed free throws?

3) Would you rather see Hunter get all these minutes and Murray none (if he is not in our future) or is it better to split the minutes because neither is part of our future roster?

This is been a nice ride the past week, but it's scaring me a bit too. These guys get intoxicated by their shooting really fast and, as in years past, can't seem to figure out what to do when the jump shots stop falling. Dice could have a career year, but he isn't going to be a 60% jump shooter forever. Max could turn into the next Ray Allen, but he isn't going to shoot that foul line jumper as well as he is now. And while he's the only thing keeping my fantasy team above water, it's at least likely that Tay isn't going to shoot 75% for all that much longer.

Every team goes through shooting ups and downs, but this team gets fat and happy when they're up, and forgets how to win when they're down - at least in the past. Hope we're not heading for a repeat.

Maurice Evans erm... Jarvis Hayes - 17 points in 17 minutes.

Great game. I know everyone wants to cry for AJ, but his body isn't there yet, and he is only just starting to find a rhythm. Remember, part of Darko's problem was the unrealistic expectations heaped on him early by the fans. Be patient.

Flip Murray is showcasing for a trade, I am pretty sure of that. But with Stuckey out and Hunter playing so-so, it's too early to shorten the guard rotation that much.

Another blowout, another game with rest for the starters, another 100+ offensive night, 7 players in double digits for scoring.

Great, great, GREAT GAME!


All good points. If you could email me some more tissue I have run out crying over AJ, it would be appreciated. LOL


:hoops:

.
there is no incubation period. you either learn to play as part of this team or you don't. the team needs to integrate stuckey and amir...both in minutes and roles. The alternative is bringing the same underacheiving team to the playoffs again. i dunno...maybe that's by design.

This is not the same team.

Dyess is a big time upgrade over Webber and Maxey is proving to be just as effective as Dyess if not more so coming in off the bench. Hayes is also a big upgrade over Delfino who never fit in and never really contributed anything meaningful.

Afflalo is also an upgrade and playing some solid minutes if not large amounts at this point.

So even without Hot Rod and AJ so far only playing basically garbage time this team is a definite upgrade over last year's edition.

:hoops:

This is been a nice ride the past week, but it's scaring me a bit too. These guys get intoxicated by their shooting really fast and, as in years past, can't seem to figure out what to do when the jump shots stop falling. Dice could have a career year, but he isn't going to be a 60% jump shooter forever. Max could turn into the next Ray Allen, but he isn't going to shoot that foul line jumper as well as he is now. And while he's the only thing keeping my fantasy team above water, it's at least likely that Tay isn't going to shoot 75% for all that much longer.

Every team goes through shooting ups and downs, but this team gets fat and happy when they're up, and forgets how to win when they're down - at least in the past. Hope we're not heading for a repeat.

Its good that you bring some realistic hard questions that will keep us from getting too over inflated over this nice run against basically lousy teams (Cavs with Lebron for only one half). Hopefully Uncle Sheed can keep the guys on the straight and narrow and maintaining the proper perspective.

:hoops:

Flip Murray is showcasing for a trade, I am pretty sure of that.

Either that or showcasing/padding his scoring stats for his next contract. I'd prefer to think it's for a trade, but I'm not convinced.

The good news is that he really only hogs it during garbage time. He does a reasonable job of creating for others during real game situations.

Either that or showcasing/padding his scoring stats for his next contract. I'd prefer to think it's for a trade, but I'm not convinced.

The good news is that he really only hogs it during garbage time. He does a reasonable job of creating for others during real game situations.

The bad news is that his defense stinks 24/7.

:hoops: