Atlanta Dec, 14th, 8:00 PM

TV - FSDHD, NBALP

These teams play for the third and final time during the regular season. The Pistons took the first two against this young exciting team. If the season ended today the Hawks would be the 7th seed.

Is this the 3rd game we play them this season? How many times we play them this season, seems like it's only 25% of the season thru and we are gonna play them again. Kinda funny for 2 Eastern Conference teams battling each other so frequently in this young season.

Al Horford is out for the game--the league suspended him for one game for the foul on T.J. Ford the other night. Apparently Dice is still questionable, depending on how bad the swelling might be in his ankle after twisting it in the Houston game.

dice is out...good news for J Max and i hope even good news for Amir

dice is out...good news for J Max and i hope even good news for Amir
Going for the silver lining here? :MusicBigGrin:
Good for JMax and good for me too, as he's on my fantasy team. But, even more important - a ray of hope for the playing time for Amir. But knowing Flip, he'll insert Nazr to play against fast athletic team.

dice is out...

Is that being reported somewhere? Not that I don't believe it, I just haven't seen it confirmed yet.

Going for the silver lining here? :MusicBigGrin:
Good for JMax and good for me too, as he's on my fantasy team. But, even more important - a ray of hope for the playing time for Amir. But knowing Flip, he'll insert Nazr to play against fast athletic team.

Yup, he'll use our true center,that we have on the team to play against the big true centers in the league (except for when we play the biggest truest center in the league) to defend a young fast athletic team that plays a 6'9" sf at the pf position. Oh yeah baby, some serious mastermind coaching going on here.

Yup, he'll use our true center,that we have on the team to play against the big true centers in the league (except for when we play the biggest truest center in the league) to defend a young fast athletic team that plays a 6'9" sf at the pf position. Oh yeah baby, some serious mastermind coaching going on here.

That's called "making them adjust to us" in the coaching world. :pound::pound:

That's called "making them adjust to us" in the coaching world. :pound::pound:
Yeah make them adjust to our slowest, bad hands, zero offensive game, worse FT shooter........Don't get me wrong though, I like Nazr, and there are times he is an asset....although not very often...but Houston :director: MAY HAVE BEEN ONE OF THOSE TIMES :swear2:

chat open

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

Hunter got over 10 minutes tonight. I think Flipper is trying to work him up to about 15 minutes a game.

:hoops:

That was a pretty ugly and uninspired win, against a weak team that was missing several guys. Pistons built a solid lead at halftime but almost gave all of it away in a mostly atrocious 3rd quarter, until a good run going into the 4th pushed the lead back up to double digits. An inconsistent 4th quarter ended with a parade to the FT line. CB and Tay made some big shots and combined for 40 points, but also 12 turnovers. Dice was big on the boards, JMax was great, and Lindsey played pretty well too. I guess they got tired of playing the Hawks, or something. Won't face them again until next season.

Hunter got over 10 minutes tonight. I think Flipper is trying to work him up to about 15 minutes a game.

:hoops:

Hunter has beena a decent player so far, before season I thought that he buries himself at the end of bench and retires quietly.

Starters with too many minutes, Dyess is way over his threshhold. Flip decides to go with 3 bigs. AJ still can't get into the game with NazMo being gone. Oh, and can anyone spell complacency? That would be: P-I-S-T-O-N-S-C-O-R-E.

Hunter has beena a decent player so far, before season I thought that he buries himself at the end of bench and retires quietly.

Hunter is horrible. Old slow, can't shoot, can't run the offense. His only two positive remaining qualities are that he doesn't turn the ball over very much and can still play decent defense for short periods against slow guards.

In about 8 minutes a game he is averaging 2 points 2 assists less than 1 turnover and is shooting all of about 25%. The guy was never very good in his prime and now just stinks.


:hoops:

Starters with too many minutes, Dyess is way over his threshhold. Flip decides to go with 3 bigs. AJ still can't get into the game with NazMo being gone. Oh, and can anyone spell complacency? That would be: P-I-S-T-O-N-S-C-O-R-E.

Totally. 37 mins is way too much for Dyess, especially with the ankle tweek he had last game.

Such of a beautifull shot by Amir late in the 4th. Even in garbage time he impresses with the little he gets.

A win is a win. Nice to be 16-7. Afflalo got some time, looked solid as usual . Maxiel is really comming into his own.

Tough break for Horford. They were saying how bad he felt about the hard foul on Ford but he was clearly going for the ball. More of a case of what the results were rather than the circumstances and intent. If Ford is that fragile I have to question if its wise for him to continue playing. He could be paralized out there.

Most boring endgame EVER. Way to start fouling at the 3:00 mark Woodson! I can't believe there was anyone left in the arena at the end.

And great to see AJ with some GT/ insult minutes.

Totally. 37 mins is way too much for Dyess, especially with the ankle tweek he had last game.

Such of a beautifull shot by Amir late in the 4th. Even in garbage time he impresses with the little he gets.

A win is a win. Nice to be 16-7. Afflalo got some time, looked solid as usual . Maxiel is really comming into his own.

Tough break for Horford. They were saying how bad he felt about the hard foul on Ford but he was clearly going for the ball. More of a case of what the results were rather than the circumstances and intent. If Ford is that fragile I have to question if its wise for him to continue playing. He could be paralized out there.

37 minutes for Dyess. Of course it is too much but do you think he would play AJ even 5 minutes. Nope.

This game sealed it for me. As far as I am concerned AJ will not get minutes for us as long as Flipper is the coach. Thats okay by me because he will probably get traded before next year and go to a team that will play him.

:hoops:

37 minutes for Dyess. Of course it is too much but do you think he would play AJ even 5 minutes. Nope.

This game sealed it for me. As far as I am concerned AJ will not get minutes for us as long as Flipper is the coach. Thats okay by me because he will probably get traded before next year and go to a team that will play him.

:hoops:

Good point and I would not blame Amir if he asked for a trade. However, did you notice how excited he was when Flip put him in? This is not Darko just yet. It could get to that but it has not yet. We still have some time with him before he loses interest in the Pistons.

Good point and I would not blame Amir if he asked for a trade. However, did you notice how excited he was when Flip put him in? This is not Darko just yet. It could get to that but it has not yet. We still have some time with him before he loses interest in the Pistons.

Yea he was excited because he could get farther than 15 feet away from Flipper for 1 minute.

:hoops:

Hunter is horrible. Old slow, can't shoot, can't run the offense. His only two positive remaining qualities are that he doesn't turn the ball over very much and can still play decent defense for short periods against slow guards.

In about 8 minutes a game he is averaging 2 points 2 assists less than 1 turnover and is shooting all of about 25%. The guy was never very good in his prime and now just stinks.


:hoops:

and plus 11 tonight only maxy was better......

and plus 11 tonight only maxy was better......

Hunter is horrible, plus or minus the guy should have retired after he got his ring with the Lakers.

:hoops:

To me the news is the continual superb play of Maxiel. We must assume that the league is trying to make adjustments to Maxiel studying the film and he is still wrecking havoc most games. I think that he should start next to Sheed and Tay. He may be the down low, get to the line threat we need. And he gets to the line and is starting to hit the free throws.

didn't get to see the game...i'm taping it and will watch sunday when i get home from out of town...but nice to see max with a +22 on the night

I wouldn't be looking forward to it, hog. Most of it was probably unwatchable to anyone who wasn't a fan of one of the teams.

didn't get to see the game...i'm taping it and will watch sunday when i get home from out of town...but nice to see max with a +22 on the night

Just watch the first half. 2nd half was a death march.

Yeah, not a lot of fun for long stretches. The fans were quiet. The end of the game where Atlanta was fouling for three straight minutes took forever. Well, actually, Atlanta gave up with about a minute and a half to go and we ran out a whole lot of the clock on a possession where we got an offensive rebound. Thank goodness or this one could still be going on.


Still, there were two periods of the game that were fun to watch. One, as our bench held Atlanta scoreless the first half of the 2nd quarter. Hunter had spelled Billups early, and Billups was back in 30 seconds into the quarter. A unit of Billups, Afflalo, Hayes, JMAX, and Dyess / Sheed did wonders. JMAX was providing the scoring punch, and all of them were hustling big time on D.


And then late 3rd quarter, Hunter comes in, along with Maxiell. Our starters, who showed no energy at all in the first quarter, were showing even less in the 3rd quarter. A 14 point lead had dwindled to 3. But Hunter and Maxiell between them injected some life into the Pistons and we pumped that lead back up.


Really good news. Afflalo came in for a good 5 minute stretch early 4th quarter. And of course, the team did well with him in. Afflalo plays real solid D, always managing to get a hand up in the face of the guy with the ball.


Lets go over that again: Our bench won this one. Murray did not play, and of course Mohammed was traded before the game, so we had a pretty decent rotation of players out there. Sure, Billups played too much - but those last 3 minutes were just walking the ball back and forth from free throw line to free throw line for the most part. Not too taxing.


For much of the game Rip was our best offense. Meanwhile, Atlanta was struggling badly to find anyone to score. Joe Johnson was held in check very well in the first half, and they had to resort to preposterous attempts at scoring like Pachulia trying to go one on one against Sheed. Yeah, like that would ever work. Or Anthony Johnson, an otherwise solid player, trying to shake his man and shoot off the dribble. Hey, we will give them that all night - and they won't get any points off it. Joe Johnson got a lot more aggressive in the 2nd half and did some damage, but that was it for Atlanta. With Horford out with the suspension, this was a much easier game vs. the last one against them.

With that said, as inept as Atlanta was, our tired dragging starters could not do a thing against them.


Tay had a good scoring night, and he even hit a long range shot for the first time in a long time - after he had connected on several closer in shots to get a rythm going. And he pulled down 10 bounds.

Dyess pulled down 14 bounds and had three blocks. As Atlanta goes with a very small lineup, Dyess looked awful big out there.

Sheed was invisible in this one.

Hayes hit on a post up, and hit an open outside shot. He looked around a bit, and surprisingly Atlanta just was not interested in coming out and guarding him. Swish.
Afflalo hit one of about 3 outside shots he took.

Hunter drove in after a pump fake to score. A 2nd such attempt resulted in a blown layup. Good D, and since his minutes were very limited as usual, he always brought the ball up smartly. (I hate it when Hunter gets overplayed and begins to walk the ball up. But that has not happened this year yet.) One nice drive and dish to his credit.


Billups hit some shots from the outside, and some closer in posting up his guy. And a bunch of shots at the line at the end of the game.


Amir Johnson did not play. But at least Afflalo did play, with some very meaningful, and as always, very productive minutes. I still want badly to see Amir play more. The move he did at the end of this one was pretty awesome, weaving thru traffic and hitting his shot. Similar to what he did the last time we let him shoot. Amir is very talented. If Saunders lets him play, I guarantee people will start showing up at the Palace again. He is worth the ticket - if he ever gets to play.
GO PISTONS!!!!!

Amir Johnson did not play.

Your timer on the DVR unit must have gone out at the 47 minute of the game.

:hoops:

Your timer on the DVR unit must have gone out at the 47 minute of the game.

:hoops:

Read one line later. I meant he did not play in the rotation.

Afflalo frustrated JJ when he was on him. Rip got lit up. Did Flip realize this? No.

Afflalo's jumper still looks smooth. The line-up of Billups/Afflalo/Sheed/Max/Tay was our best defensively by far.

Amir shows great post moves, and when we were up 15 in the 2nd quarter still couldn't get any time. The starters slacked, but still played big min. Games are becoming really frustrating to watch. I think i need a break.

The coach is ruining my enjoyment of the team. I find myself watching Lakers games, and being in awe of how Phil Jackson used his bench, and how he recognizes the value of Trevor Ariza even though he can't score when no one is guarding him.

Am I the only person who just stares at Maxiell whenever he's in the game? You just gotta love how he pursues the ball. Every single time we get a stop, he hauls ass down the floor at full sprint. Even when he's being ignored on offense, he's fighting for position, finding open spots on the floor, or he's looking for lanes to go running in after an offensive board. Even though, by nature, you're not going to get the right bounce a lot of the time, he still goes after everything.

And that 50 seconds of Amir seemed more like an insult than anything.

Read one line later. I meant he did not play in the rotation.

It appears to me that he will never play in the rotation as long as Flipper is coach.

:hoops:

Afflalo frustrated JJ when he was on him. Rip got lit up. Did Flip realize this? No.

Afflalo's jumper still looks smooth. The line-up of Billups/Afflalo/Sheed/Max/Tay was our best defensively by far.

Amir shows great post moves, and when we were up 15 in the 2nd quarter still couldn't get any time. The starters slacked, but still played big min. Games are becoming really frustrating to watch. I think i need a break.

The coach is ruining my enjoyment of the team. I find myself watching Lakers games, and being in awe of how Phil Jackson used his bench, and how he recognizes the value of Trevor Ariza even though he can't score when no one is guarding him.

Right on. My sentiments exactly.

There is a reason that Jackson has all of those rings and Flipper has zero, and it wasn't just because of Pippen, Michael, Shaq and Kobe though they helped a bit? LOL

:hoops:

Right on. My sentiments exactly.

There is a reason that Jackson has all of those rings and Flipper has zero, and it wasn't just because of Pippen, Michael, Shaq and Kobe though they helped a bit? LOL

:hoops:

i think any of us would have had 3-4 rings coaching the bulls and i was never impressed with his coaching then or with the shaq lakers, but since he's been given a one star kobe team the last few years he has impressed me with his coaching and the trust he seems to give his bench players.

Afflalo frustrated JJ when he was on him. Rip got lit up. Did Flip realize this? No.

Afflalo's jumper still looks smooth. The line-up of Billups/Afflalo/Sheed/Max/Tay was our best defensively by far.

Amir shows great post moves, and when we were up 15 in the 2nd quarter still couldn't get any time. The starters slacked, but still played big min. Games are becoming really frustrating to watch. I think i need a break.

The coach is ruining my enjoyment of the team. I find myself watching Lakers games, and being in awe of how Phil Jackson used his bench, and how he recognizes the value of Trevor Ariza even though he can't score when no one is guarding him.

Preach on.:amen:

Right on. My sentiments exactly.

There is a reason that Jackson has all of those rings and Flipper has zero, and it wasn't just because of Pippen, Michael, Shaq and Kobe though they helped a bit? LOL

:hoops:

:cheerlie-GOAL::p_welldone: Can't win a ring until you can win game six or seven of a conference finals and so far Flip is 0-3 in the category failing to win game six in 04, 06, and 07