Orlando Jan 25 7PM

tv: tv20

Pistons return home for a brief 1 game homestand against the Orlando Magic.

Will the up and comming Orlando Magic be able to make it 2 in a row with a win at the Palace? or will the Pistons re-establish dominance in the seasonal series?

Buy your tickets now before the rest of Piston Nation gets wind of the fact that Amir Johnson is now playing.

I am going to this one. And for the first time in a while, I can't wait to get to a game.

Payback time!

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/5707/p1rasheedli0.jpg

I am going to this one. And for the first time in a while, I can't wait to get to a game.

I wish I was. Have these half season tickets now.

Friday nights are always the best time to go.

this is a game i'd like to go to, but i'm on max's same half-season plan so i won't be there either...gonna have to tape the game because i have other plans.

This is now a 7:00 start, right?

This is now a 7:00 start, right?

Yes, time has been updated.

Will AJ get off the bench tonight?

If he does get off the bench will he

Come in after or before Maxey?

Stay tuned

:hoops:

Will AJ get off the bench tonight?

If he does get off the bench will he

Come in after or before Maxey?

Stay tuned



JMax is still the first big off the bench. Not that much has changed in one day.

:hoops:

Well, last time pistons was killed by high p'n'r, what counter-measurements flipsr( or sheed?) has drawn from his ultrarich playbook, remains to be seen.

Ouch, I forgot, this playbook is for offence only...

He also has a defensive pamphlet.

Page 1 discusses the zone in detail.

Page 2 talks about how offensive efficiency leads to better D.

He also has a defensive pamphlet.

Page 1 discusses the zone in detail.

Page 2 talks about how offensive efficiency leads to better D.

And page 3 of defencive pamphlet is for self-defence, in case of failure

The Pistons are 2nd in the league in fewest points allowed. They rank high in all defensive categories.

The Pistons are 2nd in the league in fewest points allowed. They rank high in all defensive categories.

That's why he's not stressing it. These guys are going to always play D.

That's why he's not stressing it. These guys are going to always play D.


Not always, when fire is there. We were joking anyway. I personally dislike that in America you have to say "I was kidding", or you'll get sued.

For some reason I don't think Flip will play AJ meaningful minutes tonight. It makes too much sense for Flip to do it.

For some reason I don't think Flip will play AJ meaningful minutes tonight. It makes too much sense for Flip to do it.

Both Sheed and Dice have overworked and it can't be ignored even by flip.

Both Sheed and Dice have overworked and it can't be ignored even by flip.

Right. Flip would be insane to do something crazy like play Primoz instead of AJ.

Chat is open!

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

Ugly game that where Pistons were looking very good until refs took over calling every little touch by Pistons which made them back up on defense. Offensively looked fine, but didn't get any calls at all from refs. Starters played too much.

No complaints, although the officiating made it a frustrating game to watch. I'm slightly worried about Stuckey but give it time I suppose.

No complaints, although the officiating made it a frustrating game to watch. I'm slightly worried about Stuckey but give it time I suppose.
I'm very worried about Stuckey. He has Deer in the headlights syndrome.

I am not worried about Stuckey.

I'm very worried about Stuckey. He has Deer in the headlights syndrome.

Ain't worried about Stuckey too; watched Minny-Bos game, honestly I haven't seen so frightened faces as were minny rookies in decisive moments. It's not easy to be noob.

Ain't worried about Stuckey too; watched Minny-Bos game, honestly I haven't seen so frightened faces as were minny rookies in decisive moments. It's not easy to be noob.

Minny had rookies, but Boston had refs in their pocket. On that final inbound pass Pierce almost tore off a shirt from Minny player. And that 5-second call came rather quickly.

Starters played too much.

Way too much. We were up double digits most of the game and the starters used most of the minutes. Why? I mean, is this really some kind of Big Game? Everytime there is a game against some remotely GOOD team and any really GOOD teams, we get this starters-playing-practically-48 thing. I can't believe how conservative (read scared) Flip's playing time decisions are.

Besides, our bench has to learn how to play quality opposition not just bad teams, right?

Way too much. We were up double digits most of the game and the starters used most of the minutes. Why? I mean, is this really some kind of Big Game? Everytime there is a game against some remotely GOOD team and any really GOOD teams, we get this starters-playing-practically-48 thing. I can't believe how conservative (read scared) Flip's playing time decisions are.

Besides, our bench has to learn how to play quality opposition not just bad teams, right?
I didn't think the bench did that badly in the 2nd. And starters were getting visibly winded. Flip needs to get a reality check.

NBA hates the Pistons.

Alert the presses, y'all

Way too much. We were up double digits most of the game and the starters used most of the minutes. Why? I mean, is this really some kind of Big Game? Everytime there is a game against some remotely GOOD team and any really GOOD teams, we get this starters-playing-practically-48 thing. I can't believe how conservative (read scared) Flip's playing time decisions are.

Besides, our bench has to learn how to play quality opposition not just bad teams, right?

Calm down, aurora, you just can't get everything you want. Bench needs a break: seems that situation is for them owerhelming, just too many new things. I hope that all-star break help them to sort some things out.Learning is step by step process.

Someone had money on this game..........how much you wannt bet it was the refs.

Ugly game that where Pistons were looking very good until refs took over calling every little touch by Pistons which made them back up on defense. Offensively looked fine, but didn't get any calls at all from refs. Starters played too much.

Our starters played too much because the officials took our 2nd unit out of the game.

:hoops:

I didn't think the bench did that badly in the 2nd. And starters were getting visibly winded. Flip needs to get a reality check.

He should have stuck to the rotation he used in the 1st half. The difference in energy was night and day when the bench came in early. It seems the starters even play harder when they know they're getting an early break.

Calm down, aurora, you just can't get everything you want. Bench needs a break: seems that situation is for them owerhelming, just too many new things. I hope that all-star break help them to sort some things out.Learning is step by step process.

Where was it overwhelming? They held their own very well in the 2nd quarter.

I'm using the Stern until we get a good one of Ron.

I personally like this one (http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/topstory/sports/artest_ron041119.jpg)

I believe every bench player accumulated at least 2 or 3 fouls. Jarvis got 3 in 2:37. They had to be taken out.

I didn't think the bench did that badly in the 2nd. And starters were getting visibly winded. Flip needs to get a reality check.

If Flipper had played the bench much more the officials would have fouled them all out.

Does anyone think that the NBA wants to see our second unit run up the score on Howard? How would that look?


:hoops:

If Flipper had played the bench much more the officials would have fouled them all out.

Does anyone think that the NBA wants to see our second unit run up the score on Howard? How would that look?


:hoops:

At least that would actually be interesting to watch.

At least that would actually be interesting to watch.

QFT.

Amir fouling is much more entertaing than Tayshaun.

Where was it overwhelming? They held their own very well in the 2nd quarter.

Since I didn't see this game, I do not know but struggling Stuckey, Max and Hayes make things usually worse. Therefore I offered that the may need a "timeout". Maybe staff hoped that Stuckey can learn on the fly...Seems that he can't.

Since I didn't see this game, I do not know but stuggling Stuckey, Max and Hayes make things usually worse. Therefore I offered that the may need a "timeout". Maybe staff hoped that Stuckey can learn on the fly...Seems that he can't.

Stuckey is struggling, Max looked fine, Hayes did not play. They need to get minutes to learn.

A few issues with this win. First of all agree that the refs knew that this was on ESPN and wanted to be the stars too. Must be mid season performance appraisal time or something as they stopped the game to many times....I mean a road team gets 39 FTA???If they had made 10 of the 14 that they missed, they could have darn near won the game...

Second what is up with Flip? he puts out his youth near the end of the 2nd qtr and they extend the lead, but brings the starters back midway through the second and the magic Trim the lead. AJ was spectacular in his 8+ mins grabbing four boards and 3 blocks...did he go home at halftime??

In the 3rd the Pistons extended the lead to 27 but the starters get complacent and "TIRED" as all other than foul plagued Sheed play almost the whole qtr. Flip flips out again and forgets that these guys are human and need a blow. I know we can't count on the two in slump guys "Stuckey and Hayes", but Max and Amir and Afflalo were playing decent enough to come in midway thru the 3rd and get more minutes.

Also what's with the Pistons...get a big lead and coast the rest of the way>?? the LB lead Pistons never did that...at least not the first season. Thank goodness for that big first qtr...reminds me of the Spurs game.... I know Sheed fouled out tonight, but 13 points in the first qtr and 2 in the 3rd. Talking about being unselfish... Rip scored 32 pts, dished out 8 assists and grabbed 8 boards...two of those laying down on his backside :)

Stuckey is struggling, Max looked fine, Hayes did not play. They need to get minutes to learn.

Agreed. I'd with this forum extremly gladly give them as many minutes as they need...

A few issues with this win. First of all agree that the refs knew that this was on ESPN and wanted to be the stars too. Must be mid season performance appraisal time or something as they stopped the game to many times....I mean a road team gets 39 FTA???If they had made 10 of the 14 that they missed, they could have darn near won the game...

Second what is up with Flip? he puts out his youth near the end of the 2nd qtr and they extend the lead, but brings the starters back midway through the second and the magic Trim the lead. AJ was spectacular in his 8+ mins grabbing four boards and 3 blocks...did he go home at halftime??

In the 3rd the Pistons extended the lead to 27 but the starters get complacent and "TIRED" as all other than foul plagued Sheed play almost the whole qtr. Flip flips out again and forgets that these guys are human and need a blow. I know we can't count on the two in slump guys "Stuckey and Hayes", but Max and Amir and Afflalo were playing decent enough to come in midway thru the 3rd and get more minutes.

Also what's with the Pistons...get a big lead and coast the rest of the way>?? the LB lead Pistons never did that...at least not the first season. Thank goodness for that big first qtr...reminds me of the Spurs game.... I know Sheed fouled out tonight, but 13 points in the first qtr and 2 in the 3rd. Talking about being unselfish... Rip scored 32 pts, dished out 8 assists and grabbed 8 boards...two of those laying down on his backside :)
Screw Flip.

I thought we were making good progress around here lately, what happened? Why all the negativity?

Blame the calls on Steve Javie. Refs have their own way of calling games and the lead ref can influence a crew of inexperienced refs. Did we get scrwed on the calls Monday night?

I can live with this 10 man rotation. Maxiel 20 mins, Afflalo 16 mins, Stucky 12, Amir 9. Rip play 39 but he was hot and I don't worry about him getting tired. Prince played 38 but that was mostly because Jarvis cannot guard Hedo.

Don't know about you guys but I am glad they beat the Magic. When a team celebrates like the won the Finals when they beat you 4 days earlier you have to respond. I thought the Pistons responded quit well. And Amir played for the 2nd straight game.

I thought we were making good progress around here lately, what happened? Why all the negativity?

Blame the calls on Steve Javie. Refs have their own way of calling games and the lead ref can influence a crew of inexperienced refs. Did we get scrwed on the calls Monday night?

I can live with this 10 man rotation. Maxiel 20 mins, Afflalo 16 mins, Stucky 12, Amir 9. Rip play 39 but he was hot and I don't worry about him getting tired. Prince played 38 but that was mostly because Jarvis cannot guard Hedo.

Don't know about you guys but I am glad they beat the Magic. When a team celebrates like the won the Finals when they beat you 4 days earlier you have to respond. I thought the Pistons responded quit well. And Amir played for the 2nd straight game.

Nobody can guard Hedo when every time he starts to drive he gets a call. But I would've loved to see some Hermann on him.

Nobody can guard Hedo when every time he starts to drive he gets a call. But I would've loved to see some Hermann on him.

Not if they are playing the Celtics
:hoops:

Nobody can guard Hedo when every time he starts to drive he gets a call. But I would've loved to see some Hermann on him.

True the refs tried their best to ruin the game and I do hope it is reviewed. But it was not Flips fault.

Not if they are playing the Celtics
:hoops:

It would be a tossup. League loves both teams.

True the refs tried their best to ruin the game and I do hope it is reviewed. But it was not Flips fault.

We won the game, but the refs still played with Flips head and he then played Rip almost 40 minutes and Tay over 38. Johnson and even Fabio could have got some of those minutes. Although as someone said in chat, more minutes played by the youngsters would have probably resulted in more fouls called by Javie and crew:sssh:

Our bench was called for 13 fouls in 58 minutes. That is over 1 foul per minute

5 guys X 12 = 60 minutes or one quarters worth. So 13 fouls in 12 minutes = 13/(60/5) or over 1 foul a minute.

The starters by contrast were called for 17 fouls in about 182 minutes.


It seems pretty clear why the bench didn't get more minutes.

:hoops:

What a great win over a pretty good team for the Pistons today. I can't believe so many people are whining. Enjoy the win, folks.

Steve Javie is a gotdamn clown

Good win tonight. That first quarter was the best they have looked in a long time. Not too long ago there were first quarter blues.

Big and expected drop in the second half. Lewis killed his team. When a big man roams so far outside to line up those threes, you best shoot at least 40-50 percent. Sheed needs to see how Lewis hurt his team, since the key on bad nights is to get those second shots. Let us all hope Dyess stays healthy, because he is the only one rebounding.

Not a good night for the bench, but there could be a huge wave of developing talent for the near future. One thing is obvious about this bench:

They are athletic
They are quick
They are not lazy
They take no breaks
Amir, Stuckey, and AA are still rookiesExtremely inconsistent refs tonight.

What a great win over a pretty good team for the Pistons today. I can't believe so many people are whining. Enjoy the win, folks.

Pretty good team that needed 40 free throws to stay within 10 points. Dyess played almost 37 minutes, Amir didn't get off the bench in the 2nd, Tay played 38 minutes. If Orlando made all the freebies it would've been a close game at the end. That's why we are "whining".
I'd rather take a 1 point win over Milwaukee with bench getting extensive playing time.

Pretty good team that needed 40 free throws to stay within 10 points. Dyess played almost 37 minutes, Amir didn't get off the bench in the 2nd, Tay played 38 minutes. If Orlando made all the freebies it would've been a close game at the end. That's why we are "whining".
I'd rather take a 1 point win over Milwaukee with bench getting extensive playing time.


The Magic got lots of free throws because the Pistons committed lots of fouls. It really is that simple.

Amir actually played. Let's celebrate.

Who gives a crap about all of the minutes played micro-analysis?

I couldn't believe those refs tonight. They sucked badly. The Magic needed what, 40 ft's just to keep themselves within striking distance. Take away some of those (particularly the Turkey Glue touch fouls) and this would've been a different ball game.

Amir - I loved seeing him get some time and produce. He's played well so far; hopefully he keeps it up so Flip can trust him more. He had 3 fouls called on him, but some were really tacky ones. Sheed/Dice/Max got hit with a few of those as well.

Stuckey - He needs to make better decisions. That offensive foul on a drive to the hoop was just poor recognition. I liked the aggressiveness, he just has to play more under control. Once he does that, he should be fine.

Afflalo - Needs to play more. Didn't score much, but he was solid on D as usual. And he rarely ever forces anything. He has a lot of poise for a rook.

Jarvis - Still no J. He didn't get much time because he was cold and sucked on D. Tay ended up playing a lot 'cause the Tragic were going to 'Shard any time either him or Afflalo were on him.

Sheed - Got his 7th T of the year. Not completely underserved, but not unwarranted either. It was fairly obvious the refs were screwing us over. He had a stellar first quarter, however, going 6 for 6 at one point and playing good D.

Chauncey - Abused pretty much all their guards. Efficient game for him, scoring 20+ points on around 10 FGAs and getting to the line quite a bit.

Rip - Player of the Game. He was on FIRE, scoring 30+ points on iirc, 50+% shooting.

Maxie/Dice - Dice had a double-double, rebounding very well. Hit some shots too. Max did well. He has a pretty smooth stroke on that jumper now. The starters played a lot, which I don't like seeing as we were up double digits for much of the game, 20+ almost all through the third. They were clearly a bit gassed at the end. Decent win. The kids are coming along. I'm happy as long as we continue to give them time to develop.

I was at the Palace, in my usual seat overlooking the Pistons bench. It was tons of fun to cheer on the Pistons. A young couple sitting next to us was at their first Piston game, and loved it. They got a hoot out of how much yelling I do.

There were some negatives in this game for sure, but plenty of positives too. I'll gleam over some of the bad stuff quickly. Yes, Dyess is wiped out, as far as I can tell, and yes, our play did drop off when he returned in the 2nd quarter. Our young guys were doing great. They had knocked the lead up to 25. We did not need our starters to return in the 2nd quarter of this game. Hayes played a short spell, and did pretty much nothing right, and Afflalo got the rest of his 1st half minutes and all his 2nd half minutes. Yes, it seemed like Flip was coaching with wrong thinking, imagining that Orlando was going to fold all the sudden, and then the bench could come in for extended garbage time. Nope, Flip, you got to sub in late 3rd quarter, assume the worst.

Now the good stuff. We rocked in the first quarter, getting a 21 point lead. The game was somewhat anticlimactic after that. It was just a matter of whether we were going to put the game away early. That first quarter featured some very impressive post work by Sheed.

Amir sure enough came in the game and played a good stretch of the 2nd quarter. He was very effective on the offensive glass, and at one point, the Pistons as a team had more offensive rebounds than Orlando had total rebounds. (Of course, we were shooting about 77% at that point too, so Orlando was not getting that many defensive board opportunities. A few blocks from Amir helped out cause too. After two straight offensive rebounds on the same play, Amir put the ball in the hoop for his only basket. Amir was not given a shot to take otherwise.

JMAX hit a couple of much needed midrange jumpers in the game, plus he made one very impressive move from the left to the middle, ending in a short jumper.

For the whole game, we outrebounded Orlando badly, with Dyess getting the most. Sheed was guarding Howard the most in the first quarter, and doing a pretty good job of it, but Dyess was taking his turns too.

A couple of times, Afflalo was guarding Lewis, which would seem quite a mismatch. The ref blew the whistle on Afflalo the first time, seemingly arbitrarily, maybe just for pwar. Playing While A Rookie. Lewis then backed him down later and scored an easy bucket. But hey, Afflalo still looked capable of doing the job, maybe if given some more experience and a bit more of a fair whistle from the refs.

Interesting that Orlando outscored us in quarters 2, 3, and 4. This included a 33 point 2nd quarter if I recall right. 49-18, yep, 33 points. Orlando hung in there, despite falling behind so far so fast. While we can certainly laugh at how easily our guards scored on Arroyo, it must be noted that they can score on a lot of guards. Meanwhile, Arroyo was having a particulary good shooting game and dishing the ball right and left to give Orlando good shots. Contrast that to earlier in the season when Nelson was their point guard. Nelson plays no D at all, and no way could match the point guard play of Arroyo. That game back then was easy. (And Dyess was not worn out at that point, the 2nd game of the season.)

Their star, Lewis, hit one triple early and seemed to some extent to shoot Orlando right out of the game. I mean, you think that somehow they could get the ball into their star, Howard, right? They did, but we continually fouled Howard when they did and he only makes half his free throws. Howard's free throw shooting woes are a big weak spot for the Orlando team. Sheed ended up with serious foul trouble from the late 3rd quarter on when he picked up his 4th foul.

Afflalo only got to take one outside shot that I recall, and he made it, a midranger.

Stuckey, did get stuffed driving in the one time, but oh well, he has to keep doing what he does best. The more he drives in, the more comfortable it will be for him to do so. Open players will become more easy to see. Keep it up Stuck.

When we need a score, there is Billups to drive in and get to the line. When we want to score some buckets, there is Rip with his steady as ever midrange game, and you better not give him an open look at a three. Great job of shooting by Rip tonight.

Tay had a decent all around game. Nice passing. Key rebounds. Some scoring. Good solid D. He probably did play maybe a bit too much, but this was not a back to back, and we don't play for a few days. Still, I would like to get Sammy Mejia on the team, a lockdown defender, strong rebounder, and excellent ball handler. Tay could get some serious rest if Mejia was on the team, and could do a lot of what Tay does when he is playing all those minutes.

Why do I want Samb on the team? To close out the 2nd quarter. Give us some shotblocking, and let Dyess get more rest than he did tonight.

OK, about all I can think of at the moment. Overall, this was a very good win. Things may not be running as nicely as they could, but they are running down the right track.

GO PISTONS!!!!!

How long before every C & PF tandem in the L has blocked Stuckey's shot?

Are we sure Flip is awake during the games? He might as well be in a bathrobe with the paper under his arm. I don't know why he can't at least loosely follow his 1st half rotation(?) in the second. I actually thought he left Amir in for too long. He should have yanked him a little earlier to bring Sheed back in with more time. Flip met his quota though, no need to play Amir again. Central Division Champs here they come!!!!

Very good writeups in the last few posts. I enjoyed reading them.

Yes things are going in the right direction now.

This was kind of a must win game with how much importance the Magic were putting on it. You can't let them gain that kind of confidence with another win. Thats what burned us with the Cavs a couple of years ago.

Starters came out great, Flips new substitution pattern worked out great in the 2nd quarter. Things did derail at times in the 2nd half but the magic never really got close, even with all the cheap calls.

I think the plan was to go for the win in the 3rd quarter and give the guys the rest of the night off but they stopped executing like they did in the 1st half. Sure the shots are not always going to fall so easy but you have to stick with the game plan.

Don't worry about the refs. League does review all games and hopefully will point these hacks in the right direction. You know its bad when Javie lets Sheed get away yelling at him. He knew it was a poorly called game.

Pistons got the win. Get to face these guys again in a couple of weeks.

Obviously a fun game to watch in the first half. Rip with 14 FGs! CB doing damage. Sheed hitting a high percentage from the low block. Dyess almost matching Howard in rebounds (in 7 fewer minutes).

I'll just go ahead and point out the problems for fun.

Problem #1-
ZERO free throws for Sheed, Dyess, JMax, and Amir???
31 free throws for Dwight, Turk, and Shard???

You got to be kidding.

Problem #2-
Orlando won the turnover battle 9 to 14? Oh crap. That is their biggest weakness. Did you see that way Howard was losing the ball? And they still had less than 10? All in all, this was about as good as you could have expected Arroyo to handle the game for them (Maurice Evans was sort of invisible, eh?).

Problem #3-
Amir had 3 blocks in 9 minutes (I actually counted 5).
The rest of the Pistons had 1 block in 231 minutes. Hmm. You know how we are letting Stuckey struggle through this ugly stretch? Well, Amir isn't struggling through anything. He's just kicking assyeah.

You know how we are letting Stuckey struggle through this ugly stretch? Well, Amir isn't struggling through anything. He's just kicking assyeah.
So is AA.

So is AA.

Yeah, I'm more impressed with him every game. What a great mental game he seems to have. He's frustrated by the foul calls, but he doesn't let up. His offense is better than previously advertised as well.

I'm sort of curious what a unit of Lindsey/Afflalo/Herrman/JMax/Amir would play like. There would be some chaos for sure.

Obviously a fun game to watch in the first half. Rip with 14 FGs! CB doing damage. Sheed hitting a high percentage from the low block. Dyess almost matching Howard in rebounds (in 7 fewer minutes).

I'll just go ahead and point out the problems for fun.

Problem #1-
ZERO free throws for Sheed, Dyess, JMax, and Amir???
31 free throws for Dwight, Turk, and Shard???

You got to be kidding.

Problem #2-
Orlando won the turnover battle 9 to 14? Oh crap. That is their biggest weakness. Did you see that way Howard was losing the ball? And they still had less than 10? All in all, this was about as good as you could have expected Arroyo to handle the game for them (Maurice Evans was sort of invisible, eh?).

Problem #3-
Amir had 3 blocks in 9 minutes (I actually counted 5).
The rest of the Pistons had 1 block in 231 minutes. Hmm. You know how we are letting Stuckey struggle through this ugly stretch? Well, Amir isn't struggling through anything. He's just kicking assyeah.

I am concerned about problem # 1 that our front line barely goes to the line..which means in this game that no one had the balz to attack DHoward while he was in there... But as longs as it doesn't happen everyninght I am OK with it. Besides I mwilling bet that if Max and Dice would have gone to the line 10 times between them, they would have only of hit half them anyway:)

Jarvis needs to be replaced for good. It would be one thing if his shot just abandoned him, but he makes absolutely terrible decisions. You can't let him touch the ball without him forcing up terrible shots. How he gets on the court night after night with that kind of shot selection is beyond me. Defensively he is one of the worst on the team. He puts himself in terrible positions 1-on-1, and he has frequent lapses on help D. IMO, Flip needs to go with AA on Medium to small SFs, and Fabio on taller SFs. With those 2, you've got guys who are unselfish, and won't force the issue when they don't have it.

Stuckey needs to pick it up and fast. I'm a little surprised he has gotten this much leash from Flip PT-wise. I know he went to a small school, but I simply can't understand how you go from a dominant scorer to a guy who can't hit ANYTHING. It's really starting to get ugly.

Amir brought some stellar energy in the 1st half of this one. Blocking shots and he seemed to always be around the ball (the ESPN guys noticed this as well). The fouls are just the nature of the game. The refs were terrorizing our "low-profile" players tonight, and Amir is always going to challenge defensively. IMO, his only real mental mistake was that telegraphed pass. That must have been what won him a 2nd half DNP. Unfortunately that's how it's going to be. No leash for AJ. One mistake and he's out. I applaud Flip for keeping him out there for 8 minutes in the first half though.

I am going to this one. And for the first time in a while, I can't wait to get to a game.

Just to follow up on this comment. I enjoyed this game immensely. I was geeked up as heck since Wednesday, and overjoyed to see Amir come in with a minute or two left in the 1st quarter. No making us fans wait and wonder if he was coming into the game. And I am getting just as geeked seeing Afflalo getting the minutes he has earned at small forward (and shooting guard.)

Probably just a coincidence I am sure, but the Palace was packed. The crowd was too quiet for my liking though. Anyone going to the game, or knows someone who is, yell, scream, and tell your friends to do the same. GO PISTONS!!!!!

Jarvis needs to be replaced for good. It would be one thing if his shot just abandoned him, but he makes absolutely terrible decisions. You can't let him touch the ball without him forcing up terrible shots. How he gets on the court night after night with that kind of shot selection is beyond me. Defensively he is one of the worst on the team. He puts himself in terrible positions 1-on-1, and he has frequent lapses on help D. IMO, Flip needs to go with AA on Medium to small SFs, and Fabio on taller SFs. With those 2, you've got guys who are unselfish, and won't force the issue when they don't have it.

Stuckey needs to pick it up and fast. I'm a little surprised he has gotten this much leash from Flip PT-wise. I know he went to a small school, but I simply can't understand how you go from a dominant scorer to a guy who can't hit ANYTHING. It's really starting to get ugly.

Amir brought some stellar energy in the 1st half of this one. Blocking shots and he seemed to always be around the ball (the ESPN guys noticed this as well). The fouls are just the nature of the game. The refs were terrorizing our "low-profile" players tonight, and Amir is always going to challenge defensively. IMO, his only real mental mistake was that telegraphed pass. That must have been what won him a 2nd half DNP. Unfortunately that's how it's going to be. No leash for AJ. One mistake and he's out. I applaud Flip for keeping him out there for 8 minutes in the first half though.

On Stuckey, he came in, and the lead expanded. And expanded some more. And some more. All the way to 27 points. (It was 19, or maybe just 17, when he entered the game.) He brought the ball up ok. He defended fine. He got the ball to the rack, messing up their defense and rebounding scheme. It ended up with us getting points. (And of course, close in shots do not lead to fast breaks for the other team.)

Hayes only played 3 minutes, so it seems your wish is coming true in that regard. Amir can play small forward against bigger players that Afflalo may not be able to handle.

Hayes only played 3 minutes, so it seems your wish is coming true in that regard. Amir can play small forward against bigger players that Afflalo may not be able to handle.

That would be ideal.

The only major gripe i have with this game is like said above, Flip coaches for the blowout. You have to sub in the 3rd quarters!

And what bothers me is that our bench doesn't get in the game if it's tight (er) even though they play well in the 1st half. They need to have set rotation patters and play regardless of the score and the opponent.

Min for the starters can't stay this way.

Oh, and Meija got a small feature on NBATV when they were doing a part on the D-league. Talked about how he's great on defense, can score, and does a little bit of everything (sounds like someone that plays for us :)). Jarvis is just taking up a roster spot at this point. He's our only weak link on defense in our 2nd unit, and it shows.

It was fun to finally see the Pistons come out after a loss to a team like they gave a damn. I'm not going to panic on our 15pt 4th quarters yet. We'll see what happens when the game is tight.

That Flip is an odd bird. He's quoted in all the papers saying what a shame it was that he couldn't get Amir back in the game because he wanted to keep Sheed on the floor. Sheed was in foul trouble right around the time that he would have subbed out. It's like Flip can't put 2 and 2 together and recognize the opportunity.

I would keep playing Hayes if only to keep another body out there. Flip is reluctant to play Stuckey and AA together. One of the three wings should come out early. I wouldn't play Hayes a lot, but I might try bringing him in first for Tay and let him go with the first unit for a bit. Hopefully, this would get him better shots and cover his D.

I have no idea what any of you are talking about in regards to Stuckey's good D. None.

wow ... i watched this game and thought it would be really, really hard for people to find reasons to complain about our team, but i guess i under(or over...heh)estimated! i saw nothing but good things from this game, except for the refs who single-handedly prevented a 40-point blowout. i thought they were bad in the last game against orlando, but it was ridiculous here - how much respect can you give these guys? turkey-glue has never been a spectacular player, but now any time he drives he gets a foul called. then we were the aggressor and driving the lane and not getting any calls.

anyway - amir looked GREAT. i found myself cheering all of the young guys in the 2nd quarter, especially amir. he blocked shots and as a result made orlando very tentative in the lane, and he used his athleticism to keep balls alive and get boards. even when he didn't have the proper position under the basket, he could reach over his man (without fouling) and snag the board. people have been saying at least give him some minutes in the 2nd quarter, and flip does that, yet they complain that he didn't get 2nd half minutes. c'mon. even flip said he was disappointed that he couldn't get amir back in, but he had a point - sheed owned howard in this game and it would be hard to take him out...and dyess was grabbing so many boards, that if amir was going to sub for anyone it would've been jmax, and jmax was making some key plays.

afflalo? solid as always, and you have to be pleased at flip playing him over jarvis at SF, even though afflalo had a severe height mismatch. sure rashard took it to him at the basket one time and drew a foul on the other, but if that's what your rookie can do against a $118 million player, you've got to be pleased.

jmax - not a ton of 'stats' but he made key shots and grabbed a few key rebounds, and did his job.

hayes - maybe this will humble him. i don't know how hard he works in practice, or if he stays after, but hopefully this will motivate him to work harder on his game. i think he has the physical tools to be a decent defender, but he lacks the knowledge on what to do. if you notice, his teammates are no longer passing him the ball unless he's in the post area, where he actually does have a decent game. in 7 of the last 10 games he's taken one 3-pointer or fewer, and that's more of a result of losing trust in his teammates than anything else.

stuckey? his shot will come. finishing at the rim will come. like hubie said on one of the possessions, if he had taken an extra dribble he would've gotten to the basket. those are things you can fix. what he is doing is playing solid defense and making other contributions (boards/assists/steals), and he's back to being aggressive again. he has a very long way to go and has a lot to learn, but he *is* learning and we're still winning.

for those who didn't like the starters coming back in the 2nd quarter, yeah i thought it was potentially unnecessary, but they were +3 as a unit in those couple of minutes.

i have absolutely nothing to complain about, and i thought this was a fantastic win. amir got some burn and played so well that he got extended time in the 1st half and actually made flip regret not using him in the 2nd, and is making it impossible not to give him time over the next several games. afflalo is earning his time back even with stuckey playing a lot of minutes, and he deserves it. stuckey is struggling, but hey he's been aggressive the past 2 games and is building a knowledge-set of what he can and cannot do. he's struggling scoring, but he's playing solid defense, and in the past 2 games he still managed to grab 3 boards, dish 2 assists, and get a steal in only 12 minutes of play.

the pistons are back on track and the games are fun to watch again now that the failed short-rotation experience is over. flip appears to be learning that throwing additional players into the mix makes it harder for opponents to prepare for us, throws the opposition different and unique looks throughout the game, and keeps the starters fresh (even if they end up playing a few more minutes, they're not mentally tired).

"They got a hoot out of how much yelling I do." Qoute L356
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You weren't cursing were you?