Miami Feb. 6th, 7:30 PM

TV20 Detroit HD, NBA TV


The lottery bound Heat visit the Palace as the Pistons go for their 6th straight win. The Heat have one 1 game in over a month and are 0-1 in February at the time of this post!

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1392/566225942_d53c881845_o.jpg

hahaha nice picture.

i haven't been to the palace in awhile but i've got this game and the portland game on friday. it'll be good to watch them live again.

I wonder what kind of energy would starters have in this one. Hopefully lots of bench play.

hahaha nice picture.

i haven't been to the palace in awhile but i've got this game and the portland game on friday. it'll be good to watch them live again.


Looking forward to a great Hoggcap. Been missing it.

Toronto outscored the HEAT AT MIAMI 33-12 in the 1st quarter yesterday, so we need to punch them out early. There's no excuse.

Then , they have the worst bench in the league. So, the Zoo Squad needs to keep em down in the 2nd.

Its up to the starters to set the standard for this game . I would expect No starter to have to go longer than 30 minutes.

FINAL: PISTONS 111- HEAT 78

Looking forward to a great Hoggcap. Been missing it.

Toronto outscored the HEAT AT MIAMI 33-12 in the 1st quarter yesterday, so we need to punch them out early. There's no excuse.

Then , they have the worst bench in the league. So, the Zoo Squad needs to keep em down in the 2nd.

Its up to the starters to set the standard for this game . I would expect No starter to have to go longer than 30 minutes.

FINAL: PISTONS 111- HEAT 78

I have to agree with you.

Pistons should also have a lot of fun trouncing their former nemisis. Motivation should not be a problem.

Here is what is important for this game:

Unlike last game, Afflalo is not cut out of the initial sub rotation.

Unlike last game, Amir is not cut out of the 2nd half rotation.

We need not one single hint that Flip Saunders is reverting.

We are on the road to a championship, lets not let Flip put up a roadblock.

Looking past the Miami game, we have some tough opponents coming up, more excuses for Flip to revert.

Here is what should be done:

The next 10 games, Amir, Stuckey, and Afflalo should each get 25 minutes, while Maxy gets 15. And Really, Samb should be getting 5 minutes per game.

And Herrmann should get 12 minutes per game. Bench Hayes for a spell, it won't hurt him any at all.

Keep Dyess down under 26 minutes per game. Keep the rest of our starters to under 30 minutes per game.

Now is always a good time to start. The last five games have been nice. A good start toward playoff preparation. We do not need to get as drastic as I am stating in this post, but it would be a good idea, just to counter Flip's tendencies to find excuses (in his mind only do they make sense) not to play a full 10 man rotation featuring our young players.

Here is what should be done:

The next 10 games, Amir, Stuckey, and Afflalo should each get 25 minutes, while Maxy gets 15. And Really, Samb should be getting 5 minutes per game.



Be nice to get a 7' shot blocker ready for the Playoffs. Barring any trades to get a tough vet which is highly unlikly Samb could be very usefull in some situations. More mins for Amir would also be nice.

Here is what is important for this game:

Unlike last game, Afflalo is not cut out of the initial sub rotation.

Unlike last game, Amir is not cut out of the 2nd half rotation.

We need not one single hint that Flip Saunders is reverting.

We are on the road to a championship, lets not let Flip put up a roadblock.

Looking past the Miami game, we have some tough opponents coming up, more excuses for Flip to revert.

Here is what should be done:

The next 10 games, Amir, Stuckey, and Afflalo should each get 25 minutes, while Maxy gets 15. And Really, Samb should be getting 5 minutes per game.

And Herrmann should get 12 minutes per game. Bench Hayes for a spell, it won't hurt him any at all.

Keep Dyess down under 26 minutes per game. Keep the rest of our starters to under 30 minutes per game.

Now is always a good time to start. The last five games have been nice. A good start toward playoff preparation. We do not need to get as drastic as I am stating in this post, but it would be a good idea, just to counter Flip's tendencies to find excuses (in his mind only do they make sense) not to play a full 10 man rotation featuring our young players.


I understand why you want players to get certain minutes, however, shouldn`t the game as it is being played determine who gets how many minutes?

It is impossible to say who should get how many minutes before the game is played. Matchups, foul trouble, injuries all come into play when distributing minutes.

I understand why you want players to get certain minutes, however, shouldn`t the game as it is being played determine who gets how many minutes?

It is impossible to say who should get how many minutes before the game is played. Matchups, foul trouble, injuries all come into play when distributing minutes.

Absolutely not.

The goal is to win in the playoffs. Anything that you let interfere with that is bad.

You can give an excuse for virtually anything. But not one of them is a valid excuse not to play Maxiell, Amir, Afflalo, and Stuckey in a game. If the matchups are poor (which is highly doubtful) so what, it just gives the young player a growth opportunity. We don't change our starting lineup due to matchups, we adjust who guards who or our defensive schemes. Not playing Amir tonight, extensively, is a bad decision that I hope does not get made.

This should be one of the easiest games of the year, right?

A slumping Miami with no Shaq and no Zo. Is Doleac going to play? Is he still in the league?

I love games like this. Let Amir run wild.

Let me know what they say about the dead man walking.
Could anyone be crazy enough to give up recruits for Shaq.
Someone actually suggested Shaq to Detroit. It's all so wrong.

This should be one of the easiest games of the year, right?



That usually means trouble for the Pistons. They seem to thrive when they are supposed to lose.

Chat is open!

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

:pound:Only 5 us in chat---------must be the blizzard:pound:

One step forward, 60 steps back.

Our coach is an effin joke. I just got home and checked the box. Am i missing something or is there a reason Sheed/Rip have played the whole game, and Amir has gotten no minutes??

AGAINST THE MIAMI HEAT

Tough win against a terrible team. Aside from a good end to the 2nd quarter and a strong 3rd quarter, it was a pretty indifferent performance, although the defense and execution were good enough in the clutch to pull it out. Starters all played between 36-38 minutes, although CB only had 32 as Stuckey played a lot...rather poorly, unfortunately, -11 for the game. But CB was +16.

Amir got two minutes. Hell, the only subs that played any significant time were Stuck and Maxiell. That's like a "look Joe, I played the kids" move. Just when I thought the guy was making progress, he reverts back to his stupid old habits. Flip was saying only Stuck and Maxiell would get consistent PT every game, and Amir and Afflalo would see "situational" minutes - way to reward hard work and production, Flip. :gun1:

Good god, what a crappy win!!!

Amir got two minutes. Hell, the only subs that played any significant time were Stuck and Maxiell. That's like a "look Joe, I played the kids" move. Just when I thought the guy was making progress, he reverts back to his stupid old habits. Flip was saying only Stuck and Maxiell would get consistent PT every game, and Amir and Afflalo would see "situational" minutes - way to reward hard work and production, Flip. :gun1:

I didn't think it was THAT bad...AA got 11 minutes, probably would have been more if the unit that started the 4th quarter hadn't given away the entire 11 point lead they had after 3.

Amir got two minutes. Hell, the only subs that played any significant time were Stuck and Maxiell. That's like a "look Joe, I played the kids" move. Just when I thought the guy was making progress, he reverts back to his stupid old habits. Flip was saying only Stuck and Maxiell would get consistent PT every game, and Amir and Afflalo would see "situational" minutes - way to reward hard work and production, Flip. :gun1:

Was this a recent quote? Is he mentally-impaired?

I didn't think it was THAT bad...AA got 11 minutes, probably would have been more if the unit that started the 4th quarter hadn't given away the entire 11 point lead they had after 3.

The point is, Flip was quoted as saying Afflalo's time would depend on matchups and what we need. Well, we needed his D. He outrebounded Max too. Someone needs to tell that guy to hit the boards. He's a 4 after all.

Was this a recent quote? Is he mentally-impaired?

Yes. Dated February 5 to be exact. He didn't say "situational" after all, but it means the same.

"We've gone with rotations that depended on how guys played in practice and what's been needed," Saunders said. "We know certain guys ... Maxie, Stuckey, those two guys for sure are going to log a lot of minutes. Jarvis' minutes a lot depend on how he does defensively. When Tay eats up minutes, sometimes it's because he's going against someone defensively that's a better matchup. But the other guys playing, Arron and Amir, has a lot to do with matchups we play and what's needed."


- Detroit Pistons Basketball: News, Blogs, Photos, Audio, Schedule & Stats - MLive.com (http://www.mlive.com/pistons/index.ssf/2008/02/too_much_talent_not_enough_min.html)

Yes. Dated February 5 to be exact. He didn't say "situational" after all, but it means the same.


- Detroit Pistons Basketball: News, Blogs, Photos, Audio, Schedule & Stats - MLive.com (http://www.mlive.com/pistons/index.ssf/2008/02/too_much_talent_not_enough_min.html)

bla . . . just when i was getting excited about this team again :pout:

Did he not just say a week ago we needed to establish a 4th big. That Amir was in the rotation, and gushing about how great he was?? And AA as well? Said defense is what will get you on the floor?

He's like a used car salesman.

As many people picked up on, Flip Saunders is rapidly derailing the team. Sure we beat Miami, a team minus Shaq, Haslem, and Mourning. No, Marion did not play this game. Miami hung close with us with good shooting, but good shooting because of one uncontested shot after another.


We managed to win the game, getting enough offense from Billups, going inside a lot, Rip, making a lot of shots, and Sheed doing a lot of damage from around the basket and midrangers.


Dyess hit some shots. Hayes had a decent game. Tay hit some key shots down the stretch and got about 14 in all.


Afflalo did not do much in this game, and yet he was in there those last few mintues of the 3rd quarter as we built an 11 point lead. Good D. His reward? Just like the first half, he sat down and watched Rip play the whole 4th quarter. Afflalo was used in some end of game situations in this tight game.


Maxiell also did very little in this game, was also part of that run that gave us control of the game. Defense wins.
Amir played some decent D while in his two minutes, got one score on a post up move.


Stuckey did play 15 minutes, which is acceptable. This kept Billups to 33 minutes. Stuckey's highlight, besides picking up a few loose balls, was a fast break layup just a few seconds after Wade layed one in on the other end.


Considering the amount of rest the Pistons have had this past week, the minutes the starters played were not that bad. The problem is how little time Amir Johnson got in the game. Lets review this. In the past 6 games now, Amir has gotten into the rotation for both halves of the game 3 times. This is standard Flip derailment mode. He is pretending to play Amir Johnson. Nothing more. Just pretend. Probably to keep his job.


I wonder, how many fans does he think he is fooling? Does he think its like some slight of hand trick that nobody will notice. Yes, Flip, we all noticed. You did not play Amir enough to matter. All us fans can hope really is that Dumars will fire you. No way you will change. No way the Pistons have a chance to win a Championship this year, because of you and your insistance in derailing a good thing.

Considering the amount of rest the Pistons have had this past week, the minutes the starters played were not that bad. The problem is how little time Amir Johnson got in the game. Lets review this. In the past 6 games now, Amir has gotten into the rotation for both halves of the game 3 times. This is standard Flip derailment mode. He is pretending to play Amir Johnson. Nothing more. Just pretend. Probably to keep his job.


Agree. Flip is backsliding on his promise to play Amir more. The kid has earned the pt...he needs to be on the court.

At least we won the game..but it was brutal.

Considering the amount of rest the Pistons have had this past week, the minutes the starters played were not that bad. The problem is how little time Amir Johnson got in the game. Lets review this. In the past 6 games now, Amir has gotten into the rotation for both halves of the game 3 times. This is standard Flip derailment mode. He is pretending to play Amir Johnson. Nothing more. Just pretend. Probably to keep his job.


I wonder, how many fans does he think he is fooling? Does he think its like some slight of hand trick that nobody will notice. Yes, Flip, we all noticed. You did not play Amir enough to matter. All us fans can hope really is that Dumars will fire you. No way you will change. No way the Pistons have a chance to win a Championship this year, because of you and your insistance in derailing a good thing.


What i don't understand is even if the initial reason he started playing him was to save his job, didn't he see that he is actually good? Is he blind? I mean serioulsy, i just don't get it. I want to go to a game sit courtside, and ask him these questons.

Amir looked thrilled to be playing, had a great attitude throughout his years of not playing. Stop trying to kill the kid's confidence.

I can see the headlines now "Flip Saunders fired today for not playing Amir Johnson". He used a combination of trickery and deception to give the illusion of playing him but he was not really playing him. Just an elaborate illusion.

Games like this sometimes its good to step back and take a look at how the Pistons could be right now. Only 2 years ago Miami beat us in the ECF and now they are in last place. That could be us. Miami has plenty of young guys and D-leaguers to watch everynight.

Bench would have played more if they played better. Sheed and Dyess both played great, thats why Amir did not play more. He is afterall still the 4th big off the bench.

I thought Hayes and Afflalo played well but that was about it. Stucky was so so. Sheed was the player of the game. Slow start in the 1st quarter kind of surprised me. Tons of jump shots and no real plays ran. I am sure they had a plan but players were settling for the 1st open J.

A win is win..

This was the first win I've watched this year that i didn't crack a smile ONCE. There was NOTHINg acceptable about this game AT ALL! We are not playing for ECFHCA so I blame this one on three factors:

1. our coach is a beeyotch! He is scared of his starters, so he wouldnt think of benching for say an entire quarter, which is what i would have done in the 4th. Why is it these so-called great coaches can only coach their bench players in blowouts? There was no reason to play Dice 37 MINUTES! against a bunch of NBDLers. It was a great opp to get Amir some confidence. I hate Flip so much right now.

2. The starters can only blame themselves for their lack of effort tonight. So my thing was - Why not have a lil fun and start the Max, Amir, hayes, AA and Stuckey. It was an exhibition game atmosphere, so why not treat it as such. I would have made a great coach.

3. Dwayne Wade still has a lot of heart. I think he's free of carrying superman's jock and will unleash a season of 30pt/10 assist games. I still find him a marvel and can only hope Stuckey will be half the player he is.
but if Kobe and Wade can do this to this piston D over the past week, I still get a Jordan-like shiver when I think of facing lebron in the playoffs.

That was definitely a snoozer. The starters were bored, so they didn't play with energy, so Flip was afraid that the game might slip away, so he kept them in, so they didn't play with energy, etc, etc.

Miami put a pretty sorry team on the floor tonight. Scary that they could have beat us in our building.

Bad Weather, really bad weather. Bad opponent, I mean really bad opponent. Bad atmosphere, really bad atmosphere. Stevie Wonder could've seen this one coming. You had to know that the starters we're going to play uninspired, would have been a perfect game to give Stuck, AA and AJ extended mins to send a message. Would have rather loss this one by 20 with the young'ns than barely beat the worse team in the league by playing the "Core" for extended mins.

Also, while I'm a HUGE Maxiel fan, why is he being given mins these days, AJ has been really outplaying the guy for 2 weeks. It should be Max with the situational mins and AJ in the rotation these days. I'd love a good ol P.T. Dog-Fight for that 3rd big position.

Was it me or was Stuckey completely STAR-STRUCK by D-Wade tonight?

Was it me or was Stuckey completely STAR-STRUCK by D-Wade tonight?

I don't know. Stucky did not seem to back down after Wade blocked one of his shots. It was just good D by Wade I think but Stucky was missing some of those 5' floaters that he was making in the prior 2 games.

Wade took about 33% of their total shots. Sheer volume got his his 30. 11-25 for 44%. Kind of reminds me of that one year when Stackhouse was pretty much our offense. Wade did get 12 assists though.

Bad Weather, really bad weather. Bad opponent, I mean really bad opponent. Bad atmosphere, really bad atmosphere. Stevie Wonder could've seen this one coming. You had to know that the starters we're going to play uninspired, would have been a perfect game to give Stuck, AA and AJ extended mins to send a message. Would have rather loss this one by 20 with the young'ns than barely beat the worse team in the league by playing the "Core" for extended mins.

Also, while I'm a HUGE Maxiel fan, why is he being given mins these days, AJ has been really outplaying the guy for 2 weeks. It should be Max with the situational mins and AJ in the rotation these days. I'd love a good ol P.T. Dog-Fight for that 3rd big position.

Was it me or was Stuckey completely STAR-STRUCK by D-Wade tonight?

Seemed like the regular old Flip Saunders rotation and play calling tonight. Amir plays 2 minutes against the worst team in the league, with no bigs, while the team is obviously lacking energy(idiotic). Stuckey is back to being the stand on the perimeter and wait for someone to post up guy (no P&Rs). AA was playing well, and he gets a nice quick seat on the pine. Starters (Rip, Tay, and Chauncey especially), were quite obviously tanking this one, and they still play 38+ minutes.

Jarvis still can't play ANY D. How many times can he get caught in no-man's land? AA and Walter should be playing all of his minutes. Selfish shots and bad D = Bench, IMO.

^

It's the damn practice that did it. They had time off, practiced on Mon, and Flip managed to teach them how to suck again.

Flip epitomizes the phrase "You can't teach an old dog new tricks". Sometimes i think the starters try to play sucky so they can get benched and it doesn't happen.

Also,
I think we need to start a FREE AMIR petition or something. Maybe people should start chanting at games. Hell i'd do it if i didn't live in NY.

I don't know. Stucky did not seem to back down after Wade blocked one of his shots. It was just good D by Wade I think but Stucky was missing some of those 5' floaters that he was making in the prior 2 games.

Wade took about 33% of their total shots. Sheer volume got his his 30. 11-25 for 44%. Kind of reminds me of that one year when Stackhouse was pretty much our offense. Wade did get 12 assists though.

Wade grabbed Stuckey's uniform to avoid being posterised. One of the worst non-calls this season. To call it a block means you did not see the play.

I can see the headlines now "Flip Saunders fired today for not playing Amir Johnson". He used a combination of trickery and deception to give the illusion of playing him but he was not really playing him. Just an elaborate illusion.

Games like this sometimes its good to step back and take a look at how the Pistons could be right now. Only 2 years ago Miami beat us in the ECF and now they are in last place. That could be us. Miami has plenty of young guys and D-leaguers to watch everynight.

Bench would have played more if they played better. Sheed and Dyess both played great, thats why Amir did not play more. He is afterall still the 4th big off the bench.

I thought Hayes and Afflalo played well but that was about it. Stucky was so so. Sheed was the player of the game. Slow start in the 1st quarter kind of surprised me. Tons of jump shots and no real plays ran. I am sure they had a plan but players were settling for the 1st open J.

A win is win..

You did notice that Amir did not play bad? Why should his minutes go down? Did you notice that Dyess only had 4 rebounds in the 2nd half, two of those quickly to start the 2nd half. Maybe he could have used a bit more rest.

This one was one bad call away from being tied with eight seconds left. Prince clearly fouled Davis on that three and the Heat should have been shooting free throws.

Too many days off between games added to an empty building really seemed to suck the life out of the Pistons. It's got to be tough to come out and play under those circumstances.

How else to explain one board and two turnovers from Max in 18 minutes? Well, he has already played 135 more minutes this season than all of last season. That's a big ol' wall he's running into.

Probably best for Stuckey not to get into one-up kind of games with Dwayne Wade. He need to stick with picking on little kids from Dallas. I thought that took him out of his game.

Time to forget this stinker.

I wonder if people in the Celtics and Suns forums complain about how their teams win.

I wonder if people in the Celtics and Suns forums complain about how their teams win.

Come on man, the "best starting five" in the league barely beat the worst team in the league (who was missing one of the greatest big men ever) at home. If that's not a win to complain about, then what is?

Our biggest weakness last night, lethargy, could have been corrected with our bench's great strength, energy.

At the stage we are at, how much does a win really matter anyway? Sure, if we lose a few in a row, there starts to be a negative vibe. But we can easily play .500 ball from here on in if we wanted to. It's all about developing players to the point where Flip can trust them in a playoff situation. If he doesn't trust them with the lead against Miami, then he has work to do.

I don't know. Stucky did not seem to back down after Wade blocked one of his shots. It was just good D by Wade I think but Stucky was missing some of those 5' floaters that he was making in the prior 2 games.

I agree. I thought Stuck played fairly aggressively. He did not seem afraid out there. Made Wade play D.

I wonder if people in the Celtics and Suns forums complain about how their teams win.I would figure that for Celtic fans, winning is a fresh experience.

I don't see any way for the Celtics to win the 'ship without better development of Gabe Pruitt. He should probably start in front of Allen.

:)

Come on man, the "best starting five" in the league barely beat the worst team in the league (who was missing one of the greatest big men ever) at home. If that's not a win to complain about, then what is?

Our biggest weakness last night, lethargy, could have been corrected with our bench's great strength, energy.

At the stage we are at, how much does a win really matter anyway? Sure, if we lose a few in a row, there starts to be a negative vibe. But we can easily play .500 ball from here on in if we wanted to. It's all about developing players to the point where Flip can trust them in a playoff situation. If he doesn't trust them with the lead against Miami, then he has work to do.

Don't look now, but the Pistons only trail the Celtics by 3 games. Would home court advantage be a good thing against Boston in the ECF?

I don't see any way for the Celtics to win the 'ship without better development of Gabe Pruitt. He should probably start in front of Allen.

:)


Gabe Pruitt didn't even play last night. I'm sure Boston fans are calling for Doc Rivers' head in the forums this morning.

Wow. Maybe I can offer a little perspective here, or possibly just a different take. Amir only plays 2 minutes and suddenly Flip is once again the devil and we have 0 chance of winning the championship? C'mon...look, I thought he played well in his 2 minutes and am also curious why he didn't play more, but I'm not going to say Flip has completely reverted.

Look, Sheed had energy and Dice was a MAN on the boards in the 1st half. So realistically you'd only put Amir in for Max, but hey...let Max try to work through his struggles a little bit. He's earned that right.

Now here's a simple question - forget the teams involved, players, etc. Who is more important to develop - your backup point guard (hardest position in the NBA), or your 4th big man? Well duh, your backup PG. How about some praise from Flip for letting Stuckey play 8 minutes of the 4th quarter, and keeping him in there even as the lead diminished, not bringing Chauncey back until very late in the game? You think he would've ever done that last year? Especially with a ROOKIE?

Listen, I'm all for developing our players, but is doing 1-2 at a time (instead of 3 with amir) really all that bad? Flip is putting Chauncey/Afflalo together and Rip/Stuckey together, and both of those guys got significant time last night. Amir is not in the same position because Max is capable of backing up both spots and there's not a clear difference between PF and C. Anyway, on to the game.

I had fun missing a day and a half of work with the stomach flu (or something similar). So I was soooo excited to have to drive out in this weather. I didn't get to my normal spot to meet up w/my buddy until 7:30, but then Telegraph was closed so he didn't even meet me until 8:40. Simply put, we didn't get to the Palace until halftime, and when we pulled in, there was still a HUGE line to get in!! At halftime there was probably about 3000-5000 fans still trying to get in and park!! I'm glad I missed the first half though.

A bunch of fans moved down to the lower level from the upper, and to their credit they were pretty loud, especially toward the end of the game. It's easy to forget sometimes that the upper deck usually has the louder fans, with the lower bowl usually occupied by people who don't care as much in the regular season. The drive home wasn't as bad, but yuck what a bad night.

Let's look at the positives. Jarvis took better shots and made some, along with making a few good defensive plays. Dice found his shot again. Sheed once again won the game for us and dominated when he had to. Our rookie guards are hanging around for rebounds when often you'd never see Chauncey or Rip in the vicinity. As for the negatives, Rip made a few terrible turnovers, once right before he got pulled for AA in the 3rd, and the other as soon as he came back in the game in the 4th. That, combined with Tayshaun's missed FTs, triggered the Miami comeback. It looks like the Dallas game didn't carry over for JMax. He needs to get in a better rhythm and post up for some shots before trying the jumpers, because they're all clanging off the back of the rim. He's playing solid defense but not grabbing as many boards. He also got screwed on two straight calls (block that should've been a charge on Miami, and a traveling violation when he was still trying to secure the rebound).

All things considered, I thought Stuckey played a heckuva a game. That minus stat in the 4th quarter wasn't really his fault. He wasn't afraid to go right at D-Wade...and if only he made that jumper after the sweet pass fake that totally fooled Wade. Wade drove for a layup, Stuckey immediately came back and got one himself. Stuckey may have gotten grabbed on the block, but I don't think it was bad enough to be an obvious foul...he should've taken another step or two and tried to dunk it, rather than picking up his dribble at the free throw line. He made a nice pass to Dice after driving (Dice didn't convert), had a sweet outlet pass to Jarvis, made some nice defensive plays and had a good steal, and yeah. Wade was told before the game about why Stuckey wore #3, and you could especially see in the 2nd half that Wade made it his personal mission to hound Stuckey. And for a rookie to play decent enough against an Olympian, NBA Finals champion, NBA Finals MVP, and multiple All-Star starter, I'd say that's all you could ask for. He has a 2.27 Assist:TO ratio already and averages nearly a steal a game in only 15 minutes. And last night he proved to himself that while he has a lot to work on, he can at least hang with the Wade's of the NBA.

Anyway, bash Saunders all you want, but he gave a rookie PG 8 minutes in the 4th quarter of a tight game matched up against a superstar, so I'm not going to call for his head because Amir only got 2 minutes.

Oh yeah, and Wade still travels constantly ... the step, then double 'hop-through' is 3 steps buddy. Too bad it never gets called.

lol fickle fans we are..... stuckey got serious burn and if he's playing in the 4th quarter of a close game AA isn't going to be in too... there is development and there is playing like a team rebuilding. I am not sure how bad/good AJ played but he was -6 in his short time on court.

The games right now are a couple days apart at home so there is no issue of being tired, and both starting big men were playing well.

My biggest concern is max, one rebound in all that time... if he doesn't come out of his slump shortly maybe seeing what AJ can do as the first one off the bench might be worth seeing.

But it was a huge trap game, there terrible..... One of the stars of the game just got traded, so they all know there playing for there jobs as nobody is safe and we still won.

Wade grabbed Stuckey's uniform to avoid being posterised. One of the worst non-calls this season. To call it a block means you did not see the play.
Which play do you mean? There was one where Wade blocked his shot. Looked like Wade blocked it from in front.

I wonder if people in the Celtics and Suns forums complain about how their teams win.
I don't think they really care about developing players is the thing or how many mins Nash plays. I don't know. You don't want to be here after a loss.

I am not sure how bad/good AJ played but he was -6 in his short time on court.


Here is how it went down.

Amir checks in the game...

Ricky Davis hits a 3-pointer
Jarvis Hayes turns it over
Rip fouls Wade (1 of 2)
Sheed misses a 19-footer
Alexander Johnson misses, Amir gets rebound
Amir scores in the paint
Alexander Johnson makes 20-footer
Stuckey misses 14-footer
Wade makes a layup
Sheed misses a 3-pointer
Dyess fouls Blunt (2 of 2)
Rip makes 3-pointerAmir checks out.

Hog, thanks for the recap, and for adding some perspective too. Sure, I would have liked for Amir to play some more as well, but I had forgotten to bring up Stuckey getting lots of 4th quarter mins even though the lead was disappearing. CB only played 32 minutes for the whole game.

As for the negatives, Rip made a few terrible turnovers, once right before he got pulled for AA in the 3rd, and the other as soon as he came back in the game in the 4th.

First, excellent hog-cap. And I'm glad you didn't end up in a ditch on either end of the game.

I also noticed last night, maybe near the end of the third, but I forget, Flip yelling at Rip for committing a particularly dumb foul guarding a guy past the three point line and just so happens, right in front of Flip. You don't often see Flip really getting on a guy and I think that's something he probably needs to do more of.

Do you see Tay getting pulled back from the scorer's table twice in the fourth? First Hayes hit a shot and Flip sent Tay back to the bench, then he sent him back again after a timeout and left Hayes in.

I was surpirsed at the minutes played reading the boxscore today. It didn't seem that bad watching the game last night. The struggle didn't really surprise me all that much. I thought the second unit opened it up a bit in the second.

Until reading the actual minutes played, I was thinking Flip had done a decent job rotation-wise minus AJ not getting back in.

I like how he has let AA guard Kobe and Wade. I wish he would get over the phobia of having Stuckey/AA & Amir/Max playing together.

If Amir played 7 more minutes (And there was nothing to suggest he was the root of all evil out there) Dyess could have only run for 30. Give Max 2 more and it's 28. I don't think that is a lot to ask. I didn't have a problem with Sheed's PT. He didn't play that, that much.

Miami is one motley crew up front.

Bad Weather, really bad weather. Bad opponent, I mean really bad opponent. Bad atmosphere, really bad atmosphere. Stevie Wonder could've seen this one coming. You had to know that the starters we're going to play uninspired, would have been a perfect game to give Stuck, AA and AJ extended mins to send a message. Would have rather loss this one by 20 with the young'ns than barely beat the worse team in the league by playing the "Core" for extended mins.

Also, while I'm a HUGE Maxiel fan, why is he being given mins these days, AJ has been really outplaying the guy for 2 weeks. It should be Max with the situational mins and AJ in the rotation these days. I'd love a good ol P.T. Dog-Fight for that 3rd big position.

Was it me or was Stuckey completely STAR-STRUCK by D-Wade tonight?

With Boston only being 7 - 6 in the last thirteen games before they beat the Clippers last night and with us now being only 4 games back of the Celtics in the loss column, I think Flipper did not want to let this one slip away.

The Celtics have played 4 more home games than road games and we have played 5 more road games than home games. We are playing very well at home this year 18-4 so we might actually be only a game or two behind them once the home and road games balance out.

For those that believe that home court advantage does matter, we did not want to let yesterday's game slip away.

NBA - Standings - Yahoo! Sports (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/standings)
:hoops:

That is a good way to look at it. By using your method, I calculate that the Pistons are 3 games back vs. the 5 games back that the standings indicate.

Celtics home record is .840, their road record is .762. So the average between them is .801. .801 x 47 games = 37.6 wins

Pistons home record is .818, our road recored is .654. So our average between them is .736. .736 x 47 games = 34.6 wins.


Garnett being out was probably offset by the games that our starters missed earlier in the year.

That is a good way to look at it. By using your method, I calculate that the Pistons are 3 games back vs. the 5 games back that the standings indicate.

Celtics home record is .840, their road record is .762. So the average between them is .801. .801 x 47 games = 37.6 wins

Pistons home record is .818, our road recored is .654. So our average between them is .736. .736 x 47 games = 34.6 wins.


Garnett being out was probably offset by the games that our starters missed earlier in the year.

The standings show the Pistons are 3 games back, not 5 games back. You confused me. :nerd2:

The standings show the Pistons are 3 games back, not 5 games back. You confused me. :nerd2:

Oh, you're right. I calculated 1/2 games in the wrong direction.

So, I guess the conclusion is that we are 3 games back in the standings... and after you adjust for the home court/ away mix, we are still 3 games back. That makes sense, since Boston's home record and away record (on a % basis) are both better than ours.

What a waste of time. :)

Oh, you're right. I calculated 1/2 games in the wrong direction.

So, I guess the conclusion is that we are 3 games back in the standings... and after you adjust for the home court/ away mix, we are still 3 games back. That makes sense, since Boston's home record and away record (on a % basis) are both better than ours.

What a waste of time. :)

LOL. Good analysis!! :pound:

That is a good way to look at it. By using your method, I calculate that the Pistons are 3 games back vs. the 5 games back that the standings indicate.

Celtics home record is .840, their road record is .762. So the average between them is .801. .801 x 47 games = 37.6 wins

Pistons home record is .818, our road recored is .654. So our average between them is .736. .736 x 47 games = 34.6 wins.


Garnett being out was probably offset by the games that our starters missed earlier in the year.

I believe that we are 3 back not 5 and 4 in the loss column.

:hoops:

Oh, you're right. I calculated 1/2 games in the wrong direction.

So, I guess the conclusion is that we are 3 games back in the standings... and after you adjust for the home court/ away mix, we are still 3 games back. That makes sense, since Boston's home record and away record (on a % basis) are both better than ours.

What a waste of time. :)

I don't believe that the PECOTA logic applies here.

It seems to me that we pick up two games on Boston once the home and away evens out. Boston's road record is way above what it should be. I believe that it will come down before the year is over.

We shall see.

:hoops:

Why should their road record be wose than it is?

I wonder if people in the Celtics and Suns forums complain about how their teams win.

They do. Check out their boards sometimes.

The Celtics actually play their bench so BOS doesn't have much to complain about. They stick to hating on Doc River, and his idiotic playcalling.

Most Suns fans despise that D'Antonio overplays their starters to death, blame him for coming up short due to fatigue, and hate their rotation. They also belive Nash will eventually die of fatigue.

:)

edited to add;

In response to Warthog's post why does it have to be either or?. Yea Stuck got minutes, but AJ doesn't play back-up PG.

Actually Suns fans I can see being disgruntled with all their early playoff exists. Celts fans though? After years of watching nothing but project players play I would be surprised.

Why should their road record be wose than it is?

Good question.

I don't believe that any NBA team except for the 71-72 Lakers have won 80% of their road games, which is the pace that the Celtics are on. I don't think that they will win 32 road games because they are only 8 - 6 in their last 14 games and while I think that they will do better than that the rest of the way unless they have more injuries to any of the big three, I still don't see them winning 32 games on the road this year.


1971-72 L.A. Lakers (http://www.nba.com/history/72lakers.html) 69 - 13 (.841) Gail Goodrich, Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Jim McMillian and Happy Hairston combined to bring Lakers their first championship of the Los Angeles era...Broke Philadelphia's 1966-67 record for wins in a season (broken by Chicago in 1995-96), at one point winning 33 consecutive games, a record that still stands...Won NBA record 16 consecutive road games...Best road winning percentage in NBA history (.816; 31-7)...Defeated New York 4-1 in 1972 NBA Finals.

I had moved to Los Angeles the winter before and remember watching them play a lot of those games, mostly on the tube. They were a great team, which I guess is stating the obvious, but not nearly as exciting as Showtime.

NBA.com: Top 10 Teams in NBA History (http://www.nba.com/history/toptenteams_index.html)
:hoops:

The Mavs were 31-10 on the road last year.

In 2005, the Suns were 31-10 on the road.

Those are the best records over the last 5-6 years.

The Mavs were 31-10 on the road last year.

In 2005, the Suns were 31-10 on the road.

Those are the best records over the last 5-6 years.

So do you think that the Celtics have a chance to have the best NBA road record ever?

:hoops:

So do you think that the Celtics have a chance to have the best NBA road record ever?



I don't see it happening. They seem to be losing some steam as the season goes on.

I don't see it happening. They seem to be losing some steam as the season goes on.

Exactly my thinking. It seems to me when you start to lose some steam in the NBA it is the road record that suffers the most. That is why I think that once the home and road games even out we should be very close to the Celtics in wins and losses.

:hoops:

The reason that they won't set the record, and the reason that the record isn't that impressive in the first place, is that most NBA teams with leads in the standings don't really care. The games become borderline meaningless. Especially after their playoff spot is essentially clinched.

The reason that they won't set the record, and the reason that the record isn't that impressive in the first place, is that most NBA teams with leads in the standings don't really care. The games become borderline meaningless. Especially after their playoff spot is essentially clinched.

....unless they are fighting for the #1 seed.....with the Pistons....

Get the feeling the Heat are happy Shaq is gone. It's Wades team now. If that means something.