@Washington 8PM

tv: FSN, ESPN

Chicago 8PM

tv: FSN, ESPN

Isn't it at Washington?

Max report it if it needs to be changed, slippy or I can do it. :)

Sorry about that all. I read the wrong day. There is also no pre-game info avail yet and I am not going to be able to post it until late Sunday so look for the injury reports and whatnot at that time.

8.9 DR
Wash still in the hunt and hungry.
-
Hey, shouldn't the Piston scheldule be list here somewhere.

this game will be the most useless of the year...win or lose...here's what my starting lineup would be:

F-JOHNSON
F- PRINCE
C- WALLACE
G- BILLUPS
G- STUCKEY

bench rotation:
RATLIFF
MAXIEL
HAYES
HUNTER

day off:
MC DYESS
HAMILTON

and I'd run this rotation with one of the starters of on a 1-5 game ratio until game 79. Then i'd use the last 3 games to roll the starters and rotation into the playoffs with glorious THUNDER!!!


BTW..the 10 commamndments are on tonight..36 yrs in a row of not missing it in my life...my other TV streaks:
i CANT REMEMBER the last time I've missed one of these shows per year..


- WIZARD OF OZ
- MERRY CHRISTMAS, CHARLIE BROWN
- RUDOLPH THE REDNOSED REINDEER
- SOUND OF MUSIC
- PATTON

this game will be the most useless of the year...win or lose...here's what my starting lineup would be:

F-JOHNSON
F- PRINCE
C- WALLACE
G- BILLUPS
G- STUCKEY

bench rotation:
RATLIFF
MAXIEL
HAYES
HUNTER

day off:
MC DYESS
HAMILTON

and I'd run this rotation with one of the starters of on a 1-5 game ratio until game 79. Then i'd use the last 3 games to roll the starters and rotation into the playoffs with glorious THUNDER!!!


BTW..the 10 commamndments are on tonight..36 yrs in a row of not missing it in my life...my other TV streaks:
i CANT REMEMBER the last time I've missed one of these shows per year..


- WIZARD OF OZ
- MERRY CHRISTMAS, CHARLIE BROWN
- RUDOLPH THE REDNOSED REINDEER
- SOUND OF MUSIC
- PATTON

The Wizard of Oz was on this afternoon on TCM...did you and the girls watch it? :gun1:Also Blazing Saddles aired today on AMC

Will be at this game!!!!!!!

Dissapointed that I can`t sit as close as I would like, but oh well.

The Wiz are not playing bad at all without their egotistical star "Agent Zero" They are coming off a big win against the Magic the other night, perhaps their 1st round opponent in the playoffs, (BTW, that is not a gimmie for Orlando).


Someone mentioned earlier in the season about acquiring Brendan Haywood, I thought that person was insane, after watching him some this season, he has changed my mind. Haywood is having the best year of his career.

I know this game doesn`t mean much to the Pistons, however, the Wiz will be playing this game like it`s the playoffs. I hope this is not a wate of my money!!!!!!

Will be at this game!!!!!!!

Dissapointed that I can`t sit as close as I would like, but oh well.

The Wiz are not playing bad at all without their egotistical star "Agent Zero" They are coming off a big win against the Magic the other night, perhaps their 1st round opponent in the playoffs, (BTW, that is not a gimmie for Orlando).


Someone mentioned earlier in the season about acquiring Brendan Haywood, I thought that person was insane, after watching him some this season, he has changed my mind. Haywood is having the best year of his career.

I know this game doesn`t mean much to the Pistons, however, the Wiz will be playing this game like it`s the playoffs. I hope this is not a wate of my money!!!!!!

Have a great time there. Happy Easter.

The Wizard of Oz was on this afternoon on TCM...did you and the girls watch it? :gun1:Also Blazing Saddles aired today on AMC
Wizard of Oz was also on Friday night. We have the DVD and we still watched it. Blazing Saddles dont count. It has to be a traditional show and has to be as old as us!!:MusicBigGrin:

Will be at this game!!!!!!!

Dissapointed that I can`t sit as close as I would like, but oh well.

The Wiz are not playing bad at all without their egotistical star "Agent Zero" They are coming off a big win against the Magic the other night, perhaps their 1st round opponent in the playoffs, (BTW, that is not a gimmie for Orlando).


Someone mentioned earlier in the season about acquiring Brendan Haywood, I thought that person was insane, after watching him some this season, he has changed my mind. Haywood is having the best year of his career.

I know this game doesn`t mean much to the Pistons, however, the Wiz will be playing this game like it`s the playoffs. I hope this is not a wate of my money!!!!!! U need a wireless laptop like me...have a gooden!

Chat is open!


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

Halftime;

Dyess continues his downward spiral into sucking.

I love how Amir fouls Jamison and gets pulled yet Hayes/Theo/Max get abused and stay in the game. Gotta love Flip's "rotations"

No AA.

It was nice when we came back with a vengenance after a loss; now we are for lack of better word sissies.

Sheed doesn't want to play tonight

Chauncey looks confused.

Tay/Rip are OK although both of them are playing "matador" defense at times

At least we are succeeding in our quest to help the Wiz hold on to the 5th spot.

Amir had a poor first half. That is why he was pulled.

Looks like Sheed is showing for the 2nd half at least.

Oh my god, that technical foul on Rasheed was ridiculous.

The foul was called... and he looked at the ref. Not a word came out of his mouth, and he gets a tech.

Technical fouls are given for dirty looks now? Good god.

Amir had a poor first half. That is why he was pulled.

Looks like Sheed is showing for the 2nd half at least.

So then why weren't Max/Theo/Dyess pulled?

Selective benching?

Post-Game

Since this one's already over

-It's sad that if we don't have a lead going into the 4th we likely have no shot to win.

-Sheed plays the entire 2nd half LOL against the Wizards!

-No Amir; obviously he was soo bad in the 1st half, he should never play again; forget the fact that our bigs are getting lit up by Darius Songalia and EJ played some russian guy i've never heard of. We're getting outhustled again.

-Rip is going to end up with 45 min, Tay with 40+. Isn't it fun taking AA out of the rotation?

-Theo is fantastic. Such energy off the bench. What a great pick-up!

-50+ % shooting for the Wiz. Nope defense not the problem.

-I'm sure i can come up with more Flip Saunders greatness, but why waste my energy? Looks like we're "peaking" at the right time. Can't wait for the PO's, and getting lit up by other ppl's young legs off the bench. But it's ok; We just missed shots that's all.

edited to add;

I can't afford to leave out Flip's solution to offensive woes. Pass to Dyess. What a great idea.

the Pistons obviously have problems with 2 types of players- quick penetrating guards and big centers who have a mimimum of offensive game.
Too bad the Cavs have both in LBJ and Ilgauskas.

Sometimes when you have your playoff spot clinched and you are playing a team who is missing their best player, you just need to ensure that you get the W by sticking with your starters. Yeah, it didn't work this time, but it was still a solid strategy. They just made more shots.

In all seriousness, this game blew chunks of regurgitated eggplant.

*sigh* You had to know we weren't winning this game when the starters came out not playing D and looking like they just came off a night on the town. I can't even muster up any outrage over this - though I stand by the assertion that Dice's minutes need to be cut, at least a little. He just cannot continue to play at this clip and be effective come the playoffs. Stuckey probably needs a little more time to grow into his role as well, but Flipper needs to let him be himself first. AJ looked like he was thinking too much, not playing on instinct as he should, which of course resulted in mistakes and Flip pulling him, never to see the floor again.

An official statement should be released by pistons office that team is officially done for the rest of ther season because of boredness.

PISTONS Lay Easter Egg in DC.
Wizards 95- Pistons 83.

Ist Meaningless stat of the night besides the score. Points in the paint Wizards 50, Pistons 20!!!!!

Some say PIP doesn't matter, (Like Flip) but really it does in this case as the Wiz had a field day in the paint as our bigs could not stop anybody. Sheed only played 6 mins in the first half due to foul trouble, Amir was schooled by Jamison and Butler, and Haywood took care of Dice; and Songalia took care of Max. Guess how many Amare and Shaq will score in the paint tomorrow if there is no one to challenge them.

Meanwhile our 20 points in the paint matched the 20 we got last Wednesday vs the Cavs... another game where we barely were able to score ....and lost by double digits..:yellowprison:

Sheed came out in the second half and hit three straight threes, but he took 12 shots in the game and those were the only 3 shots he made. Can't the guy get close enough to the rim for a layup?? Once again we relied on jumpshots and at one point in the 4t qtr, the announcer advised that we had missed 16 out or 20 shots or something rediculous like that. :brick:
18> 3 pointers were not necessary either. We were within 1 point midway through the third qtr and shot ourselves out of taking over this game and possibly winning it.

How is it a player like CB who is in the top 3 in FT shooting percentage dosn't go to the line a single time in a game?? I appreciate his 11 assists, but 4 turnovers?
I never saw any postups from Tay or Sheed or Billiups the whole night.

I appreciate the 14 boards by Dice, but he can never be a fraction of what Ben was if he can't stop anybody in the lane.

remaining meaningless stats

First loss by the Pistons in a non-Wednesday game since Feb 20...a whole month.

Last meaningless stat
Pistons suffered 3 straight losses before they won # 30,
then rolled off 10 straight, but then it took two more losses to get victory # 40.
Now they have suffered 2 losses trying to get # 50, and the way they are playing I wouldn't count on them getting 60. :sssh: Oh yeah don't mean a thing, they got # 2 locked up...

I will let someone else complain about 42 min that Rip got and the 38 that Tay played the night before a track meet with the Suns:confused:

Ok, ready for the 3rd loss in a row.

With all the salaries comin off the books next year we should make a run at Jamison. The guy is a piston killer. He loves putting up big numbers on sheed. Imo trade our draft picks this year (we can throw more money at Jamison) dump/trade Dice and sign this guy houshamadilla done deal championship.

He has already made his big bucks if he wants a ring add him to the mix it would be a done deal.

Washington got 50 points in the paint. Our best stretch, in contrast, was when Sheed hit a few threes and Dyess hit a couple of outside shots early in the 3rd quarter. Except for this brief spell of hot shooting, we did not even compete in the game.


Tay is not a very steady jump shooter from long range. Some nights he is on. Tonight, he was on for a while, then cold for quite a spell. But that is all our team had to go to. Long outside jumpers from a guy that had gone cold.


Rip was very active, and got hot for quite a stretch. But where was he at the end of the game. Tired. We continue to experiment with ways to justify keeping our best perimeter defender out of the game. Yep. No Afflalo. No win. Just like the whole season has gone. So far, if Afflalo does not get 6 minutes in the rotation in the first half of a game, we are just a .500 team. If he gets this time, we are 29-4, with the only 4 losses directly coming from horrid play by our starters. These were actually some of our worst losses of the season. Like NY. And three other games where we were well behind before Afflalo even entered the game. In other words, what works is Afflalo playing in the rotation for us. Why are we not doing what works?


Tonight Tay played shooting guard in the first half, while Stuckey played along side Billups in the 2nd half. Neither thing works. In the first case, you have the no defense playing Hayes out there spelling first Tay then Rip. Way too much Hayes, way too little D. Hayes is basically replacing Afflalo in the rotation in this case. For what? More offense. Again, our offense was horrid. Afflalo helps with the ball handling. Hayes does not. There is more to offense then shooting the ball. And besides, when Afflalo did play, the coach did not want him to shoot. Anyone wonder just how well Afflalo would do if given that many shots to take all season? Would Afflalo stayed in a season long slump like Hayes did?
In the 2nd half, again, it does not work. Billups is out there with Stuckey, which means he is not resting up for the end of the game. Further, the Stuckey and Billups combo has not worked yet, and it did not in this game, meaning Rip had to come back in all too soon.


Amir did play. Six minutes guarding their best player, Jamison. Not bad. Not great. Hard to look all that good with Dyess along side you, doing basically nothing, as he just does not move none too well. Amir's highlight was stealing an inbounds pass and laying it in.


Stuckey did some scoring. A couple of outside shots made. Got to the basket, got fouled, made both free throws.


Maxiell did so so. He did not play that much since Theo also got 12 minutes. Theo had one point on a free trow. No shot attempts. He did help by attempting to post up a couple of times. Way too little though for his minutes. Trying to play him into game shape I guess. Certainly not helping us much really, although compared to Dyess, yes I would rather see him out there. (Dyess did have a good rebounding game, but I would like to see him play just a smidgeon of defense along with the rebounding. From what I can see, Theo can do both.)


Billups decided to start shooting the ball at the end of the game. Kind of late. Sheed only made those 3 threes in the 3rd and thats it. He was in foul trouble and barely played in the first half. Amir came on with about 5 minutes gone in the first quarter. Hayes did hit an outside shot, and did get in toward the basket for a couple of scores.


As one poster so well described, yes, Amir was not perfect in his 6 minutes. But any perceived sins were done over and over by other players thruout this game. Amir should have got more playing time.


Anyone notice that of late Dyess is left in the game well into the 2nd quarter? Reminds me of a not too long ago game against Utah. Dyess would have played the whole 2nd half if not for picking up his 5th foul late in the game. Dyess is playing way too much. We are losing games, not resting the guy, not really developing the bench as much as we should. In a word, Flip is getting nothing accomplished.

I added this. I responded to someone who thought it was a bit of a mystery why the Pistons lost some games.

Its not a mystery at all. When Afflalo plays in the rotation, we win, to the tune of 29-4. (11 or more minutes, where Afflalo played 6 of those minutes in the first half.) When Afflalo does not play in the rotation at all (5 minutes or less) we are a .500 team. Further, every attempt Flip has made to remove Afflalo from the rotation has resulted in a losing streak. And every long winning streak we have had has been while Afflalo has been playing regularly.


Is Afflalo that good. Not really. Just a good solid defender. Quite ok on the offensive end too. He makes our bench solid, on both ends of the floor. Which means Rip gets some rest. And invaribly, when Rip gets some good rest in the first half of a game, he ends up having a great game in the 2nd half, right thru to the end of the game.


This is not rocket science or anything. Just simple observations. This weekend, I have reviewed many games: The last half of that win streak. Then the same old same old. Flip trying to his best to ruin a good thing. That win streak could still be going on, only if Flip would quite trying not to play Amir and Afflalo.


(And just to complete the thought, I believe its Flips dream to remove Stuckey in favor of Hunter, and quit playing JMAX in favor of Theo. And I also believe he is fighting, pleading with Joe to get his way. Lets all hope his pleas fall on deaf ears.)

Guess how many Amare and Shaq will score in the paint tomorrow if there is no one to challenge them.


Dre, didn't you hear? We called Samb up from the D-League.

There's not a lot you can say about this game. The Pistons didn't compete. These are Joe Dumars Pistons. They come out lethargic, they don't fight until the second half, and the coach doesn't have much more desire than they do, continuing for the third season to inexplicably leave the starters in when they are on a mental vacation.

All in all, chat was fun. I give the chat an "A" for effort. But the Pistons get a C- tonight. They didn't do the little things to win, the things like play hard and play smart, which should be a given for this squad every single night.

I'm really impressed by how good Washington is without Arenas. Too bad for them that he will probably be leaving next year. The other guys on the team really emerged when they had to bear the load themselves.

He has already made his big bucks if he wants a ring add him to the mix it would be a done deal.

A ring? Why would he come to Detroit?

Dre, didn't you hear? We called Samb up from the D-League.

Yep but the only challenge Samb will give them though is to see if they can speak his native tongue as he will probably be locking arms with Fabio and Hunter as our rallying cheerleaders in suits in the row behind the bench.. :)

My player of the game I will pick Dyess for his 14 boards and for giving the Pistons the rebounding edge. Too bad they could not take advantage of it.

Something very significant happend in this game if you are a stat person?

Pistons had over 22 assists and lost. Lost with 24 assists. I think their winning pct was somewhere in the 90% range when they had over 22 assists.

I'm really impressed by how good Washington is without Arenas. Too bad for them that he will probably be leaving next year. The other guys on the team really emerged when they had to bear the load themselves.

Here is what I wonder. Will they be better when he comes back or worse? This is nothing like the Houston talks of them being better without Yao or better without T Mac because Washington has been without Arenas for almost the whole year and they have done just as well as the past few season w/o Agent 0

My player of the game I will pick Dyess for his 14 boards and for giving the Pistons the rebounding edge. Too bad they could not take advantage of it.

Something very significant happend in this game if you are a stat person?

Pistons had over 22 assists and lost. Lost with 24 assists. I think their winning pct was somewhere in the 90% range when they had over 22 assists.

Dyess' rebounding is useless if he can't stop anyone from scoring inside the paint. He's hurting us more than helping.

edited to add;

What is up with our pick -n- roll defense? Why is it so bad? Is it the actual technique or the fact that the bigs Flip likes are so slow? I wasn't paying major attention this game b/c i kept flipping the channel or muting due to irritation, but it just looks like were doing somehting wrong.

My player of the game I will pick Dyess for his 14 boards and for giving the Pistons the rebounding edge. Too bad they could not take advantage of it.

Something very significant happend in this game if you are a stat person?

Pistons had over 22 assists and lost. Lost with 24 assists. I think their winning pct was somewhere in the 90% range when they had over 22 assists.

I believe they had won 39 straight when they had exceeded 24 assists, so one more assist and it would have a victory:MusicBigGrin:

I believe they had won 39 straight when they had exceeded 24 assists, so one more assist and it would have a victory:MusicBigGrin:

I though it was also some unbelievable amt when they had over 22 assits?

Dyess' rebounding is useless if he can't stop anyone from scoring inside the paint. He's hurting us more than helping.

edited to add;

What is up with our pick -n- roll defense? Why is it so bad? Is it the actual technique or the fact that the bigs Flip likes are so slow? I wasn't paying major attention this game b/c i kept flipping the channel or muting due to irritation, but it just looks like were doing somehting wrong.


Agree, everytime they got beat or backdoored to the hoop, he and the other bigs looked at each other as if to say '"was he my man or yours??" If Ben got 14 boards, he also got 2 blocks and 6-7 stops on his own per game. Our inside will get exposed in the playoffs as Lee has said on numerous times it might be in the first round especially if potential first round teams such as Sixers and Wizards not only score in the paint at will, but holding the Pistons to less than 85 points.

Another meaningless stat, The Pistons normally top 5 in road warrior victories was the only road team out of four not to get a victory today. (Denver, San Antonio and Golden State all grab W's on the road today).

I though it was also some unbelievable amt when they had over 22 assits?
We will have to call the official Palace scorer to get the actual figure.....

Agree, everytime they got beat or backdoored to the hoop, he and the other bigs looked at each other as if to say '"was he my man or yours??" If Ben got 14 boards, he also got 2 blocks and 6-7 stops on his own per game. Our inside will get exposed in the playoffs as Lee has said on numerous times it might be in the first round especially if potential first round teams such as Sixers and Wizards not only score in the paint at will, but holding the Pistons to less than 85 points.

Another meaningless stat, The Pistons normally top 5 in road warrior victories was the only road team out of four not to get a victory today. (Denver, San Antonio and Golden State all grab W's on the road today).

Holy sh.t! are you really THAT down?
all those backdoors were open cuz sheed didn't decide to play and he is the key of D under basket. Dice has not been fast for several years( and thanks to this pistons got him cheapely) but replacing him with amir or even theo would be much worse. Amir just blows and theo's conditioning is questionable( as you can expect after a long injury).

I did not read all the posts so i don't know if someone already mentioned this. but here is what CB says:

“With the position that we’re in, we have the luxury of trying to work on some things,” said Detroit guard Chauncey Billups (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3174/;_ylt=AuCwV_zKR4Qbd6HgKjZCWa2LvLYF). “We’re not moving up or down or trying to go nowhere. We just have to stay healthy and try to work on some things that could benefit us in some series.”

Tay says something similar.

Now if this is really the case, can someone explain to me why did we have to play Rip 42 min and CB, Tay both more than 36 minutes!!!!!!

Smart move Flip

Oh, to make things worse, AA is DNP - CD

Dyess' rebounding is useless if he can't stop anyone from scoring inside the paint. He's hurting us more than helping.

edited to add;

What is up with our pick -n- roll defense? Why is it so bad? Is it the actual technique or the fact that the bigs Flip likes are so slow? I wasn't paying major attention this game b/c i kept flipping the channel or muting due to irritation, but it just looks like were doing somehting wrong.


Its our perimeter defenders.



Its our perimeter defenders.



Its our perimeter defenders.


They stink. Plain and simple. We have two above average interior defenders in both Dyess and Sheed. Count Theo now and we have three. Dyess is so caught up hedging for penetration that he and Rasheed are losing their men offensively. This is our planned downfall come playoff time.

Our perimeter defenders give up penetration all of the time, and this is during iso plays when there is no pick being used, or during pick and roll situations when the pick is disregarded. There is nothing wrong with our bigs, it is the perimeter defenders each and every time.

As far as pick and rolls with our bigs, most bigs struggle with todays pick and roll. Only a select few defend them well. This is something that even the best teams deal with, easier than we do though, since they have better perimeter defenders. *that are playing*

My player of the game I will pick Dyess for his 14 boards and for giving the Pistons the rebounding edge. Too bad they could not take advantage of it.

Something very significant happend in this game if you are a stat person?

Pistons had over 22 assists and lost. Lost with 24 assists. I think their winning pct was somewhere in the 90% range when they had over 22 assists.


It seems that the offensive stats are not as reliable as the defensive ones when it comes to winning games.

Its interesting that while watching Cleveland, Boston, and Detroit play during the past few weeks, that sort of stat has been brought up.

Detroit is the only team whose winning record was tied to an offensive stat rather than a defensive one. Both Boston and Cleveland base their victories on defensive stats.

This disturbs me the closer we get to the playoffs.

Maxiell is a superior pick and roll defender. It takes length and quickness, but he also has a great show, and he shows very hard which gives him time to recover.

Dice also shows hard, but is prone to picking up fouls. Sheed can't always recover.

A bigger concern for me is how much our defense was predicated on a high energy attack, and we're starting to see laziness and heavy legs now.

One thing to admire about super franchises like San Antonio. They do what they do with whatever personnel they have. Obviously their better players play more, but if the goal is to play a deep bench, then they play a deep bench, win or lose. There is something to be said for that sort of ideological and organizational consistency.

As we live and die by the jump shot, so will our playoff hopes. Even with open looks at the basket, we still couldn't catch that team last night. Some nights we're hot and other nights we must count on the quickness of Dyess on defense. Well at least these guys have beaten Boston on Back to back nights this season so the loss hurts less.

Its our perimeter defenders.

That's a given, but since we refuse to play our best perimeter defender, we need bigs that are quick and can recover and rotate easily. Dyess has slow lateral movement. He can't do that.

Was too tired and wanted to read a few posts before I give a very breif recap of this debacle of a game last night.

I was there. It wasn`t pretty at all. I want to say that the Pistons didn`t come out to play because their playoff position is already established, but that excuse is getting old.

Some quick observations that I probably wouldn`t have noticed if I didn`t see the game live..............

1) I was in shock when AJ popped off the bench to replace Sheed instead of Maxiel. I just knew AJ was about to have a breakout game, after a couplle of minutes he really looked tentative out there, IMO Flip has robbed him of his confidence. He is terrified of making a mistake.

2) Sheed and Dyess are terrible defending the paint. At times it seems as if their feet are nailed to the floor!! They do things that your Boys and Girls Club coaches tell you not to do when playing defense - REACH, REACH, REACH! Saying they are slow on their feet is a huge understatement.

3) I am totally convinced now that CB does not know how to lead a fast break. The decisions he makes on fast breaks are almost comical. Once last night he aggresively went to te basket on a break, in front of everyone and HIT THE BOTTOM OF THE FREAKING RIM! Another time a TO, I am like you are a PG geeez....Not to mention at times during the 1st Q CB looked out of control on several possessions.

4) I read a few posts about the Pistons pick n roll defense, what about the pick n roll offense? When Sheed sets the pick the Wiz were showing very strong, instead of moving the ball to find the open man, CB or Stuckey would hold the ball too long allowing the Wiz defense to recover. They did this over, and over again.

5) On occasions Sheed embarassed himdelf trying to guard Jamison on the wing. Let`s face it, Sheed trying to guard a #3 (or any quick SF or PF) on the wing is a foul, and 1, or 2 points waiting to happen. I have also noticed that opposing teams are going right at Sheed to either get into his head, get him in foul trouble or both.

6) Stuckey needs to somehow develop a consistent J to be effective. Teams are not respecting his shooting at all. He is fearless and can almost get to the basket whenever he wants but until he proves he can knock down that 15-17 footer defenses will pack it in on him.

I will post anything else that comes to mind later.........

3) I am totally convinced now that CB does not know how to lead a fast break. The decisions he makes on fast breaks are almost comical. Once last night he aggresively went to te basket on a break, in front of everyone and HIT THE BOTTOM OF THE FREAKING RIM! Another time a TO, I am like you are a PG geeez....Not to mention at times during the 1st Q CB looked out of control on several possessions.


I'm usually tempted to defend Chauncey on this point, but last night was really terrible. I think the problem may have been that we were playing against a team that is comfortable in that environment. They seemed to always have a man or two back and our guards probably should have pulled out more than pressed ahead. Stuckey/Rip/Tay are all pretty good on these though.

Also, I agree that Stuck needs to establish the J. He has been hitting that college 3-point shot recently, but there is no way that he is going to significantly improve this aspect of his game this year. It is what it is. He needs to reinvent his shot in the off season like Rip did with his 3-point shooting a few years ago.

Agree, everytime they got beat or backdoored to the hoop, he and the other bigs looked at each other as if to say '"was he my man or yours??" If Ben got 14 boards, he also got 2 blocks and 6-7 stops on his own per game. Our inside will get exposed in the playoffs as Lee has said on numerous times it might be in the first round especially if potential first round teams such as Sixers and Wizards not only score in the paint at will, but holding the Pistons to less than 85 points.

Another meaningless stat, The Pistons normally top 5 in road warrior victories was the only road team out of four not to get a victory today. (Denver, San Antonio and Golden State all grab W's on the road today).

Just so to make my opinion clear. It does not matter who we face, even the worst team in the league, we could go out in the first round. Even if they let Miami play us. We are that bad. We have an open door policy to our hoop. We bring slow guys off the bench like Hayes and Theo. If Flip had his way, we would bring an ultra short guy like Dixon off the bench to make it worse, and the too slow, too short Hunter.

First of all, thanks for the firsthand account, dlev. Appreciate it.


1) I was in shock when AJ popped off the bench to replace Sheed instead of Maxiel. I just knew AJ was about to have a breakout game, after a couplle of minutes he really looked tentative out there, IMO Flip has robbed him of his confidence. He is terrified of making a mistake.

That's something I noticed with Stuckey early on, and Afflalo as well, before Dixon came in and the DNP's started piling up. Our bench guys sometimes look like they're thinking too much, and it hurts a player like Amir most, because being tentative = doomsday for a shotblocker. It's how he picked up most of his more recent fouls. The acquisition of Theo has hurt Amir the most, imo. It doesn't help that Flip simply pulls him if he makes mistakes instead of letting him play through it as he does with Maxiell and to a greater extent, Stuckey. You can hear Flip yelling orders at him the whole time he's in there. The "Box out," command was good, but I've never heard Flip yell that to Max, who doesn't consistently box out either.

2) Sheed and Dyess are terrible defending the paint. At times it seems as if their feet are nailed to the floor!! They do things that your Boys and Girls Club coaches tell you not to do when playing defense - REACH, REACH, REACH! Saying they are slow on their feet is a huge understatement.

Nothing to add, I just agree wholeheartedly.

6) Stuckey needs to somehow develop a consistent J to be effective. Teams are not respecting his shooting at all. He is fearless and can almost get to the basket whenever he wants but until he proves he can knock down that 15-17 footer defenses will pack it in on him.

Stuckey isn't ready for prime time. At least not yet. It was too much to expect a rookie from a small school to try and learn the PG position and back up one of the best in the league on a championship contender in the playoffs this soon anyway, even if he'd had a full season. They put too much pressure on him. That said, I expect him to do much better next year.

1) I was in shock when AJ popped off the bench to replace Sheed instead of Maxiel. I just knew AJ was about to have a breakout game, after a couplle of minutes he really looked tentative out there, IMO Flip has robbed him of his confidence. He is terrified of making a mistake.


It seemed like that's what it was. Ever since Theo basically coming in and taking his PT + Flip's super quick hook with him, it looks like he's overthinking again. I don't understand why he is one of the only few players on our team that isn't allowed to play through his mistakes (esp when the ones he makes are due to too much effort/hustle). Flip talked him up earlier in the year, and i thought he had a lightbulb moment; althugh he also talked up AA and procceeded to DNP. I remember a quote where he was like we are the only contender team that has 2 rookies playing. It was such a backhanded comment.

He's never going to learn anything by playing these sporadic min. I'm worried that the only way he's ever going to get anywhere is when we are a lotto team, and we have to play him.

Alexa, your inside my head LOL. I posted around the same time.

1) I was in shock when AJ popped off the bench to replace Sheed instead of Maxiel. I just knew AJ was about to have a breakout game, after a couplle of minutes he really looked tentative out there, IMO Flip has robbed him of his confidence. He is terrified of making a mistake.


I'm not buying this one. That's a Darko excuse. I agree Amir should be playing more. I can even almost buy the Amir should be starting argument. But you can't blame a poor effort by Amir on the coach. Amir has to be ready to bring his best effort every time his number is called. Yesterday, he made some "rookie" mistakes.

Alexa, your inside my head LOL. I posted around the same time.
Great minds..:MusicBigGrin:

I'm not buying this one. That's a Darko excuse. I agree Amir should be playing more. I can even almost buy the Amir should be starting argument. But you can't blame a poor effort by Amir on the coach. Amir has to be ready to bring his best effort every time his number is called. Yesterday, he made some "rookie" mistakes.

I am not blaming a poor effort on the coach. What I am saying is, when Amir makes a mistake, you can call it a rookie mistake, veteran mistake, or just plain mistake, he knows it will result in a rebuke, yanking and/or less PT in the future.

As others have noted, why can`t he play through these mistakes which will increase his confidence, perhaps, resulting in more focused productive play.

That seems to be the least Flip could do for a youngster that is supposed to be a serious contributor to this orginization in the future.

Stuckey will surely benefit from playing through his miscues, I don`t understand why AJ can`t get the same treatment.

I'm not sure they are rookie mistakes if Dyess and Sheed are also making them. All of our defenders were getting burned yesterday. I think Haywood dunking on Stuckey is a good indicator that things were just whack. Playing defense with 70% commitment can lead to some really easy buckets for a good offensive team like Washington.

Looking on the bright side, we had a much better day than Dallas did.

I don't think Amir got pulled because of mistakes. I just think Saunders only had him penciled in for 6 minutes. Adding Ratliff certainly hasn't helped Amir's playing time. Whether Theo can help in the playoffs, that remains to be seen.

I don't think Amir got pulled because of mistakes. I just think Saunders only had him penciled in for 6 minutes. Adding Ratliff certainly hasn't helped Amir's playing time. Whether Theo can help in the playoffs, that remains to be seen.

I disagree.

If AJ would have pulled down a few boards, played excellent D, IMO he would have played more. He did have that one steal and converted on it, other than that he didn`t do much.

After reading through these posts I feel like ripping up my tickets for tonight and picketing the Palace.

amir got a good 6 minutes in before he was pulled, and i don't think it was because of making a mistake. he actually didn't look bad out there - sure he got owned with a putback because he didn't box out (he'll have to make a conscious effort like maxiell did to improve this part of his game), but he hung in there for that steal and also followed his own shot when he knew it was going to miss (how often do you see a piston do that??).

it seems like some of you have a problem with stuckey's game, but i think he'll be adequate for the playoffs. he's actually started hitting the jumper lately when he's been open, which is encouraging because teams have always left him open and before he couldn't hit them. yes it will take time for opponents to respect his shot just as it will take time for him to become more consistent, and when he does he'll be extremely dangerous. for now he does well enough backing up chauncey and he's looked better going to the basket and drawing fouls.

washington can beat us in the regular season when we play games like this, lazy defense and trying to win on talent alone. but come playoff time i couldn't see them taking a game, or any more than 1.

After reading through these posts I feel like ripping up my tickets for tonight and picketing the Palace.


Why?


This is one of the best regular season teams in the league.

Its during the playoffs that they fall short of their goal and the fans goal in disappointing fashion.
I for one am tired of seeing the same old patterns that leads to the same old results, losing to a team that shouldn't beat them in the playoffs. Year. After year. After year.

And what prize does this get the Pistons over a lottery team?

Amir is completely dependant on offensive rebounds (or steals) to put up offensive numbers. He is a designated pick setter on offense. When the other team boxes out or when they pay attention to him, it will make it really hard for him to get involved. It was interesting to see him in there with our starters and Washington's starters. He didn't look as effective, but I'd like to see a little more before coming to a conclusion.

I'm not buying this one. That's a Darko excuse. I agree Amir should be playing more. I can even almost buy the Amir should be starting argument. But you can't blame a poor effort by Amir on the coach. Amir has to be ready to bring his best effort every time his number is called. Yesterday, he made some "rookie" mistakes.

Unfortunately he does not get the immediate opportunity (second half) to make the adjustment and get the taste out of his mouth.

He gets to go home and dwell on it until the next game (maybe) and put the added pressure on himself to play PERFECT basketball to keep getting minutes.

After reading through these posts I feel like ripping up my tickets for tonight and picketing the Palace.
It's not that bad max. They have been playing so poorly, you know the turnaround will be exciting to watch.

You and lee going together?

i haven't been able to sell my tix on stubhub over face value all year, yet someone just gave me $30 over face value on each ticket for the NETS game on the 4th. that was a pleasant surprise. unfortunately i've sold all of the remaining good games to friends too, so the only game left is vs. the wizards, and i'm probably selling those too!

the next game i go to might be round 1 game 1 of the playoffs, heh.

what did i say 7 pages ago?:

this game will be the most useless of the year...


yawwwwwwnnnnnn...just like the wings....



i'll see yall around game 1 vs Sixers


its bayyasebawl seasum!!

what did i say 7 pages ago?:

this game will be the most useless of the year...


yawwwwwwnnnnnn...just like the wings....



i'll see yall around game 1 vs Sixers


its bayyasebawl seasum!!
You mean Hawks or Raptors....sixers will move up to at least sixth amd maybe even 5th before this thing is over. If Raptors can't get it together, they may fall to 8th....and we may be looking at Joe Johnson and co in the first round.

You mean Hawks or Raptors....sixers will move up to at least sixth amd maybe even 5th before this thing is over. If Raptors can't get it together, they may fall to 8th....and we may be looking at Joe Johnson and co in the first round.

Whatever...it won't last more than 5 games maybe...I'm pretty confident that in PO-s we'll see totally different pistons...even with flip.

And I have to remind you that even Pop can't coach uninspired players.

And instead of blaming flip for not inspiring them you should as for youself: what ACTUALLY this "inspiring" means? What coach is supposed to do? E.g. how can you "inspire" player who does not give a damn...or is just full of himself?

And instead of blaming flip for not inspiring them you should as for youself: what ACTUALLY this "inspiring" means? What coach is supposed to do? E.g. how can you "inspire" player who do not give a damn...or is just full of himself?

Yelling and screaming. Making them watch Hoosiers before every game. Faking a terminal illness and urging the team to win it for you. Etc. Flip hasn't tried any of those tactics.

I know he tried the old bridge disaster close call strategy, but that has worn off already.

Yelling and screaming. Making them watch Hoosiers before every game. Faking a terminal illness and urging the team to win it for you. Etc. Flip hasn't tried any of those tactics.

I know he tried the old bridge disaster close call strategy, but that has worn off already.

you are sure that "sheeds" listen to?

you are sure that "sheeds" listen to?

If Flip chewed Sheed out in the locker room until he finally broke down in tears, then Flip popped in a worn copy of the Hoosiers VHS, only to later reveal that his Tourette's was fatal and his last request is that Sheed exploit the post for one game, then I think we'd see a good half of basketball.

If Flip chewed Sheed out in the locker room until he finally broke down in tears,

Is this Flip or Sheed breaking down in tears?

If you mean Sheed, it must be tears from laughing................:pound:

Um, do you know any sheed's weakness? Is he an addict? A gambler? In such cases he should to be blackmailed... -go in the post or no "happy grass" for you today!

Is this Flip or Sheed breaking down in tears?


No, this would be Flip breaking down. Sheed would be wearing his headphones. But I think the message would still get through.

No, this would be Flip breaking down. Sheed would be wearing his headphones. But I think the message would still get through.

So do I.


I think that would be the game in which Rasheed set a record for three point attempts that would never be broken.


Edited to add:

He may be shooting from the paint...but it will be the other teams painted area. Rebound and jack it up. He may set a rebounding record as well now that I think about it.

It's classic conditioning. After at most three viewings all Flip would have to do is wear a Gene Hackman mask before the game and everyone would play at a much higher level.

I am not even sure if benching these guys would wake them up to show respect for Flip. He even seems to be afraid to shake up the line-up by bringing Rip, Tay or Dice off the bench thinking that he would mess with their egoes. I am sure would be OK with it.

The Suns were coming to town next. It went to O/T but they got it done.
7 straight 50+ win seasons.