At Miami April 6th, 6:00 PM

TV - NBALP


The NBA planned for this to be a nationally televised epic game featuring Wade and Shaq vs the Pistons back some time ago. My how things have changed, for the Heat that is. They have won two games out of the last 20-something I believe, both wins against the Bucks. The Pistons continue to tinker with their rotation as Flip allows the bench to get extended playing time winding down the season.

This game was supposed to be nationally televised, ABC chose to put the Hornets vs the Warriors on instead, and swithced the Heat/Pistons to a 6:00 PM start.

6:00 is better for me anyway.

Good lord, how bad are the HEAT? I bet the NBA wishes they hadn't traded Shaq.

I wonder if any regular will be sitting this one out. Dyess is a leading candidate I would think. Probably lots of time for the Zoo Crew.

Sit Dyess, Tay, and Rip.........(less than 10 minutes each)

We are playing the Heat for crying out loud, I say START the zoo crew. Let the starters get bench minutes!!!!!!

Yea, start the bench. The starters looked like they didn't want to play last time.

Tay should start to keep his streak going. I know it is all about team, but players should get at least a little piece of the pie.

it is a guaranteed win even if we bring the D-league players. Miami does not want to win games for this season. It is not even a good game for the bench players. I suggest minimum minutes to any player who will be part of playoff roaster.

it is a guaranteed win even if we bring the D-league players. Miami does not want to win games for this season. It is not even a good game for the bench players. I suggest minimum minutes to any player who will be part of playoff roaster.

yeah, bring back acer, order michael curry to dress again, hey, when isaiah can't coach, maybe he can play?

Let's make lee happy!

To add excitement and shooting skill, let's start this guy...:)



Ball skills - Snotr (http://www.snotr.com/video/612)

this would have ruined the youtube horse game thread.

Tay should start to keep his streak going. I know it is all about team, but players should get at least a little piece of the pie.

Tay actually has two streaks going. He currently has the longest consecutive games started streak. He is currently second (behind Andre Miller) in consecutive games played.

To add excitement and shooting skill, let's start this guy...:)



Ball skills - Snotr (http://www.snotr.com/video/612)

I can make the shot that he does at 0:50. Except, instead of a house, I usually shoot over my brother. It's almost the same thing.

Chat is open!!!


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

Nice game for the Zoo Crew. Dyess got a game off to rest, nice move. J-Max missed some shots in the beginning, but made up for it in the 2nd half. Afflalo got involved in the offense more than usual. Sheed should've just sayed on the bench, he didn't do anything. Chauncey didn't look for his offense much, tried to get everyone involved more. Tay's minutes were really low, he went very hard to start the 3rd quarter and then got pulled about 8 min into it and never came back. Amir and Theo with good defense, but not much on the offensive end. Amir looks really timid on offense. Cheikh Samb got in for a few minutes, didn't do much. Dixon made a few shots, he could be an offensive boost in the playoffs. Herrmann looked decent. So did Hayes, but not as good defensively. Also, is it just me, or is it that Hayes can only make a shot while he is stationery? Seems that if you can get him to move his feet his aim is off.
Stuckey with another good game. His jumper looks good, he got into the passing lanes for thee uncontested dunks. He also got to the basket and made a few plays to get easy scores for the others.

Boxscore
NBA.com: Pistons at Heat Game Info (http://www.nba.com/games/20080406/DETMIA/boxscore.html)

Looks like another exhibition game. The Heat are pathetic. The NBA should issue refunds to their season ticket holders...

Things are still right on schedule. The starters are resting. The bench is getting huge minutes. And nice of course to watch a win. If I had to complain about anything at all, its not trying a different option besides Hayes / Herrmann at small forward. But even there, at least Hermann is getting some time to showcase his talents. Hayes himself had a fine game tonight; he was in there during a pretty long defensive run for us in the first half, hit some outside shots, and looked good going inside on a fast break. (But this is not a team with a decent small forward, so Hayes was safe from looking too bad on D.)

Stuckey got player of the game with 19 points. He hit some outside jumpers, got to the hoop a lot and made his free throws, and three times stole the ball and dunked. This was part of an 18-0 fast break point advantage we enjoyed late in the game. I guess his highlight was his double clutch layup, or maybe the ankle breaking drive that resulted in two made free throws.

Afflalo scored 10 as a starter in place of Rip who continues to rest a hip giving him some minor problems, problems that should in no way affect him for the playoffs. Afflalo is not hitting his outside shots, but he is hitting shots in the lane and getting to the free throw line.

Sheed gave up a lot of points in this game. Maybe he was just not that interested? In contrast, when Amir was in the game, Miami typically could not find an open shot anywhere. Amir continuously was in the play defensively, getting several blocks and plenty of rebounds too.

Maxiell started out poorly, missing several outside shots. He ended up scoring quite a bit, mostly inside at point blank range and at the free throw line. But I don't mind those misses. Thats called in game practice. Have him keep shooting as he needs the practice.

Theo helped out inside too. Between him, JMAX, and Amir that was a lot of shotblocking / shot alterations. Late in the game we had 10 blocks. (Stats per the announcer, I have not looked at the boxscore yet.)
Billups did start, did not do a whole lot. Tay scored a lot of points, missing only about one shot, in his short minutes. Very good 3rd quarter from him after resting most of the first half. (and he was out of the game with several minutes to go in the 3rd quarter yet.)

Herrmann scored some inside, did not hit an outside shot on a couple attempts. He got Amir a bucket by driving in and dishing. He still looks quite slow. He does hustle, but it looks like he is walking thru quicksand at times when he tries to run from point A to point B.

Dyess did not play, just to give him some rest. And what a difference between this and the last Miami game. We were far better defensively in the first half with a very tired McDyess getting the rest he really needs. By the way, someone mentioned about Dyess cutting off his practice time much of the season. He was playing too much. He had to cut out something or he would barely be able to walk at this point. Hopefully, the added rest will just mean a livlier Dyess in the playoffs where it counts.

Dixon played, hit some shots. He too was in there during much of that excellent defensive stand (no points allowed first half of the 2nd quarter, and only about 3 from about 5 minutes into the game to that point. Pretty darn impressive.)

Samb got to play, did very little in five mintues of garbage time to end the game.

No Hunter. And this is getting significant. Thru much of the 2nd half of the season, the return of Hunter kept getting pushed back. Last we hear, he was suppose to play in the last 109 games. We are down to about 5 games now, and Hunter sightings have been scarce. It was my hope that when we got Dixon he would supplant Hunter as our spare gaurd in the rotation. That wish just may have come true. No press on the situation as far as I know.

That is about all I can think of for now. Time to get excited. If a certain poster is right, and he has been right so far when he makes these kind of statements, the Pistons are pretty much going to use exactly what we are seeing now thruout the playoffs. And what we are seeing now (with Rip coming back fully healthy of course) is a team that is better than any in the league. A championship is coming. Like I said, time to get excited.

GO PISTONS!!!!!

That is about all I can think of for now. Time to get excited. If a certain poster is right, and he has been right so far when he makes these kind of statements, the Pistons are pretty much going to use exactly what we are seeing now thruout the playoffs. And what we are seeing now (with Rip coming back fully healthy of course) is a team that is better than any in the league. A championship is coming. Like I said, time to get excited.

GO PISTONS!!!!!


So you don't think the Pistons are going to lose in the first round anymore?

i didn't watch the game yet, but...chewbacca?

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080407/capt.991185a6f18d4788a73f9b3303e4dc33.pistons_heat _basketball_fljw109.jpg

Lee, I have to disagree about Herrmann. He doesn't look slow, and he looks more involved than Hayes. More active on defense and more capable on offense. In playoffs Hayes won't have many opportunities to shoot while being wide open and he can't really do anything else well.

Lee, I have to disagree about Herrmann. He doesn't look slow, and he looks more involved than Hayes. More active on defense and more capable on offense. In playoffs Hayes won't have many opportunities to shoot while being wide open and he can't really do anything else well.


Hayes is actually a very good mid/high post scorer, almost Mashburnesque in terms of the area in which he is effective. This team is just not very adept at catering to post players.

So you don't think the Pistons are going to lose in the first round anymore?

My opinion has not changed a bit. Assuming this particular poster is right, we will win it all. I hope he is right. On the other hand, Flip could play the wrong guys, and we could go out in the first round. And no, not for a moment do I trust Flip not to mess it all up yet. (Even with Dumars exerting every bit of influence he can.) While I am a lot more hopeful after this person's post, I wil remain somewhat skeptical of Flip. Lets see him actually do things right this time. Then next year, if he does not mess up this time, we can have some confidence in him.

My opinion has not changed a bit. Assuming this particular poster is right, we will win it all. I hope he is right. On the other hand, Flip could play the wrong guys, and we could go out in the first round. And no, not for a moment do I trust Flip not to mess it all up yet. (Even with Dumars exerting every bit of influence he can.) While I am a lot more hopeful after this person's post, I wil remain somewhat skeptical of Flip. Lets see him actually do things right this time. Then next year, if he does not mess up this time, we can have some confidence in him.

So what you are saying is we will go out in the first round, or not. Either way, it's Flip's fault.

Hayes is actually a very good mid/high post scorer, almost Mashburnesque in terms of the area in which he is effective. This team is just not very adept at catering to post players.

I would say Hayes is a very good opportunistic post player. If he gets the ball in the post with an advantage he uses it, immediately. On the other hand, on your typical post up play where the defender has a bit of time to set, Hayes ain't that good at all. Tonight he made a pretty good move to score on that fast break. He had the defender at a disadvantage, and immediately recognized what he had to do, executed the play well, and got the score. Hayes is very consistent indeed in this.

I would say Hayes is a very good opportunistic post player. If he gets the ball in the post with an advantage he uses it, immediately. On the other hand, on your typical post up play where the defender has a bit of time to set, Hayes ain't that good at all. Tonight he made a pretty good move to score on that fast break. He had the defender at a disadvantage, and immediately recognized what he had to do, executed the play well, and got the score. Hayes is very consistent indeed in this.

He hasn't had many good post opportunities in a Pistons uni. That's all.

He hasn't had many good post opportunities in a Pistons uni. That's all.

Hayes has had a lot of post ups this season. With poor results. Pretty much any defender can defend him in a stationary situation, as Hayes can't move fast enough to gain an advantage. He did have some success early in the season hitting some very heavily contested fades, but you had to know those were not the sort of shots that would keep going in. What Hayes is good at is closing out fast breaks, and scoring around the basket on cuts. Pretty much any time the defender is not set, Hayes manages to score inside. His footwork is solid, just slow.

Hayes has had a lot of post ups this season. With poor results. Pretty much any defender can defend him in a stationary situation, as Hayes can't move fast enough to gain an advantage. He did have some success early in the season hitting some very heavily contested fades, but you had to know those were not the sort of shots that would keep going in. What Hayes is good at is closing out fast breaks, and scoring around the basket on cuts. Pretty much any time the defender is not set, Hayes manages to score inside. His footwork is solid, just slow.

He manages to score in the post if he gets a mismatch. But that's about it.

The 4th quarter was competitve for a little bit but that was about it. Very nice show that the bench put on for Miami. Probably a lot of fans and players wondering why Riley could not have picked up a couple of players like we have.

Stucky was amazing with those 3 steals and he always manages to find a way to score. I thought everyone was active. For a while there early in the 3rd I was hoping they would hold Miami under 50.

Totally cruched Miami's frontcourt with that Dyess-less and for the most part Sheed-less front line we had. Only dissapointment was Samb, he does not look ready at all.

Curry Junior managed to score 10 points.

My opinion has not changed a bit. Assuming this particular poster is right, we will win it all. I hope he is right. On the other hand, Flip could play the wrong guys, and we could go out in the first round. And no, not for a moment do I trust Flip not to mess it all up yet. (Even with Dumars exerting every bit of influence he can.) While I am a lot more hopeful after this person's post, I wil remain somewhat skeptical of Flip. Lets see him actually do things right this time. Then next year, if he does not mess up this time, we can have some confidence in him.


This is what I am worried about...all of this experimentation and resting is fine, but if he reverts back to 38+ mins and goes with just an 8 man rotation (which includes Stuckey, Max and Hayes) then we might be in trouble in the second round. I know playoff rosters are limited but AA, AJ and even Dixon got to get some burn if max and Hayes ain't bringing it

I was at the game this evening. My wife has a friend with season tickets, 6 rows back from the Visitor's bench that were given to us tonight.

It's funny, there were more Pistons fans than Heat fans. Whatever happened to "White Hot??" Whole bunch of fairweather bandwagon fans down here. I'm glad I roll with the Pistons. We had a few "Deeeetroit Basketbaaaall" chants going throughout the game.

I was actually glad to see the reserves get the majority of the playing time, I got a good look at Afflalo, Stuckey, and Amir Johnson and they were all impressive, especially Stuckey. When he broke Daquan Cook's ankle, we were going crazy.. even Heat fans were shaking their heads.

I read something above about Hermann being slow and whatever.. I saw alot of energy from that guy, and he worked hard on the Offensive side of the ball. Overall a pretty good game for us, we were beasts with blocking their shots and grabbing boards.

My parting comment to a group of Heat fans who were talking sh*t to the team and Flip Saunders all night, as they were leaving, "Alright, see you guys in the playoffs! Oh... wait... "

I was at the game this evening. My wife has a friend with season tickets, 6 rows back from the Visitor's bench that were given to us tonight.

It's funny, there were more Pistons fans than Heat fans. Whatever happened to "White Hot??" Whole bunch of fairweather bandwagon fans down here. I'm glad I roll with the Pistons. We had a few "Deeeetroit Basketbaaaall" chants going throughout the game.

I was actually glad to see the reserves get the majority of the playing time, I got a good look at Afflalo, Stuckey, and Amir Johnson and they were all impressive, especially Stuckey. When he broke Daquan Cook's ankle, we were going crazy.. even Heat fans were shaking their heads.

I read something above about Hermann being slow and whatever.. I saw alot of energy from that guy, and he worked hard on the Offensive side of the ball. Overall a pretty good game for us, we were beasts with blocking their shots and grabbing boards.

My parting comment to a group of Heat fans who were talking sh*t to the team and Flip Saunders all night, as they were leaving, "Alright, see you guys in the playoffs! Oh... wait... "


:pound::pound::pound:

This made my day!
Thanks.

This is what I am worried about...all of this experimentation and resting is fine, but if he reverts back to 38+ mins and goes with just an 8 man rotation (which includes Stuckey, Max and Hayes) then we might be in trouble in the second round. I know playoff rosters are limited but AA, AJ and even Dixon got to get some burn if max and Hayes ain't bringing it

Flip has already proved that if player creates something he gets minutes ( contrary to some fans who thinks that flip is biased, do not recognize true talance from bench etc). Whether PO rotation is 8 or 10 or 12 etc guys depends 100% on ballers themself. For me plain and simple.Ok, machups are part of considerations too.

One random observation from Kelser in the game last night: he said he recently found out that Amir is "by far the best chess player on the Pistons." We know he's into computers, so maybe he plays online? Better that than Arenas' halftime online poker, I guess!

One random observation from Kelser in the game last night: he said he recently found out that Amir is "by far the best chess player on the Pistons." We know he's into computers, so maybe he plays online? Better that than Arenas' halftime online poker, I guess!


This winter, I kept getting beat in online chess by some guy named "DNP-CD". I wonder if that was him....

This winter, I kept getting beat in online chess by some guy named "DNP-CD". I wonder if that was him....


Classic, man....just classic.:pound::pound::pound:

The 4th quarter was competitve for a little bit but that was about it. Very nice show that the bench put on for Miami. Probably a lot of fans and players wondering why Riley could not have picked up a couple of players like we have.

Stucky was amazing with those 3 steals and he always manages to find a way to score. I thought everyone was active. For a while there early in the 3rd I was hoping they would hold Miami under 50.

Totally cruched Miami's frontcourt with that Dyess-less and for the most part Sheed-less front line we had. Only dissapointment was Samb, he does not look ready at all.

Curry Junior managed to score 10 points.

Hey did anyone catch what I and D4 did on the game? Someone bellowed DEEEETROIT BAAAASKETBALL and the crowd booed:pound::pound::pound:

yeah i caught it haha, i'm surprised the crowd mustered enough together to boo

yeah i caught it haha, i'm surprised the crowd mustered enough together to boo
It was funny.

Hey did anyone catch what I and D4 did on the game? Someone bellowed DEEEETROIT BAAAASKETBALL and the crowd booed:pound::pound::pound:

I did not catch that, lot of empty seats though. I was surprised at all the Piston jerseys in the stands.