1st round action begins with the Pistons hosting the Sixers. Pistons ended the season on a 4 game winning streak while the Sixers ended on a 4 game losing streak. Teams split the 4 game season series 2-2.


Since 1984 a No. 7 seed has beaten a No. 2 seed only four times, with the most recent coming in 1998 when the Knicks beat the Heat 3-2.

This is the first time since the 2004-05 season that the Sixers have been in the playoffs. During that season they lost to the Pistons in the first round in five games.

In the past six trips to the playoffs the Pistons have failed to reach the conference finals only once (in 2002 they lost to the Celtics in five games in the semifinals).

The Pistons hold the fifth best all-time winning percentage at home in the playoffs among NBA teams (.692).

ESPN - NBA Playoffs 2008- Eastern Conference - First Round - Detroit Pistons vs. Philadelphia 76ers (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2008/series?series=phidet)




Note: Pistons.com has us listed on Sat with no time and nba.com and espn.com have us starting on Sun at 6pm so I am going with that.

I believe this is the third time in the past six years that Pistons play Philly in the playoffs.

We have been playing Philly and Milwaukee a lot these last few years in the first round.

i'll be there...trying something new...red maxiell jersey instead of blue prince jersey. ready to rock and roll!!

i'll be there...trying something new...red maxiell jersey instead of blue prince jersey. ready to rock and roll!!
Are you ever going to take pictures? EVER?

yeah i think i did take some with my new camera but never uploaded lol. i'll be in much worse seats for the playoffs but i do have a camera that's small enough to carry with me, so i will. for real!

Are you ever going to take pictures? EVER?

yeah i think i did take some with my new camera but never uploaded lol. i'll be in much worse seats for the playoffs but i do have a camera that's small enough to carry with me, so i will. for real!

I'm going. I'll take some pictures. My seat is front row of Upper section right on mid-court. Sweet action. Seeing as you are wearing a different jersey, are you taking the other car as well Warthog?

well my buddy is probably going to drive for game one, if not my car should be fixed and i'll be taking that. i have to find out which section we're in...it's row 7 center court. it'll be cool if it's on the same side.

Pistons need to offer up a serious beatdown in Game 1 to send the proverbial message. The Sixers need to know in the 1st Q of game 1 that they don`t have a chance. Not to mention this series does not need to go past 5 games at the most.

I give them Game 3 and that SHOULD be it.

Pistons in 6.....It'll seem much LONGER though...you know how our guys can be..:scared:

curiously enough - espn experts do not believe that pistons can win in 4, most of them predict pistons in 5-6.

I see no need for more than 4 games, though.

curiously enough - espn experts do not believe that pistons can win in 4, most of them predict pistons in 5-6.

I see no need for more than 4 games, though.

There's no need, I agree with that, but it all depends if the Pistons are on for all 4 games then it should be a sweep.

Sixers are fiesty. They play the type of ball that annoys our starting 5.

We can dominate them, but it will take a lot of real effort from Sheed.

Sixers are fiesty. They play the type of ball that annoys our starting 5.

We can dominate them, but it will take a lot of real effort from Sheed.

Agreed.

8.8 DR, can't let Phillys youth get confident.
Open the gates to the Reserve and let the Zoo out. At least 50 player minutes total.

First-round matchup: Pistons vs. Sixers - Detroit Pistons Basketball: News, Blogs, Photos, Audio, Schedule & Stats - MLive.com (http://www.mlive.com/pistons/index.ssf/2008/04/firstround_matchup_pistons_vs.html)

Rating the matchups; We have the advantage according to the writer in all categories except one. Although i think the forward match-up is equal if not tilted in the Sixer's favor.


COACHES
Mo Cheeks has arguably done more with less talent, than any coach in the league this season. He has found a way to get his players to believe not only in his system, but also in themselves. Flip Saunders had a hefty 'to-do' list at the start of the season. And if you look at his body of work, you have to give him credit for achieving all that they set out to do in the regular season.
• Advantage: Sixers

curiously enough - espn experts do not believe that pistons can win in 4, most of them predict pistons in 5-6.

I see no need for more than 4 games, though.

The old saying with this group is they can turn it on when needed. We have all been there.

The click has been turning into a clack. It will probably go to a game seven. If Philly can stay out of foul trouble, then they could make it interesting for game seven. Each will steal a game from one another.

ESPN - Scouts Inc. Scouting Breakdown: Sixers vs. Pistons - NBA (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2008/columns/story?page=ScoutingSixersPistons)


i like this breakdown better...


pistons in 4..easy:MusicBigGrin:

almost time to head to the palace!!!! i am so excited, this is my favorite time of year. hogcap after the game!!

almost time to head to the palace!!!! i am so excited, this is my favorite time of year. hogcap after the game!!

plus webzcap! (and photos)

Chat has moved.

*removed link*

Holy cow!!!!! Halftime now.

Sheed and Max...I'm speechless!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holy cow!!!!! Halftime now.

Sheed and Max...I'm speechless!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Holy cow!!!!! Game over

Evans and Miller...Now I'm TOTALLY speechless!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:pound:

What the hell happened?

:gun1::gun1::gun1::gun1::gun1::gun1::gun1::gun1::g un1::gun1::gun1::gun1::gun1::gun1::gun1::gun1::gun 1::gun1::gun1::gun1::gun1::gun1::gun1::gun1::gun1: :gun1::gun1::gun1::gun1::gun1::gun1::gun1:IDIOTS

Good news is:

Now only 3 games until Flip Saunders is fired.

If you can explain me how seasoned vets can look like frightened chickens, I'm all ears. We have more than two years heard from them: do not worry, been there, seen that , we know how things are.

Where are these PO ready vets?

oh and bench wasnt much better, regardless who played( maxiell was only bright spot there)

Rip was awful.

Sheed was decent until he choked. Billups is just outclassed by Miller but managed to choke anyway.

It's possible the Pistons would have won this game if Flip had played Afflalo instead of Lindsey Hunter.

Now I'm speechless. Philly played tough, but the Pistons gave this one away after having decent leads.

Nice short summaries of the game. I really have nothing else to add. But it was horrible.

hopefully flip will stick to the game plan. i fear that he will only play 7 guys next game.

lindsey sucks.

Pistons deserved the loss. Completely outplayed in the 2nd half with a combination of Philly's defense, poor shooting and horrible transition defense. Miller was able to penetrate at will and the Philly's got the hot hand. When was the last time Rip has shown up big in the playoffs? Starting guards were handed their lunch. CB missed FT's in the clutch and looked completely useless when trying to penetrate in the 4th. Once again Flip is clueless in trying to stop a opponents run. Furious and sickened.

If you can explain me how seasoned vets can look like frightened chickens
Lack of leadership? For all his cockiness, the other players don't have any particular reason to trust Chauncey anymore; they never had any to trust Flip; Ben is gone; Sheed is iconoclastic; Rip and Tay are timid by nature.

They have a decent chance of upsetting the Sixers in this series, though.

In retrospect. The Sixers did have an advantage in that they have been playing in the month of April. Pistons starters looked rusty. When was the last time that they have had to close out a game after playing the 1st 3 quarters.

Lack of leadership? For all his cockiness, the other players don't have any particular reason to trust Chauncey anymore;

Hey, take it easy on Chauncy. I'm sure he'll tell us that he was really tired...right after he tells us they will be fine, nuthin to worry about, they're the best...yada yada yada...

In retrospect. The Sixers did have an advantage in that they have been playing in the month of April. Pistons starters looked rusty. When was the last time that they have had to close out a game after playing the 1st 3 quarters.

you mean they were still sleeping? no flipswitch anymore - sarcasm

you mean they were still sleeping? no flipswitch anymore - sarcasm

They looked like a group of players that have not had to play a serious game in a few weeks.

I didnt chat tonight because I was busy eating 'my own' words. I'm watching NBATV for post game comments. What I saw:
1. Again...Flip's ridicoulous bench rotations. He puts Stuckey in the game as point guard FOR LINDSAY! Stuck didnt know what to do out there because he kept deferring to Lindsay.
2. The starters keep asking for the ball. Rip has to go. He isnt strong enough to play HIS game anymore and he takes shots from Prince. Prince is a much better player when Rip is on the b ench THATS why I will continue to say Prince should be my 6th man.
3. No AA No Amir...they are needed against the young dogs of Sixers. But our coach is to stupid to see it.
4. 3 playoff losses in a row for Pistons and THEY STILL didnt take Sixers seriously. Unbelievable.

This was a head game and we blew it AGAIN!! Watch what boston does to Atlanta tonight...watch!!!

I only have one thing to say.

GO HAWKS!



Ok, I lied. I will probably say more later.

Boston will beat the hawks by 40..........................the starters looked like strangers out there......terrible loss

Well...I'm shocked. Now I still think we can win the Series, maybe even in 5 but only if the way our Pistons played today was an aberration, a glitch, an exception, AN OUTRAGE.

I don't understand it at all. Certainly the Pistons couldn't be nervous. Could they be complacent already? I mean wouldn't the excitement of a new run to the possible Championship have them a little stimulated? Because the starters played like it was a meaningless game at the end of the season. Maybe Flip forgot to tell them it was their first playoff game. Maybe it's all his fault.

Anyway, I love ya Sheed. I love ya Rip, Tay, C-Bill, Dice. But you didn't look like contenders. Everything looked very disorganized and even lacking in confidence.Against the Sixers. Or was it just a very bad game for reasons we can not ascertain. Just a bad day maybe. You win some, you lose some?

But you guys looked like you shouldn't have made the playoffs today. So get it together. My entire living room is decorated like a Pistons sports bar. Don't make me look like a fool.

Play up to your abilities from now on. It's win or go home time. C'mon you guys.

P.S. Are you trying to sabotage Flip's job? Seriously, wth is going on? Come back to yourselves, I miss you.

P.P.S. Right now the Celtics are playing a very bad team. They appear to be taking them seriously and keeping their focus. Maybe you should turn on the game in the locker room there and see for yourselves.

Horrid coaching. Philly's guards killed us, and yet, our coach saw fit to leave out our best perimeter defender, Afflalo.

We gave up tons of offensive rebounds, and yet, our coach saw fit to leave out our best rebounder, Amir Johnson.

Our coach did see fit to play Hunter to start the 4th quarter, even though we have a long history of playing poorly with Hunter on the floor in past playoffs. And Hunter is nothing but older, much much older, than he was back in 04. Wrong guy to be out there. Nice he hit the triple in the first half. But even in 04, Larry Brown knew to only play Hunter for a few key moments here and there. Afflalo was the guy who should have been out there, not Hunter. No reason at all for this goof except Saunders has a vendetta against Joe Dumars and his orders to play the youth.

The question becomes, now that we witnessed the first game and how absurd Flip can choose to be, will he do the same the next game. Anohter question, if Flip does this again next game, should Dumars fire him on the spot.

Philly is a team that Detroit can beat with ease, if they play there best players. Shame on the fans who continually support Flip in not playing Afflalo and Amir. You know who you are. Your permission was gladly taken by Flip and abused mightily tonight.

Sheed played absolutely fanstastic in the first half. But who failed to notice he got no rest? Just a few minutes. He did a little in the 3rd, with what little he had left. And zilch in the 4th. Empty tank.

And Tay. Big shot to take late in the game. But who could possibly fail to notice that Tay got no rest in the 2nd half. Just a few ineffective minutes from Hunter. Yes, Hunter playing instead of Tay. What a dropoff, and one that was totally not needed. Afflalo could have been playing those minutes at backup small forward.

Maxiell was a monster. Tay played fine, until toward the end of the game. He is human. He needs rest. Tay was holding Iggy to near nothing, and getting a score for us here and there. But not anything in late in the game in crunch time as his coach forget something called rest.

Rip was so so. He scored here and there but nothing steady either. Can't say he helped much either way toward a win or a loss.

Flip did well in limiting the minutes of Dyess, who did well in his fairly short minutes. Dyess drew several fouls and got some rebounds. If only he did not take any outside shots though. Flip also did well in limiting the minutes of Hayes, who was a defensive liability with Iggy out there. But unfortunately, after a whole season, he still never figured out some alternative. Because he refuses to coach. Instead, he just fights Dumars. And the fight continues. Who will win the battle between now and Wednesday. If Dumars wins, the Pistons will win. Otherwise, we will see this same game repeated, only Philly will be even more full of confindence. Stay tuned.

A smile just went up in Cleveland, Boston Orlando as the sixers pulled the upset...Some guy named Stern was in the NY NBA offices was smiling too.

.This game was lost in the third qtr when they blew that 15 point lead as the starters wore down...and Flip played all but Dice the whole period. Then the three missed FT's by CB was also a killer.. In fact Mr. BS was just BullSht

Pistons win the first half 51-38 and lose the second half 52-35

I knew this team was a tough matchup, but this is a downer.... Sheed played great with the zoo crew in second qtr, but when they had Tay out there in the 4th with the zoo crew, it was just terrible....

Starters shot 34% for the game. They played scared at the end. Flip's job is safe. Joe saw the game and he'll trade players if we don't make it out of this series. However, like I stated before..Pistons in 6...It'll just seem LONGER...

Probably the starters were not ready as they haven't played all that much lately. We really looked out of sync. Doubt that this game is really true. Hope that it isn't true. If the starters don't play better, we can't go far.

Flip's on NBATV sounding like an idiot as usual...


ON Playing 3 guard lineup it was "to match the quickness of IGludola" ????

Again he plays to the other team instead of staying with what we do best. No way our bench has an impact in the playoffs...

Great cut to a steaming Dumars in his catseat..

Maybe Avery Johnson is on his way in trade of coaches with Dallas....

I have a funny feeling this is our last stand:cold:

Well...I'm shocked. Now I still think we can win the Series, maybe even in 5 but only if the way our Pistons played today was an aberration, a glitch, an exception, AN OUTRAGE.

I don't understand it at all. Certainly the Pistons couldn't be nervous. Could they be complacent already? I mean wouldn't the excitement of a new run to the possible Championship have them a little stimulated? Because the starters played like it was a meaningless game at the end of the season. Maybe Flip forgot to tell them it was their first playoff game. Maybe it's all his fault.

Anyway, I love ya Sheed. I love ya Rip, Tay, C-Bill, Dice. But you didn't look like contenders. Everything looked very disorganized and even lacking in confidence.Against the Sixers. Or was it just a very bad game for reasons we can not ascertain. Just a bad day maybe. You win some, you lose some?

But you guys looked like you shouldn't have made the playoffs today. So get it together. My entire living room is decorated like a Pistons sports bar. Don't make me look like a fool.

Play up to your abilities from now on. It's win or go home time. C'mon you guys.

P.S. Are you trying to sabotage Flip's job? Seriously, wth is going on? Come back to yourselves, I miss you.

P.P.S. Right now the Celtics are playing a very bad team. They appear to be taking them seriously and keeping their focus. Maybe you should turn on the game in the locker room there and see for yourselves.

No they won't. After horrible losses to boston billups answered "we are what we are". Take it as you want

Well, you know, on the bright side...

The Wings won! :MusicBigGrin:

You gotta be happy for Mo Cheeks.

The Wings won!:MusicBigGrin:

Flip DID play the bench (somewhat).

The Wings won!:MusicBigGrin:

I debated making a post about how we were going to get killed by their athleticism if we didn't play Amir, and killed by their perimeter players if AA didn't play, and how i thought this series would be super tough b/c of Flip's inability to adjust and Mo's willingness to use Young, etc. but i didn't want to put out "negative" vibes before the game.

I didn't watch the game, and i don't think i'm going to. I'm just going to go back and read the recaps. The fact that we were up 15 and lost makes me really upset. I thought we could lose but not this way.

It's only game 1 i guess, but if we continue not to see AA/Amir, we're screwed.

Also i briefly read "3 guard lineup" and match-up with Iggy's quickness. If that didn't include AA, i shudder to think who was out there.

edited to add;

I HATE FLIP SAUNDERS. Just thought i'd throw that out there for cathartic purposes.

Also, don't except much from Billups. Miller owns him, always has.

The Pistons can use any excuse that they'd like to, but it doesn't matter. This was a team that they should have beat.

Sure, they'll likely still win this series, but all of these extra games will start to add up over the course of the playoffs. While we're going 6 and 7 games, Boston will be going 4 or 5.

For a team that already likes to complain about being tired, that's not a good thing.

Man that was embarrassing. Dang.

A very disappointing, almost bewildering, game by the Pistons. No real playoff intensity by the Pistons for much of second half. And, as somebody else noted, the offense was badly disorganized in that half. Saunders seemed helpless out there when things started falling apart. His answer for the starters' problems in the third quarter was to play Lindsay for long stretches.

With less than a minute remaining, and the Pistons behind, Rasheed thought it was a good time to joke around with the 76ers by joining their huddle on the court. It was mildly amusing, but what does it say about his focus? Shortly thereafter, Rasheed missed a key layup, and that was basically the ballgame.

No reason at all for this goof except Saunders has a vendetta against Joe DumarsNever attribute to malice that which can easily be explained by stupidity.

Yeah. This core is done. Same old, same old.

What i don't get is why we go away from what was working all year with Stuck/AA, and start using LH esp against an athlethic young team like the Sixers? Stuckey/Lindsey proved ineffective. I don't understand how Flip didn't see that.

And if we were getting killed on the O glass, why not play you most athlethic rebounder?

Can someone explain this to me? I'm at a loss seriously.

The blues from Tigers to Pistons to Wings:

1. we got too greedy in trades
2. the devil is back to collect
3. i overated our pitching..we lost Miller and Jurjjens and kept Bonderman and Robertson
4. Grandy will have to have a MVp season for Tigers to win 90 games.
5. no way this team will go 84- 59 to close out the year
6. sixers will sweep Pistons
7. wings lose in second round
8. I'll be fired from my job
9. viagra will be found to have a virus effect like in I am Legend
10. damon jones will be MVP as cavs sweep lakers

Is DET the only team who's ball handling gets worse when they go to 3 guards?

This is the same 'ol, same 'ol. They run their pointless, directionless offense, up-faking their way out of open shots and force themselves into situations where they have to trade off 1 on 1 plays with the other team. AI is a better 1 on 1 player than anyone on the Pistons. It was only a matter of time before they lost. There was approximately a 0.0% chance of them scoring when there was 23 seconds left.

CB and Rip would like you to know that they are the best back court in the L and that they get no recognition.

...Sheed played absolutely fanstastic in the first half. But who failed to notice he got no rest? Just a few minutes. He did a little in the 3rd, with what little he had left. And zilch in the 4th. Empty tank.

And Tay. Big shot to take late in the game. But who could possibly fail to notice that Tay got no rest in the 2nd half. Just a few ineffective minutes from Hunter. Yes, Hunter playing instead of Tay. What a dropoff, and one that was totally not needed. Afflalo could have been playing those minutes at backup small forward.

Maxiell was a monster. Tay played fine, until toward the end of the game. He is human. He needs rest. Tay was holding Iggy to near nothing, and getting a score for us here and there. But not anything in late in the game in crunch time as his coach forget something called rest.

Rip was so so. He scored here and there but nothing steady either. Can't say he helped much either way toward a win or a loss.

Lee, I'm a little encouraged by your analysis here. If starter fatigue was a contributing factor to the loss, at least I'm less confused by how alien our team looked to me. Of course we have no assurance that Flip will change his starter riding ways in the rest of our playoff games.

I guess we're all going to go along for the ride as we rollercoaster around with the Pistons and the issues of the season: who to play and when to play them to win games.

And if we were getting killed on the O glass, why not play you most athlethic rebounder?
I don't know about that. Reggie Evans is one of the five best rebounders ever to play in the NBA, and he's extremely strong. Amir might be too frail to try to box him out at this point in his career.

If McDyess weren't being so worthless, he's probably the only Piston I'd trust to keep him off the glass - or Sheed, but Sheed's trying to anchor the team's defense and is perpetually being drawn out of position helping Chauncey, Rip, and Tayshaun.

It's a big problem. The Pistons have to rebound as five.

It's a big problem. The Pistons have to rebound as five.

Wha? You think the Piston guards should come in and rebound after getting beat on the perimeter? That's crazy!

What i don't get is why we go away from what was working all year with Stuck/AA, and start using LH esp against an athlethic young team like the Sixers? Stuckey/Lindsey proved ineffective. I don't understand how Flip didn't see that.

And if we were getting killed on the O glass, why not play you most athlethic rebounder?

Can someone explain this to me? I'm at a loss seriously.

Pistons had 2 more offensive rebounds than the Sixers.

There was not anything particulary wrong with the rebounding or the defense. They could not hit a shot. How many opportunities in the late 4th did they miss?

When you hold the opponent to 90 points on 43% shooting at home during the playoffs you should win. You have to win those.

Throwing Hunter out there may have been a mistake for the simple fact that he has hardly played all season. You should go with what got you here.

Listened to the postgame.

Flip is a clueless. All he could do is talk about missed shots.

Sheed says this loss is on him. He's just trying to be a hero. Rip and Billups were below par and the bench was atrocious except Max.

Flip's always been clueless. How many times have we heard that same old crap from him after losses? He was coaching scared, and his players looked like strangers out there. Rip needs to quit trying to be the man. He's not good enough. And he needs to not hog the ball on offense, particularly on a 3 on 1 fastbreak.

I don't know about that. Reggie Evans is one of the five best rebounders ever to play in the NBA, and he's extremely strong. Amir might be too frail to try to box him out at this point in his career.

If McDyess weren't being so worthless, he's probably the only Piston I'd trust to keep him off the glass - or Sheed, but Sheed's trying to anchor the team's defense and is perpetually being drawn out of position helping Chauncey, Rip, and Tayshaun.

It's a big problem. The Pistons have to rebound as five.

I agree with this, but as for Amir i think he can counter Evans strength with his athleticism. We'll never know though. Look for the same script next game.

lpgrl, I know you are a big Amir fan, but Evans is incredibly tough, dirty, strong and an amazingly good rebounder for his size.

He'd eat Amir up. It's a man's league and Amir is still light in the pants.

lpgrl, I know you are a big Amir fan, but Evans is incredibly tough, dirty, strong and an amazingly good rebounder for his size.

He'd eat Amir up. It's a man's league and Amir is still light in the pants.

But Amir is the best we have. Evans is good, and he did a number on our vets. So what harm is there in playing your best rebouder?

I would think that Joe D. is as upset about this (inappropriate term) performance as he was about the Cleveland playoff game last year in which we let LBJ score 50-plus points. It would be interesting to know what he will say to Saunders or to the team.

I agree with this, but as for Amir i think he can counter Evans strength with his athleticism. We'll never know though. Look for the same script next game.

I'd support your idea but...even Lee has admitted that AJ is very foul prone.

ESPN - Philadelphia vs. Detroit - Box Score - April 20, 2008 (http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=280420008)

Above is the box score. It reads 18 offensive for the Sixers and 20 offensive for the Pistons. 45 overall for the Sixers and 43 overall for the Pistons. But thats natural since we missed so many more shots.

I only have two things to say:

1) No AA; No W.

2) Our winning percentage when AA play significant minutes is __ (Lee, please fill in blank). I don't care if it is because he truly has an impact on the game or it is like the superstition of not shaving un til you win. When he plays; we win; plain and simple. I want to win so play him!!!!!

Now was that so hard?

Pistons had 2 more offensive rebounds than the Sixers.

There was not anything particulary wrong with the rebounding or the defense. They could not hit a shot. How many opportunities in the late 4th did they miss?

When you hold the opponent to 90 points on 43% shooting at home during the playoffs you should win. You have to win those.

Throwing Hunter out there may have been a mistake for the simple fact that he has hardly played all season. You should go with what got you here.

From the recaps i read we were getting burned on penetration and on the glass by Dalambert. Allowing tons of penetration is not good defense regardless of FG %.

This team will always be at odds with Flip for exactly what you said. We are not going to win on offense. Yes you have to score a specific amount, but we are not going to be the team that hits those "shots"
We win with fundamentals and defense, efficient offense and ball movement. We are an oppurtunistic scoring team that can (could) shut you know. Flip will continually be at odds with this as he shows his inability to comprehend you need to play your best defensive players.

And he overplayed the starters, but it's not the overplaying as much as it is that they don't get sufficient breaks in between and play whole quarters, sometimes whole quarters and a half.

If this team continues to try to win in a way that they're not built for, we will continue to look like this; mediocre.

Also i don't know why Sheed's taking the blame. It makes me sad to see this team get out-coached on a regular basis. I could go on to name countless mistakes the players make, but the bottomline is there are always going to be mistakes, it's up to the coach to put the team in the position to succeed.

And Hayes awfulness shouldn't mean just playing Tay more. Flip has had tons of time to come up with a different idea in fact what was the whole point of playing AA at SF the last few games? Boredom? Kicks?)

The only good part about this is after reading Joe's recent comments about Sheed, i have faith Flip will go before him.

A smile just went up in Cleveland, Boston Orlando as the sixers pulled the upset...Some guy named Stern was in the NY NBA offices was smiling too.

.This game was lost in the third qtr when they blew that 15 point lead as the starters wore down...and Flip played all but Dice the whole period. Then the three missed FT's by CB was also a killer.. In fact Mr. BS was just BullSht

Pistons win the first half 51-38 and lose the second half 52-35

I knew this team was a tough matchup, but this is a downer.... Sheed played great with the zoo crew in second qtr, but when they had Tay out there in the 4th with the zoo crew, it was just terrible....

Thanks for mentioning that. Max tried to blame the loss on playing the rookies, and our starters being rusty. But gee, we won the first half handily, and were putting on a clinic at times. Not much sign of rust, except possibly some for Rip. (Who had to rest that hip injury.)

The game was clearly lost in the 2nd half, with guys like Sheed running out of gas from getting no rest in the first half of the game. To the Flip apologists out there, can you please explain why Flip felt comfortable playing a 33 year old that much?

Was the team rusty? Wait a moment, we were going into Sheed for easy buckets the whole first half. Everything seemed to be going pretty darn well. Heck, we can't complain at all about excessive outside shooting in that first half. For a long time to start the game, neither Rip nor Billups even took a shot.

Now Max claims our rebounding was fine. Was it? Was it as good as it could have been. Our two best rebounders are Amir and Dyess. Dyess played little, as he really can't match up with Philly too well. And Amir did not even play.

And Max claims our defense was fine too. Really. Both Miller and Greene had excellent games against us. Could'nt we have done a bit better. Just maybe we should have played our best perimeter defender, Afflalo.

Now some say we should have won. With the guys that played. Nope. Philly will beat that group every time. Perhaps like Max said, if Hunter had not played, maybe we could have won. And I say if Hayes had not played, it would have improved our chances too. Even less of Dyess would have helped too. But someone has to play the minutes. Our starters played enough. So why not play young, good, solid energetic players like Afflalo and Amir.

We played good enough D? Nope. Prince played fine D, holding Iggy to some horrid shooting. Look at what the rest of the Pistons did with the rest of the Philly players. Not so good. We will never beat Philly without two of our best defenders playing.

What I am saying Lee is that holding a team to 90 points and 43% shooting no matter how slice or dice it should be enough for a win. Sure the defense could have been better but the Sixers still only got 90 points out of it.

Did you see the 4th quarter? Did you notice that the Pistons could not hit a shot in the final possetions of the game?

A very disappointing, almost bewildering, game by the Pistons. No real playoff intensity by the Pistons for much of second half. And, as somebody else noted, the offense was badly disorganized in that half. Saunders seemed helpless out there when things started falling apart. His answer for the starters' problems in the third quarter was to play Lindsay for long stretches.

With less than a minute remaining, and the Pistons behind, Rasheed thought it was a good time to joke around with the 76ers by joining their huddle on the court. It was mildly amusing, but what does it say about his focus? Shortly thereafter, Rasheed missed a key layup, and that was basically the ballgame.

That is not why they lost. The game was over when miller took over the game from chauncey. Sheed should not have been in the huddle joking around, but maybe he was trying to keep loose, either way that is not why he missed the layup. He should have made that layup, but the game should not have gotten to that point. The pistons were outcoached and outplayed very badly in the second half. The sixers guard lived in the paint and we could not make shots. We have a terrible offensive philosophy and when the shots are not falling, the bottom drops out very quickly.

Celtics up by 17 with 7 left in the 3rd...think they'll piss it away? NOT!

That's Detroit. They turn it on and turn it off.

- Andre Iguodala

Thanks for mentioning that. Max tried to blame the loss on playing the rookies, and our starters being rusty. But gee, we won the first half handily, and were putting on a clinic at times. Not much sign of rust, except possibly some for Rip. (Who had to rest that hip injury.)

The game was clearly lost in the 2nd half, with guys like Sheed running out of gas from getting no rest in the first half of the game. To the Flip apologists out there, can you please explain why Flip felt comfortable playing a 33 year old that much?

Was the team rusty? Wait a moment, we were going into Sheed for easy buckets the whole first half. Everything seemed to be going pretty darn well. Heck, we can't complain at all about excessive outside shooting in that first half. For a long time to start the game, neither Rip nor Billups even took a shot.

Now Max claims our rebounding was fine. Was it? Was it as good as it could have been. Our two best rebounders are Amir and Dyess. Dyess played little, as he really can't match up with Philly too well. And Amir did not even play.

And Max claims our defense was fine too. Really. Both Miller and Greene had excellent games against us. Could'nt we have done a bit better. Just maybe we should have played our best perimeter defender, Afflalo.

Now some say we should have won. With the guys that played. Nope. Philly will beat that group every time. Perhaps like Max said, if Hunter had not played, maybe we could have won. And I say if Hayes had not played, it would have improved our chances too. Even less of Dyess would have helped too. But someone has to play the minutes. Our starters played enough. So why not play young, good, solid energetic players like Afflalo and Amir.

We played good enough D? Nope. Prince played fine D, holding Iggy to some horrid shooting. Look at what the rest of the Pistons did with the rest of the Philly players. Not so good. We will never beat Philly without two of our best defenders playing.

Lee, Sheed is pro athlete who had A WHOLE MONTH played maybe 50% so you cant blame flip for keeping Sheed in: Sheed was our only PIP guy there. And sixers penetration wasn't so horrible how you prefer it to see: most of this "penetration" came from fastreak situation and such things are pretty normal after bad shots, regardless of who plays.

Lee, in my opinion our bench is not so good that they can shovel starters crap( i.e. correct starters mistakes)

It is not flip's fault that CB missed 3 FT in a row and at the last posession CB almoust turned ball over.

I do think that Flip went into this game with the firm belief that his starting squad would win this game handily, with only modest help from the bench. I thought the same thing myself. When that game plan fell apart, in the second half, I think Flip was disoriented and surprised, and fell back on what he was most comfortable with -- relying on the veteran bench player, Lindsay.

What I am saying Lee is that holding a team to 90 points and 43% shooting no matter how slice or dice it should be enough for a win. Sure the defense could have been better but the Sixers still only got 90 points out of it.

Did you see the 4th quarter? Did you notice that the Pistons could not hit a shot in the final possetions of the game?

The Pistons? What I saw is some very tired players wearing Pistons unifrms. Tay, no rest. Rip, no rest. Sheed, no rest. Billups, no rest. Maxiell only played about 30 minutes, but as he did not start, the rest pattern for him was far from optimal. Horrid coaching.

This is the playoffs. Defense tightens up. You want to win, you need championship caliner D. Look into your history books and tell me how many times we held a team under 43% in the 04 playoffs.

That's Detroit. They turn it on and turn it off.

- Andre Iguodala
Ouuch. That hurts.

But doesn't Andre know that it is all Flip Saunders' fault? :rofl:

Who was playoff ready tonight?? Pistons or Sixers?? Even if the Pistons had won the game, Joe should have gone down there to chew out Flip and the team.

Yeah Flip can't take any shots, but the lack of rotation/substitution in the third came back to haunt us. The Zoo crew didn't deliver this time because AA and AJ were not a part of it and some guy named Rookie Stuckey froze out there in the 4th holding on to the rock to long waiting for vets like Hunter and Tay to get open. I heard a sound byte that Sheed took responsibility for the loss....(maybe that foolishness in the last 11 sweconds of going into their huddle and joking).. Did CB take any responsibility or blame? He missed 3 ft's in crunch time, missed six Fgs and got outplayed by Andre Miller. Other than some first half hustle by SHeed, only Max played like he wanted to win the game. Evans was this years Anderson Vaerejo, out hustling our bigs and littles. Aggressiveness seems to beat the Pistons and some how we don't play aggressive when we get into the playoffs.

How's this for nervous vets >Billups, Hamilton and Dyess 10-35 shooting??? Bench 8-13 (including 6-8 from Max). No home team sporting a 1 or 2 seed should lose a game when leading by 15 points midway thru the third quarter.

It's only one game, but the pressure of winning game 2 is huge....so please Pistons wake up!!!

Max tried to blame the loss on playing the rookies, and our starters being rusty.

Now Max claims our rebounding was fine.

And Max claims our defense was fine too.
Please don't pick on Max. He said nice things about the new chat, plus he watches every game 4.5 times in frame by frame slow motion.

Celtics up by 17 with 7 left in the 3rd...think they'll piss it away? NOT!


that is the point, boston will sweep hawks..........................pistons will struggle to win their first round series

Ouuch. That hurts.

But doesn't Andre know that it is all Flip Saunders' fault? :rofl:What's so funny about that?

The Pistons didn't have that attitude before Flip got here.

Lee, Sheed is pro athlete who had A WHOLE MONTH played maybe 50% so you cant blame flip for keeping Sheed in: Sheed was our only PIP guy there. And sixers penetration wasn't so horrible how you prefer it to see: most of this "penetration" came from fastreak situation and such things are pretty normal after bad shots, regardless of who plays.

Lee, in my opinion our bench is not so good that they can shovel starters crap( i.e. correct starters mistakes)

It is not flip's fault that CB missed 3 FT in a row and at the last posession CB almoust turned ball over.

Yes, I most certainly can blame it on the coach. Bringing your starters back with 8 minutes to go in the game is borderline absurd. This is a playoff intensity game. You kind of need a bit of rest to play well against young sprites 10 years younger than you are. Billups is a marvelous player, but human.

Sheed can rest for the next ten years by the way, and it won't help. Then he would be 43, and still not capable of playing the kind of minutes he played tonight. In game rest is just as important as rest in the previous week. Especially for older players. And the bigger they are, the more rest they need. Trust me in this, I have been watching a lot of NBA basketball. Younger, lighter, players have an advantage when it comes to playing heavy minutes. Sheed is hardly either one of those things.

Please don't pick on Max. He said nice things about the new chat, plus he watches every game 4.5 times in frame by frame slow motion.

You sure? 4.5 times. Now, I watch them five times. Thats the problem right there. If only he would quit slacking and watch that other .5 more times. Then I am sure he would see what I do and we would have nothing to argue about.

Rip was awful.

Sheed was decent until he choked. Billups is just outclassed by Miller but managed to choke anyway.

It's possible the Pistons would have won this game if Flip had played Afflalo instead of Lindsey Hunter.

Pretty pathetic when the difference between a win/loss is Afflalo vs. Hunter.

The Pistons? What I saw is some very tired players wearing Pistons unifrms. Tay, no rest. Rip, no rest. Sheed, no rest. Billups, no rest. Maxiell only played about 30 minutes, but as he did not start, the rest pattern for him was far from optimal. Horrid coaching.

This is the playoffs. Defense tightens up. You want to win, you need championship caliner D. Look into your history books and tell me how many times we held a team under 43% in the 04 playoffs.
tIM dUNCAN PLAYED 51 MINUTES AND 2 OT'S against the Big cactus and Amare Stud!!!! GET OFF THIS damn rest BS!! Tired mt butt, Lee. I hate when yall bring that tired 3 years in a row excuse up! Its a difference between tired, listless and lazy! Tired....@##$$%#!that...

Ouuch. That hurts.

But doesn't Andre know that it is all Flip Saunders' fault? :rofl:

Flip's not strong enough personality to influence this team one way or another.
:hoops:

Yes, I most certainly can blame it on the coach. Bringing your starters back with 8 minutes to go in the game is borderline absurd. This is a playoff intensity game. You kind of need a bit of rest to play well against young sprites 10 years younger than you are. Billups is a marvelous player, but human.

Sheed can rest for the next ten years by the way, and it won't help. Then he would be 43, and still not capable of playing the kind of minutes he played tonight. In game rest is just as important as rest in the previous week. Especially for older players. And the bigger they are, the more rest they need. Trust me in this, I have been watching a lot of NBA basketball. Younger, lighter, players have an advantage when it comes to playing heavy minutes. Sheed is hardly either one of those things.

Do yo think that giving them let's say 2 more minutes rest could have been difference?

What's up with Sheed coming out of a timeout with 10 seconds left. We are down by one. And Sheed has the time and thought to go over and put his arm around the 76er's, with a great big smile on his face. Unbelievable. They should be sweeping these guys, and having a few more practices for the next series.

tIM dUNCAN PLAYED 51 MINUTES AND 2 OT'S against the Big cactus and Amare Stud!!!! GET OFF THIS damn rest BS!! Tired mt butt, Lee. I hate when yall bring that tired 3 years in a row excuse up! Its a difference between tired, listless and lazy! Tired....@##$$%#!that...


Thanks HQ, thanks...............

Flip's not strong enough personality to influence this team one way or another.

That is one way in which Flip contrasts sharply with LB. LB was able to get the team to play to its full potential in the playoffs in the two years he was here. Flip has thus far not been able to do that.

Flip's not strong enough personality to influence this team one way or another.
:hoops:That's the problem. He can't force the issue. The players have known it since he got here and developed 'flip the switch'.

What's up with Sheed coming out of a timeout with 10 seconds left. We are down by one. And Sheed has the time and thought to go over and put his arm around the 76er's, with a great big smile on his face. Unbelievable.

Yeah, I caught that, Buck. Could not believe it either.

What's up with Sheed coming out of a timeout with 10 seconds left. We are down by one. And Sheed has the time and thought to go over and put his arm around the 76er's, with a great big smile on his face. Unbelievable. They should be sweeping these guys, and having a few more practices for the next series.I think Sheed was trying to get in their heads...didn't work

tIM dUNCAN PLAYED 51 MINUTES AND 2 OT'S against the Big cactus and Amare Stud!!!! GET OFF THIS damn rest BS!! Tired mt butt, Lee. I hate when yall bring that tired 3 years in a row excuse up! Its a difference between tired, listless and lazy! Tired....@##$$%#!that...

Sheed was approaching a triple double in the 3rd quarter. 7 blocks. 9 boards. He ended up with 24 points too. And in the first half, what was he doing? Going inside like a fiend. Just like we want him to. But then he gradually slowed down. By the 4th, he had no legs left. Whether you want to believe it or not, but for fatigue, Rasheed Wallace was having one great, utterly fantastic game. His 7 blocks were all spectacular. But he is human and can not sustain that kind of effort.

PS, last I checked, Duncan was coached by a good coach, who has never ridden him over the years like Sheed has been ridden. Why don't you go look at the stats and tell me why Duncan might just have something in the tank for a game like that.

That's Detroit. They turn it on and turn it off.

- Andre Iguodala

I can't believe that's an actual quote

Thanks HQ, thanks...............i love u 2:MusicBigGrin:

Here's my take on what went wrong:

1. Pistons (and Pistons fans) underestimate the 76ers. They are young, fast, athletic, scrappy, and motivated. Reggie Evans plays every single minute he is on the court. AI played like a man possessed, even after Sheed and Maxiell stuffed him 4 or 5 times in a row. Andre Miller was working hard.

2. Despite the hustle of Philly, the Pistons put on a clinic with Rasheed and Jason leading the class. After halftime, the guards seem to go away from the frontcourt in an attempt to get the backcourt going. Rip shoots a terrible %, makes some bad decisions, and has a generally horrible game. Chauncey misses 3 FT's in a row, misses outside shots, misses layups, etc. Sheed missed his last shot attempt, but Batman and Robin lost this game.

I just don't buy the tired/ minutes/ Hunter/ Amir arguements.

I thought the defense was excellent in this game. Even the Rattler was making life hell for AI.

I didn't think Saunders substitutions were bad at all. He left Maxiell in almost the entire second half when Dice was ineffective. Stucky did almost nothing in his time out there. Maybe he could have played Alf instead of Lenz, but c'mon... is this really the sub that decides the game?

I'm agreeing with coach on this one. The backcourt (including Stucky) didn't hit their shots, and the 76ers stole one from us.

Please don't pick on Max. He said nice things about the new chat, plus he watches every game 4.5 times in frame by frame slow motion.

Thats alright, thats just the loss talking.

I am not going to freak out over a 4 point loss in the 1st game. It sucked but its not the series. Figure how well they played and how awfull the Pistons played and it was only a 4 point game.

In all fairness . Someone should point out to the Sixers coach that Miller played 45 mins and their star Igoudala played 46 mins.

Sheed was approaching a triple double in the 3rd quarter. 7 blocks. 9 boards. He ended up with 24 points too. And in the first half, what was he doing? Going inside like a fiend. Just like we want him to. But then he gradually slowed down. By the 4th, he had no legs left. Whether you want to believe it or not, but for fatigue, Rasheed Wallace was having one great, utterly fantastic game. His 7 blocks were all spectacular. But he is human and can not sustain that kind of effort.

PS, last I checked, Duncan was coached by a good coach, who has never ridden him over the years like Sheed has been ridden. Why don't you go look at the stats and tell me why Duncan might just have something in the tank for a game like that.Why dont YOU look at :
1. How many rings Timmay has?
2. How many minutes TD played in the last 7 games of the year compared to the last 7 Sheed played?
3. What IF the Pistons HAD to play the starters more down the stretch?
4. I guess Duncan is SUPER human ...or maybe he justs an overall better 'human being' than Sheed will ever be?

Here's my take on what went wrong:

1. Pistons (and Pistons fans) underestimate the 76ers. They are young, fast, athletic, scrappy, and motivated.You just made an excellent case for why Flip should have played AA & Amir some minutes. Our only bench was JMax.

About Flip's "can't coah making shots". He can't coach making shots, but he can coach shot selection, offenisve sets, bench substitutions, and put players in good positions. He can also tell Rip to stop jacking which LB was adept at doing.

I'm never going to belive that coaching doesn't have a huge effect on players even from the standpoint of giving them confidence, and mental preparation (See; Hedo Turkoglu) If we can see Flip continually fall apart when things go south and have no answers, the players can too.

I don't how care talented you are; the team that's playing with essentially an arm tied behind their back will always lose.

I can't believe that's an actual quote
I heard it live on the presser...and he knows it and the league knows it! The Pistons still believe IT WAS THEIR fault they dont have 3 more rings. When they learn to go GET IT instead of thinking its their RITE of passage, maybe we can win again.

Thats alright, thats just the loss talking.

I am not going to freak out over a 4 point loss in the 1st game. It sucked but its not the series. Figure how well they played and how awfull the Pistons played and it was only a 4 point game.

In all fairness . Someone should point out to the Sixers coach that Miller played 45 mins and their star Igoudala played 46 mins.

Iggy is young, and i do believe those min will catch up to Miller if they continue

Celtics win going away 104-81. food4thot

Sheed was approaching a triple double in the 3rd quarter. 7 blocks. 9 boards. He ended up with 24 points too. And in the first half, what was he doing? Going inside like a fiend. Just like we want him to. But then he gradually slowed down. By the 4th, he had no legs left. Whether you want to believe it or not, but for fatigue, Rasheed Wallace was having one great, utterly fantastic game. His 7 blocks were all spectacular. But he is human and can not sustain that kind of effort.

PS, last I checked, Duncan was coached by a good coach, ..

Agree that no matter how we spin it, whether Sheed was tired or not, as soon Sixers got that 10-0 run got to a 6-0 run, a couple of players should have been subbed, just to change the flow and slow down the Sixers. "Their athletes" were in there and our "old" guys were in there. Look at the shooting stats > our starters were 24-69 . Even Andre miller mentioned in his post game interview that "our young guys took over" . If our starters had been on, then our bench could have just played the way they have done last week with ease....but instead they came in with the sixers momentum in full affect and could not stop it.

Mix it up a little more in the third Flip and maybe we win the next four and sweep it the hard way!!

Here is what I would do to get the Pistons ready for their next game. First I would rest their "poor tired" legs by plopping them down in front of a big screen television. And then I would force them to watch the four games they lost in the Cleveland series last year. Then I would show them the last game of the Finals where the Spurs swept Cleveland. If that don't fire up these old cats, it's time to send some of them packing.

You just made an excellent case for why Flip should have played AA & Amir some minutes. Our only bench was JMax.


I'm not saying Flip shouldn't have played Alf and Amir. I just don't think the problem was with the front court or backup guard position. Wallace, Maxiell, and Ratliff did an excellent job up front, and although Stucky and Hunter were not especially effective, I don't think this game hinged on their play. Would Alf have done a better job than Hunter? Maybe, but he hasn't really been a great scorer so far, and it seems we really needed more scoring. The Pistons scoring drought was very long in the 2nd half. How does Alf help?

I'm not saying Flip shouldn't have played Alf and Amir. I just don't think the problem was with the front court or backup guard position. Wallace, Maxiell, and Ratliff did an excellent job up front, and although Stucky and Hunter were not especially effective, I don't think this game hinged on their play. Would Alf have done a better job than Hunter? Maybe, but he hasn't really been a great scorer so far, and it seems we really needed more scoring. The Pistons scoring drought was very long in the 2nd half. How does Alf help?No better counter to a scoring drought than creating one for your opponent. Oops...sorry...the LB in me is coming out :sssh:

With less than a minute remaining, and the Pistons behind, Rasheed thought it was a good time to joke around with the 76ers by joining their huddle on the court. It was mildly amusing, but what does it say about his focus? Shortly thereafter, Rasheed missed a key layup, and that was basically the ballgame.

I found that hilarious. I think he was trying to hear what the defense was planning, and mess up any focus they had on that play. It worked, too. Evans got really annoyed and ended up switching to help Miller on the mismatch too late, unfortunately Rasheed overshot the ball a bit.

What i don't get is why we go away from what was working all year with Stuck/AA, and start using LH esp against an athlethic young team like the Sixers? Stuckey/Lindsey proved ineffective. I don't understand how Flip didn't see that.


I often disagree with what you say, but here is a gem - I'm not annoyed that AA or AJ didn't play per se, but why did Flip go with a rotation that he had never even used in the regular season? Or at least, that he had never used with any success???

You sure? 4.5 times. Now, I watch them five times. Thats the problem right there. If only he would quit slacking and watch that other .5 more times. Then I am sure he would see what I do and we would have nothing to argue about.

Lee, I think Max would be able to watch it the whole fifth time if he took more rest during the previous four times, like you do. :MusicBigGrin:

He can also tell Rip to stop jacking which LB was adept at doing.

That's another phrase to add to my list of words that make me queasy when used in a sports context:

penetration
jacking up

:MusicBigGrin:

No better counter to a scoring drought than creating one for your opponent. Oops...sorry...the LB in me is coming out :sssh:

I could do another. Defense leads to offense . . . It's true, i've seen it :)

Oh My God, what a terrible game. For those of you in TV-land who still can't believe what you saw, I can tell you I was unfortunate enough to witness this embarrassment in person with my own eyes - which I will now go and wash out with vinegar...

Embarrassment is the best word to use here but I won't start calling for anyone's head or proclaiming the sky is falling. yet...

The crowd was quite poor. Not the crowd who were there, the crowd who didn't show up. The arena was only about 60% full. What's up with that Detroit? You better show up Wednesday or else you might not get another chance to see your team again this season...

My night started out not so well when I got to my (what I thought was) good seat in the front row of the upper level on mid-court, to discover I was sitting right behind the TV cameras. Not above the cameras, behind the cameras. I'm not usually one to complain, but I didn't feel like paying a good amount of money for someone 20 rows back to have a better view and only being able to see half the court for the whole game. So I went down to the ticket office and inquired about a seat move. Luckily a few minutes later they came back with a new seat. Beauty! An upgrade to the lower section. It was only row P, but hey, much better than what I had. Night back on track.

The Sixers looked like they came ready to play, no messing around from them during warm-ups, meanwhile a few Pistons probably could have utilised their warm-up time better. ie. Sheed and Hayes having a shooting competition from the corner 3pt line. No just that, it involved shooting a bank shot, free-throw style. Way to prepare just 5 minutes before game-time guys...

Rebounding numbers won't show how bad we were on the defensive boards because we were so good on the offensive boards. Our defensive rebounding was TERRIBLE! In the first half especially. Although he didn't make many shots, Dice was the only one hustling and rebounding in the first quarter. But he hardly played in the 2nd half at all.

Sheed got off to a hot start, getting in the post and scoring with ease. However, the downside was it took the other guys a while to get into the game. (Or in Rip's case, not at all). Rip was just terrible all game long. What's with him trying to drive into 4 guys? Frustrating beyond belief.

As a team we ran waaay too many ISO's. Not enough ball movement.

Offensive rebounding from the Sixers allowed them to get an early lead in the first before we eventually took a small lead. A good 2nd quarter, especially from Maxiell who was absolutely fantastic, but I think maybe it was just the fact Philly started missing shots that allowed us to build a nice lead at the half. It didn't really feel like a 13 point lead though.

The Pistons didn't show up to start the 2nd half, a quick 8-0 run by the Sixers allowed them to close the gap quickly. Dalembert was pretty unlucky I thought to pick up those 2 quick fouls. They were pretty cheap and that was the time for us to assert ourselves and take a big lead. Didn't happen. This was the time for us to get inside and make some baskets. Didn't happen.

This is the gamelog of what happened after Dalembert went to the bench with 7:30 left in the 3rd quarter.
Billups MADE layup
Wallace MADE 3-pointer
Billups missed layup
McDyess MADE put-back
Prince missed 20ft jumpshot
Hamilton missed 3-pointer
McDyess missed layup
Wallace offensive foul
Wallace missed 3-pointer
Billups missed 16ft jumpshot
Billups missed 3-pointer
Wallace MADE put-back
Maxiell MADE dunk
Hamilton MADE 2 free-throws
Hamilton MADE 15ft jumpshot
Hamilton missed 20ft jumpshot

Wouldn't exactly call that taking advantage of Dalembert being on the bench, would you?

The 4th quarter was painful to watch. The crowd was still excitable but I couldn't share their enthusiasm. You give a fan a free cup of water and they'll get excited about it. Not to mention they had those bloody thundersticks at every seat in the arena. Thank you Mr.Jackass who decided that!! Gahhh.

I thought if the Pistons managed to fanangle a victory I would still go home happy enough. Of course I would. But it didn't happen. I just had this funny feeling all night that we'd be the only team to be upset in the 1st game of the 1st round. Things just didn't go right. I couldn't believe how many easy shots we missed down the stretch. I can't recall ever seeing so many easy shots missed. It was hard to fathom. Shots that would be made 8 out of 10 times.

We managed to get into the bonus early in the 4th quarter which I thought was a good sign and even if we struggled to make shots down the stretch we'd still be able to score from the line. Which happened exactly, except we couldn't make a damn free-throw either! Missed FT's from Rip and Billups (3 in a row no less) meant it was just going to be one of those nights.
On the second last play of the game where Prince took that outside jumpshot I just sighed in misery. 'That couldn't have been the play you drew up Flip. It just couldn't have...'

In summary, I'm disappointed we lost, moreso given the fact I was there, moreso given the fact it was my first and probably only Pistons playoff game I'll ever see, but anyway, life goes on.

Let's just hope this was just one bad game, and not a sign of things to come.

PHOTOS FROM THE GAME (http://s276.photobucket.com/albums/kk15/webz_80/Sixers-Pistons_08-04-20/)

After the game I decided to walk the 3 miles home to clear my head. Didn't help much.

Barkley, Kenny & Magic bagging on the Pistons for their 'flip the switch' attitude right now. Everyone knows the problem except the Pistons.

Hunter was actually affective in the first half...even Magic gave him props during the TNT halftime show..

But he did nothing with Stuckey to open the 4th quarter. I am still thinking that when we were still up 9 or so during the middle of their run, the defense of Alf could have been tossed out there with about 3 mins left in that third to slow that run and give our guys a few more ops to pick up points on a fastbreak going the other way. I mean at one point during that run, we could get no stops so there were no opportunities for easy scoring on the other end...

I could see this happening based on the feel of the last two losses to the Sixers... we are better on paper, but they appear to be more aggressive and athletic ... I am going dark for a couple of days as I will be traveling, so sorry if I am trying to throw out all my frustrations tonight but.....:yellowprison:

I haven't watched this team all year. My wife happened to turn it on in the 2nd quarter, so I figured what the heck.

I was in awe. I saw the hustle. diving for loose balls, team defense, crisp passes, great shots. I was thinking I was so wrong about these guys. Things have changed. Joke was on me.

I do not like this team or the coach. That's why I stopped watching long ago and that's why I'm done watching.

Go Wings. Go Lightning. Go Steelheads. Go Phillies.

Good luck Pistons. Like someone recently said, they act like they have won multiple championships. They won ONE. Oh well, they weren't going very far anyhow.

Somewhere along the way...I'm not sure when or where...they lost their heart.

Guess what guys, CLEVELAND MAY BE COMING EARLY THIS YEAR.

After the game I decided to walk the 3 miles home to clear my head. Didn't help much.
My friend, don't take it so hard. We'll be right.

At this moment, it is very hard to believe that a team with the second-best record in the NBA this season who can't beat a 40-42 team at home in the first game of a first-round playoff series is gonna go on and win the 'ship without a serious attitude adjustment. Maybe Joe D can bring in this guy.


http://www.film.org.pl/images/kubrick/full_metal_jacket.jpg

I still think this loss is simple: our starters were not playoff= intensity ready as Max hinted. To me, this is the most logical explanation. This Piston team will get better as the playoffs move along.

If there are other reasons why we lost, then we indeed are indeed in trouble as Philly does not have one player who is a real danger unlike what we will face in the later rounds...a loss in another context is deeper and systemic. I didn't see that.

I prefer to stay with the simple explanation for now...

- I'm not annoyed that AA or AJ didn't play per se, but why did Flip go with a rotation that he had never even used in the regular season? Or at least, that he had never used with any success???




2nd that! WTF is with that? you're not developing the bench, you're developing your team.

At this moment, it is very hard to believe that a team with the second-best record in the NBA this season who can't beat a 40-42 team at home in the first game of a first-round playoff series is gonna go on and win the 'ship without a serious attitude adjustment. Maybe Joe D can bring in this guy.


http://www.film.org.pl/images/kubrick/full_metal_jacket.jpg

That guy got shot by the guy from Law & Order. He's dead. Too bad.

Barkley, Kenny & Magic bagging on the Pistons for their 'flip the switch' attitude right now. Everyone knows the problem except the Pistons.

It's been chronicled since 2005...even the NBA TV guys analyzed this loss for the entire first half of the Hawks Celtics game and came up with the same conclusion each time.


Sorry Webz that you had to endure the "embarrasment" in person. What's up with bowl being half empty?? Not time to panic yet but maybe they should give out T Shirts saying No more foolishness, time to go to the work.

Thanks for the Photos.....Sorry you didn't have a picture of the Pistons walking off hi-fiving themselves with a victory:sssh:

Pretty pathetic when the difference between a win/loss is Afflalo vs. Hunter.

Pretty-much sums it up, doesn't it?

I don't think we played poorly. Philly has been a very good team over the 2nd half of the season and they had a good game.

Here is what we did right:
Sheed was awesome
Maxiell was the topic of their halftime speach
We got to the free throw line
We blocked shots
Made AI go 4-15
Got Dalembert into foul trouble and he only had 2 FG
Our bench beat their bench and their starters

The bad:
Stuckey didn't score or even go to the line in 13 min.
Rip 5-17
Billups only 3 FG
Hayes = nothing
Lindsey had 1 steal, but 3 fouls trying to get another one.

All in all, I thought we brought an average game that should have been good enough. But Philly hit some shots to keep it in reach and then they converted every mistake we made into easy points down the stretch.

My only real complaint is that on the 2 critical crunch time possessions we went with our 2 least clutch starters, Tay and Sheed.


If Philly beats us 3 more times, they deserve it.

Someone mentioned the fact that we were rotating in untried patterns. That was a little strange. My fear that Lindsey would be used for real minutes came true. At one point late in the game, CB, Rip, and LH were all in at the same time, which I think is a terrible idea.

I've reached a point with this team where I feel like it is up to them and I'm not really stressed about it like I used to be. If they really want it, they will get it.

it was more like 80-85% full, but either way that was disappointing. i'll keep it short. the whole minutes/rest thing is ridiculous. the starters had all season to rest, and the timeouts were LONG and even halftime was 19 minutes!! stuckey and lindsey played excellent in the 1st half, but stuckey played poorly in the 2nd half because he deferred to lindsey rather than staying aggressive.

amir would have hurt us this game, unless you wanted him to start and get rid of dice completely...because max was a beast, theo was good, and sheed was an animal until late in the game. afflalo would have defended no better than lindsey.

there were a few key problems. chauncey and rip played zero defense on the philly guards. they roamed freely and did whatever they want, with no body or pressure. also, rip is selfish and doesn't even look like he fits in with the pistons offense anymore. he looked like he was trying to get his own shot because his points were low. dice was terrible. the real blame for the loss should be on chauncey, who blew 3 free thows AND a wide-open layup late in the game. we should've been up by 3. and the starters didn't come to play at the start of the 3rd quarter, and that killed us.

in short, the starters all sucked except for sheed and they didn't take philly seriously. i find that amazing because you'd have thought they learned their lesson this year. if they don't win 4 straight, then there is no wakeup call (even a game 1 loss) in this world that will make them play with urgency on a consistent basis.

I've reached a point with this team where I feel like it is up to them and I'm not really stressed about it like I used to be. If they really want it, they will get it.
The Zen of Micro.

oh and yeah, the pistons were booed as the game ended. i took part. they had to know that this was completely unacceptable.

Oh My God, what a terrible game. For those of you in TV-land who still can't believe what you saw, I can tell you I was unfortunate enough to witness this embarrassment in person with my own eyes - which I will now go and wash out with vinegar...

Embarrassment is the best word to use here but I won't start calling for anyone's head or proclaiming the sky is falling. yet...

The crowd was quite poor. Not the crowd who were there, the crowd who didn't show up. The arena was only about 60% full. What's up with that Detroit? You better show up Wednesday or else you might not get another chance to see your team again this season...

My night started out not so well when I got to my (what I thought was) good seat in the front row of the upper level on mid-court, to discover I was sitting right behind the TV cameras. Not above the cameras, behind the cameras. I'm not usually one to complain, but I didn't feel like paying a good amount of money for someone 20 rows back to have a better view and only being able to see half the court for the whole game. So I went down to the ticket office and inquired about a seat move. Luckily a few minutes later they came back with a new seat. Beauty! An upgrade to the lower section. It was only row P, but hey, much better than what I had. Night back on track.

The Sixers looked like they came ready to play, no messing around from them during warm-ups, meanwhile a few Pistons probably could have utilised their warm-up time better. ie. Sheed and Hayes having a shooting competition from the corner 3pt line. No just that, it involved shooting a bank shot, free-throw style. Way to prepare just 5 minutes before game-time guys...

Rebounding numbers won't show how bad we were on the defensive boards because we were so good on the offensive boards. Our defensive rebounding was TERRIBLE! In the first half especially. Although he didn't make many shots, Dice was the only one hustling and rebounding in the first quarter. But he hardly played in the 2nd half at all.

Sheed got off to a hot start, getting in the post and scoring with ease. However, the downside was it took the other guys a while to get into the game. (Or in Rip's case, not at all). Rip was just terrible all game long. What's with him trying to drive into 4 guys? Frustrating beyond belief.

As a team we ran waaay too many ISO's. Not enough ball movement.

Offensive rebounding from the Sixers allowed them to get an early lead in the first before we eventually took a small lead. A good 2nd quarter, especially from Maxiell who was absolutely fantastic, but I think maybe it was just the fact Philly started missing shots that allowed us to build a nice lead at the half. It didn't really feel like a 13 point lead though.

The Pistons didn't show up to start the 2nd half, a quick 8-0 run by the Sixers allowed them to close the gap quickly. Dalembert was pretty unlucky I thought to pick up those 2 quick fouls. They were pretty cheap and that was the time for us to assert ourselves and take a big lead. Didn't happen. This was the time for us to get inside and make some baskets. Didn't happen.

This is the gamelog of what happened after Dalembert went to the bench with 7:30 left in the 3rd quarter.
Billups MADE layup
Wallace MADE 3-pointer
Billups missed layup
McDyess MADE put-back
Prince missed 20ft jumpshot
Hamilton missed 3-pointer
McDyess missed layup
Wallace offensive foul
Wallace missed 3-pointer
Billups missed 16ft jumpshot
Billups missed 3-pointer
Wallace MADE put-back
Maxiell MADE dunk
Hamilton MADE 2 free-throws
Hamilton MADE 15ft jumpshot
Hamilton missed 20ft jumpshot

Wouldn't exactly call that taking advantage of Dalembert being on the bench, would you?

The 4th quarter was painful to watch. The crowd was still excitable but I couldn't share their enthusiasm. You give a fan a free cup of water and they'll get excited about it. Not to mention they had those bloody thundersticks at every seat in the arena. Thank you Mr.Jackass who decided that!! Gahhh.

I thought if the Pistons managed to fanangle a victory I would still go home happy enough. Of course I would. But it didn't happen. I just had this funny feeling all night that we'd be the only team to be upset in the 1st game of the 1st round. Things just didn't go right. I couldn't believe how many easy shots we missed down the stretch. I can't recall ever seeing so many easy shots missed. It was hard to fathom. Shots that would be made 8 out of 10 times.

We managed to get into the bonus early in the 4th quarter which I thought was a good sign and even if we struggled to make shots down the stretch we'd still be able to score from the line. Which happened exactly, except we couldn't make a damn free-throw either! Missed FT's from Rip and Billups (3 in a row no less) meant it was just going to be one of those nights.
On the second last play of the game where Prince took that outside jumpshot I just sighed in misery. 'That couldn't have been the play you drew up Flip. It just couldn't have...'

In summary, I'm disappointed we lost, moreso given the fact I was there, moreso given the fact it was my first and probably only Pistons playoff game I'll ever see, but anyway, life goes on.

Let's just hope this was just one bad game, and not a sign of things to come.

PHOTOS FROM THE GAME (http://s276.photobucket.com/albums/kk15/webz_80/Sixers-Pistons_08-04-20/)

After the game I decided to walk the 3 miles home to clear my head. Didn't help much.

Nice summation and some thoughtful insights that need more exposure.

Thank you for your effort.

I will criticize Flip this time for the insertion of Hunter into the mix. This will not work. The flow is not there and Stuckey needs a familiar flow to gain confidence. His asset is in penetration and he goes no where merely acting the role as a ball handler. Stuckey needs a companion who has quickness, which makes him quicker. See my next comments.

This may surprise many people, but the key person for backup guard is Dixon. He is fearless and never stops pushing. This is the type of player that the pistons need in the playoffs. You must have a consistent push that keeps constant pressure and will not allow others to zone out.

The key is still three players: JMax (coming into his own and should be starting), Hayes and Dixon.

Flip now has to quickly adjust and steal one in Philly. This is the only crew that will stay even with their youthful athleticism. You have to slow down Miller who is very much a heavy-type guard similar to CB.

The problem with this team is not entirely dissimilar to the attitude we as fans have developed when threads and posts in response to losses end up being labelled as too "negative" or "mean".

Even Rasheed Wallace stuck his foot in his mouth a few days ago in a rant that mirror images sentiments of a great many of the average "fanboys" out there.
So the Heat, Cavs, just notches in your belt huh? Last time you checked, you dismissed them all?

Last time I checked they dismissed you, Rasheed. Last time I checked, you fellas don't even have a belt to notch. It's in another city, getting notched by another team.

Problem is, this team, just like some of its fans, still hasn't realized that. So what we get now is a bunch of overconfident, switch-flippin, fat cats. "Coached" by a guy that isn't strongwilled enough to give them the kick in the pants they've needed for years now.

Bottom line, this isn't how a championship team operates. They'll probably beat the Sixers. Big deal. This still isn't a championship team.

Meet the new reason the Pistons lost, same as the old reason the Pistons lost:
The Detroit Pistons (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/teams/det/;_ylt=A0WTWZKGGwxIcPcAXACLvLYF) were hanging out at the scorer’s table as if it was a preseason game, joking around with a former teammate as he enjoyed a drink and nachos in the front row. Philadelphia made them pay for it.
Andre Miller (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3331/;_ylt=A0WTWZKGGwxIcPcAXQCLvLYF) scored 20 points and Willie Green (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3744/;_ylt=A0WTWZKGGwxIcPcAXgCLvLYF) had a career playoff-high 17, helping the 76ers stun Detroit 90-86 Sunday in Game 1 of their first-round series.
Sixers forward Reggie Evans (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3663/;_ylt=A0WTWZKGGwxIcPcAXwCLvLYF) smiled when told the Pistons were shooting the breeze with Flip Murray during breaks in the game.
“That’s good,” Evans said.I HATE HIM

tIM dUNCAN PLAYED 51 MINUTES AND 2 OT'S against the Big cactus and Amare Stud!!!! GET OFF THIS damn rest BS!! Tired mt butt, Lee. I hate when yall bring that tired 3 years in a row excuse up! Its a difference between tired, listless and lazy! Tired....@##$$%#!that...
Amen brotha!

Flip's not strong enough personality to influence this team one way or another.
I agree. IMO, Flip is a pushover.

What's up with Sheed coming out of a timeout with 10 seconds left. We are down by one. And Sheed has the time and thought to go over and put his arm around the 76er's, with a great big smile on his face. Unbelievable. They should be sweeping these guys, and having a few more practices for the next series.
I didn't like that either (ok, that isn't 100% true. I kind of liked it at the time, but then after he missed that bunny, I really hated it).

That is one way in which Flip contrasts sharply with LB. LB was able to get the team to play to its full potential in the playoffs in the two years he was here. Flip has thus far not been able to do that.
Agreed. The differences are especially apparent out of timeouts. You couldn't pretty much guarantee points out of a LB timeout. With Flip, it usually looks like a game of street ball.

I don't think that anyone was as good as LB at calling run stopping timeouts. Flip just lets the starters play through mistakes and takes the bench out at the first sign of one.

Meet the new reason the Pistons lost, same as the old reason the Pistons lost:

I wouldn't really put much stock into that. They've always been a fairly loose team.

What they really need is a few good LB practices.

Amir, Aron AND Herrman should play not just for their skillz, but for their ATTITUDE.
Because attitude was problem (again).

i will take Lee's words. Our guys are humans, TD is super hero. We don't have superstars, we have a team. tIM dUNCAN PLAYED 51 MINUTES AND 2 OT'S against the Big cactus and Amare Stud!!!! GET OFF THIS damn rest BS!! Tired mt butt, Lee. I hate when yall bring that tired 3 years in a row excuse up! Its a difference between tired, listless and lazy! Tired....@##$$%#!that...

oh and yeah, the pistons were booed as the game ended. i took part. they had to know that this was completely unacceptable.

Thank you! I was "booing" the TV, but I doubt they heard. :yellowprison:

What killed me was watching 4 starters play the entire 3rd quarter, then seeing Flip pull out this killer lineup to start the 4th: Stuckey, Hunter, Tay, Maxiell and Ratliff. Defense was OK, but no offense. Stuckey should have taken every opportunity to drive the lane, but instead it became Tay-on-5.

Here's my take on what went wrong:

1. Pistons (and Pistons fans) underestimate the 76ers. They are young, fast, athletic, scrappy, and motivated. Reggie Evans plays every single minute he is on the court. AI played like a man possessed, even after Sheed and Maxiell stuffed him 4 or 5 times in a row. Andre Miller was working hard.

2. Despite the hustle of Philly, the Pistons put on a clinic with Rasheed and Jason leading the class. After halftime, the guards seem to go away from the frontcourt in an attempt to get the backcourt going. Rip shoots a terrible %, makes some bad decisions, and has a generally horrible game. Chauncey misses 3 FT's in a row, misses outside shots, misses layups, etc. Sheed missed his last shot attempt, but Batman and Robin lost this game.

I just don't buy the tired/ minutes/ Hunter/ Amir arguements.

I thought the defense was excellent in this game. Even the Rattler was making life hell for AI.

I didn't think Saunders substitutions were bad at all. He left Maxiell in almost the entire second half when Dice was ineffective. Stucky did almost nothing in his time out there. Maybe he could have played Alf instead of Lenz, but c'mon... is this really the sub that decides the game?

I'm agreeing with coach on this one. The backcourt (including Stucky) didn't hit their shots, and the 76ers stole one from us.



This is also my take on the game. We will win in 6 games, but it will be a LOOOONG series...

I feel like it's my job to put on the happy face, but I have to agree with TaShawn and Cloudwalker.

Something tells me these guys don't have enough pride to care until they are down 3-0 to Philly. They are really that full of crap. And yet if they want to, they can be the best team in the league.

I also agree with linwood. A little. If you agree with linwood too much, he starts getting really emotional.

Philly played a good, playoff road game. They fought hard, and won ugly, which is exactly how 7 is supposed to beat 2.

I feel like it's my job to put on the happy face...

Something tells me these guys don't have enough pride to care until they are down 3-0 to Philly. They are really that full of crap. And yet if they want to, they can be the best team in the league.

I also agree with linwood. A little. If you agree with linwood too much, he starts getting really emotional.



Point 1: I understand WHY you might feel like that, but it really isn't necessary. I think we all just would prefer honesty.

Point 2: Agree, although it won't go so far as down 3-0 to Philly. This will put a bee in their bonnet. They will come out of Philly 2-2.

Point 3: :pound: (I pretty much agreed with Linwood too on this). Two things we didn't expect today...Pistons lose and we both agree with Linwood. I need a drink! :burp:

Point 3: :pound: (I pretty much agreed with Linwood too on this). Two things we didn't expect today...Pistons lose and we both agree with Linwood. I need a drink! :burp:
It's only 9:30 AM here, but as my uncle says, "There has to be a bar open somewhere in the world right now"

Quote from Billups:

"We're going to be all right. We just have to continue to play to win. We can't get caught up in playing not to lose. We've been here before, man. We don't like to hang our hats on that but it's a fact. We know what it takes."

Suuuuurrrre, you don't. Gee, I think I've heard that somewhere before...
Get over yourselves for goodness sake!

At this moment, it is very hard to believe that a team with the second-best record in the NBA this season who can't beat a 40-42 team at home in the first game of a first-round playoff series is gonna go on and win the 'ship without a serious attitude adjustment. Maybe Joe D can bring in this guy.


http://www.film.org.pl/images/kubrick/full_metal_jacket.jpg " HELL. I MIGHT JUST LET U GIVE FLIP A ...........D, AND STUFF THIS JELLY DONUT WHERE THE SUN DONT SHINE! LARD BOY!"

That guy got shot by the guy from Law & Order. He's dead. Too bad.
I CANT REMEMBER THE GUY'S NAME playing Gomer pyle, but I know he was the same guy who played Edgar the bug in Men in Black. I like this diversion. After all, it was only game 1. Remember when AI and the Sixers beat the Lakers in Game1?
As my bro Vader said "Game 1's dont concern me , I want that "SHIP", not excuses!:darthvader: it it boys: da dada da dada da dada DA DADA DA DADA DA DADA! DA DA DADA DA DADADA DA DA DA DADADAA......

The Zen of Micro.

I believe this is all your fault! Why? Where's the countdown to X off on top of the page? Help us LAWD, help us.

Meet the new reason the Pistons lost, same as the old reason the Pistons lost:
SEEEEEEEEEEEEE?.....:pound:

I believe this is all your fault! Why? Where's the countdown to X off on top of the page? Help us LAWD, help us.OMG! I was all hyped to get that back on but right now I'm a little too miffed.

Suuuuurrrre, you don't. Gee, I think I've heard that somewhere before...
Get over yourselves for goodness sake!

it's amazing to me. that one single quote shows that the pistons still have not learned their lesson. you've been there before? you mean like losing to inferior teams the past 3 years? putting yourselves unnecessarily in a hole? yeah?

i mean, that arrogance just dumbfounds me. you just lost game 1, AT HOME, giving up a 17-point swing in the 2nd half, and you make comments like that? did you not hear the palace booing your effort? how about taking the blame for missing 3 straight free throws and a wide open layup that would've put your team up 3 points with 2 minutes to go?

all you have to do is take a look at how maxiell played vs. the starters and you can clearly see that this team cannot win a championship as long as the starters keep up this attitude. if they played with maxiell's level of effort they would've beat philly by 25-30 last night.

Why when looking at the boxscore do I see our players at either close to 40 minutes or close to zero and the Sixers all pretty much around 30 except for two?

My biggest complaint with Flip was not the amount of minutes he plays the core; it is the amount of consecutive minutes he plays them. He really needs to take a look at making an assistant responsible for smacking him in the back of the head with a clipboard if any player exceeds 11 consecutive minutes. There is no reason that any player this year needs to play a whole quarter. We spent the season getting our bench some minutes to prepare for this. Don't wait til game 4 to play them and then poop all over them for poor play when they haven't played in a week.

Keep them involved or it will be a waste.

Nice summation and some thoughtful insights that need more exposure.

Thank you for your effort.

I will criticize Flip this time for the insertion of Hunter into the mix. This will not work. The flow is not there and Stuckey needs a familiar flow to gain confidence. His asset is in penetration and he goes no where merely acting the role as a ball handler. Stuckey needs a companion who has quickness, which makes him quicker. See my next comments.

This may surprise many people, but the key person for backup guard is Dixon. He is fearless and never stops pushing. This is the type of player that the pistons need in the playoffs. You must have a consistent push that keeps constant pressure and will not allow others to zone out.

The key is still three players: JMax (coming into his own and should be starting), Hayes and Dixon.

Flip now has to quickly adjust and steal one in Philly. This is the only crew that will stay even with their youthful athleticism. You have to slow down Miller who is very much a heavy-type guard similar to CB.


Totally agree. Remember that stuckey has not played with hunter...the second quarter gave flip the idea that playing hunter was a good idea, he has not played all year, why do we have to play hunter. GO with dixon, when his shot is falling he is great, see what dixon can do. There is no need for hunter other than the fact that joe dumars wants him to play. Yes he is good here and there, but in the long term, hunter hurts team morale and team chemistry.

I slept on it, and even i'm even more irritated than i was yesterday. If i don't see AA and Amir play tommorow, and the starters not playing 40 min, i swear i'm going to spend the money to get courtside seats, fly out to DET, and yell at Flip Saunders in Game 5 (if there is one).

I'm still dumbfounded at the fact that he abandons EVERYTHING from the regular season and all of a sudden thinks it's 1/ a great idea to play hunter extended minutes, and 2/ have Stuck/Hunter play together and have Stuck defer to Linds.

AA/Stuckey have continually shown to be good together. Their collective speed, ball handling abilities, and comfort level is obvious to even toi a blind person.

I slept on it, and even i'm even more irritated than i was yesterday. If i don't see AA and Amir play tommorow, and the starters not playing 40 min, i swear i'm going to spend the money to get courtside seats, fly out to DET, and yell at Flip Saunders in Game 5 (if there is one).

I'm still dumbfounded at the fact that he abandons EVERYTHING from the regular season and all of a sudden thinks it's 1/ a great idea to play hunter extended minutes, and 2/ have Stuck/Hunter play together and have Stuck defer to Linds.

AA/Stuckey have continually shown to be good together. Their collective speed, ball handling abilities, and comfort level is obvious to even toi a blind person.
You won't see AA and Amir play tomorrow.
The game is on Wednesday.
:stirthepot:

What if the Pistons aren't to blame for this loss? Maybe they're just not good enough to win? We are starting to sound a lot like them when we say that they're tired or out of rhythm or whatever?

How many times has the Pistons best backcourt in the L supposed to have been a HUGE advantage for them going into games and series? How many times has that proven true? It is more than the fact that Willie Green outscored Rip. It is how easily he scored his hoops versus how hard Rip has to work for his.

When DET won the title in '04, Ben was a force defensively and Sheed was a sort of overall force. LB was a definite force also. Billups and Rip were basically role players. They are being asked to do a lot more now and really haven't shown that they're capable. If you want to talk about a championship, then these are your folks. If you want to play for a championship please look elsewhere. You can't play for a title when you're being soundly beaten by the Sasha Pavlovich's and Rajon Rondo's of the world. Clapping your hands together in disgust after you're blown by for the 10th straight time isn't a skill.

I thought there was a chance that Flip was going to replace Hunter with AA. I was hoping he'd have Hunter apply pressure to whomever he was guarding, follow that up with AA's pressure and size and then replace him with a rested Rip to finish them off by running them off of screen after screen. That is probably asking too much from Flip though.

Throughout the year people got excited when Flip let someone like Max or Amir finish games and used it as evidence that he "trusted his bench/youth". To me it masked the fact that he never figured out how to use everyone at the same time. It is either A or B for him. Maxey played well yesterday so that means Dyess couldn't play. You think if Dyess played a little in the 2nd half that they might get more boards? You think they might have been able to wear Illadelph out if the bigs rotated in & out?

When was the last time that CB, Rip and Sheed all played well in the same game? If I had to play DET I would add a dwarf to the roster because DET would abandon everything to go at the dwarf. It amazes me how few plays this team makes for one another. It is especially amazing considering the many mis-matches DET is supposed to have across the court.

Once and for all, can we please put to rest that DET is $$ in end of game scenarios? You might as well be talking about the Fort Wayne Pistons at this point.

Ernie: Spot on. Your dwarf comment was something I have been thinking for a long time now. The Pistons get so much credit for playing this "team ball" without a superstar, but I argue this team plays more "playground" then any other in the league. Joking around, shooing left handed threes, not taking everything seriously, trying to go after one defender that is perceived as weak, ton's of three pointers, bad rebounding, weak perimeter defense, etc. The Lakers that have multiple superstars play as one cohesive team. Every play looks like it has multiple options and really everyone knows their place. Of course they have a great coach.

What if the Pistons aren't to blame for this loss? Maybe they're just not good enough to win? We are starting to sound a lot like them when we say that they're tired or out of rhythm or whatever?

How many times has the Pistons best backcourt in the L supposed to have been a HUGE advantage for them going into games and series? How many times has that proven true? It is more than the fact that Willie Green outscored Rip. It is how easily he scored his hoops versus how hard Rip has to work for his.

When DET won the title in '04, Ben was a force defensively and Sheed was a sort of overall force. LB was a definite force also. Billups and Rip were basically role players. They are being asked to do a lot more now and really haven't shown that they're capable. If you want to talk about a championship, then these are your folks. If you want to play for a championship please look elsewhere. You can't play for a title when you're being soundly beaten by the Sasha Pavlovich's and Rajon Rondo's of the world. Clapping your hands together in disgust after you're blown by for the 10th straight time isn't a skill.

I thought there was a chance that Flip was going to replace Hunter with AA. I was hoping he'd have Hunter apply pressure to whomever he was guarding, follow that up with AA's pressure and size and then replace him with a rested Rip to finish them off by running them off of screen after screen. That is probably asking too much from Flip though.

Throughout the year people got excited when Flip let someone like Max or Amir finish games and used it as evidence that he "trusted his bench/youth". To me it masked the fact that he never figured out how to use everyone at the same time. It is either A or B for him. Maxey played well yesterday so that means Dyess couldn't play. You think if Dyess played a little in the 2nd half that they might get more boards? You think they might have been able to wear Illadelph out if the bigs rotated in & out?

When was the last time that CB, Rip and Sheed all played well in the same game? If I had to play DET I would add a dwarf to the roster because DET would abandon everything to go at the dwarf. It amazes me how few plays this team makes for one another. It is especially amazing considering the many mis-matches DET is supposed to have across the court.

Once and for all, can we please put to rest that DET is $$ in end of game scenarios? You might as well be talking about the Fort Wayne Pistons at this point.
They may not be good enough to win it all, but team that won 59 games during the season playing their bench extensively shouldn't be losing in round 1 to the 7th seed.

You won't see AA and Amir play tomorrow.
The game is on Wednesday.
:stirthepot:

Well it looks like i'm flying to DET then. :)

Ernie: Spot on. Your dwarf comment was something I have been thinking for a long time now. The Pistons get so much credit for playing this "team ball" without a superstar, but I argue this team plays more "playground" then any other in the league. Joking around, shooing left handed threes, not taking everything seriously, trying to go after one defender that is perceived as weak, ton's of three pointers, bad rebounding, weak perimeter defense, etc. The Lakers that have multiple superstars play as one cohesive team. Every play looks like it has multiple options and really everyone knows their place. Of course they have a great coach.

They used to play team ball.

Why when looking at the boxscore do I see our players at either close to 40 minutes or close to zero and the Sixers all pretty much around 30 except for two?
Two words: Flip. Saunders.

Rewatching the game. It appears that Linds was just on the floor for too many minutes. Stuckey did a nice job while he was in but needed more minutes. He should have played closer to 20 minutes.

AA needed 10 of Rips minutes and 5 of CB's.

The starters have not played tough minutes in quite a while. I don't agree that we blew the 15 pt. lead since that lead was a bit false--one run by the starters late in the first and increased by the second unit.

There may be many things wrong with Flip and the team but I would wait until Wed. We weren't going to sweep this series or any other...

The last two years we started great but ended up gasping. This year this squad will mold itself as it goes. We need to be ready for the 2nd round as Orlando is no longer a chump team.

Two words: Flip. Saunders.

You know it's really sad when i watch the Cavs game and Mike Brown looks like Chuck Daly next to Flip Saunders. If Flip were on the Cavs he'd play everone 40 min, and probably use Damon Jones and Wally Szerbiack