At Houston Dec. 12th, 8:00 PM TV - FSN Detroit, ESPN It is amazing that this Rocket team finds itself struggling with the talent they currently have. They have dropped four of their last five games and are a .500 team at the moment. However, this team can still be a handful........
A certain big man in Houston is starting to sound a bit like a malcontent; can't say that I blame him, though. Yao says Rockets soft after 100-88 loss in Philly | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
We're going to have lived game on local TV overhere which is the third lived game of my Pistons this season thus far :( and taped by to-morrow night.
Could someone stream today's game (ESPN) for an European fan? ...and save me from Chinese commentary and lousy picture?
Wow, I enjoyed Flip Murray's attempt to dunk over Yao in the first half. He didn't quite make it. Flip Jr. is outta control.
Yikes, what an ugly game. The Pistons somehow almost won it, thanks largely to a shocking 6-22 performance at the FT line by the Rockets. It was unbelievable, they were something like 1-15 at one point. JMax was the one real star of the night, crashing the boards on both ends and playing some great D. He was the only Piston who consistently played well throughout the game. The starters let the Rockets get way out in front early in the 3rd quarter, and it was looking like a blowout, but they showed some heart by going on a big run to get within 2 going into the 4th. The bench played several minutes early in the 4th and kept it close, only to see the starters immediately give up a big run to go down double digits again right after coming back in. But they started chipping away and got right back in it on a couple of 3s by Sheed and Rip. They even had a couple of chances to tie or lead in the last minute, but couldn't get over the hump. Two 3s missed in the final seconds after a horrendous call gave the Pistons one last chance--CB had lost it out of bounds but the refs somehow gave it back to the Pistons. Overall, I'm actually not too disappointed with this loss--it sucks that they played so poorly for much of the game, but they really did show some stones to get back in it when it looked like they were toast. The weirdest sequence of the night was one bit late in the 3rd quarter, I think...Tay was totally invisible for almost the whole game, but he stole a pass, ran down the floor, and absolutely posterized Yao on the break. It was a stunningly great 10 second stretch for him in the midst of a totally lackluster performance. One good thing was that after Dice turned his ankle pretty badly midway through the 4th, he came back from the locker room and played the last couple of minutes. So hopefully it looked a lot worse than it actually was.
Rockets missed 16 ft's and still beat the 2nd best team in the east?? This was a game of ugly spurts and runs. IMO the turning point was when the game was tied at 63 and Sr and inserted Jr in there to run the point and not only did our offense stall while the rockets ran off a 10-0 spurt, but Flip jr went to the line and missed 4 straight FT's. With the Pistons averaging 100 pts a game, there is no way they should lose to a team that scored only 80 points>>> Once again Tay is still in December funk scoring 4 points on 2-5 shooting. Come on Tay, we win based on your aggressiveness. Nothing from the bench again other than the 9 pts and 13 boards from Max.. First time we have lost the second game of a back-to-back this season and the 4th straight loss on Nationally televised game. (on ESPN or TNT)
Dre, I just rewound on the DVR...Flip Jr was indeed making some bonehead plays and bricking FTs, but the Rockets were only up 3 when CB came back in for him at the 6:20 mark. Most of that 10-0 run happened with the Pistons' starting 5 on the court.
The Pistons are still a good team, thats why most teams do not seem so good. In the East playing Boston will be a test. Already played and beat Clev, NJ and Orlando. Out West SanAntonio, Utah ( already lost ), Phoenix, Dallas. Entertaining game at the end. Kind of sloppy otherwise. If Houston would have hit their free throws it could have been a blowout.
I didn't get a good feeling when they interviewed Saunders at the half and his strategy for the 2nd half was to make more shots. It seemed like he wasn't giving Houston's D any credit and therefore wasn't going to devise a plan to get better quality shots. Except for Alston, they had a very effective defensive scheme going. I hate to say it, but Bill Walton was right at half time... you have to go up tempo against a team with a 7'6" giant. The only positives from my perspective: Maxiell- a bit of a breakout game for him, b/c it was on national TV and he was a hustle machine. Chauncey- killing small guards in the post. I can't believe how effective he is down there. Oh, and I'll admit that my main man Murray was sucking it up.
Obviously the Rockets were worse at the line, but the Pistons missed plenty of FTs as well. They were only 13-22. The main culprits for the Rockets at the line were TMac at 0-5 and Bonzi 2-9. Of course TMac did end up dropping 29 on 13-25 shooting, and Bonzi was 3-5 from the floor for 8 points in just 11 minutes.
Whoever decided Dice should be in at the end of the game, should be fired. A lack of NazMo allowed Yao Ming to run wild on the Pistons. Without NazMo, we're going nowhere fast. That said, I enjoyed this game. The ghost of Jeff Van Gundy was everywhere.
Yeah but why didn't we pull ahead when he was in there instead of being stuck on 63? The bench has to be be able to make baskets and not be in there just letting the clock run while the starters are resting. You know Flips persona he shoots first and second and passes third. There for no one else scored when he was in there either..save possibly one hoop
We can't beat good teams, because we don't play with them. Anyway, "laws of average" says that an offnight is inevitable. What beats me, that this game was still winnable. Some posters moaned yesterday, why FlipSr didn't play against of grizz. Today you saw, why.
