I have a weird sensation about this game!.. How should I supposed to feel? Happy for tanking? Sad for losing in an awful way?
CP3 had been struggling since Billups left going and the Clips were 10-12.....but Billups returned to the bench yesterday and sat right next to asst coach Robert Pack....and each time Paul came to the bench, he would sit between Pack and Billups listening to everything Billups told him. Hence a player who was being ruined by the non-coaching of Vinny DN looks to be resurrected with Billups giving veteran leaders ship/coaching to CP and he leads his team to back to back W's with 15 points in the 4th qtr over the Rockets on Saturday and 9 pts in OT today vs the Pistons. So I am giving Billups credit for this victory over the Pistons... (yesterdays over the Rockets). Correction on the Laker game....Kobe was actually 3 for 20. And Bynum was indeed 12-14, but prior to missing his last and 14th shot in the last 20 seconds of the game, he was 12-13....so he should have been fed the rock a few more times especially with Al Jefferson sitting the game out attending his grandma's funeral..... also looks like they could have used Derek Fisher tonight....as the guy is so distraught, he decided not to report to the Rockets and will have his contract bought out.....he can sign with any team now......except the Lakers...
Utah's big men is starting to show up... Kanter had a nice game, And Favors last few games were really nice too. Also Burks scored 17 points from the bench.
I don't think the Pistons had many options outside of Tay at the end of this one. If they went to Gordon they might as well have thrown the ball straight into the crowd off of the inbound. Monroe was a beast. His next step will come when he stops worrying about getting blocked at all and takes all his shots at his 3/4 speed pace.
Monroe is falling a bit too in love with starting his move from somewhere near the three point line. It's great he can actually do something competent from there, but he needs to remember he's a center not a small forward. Doing those sort of drives are good change of pace moves, but the bread and butter has setting up on the low block, getting the pass, and making some moves. He had really improved in that area but has gone away from it the past couple of games. Stuckey was really hurting yesterday. Pretty valiant effort to go it as long as he did. Gordon has got to get his act together. Sure, it would have been nice to win a couple more of these, but they are also such good learning experiences. The coaching staff really ought to be able to make some hay the next couple of days. It will be interesting to see how the team plays in Denver after a couple of practices.
I think it's okay to feel both at the same time. If this was a competitive season, I thing "angry" would have been more appropriate than "sad." They could have run Gordon off some screens, had BK7 try to drive and dish, throw it in to GMoney, etc. Anything would have been better than letting Tay try to drive.
