Detroit Pistons vs Miami Heat March 22nd, 2006 ~ 8:00pm The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, MI TV: tv20 / ESPN Radio: WDFN Probable Starting Lineups Your Detroit Pistons [table=600][tr=tcat][td]Ben Wallace[/td][td]Rasheed Wallace[/td][td]Tayshaun Prince[/td][td]Rip Hamilton[/td][td]Chauncey Billups[/td][/tr][tr=alt1][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][/tr][/table] The Miami Heat (boo, hiss) [table=600][tr=tcat][td]Shaquille O'Neal[/td][td]Udonis Haslem[/td][td]James Posey[/td][td]Dwyane Wade[/td][td]Jason Williams[/td][/tr][tr=alt1][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][/tr][/table] ~Tale of the Tape~ GUESS THE SCORE!! Your Comments?? ~
Snaq DNP in Minnesota with a "sore thumb" and is "questionable" for this game. Is this game "must-win" enough for ESPN to dredge up their Willis Reed footage? Edit: there is a legitimate injury, though it didn't look like anything many NBA players don't play through all the time.
Watched the Heat game vs Twins, I mean wolves, tonight. Even without Shaq they should have taken this one. They 'appear' to be very scary but I gotta admit Posey and Fattwon do nothing for me! And JWill? HA! I must admit, I want shaq for this one cuz I dont wanna hear no damn changes from them about who didnt play. I expect us to show our butts hard tonight,,,99-84! Bring the noise, my peoples!!!:fingerscr
BTW..yall can check out my jounal at http://journals.aol.com/oldskoolhq/OLDSKOOLHQSNEWSANDVIEWS/ IF Micro will let you luv ya [Ros: Had to fix your link HQ]
Shaq better play. I'm driving from Chicago to the Detroit for my first game at the Palace since game 4 of the Finals. We are sitting next to Bill D. and the Pistons' bench. I'll report back on all the trash talking that goes on.
Shaq will play. Look at the situation. They are playing for virtually nothing right now. They really can't move up or down in the standings. Wouldn't you throw away 1 game against the T-Wolves to have a better chance against the Pistons with a rested Shaq? A chance to gain a "mental edge". That's all it is. BTW, the "injury" he got happend in the first half against the Knicks. He happend to be healthy enough to come back in the 3rd, and go back in later in the 4th to pad his stats. As for the game.... There are 2 keys... 1. Ben can't worry about fouls. We've got Dale Davis, Dice, and Sheed (maybe Cato will be activated? He said he was ready). I will vomit if I see Shaq pull one of his usual 12 for 15 jobs against us. MAKE HIM SHOOT FREE THROWS! It's not like Ben does a ton against the Heat anyways. He can't help defend or Shaq has a dunk-fest. 2. Lindsey Hunter or Carlos Delfino should be in the game as much as possible to defend Wade. Those 2 do the best job on him of anyone I've seen.
He'll (shaq) probably play but with playoffs around the corner they may not want to do any further damage to this injury. Just a thought though.I know Miami won the last game but I noticed that even with Shaq at his best Miami was still down.Wade went off and I think it caught Detroit a little off guard that late in the game. So hopefully they'll be better prepared this time around.
His thumb may have swoll up on him late. A win here is just learning for them. A loss for us is a mind check. Starting with Sheed. 100 to 98, Ps
i want to see lindsey play today. he'll make williams turn the ball over a lot. If we keep wade under 35 points it's a win unless he sucks the first 3 quarters, and he has another good fourth quarter. Yhat happens a lot with him, and he'll bring the team back from a double digit deficit, but this mostly happens in miami and not on the road.
We can definitely win this game with or without Shaq playing for the Heat. As long as we play smart and play the entire game instead of 3 quarters only. That's how we lost during the game at Miami. Instead of playing smart basketball, we started jacking up 3s and letting Wade get hot. Sheed and Tay should play closer to the rim at the offensive end. Both of them can actually get them in foul trouble if they attack the rim more. On the defensive end, both of them should help out on the rebounds or just simply block out. Do not afraid to foul Shaq if necessary. Big Ben should not save his fouls. Make Shaq earn his points at the foul line. Put Hunter on Wade, put Delfino on Wade, put Tay on Wade, put Hamilton on Wade and he should be worn out by the 4th. Make Wade play on both ends and with the Heat on back to back road games as well as 4 games in 5 nights, Wade should be worn out by the 4th quarter. As long as we play DETROIT BASKETBALL DEFENSE, we should win this game BIG TIME.
The Wolves were down big early but put on a third quarter clinic and still nearly lost. Hard to say whether the blame comes from their lack of offensive variety or the Heat closing down on defense in the fourth. Mourning and Payton can get it done in short bursts (even Walker was chasing some guys around). The Heat seem to get stronger as the game goes on. Might not hold up tonight with Zo if Shaq doesn't play though. He put in 36 last night.
This game is big. Real big. Massive. Pistons win, playoff momentum is gained. Pistons lose on homecourt, the Heat are feeling real good about their chances. Forget the record coming into this game from either team. Forget the recent streaks. This will be a dramatic street fight for Eastern Supremacy. I'm hoping to record it on my computer (new setup). With some luck I will have everything working for tip off.
This game along with games against SUNS & MAVS should represent the importance of HCA. All are statment games that squash any hope of going through us to win the SHIP. There is no excuse for low energy or lack of execution. Some teams have been running at playoff intensity for weeks now, as they try to qualify for the show. For all intents and purposes our playoffs begin tonight.
is anything miami has the excuses. they're on a back-back, and they are on the road. there is no excuses for our team this game.
And Shaq sat out last night with a sore hand. Wade also took a flagrant last night and played the rest of the game with his wrist wrapped. I didn't turn on until after the foul so I'm not sure how serious it was.
thanks, old man! U know I love ya,bro! See ya in the chat tonight...German wine for me 2nite Its a Wednesday... sunday...red wine monday...mixed drink tuesday...mixed drink wednesday...german white wine thursday....italian red wine friday.....beer me saturday...leftover beer me:P my bruddah!
Looking forward to it, Bruddah 22. Give a shout out to your Forum bros/sis' on TV tonight. And make sure they keep the mic away from The Hit Man if at all possible...my bruddah!
That's an interesting commentary himat.. "Jason Williams is the type of player that could come unglued under such pressure or he could burn them" No way we can Let Jason Williams get to the rack as easily as he did the last game.
