Detroit Pistons - Statistics - NBA - Yahoo! Sports I know were older.... but still we had two starters at 40 mins a game for the 04 playoffs...
2nd best record in the east (3rd seed) 6th best record in the league considered one of the biggest upsets in NBA final history..... A great team as we remember it.... Dominant??? going a bit far there
I can't believe we're scared to play a 3rd year player in the playoffs. That is true that we didn't play our bench much in the '04 Championship. But it is also true that we didn't play them much in the '05 heartbreaker, the '06 flameout, and the '07 embarrassment. The bench players that I really worry about in the playoffs are the ones that we are counting on for scoring- Stuckey, Hayes, Dixon, Maxiell. The pressure and intensity can make the bucket look half size. But Afflalo (like Bowen) really has an easy job to do under pressure. The worst case scenario for him is that he picks up a couple cheapies. And since we don't even call plays for Amir, how bad can he screw up? He just goes after loose balls and blocks shots. Some of our best runs of the season came when those guys were on the floor. The reason that I'm so stuck on this point is because both of these guys add a unique aspect to our team (perimeter D for Afflalo and energy/ offensive rebounding/ shot blocking for Amir) and they are heavily defensive oriented, which I think will pay off in the post season. Can we do well without their contributions? Yes. Probably another ECF appearance. Don't expect Big Baby Davis to sit the bench against us though.
Believe me, it has taken years for lee's philosophy to gain a vocal grassroots audience. Any success propagating it has to be attributed to his tenacity and intellectual rigor. That said, having too few minutes for too many good players is an excellent problem to have.
The starters were hungry that year. Since then, we've needed to develop some rookies who could infuse some hunger back into the lineup. It was easy for LB to just play the starters cause they had the drive to win. Flip is faced with the almighty "SWITCH". That didn't exist back in the LB days. Other teams have been more hungry during the last few playoff seasons than we've been.
They were dominant defensively. I could care less who the media favored. When that team got Sheed; i had total faith they could win it.
Hey i resent that. I've always thought this way. I just didn't post here. It took a really long time to find this forum . It's not very popular.
You should resent it. I talk to lets of people who think just as I do. On the other board, if someone comes along who seems to think along the same lines as me, they label that person a "muppet", claiming its just me posting under another name. Of course, I only post under one name there. Lots of people have the same views as me. Many people may not have come across someone like me who is also just as vocal. But now they have. If they are too insecure to think that they are in the minority, and that actually a whole lot of people think as we do, that is their problem. (In fact, its us anti-Flip fans who seem to be in the majority as far as I can tell. But it by no means is a landslide. I'd say its a 5-4 ratio of people who think like us vs. people who think Pistons management can't be wrong about so much.)
Depends on the viewpoint in question. Anti Flip sentiment is probably close to 50%. Those who think that a late 1st round rookie is going to determine if we win or lose in the post season has to be quit small I am sure.
I bet there are a lot of fans who think that our highest paid bench player could possibly have a positive affect on our playoff chances though.
I'll tell you lpgrl, that was very funny. I'm still laughing. I think because I've been addicted to this forum since the day I found it, which sometimes I take as a sad commentary on my life and othertimes I kind of crawl into it like a soft, old blankie. Depending on the day and mood.
