Pistons host Mavericks

Eric Snow is on NBA TV… and he’s still complaining about Chauncey drawing fouls on him. It’s quite entertaining.

Its the fucking Amir Johnson show!! :) He’s involved in every play thus far, this is great. (too bad I have to turn the game off for company)

AMIR HITS THE MIDRANGE J! I love his play tonight so far.

I’m lovin’ Amir’s D. It’s a lot better than I remember.

They’re missing a lot of shots, but getting A LOT of really good open looks.

Haha, I sense a theme for Piston play-by-play comments:

Amir does something!
Amir doesn’t do something!
Amir does something else!

YA OMG AMIR JUST LOOKED INTO THE CAMERA AND IT WAS LIKE HE WAS LOOKING IN 2 MY SOUL

They’re playin’ some terrible ball.

So I’m watching NBATV where they have Dallas 21’s broadcast. I have to say I wouldn’t watch my home team if THESE were the announcers. I miss watching channel 50. I miss the top notch analysis. I really really miss Blaha. DC Broadcasters are total homers, but they aren’t bad. The Mavs broadcast team should be fired.

MP,

You have friends that don’t like the pistons? Dump them. You seriously have your priorities out of order if you value interpersonal relationships above the preseason.

I’m sitting in a Contracts class right now. How the hell have we gotten two delay of game techs!?

I can only watch the gamecast, but it looks like Amir is embarrassing Jason Kidd.

Keegan, I wish I could tell ya, but the Dallas broadcast crew said on of the techs was on Curry from the bench. I forgot how much of a hot head Curry was.

They went from getting just about any shot they wanted to being completely smothered by Dallas D.

Well, on the bright side, Amir looked like a legit starter tonight.

Ay. Respect his midrange game.

We are just flat broke today. Missing wide open shots, although we do need to get to the paint more. D is playing good…only allowed 62 after 3 quarters.

Amir has played amazing tonight. Like MP said, he’s been involved in every play. He’s even hit 3 long range jumpers. Whatever his stats are, they won’t tell the impact he’s had in this game.

We need a bailout plan for the Pistons because they cannot buy a bucket.

great game by amir… watching him play tonight has been a pleasure… our defense is good… our offense STINKS… hopefully we can fix that

Is the box I’m looking at right? 1 foul for Amir in 20 minutes on the floor so far?

Wow…great block by Maxiell.

im glad to see our starters are in there late in the game though… yea risk of injury… but i see it as curry not protecting the pride of his starters… he has them playing against the bench of the mavs… if they lose they look bad… gives them incentive… if they lose they know they gotta work harder at their game, much harder… if they win, they still know it doesnt mean much they were playing against the bench… so either way, it’s motivation

Another terrible night shooting, except for Amir and clutch 4th shooting.

Great come from behind win

Maxiell 5 blocks what a beast

I have been telling Pistons fans for 2 years that Amir can shoot and score.

I just have to get over the fact that Flip kept him on the bench for all of 3 years except for 2 months last year and he only played him then because Joe D. twisted his arm to play him.

I would still expect Amir to be somewhat inconsistent but the potential is there and he is starting to show it.

Only 1 foul in 19 minutes. That away to go big guy

10 points
7 rebounds
2 assists
2 steals
1 block
1 foul
1 turnover

I’m reading the boxscore on ESPN and Rip got a tech? What the heck for? Someone please fill me in because I was watching MSNBC & CNN.

yea great game by amir… still goes far beyond his stat line… he just played very well out there… and he basically was like the one real starter haha… he didnt go back in the 4th down the stretch, he got to rest… he did all his work (good work) at the start of the game… curry was giving the rest of the starters some experience out there to work on their games lol

HB: Rip got knocked down a few times, and I think he got fed up and complained. You know Rip; he gets quite a few techs because he wants to get calls.

I honestly thought this game was going down the toilet. I recorded it and went out. I come back and find they staged a furious comeback. That’s pretty awesome.

yeah rip got that tech after he was knocked down.. he seemed pretty upset. if i remember right the announcers said it was on curry at first but it was on rip.

Any way I can watch this game in some type of archieve? I missed it… :(

just noticed they had a 34 point fourth quarter for that comeback.
damn

err i mean 36 point.

That’s the stathero Amir we’ve been used to seeing. He even made like 2-3 jumpers. I was floored. Max also had some killer blocks in the 4th. That was an ugly game other than the 4th quarter, though.

Just as in the past the regular season doesnt matter…. the preseason and this regular season matter little. Its all about getting development from stuckey amir max or some imporvement from someone like herrmann. Several ugly games will transform into some unbelievable games. Our team needs to find ways to score when the shots arent falling.

What a comeback ;D it’s only me or Rasheed jersey is #30 again?

it wasnt just jump shots not falling tho… bunnies, tip ins, all of it was just not fallin… was crazy… like a force field around our basket… frustrating as hell to watch

Has anyone seen this post by Dwyer at BDL: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Pistons-fans-need-to-own-up-before-they-can-move?urn=nba,115639#remaining-content

He basically argues that Pistons fans make Saunders the scapegoat when really it’s the players fault for not running his plays. He does make some sound points re: our defense didn’t really slip, etc. However, I don’t know if it makes sense just to blame the players for not running the right plays. Where’s the coach when Chauncey’s jacking up an ill-advised 3, or when he breaks of a play to do….whatever. Isn’t that what time-outs are for.

Basically I think Dwyer has a hard-on for Saunders.

Dwyer what does he know.

All of a sudden Amir got game? Over the last two months he went from wiping the end of the bench to being a starter who can shoot, rebound and play defense?

Baloney. Anyone who knows what is going on knows that the Pistons lost to Boston because

1. Our best player Smooth played the series injured at maybe 60% effectiveness

2. That Flipper removed Amir from the roation when we acquired Ratliff.

3. The players had no respect for Saunders which is understandable given his coaching ability and how he handled players including Big Ben.

Amir didn’t all of sudden become good. Saunders was clueless on Amir and because of 1-3 above we lost the series it had nothing to do with the players attitude other than the fact that they rightly lost respect for Saunders.

Man, I’ve always liked Dwyer, but this is pretty ridiculous.

Are you guys going to change your opinion of flip if amir doesn’t become a star? My guess, no. We lost to Boston because they were better, not because Amir (might) have gotten another rebound or two. If you lose because you don’t respect your coach, whose fault is that? Stop blaming flip.

Boston was not better.

The most important reason we lost to Boston was becasue Billups was injured and played at 60%

Too many Pistons fans in my opinion buy into the national media’s opinions and go with it as gospel.

Maybe one at the most of the national medial writers has ever mentioned that we lost because our best player was at 60%. Instead they blame it some attitude problem of the Pistons players. These writers should stick to basketball and leave the psychology to the psychologists.

Yes Amir playing instead of Ratliff and even Maxiell who disappeared against Boston (go back and look the videos and check the stats) would have possibly got us at least one more win.

This of course is all just my opinion and has never been popular with the Pistons fans as has been my support of Amir who Flip kept in a cage for 3 years because he was too lazy to coach him. On this last point this is what Afflalo and Stuckey both said to a local writer this fall.

Saunders in my opinion was the biggest mistake that Joe D. has made since he has been in charge.

If you’re going to start blaming people, why don’t you start with the guy that’s getting paid the most. That’s not Flip. That’s Sheed.

Everyone played a part in the loss. But, when you’re the highest paid person in the organization save Bill Davidson, then you shouldn’t have to be told to play hard.

And Mike, your Maxiell-hating is ridiculous. I think YOU are the one that needs to check the tape.

If Pistons fans haven’t read this they should

This is what MC had to say about last night
-—————————————————————
(On playing time) "I’m not rewarding guys just because you can score the basketball. Amir Johnson missed a lot of shots early, probably looking over them thinking he was going to get jacked out the game

Now where did Amir get that attitude from of thinking he was going to be jacked out of the game for taking a shot? It certainly did come in high school where he was “Mr Basketball” in CA. It certainly did come when he was in the D-league where he averaged over the 20 points a game and the owner said the was the best player to ever play for him. Or where his coach said that if he had stayed in college he would have gone 3rd in this year’s draft.

It came from Saunders who wouldn’t let him shoot because Amir turned the ball over too much for Saunders liking. Yes we had the fewest turnovers in the league the last two years under Saunders, but maybe he should have gone back and learned NBA history and he would have learned that the team that has the fewest turnovers per game over the season has never or hardley ever won an NBA title.

3 wasted years under Saunders. People have been saying well Amir can’t do this and can’t do that. Well we are starting to see that he can do what people said he couldn’t do including getting his fouls committed rate per 36 minutes down little by little.

Saunders getting fired was the biggest and best move that Joe D. could have made this last summer and he made it.

Saunders didn’t do to much to ensure that Ben wanted to stay with the Pistons, but how convienently all of Flip’s supporters have forgotten that.

Corr:

It certainly didn’t come

@ Craig,

I’m not sure if I qualify as “you guys” but, I will offer my opinion/rebuttal because I’m bored. I would agree that blaming Flip is an over simplification. You are right that the respect issue is a two way street. I don’t know if you read Dwyer’s article or not, but my main complaint is that it just oversimplifies in the opposite direction and blames the players for everything.

The reality seems to be that the the whole team choked in the playoffs….repeatedly. The coach is the leader of the team, so you can get rid of him or you can trade half the squad. I think Joe D. made the right call on this one (coaches are easier to replace). I will say that our loss to Boston was easier to accept than the exits of the last couple of years.

So, evaluating Flip is somewhat complicated. He did improve the offense while maintaining the D, but something intangible seemed to be lost. Maybe this is silly, but I think the fact that he was somewhat of a nervous nelly undercut any swagger the team had. Or maybe I just want someone to blame. Either way, Dwyer needs an editor. That piece was WEAK.

“Boston was not better.”

Rubbish. Rubbish. Rubbish. I hate it when people do that. “The best team didn’t win.” That’s total BS. Boston WAS better. And how do I know? BECAUSE THEY WON THE DAMN SERIES. That’s the only ‘statistic’ that matters.

Collin, I read the piece, and didn’t have too much to complain about. I feel the majority here thought it was flip, and I appreciate Dwyers’ analysis. And i’m not sure if Flip’s demeanor affected the players or not. As for chauncy’s health, if he was 60%, then we were not as good as boston with him at 60%. Maybe we were better with him at 100%, but we can’t say for sure. And I fully agree with QD that our money player has to come through when we need it. Sheed was MIA. As for Ben not resigning, it was the best move Flip made in his tenure, because we’d be busted with his contract now.

Right on, Rob. Although that miami team was blessed by the refs. Blessed. just sayin…..

Flip Saunders is a good coach. But he was not the right coach.

It’s clear that the players needed a hard-ass. But, that shouldn’t excuse them from culpability. They know what it takes to win. They just didn’t do it.

Oh, and for the record, Mike. I checked and Maxiell shot 15-21 in the Boston series (including two clutch shots in Game 6 before Sheed came back in).

He didn’t have a good rebounding series though (1 reb./9 min.) or from the FT line (6-13).

His best games was Game 4 where he electrified the crowd with that block on Garnett and shot 6-6 for 14 points in 20 min.

I think QD hit it with the good vs. right analysis.

I also agree that Boston was better. They do have 3 future HOFers. That being said, we went out like punks in Game 6. I don’t think they were that much better than us. If I remember correctly, Maxy was the only one who didn’t look terrified to shoot in the 4th.

I guess I hope that the switch from Flip to Saunders means never having to go out like that. Probably wishful thinking, but I gotta have something to get me through summer and fall.

Wow….. I obviously meant Flip to Curry…..Maybe I need an editor.

I agree with QD. Maxiell was phenomenal in the Boston series. He might well have the breakout season that nobody is predicting with all the talk about Stuckey and Amir.

I’m onboard with Flip-good-but-not-right, and I think Dwyer leans that way. He’s a fan of Flip’s offense, and he’s not a fan of something that I think we’re not fans of – the Pistons getting lethargic and not playing up to their ability. We can agree on that.