Who’s ready for some ugly-ass basketball!?
I’ll be sour if Samb isn’t active for this. I mean, the Heat are fielding a lot of his usual competition.

“D League All Stars”… retract those claws, Matt! Rowr!

Fun fact: Miami traded its 2008 1st round pick to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Antoine Walker for Ricky Davis deal, and it only has protection if its in the top 3. So despite having the worst record in the league, the Heat might not even get a lotto pick to help them out next year.

so let me get this straight, Pat Riley traded not only Antoine Walker, but a 1st round pick for RICKY DAVIS???

He’s the franchise right now.
Playoff atmosphere for this one.

McHale’s bad, but there’s no way he trades Walker for Davis straight up…

On the other hand, I’m not going to overestimate him…

WHY? WHY must we play down to our competition?

uh oh… prepare the life vests! It’s time to abandon ship!

this is pathetic. how many wide open jumpers do you need to give mark blount? he doesn’t do anything else!

perhaps Theo Ratliff should start

nice Sheed with the BOMB

Yeah! start Samb! Put Hunter in at the 3!

wait, I think Arron Afflalo should start over Chauncey

On a more upbeat note: Automotion in bikinis is not bad, not bad at all.

We’re living to regret trading Primoz Brezec. His devastating inside game is what we’re lacking right now.

someone needs to get a picture of automotion in bikinis… channel surfing is only giving me audio

AMIR!

AMIR!!!

I can’t find the game tonight on DirecTV (FSN is showing the Tigers). Anyone have a link?

Boney, I should say just bikini tops…it’s a family environment, don’t you know.

who the hell are these Miami Heat guys? I’m half expecting Chris Gatling to come in the game at this point…

Not only does Amir block shots, but gets people to adjust when they don’t want to. And he hasn’t been fouling as much, though I probably just put the whammy on him.

how is chris quinn on an nba roster?

how is chris quinn starting on an nba team?

how is chris quinn starting on an nba team that is beating the pistons at home?

I think I saw Duane Causwell go to the scorer’s table.

Keegan, that’s it! Sauce1977 has put you on ignore for your blatant support of Amir Johnson

one last question:

how is chris quinn able to live with himself with a face that ugly?

I’m sure Wayman Tisdale could get some run if he wanted

oops… wrong big man

I just hexed him, anyway.

Lindsey, this isn’t NBA Live ’95.

It’s a veritable “who’s that” of basketball talent! More Automotion please.

Blake Ahearn? GOD DAMNIT

Jon Sundvold running to the scorer’s table to check in

Shouldn’t this be the sort of game that the refs call loosely? That you should just more or less let roll? Let the teams get in and out in two hours?

This is an impressively bad game so far…
We may seriously score less than 40 against…NOT EVEN the D-League’s finest.

I think I saw Sherman Douglas stretching during the pre-game show

Why NOT Cheikh Samb? On a night like tonight? Taking it a seriously as these guys are taking it, why the hell not?
Lasme? WTF? The Warriors cut him a week into this season!

Harold Miner, ripping off the tear-aways.

To paraphrase Tony Kornheiser “I wouldn’t know Blake Ahearn if he walked in the room wearing a t-shirt that said, ‘Hi, I’m Blake Ahearn’”

After all, Samb has proven that he can play, and play well, with the D-league…

He dominated some of these guys for sure.

We’re 0 and 4 from beyond the arc and Chauncey hasn’t missed any of them?

nice, Keegan keeping up with the old heat player references.

I overheard Glen Rice talking earlier about how if Blake Ahearn can get some run on this team that he could get in a good 25-30 minutes

lol, way to mail in the season, Detroit.

It’s that kind of game. I won’t take it seriously if they don’t.

got to give the Heat a win here and there… they took John Salley off our hands for a 1st rounder that I think ended up being Allan Houston

Brian Shaw, still rocking the fade.

I’d be perfectly okay with this if we were primarily playing the bench, but it seems to be primarily the starters so far. Hopefully the bench gets some serious burn in the second half.

I don’t like the Heat because Bob McAdoo got interviewed after every halftime when Detroit played them in the 2006 ECF, and he annoyed the shit out of me

Okay, so I can’t actually see the game tonight, but I’m following the stats on ESPN. Ugh.

Okay, I admit that I’m starting to feel like I’ve been lied to this season. I seem to recall Joe Dumars saying something to the effect that complacency wouldn’t be tolerated. Guess what? The Pistons are stuck in the mud and getting their butts handed to them by a bunch of no-names.

I don’t need to mention how big of a Pistons fan I am before criticizing them. Why else would I be leaving a lengthy comment on this web site? Anyway, this is the first time since the Pistons were down against the Nets in ‘04 (I admit that I was wrong about that one!), where I am not giving them a chance in the playoffs. I believe they can compete against the West, but I don’t think they have a prayer against the Cavs (I still can’t figure out that one) and definitely not against the Celtics.

Okay, deep breath. Ah, heck, forget it. ARRRRRRRGH!

jump off the bandwagon and head over to perkisabeast.com…

you could always go hang with the crack staff

Flip Saunders is in his last year as Detroit head coach

lol, Rasheed skyhook

Sheed, AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, that’s some serious disrespect.

RP I dont think Detroit is even gonna face Boston….or Cleveland….Do you see where Im going with this?

yeah Prophecy, they’re going to lose in the first round

lol, that’s it.

I hate you, Antonio McDyess. Getting burnt by Ahern = You Have Nothing Left in the Tank.

What I like about Ahearn? He knows how to finish at the rack.

yup, let’s take out McDyess and put in Theo

Well Boney I actually have them losing in 6 to Orlando in the second but thanks for making me out to be the optimist in this situation.

I would take Ahearn over Amir right now… Amir is overrated and overhyped, according to Sauce

YOU have them losing? wow, let me know when you’re writing for ESPN so I can make sure I might believe what you say matters

Halftime thoughts:

This A-hole guy is killing us.

Quinn seems inspired by Shaq’s dig at him.

By the way, how classless is Shaq? This guy gets away with the kinds of things Terrell Owens would get crucified for. Shaq let the LA beat writers party with him so they never criticized him, I guess he’s got the National media in his pocket too. What an f’n prick!

Boney (not that I don’t love your sarcasm, I do), relax and switch over to the Xavier-WVU game. Good finish while we’re at halftime.

Shaq is right about Pat Riley… but both of them are horrible people

Xavier better win.. I have them in the championship game against UNC

He’s man enough to throw a 13-58 team under the bus, and then try when he’s on a contender.

Pat Riley is man enough not only to walk out on the time once, but twice so he can “scout” a team that he should not be coaching next season

I saw that QD, and I had a great chuckle over this:

“After Phoenix’s loss to Boston, O’Neal elaborated, saying that defenses would sag off of Quinn and Davis and he wasn’t able to get the ball. Of Riley’s comments, O’Neal said colorfully, “I don’t [care] how he interpreted it.”

Reminded that reporters couldn’t use the quote because of the expletive, he said, “Sure you can. You can quote me, brother. You can put an ‘s,’ then the tic-tac-toe, the ‘at’ sign and then the other symbols.”

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3314347

lol, # = “tic-tac-toe.”

Riley’s heart beats the very same oil styling his hair.

XAVIER!!! I think Xavier’s coach could outcoach Flip

Boney’s responses are breathtaking, like a shorn scrotum.

HOOP AND THE HARM!

I just like how commenters on here “have” Detroit losing in any postseason round.. as if we’re all qualified to make such prognostications

As a Michigan guy, I’m a little conflicted. This WVU team is basically composed of John Beilien recruited and coached up players. Huggins has certainly changed the offense a little and has really improved their D. But I think Johnny B should get some (definitely not all) of the credit here. But I worry about all the stories about how Huggy Bear got it done and John Beilien couldn’t.

HOLY SH#$ how did he miss that free throw?

This Pistons game feels like Duke vs. Belmont.

that’s it, I’m watching throwdown with bobby flay now.. screw the Pistons

Beilein is overrated… as is RichRod

It’s all on Grant Long. If he pulls through here in the 2nd half, Miami should be alright.

actually.. I’m watching Don’t Forget the Lyrics now… with the former lead singer of REO Speedwagon

I will buy all of you pancake puff makers if y’all stop whining about the postseason losses that have not happened yet. Thank you.

As a UMer, I’m rooting for WV. It gives me hope for our team.

Beilein definitely deserves the credit. I don’t think any of the freshman are contributers.

Beilein is in no way overrated. He’ll have that team back in the tournament in a couple years.

RichRod on the other hand…

See, I after watching the crap fest that was this year’s Michigan basketball season, my inclination is to agree with you about Beilien, but I’m going to wait until next season to make that assessment.

I think Rich Rod is actually underrated. What he’s done in an underrated conference with recruiting classes that are essentially worse than what John L had at State. I’m excited and I think it’s a fantastic hire.

Alexander fouled out? That’s killer for WVU. I have Xavier winning this game, too, so that’s where I’m rooting. But like I said, a bit conflicted about WVU.

maybe Detroit should wear some of those ankle weights that Glen Rice used to wear

Good game for Afflalo.

Xavier v. UNC in the championship game

haha.. the heat radio guys wondering if Michael Beasley will be like Prince “they have the same body type”… last time I checked Beasley was 6’10 235lbs and actually ate 3 square meals a day

Prince is 6’9 187lbs.

I live in the Grand Rapids area, and love that the Sweet 16 is on tonight, but why is it that I cannot find this ’stones game on any of my Comcastic fuckin channels?

Ask Zach, wtf is up with that son?

Earl Barrons owns Rasheed Wallace

I hated Lloyd Carr so much . . . I’d have been fine with most any hiring. It needed to change after 2004, probably earlier than that.

Chris Quinn is pretty cute.. kinda looks like that David Archuleta kid from American Idol

I’d hit it… if I were female

Earl Barron owns Rasheed.. watch Sheed come down and try to 1 up him by shooting another sky hook

Who told Antonio McDyess to model his game after a less-effective Ben Wallace?

Other Matt,

Give Beilein some time (and, perhaps, some new facilities). Amaker left him nothing to work with. Manny Harris looks like a real leader. I think we’ll be Pittsnogling people in a few years.

watching college basketball is like watching 10 Anderson Varejaos on the floor… all the bodies flopping everywhere

DICE HAMMERS IT HOME!

XAVIER WITH THE BOMB!

SAUCE IS HAPPY, NO AMIR IN THE SECOND HALF!

I forgot to ask… who wants to buy Boney a beer at opening day on monday? XAVIER WITH ANOTHER LONG GUN!

I can’t wait until a “Play Samb” movement gains momentum, and then everybody will get angry about the slightest failing of Amir, and then complain that Samb should be getting more run instead of Amir. That’s gonna be great.
And then demand that Flip be fired for giving Samb a DNP.

Sauce would rather see Samb in the game than Amir. Amir is overrated and he’s stealing checks from the organization

XAVIER WITH ANOTHER LONG GUN!

ONIONS BABY

YEAH DICE! WAY TO GO 2-6 FROM CHARITY!

wait, the dead guy just slapped Hurley on Lost… this night is totally weird

Mashburn, checking into the game.

Afflalo has 7 pts and has shut down Ricky Davis.

Sauce doesn’t like it when Juan Dixon sits the bench and Amir Johnson takes his minutes

Seriously, Bill Raferty calling this game is like a gift from the heavens. I thought he was going to have a coronary after that great pass for that killer 3.

SEND IT IN! TO THE BIG FELLA! HE SAYS! GIMME THE BALL! I’M THE MANTAMAN!.

WITH THE KISSAAAAH!!

NOTHIN BUT NYLON!

ALLELUJIA! REJOICE!

I freaking love Bill Raferty.

Dan Majerle is getting loose…

Anthony is just too much for Maxiell. Jason’s just not ready, yet.

the Miami radio guys pronounce this guy’s name like “Jo-El”

Boney, acutally I was the one who said earlier in the year that Samb has impressed me more than Amir.

Samb has played what, 15 minutes this season? c’mon man, Amir is the future! XAVIER!

Samb appears to have a nice fadeaway jumper.. like James Edwards.. but I’ve only seen him take that shot once, and he made it

That shot was a dagger.

It’s like the Amir Johnson windmill.

lol, Maxiell knocked down Prince on the 2nd effort rebound and shot off his miss. Prince didn’t seem too happy about that.

Samb is the next Marcus Camby.

if Sauce were the GM, he’d trade Amir Johnson to the Heat for Kasib Powell

Samb is the next DJ Mbenga

Boney, your “sauce” posts are starting to take on a jilted lover quality.

haha

Stop being Shaq and learn to let it go.

wait a minute, how come I wasn’t invited to the DBB “Party in the suite” game? I’m a prolific commenter here..

And Blaha just called out Need4Sheed!

Flip, please just let Dyess sit down for awhile.

I like ESPN’s gamecast… when a free throw shooter misses the first free throw, they credit the team with an offensive rebound

Finally, some energy. This Stuckey, Afflalo, Maxiell, Prince lineup has actually made this game fun to watch.

Dice 4 of 9 from the line, nice!

Afflalo is having a nice night

’Bout time.

Boney, hopefully you (and me, I’m not above begging shamelessly) will get invites to the suite party next year if there even is one.

Anyway, it’s been real guys, I’m gonna move to the couch and watch the rest of this one plus the late NCAA games.

I bet Flip goes with Amir all 4th quarter, unless he screws up, which he will now that I said it, just like last time.

Tayshaun’s cousin is going to light it up against Louisville tonight

Other Matt, I don’t beg unless VIP seats are involved and I can sit at the end of the Pistons and Celtics bench when they play Washington

lol@ Johnson from the Heat looking like Ice Cube

lol, Herrmann’s dressed, and he can’t get in the game. Then again, it’s not like they’ll use him in the playoffs.

Rony Seikaly, getting ready to come back in.

man this 2nd unit is looking primed for a 1st round exit

That seems like the first 3-ball that went home, that Rasheed shot.

Eli Zaret= Shaggy from Scooby Doo back in the day?

I mean his voice, Im listening to his sideline report… I feel like hes ready to say “…and Flip Saunders is hungry for a title like zoinks Scooby Snacks!”

Shaggy was affable.

…

Eli’s more like Boney.

More Automotion please. Maybe I shouldn’t be on this blog, there are other uses for the internets.

more and more Rasheed Wallace is turning into Eduardo Najera… Sauce, exactly, Eli is like me

Count That Baby And Afflalo!

did Afflalo just dunk it?

Yes, and apologies for the last post.

Chris Quinn looks like DJ Qualls (skinny dude from Road Trip). I mean hes got the same creepy face.

Count that baby and Afflalo!

Sorry Quick – didn’t see you beat me to it!

Fabio time.

VICTORY CIGAR POINTS

Wow, Hermann.

Cheikh Samb wouldn’t have missed a layup like Amir just did

4th quarter much better. No more quarters 1-3.

LMAO@ Walter brushing his hair right after hitting the layup. What swagger lol

Dallas is having a miserable 4th quarter against Denver . . . no Dirk, no Ws, no playoffs, seemingly.

If you got all of your work done in the first four hours of your day, and nothing you did would lighten your load for the next day, how much effort would you put in?

The Pistons have the 2 seed, almost certainly won’t win the 1, and the only thing they have to play for is to have the eventual home-court in the finals. It seems to be almost a consensus that fatigue and expending too much effort in the regular season has hurt us in the playoffs, so it’s tough to figure out how much effort the boys need to put out in the next 11 games.

What I don’t understand are the people on this board who are 1.) following the game very closely 2.) commenting on the boards 3.) talking about giving up on the team, which turned in an ultimately easy victory.

If you’re that convinced they’re going to crash and burn, why are you wasting your time? I’m bored to death right now watching them slog through March, I admit it, but it’s only because it’s difficult to watch them against awful competition. We all go to work knowing what we get paid, and it feels good to get a raise, but eventually, on a day when we’re hungover or sick or just unmotivated, that salary won’t be a great motivator. You can’t expect to be totally on top of your game every day, so why should they?

I’m even bored by my own post right now, since it’s the same one I’ve used to respond to the folks who keep on putting the same post up. “The Pistons need to play with maximum effort every night because they get paid a lot of money. If they don’t win against ______________________, it means they’re going to lose in the playoffs to ________________. Trade Tay. Bench Dice. Forbid Sheed from shooting threes. Start Max.”

For the love of God, this team will be in the playoffs, we know that for certain. Everything that happens after that is why they play the games.

That rant brought to you by 5 months of constant rain and the emo music playing in the background of this coffee shop. Sorry.

lol @ the local feed of the guy holding the Maxiell “54 – CUZ I’M THE JUGGER-NAUT” sign behind Eli.

Thank you, PDX!

PDX, they gotta prove it. This short retort was brought by thousands of metro Detroiters sitting in their caves looking at snow on the ground and 30 degree weather.

TRADE PRINCE TRADE PRINCE TRADE PRINCE TRADE PRINCE TRADE PRINCE TRADE PRINCE TRADE PRINCE TRADE PRINCE TRADE PRINCE!!

FOR WHO FOR WHO FOR WHO FOR WHO? WHY WHY WHY WHY?

Beilein is overrated… as is RichRod

- What astounds me is that the reason we hired RR was his supposed ability to “get it done in the living room” and finally bring some speed to Michigan……then he loses the #1 QB recruit to The Sweater… I won’t say I want Lloyd back, because that’d be hyprocitical so I’ll just go with “Damn I wish we were Ohio State”…

As for the game, say whatever you want but I was AT the ACC last night for that mess against the RAPTORS and yo ANYONE saying this team hasn’t lost it’s edge? You’re F.o.S. and dreaming of moon pies. No really, tired of hearing lame bullsh*t defences… I paid GOOD money to watch the Pistons take off balance jumpers while double covered all night. Make up whatever excuses you want, THERES A PROBLEM. Maybe they WILL turn it on in the playoffs, maybe this IS just boredom at the end of a meaningless regular season but dude… I’ve heard that for 3 years now and I’m SICK OF IT. So really, take your “THE SKY IS FALLING OMFG YOU PEOPLE HAVE NO LOYALTY” and shove it. Kay?

Thanx.

Also fwiw to PDX… actually I DID just that. I came home from the ACC last night and read the comments, I was about to post when I realized:

“Jesus, I’m too depressed after watching that to bother COMPLAINING about the rediculous crap I just watched”

So you got your wish, for 24 hours I was so sick of the Piston’s performance that I COULD NOT BE BOTHERED TO POST ON THIS BLOG… happy?

Lets see

Sheed got a couple of games off right after we got the Ratler
Rip now has gotten his couple of games off.

Who is up next? Only 10 games left to give C-Bill, Dyess and Tay a couple of days off.

Tay may not get an entire game off since he has his consecutive games streak still going.

Any Sasha Danilovic sightings?

Screw you guys, I take a game night off and what do I see but “Count That Baby and Afflalo” used not once, but twice! Damnit, that was MY idea from way back in the beginning of the season (look it up). All you lamerz were calling him “Spellcheck” (easily the worst nickname ever), and I was like “Yo, kill that noise, it’s Count That Baby and Afflalo”, and my vision was so intense that y’all couldn’t handle it back then. Four months later you’ve adjusted to the brightly blinding light that is “Count That Baby and Afflalo”, you’re able to accept its sheer awesomeness and you fail to give me credit? Y’all are more ridiculous than Stephen A. Smith. Gimme what’s mine.

On a game related note, apparently there was a sale on babies in the 3rd quarter last night, because Max was eating them up all over the place.

I second PDX’s motion, and while I understand where PG4L is coming from about paying good money for a crap performance (I sat through us hand one over to the Lakers at Staples Center earlier this year), the sky is falling attitude about our chances in the playoffs is tired. Things are VISIBLY different this year. There’s a bench and not only that, but one that is getting developed and being managed pretty darn well in terms of creating experience and readiness. The starters aren’t the end all, be all anymore. Flip seems (at the very least) to be making better decisions. And oh yeah, if all goes as planned, he goes head-to-head with Doc Rivers in the ECF. Randy Wittman might even be a better coach than Rivers. I like that match-up in a seven-game series. Please, let’s wait ’til we start racking up a couple playoff losses before we scream the sky is falling.

I’ve said it before and I’m going to say it for the last time now:

Being PISSED after the Pistons mail in a game is NOT THE SAME AS RUNNING AROUND YELLING THE SKY IS FALLING. You clowns think chicken little refferences are funny? No problem, I got one back for you:

Hands LB (Boney, PDX, Whatever Moron thinks he’s witty tonight) a pair of pom poms and a miniskirt “Glee Club is that way girls, some of us are busy watching basketball rather than cheerleading”

Also fwiw, I REALLY REALLY hope that nobody here gets to tell you “I told you so” because that’d mean the Pistons are out of the playoffs.

Either way I’m tired of pretending all things Piston are always good all the time when frankly you’ve ALL been watching this mess since the All Star break just like I have.

There’s NOTHING wrong with saying your team tanked it… WHEN THEY DID.

Seriously.

Yet MORE evidence to disprove the going theory around here that all this “lack of focus” talk are just over-tense Pistons fans freaking out. This is from Basketbawful, who in adition to being a BRILLIANT writer and an astute observer of the NBA is a FREAKING PACERS FAN (so yes, he HATES us):

Chauncey Billups, quote machine: After losing to the Toronto Raptors, Billups had these things to say: “We’re coming down the home stretch now, 11 games left. You want to start playing with some consistency. Our thing is not the division or the East. Our thing is the whole thing. That’s the way we think.” First off, it’s usually a bad idea to wait until the last 11 games to start working on your consistency. Second, I’m all for thinking big, but looking past opponents has been one of the Pistons’ biggest problems over the last couple seasons. You’d think their leader would want to address that, you know?

http://basketbawful.blogspot.com/2008/03/worst-of-night-march-26-2008.html

But ya know, he’s just over-reacting. Apparently even people who don’t give a DAMN how the Pistons do in the playoffs are ALSO Chicken Littles running around screaming the “Sky is Falling!”

Please.

Apologies LB for using your patented “Count That Baby And Afflalo.” I’m sure it would have caught on earlier in the season if Arron ever got an AND-1. Last night’s might have been the first one he’s had all season.

And I second PG4L’s post. There’s a difference between the “sky is falling” posts and what we’re saying.

It’s not that I think the Pistons CAN’T/WON’T win the title this year, I’m just concerned that this lack of consistent effort is a bad habit that could come back to bite them in the ass.

I don’t think it’ll result in them losing in the first round or anything but we’ve seen this team fail to show the killer instinct to close out a series and, as a result, add unnecessary extra games (Chicago last year, Cleveland the year before).

The Pistons will need to play their absolute best TO HAVE A CHANCE to win the title. Luck will play a part. As will, the equal talent of some of the other teams.

I think, at worst, they’ll lose in six to Boston.

WHY ARE WE BEING SUCH AMERICANS.

http://www.withleather.com/post.phtml?pk=5379

I think the reason people like me have been bitching is that usually when a team wins a championship there is a special feeling that you have all year. Like when the tigers blew it against the cards. Everyone just had that feeling all year. No we didn’t win it but we could have. The yankees who we beat that year had the we’ve been here before attitude. It feels like we’re the yanks sometimes and that bothers the living shit out of me. When we won the title last time it was us versus the world. we knew we were good enough we just didnt know if we could, we just went out and put it out on the line. Comparing sports to your 9-5 is a joke. At your little desk job your not competing against someone. you don’t have some young upstart throwing down a dunk over you and then sayin you old and got shit. How you can play and not be motiovated is beyond me. Although Im not a pro athlete. Its cockyness that isnt deserved. We could get hot and run the table… will we? thats the million dollar question. I dont care if we lose a game to Toronto at the end of the season, but it wasnt just that game. We have a great record and a great team, but that didnt amount to jack n some beans the last few years. As the scrappy little kid who loved to ball I always liked to play against those that didnt have the fire. I dont care if you have a foot and a half on me and I couldnt reach the rim jumpin of a trampoline- bring it, or im taking it home with me. Thats what basketball is all about. its a hungryman’s game.

Jesus, I actually had to go look at my post again because you almost convinced me that I told the Sky is Falling crowd not to bother posting. I LOVE the posts that predict the implosion of the Pistons and I would never want them to stop because they’re so much fun. What I was slamming was the folks who think the Pistons should bring every ounce of effort every night. It’s not only impossible, it would be stupid to try. I was absolutely sick after the Portland game in Portland because we laid a fucking egg. It was the only live Pistons game I’ll see this year and we got smoked. So I feel where you’re coming from PG4L, and it sucks that you got a game like that. But two days before that they laid it out to beat Phoenix without Rip. Since their effort is lousy all the time these days, how did that happen? Was it our superior talent, or our brilliant coach?

And I will compare sports to my lousy 9-5. I’m not talking about competition, but motivation. The leaders of nations, with more at stake than a quarterly sales report or the NBA championship still wake up on some mornings and can’t make an effort. You miss the point: someone is paying for you to perform your job as well as you can, which unless you’re a freak, you don’t always do. People are saying that the Pistons should be internally motivated (to win a championship) and externally motivated (to give the paying fans a great show). But I will argue that, no matter what you’re making or how badly you want to win, you can’t be motivated to give supreme effort every single game (unless you’re Michael Jordan or Kevin Garnett, and their single-minded, unwavering desire to win stands out precisely because it’s so friggin unusual).

Jason, you make my point for me: “We have a great record and a great team, but that didnt amount to jack n some beans the last few years…” Exactly. That great regular season record from the last few years put us in exactly the same position as Dallas during the Finals, watching and wishing. Jason, if it’s a “hungryman’s game,” and you were the hungry man, why aren’t you in the L? It’s talent, effort, size, and luck. San Antonio knows how to win and has the talent, and they do it every other year, because there is luck mixed in, and officiating, and the record of the team you play from the other conference, and injuries, and a myriad of other factors. Effort and talent are probably the biggest, but fatigue has played a role, hasn’t it?

The Pistons have NO CHANCE AT ALL to win if they don’t have focus and energy and hunger going in to the Playoffs. All I’m saying is that it’s impossible to tell where their will is at by watching them lose to Toronto with nothing on the line.

I second PG4L and others. No one is saying the sky is falling, or the Pistons are a bad team, or we’re a first round exit, or we have no chance of winning it all. I also don’t think anyone’s suggesting this year is exactly the same as other seasons — the bench is clearly better this year.

But there are still some disturbing things that keep occurring when we play our prime competition (Cle and Bos). Maybe it’s just because those teams are great defensively and energy-wise, but here are my issues, which are nothing new to anyone on this board:

1. it seems like we hold the ball on one side of the court and abandon our offense. That’s especially annoying against Cleveland — aren’t we essentially saying I’ll take Billups or Sheed or whoever vs. your defense and you take LeBron vs. ours? Seems like a recipe for failure.

2. The rotation shortens considerably, even though our depth should theoretically be an advantage over those teams. Note I’m not screaming and crying “fire Flip, he’s an incompetent retard.” I’m criticizing one aspect of his coaching. Hopefully that doesn’t make me a revolutionary.

3. The other team looks like they have more athleticism and hustle. And I’m not convinced it’s just a matter of us “flipping a switch” or “treating it like a playoff game.” I don’t think Boston and Cleveland are beating us in the hustle categories just b/c they want it more — that may play a role, but there also seems to be something more systematic going on…this kind of bleeds into gripe 2, since I think the less we play the Amirs, Maxiells, Afflalos, the more we lose in energy…because they’re young and athletic (not because I think Rasheed just doesn’t give a crap).

Boston is really really good. Cleveland plays us very tough. We will give either of those teams a good playoff series. But at this point, I think Boston is the clear favorite. That’s not saying the sky is falling. But it’s also not whistling past the graveyard.

I was over-reacting to this part:

“What I don’t understand are the people on this board who are 1.) following the game very closely 2.) commenting on the boards 3.) talking about giving up on the team, which turned in an ultimately easy victory.

If you’re that convinced they’re going to crash and burn, why are you wasting your time?"

Really there are DEFINATELY times I feel like “I’m wasting my time” with this team. The same as I’m sure I’ve wasted most of the past four years watching the Wolverines play football. The thing is, I don’t have a choice… I moved away from home to an “international city” that’s so devoid of soul/character that I sometimes feel like I left the PLANET rather than just the country. Sometimes all I have to remind me of where I came from are the sports teams from Detroit. I guess I took what you said personally when it wasn’t even directed at me. If it helps, I TOO get angry when people say “This team is out in the 2nd round”, ask Bill Simmons about the email I sent him on this very subject earlier this season.

Plus being fair I guess I was lumping alot of posts together, but really I’m getting sick and tired of being mocked with a line from a children’s story (The Sky is Falling) every time I point out that the team just tanked a game/half/quarter…

I’m genuinely sorry that I lumped what you said in with all that, I guess I was just trying to cover too much milage in a couple of posts (pretty much why I ended up triple posting in the first place)…

As for the Phoenix game, please don’t make me remind you that the Pistons had that one in the bag early in the fourth and ALMOST found a way to lose it before “pulling it out” in OT. Just like the 38 point 3rd quarter we gave Denver I found that win more “Alarming” than “Vindicating”.

Either way, I am genuinely sorry for not seeing the forest for the trees and over-simplfying what you’d said. Sometimes I get too mad, and really that game at the ACC was disgusting. I’m STILL angry thinking about it. 4Really, my bad.

PG4L, I take your overreacting to the Pistons post like I took your claim of Mike Dunleavy, Carlos Boozer and Corey Maggette post with a grain of salt :)

Bill Simmons thinks a lot of things that aren’t true. And he’ll never learn, lol.

Bones, I was appologizing to PDX, YOU SIR get no love yo. (Though I do find you funnier than most internet posters).

And Mike Dunleavy is still a scrub, Corey Magette is still way over-rated. Boozer is a tank though.

Sorry, there was supposed to be a smiley in there someplace.

:)

I’ll admit to a certain amount of whistling past the graveyard on my part. I desperately want to see a different outcome than the past few years in this Playoffs, so I’m telling myself we’re approaching them differently (with more reliance on the bench and fewer minutes from the starters [if, in fact, the starters are playing fewer minutes]).

So I’ve got my fingers crossed that they can, indeed, bring the intensity they will need to in order to defeat the up-and-comers, wannabees, and last year’s upstarts on their way to taking on Boston. Once we’re past Boston, I’m hoping we play a team that has had to scratch and claw and take shot after shot in order to make it. I hope they can barely put on their shorts and tie their shoes before gametime, because there is some scary talent on hand for the ECF and the Finals.

I don’t think they’ve got the On/Off switch they thought they had a few years ago, but I’ve got faith that they do have a dimmer, and they know when to start edging it up.

LB, well add me to the QD and PG4L camp. I don’t think the sky is falling either but to ignore the fact that we are 11-8 (close I think) since the all star break and playing very inconsistently is ludicrous. I could go for that record if we decided to give the starters nights off on a rotating basis and/or played them 20 mins and focused on getting them rested and the bench ready to go. But we’re not doing that. They are playing their regular minutes from what I see and just not giving the effort. One of the most dangerous ways to get hurt is half-assing and getting caught off guard by a freakish accident or injury. I just still think you want to end the season in a good place, not playing near .500 ball. Not sweating the final 10-11 games I understand, but at this pace we will have treated the final 30 games as ‘not important’ and I have a problem with that. Hope we’ll be fine. Cause I don’t by faaaaar think the sky is falling right now. Either play or sit. Just don’t half ass. I think it sets a bad example for our young bench that the final 1/3rd of the season isn’t important. Lets go Pistons!!!!!!!

I just hope Boston flames out like we did in ‘06 with the best record and how Dallas when they played Miami. Cause them damn Celtics look hungry and determined man. The Celtics play like McDyess talks after our last 3 playoff loses. He talks like his life is over and his chances of a ’Ship are gone. Well Boston is playing this year like they think like McDyess. BTW, 2 rebounds in 30 mins from McDyess is not going to get it. I think he’s had a great year defensively and rebounding wise. Hope he’s not running out of gas. I’m still trying to figure out how he’s still hitting 50% from the field for the season but every time I look at the boxscore, he’s like 2 for 8 or 3 for 9. But I am not in favor of starting Maxiel or Amir. Come on Dice. Play like you really feel like this is your last shot Bro.