Pistons and Sixers kick off the playoffs

Anyone worried yet?

no

mcdyess better wake up. thad young is a step faster all over the floor. we’re going to have to come with max or amir to counter the energy of young and evans. for a guy who has the most at stake as far as a closing window, dyess sure ain’t playing like it.

max has come to PLAY.

Yeah but Jack clearly its a case of Philly being more younger and athletic and faster in that match up. So even if Dice wanted to, its not like his body can competer with them.

Max on the other hand…

“In comes Rodney Stuckey out of Eastern Michigan.” – Marv Albert

He corrected himself, but I find that too amusing… nothing good comes out of Ypsilanti. ;-)

I know some of us harp on Flip, but one thing I really like about him is his emphasis on closing out quarters. It sometimes is a microcosm of the “flip the switch” style – that is, the D starts out a bit slow – but the end of quarters usually go our way.

“He corrected himself, but I find that too amusing… nothing good comes out of Ypsilanti.”

… says the guy living in Ohio. (I kid!)

Zing!

(but lived in Detroit for 16 years… has to count for somethin) :-p

Yeah, I’d say it does.

I missed the first 5 mins of the game, but overall we’re looking pretty good. Aside from all these excess fouls right now I’d say the bench is looking great – especially Rodney and Maxey.

Good thing we have a deeper team this year, cuz we seem a bit foul-happy…

P.S. Are you not there for Hoopsworld during the playoffs?

Good thing we’re a deeper team this year, ‘cuz we’re a bit foul-happy right now…

Sixers think they can hang? “Very funny.”

3333333333333333333333333333333333

Rosco is on fire!

Maxiellllllllllllllllllll!

(and Sheeeeeeeeeeeed!)

Steve: I resigned at the end of the regular season — it was a time commitment thing.

SOOOOOOOOO tired of celtics commercials. i’d rather watch ads featuring hasselhoff and the talking VW. but in my version he’d be sitting on the ground eating hamburgers.

sixers have missed a lot of easy shots.

BTW, if anyone out there can read this but is having trouble posting a comment, drop me a line. (matt@URL …) Not sure if there’s a problem affecting just one regular (say hi to Rob, guys!) or if something is up on my end.

Matt – gotcha, I was just curious.

Sheed’s f’ing on fire right now… I love a Sheed that’s been T’ed up! :)

Was I seeing things or did ’Sheed just slap Iggy in the face after one of those blocks?

Steve, apparently you have never smoked Ypsi’s finest export.

AGH! This is so frustrating. I can’t comment! But if this one gets through, then I CAN. But if it doesn’t… if a tree falls in a woods…

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!

Matt, did you get paid for HoopsWorld?

dudes. like i was saying the other day in the dpoy discussion. all you have to see is tape of the last 45 seconds of this half, for sheed’s sake. f—- kevin garnett.

top 5 halves for sheed for the season. and of course it wouldn’t be complete without a tech.

Rasheed Wallace: the greatest player that never was the greatest player because he didn’t want to be, even though he could have been.

Boney: Yes.

shit… pay me and give me a credential for the Pistons? My language is too colorful for HoopsWorld though

where the hell is everyone? THIS IS THE PLAYOFFS!

it is 3am where I live listening but too tired to post

You’re the epitome of dedication!

OT: Still not sure when I’m going to Israel again, maybe this fall.

They’re being blocked by overzealous WordPress filters!

we should figure out a way to get together

Definitely… really I have no idea when I’ll be going back, but judging by the status of work and projects there’s a good chance I’m going back at some point. Tel Aviv/Herzilya/Petach Tikva area.

I hope our boys aren’t mailing in this quarter… we’ll see if Flip can get them to close out this quarter well…

Rasheed with the stick-back!

steve we will figure out how to hook up

not even Matt seems to be interestedin the playoffs… it’s sad

Come on, fellas. Close ’em out… let Max and Sheed go to work…

Do you know how nerve wracking it is following a close playoff game on the internet?

THEO! Ya see, Theo, you block the shots and ya stay on the floor in this league, ya see, Theo.

Same old Pistons…..smh

Quick Darshan
Apr 20th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Do you know how nerve wracking it is following a close playoff game on the internet?

Yeah I do lol, especially if your watching ESPN Gamecast or a stream that constantly buffers. Your like “What happened next?!!!” Hits refresh button 20 times

ratliff is the man

Ugh. This game is giving me indigestion.

I have seen too much Lindsey Hunter today.

Um. did anyone else’s screen go black?

This team really does suck and part of me wants them to just go screw themselves out of the 1st round. How do you blow a 15 point lead? Seriously?

Forget it, this team is gonna lose to Orlando.

Forget em.

Just give the ball to Rasheed, please.

Uggggh we’re acting like the Pistons we all loathe right now.

I’m not feeling too good.

Oh lord, that’s not a good omen, Chauncey.

Mister Missed Shot.

One of the best free-throw shooters in the league, missing FTs in a critical part of the game is NEVER a good sign.

Bwahashagaahahhrgrbrrghhh!

Sheed is the only one who gives a damn.

Pistons= This years Mavericks

Sorry boys its a first round exit.

How did Rasheed’s shot come out? And Evans’ shot fall? Something is wrong.

The fizz is leaving my ginger ale.

We officially don’t deserve to win this game… jesus.

Joe doesn’t look too happy…

Did Rasheed just let a pass go between his legs?

Did Chauncey just miss a layup?

gaaaaaaaaaaaawddddddddddddaaaaaaaaaaaammnnnnnnnnnn.

now WE’RE missing layups.

Prophecy, stfu.

So does Joe D break the core starting lineup in the offseason?

Outscored in the 3rd, 19-25

Outscored in the 4th, 12-21

PLAY SOME FREAKING BASKETBALL ALREADY!

uhoh no headband

do. not. miss. these. free. throws.

Wow. It’s like neither team wants to win.

I’m about to throw up.

But that said, LET’S GO PISTONS!

Steve in OH
Apr 20th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Outscored in the 3rd, 19-25

Outscored in the 4th, 12-21

PLAY SOME FREAKING BASKETBALL ALREADY!

You know in the past, they would struggle for a whole game and you could sorta see it coming. But this started around midway in the 3rd, which makes it even more worrying. I mean there habit of playing down opponents was bad but this was a total collapse.

yay now he can miss 2 more freethrows haha

again: do. not. miss. these. free. throws.

soooo glad he made me eat that comment

If they lose, I vow a tremendous night of drinking until I am blind.

I think I might have to sacrifice a lamb if we lose this game.

Yea it’s like we said, “hey we’re up 15, game over!” without remembering there were 20 minutes still to play.

I swear I cannot stand the up-and-down emotions with following this team sometimes. It’s worse than watching Todd Jones in the 9th!

best play by max today.

Jmax found a new way to eat babies.

Diablo: I’ll kick a baby if we lose.

I blame myself. I was told the halftime score and immediately thought, “it’s over.”

Tay is not clutch.

I love the fact that the Sixers are even allowing an opportuinty to win and we still blow it.

Chauncey, Rip, Sheed… anyone but Tay for that shot!

What the hell is Sheed doing with the Sixers?

how did sheed miss that shot?

Man.

The sky IS falling.

Sixers in 6….

Well, I just punted a baby. I didn’t want to have to do it, but this schizophrenic Pistons team made me do it.

Off to the bar!

Kicking a baby? It’s very tempting at the moment.

Just so ya know:
http://www.detroitbadboys.com/archives/2008-04-17/pistonssixers-first-round-schedule/#comment-130464

I didn’t expect that.

I guess I’m getting late stream….

wonder what the excuse will be now……the starters didnt play enough at the end of the regular season?

What a beautiful way to start the playoffs, detroit. i still say pistons in 5, though.

WHAT THE F’ING IS GOING ON WITH THE PISTONS? I want Flip Sanders fired. The Pistons got overconfidence again. This is just like the Eastern Conference all over again.

Flip has found a new low… this is absolute bullshit. Up 15, at home and we fuck with the rotations. Hayes played what, 3 minutes? Hamilton, Hunter and Billups in there for a stretch in the 3rd? WTF… so much for getting the bench involved.. Ratliff played what, 7 minutes? I understand Maxey is the best big man on the bench, but Ratliff made a difference in the short time he was there

Outscored in the second half, 35-52.

Yup, that pretty much sums it up.

That and the Chauncey awesomeness. What happened to him looking for revenge after his performance against Cleveland last year?

I don’t even know what to say.

Eastern Conference all over again but in the first round…

Does anyone have a suggestion on which playoff team not named “too good to show up for game one” bandwagon should I jump on?

Lakers, perhaps?

MAJOR CHOKE BY THE PISTONS! PATHETIC EFFORT!

The only thing that will keep me from slitting my wrists even more than I already have is if Atlanta can steal one from Boston.

Hohoho-hold it, Flip haters. Its one game. A playoff game, yes. But just one game. Fire flip? Take it easy. Don’t bring out the gauntlet unless the Pistons exit the playoffs without a trophy.

I’m not a DBB flip bandwagon member, but I’ll defend the guy. Just take it easy…

On the bright side, it was nice to see them dust off Lindsey Hunter for some minutes.

Flip is a fucking idiot. The bench can play and they did held up. The starters are getting tired real fast. I as a viewer can see that. Time for Flip to go. Joe Dumar is going to have a real long talk because like he said “The excuses are gone” I hope he was talking about the players and not the coaching staff.

You know we can sit here and blame Flip all we want. And I agree maybe he should have subbed Max in for Dice earlier but Flip didnt miss those free throws and Flip didnt handle the ball carelessly on the court, nor did he make stupid fouls on the transistion.

I think this team is old, has bruised egos and this is it. I dont even think they can win in the first round, Philly is gonna be too hostile an arena in Games 3 and 4. Im sorry but we are done and even we arent I dont even see how we can beat Orlando let alone Boston.

RIP Detroit Pistons Core.
2002-2008

you know what, I think Flip is the one to blame for this bullshit… if he could just fucking maintain a strategy for 48 minutes and keep a rotation we wouldn’t have fucking problems. fuck you Prophecy_Projectz, take your shit somewhere else

That was a horrible display, I have a string of profanity just waiting to erupt.

Boney: in no way is this Flip’s bad…the team can take full credit for this one, especially our backcourt.

Detroit is getting older, but kiss my ass with that bullshit. The rotation clearly has changed since the regular season. The bench is the reason we had 59 wins yet we play Hayes what, 3 or 4 minutes?

Wow, Prophecy. I can’t wait to force you to eat your words.

Philly a hostile arena? Not to Rasheed and Rip, who rep Philly (and coatesville) as their homes.

Its talk like that which drove me to take a few weeks off DBB— retarded hating on our own team. Calm down, man. Its one game.

Prophecy, when the weather turns ugly will you remain a fan?

I here Larry Brown is available. Flip has officially screwed up this team’s prime title-contending years.

“Prophecy_Projectz” sorry to say but you don’t know what you are talking about. The 76’ers made millions of subs every single minute. Flip and the coaching staff stuck to their guns except it wasn’t fully loaded. The bench is fully loaded. They have been all season long.

Q, I’m not usually a finger pointer of Flip. I blame the players plenty. But when the fucking rotation changes like night and day compared to what was successful just a WEEK ago, that’s a problem of the coach. Flip went to his bread and butter, Sheed on the block, Chauncey trying to out dribble everyone, etc… no Stuckey, no Afflalo to stifle Iggy a bit, no Hayes from the corner for 3… all we see is horrible shooting by Rip and poor ball movement.

Lotta reasons we lost this, but Flip sitting Prince when he was scoring was the start of it.

Slaughters a lamb and covers himself in lamb’s blood

ok, so who is ready for game 2?

If Detroit doesn’t come out and win by more than 10 next game, then I will admit this team is through. Larry Brown is sitting at home chuckling at Flip’s poor coaching

I’m so fucking mad that game 2 is on NBA tv where I can’t watch except to listen to it on NBA.com .

Amir didn’t see the floor, Stuckey only played 13 minutes, Afflalo didn’t play. We can blame Flip for this shit. The Zoo Crew is a part of the rhythm for this team. It’s something that they’ve obviously come to need. So, where were they? Pathetic game.

Well, the reaction here is basically what I expected. Excuse me while I pass on jumping into this massive sea of panic. We played about as poorly as possible in the second half. We threw plenty of bad passes, missed several layups, Chauncey’s missed free throws, and just about everything else that happened.

I think we stuck with the bench a little too long there in the 3rd, but I’m not going to complain about that. Trial by fire for the backups should start now, they’re not going to learn from the bench. That whole effort was piss poor, but I’ll gladly have this happening to us against the Sixers, who absolutely are not going to beat us, than have it happen against the Magic or Celtics. Remember, after 7 games of last year’s playoffs everybody through we were cruising for a 2nd title. There’s still a long way to go. Everybody should take a deep breath and have a beer and come back on Wednesday.

Pistons better be winning more than 10 points AND the bench better be playing more than 5 minutes each.

I’m going to be saying this to myself from now till game 2.

“Flip is a freaking idiot.”

*everybody thought we were cruising for a 2nd title.

Stupid typo.

Don’t worry about it “Other Matt”. I thought that same thing too before this first game started today. Looks like alot of people on this board and are a Pistons fan is going to have “the case of the Monday”.

Dudes…its one game. In case you forgot, or still have NCAA tourney memories fresh in your heads, its a best of 7 — not winner moves on, loser goes home. Lots of things went wrong for us this game, and lots of things went right for Philly and we still only lost by 4. In case you forgot, the Pistons do this every year. They pretty much always blow one of the first two games in a series and they never sweep.

Everyone slowly step away from the ledge….

Don’t worry people… Wednesday. A few adjustments.. we’ll be alright.

I wonder if the Atlanta Hawk has heard the Pistons’ loss right now while they are playing the Celtics because “hope” is a very powerful weapon.

The Pistons shot 40% and had a dozen turnovers. That’s why they lost – not the coach. Make two more shots in 48 minutes or turn the ball over two fewer times and it’s a victory. I’d like to see a few more minutes from the bench just so you don’t look up and say ‘Whoa…Tay’s gassed, he’s played 40 minutes’ but that’s a minor point. You get outscored 27-16 in the 4th Quarter at home — it’s on the players for being flat.

The best team always wins. Detroit just has to be the best team 4 of the next 6 games and they’ll be fine.

No Amir no Aaron

No Win

We have had Amir now for three years. Flip has yet to put him in a playoff game.

How much longer will Joe D. let Flip continue to make this stupid decision?

Affalo goes from starting when Rip is out to sitting on the bench and instead Flip plays a useless and old Lindsey Hunter.

A pathetic coaching job by someone who should be close to being fired.

I think if we don’t get to the conference finals this year Flip could very be gone before next fall.

If it ain’t rough, it ain’t right.

mike: “useless and old hunter”? did you watch the game? did you see the second quarter?

Other Matt is exactly right. This is probably the best thing to happen to the Pistons. Think about it.

The number 1 thing that Detroit has to do is overcome last year’s weaknesses. One of the major ones was the “coasting.” They had an easy time against two teams with very little Playoff experience, and they went easy on LeBron. Or at least, they didn’t take it to the Cavs as much as they should have.

This loss is a great example of how they will have to change some things up, how the Playoffs are harder, and how they’ll have to come back fighting on Wednesday.

Game 2 should be awesome.

A couple of lambs later, I REALLY am ready for game 2, seriously.

Now that I have moment to calm down and watched a little “Family Guy” on FOX. I gotta agree with Matt. The Pistons needed this loss. Time to wake up and smell the 76’ers. Forget the fall. If the Pistons failed to make it to the Conference Finals then they will do it Detroit’s style by bringing him out to the back door and stick shove him in the trash.

Hunter made one shot.

When he is the court our offense stops.

I saw the game.

Hunter stinks and should retire

Nice guy and would love to see him in the front office but not on the court.

Ratliff is no better. Old and terrible, with Dyess a close third.

All the facts for the year, numbers, games won and loss says that Amir is our second best big man.

At least let him get out and use up his fouls. Philly is the worse foul shooting team in the league.

No Amir, no Aaron and no win.

Dyess, Hunter and Ratliff. All old and terrible.

I have to agree with all the coaching bashing unfortunately, poor decisions on who is one the floor. Philly’s young legs is what won them the game, they out hustled us down the stretch, no one can argue that, and when you have a group of very young and hungry guys like Philly, the best remedy is to combat that with our own fresh set of legs, with amir and afflalo. Lindsay is not the pit bull he used to be, he is just an old dog, and old dogs will not learn new tricks.
And yes it is panic mode, because based on this effort what can we expect down the road but more of the same ol bullshit where a win should be just given to us, it dont work like that.
I think Max and Amir thrive when both are on the floor at the same time. But anyway, this is really disappointing. There should be a sense of urgency from opening tip off to the last whistle. I saw very little. Hope is all we got, hope that our boys can shake this of and go out and play a different game come Wednesday?

Speaking of Wednesday, anyone want some tickets, sec 107b, row hhh, s 17 and 18, 13 rows from front court, 300 bucks?

OK, you’re right, guys. We did need this. Now everybody will shape up. Hopefully.

I’ll agree with/jump on the “we needed this” bandwagon.

But that doesn’t piss me off any less, either. There’s no excuse for the way we played that second half. There’s also no reason I won’t be 150% okay with it if we use it as motivation the rest of the playoffs.

mike— did you notice that in the second quarter, philly missed 18 field goals? hunter was a HUGE part of that. he’s a defensive specialist. that’s why we put him in games, not for scoring. hunter was a huge reason why we didn’t take a double digit loss tonight.

afflalo and amir, whom i both love dearly, are not playoff tested and both have serious weaknesses. its ignorant to say that we’ll lose if they’re not on the floor.

we didn’t need a loss on the first night of the playoffs, when all the other “favorites” have won. All the home court teams won Game 1 and what does Detroit do? Give up the 15 point lead, and lose in pathetic fashion at the end.

Again, poor rotations by Flip, poor ball movement when the starters were in the game, and poor coaching. The best lineup tonight was Sheed, Max, Prince, Stuck, and Hunter. Defense from all 5 positions, ball pressure from all 5 positions, and decent offense.

We are playing right into the hands of the 6ers if we think our front line of Ratliff, Sheed, Maxey and Dice are the answer. This is a young and frail front line for the 6ers, Amir, Maxey, Sheed and Dice get the run.

Pathetic coaching by Flip tonight… absolutely embarrassing. Detroit has now lost 5 straight playoff games, and been completely outplayed in 7 straight. Maxey, Amir and Sheed are the answers in the front court.

Celtics, meanwhile, taking care of business, as championship contenders do in the first round.

The Pistons are now a coin-flip to get out of the first round.

that’s it… SOMEONE PUT UP A PICTURE OF THE TITANIC!

Mike P.

You clearly agree with Flip.

He is the coach today who has led us to two early exits from the playoffs and I am sure a third this year unless he wakes up and puts Amir and Aaron in the playoff rotation.

How much playoff experience did 19 year old T. Young have before tonight? We want experience why not activate Cowens, Porter and Joe D. himself. We would get lots of experience.

We had a good second quarter, but not because of Hunter but in spite of of him. Maxiell had something like 10 points and 9 rebounds in about 8 minutes in the second quarter. As his minutes climbed over 20 his weight got the best of him and he slowed down late in the game when we needed him most.

Amir makes everyone else on the court better. That is just what happens. Hunter makes everyone else on the court worse. That is just what happens. Hunter was a lousy draft pick when we drafted him and he is lousy this time around.

He did help us in 2004 but that was Brown knew his many limitations and understood how and when to use him.

Amen to you all, Other Matt, Tim, CK, QD. Thank you for being here.

Mike, Boney, HB, Slappy, you’re being absolutely absurd, and Prophecy_Projectz you’re taking insane to a whole ‘nother level. Go root for the Celtics, because I for one don’t want you and your absurd prognostications anywhere near this place. And this goes for anyone I missed in pointing out.

Do you guys remember the ‘03-’04 Pistons? You know, the ones that won an NBA title? Remember those cats? Do you remember what happened to them, at home, in the first round? They dropped a close Game 2 to the Milwaukee Bucks after Rasheed fumbled the pass out of bounds that could’ve resulted in a potential game tying/winning shot from the corner. Did the Bucks have any business being in the same gym as the Stones that season? No. What did the Stones do after that disappointing Game 2? They took three straight from the Bucks to close them out in 5. No one called the Pistons “overconfident” that season. And if you think those Bucks were more deserving of a win over us than the (admittedly low on talent but high on heart) Sixers, check out this box score and look at who got burn for the Bucks that night:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boxscore;_ylt=AusaBvfqsVF2qrN9B6W4X0SLvLYF?gid=2004042108

Damon Jones, Brevin Knight, Brian Skinner and a 36 year-old Toni Kukoc beat us? Really? That can’t be much better than what the Sixers bring to the table. And yet, tonight we’re overconfident instead of just guilty of blowing it in the second half. Back in ‘03-’04, we just slipped up, today, we’re finished, not a championship team and whatever other nonsense. Please, just stop posting right now, because your shit is so fucking tired ESPN is now officially interested in hiring you to work with Stephen A. Smith. Stop flip-flopping on the motherfucking series after 1 game, young Bill Waltons of DBB. Have some fucking faith, GD. We’re still the much more talented 2 seed, and they’re still the sub .500 7 seed. You’re going to abandon ship already? Okay, retards, I anxiously await a mea culpa from each of you when we put this one to sleep in a week and a half.

You hate Flip unconditionally, so you blame him, even though today’s mess is HARDLY his fault if at all. If Boney’s glass is half full, the half is filled with bitterness. Flip can’t win in the eyes of his detractors no matter what he does. Flip yanked the veteran McDyess and left twenty-five year old, three-year pro, Maxiell in there during crunch time. Does that sound like the Flip we know and (except for me) complain about? No, it’s EXACTLY the kind of adjustable thinking people here are STILL criticizing him for not having, like when Mike brought it up re: Amir (retarded concept because Amir is a three-year pro, extremely unseasoned, and oh yeah, TWENTY). Maxiell earned his time and Flip gave it to him. It paid as many dividends as it could (Maxiell wasn’t realistically going to win or lose the game for us, but he came damn close by drawing acharge in the final minute). The decision to go with Maxiell was not very Flip like to even a staunch supporter like myself, but yet people will STILL crucify him and fail to give him credit for making the right call. The play for Rasheed made sense too. Rasheed just laid an egg. Apparently, the laying of the egg, that’s also Flip’s fault.

If you want a nice, neatly packaged, goat of the game (if there truly has to be just one, which I think there is not), look at Chauncey. He missed three free throws in the fourth quarter and then there’s the astonishingly poor decision he made on our second to last offensive possession. There’s your generally absent most of the game, but very visible (for all the wrong reasons) late in the game, goat.

Why don’t you reserve judgment until we’ve seen more from this team? Otherwise, you just sound like a bunch of ESPN schmucks judging the Pistons based on their 2nd half egg laying and ignoring the fact that they DOMINATED the Sixers in the first half while playing essentially AVERAGE ball by their standards.

Mike (with no last name initial),

Are you smoking crack? I agree with your request for Amir, but everything else I feel you’re completely wrong. You couldn’t be wronger, and when I start making up words you KNOW you’re wrong.

I can see not putting Afflalo in the game because his offense and Hunter’s offense cancel each other out. Hunter is a great on the ball defender who, if not for a couple of flops, would’ve had 2-3 steals tonight.

Maxiell’s weight did not get the best of him tonight. What got the best of him was the sudden shift to playing him 30 minutes when, if he’s going to play 30 minutes, why not fucking start him?

Ratliff got 6 minutes, had a block and nice putback on the offensive end. Why only 6 minutes? Because Sheed had the hot hand in the 1st half and he deserved 40 minutes? Hayes got 5 minutes, why? Prince played 40 for what reason? 5 of 13 from the field? I’d trust Hayes to hit that open jumper at the end of the game before I trust Prince. Not saying Prince shouldn’t be in there at crunch time but, you don’t run plays for your 4th option on offense when your 4th option isn’t hitting jumpers all night.

Again… bullshit rotations, rotations of guys that have not seen significant run during the regular season. Who the fuck’s idea is it to put Stuckey and Hunter on the floor at the same time? When did that backcourt combination enter Flip’s mind? When he was eating his Kentucky Fried Chicken during pre-game warmups? When Stuckey and Hunter are on the floor, even I can coach the defense on that… “Everyone clog the lane, they have no perimeter shooters on the floor”

Just to clarify, I am not saying that this loss is a good thing. What I am saying is that it is definitely not time to panic. If the prevailing attitude around here is “it should be smooth sailing straight on through”, then I don’t know what to tell you guys. We are not going to lose a 7 game series to Philadelphia. There are going to be struggles in this post-season. I’d prefer that we get punched in the mouth straight out of the gate, that way by the time we have blood in our mouth against Boston, we’re a little used to the taste.

Holy hell, last season we were annihilating a Chicago Bulls team that a lot of people picked to make the finals. Then we got punched square in the face and never really recovered. There is a lot of basketball left to be played. Come everyone and let’s talk a walk down memory lane:

2004 East Quarters: Lose triple OT heart-breaker to NJ in game 5 at home to go down 3-2 in the series. That game is followed up with a tough performance at NJ and a blow out at home in Game 7 (which was a lot of fun).

2005 East Finals: Lose game 5 at Miami by double digits to go down 3-2 in series. We come back to blow them out at home in Game 6, and then hang on and win Game 7 on the road with a tough performance.

2005 NBA Finals: Get absolutely blown out in games 1 and 2 in San Antonio. Come back and get a nice win in Game 3, followed by what I remember to be “the perfect game” in Game 4 where we had something ridiculous like only 3 TOs. Ben Wallace turned in an all-time performance and the conversation turned from “Spurs sweep” to “how in the world can the Pistons possibly lose”. Then there was the Robert Horry game, then we win Game 6 on the road and are right-freaking-there at the end of Game 7 and came up a little short.

You all have some seriously short memories. This team has been through some serious stuff and you’re all panicking about losing one game? This is crazy! Come back in off the ledge.

Mike, shut up, please. You apparently didn’t see the part where Maxiell had not only the quick thinking, but the quick feet to draw a charge with about :45 left even though you claim “his weight got the best of him and he slowed down”. And re: Afflalo and Amir, MP is 100% right. They are inconsistent as hell with not enough in-game (let alone playoff) experience. Thaddeus Young has been getting (at least) 20 minutes of burn a night for the Sixers in every game for the past 3 months. Afflalo and Amir usually rack up DNPs. You’re comparing apples and hamburgers. You, like many other Flip haters, see what you want to see, not what is actually there. It makes it really easy to lay the blame on our “underachieving” coach, than on our much beloved core (minus Sheed’s nearly flawless showing tonight).

Get off Amir’s nuts already, Mike. There’s a reason the kid went 53rd and not 5th, and it’s because he wasn’t (and to some extent still isn’t) game ready. Inconsistent flashes of brilliance displayed in the regular season does not a playoff star make. If Amir had been trusted with Maxiell’s minutes, he’d have fouled out before he got the chance to play all 30 of ’em.

And oh yeah Mike, try not to forget this little nugget … Lindsey: 2 NBA Championship Rings; Amir and everyone on this squad minus the core 4: 0 rings.

LawyerBoy, you know, you’re my boy 9 posts out of 10. My glass isn’t half full of bitterness. I don’t give a shit about 2003-2004, you can take your comparisons of 2003-2004 to Chauncey and Rip because those are the guys that care about that anymore. Noone in the league gives a shit anymore about the 2004 championship run. Tim Donaghy was a ref in that game for fuck’s sake, of COURSE the Pistons were going to blow that one. That and the fact that the ultimate adjuster, Larry Brown, was our head coach.

Tonight was about poor recognition of strength on the floor, ie, poor rotations. What is the god damn point of resting your starters and getting “the kids” primed for a playoff run when Sheed and Tay have to play 40 minutes against a 7 seed? What is the point of keeping Dice and Ratliff on the floor when we’ve put Amir in the game when the other team hasn’t had another big body PF in the game during the regular season?

I’d rather lose this game by 4 and give Amir some run against Thad Young and Reggie Evans than I would play Ratliff for only 6 minutes and then yank him out after he plays good in those 6 minutes. If we’re going to fuck with the rotation like that, then put Amir in for 6 minutes.

Other Matt… the key thing about those other “situations” was that Larry Brown was the coach.

Flip and Rick Carlisle are one in the same… the only difference is Carlisle is a defensive coach and Flip is offensive. They both cannot adjust to the way the game is being played. They stick with their gameplan until the end, win or lose.

I stand by my statement earlier… outplayed in the last 7 playoff games, and I’ve seen the same downtrodden flashes of poor coaching in all 7 games.

We all clamor for the bench to see run in the playoffs yet now the biggest screamers for the bench are supporting Flip and his tight rotation? I call bullshit

I’m actually kind of with Boney on that one. I didn’t really understand the rotations tonight. I kept trying to figure out why on Earth we played Lindsay and Stuckey together and all I could come up with is that Lindsay is supposed to be like a “player-coach”, so maybe they were doing a little hand-holding with Stuckey. Which, to be honest, is some weak as hell reasoning. But then the unit on the floor led by the 2 of them pushed the lead out to like 12. So I just figured the coaches saw something we could exploit. Our problem was that when the starters came back in after the reserves extended that lead, they let Philly right back in the f-ing game. I made a mental note to myself that not putting them away would probably cause some discomfort at the end of the game, but I didn’t think they’d f-ing win the thing.

I’m fine with Stuckey and Hunter on the floor together IF they get a lot of steals or force turnovers. But when they’re both on the floor and Stuckey isn’t taking the ball to the rack, then we’re playing tentative.

Boney: You sounded like serious sour grapes earlier in the thread, sorry if I came harsh. Tim Donaghy? Do you remember Rasheed launching the ball up into the stratosphere? Donaghy didn’t fudge that call.

In tonight’s affair, Flip left Maxiell in instead of riding old, tired ass McDyess. Does Flip get nothing for that? We’d have lost by a lot more than 4 if he’d stuck with McDyess (which sounds a lot like old guard, mad hated Flip to me). And if I get what you’re saying right, you want Flip to keep Theo in there over Maxiell and/or Sheed? Was I not watching the game where those two were absolutely brilliant (minus Sheed missing the late game glasser)? I have nothing against your desire to want more Theo since he came with it on D or even to SEE Amir, but save that for when Sheed is off in the clouds or Max is struggling, because he and Max were the best players on EITHER squad tonight and you CAN’T yank them for Theo. As nicely as Theo played, he didn’t bring what Max and Sheed brought to the court tonight, so his job was to spell, and that’s it.

Prince and Rip were mediocre at best and Chauncey played a dismal fourth quarter where leading the team seemed like the last thing he was doing. I wouldn’t worry about our legs. All of this will straighten itself out when we mow through Philly and then Orlando in round 2. The only thing we have to worry about is Boston.

I don’t know, maybe the Flip basher’s are right. Maybe the starters have tuned him out. One of the things I noticed was in one of the quarters (3rd, maybe, I forget), we were in the bonus after about 8 minutes and then started jacking up jump shots and got pretty poor ball movement. Then coming back out of a TV timeout Flip said “we were in the bonus with 8 minutes to go in the quarter and then started living on perimeter shots, we lost our aggressiveness, I told the guys to take it to the rim but we just didn’t.”

Sometimes I think they should move one of the core-4 to send a message, but realistically who are they going to unload? Chauncey is locked up to a very reasonable contract and you just don’t find PG’s of his caliber, so he’s not expendable. Then you’ve got Rasheed who is the proverbial straw that stirs the drink. This team is arguably built around him. Then you have Tayshaun whom Joe D loves and thinks could fill his shoes some day. He’s also locked up to a reasonable long-term deal. Then there’s Rip. There aren’t a lot of guys who have his skill set, and he fills a definite need on the team. So who can we really unload? I guess the answer is Flip. I know sometimes we all pine for LB, but is it really that easy to forget his flirting with freaking Cleveland of all places when we were in the NBA Finals!? That was unforgivable to me.

look, the sixers play 48 minutes. we don’t. we’re playing a team that came back against boston on the road down 11 in the 4th. they came back against chicago down 18 in the 4th. bottom line it: either we’re going to have to force ourselves to play a full 48 like we should be anyway and become a stronger contender after this series, or we’re going to get beat and things are going to have to change drastically in the offseason.

also, we’re all pistons fans here, so let’s chill on cussing each other out for our opinions, especially ones that come in the heat of a very frustrating loss. save it for the cavs and celtics fans that stumble into our realm.

If anyone bothers to take a look at the facts they would see that I am correct about Amir.

Go look at Holligner’s PER ratings on ESPN. Amir had the 15th highest PER rating of all power forwards. He had the highest PER rating of all our big man. He played about 800 minutes which is more than enough for a legitimate sample.

Go to 82games and look at Amir’s Roland Rating. Third best on the team among are regular rotation guys during the year. Then look at his detailed numbers like what the Pistons FG% against and points allowed per 100 possessions are.

He was something like 23 – 5 when he was in the regular rotation. have not fixation with this guy like some wierdos suggest. My thing is that I have seen him play even before he played for the Pistons and he has always made the team better that he plays for when he is on the court. The records of those teams when he is playing speak for itself.

If anyone has any numbers to prove me incorrect I would love to read them. And don’t quote fouls per minute because he still has his great defensive numbers even with that. Maybe that is part of how he does it.

He is a winner on the court because he makes his team better and often much better.

Most of his 800 minutes were not in garbage time. His garbage time minutes this year were not very much except in games that he played over 20 minutes and was kept in during the 4th quarter when it was a blowout.

People should try and bring facts when criticizing someone’s opinion that they don’t agree with rather than call names and make inaccurate accusations.

Other Matt: If you’re saying the guys have tuned Flip out, how is that Flip’s fault and not the players’ fault? Was it Flip’s fault when Rasheed mutinied in the Cleveland series last year? This theory you explore which has them tuning Flip out, even if he’s making the right suggestion, is clearly their own hubris and not a shortcoming belonging to Flip.

LawyerBoy, all we have to do as Pistons’ fans is remember:

Outplayed in our last 7 playoff games.

That’s it. We also need to realize that we were the only home court team to lose this weekend, and that is fucking embarrassing. you know, I’m not a big curser, but it’s god damn embarrassing to be the only team in the league to lose home court on the first night of the playoffs. It’s almost as if it’s f-ing expected at this point, considering how laissez fare these fucking snobs are. I understand that Sheed and Maxey kept the team in the game, and no I’m not pining for McDyess whatsoever. What I do want is, if Ratliff is going to provide solid run in 6 minutes a half, why not give him 12 minutes a game?

Ratliff held his own tonight. Amir deserves 6 minutes as well, after what he showed during the regular season too right? Sure, he fouls a lot but what if he didn’t in his 6 minutes and he gives you 2 blocks a tip in and 4 rebounds?

If we’re going to give Maxey starter minutes, then start him. If McDyess is turning into Elden Campbell, let him get Elden Campbell minutes.

Someone please let lawyerschmuck know that it’s 2008 and that 2004 was 4 years ago. As far as panicking after 1 playoff loss, it’s more like the accumulation of choking in the ‘06 and ’07 EC Finals against teams the Pistons looked far superior to that has fans irritated. How could they not take the Cavs seriously last year after being down 3-2 to them and being forced to go to 7 games in ’06? After blowing four straight to them last year, complacency should’ve been the last thing this team was prone to. Let’s see how complacent the Celtics are.

I say Dyess only plays from here on out when/if Sheed gets in foul trouble. Start Maxey, when Sheed needs rest, bring in Ratliff, when Maxey needs rest, bring in Amir.

Plain and simple… it’s time for a changing of the guard.

Mike, does Hollinger’s PER rating factor in all the free fouls Amir’s overzealousness causes? All those fouls either amount directly to foul shots or they get the opponent closer to the bonus (which results in more foul shots). Foul shots tend to result in points … so … I’m going to say that Amir has a tendency to hand over points to the other team.

Were you going to bother to mention that Juan Dixon has our team’s second best Roland Rating? I’m probably as big of a fan of Juan Dixon as they come, but I’m not looking for us to put him out on the court during this series. And I doubt any other DBBers are anxiously awaiting his appearance either. Boy, the temerity you have to bark about “using facts” and then you manage to trot out some of your own incredibly misleading “facts”. According to you, we don’t have enough Amir Johnson, but also we don’t apparently have enough Juan Dixon. I just want to make sure you stand by that. I’ve got it right, don’t I? Something tells me your brilliant mathematics leave a little something to be desired in the realm of common sense.

LB, I don’t know, I was just thinking out loud, really. I honestly don’t know what to make of this team anymore. I think that Joe D has done an exceptional job assembling this roster, there’s good veteran players, there’s promising young players, and there’s useful role players. I think from 1-12, this is the most talented team in the NBA. I think it’s also schizophrenic as hell and it’s really aggravating to watch sometimes. I think -no, I know- there are no more excuses this year. If this team doesn’t at least make the Finals, or have a fantastic showing against Boston, then that’s probably it for this team as we know it. I don’t know what the next step is.

I think the changes would probably start with Flip, but I’m not sure who they’d bring in to replace him. Maybe Terry Porter? Outside of that, I’ve got no suggestions. I wouldn’t be entirely shocked if they traded Rip this off-season. I think that Stuckey is going to be good enough to start and play major minutes at some point in the very near future, but I don’t know where those minutes come from with Rip still around. Maybe he gets traded for a late lottery pick? I honestly don’t know what his value is or what need we’d try to fill by moving him.

I also fully acknowledge, and wish others would do the same, that there’s is an extraordinary amount of luck that goes into winning a championship. I can think of 2 prime examples for us in 04, Tay’s block and catching a completely dysfunctional Laker team in the Finals. So I guess I don’t really know how you evaluate this thing and decide when to blow it up or what changes to make. But that’s why I’m just a schlub posting on a blog and not making the big bucks to call the shots.

Also, I think all those decisions should be made and/or discussed pending the completion of this post season. I’m not convinced as some others are that we’re cooked. I think the road is going to be bumpy, but I think we can definitely win a title. The one mitigating factor for us is that if we end up playing Boston, Doc Rivers is absolutely not going to out coach Flip Saunders. So we’ll see what happens and have the “what should we do” conversation when we’ve officially gone fishing.

I acknowledge that there’s an extraordinary amount of luck in winning a title. I understand that… but when your team plays lackadasical for 7 straight playoff games, it’s pathetic. Especially when your team wins 55+ games each season…

last year we cry that the bench isn’t deep.. this year we see the bench in the REGULAR season but then we put the bench on ice during the playoffs.

I’ve longed for the day that Rip gets traded. Aside from the blind homers here, I see the negative in Rip. I see the negative in having 5 starters on the floor and none of them can create their own shot. Noone else can see it… what I see is a small forward that shoots great mid range jumpers in Rip. He lacks on D, he relies on the screens for his shots on the offensive end. He cannot create, nor does he put his teammates in position to be successful with his passes that are late.

Do I dare say it? He’s almost as bad as Flip Murray, but at least Flip could dribble a littl

The true mark of a coach is how he reacts to adversity. Certainly, Wednesday will be telling.

Once the game was on the line, I don’t know if there was anything flip could do to make the shots go in. We certainly had open shots, free throws, and even layups. A few of those go in, and we win.

Could we blame flip for not using the bench well, or at least more effectively? I think we can.

I really think our response will be more indicative of our current state than this loss was.

I guess what i forgot to say is that veteran players did not make plays in the crunch time, and I don’t know if had Larry Brown been coaching those shots would have gone in either.

I’m not going to kill McDyess for going 2-9. When he shoots 2-9 taking mostly elbow jumpers of course he’s going to look bad. When he shoots 7-9 he looks great. The truth is McDyess is about a 50% shooter who shot 22% tonight. For the rest of the series McDyess will either shoot better and the Pistons will win, or they won’t.

Just for the record

Maxiell in his first 8 minutes tonight had 10 points and 9 rebounds

He was something like plus 15 on court

In his last 21 minutes he had 2 points and 2 rebounds and was minus 13

He slowed down. He ran out of gas. Flip should have played Amir in the 3rd and 4th quarter instead of Maxiell

We have the most articulate fans in the entire sports blogosphere, I’m sure of it. I just read, like, 35 responses and none of them had typos. You guys are outstanding.

I think Joe D himself needed to go into the locker room after that loss and completely ream the players and staff. This loss is inexcuseable, and if the usually-quiet Dumars were to go off, I bet that would send a message.

Hey Garrett, you know what has worked best this season? When allegedly Joe comes down from his office and tells Flip what to do.

Lets pray for Joe to figure this one out. He is the key!

I was at the game. Crowd was live, most lively I seen em in a while.

Davidson family left the game early – tells you all you need to know.

Pistons talk a lot of crap. Well, they like it with the “me against the world” vibe. They can try that without the support of anyone, as I sure won’t make an excuse as one of their fans. They choked. I hope they don’t have feelings, since they’re the laughingstock out of this game.

Slapnuts, you can claim tonight was undoubtedly a trend establishing night of complacency, but if that’s the case, then why even have the NBA play out the subsequent games in the series? We’re gonna get waxed by the hungrier team, obviously. No one can accurately deduce a complacent attitude in 24 minutes of crap ball. It’s pure speculation on your part, and to assert it as fact is arrogant. Hell, I’m not sure the core (Rasheed excluded) wasn’t so much complacent as just managing to lay a collective egg tonight. Not a single member of the core (again, minus Sheed) shot over 40% from the field tonight. You really expect us to play that kind of ball every night? I don’t.

Is that complacency or could it just be a coincident event where 4 of the starters have a night of crap shooting? The starters (w/Sheed’s numbers included) shot 34% from the field. When you take Sheed out of the equation, it drops even lower, to 30%. The truth is, it wouldn’t be a first in terms of complacency and it wouldn’t be a first in terms of epic crap shooting nights either. But what makes you so sure that anyone who disagrees with you is a “schmuck” (Yiddish expression stealer!)? Apparently you have some sort of psychic power that I’m void of acquiring.

Boney: 2 blocks, a tip in and 4 rebounds in six minutes is kind of a bit presumptive for Amir, don’t you think? I’m not knocking the idea of giving Amir 6 minutes, but I think you’re overselling the guy’s probable production. I agree that McDyess looked like crap tonight, and may not have the speed to match up well in this series, but it’s only one game and we’ll have to see what happens. If today is the ultimate barometer though, I like your prioritizing of the bigs’ minutes. Re: the 7 games thing … momentum is a funny thing Boney, while your 7 games argument totally works now, a series win later it could be mere history.

And also Boney, re: the value of Rip and his lack of shot creation, shouldn’t the point guard be the one to carry the onus of being the primary shot creator? I mean, there are successful shooting guards (Ray Allen comes to mind, immediately) who just basically shoot, right? I think Rip’s D is fine, so we fundamentally disagree there. I’m willing to entertain your trade viewpoint, but if anything, I’d say his whiny, technical foul drawing attitude is the primary reason to ship him. Otherwise, Mr. Consistency just finished 6th in the league in three point FG%. Who would’ve thought a few years back that we’d ever see that out of Rippy?

Thank you LawyerBoy for injecting some reason. 1 game does not determine this teams drive. I think the pain of this game is starting to be replaced by excitement for game 2. Here’s hoping you are right.

Ok, I’ll admit that my thoughts on Amir in 6 minutes was solely based on his performances this season when he’s gotten run on the floor. My bad for looking past his age and actually believing in a kid that has the ability to be a capable defender and rebounder off the bench. My bad…

you know what else is funny, until that inevitable series win comes, we’re still watching the worst 7 game stretch of playoff basketball that we’ve seen since Rick Carlisle was roaming the sidelines. Shit, not even Carlisle had a 7 game stretch in the playoffs like this. Poor on the offensive end, poor ball rotation… I’m beginning to think, maybe we’re just not that good? Do we blow our load in the regular season?… do we REALLY turn it off for bad teams?… 7 straight playoff games LawyerBoy.. let’s hope for Flip’s sake that it ends at 7.

Roland ratings are based upon points on the court for you against the player you are guarding vice versa and for the team as a whole when you are on the court. Points after all is what counts and leads to wins.

I don’t think Hollinger’s ratings actually take defense into account but I am not sure.

82games which publishes the Roland ratings has certain numbers and calculations based upon those numbers that are not available to the public that they sell to NBA teams for there use in analysis of players and the team.

As far as pure fouls go. Carl Boozer fouled out of about 6 games this year. There are some other darn good players high on the foul out list.

Here is another stat from NBA.com. Efficiency Rating. Sort it per 48 minutes played and Amir is not only the highest Pistons player, just ahead of C-Bill but 31st in the whole darn league.

Flips sits him? Maybe Amir is too darn efficient for Flip’s liking.

http://www.nba.com/statistics/player/Efficiency.jsp?league=00&season=22007&conf=OVERALL&position=0&splitType=9&qualified=N&yearsExp=-1&sortOrder=7&splitDD=All%20Teams

One final note those I live live in Los Angles and it is still early.

I am in no way suggesting that Amir start or come off of the bench ahead of Maxiell. All I am suggesting is that his numbers and results show that that he makes us better and it is to our benefit to play him 10 – 15 a game like he did during the year when we won 59 games.

Now we are down 0 – 1 and he still has no playoff experience. So I guess he won’t play Wed because he still has no experience. Sorry about that but this whole thing of giving all those minutes to the other guys and none for Amir and Afflalo tonight when they have shown that they can play just has me a little ticked off.

You guys keep going on about Amir’s stats, but have you actually seen him play for real? Like, in an NBA game? If so, tell me a few of the awesome things he did while he was out there. I’d love to hear about them, because I can’t really remember any.

(probably because he’s invisible on offense and falls for a lot of pump fakes on defense……but he has that magic word — “potential”)

Wait, to those who said that the playoffs are a long event . . . you’re talkin’ like the Pistons.

This was a tale of two games. The first 24, Detroit absolutely punished the Sixers. The second 24, Philly really didn’t do anything all that special . . . they just played with more energy. Detroit lost it on defense, and they lost it on offense. They stopped moving the ball, preferring to lurk around the perimeter, not making nearly as many extra passes, literally ignoring each other out there. They especially lost their energy, especially with rebounds.

Tayshaun stunk it up on defense most of the game. He was also bitching about the calls, but you gotta play with more than what he brought to be yappin’ like that. Rip? Brick city. Wide open Js, no dice. And Antonio, well, biggest wimp of them all. Will absolutely not assert himself in the paint. Don’t wanna talk about him much more.

You can, as a team, scream about the officials if you play well. They played like crap the last 24, and they undid everything to remember from the first 24. This was not a case of a flat night, Philly playing a better game, or anything else. This was a bona-fide choke job. Mr. Big Choke, eat your heart out.

We have now lost 5 playoff games in a row over two years with basically the same cast of characters and looked lousy in the process. I see no reason at this point to be optimistic about us beating Boston at this point yet alone getting to the ECF to play them.

This year was supposed to be different. We rested the starters and still won games with Amir and Afflalo playing serious minutes. Now come the playoffs and we go back to essentially the same guys that got us blown out last year against Cleveland. Replacing Davis with Ratliff was no gain. The only gain was replacing Murray with Stuckey but Stuckey tonight was on the court with Hunter and deferred to Hunter instead of being aggressive. I guarantee everyone that if he had been on the court with Afflao he would have been a lot more aggressive, which is one his biggest strengths, and we would have benefited by it.

So same players this year, most of whom are into their thirties, and the same miserable results.

Optimism is one thing, dreaming is another.

You may be right Mike. But Garnett might tweak his ankle next game and kill the Celtics hopes.

I’m not saying that the pistons will even make the finals, but in this league anything can and will happen on a game-to-game basis. To give up hope now would be completely asinine.

They lay a couple more eggs in this series? Then I’ll start to worry. But until then, I’ll chose to not mope over one loss.

I’d worry about another egg or three. Against Philly? Really? Srsly?

I try not to get too excited about rotation issues but it’s frustrating to lose to a team playing 21 year old Louis Williams and 20 year old Thaddeus Young getting a combined 44 minutes of run while Afflalo and Amir watch in sweatsuits. The “rest for the postseason” plan requires better execution then losing the 4th Q 27-16 at home in the first game of the playoffs with 3 of the big 4 going 39 minutes plus. Maybe the Sixers trust in their young players is born out of necessity but it doesn’t make it easier to swallow when you just got waxed at home at the end of a winnable game. Free Amir. Free Afflalo.

Thank you, Garrett.

Sauce, excellent, concise review. Disheartening I know, but not damning. I appreciate the “wait and see” nature.

Boney: With your sarcasm detected, I still remind you that you’re presuming the guy drops a tip in, TWO blocks and FOUR boards in all of six minutes of an NBA playoff game. I’m not saying he’s incapable of it, far from it, but isn’t that the least bit presumptuous to just assume he’s good for it if Flip sends him in? I don’t quite see how it can’t be presumptuous!

Mike: Amir and Afflalo have shown they can’t play as many times as they’ve shown they can play. That’s the honest truth, man. I’ve seen a ton of ill-advised Afflalo jumpers clank off the rim and I’ve seen Amir commit a foul on every pump under the sun. I’ve seen Afflalo on D manage to stonewall some excellent scorers and I’ve seen Amir produce some brilliantly athletic plays. But at their very essence, those two scream “uneven” to me. I’d rather not go down that road. I consider myself an optimistic guy with the Pistons, but to go down that road and think it leads to salvation is a sort of optimism that I don’t even have.

Lawyerhoe

I’ve already alluded to the past trends as a basis for saying the Pistons have been complacent. Whether you choose to agree, I could care less. I don’t feel the need to preface every post with “IMO.” It’s equally arrogant to bi#%h that others should post elsewhere because you don’t like their opinion. 1st Rd stumbles are fine, but a lack of focus should not be an issue with this team in light of recent performances.

joejoejoe: Louis Williams is a point guard. His success at his job is predicated on him making good decisions (read: wise beyond the years of a basketball player at any other position). The guy averged 11.5 ppg in 80 games this year where he averaged 23 minutes per. Amir and Afflalo haven’t had that kind of exposure. Though his assist/TO ratio could use some work, Louis Williams is an NBA-ready talent who can contribute nightly. Frighteningly (for the Sixers, not us), he leads their team in FT% at: 78.3%. Yeesh.

The Sixers don’t have the luxury that we have of bringing their young guys along slowly. They have to throw them into the fire immediately, because they don’t have anyone else to play ahead of them. Young and Williams have responded well. Amir and Afflalo may have responded just as well were they given the same opportunities on our squad, but that just wasn’t a reasonable course of action this season, especially in light of ALL the roster moves we made during the season.

I don’t know how much more rest they could give ‘em, been sittin’ ’em a whole hell of a lot the last 15 games.

Only big mistake Flip Saunders made, and maybe the one error is the fatal error . . . 4th quarter, Flip trots out Lindsey and Theo in a close game, with Stuckey, Tayshaun, and I think Maxiell. 4th quarter, close game . . . Detroit’s having trouble shooting the rock, and you go with a 3-on-5 for offense? Smooth move, Flipster.

Slappy, are you 12? Lawyerhoe? You follow Lawyerschmuck with lawyerhoe? It’s late, shouldn’t you be in bed by now? In any event, you haven’t proven a damn thing about complacency. Did we come out complacent (as Sauce insightfully alluded to) when we dominated the first half? I don’t think so. A tale of two halves isn’t necessarily always blamed on complacency. Losing four straight to an inferior Cavs squad is complacency. Sheed hasn’t looked this focused since ‘03-’04, and people are acting like we’re the same squad still. Sheed’s focus makes a difference, and lasted I checked Maxiell was never a major player in years past. This is not the same team. Maxiell averaged 10:30 in his fourteen appearances last playoffs. Chris Webber ate up 25:11 per in our sixteen outings. Delfino appeared in every playoff game and Flip Murray appeared in seventy-five percent of contests. Same team? Hardly.

And this is absolutely a forum for differing opinions, but if people want to cry and bullshit about fantasy worlds, don’t do it here. Call your mom if you want to cry, and deluded posters shouldn’t waste the time of the core members of this community with their miserable tripe that’s completely void of fact. I may not agree with Boney, but at least he’s not living in the fantasy land you come from, Slaps.

*last I checked … There goes the typo streak, Garrett.

Detroit notched like 5 assists the 2nd half. 19 points, then 16. Same tough perimeter defense, same Pistons insisting to shoot through it.

i was more than disappointed to see a loss-however, i watch basketball for entertainment. I was quite entertained, just not in a pleasant way.
we are fans and we watch for entertainment and bragging rights – lets keep a bit of perspective – nobody is dying and hopefully none of you folks here are losing thousands of dollars – its like getting bunched up that favorite movie stars did a poor job of acting in a film….

Literally, Philly shot 32 percent the 1st half. The game mirror-imaged on Detroit in the 2nd. I was slappin’ those thunderstix like it was 2003, applauding the gymnasts doing insane multi-flips . . . they were using a trampoline, nailing down 30-foot-high bounces, wearing skis, and wearing snowboards. We were pleased as punch, and as fans, we have a right to feel like the game’s in the bag. My buddy turns to me and tells me that Detroit should come out smokin’ to start the 3rd, puttin’ up another handful of points, and maybe then Philly will give up. I agreed, since I’ve seen that before.

Enter this garbage.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/playbyplay?gameId=280420008&period=3

Dunno what the hell went on in the lockers during the half, but that first 3.5 minutes of the game was inexcusable. McDyess was beyond awful, crap I said wouldn’t talk further but when a guy tosses a pass to Billups 10 feet over his head, to say it was embarassing was an understatement. The crowd went “WUT?” a whole lot during the 2nd half. That was 3.5 minutes before Rasheed’s free throws broke an 0-for stretch. 3.5 minutes of awful . . . I don’t care what kind of a guy Antonio is, he played like washed up junk, and at this point, he’s stealing a paycheck from Davidson. Whenever McDyess was out there, the guy made it 6-on-4 for the Sixers. Inept doesn’t begin to describe it. Adonal Foyle is about where it begins. That was Antonio out there. Puke-inducing. Pathetic to watch.

I was done being angry at the game. If you had kids anywhere near section 106, you totally should have covered their ears. Watching that jerk Evans celebrating with time on the clock and the game so close was ridiculous, and then Iguodala was dancing on center court after the game ended. That’s how much respect Detroit gets. I guess karma’s a bitch.

I need a reason to keep signing up for this crap. I’m not an idiot Suns fan that doesn’t get that his team is built all wrong for this league. I’m not a Philly fan, wondering how AI the Greatest Player To Never Live Up To It failed to deliver my city a championship. I need reasons for what happened, not excuses, but reasons. Billups had the shits. Rip has rickets. Tayshaun has had a tapeworm the last 2 years. McDyess can’t feel his left leg. Something. Some logic. You can’t sign people up for that crap. We cheered our hearts out, especially more so in the late minutes of the game, it was deafening, and Detroit responded even worse. Guess they don’t need us, huh.

Sorry I didnt get to post during the game but its exam season. Nice to see that the other jason returned to posting.
I hate flip. What did he say at halftime? no need to make adjustments? What in the world was he thinking playing lindsey for 12 mins and afflalo for zero. bullshit. Amir gets zero. stupid. maxiel played too much. mcdyess is old, no suprise when he sucks it up. Chauncey… wow, how the mighty have fallen bro. 3-9 with 4 assists? I mean really? I agree with whomever complained about the lineups flipster used. Lindsey should play with chauncey not with stuckey. For gods sake let stuckey take it to the hole a few times when we can’t score. Stuckey had one motherfreakin shot and that was one wasnt one he really wanted. Didnt anyone notice how good our bench looked at times during the end of the year? Why screw that up. regardless of our playoff success this year the pistons need a change. All that said we should have and almost did win this game. I read that some players were joking with flip murray during the game. Who let that cat into the building? seriously you suck worse than the other flip go to a cavs game or some shit. Can we please stop bitching everytime the whistles dont go our way? please. please. pretty please? It is contrary to everything detroit sports is all about. Ok the man hates us, well then shut him up with your game not your jabber jaw. Aside from sheed I think most of our players actually get the benefit of the whistle and the stats show that as a team the past few years that has been the case, second only to the freakin spurs. that makes me want to puke by the way. This series isnt over, rip wont shoot bricks all seriers long and chancey wont miss clutch free throws either. But we need to find something that we havent shown more than flashes of.

That as shocking to wake up to this morning…
Maybe we can show up to the next game

the biggest problem with the Pistons over the last few years was that they had no one who could drive to the hole and make a shot or get fouled.

We drafted Stuckey as the answer

He should have played more – especially during the huge scoring black hole we had in the 4th and at the end of the game

We drafted him for this and I don’t care if he is only a rookie Philly’s rookies killed us and last year boobie killed us too.

We lost for two reasons – Rip kept shooting even though he didn’t have it and Rip kept shooting even though he didn’t have it

On the bright side – the Pistons played the worst second half ever and still were only a missed shot or two from winning the game

my two cents on Amir – he brings energy and is the best athlete on the team – he needs to play. no reason at all for him to sit

This is all I’m going to say about Flip: you know Phil, Jerry Sloan , Pop, and even LB would never let the DP’s lose their focus like they have so many times this season. Like they did today.

Flip’s rotation patterns are completely random as well. Why he took Tay out is a mystery to me. I think we’ll prevail in maybe 6 games, but it’s never easy for the team, and that hurts them later in the tournament.

Sauce, there are reasons, but its the same lame mental complacency that has nagged us for a few years now. All you have to do to upset Detroit is feed their ego monster by saying they’re the greatest team ever. After that Detroit will pull over to the side of the road mentally to pat itself on its back, check its pearly whites in the mirror, and maybe take a nap to get some beauty rest while the turtle breaks the finish line.

I’m assuming we’ll lose to Boston, but if it’d get rid of Flip I’m OK with losing in the first round.

Poo. Well that one sucked.

Don’t worry, take a breath and remember that we dropped the second game at home to the Bucks in 04. That year still turned out ok.

In all honesty, I can understand the anger and frustration at the loss, but Philly lacks a LeBron or similar wrecking ball. Detroit Basketball will prevail.

Trust me ;)

ps. I had to wait for the red mist to clear before I could see the keyboard.

Citing 2004 for comfort is not only fallacious, it’s felonious. That’s where the complacency starts. Frankly I wouldn’t mind burning the 2004 banner at center court if it could convince the Pistons to give an honest effort every night.

man, that sucks.
there´s no reason to get worried, until we blow game 2 as well..
anyway, i really think amir needs to play. why?
dyess has been out of sync to whole year. his rebounding and defense are on and of and i´m not talking about that elbow jumper i used to love…
maxiell is great, but i don´t see him playing a starting role. he´s an energy guy, that´s it.
amir is very energetic as well, i think he can match up pretty well with reggie evans, for example..
in my humble opinion sheed and theo should rotate at the 5. with sheed playing about 35 mins. dyess, amir and maxiell share minutes at the 4 with about 20/20 and 8 (amir). the most important thing is to never play combinations like theo/dyess..
one last thought philly beat detroit with its own weapons. so let´s beat philly with their weapons… free the caged animals .. let the zoo run the floor

I’m more worried that the Sizers are going to beat us. This isn’t your prototypical 40 win team. The Pistons seemed tired by the fourth quarter.

That said, the Hunter-Stuckey combo doesn’t work. Stuckey is effective at getting to the basket when he has an outlet who will prevent the defense from collapsing upon the paint. Hunter is not that outlet.

It seems to me that Ratliff was a solid choice, and I’d like to see the Pistons play to their strength by going big. Playing small ball in hopes of beating a young team at their own game doesn’t work. Just ask Avery Johnson.

LawyerBoy: Oh weel, ti was goood whlie it latsed.

I guess even though I’m going on about how ineffective Amir is, it’s frustrating to see our team get burned by rookies every year. It seems like every other team in the league gives their young guys a lot of burn except us. And we’ve been doing this for the last 6 years or so. When was the last time a Pistons rookie made a significant impact? Grant Hill?

Sizers? Sixers.

Also, should have said I am more worried that they are going to beat us than I am worried we are going beat ourselves.

“I guess even though I’m going on about how ineffective Amir is,”

Amir is one of our most effective players, and should absolutely play in game two.

“It seems like every other team in the league gives their young guys a lot of burn except us.”

Not the Spurs or Suns. The rest of teams have to do it because they don’t have anyone else they can play.

“And we’ve been doing this for the last 6 years or so.”

Just imagine what this team would look like with if we hadn’t. Cleaves to Darko would’ve been the new Alford to Blab.

I am not hitting the panic button quite yet. A couple of observations: First, the starters have not closed out a game in about a month. The rust in this type of situation was evident last night, i.e. Chauncey missing free throws down the stretch, everyone missing “bunnies” or wide open jumpers. Second, Flip needs to learn to make adjustments. At about 3:30 left in the fourth, Philly had just extended the lead to 4 and had a firm grasp on the momentum of the game. Flip does not call timeout, but rather lets them go down call another one-on-one play which results in a brick. Finally, Amir and Affalo should have probably played at least a few minutes in the second quarter. Maybe they are playoff ready, maybe their not. One thing is certain, you won’t find out with them on the bench and the second quarter is probably as good as time as any to find out. See Tayshaun Prince against Orlando in 03.

That said, the team that played yesterday cannot beat the 6ers. A team playing slightly better will not beat Orlando. And to beat Boston, we would need to see a completely different team. I am sorry to say, I do not think Flip is capable of “tweaking” to the completely different team level. It will need to come from the starters. I guess they have always said this is a players league, lets hope this is the case.

If I’m repeating anything thats already been said, then sorry… I’ve decided to not spend 2 hours reading negative comments and naysaying. Philly played pretty well last night and our boys weren’t expecting that (I don’t think anyone thought Reggie Evans would be an offensive force hitting fadaway 15 footers) BUT THEY SHOULD HAVE. The 76ers have been geeked up for the playoffs to start for the past two weeks while the Pistons already have one eye on the Conf. Finals. They got caught with their gloves down and took a good right to the chin. Now lets hope that they give Philly their full attention now.

The only problem I saw with Flips rotation was that at the beginning of the 4th he put a team out there with no offense. Tay wasn’t scoring at the time, Lindsey is not a offensive option and neither is Theo. I love Theo’s defense but you have to have him out there with some scorers (same thing for Amir and Lindsey). Jarvis could have been the offense that they needed.

It was like watching the same nonsense against Cleveland all over again. They haven’t learned a frigging thing. To start off the playoffs with that result is asking every team to disrespect you. I don’t blame anyone for wanting “anyone but Detroit” in the Finals.

Billups in todays’s detnews tried to blame his poor play on trying to focus too much on sheed and dyess. Sheed’s shots in the first half was in the flow of the game. When are we going to address billups poor play in the last two years during the playoffs? It is really a concern.

at this point, I’ll take Afflalo starting over Rip. Tay gets more involved that way, the ball goes in the post, and we’re back to playing 4 on 5 on the offensive end again… kinda like we did for YEARS with Ben. Only this time, we have a bonifide hungry perimeter defender who has played in big games in his basketball life.

Call me crazy, call me stupid… call me whatever you want to call me. I feel it’s time. It’s time to stomp out the egos that were built in 2004. It’s time to win fucking basketball games. If we don’t win with Afflalo on the floor, well at least we were trying. Which is more than I can say we’re doing now.

A more effective backcourt is Billups/Afflalo and then Stuckey/Rip… Alternate quarters, each guy gets 24 minutes. If a guy gets in foul trouble, bring in old man river Hunter to play… I guarantee, unless Rip struggles, that this rotation will provide a spark.

I agree with those comments that Philly really could beat us. All due respect to the “It’s not the time to panic” and “We’ve been through this before,” but those are becoming yearly mantras as we watch ourselves crap the bed on out of the playoffs. Philly is the absolute worst matchup we could have had – thank god they switched to the 7 game first round, otherwise I would be even more worried.

I don’t know what was up with the rotation last night. No Amir? Lindsey? Uh…why change what we were doing all season now that the playoffs started? As I recall, our bench is one of the reasons for our record.

Still, Philly got away with one last night. Chauncy missed three free throws down the stretch, Rip, Tay, and Sheed all missed some key easy shots in crunch time.

Every one here calling for the zoo crew sounds like lions fans calling for the back up qb to save the game/season. You’re nuts. Anyone here ever utter the phrase “best starting 5 in the league” at least once in the last 2 years? You’re trying to tell me that Amir is going to make chauncy make free throws or rip to make a shot? The reason for the bench is to give the starters more rest for the playoffs. Wait, this IS the playoffs. Ohhhh. So you’re going to start criticizing Flip for playing the starters starters minutes and using his vets off the bench. That sounds like every other rotation in the NBA. Man, you guys all talk about flip being the problem, never mind 2nd on ALL TIME wins for a pistons coach, but then give the starters a break and say the bench would’ve won it. Damn. And you’re the same people who were arguing with me when Dyse got his extension, too, now he’s too old. I’m surprise I haven’t heard any calls for Herrmann yet, either. Flip has his faults, but the loss yesterday wasn’t one of them, and neither is the rotation. The blame goes to chanucy and rip, and that is the same as the last 2 years.

I can’t blame anyone for hitting the panic button. After the Cleveland debacle, it’s really hard to not think, “Oh no! It’s happening again!”

Craig, Flip was HANDED one of best Pistons teams in the history of the organization. He was HANDED a championship caliber team, a team that had been to 2 Finals in the 2 seasons that preceded him. Winningest or 2nd winningest coach in Pistons history my ass. Half of us on this blog could not fuck up what he has been given.

Flip is the reason why this team has not been back to the Finals, and nothing anyone can say will change my mind on that UNTIL they make the Finals again with Flip on the bench. You want to talk about the players being complacent? Who is the leader of these men? The HEAD COACH…

So, Boney, is Flip the reason the team won 59 games this season, or is he the reason they lost game 1? If the players won 59 games, then they lost game 1. You and alot of others here look the other way when we win, then trash Flip when we lose. The players are accountable, and Joe D said as much last season. I know that Filp’s out if we don’t look good in losing this post season, but so should at least one starter. Tell me, please, who you plan to replace him with. I hope you say Lambier, so I can just chalk you up as another homer….

the players are accountable, but this entire argument of Flip being one of the winningest coaches in Piston history is moot when you consider that LB got the most out of them when it really matters, and Flip can’t do shit.

I’m not going to say Bill Laimbeer is the answer, he’s far from the answer. I was laughed off of the site last season when I thought SVG, JVG or Jim O’Brien would do a better job than Flip. Both the Van Gundys have a track record of discipline, and so does O’Brien.

Flip is the reason why this team wasn’t in position to win by double digits last night. He’s not the reason Billups missed free throws, or that Sheed couldn’t hit the bunny at the end of the game.

Shinons actually proved the point of those of us who aren’t saying the sky is falling …

“Still, Philly got away with one last night. Chauncy missed three free throws down the stretch, Rip, Tay, and Sheed all missed some key easy shots in crunch time.”

Despite the fact we played a horrible second half of basketball and Philly got a ridiculous contribution from Reggie “Rick Ross” Evans that was basically double his season averages in boards and points, we still almost won! Sometimes the way people are reacting here, I have to check to make sure we lost by FOUR and not TWENTY-FOUR. Jeez, don’t you think we have better sets of 48 minutes up our sleeves for the rest of the series? I sure do. Philly is just NOT talented enough to hang with us all series. They worked harder than us in Game 1, so what? Even the team with the most heart ever can’t beat better talent if the talent is too far superior to overcome the gap. I’m not saying we’re necessarily all talent and they’re all heart (Max and Sheed clearly showed heart). I’m saying at worst though, that is the scenario. I have no reason to believe that this situation isn’t going to be resolved with a Pistons series victory.

No panic here until we go down more than a game in this series. People here seem to have such short memories, they can’t even remember we owned the first half. Sauce put it best when he essentially called the halves mirror images. I NEVER disagree with QD, but I for one, CAN blame people for hitting the panic button. It’s one game, and Philly is not Golden State of last year. This team has Andre Miller, Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young, not Baron Davis, Stephen Jackson and Jason Richardson. I’ll be scared if Dice, Prince, Chauncey, and Rip combine for 15 of 50 from the field again. Until then, it’s just an annoying wait until Wednesday when we right the ship.

Craig-Nice words of wisdom. Flip isn’t a genius but he’s not this teams biggest problem. Not even close. I’ve said it before… it comes down to the players attitude and effort. The talent and experience is obviously there.

Boney: I like O’Brien a lot, I really do, but he almost seems like a lateral move vis-a-vis Flip, no? I suppose O’Brien would be a much better FIT with this squad, but I dunno that he’s a much better coach.

I don’t think SVG or JVG are laughable suggestions at all. I’d rather have SVG though. I was pining for Adelman before Houston snatched him, though on second thought, he seems similar philosophically as Flip, just more educated and better at executing. Perhaps we need a hard-nosed, fiery guy like O’Brien. Interesting point to bring up for sure.

Does this team seriously think they’re better than the Bad Boys?

Back to the actual game… the charge that Max drew on Dalembert was absolutely humungous. He’s developed some savy. TBJ actually refered to him as a ‘young vet’ last week. He’s made a huge jump from last years playoffs to this year.

Isiah’s crew would kill a team like this.

44.8%, 48.5%, 44.8% and 48.8%. That’s what Chauncey, Rip, Tay and Dice averaged respectively in FG% this season. 33.3%, 29.4%, 38.5%, and 22.2%. That’s each player’s FG% in Game 1 where we only lost by, I repeat, FOUR points. Do we really think that’s what we can expect out of this Pistons squad? Really?

You don’t lead by double digits and choke it all away when Cheeks and his players had very little to do with this win.

But Sauce and QD … Isiah’s crew had Daly and this crew has Flip! I call foul!!! I’m going to go blame Flip and hit the panic button now.

Anyone want to take action on Philly for Wednesday’s game? I’ll give you a 10 point spread. Game 1 will not be repeated.

Either the Sixers are way better than the record indicates, or Detroit plays down to their opponents. I choose the latter.

LB, if Game 2 is a repeat of Game 1, what will you say then?

Sauce: You do when you put up a choke job like this. Credit to Philly to some extent though, because Rick Ross had 11 and 14 and that shows what they lacked (terribly) in skill, they made up for in heart. But, Chauncey, Rip, Tay and Dice, and I suppose (against my better judgment) even Flip are to blame for this one. I’m not even sure we’ll have another game this playoffs, let alone this series, where all four of those guys coincidentally tank as hard as they did yesterday. I mean, that performance from the field is epically bad.

Sauce, I won’t have to say anything, because it won’t happen.

Sauce, didn’t you pick us in 5 Saturday afternoon on your blog? You getting a case of the Bill Waltons?

I think Reggie Evans resembles a skinny Kimbo Slice rather than a Rick Ross…

To be fair,I think a lot of people picked the Pistons to win, doesnt mean there Bill Walton because they’ve seen the boys play with old habits. They just know whats up.

Look basically, this ends here and cant continue in the 2nd round (should they make it) and certainly not in the ECF. Detroit cant afford to play casually as they did midway in the 3rd. I was mostly mad at the way they handled the ball which is why I blame Chauncey mostly (If you had to blame someone). Ultimatley Detroit plays as a unit, but even then the PG is the nucleus. When he does well, we excel and we doesnt it all comes apart as we saw in 06 and 07, so it all depends on how Philly attacks him and he plays under that duress.

By the way, nice shout out on True hoop, ladies and gentlemen. Esp. LB, who gets the quote.

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-32-81/Pistons-vs—Sixers-Bullets.html

Whoa, cool. Thanks for the heads up, Craig.

OT: Skiles to Milwaukee

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3356713

BALL DON’T LIE!

Yeah, I did pick’em in 5, and I picked Game 1 to go because I knew there was no chance they’d ever drop the first game against a team like this in a series.

So, I was wrong on both counts.

Not my fault for being lied to . . . Billups is a damn liar, and they’re a bunch of con artists, to play worse as your crowd rises up to cheer you on . . . seriously, it’s weak. They’re weak. Detroit Soft Boys, eat your heart out, Mr. Big Choke.

I think for those of you bumming about yesterday’s loss, this could cheer you up by injecting some much needed levity. For some of us, this could bring back some wonderful nostalgia (Warning: There is vulgar language in this video, however nothing worse than the contents of this thread. Hehe, sorry for my outbursts yesterday.) Anyway, without further a do:

http://www.spike.com/video/bill-bonds/2729442?cmpnid=800&lkdes=VID_2729442

20 point win is the only way people even begin to take them seriously out of Game 2 . . . and no more losses to teams like this. A solid perimeter defense kills this team like kryptonite comically ruins Superman.

Sauce man, you’re like a poker player on tilt. So they flubbed, let’s move on. This series and Game 2 (disclaimer: barring some sort of significant injury to a major contributor on the Stones, knock on wood), is in the bag. The series was in the bag yesterday morning, and it’s still in the bag today. Yeah, they’re absolutely charlatans in terms of that “we’ve got this chip on our shoulder, we’ll show them” attitude, but they also provide some really entertaining ball most of the time and are still an elite team. They will win Game 2. They will win the series. Hell, they probably still will win the series in 5. I understand the frustration Sauce. I’m pissed too, but I also realize it’s one game. Three weeks from now, unless someone is a grudge holder, this ugly loss will be forgotten.

I for one expect them to win Game 2 by at least a dozen, likely more.

It’s one game that is more of a definition of this team than the sum of their 59 meaningless wins and words out of Chokey Billups’s mouth.

One is defined by the weakest links, and who’s to blame the world when they define Detroit by blowout Knicks wins and ultimate choke jobs against Philadelphia?

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3356973&name=broussard_chris

I whole-heartedly change my opinion. You Pistons have never learned. Liars.

Stoney and Wojo, hit it right early, Stoney did.

Insult. That’s what fans feel about this game. It should never happen to their home fans like this. It’s one thing to show up flat all game. They had a double-digit lead. This is a whole new chapter of “we don’t need fans, we’re that arrogant.”

anybody who goes on about amir and afflalo’s “unevenness” hasn’t watched the pistons play. we don’t have a totally consistent player on that team.

afflalo makes mistakes, but he’ll get fewer fouls called on him than lindsey because he can defend without handchecking, it doesn’t appear that lindsey can.

amir’s length and athleticism works perfectly against running teams. he’s more of a defensive threat than max is in the open court. and let’s not forget that Amir is averaging more blocks than anybody on the team except Sheed, and in a fraction of the minutes.

i don’t think playing amir is as important as not playing max too much, so i’d be fine if those minutes went to theo. but lindsey’s hand-check fouls have been plaguing him for years. commentator’s pass it off as what he does, but it hurt us in this game. i think afflalo would have done a better job.

the fact remains we lost this game because rip and chauncey were being “uneven.” should they be given the benefit of the doubt because they got it done for years ago, or should then not get it because they’ve blown it every year since then.

a final word on “unevenness”

name one game where afflalo or amir’s “unevenness” cost us a win, because i can’t. name one game where we lost because of amir’s fouls.

i can name a game where tay, rip and chauncey’s unevenness cost us a win. game one of the 2008 playoffs.

i want Joe D to line up everyone – from Flip Saunders and Dave Cowens and Terry Porter, on down to the players from Sheed to Herrmann – and kick each of them square in the nutsack and scream:

‘This is what happens when you [find] a [stranger] in the [alps]!’

About that Broussard Blog:

Who the hell told him Detroit was better than SA going into the Finals or better than Boston this year?

I mean the 06 and 07 Playoffs I understand but those?

…And Im not dissing the Pistons, Im just saying I dont think we were expected to handle the Spurs easily That was gonna be a dogfight that could have gone either way (And it was a 7 game series). I think most people were expecting the same had we met Boston in the ECF this year.

I think everyone needs to calm down and face facts. The Sixers are younger and hungrier right now and never quit no matter how far they get down. They keep coming after you and after you until the final buzzer. They’ve done it all year. They’d steal game 1 vs Boston if they were playing them instead. Point being, don’t get so down on the Pistons, they had their run, basketball runs in cycles…its ok to lose in the first round.

Sheesh. I am not buying Broussard’s take. Like I tell my wife when she gets mad at me for not freaking out that Barack Obama’s going to lose every time Clinton attacks him (sorry, most relative example), who would you feel more comfortable if you were cheering for? Boston, while hoping that Ray Allen’s ankles don’t blow up? Cleveland? Ha! LA, hoping Kobe’s finger doesn’t fall off? Phoenix? San Antonio? I don’t see the team that’s sitting very comfortably right now. I think we’re the best off out of anyone right now.

And congrats for the TrueHoop mention, LB.

I didn’t see egos or arrogance on display. Did Billups miss two free throws because he was arrogant? That is silly.

This is a real series because this 76ers team is pretty good when they play the right guys.

Wednesday feels like forever away, I really am waiting impatiently here.

Kev, they have Willie Green in their starting lineup. They have absolutely no depth. They aren’t THAT good no matter who they plug in. We just got beat, it happens. And for the record, Chauncey missed three free throws (I believe he actually went 1 of 4 over two consecutive late game trips while he was 6-6 in other trips to the line). God, I love sticking it to Mr. Big Not. Missing free throws isn’t an ego problem, Chauncey’s lack of hustle and breezy attitude are the ego problem.

I was saying it 6 months ago….I AM YELLING IT NOW!!!!!! NO MORE FLIP SAUNDERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don’t know if anyone is still reading, but . . . I too was at the game last night (where were you sitting, Sauce?), and too could reel of a list of invectives at pretty much every Piston except Rasheed (yeah, I know he missed a bunny at the end, but he was a monster for almost the whole game — SEVEN blocks!) and Maxiell.

The question really is, “what should we be worried about in the future, and what was just freakishly wrong in this game?” I’m more concerned with physical stuff than “attitude,” to be honest. Here’s my list. I’m NOT worried about Chauncey missing so many FTs in the future; I AM worried about him getting beat off the dribble by quicker guards, allowing too much scoring in the paint by other teams. I’m NOT worried about Detroit committing THAT MANY turnovers, but I would like to see more assists. Speaking of which, IF Rip is 100% physically, I’m NOT worried about him shooting that poorly again, but I AM worried that he’s hurt. And if he’s not scoring, that really hurts our offense. I AM worried about McDyess’s game — he looked old and slow. I’m NOT worried that Jarvis Hayes and Rodney Stuckey will each go 0-1 very often again, but I AM worried about getting good consistent production from our bench (how about at least dressing Herrmann, so when Tay goes out, there’s another option besides Jarvis or playing somebody out of position). I don’t think last night is on Flip, but I do wonder about his ability to make adjustments and figure out the right rotations.

Bottom line. Aside from ’Sheed and Maxiell, everyone else played poorly last night. If they had gotten a better game from Rip, Tay, Stuckey, or Hayes, they win. I think they will get better games from one or more of these guys in the rest of this series, and thus they will get past Philly.

But they will need good games from pretty much ALL those guys in later rounds, and I AM worried about that.

TJ, section 106, back row, screaming spittle-laden epithets amid less and less cheers as the game progressed.

I hear what you’re sayin’ for your real concerns.

Kevin, it’s a choke. That’s about as arrogant as it gets, when the crowd’s screaming for Detroit, applying the most pressure on Philly, and it’s your home team that is the one to crumble.

Sauce: I was in section 111, row P. Same reactions live.

lawyerboy…..thanks for the explanation and for shutting people up in the proper/acceptable way. i’ve seen many comments from different sites but all i saw were comments going on circles (maybe including me) i comment mostly on natalie’s (need4sheed) site and here occasionally. reminding people what happen to the pistons with the bucks is more than good enough and i completely agree with you about these people should work for espn with s. smith, hilarious!!!

Honestly, after what has happened the last two postseasons, I don´t see how we are supposed not to be critical of the Pistons. I get that one loss could just be a bump on the road to a title, and I hope that´s what it will be. But the team has given us reasons to worry about a meltdown. Constructive criticism is what we should aim for, isn´t it? After this stinker of a game, no, the house hasn´t crumbled, but there is a tendril of smoke. And we all aim to put it out.