Pistons look to take control of series

Game 5: The battle of the Rodneys!

EC Finals: Cavs-Magic

I just puked a little.

“EC Finals: Cavs-Magic” who called that?

his best effort came in game 3, because it was a 20 point win with a lot of garbage time, nar-DUMB-i.

Kind of sounds like our infatuation with Amir Johnson, if you ask me. In any case, I’ll be at the game tonight for FanHouse, but leave your thoughts in the comments.

“Infatuation is the state of being completely carried away by unreasoning passion or love; addictive love. Infatuation usually occurs at the beginning of a relationship. It is characterized by urgency, intensity, sexual desire, and/or anxiety, in which there is an extreme absorption in another. It is traditionally associated with youth.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infatuation

It is my opinion that the use of the word infatuation above is incorrect and misses the whole point.

Wanting to see someone play more minutes on a team is not infatuation, especially when all on court evidence more than substantiates that the Pistons are a better team when Amir plays.

Frustration for how Flip has handled Amir is it seems to me a more apt description of the situation.

Not just to see him play to to see the Pistons play better which they do when he plays.

Can we please play hard in the first half tonight? Please?

I see a big game from Billups coming.

I’m really tense for this game. But it’s like I’m hyped for a blow-out, not a potential loss.
No, seriously, who called Cavs-Magic?

I think we’re in for a great game tonight. Philly is going to do their best to claw out another win to retake the lead, yet I think we can expect four solid quarters out of Detroit. I’m expecting for Detroit to show that it is the better team tonight. I’m also confident that Detroits lack of focus is behind them, at least for this series.

Here’s to stifling defense by Detroit and our trademark balanced offense. And here’s to Maxiell taking a dump on Reggie Evans’ head.

my god, Dalembert is retarded.

Rasheed, quote, in the middle of the dance:

\m/

Is there anywhere you know I can see the game on line, it’s just audio on channelsurfing.net I hate being out of town during the playoffs….

someone tell me a good sopcast channel please

We need to settle down a little, I think Maxie’s about to bust.

Also, anybody else think the Palace looks empty? They talked sellout but it looks far from it. Crowd could be huge in this game.

giving them extra possessions is a good way to let philly stay in the game. tighten it up, boys.

crowd SHOULD be huge in this game. it’s an early weekday tip, but still…

I don’t know how to do fancy hyperlink stuff, but this site below is phenomenal. The usually have several options for viewing games, even if some of them happen to be in Mandarin Chinese. You have to be patient and the “search thread” function can be helpful, but the first forum post should give you at least two or three ways to view the game. It seems as though TVants is taking the lead in peer-to-peer sports broadcasts for those of us who borrow Internet access from our neighbors…

http://www.myp2pforum.eu/nba-basketball/

Hey, DBB does the hyperlink for us. God I love this site. It’s smarter than any twenty Boston fans put together.

I must bid a fond adiue for the evening, as I’m watching the game on DVR at Q-Dog’s place a little later tonight. Northwest Pistons Enclave!!!!

Shoulda gone on a tear like this and kept the foot on in Game 1.

Tay is coming up HUGE so far. So thankful he’s on in this series, w/out him I don’t think we’d be where we are.

hell fucking yes.

What a haircut, what a stooge.

What the hell is that “LT” grooved into the side of his head? LaDainian Tomlinson? Lucky Toilet? Life Topless?

is sheed going to break his own block record tonight?

welcome back to the world of the living, chauncey billups…

Well then! I guess Detroit came to play today.

let’s do three more just like that, boys.

Outstanding quarter, guys. Don’t let up.

Getting the feeling that Iguodala is slowly figuring out Tayshaun. Either that or Tay knows he’s got the stroke so he’s concentrating a little more on that tonight.

“Well, then!” Indeed.

I thought the rule was no homer announcers in the playoffs? This scratchy voice philly homer needs to shut his mouth.

I don’t live in Detroit nor do I have NBA tv so I am listening to the game on nba.com ….looks like we’re kicking their ass.

Holy sh*t! Afflalo!

http://www.justin.tv/maged_tv seems to be showing the game for any out-of-towners…

Wow, playing Afflalo is paying dividends right now. Who would’a thunk it?

So I guess this is the part of the game where the officials try real hard to get Philly back into it?

We’ve really started to get under their skin. Shots raining down from the corners, almost everything contested. Man, I wish we would have started game 1 w/ this attitude.

Man this is more like it. I love seeing Afflalo on D, seeing his shots fall is a huge bonus.

Ha! Evans can’t believe it. I love it.

Good start, but is it just me or does Billups make almost all of his non three point shots harder by trying to draw contact instead of just focusing on scoring the ball? I know he doesn’t have the biggest ups, but sometimes I feel like he could finish if he stopped trying to get a foul called every single time.

Have we just seen 4 straight quarters of good Piston’s basketball?

I owe Flip some love. The adjustments in this game have been great. I like the rotation better today, even though starting J Max so he gets more time on court with Thad was only b/c of the injury. The traps on Miller have been excellent. I think we are smart to focus on him more than Iggy, as Iggy doesn’t get everyone else going. And to the extent it’s Flip’s fault when the team fails to come out sharp and focused, he deserves credit when they do.

My favorite adjustment is how we’re using Billups off of a high pick and roll and letting him create. He’s just murdering Philly.

Well done Flipper, way to put your guys in a position to succeed.

wonder if he was trying to draw contact on those free throws?

I’d suggest any local sports bar to anyone who wants to see the game and can’t get NBA TV.

2 things:

1) Forty nailed it on the adjustments. Many kudos to Flip for the game plan thus far.

2) I’m stuck with the stupid Philly broadcast (being local to there) and it’s Comcast Sports Net. They keep showing the game from an angle that I think is too far away to be able to tell what’s going on. Anybody else getting that feed, am I crazy?

Calls are really going our way tonight, too.

yeah they really are. very favorable whistle.

I will now hit the Goin’ To Work whistle and take a lap around my living room, I can officially say we have come to play.

It’s sad that I have to wait until 4 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter to say that, but it’s not really surprising.

I love it that the Pistons have shut us up. This time during game 3 I bet we had 150 comments so far.

I feel like Philly, dazed and confused, since I just cleaned out the bathroom with bleach. Whoah.

No! There’s still stuff to complain about! Why isn’t Samb dressed? Give him a chance! The 76ers just scored, and 1! Flip, call time out! McDyess isn’t producing, he’s washed up! Let’s trade him and Tayshaun for Dwight Howard!

Well lets credit Flip for this one, hell of a guy, hell of a coach. Hopefully we can start understanding this for what it is: Detroit needs Flip—hes the only man for this job. Done and Done.

Flip just logged in to self-promote. Weird…

Okay, apparently Flip’s brother or something is posting around here.

Another Flip related note: I love tonight’s rotation. Minutes for Afflalo, Stuckey has played well, I kind of like the Stuckey, Rip/Chauncey, Tay, Max, Dyess lineup. We get a lot of energy with this lineup.

“Another Flip related note: I love tonight’s rotation. Minutes for Afflalo, Stuckey has played well, I kind of like the Stuckey, Rip/Chauncey, Tay, Max, Dyess lineup. We get a lot of energy with this lineup.”

Well put.

Really, this is weird. But since you’re here, and it’s a time-out, put in Amir.

Bob shits on the mohawk. Nice.

Big difference – the starters are playing together. Sounds dumb, really, I know, but those losses, especially the Game 3 stinker, everyone was on an island, in their own little world. Billups is playing much better. They’re actually using their awareness of each other to top results, which is something they could do every game, if they only showed up every game.

It took McDyess’s journey at halftime of Game 4 as inspiration to turn this around. Sorry to say, but seriously? They actually needed to be reminded of playing for today, and wanting it badly? Lot of bad habits. Let’s see how long Detroit can keep from falling into them.

Well said, Sauce. They definitely are playing together and w/ a greater sense of follow-through.

Ok, here’s where I put Amir in.

If we can take one thing away from these last two games its the the Pistons coaching staff has put on a clinic. The truth is throughout this series everyone has been in the right spots—which is really all you can ask for from the coaches. Add to that the fact that Flip´s widely documented speech at halftime of game three highlights his proven ability to put things in perspective and get his players focused. No one talks about the fact that Dice hasnt got the ring the rest of these guys have; Flip pointed this out and the fellas took it to heart. Great coaching overall. Great player management. wow.

game four

So insightful…brilliant! Put in Amir.

AMIR WITH THE BLOCK!

Is this like James Weir logging in to comment on how righteous Bobby Weir’s slide guitar was during an interminable rendition of Little Red Rooster? Or how sweet it was when Bobby falsetto-scatted for an extra 9 minutes during Estimated Prophet?

Don’t anyone expect the Sixers to roll over for game 6,they’ve shown a lot of heart thus far. The Mavs, where do we go from here?

Outstanding effort, guys. Good from start to finish.

Feel good about this because you should but don’t, and I can’t stress this enough… DON’T sleep come game 6.

It better end Game 6, no Game 7.

Tay this series: 39-61 (64%)

Past 3 games: 27-35 (77%)

It’s probably better for the Pistons to be tested in Rd. 1, then again, the Celtics are in the midst of being tested also, which I also think works in Boston’s favor, as it’s their first year together and it’s good for them to overcome some adversity. I don’t believe that series to be in doubt though, merely something for Atlanta to build on for next season.

B23 – no – remember that Flip’s name is Phil.

Very nice game by the Compton Connection.

Flip finally woke up and realized that Afflalo is our best perimeter defender.

Los Angeles baller, best in the world

So, this is the first game I got to see. My thoughts:

- We got all the calls and all the lucky breaks.

- I was surprised Hayes wasn’t in the playoff rotation but Afflalo was great today.

- Stuckey has had his regular season breakout game. He needs a post-season one too. He looks tentative.

- With Maxiell out there, it looked like the Big Ben-era Pistons’ D.

phil saunders, you are cracking me up. i hope your dad keeps up all these brilliant moves and gets the pistons back to the finals, or i’m pretty sure you’re going to be packing up a uhaul, kissing yr girlfriend goodbye, and moving back to minnesota.

re: mwhyte72: “I love it that the Pistons have shut us up. This time during game 3 I bet we had 150 comments so far.”

They only shut up those who gave up on them, and there were plenty of commentors here that gave up on them. Hopefully it shut THEM up. For those of us who have been pro-Piston this whole series, they did nothing to shut us up, just confirm why we stand behind this team.

re: Phil Saunders: “No one talks about the fact that Dice hasnt got the ring the rest of these guys have; Flip pointed this out and the fellas took it to heart. Great coaching overall. Great player management. wow.”

Please note that Flip also does not have a ring. And while I’ve defended him all series, he’s very late in line for whom I give accolades to for our performance. Tay, Sheed, Rip, Dyess, then Flip, in order of importance for this series, IMO.

nice game, huge win.

btw: thanx @ pdxpistonfan

QD: “I was surprised Hayes wasn’t in the playoff rotation but Afflalo was great today.”

I was so excited to see Afflalo in there… and grateful he got more PT than Hayes. I honestly hope, so dearly, that we don’t pick up Hayes in the post-season. He’s shooting 26.7% this series. And while I admit he hasn’t had enough time to establish a flow, we don’t need slow adaptation from a bench SF— especially in the playoffs. And while one could make arguments for Hayes on defense, he’s had nothing but sloppy fouls in the last two games, averaging more slop than anything else in his PT in the last two. I really want this guy gone.

What I DO want in the post-season— I want Afflalo working out EVERY day, taking a thousand three point shots, jumpers from every angle, and getting Pistol Pete mechanics on his aim. If he can develop an offensive game to match his defensive genius, I want this kid’s hand on the torch after the next season ends.

@ Mike Payne – “They only shut up those who gave up on them, and there were plenty of commentors here that gave up on them. Hopefully it shut THEM up. For those of us who have been pro-Piston this whole series, they did nothing to shut us up, just confirm why we stand behind this team.”

I didn’t mean to imply that I, or anybody else, had ‘given up’ on them. They simply did what we knew they could do and, for whatever reason, didn’t in games 1 and 3. And that prompted a lot of anger. Don’t confuse a comment lamenting soft or sloppy play, a lack of energy or interest from a team we all know and love as not being ‘pro-Piston’. In fact, it’s quite the opposite, we vent because we all know that they are so much more capable than what they’ve been showing us at times in this series.

Cheers.

Point 1: I’m really glad good Pistons showed up.

Point 2: Man, Sheed was great.

Point 3: Awesome move by TNT. I don’t know how they figure what goes on nationally, but who wouldn’t want to watch a totally lopsided series over one that has a title contender on the ropes against a great underdog story? In case you can’t tell, I’m being sarcastic. You (TNT) stink! You are a senile bucktoothed old mummy with bony girl arms and you smell like an elephant’s butt!

two points:
a) does anyone have a link to d/l the game so maybe i watch a game in the playoffs?

b) i remember someone did a calculation a few weeks ago showing that had detroit played in the WC than its life wouldn’t be much harder than in the EC. Detroit and boston are both having problems closing out their series and how bron-bron won one of his 3-1 with a lucky 3-pt shot On the other hand, looking at how in the west all but utah are done with 4-0 and 4-1 than i think maybe the EC isn’t the easy walk in the park everybody claims it is. either that or the moves done by dallas and phoenix towards the end of the season have weakened the way more than we thought in advance…

Great game all around. Re Hayes, he’s been a disappointment/non-factor in this series, and I’m high on Afflalo’s future too. But I still think Detroit will need somebody to back up Tayshaun. Afflalo is a guard, not a SF. Can we dress/play Herrmann in the second round (assuming we get there)?

In other news, I do wonder what Dallas and the Suns will do, and if there were any justice in the world, some Celtics would be suspended for tonight’s game.

Yeah, strange how no suspensions were handed out for either Atlanta or Boston. I wonder how Phoenix feels about that.

Great game by the Pistons. I thought the Sixers had some great chances to come back a bit in the 2nd quarter against the Detroit bench, but they kept shooting themselves in the foot. It would have been moot anyway, as the Pistons starters blew it out again in the 3rd.

@mwhyte72: kudos, my friend. I didn’t want to imply that you were among the pessimists here, and I agree with your point. Its just been really hard being a part of the DBB community when the Pistons are down— it brings the haters out en force…

@Toledo Joe: Unfortunately we likely won’t dress Herrmann. I’d love to see him play over Hayes (especially in this series), and he might be just what the doctor ordered to help Tay with Turkoglu. But its probably too late to effectively integrate Herrmann…

When we went small last night, Afflalo played really well at the 3 (at least I think Afflalo was at the three and Rip was at the 2). I’m not suggesting he’s a solution at SF behind Tay, but where the matchups work in our favor, that might be okay.

In the post-season, however, I’d like to take Herrmann over Hayes. If we take neither, there are a few free agents I wouldn’t mind fitting into our ranks behind Tay. Although it might be ignorant to think that we could afford a guy like Josh Childress, and just as ignorant to think he’d settle for anything less than a starting position…

I hoping the Pistons will finish these guys off once and for all in Philly. Just come out gunning and as we seen it quickly deflats Phillys confidence.

my hope is that they’re learning something from playing the sixers in this opening series, even though it was a scarier match-up than toronto, which is probably the most pathetic playoff team of this season. if we had just sleepwalked through the first round and had these issues against orlando and got down 2 (and a half) to 1, orlando has enough to talent to keep us on the mat. hopefully, they’re getting through these stumbling blocks of overconfidence, of thinking they don’t have to work for shots, thinking that they don’t have to play defense, etc. and this series, which i hope we can put away tomorrow night, will have made us a much stronger contender.

I agree, JD. While I disagreed with that assertion after game one, I agree with it now. A few people on DBB made that suggestion after game one in the comments, and the series will hopefully prove them right. That the Philly shock could be the stimulus that gets the Pistons putting it all in, every night.

my fingers are crossed.

On another topic, that link to the Celtics blog is an entertaining read, especially in that so many of the comments there mirror the comments made here (albeit not so much after game 5): Our coach made a lot of terrible decisions; but the players are making the mistakes, why don’t our stars play with more aggression, urgency, and/or intelligence?; we should play X bench guys more; let’s face it, maybe we ARE over-rated; hey, calm down now, the series isn’t over, we can still win; yeah, but we’ll never win the championship this way; and etc.

BTW,

I made some lolcat pictures you can send to your Celtic fan friends.

http://mine.icanhascheezburger.com/View.aspx?ciid=1052364

http://mine.icanhascheezburger.com/View.aspx?ciid=1052411

No long-watching Celtics fan savors Doc Rivers. He could be worse than Flip Saunders for skill.

Ohad: I still believe Detroit and Boston would be leading the Western if they were in that conference, even if Golden State and Denver (weaker teams) were swapped out . . . Dallas woulda missed the playoffs, and Detroit and Boston would be somewhere in the Top 4 caliber along with Los Angeles and San Antonio.

Detroit, vs. lesser teams, that’s when they stink. It’s reflected in the attitude and mindset of Billups, when asked about such lopsided contests. I’m sure Detroit would be putting up a couple stinkers against Minnesota and Seattle if they were out in the Western, I mean that’s something that drives fans nuts about this team.

And the Cavs choke down the stretch and fail to eliminate the Wizards. . . .

Great job of Coaching by Flip (Hall-of-fame-bound) Saunders, mixing in Afflalo at the 3, going small against the quik, young athletic 76er’s and starting Maxi. Fantastic job of coaching! Joe D. should extend his contract to keep the the LB mess from rearing its ugly head again. The team that Flip put on the floor these last 2 games will win the NBA championship (even if Utah makes it out of the West!)