Pistons are in Philly

Really? No one cares that much?

Just got in to watch the game…

looks at score

turns off tv

lol

Bring on the playoffs. Hurry.

What happened to the starters building a 20-point lead before the bench comes in to finish out the game? I’m not seeing ANY consistency, motivation, or energy from the starters. THAT’S what concerns me.

Can they just flip the switch when the playoffs roll around? I’m becoming less and less convinced.

You know, I don’t understand why they are putting it into cruise control. Maybe if there were two or three games left, but when they started to shut things down there were still 7 games to go. Is it really that much better to get rested up and enter the playoffs losing 4-5 straight? Yes they can’t catch Boston, but how nice would be if the Pistons got by Boston in the ECF, and had home court for the NBA finals? Also, I thought that the starters were getting more rest this season because of the deeper bench, so why not play your regular rotation to try and win these games?

Right now they are a game up on New Orleans because of the tiebreaker, but I see the Hornets or Spurs passing the Pistons just because it looks like Detroit has shut it down, meanwhile the West teams still have something to play for. This kind of sucks because we may see a repeat of 2005 when San Antonio hosted the crucial game 7.

The loss doesn’t bother me.

What bothers me is no Rip again.

Hopefully the Pistons are hiding a more serious injury to him.

Not much time for him to come back before the playoffs and get into a rhythm on offense.

I remember how bad he was at the beginning of the year for about 5 – 10 games after he came back from his injury and birth of child

Should have read

Hopefully the Pistons aren’t hiding a more serious injury.

I don’t think they’ll lose home court for the Finals. New Orleans won’t make it that far.

Should we be worried about Rip?

Oh well, no sixty win season.

I didn’t see the game, but I bet both teams played hard.

How did Willie Green get 2 blocks?!?

He leaped into the air, timed his defense, then swatted a shot attempt away. Later, he did it again…

Anybody else uncomfortable? I see this playoff run becoming much more difficult than it needs to be (again) en route to Boston.

Well, Boston lost last night too, so it doesn’t seem like they’re going pedal to the metal either. But there are concerns.

Most important: I also really hope Rip isn’t hurt seriously.

Second most important, seedings against the West. I don’t think the Hornets are going to come out of the West (of course, I would never have picked them to be the #1 seed in the West, so my crystal ball isn’t necessarily reliable). I hope we stay ahead of the Lakers and Spurs (two games up, as of today, I think).

Third, “momentum,” “switching it on and off,” vs. getting the starters rested for the playoffs, vs. letting the young and new guys play. This is the toughest one to balance, and we’re only going to be able to judge come the playoffs. The first round should be 4-0 or 4-1 at most. We’ll be playing a team that will barely be .500 — a team that would have missed the playoffs in the West by a mile. If Detroit really is hungry and deep, we should see a 4-1 series over Orlando too. If it goes 4-2 and 4-3, I won’t get my hopes up for the ECF.

while i’d rather play toronto in the first round because i think they’re a bunch of candy-asses, i think this philly team would be a good warm-up for the pistons and would tune our boys up right for the 2nd round matchup with orlando (i obviously think we’d ultimately win.) philly would force them to play hard for a full 48, would make them hustle back, and would make them push their offense to the level it should be at. essentially, it would get them back to playing like they’re supposed to. it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.