Bring it on, Boston. Detroit could use a good fight.

This wont be easy as people say it will, Allen has found his stroke and Boston is playing with there backs to the wall. You know there gonna want this. Detroit has to be the agressor and dictate the pace with there energy. I cant stress this enough.

P_P: Your skepticism is duly noted and it will be interesting to see if you are correct. Personally, I’m going to assume that Boston has no chance of winning at The Palace until the final buzzer sounds there and the Celtics have more points than the Pistons. As an aside, while I love and respect that your viewpoint is completely different than mine, I wish that our attention to grammar was a bit more convergent.

I was in a rush, had to step out the room real quick. Seriously though, its the talkback section of a blog and not a dissertation.
Besides, its not like I said “OH NOEZ!!!! Da’Stones R Teh DooomZ!!!! WTF! FTL!!!”

I was harsh there, fair play. However, I hate it when people misuse there, their, they’re and/or your, you’re. You substituted “there” for their and they’re in that post. Doing it twice in such close proximity is like saying “Da’Stones R Teh DooomZ!!!!” to me.

I disagree, sauce. I could use a laugher. But I’ll settle for a game 3 W.

LawyerBoy,

Can we play nice with each other tonight?

Regards,
Boney

GrammarBoy…

Their Their now. They’re will come a time for everyone to express there views on there subject of choice.

It is so good to be here right now. The last two days have been the exact evil twin of fun. Crush them naughty, evil Celtics. We needs our preciousss! Yessss.

Go Stones!

GrammarBoy, you making it out?

I suppose I had all that coming.

Did you know there is a show called American Latino? The only similar thing we could have here would be like, Aussie New Zealander : A Sheep Rooters Tale.

JD: Sure, I haven’t heard from anyone. Why the hell not? Want to give me more details on when you plan to get there or whatever?

What time is it in Detroit right now? I want this game started already.

Laughton: 8:11pm in Detroit. Game starts shortly after 8:30pm.

On a side note, the Lakers look serious. Like Championship serious. I know that might be stating the overstated and obvious but now it looks like they are indeed the team to take it, regardless of this series’outcome.

Keep watching American Latino I guess.

I guess LB and I cannot be friends, even though we both want to the same thing to happen :(

Prophecy, I don’t have the Pistons making it past the 1st round

:(

Boney: Of course we can. No hard feelings, I just have to go and meet up with JackDutch now. I need to grow a pair and ignore that I may feel awkward or misrepresented trying to seek out a “blind date” with another man in a bar located firmly in the homosexual capital of one of the most liberal cities in America.

haha

LB, what happened at PIAB.com? You filing papers against them?

Its legal baby yeah!

uppercuts himself

Hey I was happy I was proved wrong. Its not like I was the only one.

But I just wanted to know how people felt about the Lakers right now and how they match up with Detroit/Boston?

Boney: Working on it, but it’s not going to happen overnight. I’ve been studying up on the case law and it’s kinda ambiguous which means I’m going to have to get some subpoenas and such which involves a lot. I think they banned me from commenting (which is fine), I also think they banned themselves from commenting on Celtics ECF losses, which is lame. I should really leave to go meet JD now or I’m going to miss tip-off. Have fun everyone.

Hey fellas, I’m writing from my soon-to-be mother-in-law’s house tonight, where I’ll be watching the game. I won’t be checking up here at DBB much, but rest assured my future mom will see a new side of Mike Payne. I’ll be the cursingest fool in Iowa tonight, screaming at a TV in front of my future fam tonight— albeit in celebration, not frustration.

Go DET!

LB: already here. To the far left once you enter. Only dude here in a pistons hat.

aww how cute!

Take pictures you guys!

JD: And you’re still commenting? You must have one of those nifty phones. Walking out the door now. I live 5 mins. away. Should be inside in 15 minutes, absolute tops.

Let go Pistons

Its do or die. I hate I have to watch Mark Jackson and Van Gundy

It’s not Hubie tonight?

Well, I am a big believer that if any team wins it all this year (apart from us) it will be Kobe’s Crew. If they meet us in the finals it will be a damn good show, but they won’t score as easy and will eventually lose. The matchups work for us except in regards to Kobe. As for Pau, Sheed would destroy him.

I’m loving that “we’re back” by Sheed.

It sends chills up David Stern’s back

lol@ Sheed

Boston gaurding us much tougher

What the hell man….

Guess Boston wins there first road.

Im so fucking happy right now. Go damn net feed is fucked!

Rip’s a flopper in the Manu mode.

Come on Detroit pick it up. I know the Celtics are defending us well but we gotta attack more aggressivley.

KG out is cool.

Damn the shots arent falling…

4 points in the first 6 minutes . . . how could you have dead weight in your legs, Pistons, after winning that game on the road?

2 fouls for Chauncey. Pistons gotta ba careful…

Sauce to be fair, the Celtics have defended us well in the first 3 mins. Although a couple of shots just arent falling that should like Tays last one.
I dont know if its so much the off switch as much as it is Bostons defense. Damn… They cant trail in this series.

I hate this so much.

Stuckey is unbelievable!

And the Alien has landed (Cassell)

The slow starts have been maddening. I hope this trend doesn’t continue, it could be costly at some point.

no the start we were looking for but a great bounce back from down 9 to down 2

It was “gotta be” in the previous post, sorry.

As for the game, Tayshaun is getting in their passing lanes, now that Rip is guarding Pierce. The paint seems to have closed for Boston, too.

*not

Thank god for Rodney. Makes you wonder how things would have been the previous ECFs had we had someone like him.

It speaks volume when our rookie is the only one at times who isnt afraid to at least go in and draw something from this tough Celtic defense. Seriously, Sheed and Dice should have BEEN doing this the last 2 years.

oooooh, i saw that. once the shit hits the fan they start arguing on the court….
cassel hasn’t played in a lifetime don’t give him any shit :)

Who the hell just said Ball Dont lie to J-Max?

ok with the snd TO – now chew his ass

It’s not hard to guess which need the C’s will be addressing this offseason.

Zombie Sam Cassell is in the game. I think it’s easier to teach Rondo to shoot when he’s open then to win a championship with the undead as your backup PG.

Watch out for Paulie

Mmmm babies.

Keep this going Detroit, Boston havent given it to Pierce yet. Gotta take advantage of that.

Nice takedown Maxiell! ABUSE THE FAT MAN

Morons….

I want them to beat Garnett’s ass when he comes back out on the floor. No reason, I just love fights.

They need to keep doing those curls. After they tied the game, they stopped doing it, and ball movement became predictable.

Come on Bavetta get a quick 3rd on KG, you can do it!

lousy bounce back from the C’s. three pointers from the “role players” a.k.a. “will work for a ring and do only one thing if ya need”

All that work and a couple of lapses on D and we’re trailing big again…

That Boston bench has come to play. I was suprised Davis and Cassell didnt play in Game 2, regular season considering…

Buncha mercenaries. It’s hard to get worked up over such a nomadic team. Boston brings new meaning to ‘fantasy draft.’ Pathetic.

That was a piss poor finish to the 1st. All that hard work negated in the span of 90 freaking seconds. Come on guys! You can do better!

Side note: I’m back and forth working my dual tuner TiVo with the Wings and Pistons. Sorry if anything I say has already been posted.

I’ll live with those ridiculous Sam Cassell shots all night.

Just showed up. Not excited about the score. How have we played in a nutshell?

Aw yeah, bullshit call goes for us!

Dash Rick, not that great. But Boston’s in foul trouble, so oh thank heaven for Bavetta 11.

That block was amazing. Go Max.

their talking about how tall Maxi is again.
i thought we had that discussion already. don’t they read DBB?

Maxiell is hungry. As in, all-game-long-block-machine hungry.

I’d like to see them convert better in transition. Stuckey seems to be looking to abuse Gollem (Cassell).

I yelled so loud on that block, my upstairs neighbor stomped on the floor at me

stuckey for game 2
maxiell for game 3

and for all you real deep down homers:

Amir for the rest of the playoffs

That is an awful suit on Michael Curry. I hate that checkerbox design.

“Chauncey! He’s got one Shoe?!”-Flip

LMAO

dies

Somebody smack KG in the face COME ON

Damn man….

Boston just playing better

like we don’t have enough NRG and even good shots aren’t falling…

We are committing really bad fouls. Stop falling for the jump fakes!

Pistons aren´t shooting well, but the rest leaves room for improvement. A single player has yet to step up.

The Palace sounds WAY to quiet. C’mon make some noise!

Ummm, who had KG there?

Well I did say Boston was probably gonna play us more tougher cause of the urgency to win on the road.We’re kinda lucky Allen hasnt been hitting his shots (for now)or else it really would be over.

You know this Boston team really are similar to us. The way they attacked us in this game and game 1 is similar to how we run ourselves. Of course they are a bit more hunger and have KG rather than Sheed so I guess that gives them the edge. Hopefully Detroit comes out in Game 4 a bit more motivated like in Game 2 and how Boston did in this game.

But this game is over…

Whoever said they’re defending well, yes . . . but, Detroit, they’re just slipping way under the bar on offense. The Knicks could be winning this game right now. Ridiculous.

Detroit isn´t focused right now. They´re not paying attention on defensive rebounds, nor on offensive ones come to think of it. That Sheed jumper felt contrived.

Did I just say “It really would be over” and then declare this game over anyway?

Im an idiot… :(

This game isn´t over.

shooting isn’t exactly bad by the stones but a number of shots have just rolled the wrong way and not gone down. Basically they need to slow this game down more, it seems to be going a bit too fast for them being in the diminutive position in regards to the score. If we’re up by 13 and rolling, the stones are fine to increase the tempo a bit, but not when we’re down.

Flip’s Fault.

Hey Fellas, this is Mike Payne’s future wife, checking her email happening upon his comment…And trust in the fact that “big talker Payne” isn’t betraying his badness…his “future mother-in-law” is drunk AND cussing at LEAST two hours before he is…We’re drunks…It’s how we roll… ;-) Go DET!

Um game not over

somebody put a ban on prophecy projectz. he and phil saunders should hang. what the F** is this ‘its over’ stuff???

WAKE THE FUCK UP DETROIT DAMN YOU

Also let me substitue “is” and “hungry” in my second to last post

Arggggghhhhh! We are playing uninspired ball. I am mad, plain mad, right now.

Not a big fan of the white t-shirts so far.

piñon lopez
May 24th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
somebody put a ban on prophecy projectz. he and phil saunders should hang. what the F** is this ‘its over’ stuff???

Look I’ll admit Im a pesimistic guy, but show me the last time Detroit came from behind against an elite defensive team?

Come on Detroit attack KG and get those fouls on him.

Painful and unwatchable.

Don’t worry. Kobe will explode in the 2nd half. Oh wait…wrong series.

We were totally amped on d, then we had silly sheed to leading to posey three, followed by complete breakdown cassell 3. D hasn’t been the same since.

The Pistons needed a good solid run to end the half and hopefully, they can turn things around come the 3rd quarter.

A step too slow today. And it doesn’t help that Bavetta’s crew is officiating.

I see which team’s the better team . . . Billups’s friends, the Boston Mercenaries.

F-ing pathetic.

Yeesh! What an awful half.

Prince and Rip are shooting awfully. And Chauncey is missing-in-action. Let´s see how they react, but they´re going to need their A-game to bring the Palace´s crowd to its feet.

Don’t blame the officiating. Or Flip. This is just a case of only one team coming to play. The Defense is so much better with Stuckey in there over Chauncey.

Boston is just flat beating us right now. Their defense is much better tonight, and we’re doing nothing to make them adjust. We were effective for a brief 3 minute time with Stuckey in the game, who continued to play well. If we can chip this thing inside of 10 and get the crowd in it, then Boston might start to get a little tight. It’s definitely not over, but we look terrible tonight.

Well I still expect the series to go seven games, but I think Boston is a little bit more alert and more hungry so I guess they will win this series.

I f**king hate Billups! Play you bald f**k or sit your ass down and let Stuckey do something! Why bother dressing in uniform, if you aren’t going to play?

Dude, we f-ing get it. You think we’re going to lose. You thought we would lose to Philly, you thought we would lose to Orlando, so you obviously think we’re going to lose to Boston. And if by some fantastic miracle we beat them, I’m sure you think we’ll lose the finals. But for now it’s time to STFU already. Dammit.

QD, even if the Pistons won the championship, I don’t want Flip. No compromise. He needs to be gone.

This team looks completely different when billups attacks the paint…he is such a good decision maker in there, why does he take himself out of games?

Look at this pathetic stat-line:

C. Billups 13:40 MIN 0-1 FG 2-2 FT 23 +/ 0 REBS 1 AST 1 TO 3 PF

Who is the guy in Pistons #1?

WHERE IS OUR BACKCOURT?
32% ; we can do better than that! C’mon!!

Its not Flip. Its the players! They are not focus. I can’t watch this BS! I am going outside and play with my kids!!!!! I am so sick of them doing this to us.

Lol at kg to russell: winning all those chamionships, that’s an area where I haven’t had much success in my career

Haha understatement of the year kevin

Other Matt
May 24th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Dude, we f-ing get it. You think we’re going to lose. You thought we would lose to Philly, you thought we would lose to Orlando, so you obviously think we’re going to lose to Boston. And if by some fantastic miracle we beat them, I’m sure you think we’ll lose the finals. But for now it’s time to STFU already. Dammit.

I try not to give up? :(

Look on the bright side, the Wings look in good shape.

Seeing the KG-Bill Russell segment is cool as a basketball fan, but I think I would rather see a Lambier-Billups half time conversation RIGHT NOW. Yikes.

Look on the

Look at it this way, when we beat them, this game will make all sorts of top-ten countdowns on espn.com

On an unrelated note, I am at a bachelor weekend in Delaware, notable for three reasons.

1) I am watching the game on a flat screen, which by day is covered by a print of some pelicans. The print is on a sliding track, but is not removable, meaning that I will forever associate this game with pelicans.

2) Someone had the brilliant idea to give the melon-ball conept a whirl. At present, we are trying to stem the flow of vodka and watermelon juice produced by an errant slice of the knife.

3) There are beaches in Delaware. Nice ones. Isn’t that curious? Up until now, I had not heard of Delaware.

Maybe if Chauncey’s buddy, Coach Flip, weren’t game-planning so much fun, we’d be a better team right now.

Seriously? Billups is -23? I had to check the box score to verify that. That’s unfreakingbelievable. Hard to pin that on Flip.

No, Other Matt, they win or he’s gone, everything is pinned on him now.

I’m starting to think those foreign guys in the steamroom of the heineken commercial could stop the Pistons on defense tonight… christ

kevin s., yeah Delaware has nice beaches. The other thing that’s nice is the 0% sales tax. I also think they’re one of the few states with no income tax, too.

Completely disagree with Sauce. Rationality has left the building. We’re all mad that the Pistons are playing bad this game. No wait, terribly, horribly, hatefully bad. Nothing wrong, though, I suppose, with a little venting.

We could still win this game. Boston tastes blood, for sure. They’re feeling it. We have no swagger, and worse yet no shot. This is NOT flips fault. These Pistons have been lackadaisical just EXACTLY LIKE THIS under other coaches. Even future Hall of Famers like Mr. Brown. This is not a defense of Flip, as such. Hardly. Just a plea for reason.

Of course reason is tough sometimes when dealing with this Pistons team.

How does Joe D do it year after year? God bless him.

oh well

Look on the bright side:

The Wings are looking good right now.

Sauce, I don’t disagree with the “they win or he’s gone” sentiment. Admittedly, the Wings game has been way more watchable than this crap. So that’s dulling this pain slightly, not that I love the Wings more, I don’t, I favor the Pistons by a country mile. It’s just that we’ve been so bad tonight, I’m watching hockey.

Completely disagree with Dash Rick.

I never liked him, and this kind of game really doesn’t make me like him anymore. And when people post crap about defending Flip for a job never delivered, you stir up the hornet’s nest. Case closed.

Also, +/- is a weak stat over a small sample. Didn’t stuckey come in with like 6 to go in the first I.e. When garnett was out? So billups doesn’t get those kg-less mins…certainly billups has been terrible, just hate short-term +/-

Like I said, rationality has left the building.

Unfortunately, so have the Pistons. The Palace that is.

I agree with one thing . . . I’m losing my mind. Words cannot express the hatred I have for this team right now.

And Sauce… I agree with that sentiment completely. I feel your pain. We all do. How can you have two completely different teams in a span of 48 hours!?!?!

It will be a tough call on Flip. He has improved as a coach but with 2004 looking farther away in the rare view, how much pressure will Joe D be to Win it all now?

Wow, Samuelsson with another.

The second half has a much slower pace to start, that’s got to favor us.

Perk getting upset with kg for not giving him the ball when he’s near the three point line makes me smile

“Flip is being outcoached right now by Doc”

- famous last words of a blind homer Piston fan

Is it possible to be outcoached by Doc Rivers? I was unaware.

To me, the players are at fault, but a Phil Jackson wouldn’t let them continue like this. They would get talked to in ways that would get through to them. And Flip’s had 3 seasons of this now. He ought to know the starting 5 underachievers when they show up, and he’s as clueless about these things as ever.

The score should be the exact opposite. We WANT to cheer our hearts out for this team. How can you make ANY noise there if they play like this? Seriously, even if they won this game, it’s disgusting. Fuck the Pistons.

Wings up 2-0

BAH! COME ON!

aaaand there goes our run

Kg just murdering us, our d looks completely lazy

Cant believe Pierce and Allen havent been a factor. Guess Flip didnt consider the rest of the Celts coming to play. I would have throught the regular season meetings would have been something to consider. Guess he chanced it on a specfic game plan.

Go Red Wings!

Forty
May 24th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Kg just murdering us, our d looks completely lazy

Well he’s Kevin Garnett…

Perkinisabeast, onlyifyoudon’thaveanyoneguardinghim.

sigh

Yeah agreed prophecy. I like what the announcers said about helping off rondo. How many jumpers has he taken today? I think 0, and that tells me we’re defending suboptimally. He should constantly be in situations where he has to shoot…

Are we having fun yet, Flip Saunders?

Thats a long SN

This sucks. I’m walking away from the computer now.

Also, great to see the Pistons honoring Cas Werda.

BTW Sauce regarding your comment on what Phil Jackson would have done. Im not so sure. He usually keeps players who are struggling in a game and lets them find there rhythm. Whether thats lazy or genius Zen psychology, it can work. Then again, his winning teams featured guys MJ and Kobe and how much motivation and confidence do you need from them for a comeback?

No killer instinct. If Boston was going to break its winless streak against anyone, it was the Pistons. Argh.

I won’t feel comfortable in this series until the pistons have won 3.

The comeback starts here!

Yeah, but have you ever seen Flip just tear a player a new asshole in the press? Just another trick he’s missing. Phil doesn’t do that because he’s reacting and behaving poorly.

…and ends there.

That was just sad. That wide open 3 for Truth

I never would have guessed this was how the game would unfold after the first quarter. Usually, you know the Pistons are mailing it in after 15 mn, but tonight, complete meltdown happened in the latter half of the second quarter. This is really bad.

Sauce1977
May 24th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Yeah, but have you ever seen Flip just tear a player a new asshole in the press? Just another trick he’s missing. Phil doesn’t do that because he’s reacting and behaving poorly.

Sauce you really think knowing our players, Flip tearing them in the press is gonna make a difference? There gonna be like “He’s Flip Saunders. Whats he done? We won already” they might just tune him out as well depending on how bad the struggle is.They’ll work through it themselves.

Billups and his tree trunk legs are washed up. Retire.

The crowd is either silent or booing the Pistons. The announcers are tearing into the Pistons. We’re silent or tearing into them. It is appropriate, given only about 50 points from the Pistons to end the 3rd.

It’s a shame there has to be any more games played. Save everyone the trouble, you bums.

The players would do that because Flip’s incapable of doing that. I hate coaches like him. They wouldn’t do that to Phil.

WTG, Wings, 3-0, Game 1 win, at least some teams are taking care of business.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. I predicted Pistons in 7 with Detroit winning two in Boston and Boston winning one in Detroit. I stand by my prediction.

Well guys, it could be worse. At least the Pistons are playing with heart and giving their best effort… Oh, wait…

I think you have to gain rep as a coach first .Some of the best coaches like Riles and Phil didnt put their team’s business out in the press until later on in their careers because they knew they would understand its coming from a respected figure. Its not like Phil tried this in the early years before Chicago won its first title. They are different ways to motivate your team. Ultimatley you just gotta focus them and have the right plays.

I know that probably wasnt well explained but its late here, Im steady getting drunk and the Pistons are sinking me into depression. I’ll try to better elaborate tommorrow.

4-0 Wings

STUCKEY!!!!! Come on palace, let’s get behind the good guys.

Stuckeyisabeast, Ismellacomeback.

This isn’t the place to gain rep.

Damnit, wtf.

Come on, play! Just don’t let Billups in the game :)

And Rodney continues to prove we can count on him!

Man that three by pierce hurt

Stuckey again! Keep pushing it guy, I’m glad to see someone who actually want to win.

Dwyane stuckey!

At least Rodney came to play.

Its intresting that Mark says that the Pistons should look at the half court trap the rest of the series. You do leave the risk of the shooters as Pierce and Rondo just should.

Took ’em 3 quarters to bring the energy needed to play these games.

Bums.

You dont mess with teh Stuckey. coming this summer

The ball lies and wears green! :) Lucky bounces for Boston…

Stuck is the only player in white on the court right now. And maybe Hunter too.

It’s not the halfcourt trap, it’s the pistons moving on d. If it takes a gimmick defensive scheme to make us care, so be it. But we looked like this early in the game without the trap (which is pretty high beta – allen could tag u)

I was watching this on DVR and just quit near the end of the 3d quarter. Booing. Seriously, that’s fucked up Detroit. Even if they were playing like bums. Fucking pathetic.

The better team made Billups sit his ass down tonight. I hope he’s having fun.

Stuck starts rest of the series. I vote yea.

Chauncey better change his number to zero next year.

Stuck starts. Period.

Oh come on, Stuck has brought a ton of energy, but the ECF is not the time to put in a new PG. Honestly, Billups had a great Game 2 — this game is just garbage and we have to hope we bring it again in game 4

EVERYBODY but Stuck sucks (right now).

I don’t mean to be a sour puss but the Pistons are paying for being flat. They wasted McDyess’s monster game in Game 1. They look like they wasted Stuckey’s play in this game with their flat ass play for 3 quarters. Playoff basketball means never taking an opportunity for granted. After all the talk of “we’re not letting this slip away again” the team has reverted to the worst of their bad habits.

Give the ball to Stuckey and clear out!

Man forget the 3’s Sheed your a damn near 7 footer who should take it friggin in.

I demand a team apology, from the head coach to the inactive players in suits. They owe 20k fans the apology first, then the media, to us.

Hehe I dunno if benching billups is going to win us the series :). But blitzing the kg postup with rondo’s man could help – seriously, where was this earlier?

If they don’t do it, then I want Joe Dumars to apologize for them.

J: Stuck has brought ALOT more than energy. He has brought passion, skill, tenacity, confidence, poise, and defense. CB brought NOTHING this game. And NOTHING in game 1 either. I am a HUGE CB fan, but I am an even bigger Pistons fan. And right now Stuck is better for the Pistons. Ball don’t lie.

Oh fuck this — the fans should apologize for booing like spoiled little assholes.

bonzi
May 24th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Stuck starts. Period.

As crazy as it sounds, why not? Maybe Chauncey will play more hungry knowing hes gotta be aggressive off the bench just to get spot back from a rookie.

Fuck that, J, until Boston fans apologize for every shitty fucking thing they’ve ever done, said, and uttered.

Chauncey has attempted only 2 three-pointers. I know he has played badly, but that´s especially problematic.

0-10 from 3. Crazy. We should be down by 30.

I know where I’ve seen this team before… Game 6 in Cleveland, last year

Pistons deserve to lose this one, but I’m afraid they’ll not win the series if they do.

I’d rather watch us lose with Stuckey and Max giving their best, than watch Mr. Big Suck play like a b**ch.

J: I agree that the Palace fans sucked tonight. Front running chumps.

Sauce, WTF do Boston fans have to do with this? The people at the Palace should be bring energy and encouraging the team. Period.

Chauncey should apologize for telling kg to go to boston

No Stuckey? and there goes our flow.

This has sucked. I do agree that Stuckey should be getting a lot of minutes at this point, as he has been playing lights out. But start, I dunno. Maybe a “6th man” a la Ginobili.

Anyhow, our fans at the Palace have really disappointed me tonight.

Billups is back! Yay! :(

The fans should not booing. Period. That is indefensible. If nothing else they could cheer for the one Piston who appears to care right now: Stuckey.

I am especially angered by all the offensive rebounds we´re giving the Celtics. Detroit needs to work on that, ASAP.

We have NO BUSINESS only being down by 14. Should be 40.

finally, a 3-ball

and a rebound

love it that Stuckey is the one who bumped knees with Paulina Pierce

Encourage what? What has Detroit given them to cheer until now?

Too little too late? We’re supposed to step it up? Fuck that, too.

Pistons’ team chef is getting ready to put some crow in the oven for Sauce…

Crowd still ain’t making much noise, they should be thunderous.

U freaking waste an effort like this tho when u play like dogshit for huge stretches. That’s what’s so maddening. If we played this kind of d for 48 mins we’d give ourselves a great chance to win every game.

If we come back and win this (which we almost certainly won’t), the series should be: Celts 1, Pistons 1, and Rodney Stuckey 1. Seriously. He is the ONLY reason we are anywhere near being in this.

Now he starts playing. About a quarter too late. Well, better late then never, I guess…

Tay seems to finally be taking command, Rip has found his touch, first 3, Sheed intense on defense… It would be incredible if the Pistons tied this game!

Sauce — my view is that real fans encourage their team during a game, no matter what. If you think the effort stinks, make it felt later. Stop going. Stop buying the gear. Don’t renew the tix, whatever. But Game 3 of the ECF is NOT the time to show this. The crowd has lacked energy basically since Boston put on that 10-0 run to close the first quarter. It’s been pathetic. The crowds in Boston and Cleveland and NO put us to fucking shame.

The Palace should be renamed the Library. Shhhhh.

omg, chauncey.

Nice to by billups, that didn’t hurt

J I completely agree. Completely.

Seriously though, what where they suppose to cheer when down 24?

contemplates selling Billups jersey

Chauncey… sigh…

yeah diablo, we show something, and then a terrible TO and we allow an offensive rebound and foul KG…

Man garnett is just awesome in the clutch. Can’t believe he doesn’t have as many rings as russell.

For one thing Prophecy — the energy has been flat since Q1. And they are supposed to cheer their team. Why can’t they still chant DE-FENSE, DE-FENSE no matter what the score?

Boney, if they won, there’s no crow here. No team should do this, ever, under any circumstance. It’s a half-assed game no matter what the score.

I mean what was Chauncey thinking? Seriously.

I can’t believe we gave these spineless choke artists their first road win.

Garnett is a huge choker, but at least he plays first 3 quarters with passion. I’d trade Billups for him :)

If you can’t cheer, be quiet. But booing is OUT of the question. We are not the Knicks. Booing your home team classless. If someone hates them that much, stop going to the game. Cheer when you can cheer, be quiet when you can’t.

Whatever J. Other buildings get silent when their team tears itself apart. Don’t bring that true fan speech, there was nothing to cheer about most of this game.

And fuck class, it’s the argument point that boils me into a rage.

Later.

That last shot by Allen pretty much summed up the whole night…ouch.

No they don’t Sauce. I’m also a huge soccer fan, and I’m used to that level of support. Soccer fans never stop singing and chanting, no matter the score.

I also went to all the Cleveland-Boston games at the Q, and even when Boston started Game 3 with like an 8-0 run, the noise just got louder. The crowd was 100% behind the team. Nothing like these embarrassing fans at hte Palace

night y’all

If any of you go to the Palace for Game 4, bring some noise.

Go fuck yourself, J.

Billups -25, Chauncey +3. Good game, both teams played hard. But only one had Mr. Big Shot :)

Ups. That’s Stuckey +3, not Chauncey :)

Pierce didn’t even do that much damage tonight, and Allen still can’t find the range. Yet those Celtics still find a way to grind out a win. How to stop Garnett? That’s real question right now.

J the crowd got loud at the Q cause Cavs were still in it. We know our Pistons well enough to know that crowd cheering is nothing. As you can see they play better with boos it seems lol.

lol@ “but you should cheer your team even when there down 24” like its a pep rally at high school.

Enjoy your win sir, and if you do win this whole thing, just take it to the Lakers. Until then, lets roll on to Monday.

It was supposed to be a thing of beauty, not this abomination.

I was at the close-out game against the Magic and the Library was quiet then too. Probably 40% as loud as it should have been. So its not just tonight. We are too accustomed to winning. The fans mirror the players: complacent. Not always. But WAY too often. I listened to the first playoff game the Hawks beat the Celts on the radio, and the place was going absolutely, completely bonkers. The announcers, the fans, everyone. For a moment, as weird as it sounds, I was JEALOUS of the Hawks fans. (All 17 of them.) But their house could put our Library to shame. And thats is SAD, SAD, SAD.

And that idea about soccer fans ALWAYS singing and cheering isnt always true. If you do see it, its cause the stadiums are always mixed with home and road team fans, more than any other sport. Ive seen teams down 3-0 in FA Premiership games and its silent or filled with boos in their stadium (See Aresenal’s piss poor display against Liverpool last month)

Of all of the fucking shit games that the Pistons has ever played this might be the one that tops it. What the hell is wrong with Billups? if an employee doesn’t show up for work I would fired his ass already. Damn it. Flip needs to substitute early in the game if something isn’t working.

Monday is a must win otherwise this Pistons team can kisses its five starters goodbye. We got home court advantage back to only give it right back. Them sons of bitches Celtics like the Cavs has no business beating us.

I dunno maybe its the hamstring still. Monday is a must win, though I dont see our starting five going if we dont win.

No need to break up this team. The east will still be weak as hell.

Van Gundy questioned why the fans were booing, saying it’d be better for them to give encouragement.

Mark Jackson, in response asked why he never encouraged HIS players when they played like asses.

Know what Van Gundy did then? Accused Jackson of cheating on his SATs. Seriously.

Detroit fans are dealing with all types of hardship. They deserve better basketball tonight than what they received. Particularly from Billups—who has played like this when he WASN’T injured.

Fucking speechless!!! Our ‘flip switching’ asses will probably win game 4 by 100 pts. WTF man!!!!!!!!

Problem with the Pistons is that mentally, they feel like they have to be in a certain position to give their all. To reach their 110%, they feel the need to reach 60%. Seriously. At times, and I´m not even sure they realize it, they tank. If they just kept above 80% at all times, we wouldn´t feel like we´re following the ups and downs of a mental institution.

Flipping switch? Complacent? Flip’s fault? Anyone who said any of that ignorant crap is such a stupid reactionary. Those types should go work for ESPN. The boys generally brought the effort (some more than others and some times more than others) their shots just didn’t fall for the first three quarters while every conceivable one for the Celtics’ did. Did the boys pick up 11 steals to Boston’s 6 by sitting on their ass all night? No. When the shots didn’t fall for the Celtics, the Celtics got offense rebounds because Detroit was out of position on the boards (after twenty seconds of admirably stifling defense). Kendrick Perkins was taking shots multiple feet outside the paint and making them! Not only have I never seen Kendrick Perkins TAKE the shots he made tonight, far be it for him to make them too! And if you don’t believe me check Kendrick Perkins out on NBA.com’s Hot Spots, dude doesn’t play outside the paint.

Anyway, it wasn’t our night. Stuckey’s the only one who can create his own shot, so he looks like the only one who gives a damn but that’s the farthest thing from the truth. The only significant difference between this game and Game 2 was that we shot horribly for about 40 minutes. Seriously, check the box scores. The only other plausible difference is in assists, which is probably as a result of all the MISSED shots.

Boston has been shooting well all series. Maybe they continue to, but we still beat them if we shoot well. Rip missed tons of open mid-range Js. Tay couldn’t buy a make despite plenty of open looks on the perimeter. Billups sucked and made some poor decisions. If I hear another word about Flip or complacency, I’m going to explode. If we can hit our shots, we’re not in any danger. Get your heads of out your asses and quit crying, it’s a 2-1 series. It’s gonna be harder than I thought, but if we get the shots to drop, we’re going to the Finals.

1. Billups is hurt

But the bigger problem is Flip and his pet Maxiell.

Maxiell has disappeared in the ECF every year he has been with us. When the going gets tough Maxiell disappears

The last 6 games

Min 90
Points 10
Rebounds 11
Personal Fouls 12

That works out to 3.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per 36 minutes

Dumars needs to trade Maxiell this summer. Maxiell is standing in the way of progress.

LB:

You are in a fantasy world of Alice and the looking glass.

The Pistons were not prepared to play.

Billups is hurt

Flip insists on playing Maxiell and Hunter.

Thibodaux and Rivers changed the Celtics defense and as usual Flip stood on the sidelines totally at a loss what to do.

Trade Maxiell and fire Flip.

How can anyone put the blame on Flip, Maxiell or anyone from the bench? Chauncey shot 1 for 6, Tayshaun 2 for 11, and we were killed on the offensive glass no matter who was in the game. The only reason the game was close was because Stuckey, Maxiell and Hunter played ferocious defense for most of the fourth quarter, and because Stuckey is already an established difference-maker.

LawyerBoy, I get what you´re saying about not overreacting to a craptastic shooting night, but the defensive effort was a problem for some long stretches in the game. During most of the second and the third quarters, the Stones looked uninterested on defense. That´s why we´re taking issue with the Pistons´s mentality.

I know it can get demoralizing to have the basket seemingly sealed against you, and the Celtics keep on making unbelievably tough shots, but the starters have no excuse for not coming out as determined as the bench.

I’m with Dg.But. Lots of defensive lapses, no blockouts and only the bench showed serious guts. The crowd wouldn’t boo if this was a bad night. They booed because the Pistons have done this more times than we can count.

uh oh… LB is starting to get on the “create your own shot” campaign train with me.

Trade Maxiell? Maxiell came out vicious tonight, but he got some chippy fouls called, you can’t hold that against him. Not when he rattles cribs and bruises bodies each night.

The Celtics run a lineup that is taller than him. Each player he matches up against are 4-6" taller than him, so it’s obvious as to why he isn’t “showing up” in this series. I thought he played decent tonight. I thought the best player on the floor for Detroit the last 2 games has been Rodney Stuckey.

which makes trading Richard Hamilton this offseason all the more easier… perhaps him and 2 #1s to the Bulls for the #1 pick so we can take Michael Beasley

you take a Michael Beasley and you trade Sheed’s expiring deal and there you’ve got new beginnings…

Damn, Flip — where was your little piece of paper tonight? Let’s get ’em back next game.

I was at the game and it wasn’t much fun. I agree with the comments about the booing – that made me angry. I may have gotten a little quiet when things were looking bad, but I will NEVER boo at my team. Nor will I leave early, considering we showed signs of a comeback. I almost wanted to win just to spite the shitty fans that left.

As far as the game goes, we couldn’t buy a bucket. No one could for our starters. Rip may have gotten his points, but he didn’t shoot well at all. It just wasn’t there for Prince, Billups, or Dyess. And Sheed is driving me nuts with all the walking around, perimeter shots, and lack of banging around in the paint. As much as I love his three ball, sometimes I wish he didn’t have it. And by the way, Maxiell is not to blame and does not need to go anywhere. It’s foolish to say anything bad about him right now.

The things that got to me the most, and ruined us statistically in the end, were rebounds and threes. I can live without threes – the discrepency only accounted for 4 or 5 points – but the rebounding was terrible. I didn’t see many people mention it, but I don’t even know how many times I was screaming for a rebound. Boston seemed to always have a second chance, and sometimes a third or a fourth.

Boston also played great and they deserve some credit. Game 2 showed them that the ‘big 3’ can’t win it alone, so the rest of the team really brought it. Their numbers looked like ours on a given day with 6 players in double figures contributing across the board. Just not a good game for us, but Monday is a must win, and they know it.

greg, how can we buy a bucket when theres no ball movement! oh i know, maybe we can if we have, kobe, mj, lj, kg, or any of the kinds in our team to play iso. jesus!!!! celtics reserves outscored pistons starters in the half time 19-18!!!! now thats pathetic!!!

lawyerboy, u can make an argument about ur analysis on that, but majority of the miss shots, are low percentage shots, the box score doesn’t tell u which ones are low/high percentage shots….pistons have 15 assist made, clearly theres not enough ball movement. not only that, watch the game again (if u have it recorded), you’ll see it, including too many iso play. ur maybe right on the steals, but did all those steals turn into points. regardless, free throws and steals (assuming your right) percentage were the only reason we were in the game, especially in the first half.

and plus, about pistons, working their asses off, yeah maybe in the 2nd half. 1st half was a massacre for the pistons….boston reserves outscored pistons starters….19-18. pathetic!!! billups being on the bench for foul trouble is not an excuse…

There’s more to making shots then just some random expression of FG% on a given night. Getting into your offensive sets quickly, making hard cuts, setting crisp picks, making sharp curls — I didn’t see a lot of that tonight so I’m thinking the Pistons deserve some criticism.

I think I’m the anti-Mike. I don’t I’ve agreed with him once.

I thought Maxiell played pretty well. And I think this loss is in no way Flip’s fault. I don’t think blowout losses are the result of bad coaching. The players didn’t come to play. I don’t think a veteran team with a Finals berth on the line should have to be motivated by a coach.

I saw tons of blown assignments and only sporadic effort on defense.

Yes, a lot of it had to do with bad shooting and Boston doing a good job of pushing it in transition.

Also, Rondo did a good job of making Chauncey have to work and eat up clock to bring the ball up. I think Rip or Tayshaun should bring it up when Stuckey’s not in the game.

I expect a much stronger effort next game.

where the hell was sheed.
where the hell was tayshaun.
where the hell was billups.

i was at this game, and from the get-go, it was entirely obvious that 95% of this team had slipped back into “We won in ’04, so just kinda roll over and let us move on” mode. Lazy passes, no anticipation the defensive end, nobody jumping the passing lanes, and an offense more predicatable and stagnant than Yoda and Cassell’s Degobah swamp.

It’s a lack of hustle, effort and motivation (pseudo-mullet saunders, the Blitzer is officially calling you out)

this conversation has been had over, and over, and over. 6 straight conference finals…yet the team consistently appears more and more run-down. Hamilton will get his points but his constant jump-in-the-air-and-now-what-do-I-do-with-the-ball-turnovers would have a junior high school coach benching him for an entire half. yesssir son, you still cannot jump-stop and make solid decisions with the ball.

With the exception of dice and stuckey, this team is currently playing with zero killer instinct.

This team used to play with a passion and edge that humbled their opponents. They now seemingly play simply to allow mitch albom the opportunity to churn out another cliche-filled column that is weak on game analysis and heavy on a singular repetitive theme. Repeat after me, Beat Eddie House.

yes i’m bitter, but from 20 seconds in this team laid a dirrrtay egg and it was obvious to any pistons fan that they more or less resigned themselves to ‘trying’ in game 4 and ‘hopefully’ just going back to boston with a tie.

zero killer instinct. beat the house.

I dunno if this was a Flip the switch game.I mean we were attacking early. It just the shots didnt go down or Boston to their credit played like their regular season selfs and relied on the D and the supporting cast.
You just knew that Boston was gonna win on the road eventurally and it would be in this series against the team they have had their eye on all season. I guess some didnt think it was gonna be this game. Game 4 is simply a must win now, but the only problem is we have sorta allowed Boston to dictate and lead the series. Boston in 7 looks like the word of the day, but maybe they can build on the adjustments from the 2nd half comeback. Might help to shift the series, it might not. But hey you gotta try right?

Chauncey said it best once upon a time, they don’t do well with cushions at all. That’s not all of what happened, but that’s part of it. They got beat by Perk and Posey, that’s what’s so embarrassing. You can’t shoot 38% and go 1-12 from the arc and expect to win. Still, the NBA being what it is, I expect a Pistons blowout in Game 4.

I think this game had a lot of negative energy surrounding it. As I posted at the beginning, my feed of the game never started and my net layed a digital egg. I am currently feeling really shitty with a flu that just developed overnight and to top it all off I was busting my ass to get a damn essay done in time to watch the game!

Long story short, I felt sick when I was checking the boxscore at the end. Piss poor performance by the team. Detroit knows how good Boston is, so I don’t put it down to anything but one of those bad days that happens to the best of us. Its damn frustrating because we all know we were due for one and with this team it was always going to happen at some point. I tell myself this because I want to stay positive. Keep the series close and land the punch when we need to is all I ask.

Ric, I agree the ball movement was bad, and you can’t expect shots to fall when sets aren’t being run and you end up with a bad look. It wasn’t that way the whole game. We were doing ok in that department in the first, but once we got stagnant, we would have lost even if our good looks went down. But they were missing put backs, Rip was missing open shots, Tay never made one of his little back-down-spin-hook shots. And when we actually got a second chance rebound, it didn’t fall, even if it was open. Our offense was bad on both fronts.

@QD – lol uniformed and loud mouth? lol-wow I love it. I’ve stated that I respect Pistons and Spurs for their team first philosophy on both ends with is rare these days. I’m 37 years old and remember Bill Lamebeer getting rocked in the face by Bird and The Chief to know much more about the overall NBA that you may think and it’s history (also a Pacers fan in the Miller era).

Piston went back to the Jeckyll and Hyde phase, but this Cs are not the Sixers. Rondo is a very talented pg that lacks experience and rather pass than shoot. Mark my words by this time next year will be his coming out party and will develop a mid range. He’s an athletic pg who can defend and rebound. I can’t defend Perkins, even though he had an incredible game last night. I despise Perk and Scalabrine. They are a waste of a roster spot. I wish Theo Ratliff was in Perks spot. Lemme digress since I can go on and on about Perk.

As I stated before Piston will go as far as CB will take them. I seriously like our chances coming back to the Garden 2-2. Game 2 Pistons put on a clinic & had their A-Game: hitting every shot and playing great defense. Game 3 Cs played great defense but didn’t have the clutch shooting vs staunch D like they did in Game 2. When and if the Cs can play the Game 2 offense and Game 3 defense, I just don’t see Pistons winning that game.

Ball is on your court now. Monkey is off the back. Advantage Cs. Let’s see what happens!

QD don’t open our mouth to someone who knows what they are talking about because you’ll eat a fat one! ;)

My last post was a response to QD comments to me. As far as you Pistons fans, some of y’all are overreacting. It’s only one game and every team goes through this – especially the Pistons. Bottom line the Cs were hungrier because they HAD to be. I’m sure they will be complacent game 4, and Pistons will come out swinging. Entertaining series which now I think may definitely go to 7. Stuckey is a damn pesky thorn that won’t go away. Great pickup! Wish we had him. We had someone like him but after 2 knee surgeries and lack of confidence he’s buried and lost on the bench (Tony Allen).

In addition: don’t take the Pistons for granted y’all. You have been blessed with a good brand of top shelve team for quite a while. Enjoy it – even if they don’t bring a championship because the rebuilding process is an ugly painful journey!!! I know this very well.

Prophecy — not sure what you’re talking about re: Arsenal. I’m an Arsenal fan and they did not have any piss poor performance against Liverpool in the last several weeks. They drew with Liverpool twice and lost a game (at Liverpool), and were well and truly hosed by the refs re: penalty decisions.

In any event, the crowd at the Palace seriously sucks. Somebody upthread mentioned the lack of noise at the closeout game against Orlando, and that too was library-esque. That shit needs to change. It seems like both the fans & the players are complacent. Maybe with a little enthusiasm pulsating onto the floor from the crowd, Chauncey & Sheed and the gang would play with a bit more focus and energy.

mike. i can’t believe anyone ever on this message board would even hint at trading maxiell. if you asked me who played well in that travesty, i would say stuck first and max second. and i wouldn’t call him “flip’s pet.” this is the most he’s played since he was starting for dyess in the orlando series. i certainly would blame about a dozen other things, including the beer i was drinking last night, before i would blame maxey.

i have to say i was pretty pissed. but not murderously pissed. this was classic detroit. they felt like they had done their job by stealing a win in boston and they relaxed. meanwhile, boston played pissed and we didn’t match their intensity. and i agree with lb about missing shots. they just didn’t drop tonight. but half of that is focus. the psyche of this team is just not as tough as they’d like you to believe. and when boston started dunking and we started missing jumpers in the first few minutes, i think the starters started getting tight.

the box score is misleading. we had 9 blocks and 11 steals, but i thought our defense was mostly out of position and a step slow. if i looked at sheed’s line i would think he had a decent game. rip’s line looks legit too. so does dyess’. but i think all of the starters had terrible games. i think the only info that really tells the story for the game is the 38% shooting. we didn’t put the ball in the hole. and then the questions become, did we just miss shots or did we take bad shots or did they force us into bad shots or what? i honestly think it was mostly just us missing. i’m not incredibly worried. if we can come out monday with a big win and roll a little momentum into game 5, i think we still have a good chance in this series.

but nights like that from chauncey and tay just can’t happen. just cannot.

At this point, we all know what Detroit does. We wish it were different, but this thread is proof that no one is surprised the Pistons laid an egg after coming back to the Palace in command of the series. Will the Pistons play better in game 4? Absolutely.

But what attitude will they have for the rest of the series?

It gets tiring not to have a clue whether your team will play with hunger on the biggest stage. What overreaction is there in criticizing the kind of non-action we saw last night, BleedGreen617?

I´m not worried about this kind of shooting performance happening again. Less than 10% in three-pointers, Tay and Billups not being able tu buy a bucket, Rip missing some of his patented shots… What can destroy us is not defending with determination for 48 minutes, and letting everyone and their poodle collect offensive rebounds.

First of all, f*ck that. I ain’t waking up at 3am again untill we show some ballz (or maybe i’ll get up for the next game…we’ll see)
Second, I wouldn’t boo my team. that’s just something you don’t do.
Third, what i am worried about is that we keep saying “it’s only one game”. well add four of this “one game”s and you got yourself a one way ticket to the end of the season. And in case you weren’t paying attention we have accumulated 2 of 4.
and last, i don’t buy that whole being comfortable made us lose the game. there’s no comfort in being 1-1. no comfort in the world for letting them get back home court advantage.
How come mcdyess us the only one who does his job day in and day out. We are relying on the oldest starter to create offense? If we lost another ECF i think we should give him his money back on all the knee surgeries he did…

*TO buy a bucket, sorry.

BleedGreen617: I’m not sure of where, when or what QD said, but I’ve got to imagine he wasn’t referring to you personally because that’s not like him and you clearly do know what you’re talking about. You’ve been respectful the whole way through, and for that I (among others, I’m sure) am greatly appreciative. However, you have to realize that your pleasant attitude is the exception to the rule with Celtics fans. Did you hear one “bullshit” chant at the Palace last night? No. That’s the difference between Celtics fans and Pistons fans generally speaking. I don’t know if it’s something in the water in Boston, or if the fans just mirror the team (team-play w/no superstars v. jersey-popping), but that is unbelievably busch league stuff. Anyway, I for one welcome your respectful insight and am quite glad to have your comments.

Mike: Um, I don’t know where to begin so I’ll just shake my head and walk away.

ric: Rip shooting open mid-range jumpers, Sheed turnarounds in the post and Tay open-looks from all over the court are NOT low percentage shots. These are the shots we take and make on a regular basis.

I’ll admit that I must’ve given the boys too much credit for consistent defense, but I just remember tons of possessions where they locked the Celtics down and then a long offensive rebound killed them and led to another bucket. I would love to see a second chance points stat because I’m sure Boston had a ton. And again, the box scores aren’t that different between Game 2 and 3 if you take the time to look. Anyway, anyone trying to refer to the “switch” again needs their head examined. There’s a huge difference between the “switch” and it just not being your day and/or putting in a bad quarter or two. The switch is a dead issue. Unfortunately it’s going to be tough now to pull off three straight with the intensity Boston brings so this will likely go seven. But, with the way Detroit plays after a loss, Game 4 should tell a different story and I like Detroit’s chances going forward, because if Game 3 is any indication, it doesn’t look like Boston steps on throats.

Oh and Boney, your draft-day dealings are nutso. Yes, Rip didn’t take it to the rack last night (shame on him!), but when his mid-range isn’t falling at all like it last night even the calmest cat has to be thinking “WTF” and playing on tilt to some degree. Literally, 4 of the starters shot poorly in places they normally kill from all on the same night. Doesn’t happen often, and I sincerely doubt it will happen again this series.

OT: Ha ha. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AnX2TrQOOTiJXjSTZi3bNzfqxLsF?slug=ap-bulls-noaharrested&prov=ap&type=lgns

that was a classic detroit, as jackdutch mentioned.
expect the ´stones to come out fired up an monday.

you hate watching, that, but you love hating them, because you know they will bounce back.
Bring it on.

lawyerboy…maybe youre the one who needs to get your head examine by saying the box scores aren’t that different between Game 2 and 3……u have to be delusional to say that, look at chauncey, tay, dyess points, oh yeah, maxiell was not in game 2 stat/box score….also, look at the team assist. and by the way!!! the final score of the game!!! from game 2 to game 3.

Um, BleedGreen617? What the hell are you talking about? I don’t even remember reading a post by you, let alone, responding to one.

Terribly disappointing. As far as I could see, we missed a bunch of open shots in the beginning; got killed on the boards all game; and to the extent Detroit’s philosophy was, “let the non-big-three guys beat us” (reasonable, considering how badly they’ve played on the road and even in Boston last game), well, credit where it’s due, the other guys beat us. Detroit dug itself into too big of a hole in the first half. Maybe we could have come back from down 10-12 against the Celtics in the second half, but not from being down 18.

It was interesting that I finally hear an announcer say, “they’re playing a three-guard offense,” which is what they’ve been doing consistently whenever Tayshaun is out.

I posted previous to the game that Detroit shouldn’t expect Boston’s road woes to continue, but I didn’t think it was going to be like this.

Bottom line: Game 4 is a MUST win, Detroit is going to have to win 2 in a row, which will have to include one in Boston. I think it’s do-able, but coming back from 1-2 against Boston is going to be much harder than against Philly.

So Chauncey is gonna play through the injury

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2008/news/story?id=3411806

And J, those 2 Arsenal games were piss poor. Much like the Pistons, they didnt attack till the second half.

The Pistons are a jump-shooting team, and when the shots aren’t falling they need to fall back on the old standbys of defense and rebounding to get the job done. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case in Game 3. I see this going seven and I have no qualms about the Pistons ability to win it in Boston.

ric: Um … if you count TEAM FG% as one stat instead of 12 different ones, the only stats that were significantly different between Games 2 and 3 on the Pistons end were team FG% and assists (and FGM if you’re being particular). I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that a poor FG% lowers your assist total when as many buckets as the squad should have knocked down were set up by solid offensive sets. That being said, we got whooped on the glass (both sides) in Game 3 and in Game 2. When we tied them in rebounds (and were +3 in offensive rebounds) in Game 1, we lost because we allowed them to shoot significantly better than us (See: Game 3) and we didn’t protect the ball. We still protected the ball much better than the Celtics in both Games 2 and 3. Boston shot 49.3% in Game 2 (to our 48.6%) and 46.4 % in Game 3 (to our 38.4%). Both teams have been excellent from the free throw line so that’s a wash. My point is, the rebounds are a wash if we hit our shots. Any game we hit our shots in this series we will win, because our best execution is better than their best execution. ric, if you actually took the time to look at the stats instead of tell me I need my head examined, you’d find that to paraphrase Sheed, “Stats don’t lie” and you’re wrong.

You know what, against the Pacers in 04 we stole home court only to give it up in game 4 with a damn flogging. We win game 4, we still got a good chance of winning this series. Big respect to Boston, the force is strong with them, but I think we have a chance to rattle them.

Now before anyone calls me stupid or deluded take a minute and realise that it ain’t over till its over. I refuse to accept that this team can’t do it. I have the utmost belief that we can take another on the road. When the pressure is on to end the series I like our guys. Miami needed another year before they could get past us, and that was with Shaq who had some idea about winning championships.

I am glad Boston got the road monkey off their back. Lets reload and keep our heads down, because in the immortal words of Rainbow Randolph: You better grow eyes in the back of your head, you horned piece of shit, because I’m not gonna sleep until worms are crawling up your foam-rubber ass! I’m goin’ on safari motherfucker! SAH-FAR-I!