OUCH, Billups landed on his balls. Literally.

That fall-thing that Chauncey just experienced looked weird. Hope he’s alright…

We don’t want the crowd into this. Not good.

14-2? This is getting ugly.

I thought the chances of a loss looked good but I don’t want to just give the damn game away. We have zero energy on offense.

I’m not one to overreact (I don’t think), but…

Fuck Jameer Nelson. That was a Bruce Bowen level dirty play that got Chauncey injured. I hope the league reviews that play and suspends him. Billups had both feet planted and Nelson kicked/hooked his leg and caused that. That was a dirty fucking play and I’m pissed about that. Watch for it on a replay. That was really despicable.

…and zero energy on offense either.

That limp did not look good at all. Uh oh…

Nelson’s playing out of his mind. He’ll settle down soon enough. Arroyo did this, too.

Not good…Stuckey has to make those layups

I’m nervous.

TNT says “strained right hamstring—questionable to return”

This sucks, no energy at all. The Chauncey thing doesn’t help, obviously. Looks like I’ll be watching the second half from the gym because I’m going to need to blow some steam off if this is how it’s going to be.

I am so sick of hearing about the clock malfunction. Anyone want to guess how the discussion of the lopsided officiating in this game so far will compare to the coverage of the clock? Ha.

Not that the Pistons would be winning or anything, but I think they’d probably be within 10 if this were being called the same way on both ends of the floor.

2 for 15. Can’t win like that.

Pam Oliver says “hamstring strain” for Billups. A-rod went on the DL for 15 days for his quad strain. And there’s a lot less stopping and starting and lateral movement in baseball. Here’s to it being a “hamstring tweak”.

This looks really bad…not only is Chauncey down, but there’s just no inside presence and we’re settling for the J.

I think he’ll be out for the rest of the series with that injury. We have to sweep or win in 5. Shit!!!

Om man lets hope Arnie can work some magic on that hamstring. We are not going anywhere without Big Shot. Um and in usual piston fashion we will probably drop game three. :(

Well, let’s see if Tay can step it up. I think he’s capable of running this team without Chauncey.

Also, the officiating is awful and I bet we see at least 2 Piston technical’s and one guy foul out.

Hey, that was a really pretty pass by Rip.

Ambushed……

Did Sheed get a tech there? I have the volume down…

Well, 14 down at the end of 1 looks pretty decent after the way that quarter started out. Ouch.

Worst case scenario for Afflalo is a very good sub off the bench. That’s if his offensive game doesn’t develop at all over the rest of his career, which I obviously don’t see happening. I wasn’t crazy about the pick when Joe D made it, but he’s proved me wrong.

Give ’em time. Nobody game plans for your primary ball-carrier going out of the game.

Luckily, we have Tayshaun and Rip who can help fill that need. Don’t underestimate the redundancy this team stockpiled.

Wish Chauncey good fortune. Strain around my parts means ‘torn muscle.’ It’s one of those ambiguous terms I despise. He wasn’t having the best playoffs before the injury. He didn’t need that.

That hamstring pull looked awful…kind of puts game 3 into perspective. We’re done if he’s not healthy.

as long as it’s not sheed getting the techs. he’s already got 4! if we could cut it to single digits before the half, we could make ‘em pretty nervous. flip’s already played 9 guys! in the 1st q!

Dear god, not like this….

Billups is out?

Arroyo… DENIED!

exactly how BAD did the hammy pull look? real bad? really really bad? because it would be really really really bad to not have chauncey…..

and JD…he’s going to put as many in as possible until he finds the right combo if one exists…and I’m liking Tay running the point.

i’d give it one to two reallys. not three.

McDyess, you just can’t keep your arms up and not expect to get called for the foul.

It’s clear that we need energy right now. Flip I have stuck with you through thick and thin and now its time for you to deliver. Lets find out if these kids are for real, so here is what I propose:

Afflalo shadows Nelson
Amir shadows Lewis

All I want out of these guys is hustle and defence, time to shuct these suckas down! I seem to remember us creating a star called Tayshaun a few years back by giving him at run at Tracy McGrady.

Cmon stones lets create the next star!

Here comes Walter.

JD, it looked awful. Am I the only one who thought that Nelson hooked his leg on purpose and that it was a Bowen level dirty play? I can’t be that far off base, can I?

can we blame flip for chauncey getting hurt?

Other Matt…I’d have to see it again, but my initial impression was that is was not a Bowen level dirty play.

Flip should be fired.
Let’s trade Rip and Dyess for Kobe.

I still think we can beat this second-tier team with Chauncey out. Might take a little longer, but… This squad is ghetto.

I had to bring it back and watch it again, it looked awkward to me when I first saw it. I thought Nelson definitely turned his foot into Billups to catch his ankle and try to pull him down from behind.

It didn’t look too bad really at the time. It happened slow. But my impression of CB is that he is tough. So if he’s out it must be bad. Not good.

Anyone know the free throw differential so far?

Did Sheed get a tech yet? I have no volume…

No tech yet for sheed, surprisingly. He is trying to get one though.

We don’t really think that Jameer Nelson tried to pull the ol “hook a guy’s ankle with your ankle and give it a slight pull to tear their hamstring in half” do we? I’m pretty sure it was unintentional…

No tech yet-close. The differential is 11-3 so far. not good.

utep, we’re 1 of 3. they’re 8 of 11.

Chauncey’s injury has thrown this team out of sync….

Hell, its thrown me out of sync

Does anyone have a link for the game?

Great flop by the RATTLER!

Kevin S: I second that. Even if the Magic win tonight, the series is still 2-1. I’m pretty sure that the Pistons have decent, non-Chauncey players on their roster.

Not necessarily. A hammy can get inflamed quickly and heal quickly. It all depends on the injury.

The key is to turn this into a game and demoralize this Mickey Mouse team heading into game 4. If we show our teeth, they’ll back down.

i’d give back that clock malfunction shot in less than 5.1 seconds for a healthy chauncey.

Stuckey be our hero! It is your time to shine.

In games like this, you’re going to see who’s truly an under-appreciated asset to the franchise.

Forty, come on. I just thought it was a dirty play to hook a guy from behind. I think any play where you’re going after somebody from behind is “dirtier than Bowen”.

I guess I’m wrong, so I’ll back off.

how about jarvis hayes come thru for once? here’s a chance to earn your way back into the rotation, jerkoff.

Hermann is being a pest, I like it.

If anything, we have the best strength and conditioning coach in pro sports. Arnie is the man.

http://www.justin.tv/psn_tr3s Link for the game.

We get a foul call? I don’t believe it.

We need to get this to single digits by half time.

Good call-Sauce. Somebody has to step up tonight. A Stuckey show would be nice but Tay is the best bet.

Let’s assume Billups is lost for 15 days. If Stuckey and Afflalo step up and Prince keeps raising his game I still think the Pistons can advance. That little kind of tweak happens all the time and you have to cope with it. It hurt the Lakers when Karl Malone banged his leg up when the Pistons last won the championship but nobody feels sorry for them. If nobody steps up in a crisis you don’t deserve to be champions.

Getting this thing to single digits before the half would be huge after that craptacular start. We keep getting it down to 10/11 and just can’t break through that barrier. Hanging around, though.

i’ll take any of the other 11 active players aside from the one who got shanked in the hammy by jameer “i’ll show you i’m not soft!” nelson to step up. i don’t care who.

i cant stand reggie.. why did he had to make up storyline along with sheed walking away from the huddle?
mann we need chauncey badddd
even tho we’re only down 10

We are making a run, lets keep that defense tight and rebound.

Now ten points. Phil to Pam Oliver: “This is the NBA!”

Not to dig any deeper but Billups out of the game might be the best thing for the team because now the bench and the other starters are earning their minutes. Love how Hermann, Hayes and Ratcliff are seeing some time. Hope Billups make it out alright after tonight.

Is it wrong to expect more from Rip than just contested Js? Nice Stuck!

Okay, I’m late to the game.

I just reviewed that play on TIVO, and that was absolutely a leg hook. He had his leg snarled, and pumped his foot twice. Son of a bitch.

Thank you, Stuckey stopping their last second run.

Okay, good, I’m not crazy.

Minor miracle this game is on 12 at the half. We’re showing some resiliency, though, and guard Rashard better.

Well, if Orlando hadn’t hated us enough, they found out Detroit didn’t quit when they lost Billups. 12 point game.

Something about not killing us, makes us stronger . . . might wanna say a prayer or wish good fortune or something, that this isn’t a hallucination . . .

The Piston can win this game without Billups. I know they will. Who’s with me?

12 isn’t bad. Could be ALOT worse.

Kevin, you’re saying that Jameer helped that injury out?

Other Matt, intentional or not, sorry for an overly aggressive, dismissive comment on my part. I’m just really frustrated right now.

Yeah, Rashard is earning every last ridiculous one of those 130 million dollars.

are you serious Kevin s.?
ughh anyone have a link to this? :’(

It’s no problem, we’re all on the same team here.

seriously, nelson hooked him? i gotta see it when i get home. that dirty rat….

Just mark down a present for Jameer in the throes of an elimination game. Don’t worry.

Considering the Pistons don’t tend to fair well in game 3’s, no Chauncy, Sheed only played 14 minutes, and we’re only down 12 after that start isn’t too bad.

TNT just said no Chauncey for this game…listed as day to day.

Bad half, but the Pistons are now playing hard and Orlando looks like they could give up a run anytime now. Calls in the second half no better than the first. This would be a close game if it were called the same on both ends.

See if you can get a few more stops in the second half Pistons. There is still a chance to win.

Anyone else think it was hilarous Chuck said Detroit was gonna win this series so matter of factly even with the Billups? lol@ the straight disrespect. Hope hes right….but damn Im nervous right now.

We’re finding out something about Flip Saunders, now, too. I just hope that his amazing on-the-fly adjustment without Billups isn’t followed with a 2nd half stinker. Come on, Flip, mount up the better clipboard!!!

I feel silly rooting for Flip Saunders, yes.

“Day to day” is better than “out for the playoffs”. Let’s hope the other starters and the Zoo Crew step it up big time.

We can win this game. The only matchup problem is Rashard Lewis and Jarvis Hayes is not the solution. It’s time to give Amir a chance. He’s got the athleticism needed to slow down Lewis.

Here’s a link Ree:

http://www.mogulus.com/mychannel420

*even with the Billups injury I mean

I think it’s maybe 60-40 that Jameer intentionally hooked Chauncey. It’s tough to tell, but that was definitely my first impression watching it live. But on replays I wasn’t as sure.

Prophecy, I caught that . . . remember, Charles also didn’t like Golden State’s chances, either, and he became a poster child for their “We Believe” crap. I take Charles for the sound byte that he is. Pure entertainment with smidges of insight every once in a long while.

Jameer has been playing with a chip on his shoulder and taking it out on anyone and everyone in red, white, and blue. It ain’t our fault that people call him on his weaker defense and size and lack of a consistent jumper.

Ugh, fu**in daylight time saving. i woke up at 4am and still i missed a complete hour of the game…
And to wake up to chauncey getting injured. bah

Obviously, while we could win this game without Chauncey, if he’s out for more than this game and the next one, it’s a very serious problem for Detroit.

For right now, we have to stop the penetration and somebody besides Rip and Stuckey have to score. If Herrmann is going to get minutes, he has to look for a shot or a drive sometimes. Maybe Rasheed will have a monster second half. Maybe Maxiell will contribute more. Good to see they didn’t pack it in, down 18 and with Chauncey out.

Why are BOTH Dixon and Hunter inactive, by the way?

I think the start to the third quarter will be crucial. Cut it to single digits half-way through the third and it could be close the rest of the way. Let them open it up to 18 again, and we’ll probably pack it in.

Which wouldn’t be the end of the world, just losing one game, if Chauncey can play in game 4. Or at least in game 5.

Might be a good opp to continue to exploit Jameer sans Billups. When Stuckey is aggressive, he can get to the rim. Let’s hope that is in the plans for the 2nd half.

If anyone else has the ability, look at it in rewind. It looks (in rewind) like Billups drags Nelson all the way to the three point line with his foot. Was that a slide tackle? Nice. Loser.

Looking good so far.

Except for that jam by Howard.

thx for the link Diablo

did that shot get blocked?!

We’ve played this whole game in the 15 point lead, trimmed to 10, pushed back to 15, trimmed to 10, ect. Gotta break through that barrier and maybe they’ll get a little tight.

Not to start up the pro Amir talks but wouldn’t he be an ideal match up on Rashard or Hedu?

SINGLE DIGITS!!!!

BALL DON’T LIE!

Wow, credit to the officials who are letting Rasheed go. He could’ve easily picked up a tech 2 or 3 times now.

No problem Ree, others have helped me get links in the past, I thought I would do the same. :D

give tay the ball. rip is all over the place

I HATE it when Rip tries to drive/create a shot one on one… Argghhhhhh!

We’ve bogged down on offense, we need to get going to the basket again. We’re settling for working the ball around the perimeter and getting a long jumper.

double digits… at least we’re still in it.

In the future just go to:
http://www.myp2pforum.eu/nba-basketball/
and pick the streams for that day. It has 2-5 streams for every game…
i’m using http://xssports.lhosting.info/ for example

Chauncey hurt us . . . but this game, Rasheed’s killing us. I still love this fight.

If the lead shrinks into the 4th quarter, that should scare Orlando. And if Detroit has until Saturday to plan without Billups, that should help rid some uncertainty.

I missed the start of the second half. What was the lineup coming out of the locker room? I’m curious if Stuckey was in for Billups?

Stuckey is trying but things are just not falling right now.

stucko is good. he’ll only get better as he matures and gets experience.

we need to keep the D up. c’mon boys lock down!

Nice hustle Dice.

jjj: yup i think he was

Whoops.

Not what you wanted to do with 3:37 to go in the third, givin’ Detroit all that time to go to charity on you, Orlando. Thanks for that.

Stuckey!

that was a very good drive & shot over Howard from Stuckey. Down to 7

Keep working them Stuckey.

Go stucko! 7 and counting!

TO THE RIM! TO THE RIM! TO THE RIM!

good couple of moved stuckey!

COME ON!

the crowd is getting a little nervous. Orlando is in the penalty so keep taking it to the hole Detroit!

DAMNNNNNNNNNNN STUCK!!! lovin his effort

Without Rip, we’re down 20, instead of just 7.

Boney’s STILL wrong.

I like the little hug from Dice. Stucko is steppin’ up. And Tay is keeping us in this.

If, and its a big IF, we win this game on their court without C-Bills, it will send a message to the Cavs and Celts. We just have to hope that the C-Bills makes it back…

Stuckey getting us down to 5.

5!!!!

In the future anyone who wants to see a game just go to http://www.myp2pforum.eu/nba-basketball/
pick the streams of the day and just watch
this is what i’m watching now…
http://xssports.lhosting.info/

What,No Jameer out of the TO?

TRAVEL! Down to 3? Even 2? Let’s hope!

Tayshaun PRINCE!

RIP!!!! Terrible tonight….

Rip….what are you doing?!?

FU, Rashard.

Rip turns the ball over and Rashard gets the transition 3. Great way to ruin momentum Rip.

RIP!!! Arghhh!

Anyone worried that Rip is going to try to take matters in his own hand (he seems annoyed by stuckey and prince running the show)….with one of his patented forced one on ones.

dumb foul Rip

Argh! Now they start calling it tight!?

Bad call but nice D by Maxey. Gave up no ground.

3 point game

Rip proved me wrong, good pass to Prince.

Let Tay and Stucko do their thing. I don’t mind Rip shooting, in fact I like it. Its the dribbling that makes me nervous…

I’m loving Tay right now, it seems like he is in the right place at the right time.

You know what, I don’t care what the outcome of this game is, this is a gritty as hell performance out of our Detroit Pistons.

Hermann is just a spaz out there… I like it.

DetUMICH…it already happened last game and this quarter too.

rip with a billups-like pump fake to end the quarter

Good job Rip!

Redeem yourself Rip, don’t miss freethrows.

Good quarter Stones…made up 8 points in 12 minutes.

How about that, Orlando?

Don’t get nervous now, I mean Detroit wins this and . . . heh, heh.

other matt… i agree .. even tho i’d love the win… a loss wont be so hard to swallow wit the way they are playin.. at least its not a full out blowout

Great 3rd. Hamilton is really, really making me nervous tonight though.

Final quarter. Back in it. We’ve got a better shot than many would’ve thought after the opening 10 minutes. This team is gritty and tough. I’d say we’ve got a 50/50 chance of pulling this thing out. Flip has done a great job on the fly. Hope he doesn’t blow it in the final quarter…

Eeeeehhhh, that was an iffy call on Turkgolu.

i make it home from work to see us within 4. then they double the lead. i might stop watching for all of our sakes…

Thanks for nothin,’ Rasheed. You’re showing the world why you can’t be a star.

Do we have one more answer? We’re on the ropes now.

Not a good start to the 4th

Bad shots=transition=wide open three point attempts.

Damn, where did our offense go? We need to gaurd that perimeter better, seriously.

we were at the wrong end of that run

7-0 run. Yuck. Settle down. D up. Grind baby grind.

Our offense went with Rasheed’s scholarly decision to hoist up a turnaround post J from about 16-18 feet with a guy right in his grill.

i liked the tayshaun stuckey play better, do that more

fuggit. i’ll sign off and hope for the best. later, ya’ll. i ain’t putting my bad luck in the way of this comeback.

I would much rather watch the pistons go down after attacking the rim instead of resorting back to taking bad perimeter shots.

Rasheed don’t got it tonight. He’s KILLING us.

JackDutch, I just turned off the TV for the same reason. It had been off for me since Chauncey went down, I couldn’t watch… Hopefully we’ve reset our bad karma for other Pistons fans. My set remains off.

Thanks, Rasheed, for all the mouth and none of the Js.

Rip with the travel. Great.

Same with me JackDutch, as soon as I turn it on Orlando goes on a run…

It’s my fault.

11-0 run, great way for Rasheed to assert his dominance.

Wow, went to the block? What a great idea.

At least make a run fella’s…if the blow us out in the 4th they’ll be feeling a lot better about themselves going into the next game.

i cant believe we’re back down 16.. UGHHH

We get into trouble offensively when we’re not trying to work the ball inside. They go on these mini runs when we start working the ball around the perimeter and bogging down.

I don’t know, though, maybe we just expended too much energy chipping away.

16 point lead…put a fork in it & hope Chauncey’s feeling better for game 4

common with the fu**ing free throws

i know theres 8 minutes left but for effff sakesss make a small run pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

would have been great to see Amir in for Sheed.

Sorry Flip Saunders. No point in bringing Rasheed out there. Wasn’t interested in picking up two quick fouls for half-ass defense, clearly wasn’t comfy with being ignored on the bench, goes right out there and shits the bed and decides this game. Thanks, Flip.

Yeah, Flip’s Fault is back, baby.

We gotta get it to 10 at the 5 minute mark to still be alive.

I’m ready to see Amir.

Rasheed, I defended you in the past, but you’re breaking my heart.

You just know Sheed is gonna stop any little run we get with a Tech.

Good to see they finally figured it out but it appears, too little too late…….

I’m loving Stuckey’s effort though.

Free throws are great. Points and no time off…

wow, nice play by tracy mc…EVANS???

ouch

And fin.

Omg, Evans over Rasheed…what the hell. Where was that a couple of years ago you bum.

OK, Orlando is shooting out of their minds. Done-zo.

the 3 giveth…

Can’t play good perimeter D with a paint loper like Rasheed. Thanks, man, for all that mess, we really didn’t need to piss off Orlando’s crowd, either, not with that junk you put out there.

suddenly arnie kander is the pistons’ x-factor

Ok, when Maurice Evans hits a turnaround, fadeaway jumper, with the shot clock winding down, with Rasheed Wallace draped all over him, you know it’s just not your night.

I feel like this was bound to happen for Orlando sometime. Too bad it won’t happen again this series.

I really like the way Stuckey has played tonight. Excellent job.

more free throws…

Quote Joe Dumars, from TNT cameras, mouthing with a shake of the head, looking to the sky, “unbelievable.”

Thanks for killing the momentum, FLIP SAUNDERS AND RASHEED WALLACE!

Yeah, I think Stuckey’s play has been a real positive. The only positive from this game. He offers a lot of hope for the future, and hopefully Flip will use him some in this run, which (assuming Chauncey comes back soon) should go on for a while.

over

I really don’t like Jameer Nelson right now. What a tiny little douche.

Sauce: I thought he said “I don’t know what is going on” like he was answering someones question.

I’m glad we didn’t mail it in after being down 24-6 with no Chauncey.

THANKS FOR THE WIDE OPEN 3 CLANKER, RASHEED!

UNBELIEVABLE!

surprise… sheed missed

rip…

I think Tay’s been pretty excellent tonight, too. He’s been quietly very good all post-season. If it’s at all possible, he’s going to have to shoulder more of the load.

Uh, we mailed it in, that’s what this 4th quarter is.

Send your compliments to the chef, Flip Saunders.

Sorta agree, Sauce. We got it w/in 3 pts at the end of the 3d, but came out w/o any energy in the 4th.

if we get 100 dropped on us it means we didn’t play any D. And i don’t buy that they are a good shooting team. this is on us

Waiting for a Ratliff elbow to Howard’s eye-socket.

The LeBrons I can respect because of, well, LeBron. These Euro-queers? Kill ’em.

We came out with our tallest piece of garbage performer tonight, Mr. Rasheed Wallace, the bald patch don’t lie, that was a mangy dog game, ’Fredo worthy, you bum.

Reggie Miller please please please shut the fuck up.

I don’t think you hang this one on flip. no way. CB out. Sheed layin’ bricks. Maxy back to earth. No dice. This was a tough loss, but (until the 4th quarter) a good loss.

I have an honest question, is the Flip and Rasheed bashing serious? Or is it tongue-in-cheek over the bed wetters during the Philly series?

Because the former is really ridiculous and the latter is hilarious.

I also wish somebody would show Tay’s block on Reggie so he’d shut the f up.

reggie miller should stuff himself.. ughh i cant stand him
dude thinks hes some cool hot shit… he just plain sticks.
ugh

Mailing it in would have been never getting back into the game with no Billups. It obviously wasn’t a good 4th quarter, but at least we put ourselves in a position to have a chance to win.

thankfully I’m watching this train wreck on mute. What is Reggie McChicken Flopper Miller saying?

Don’t want to start the anti Flip campaign but they came out of the 3rd with two straight jumpers. One by Rip and one off the dribble by Sheed. The coldest guys in the game, Should’ve stuck with the Tay/Stuck show, who were at least trying to get near the rim.

No, fuck that.

Flip didn’t have to put Rasheed back out there.

On the plus-side, we got to see Walter Herrmann and his flowing, blonde locks in extended minutes tonight…

“Reggie Miller please please please shut the fuck up.”

My mom just said something similar and she’s 77 years old. She went to HS school with Bob Cousy so she’s old school. She also said “Cheryl must have got all the class in the family.”

WALTER FOR THREE! That will turn our fortunes around in this series!

And before people get on my case, is there ANYONE who thinks matching up Rasheed, a clearly slower defender at this point, with Rashard Lewis, a 3 masquerading as a 4, was any kind of a good idea?

I don’t know who’s fault that is but why go away from what was working? It might not have made a difference anyway because Orlando was hitting EVERYTHING!

I think the Sheed/Flip bashing is serious.

Personally, I think it was just bad timing for Sheed to have this type of game with Chauncey out. He will be back next game on fire no doubt.

As long as we take the next game this series could still be quick. Plus, our team will at least be prepared to play without Chauncey.

Terrible 4th quarter though.

Are we sure CB is out for the next game?

Sauce, I don’t want to start nothing, but seriously? We trimmed an 18 point lead down to 3 without arguably our most talented player and we’re railing on the coach for putting him back in? I have no fault with the way Flip handled this thing. We couldn’t ride the 5 that got us back in the game for 24 straight minutes. Yeah, Rasheed killed our offensive flow, but that was more bad decision making on his part than Flip screwing up.

I’m proud of the way we battled and scrapped in this game. That was a gritty as hell performance. We could have folded up shop and gone home halfway through the first quarter. We came apart in the 4th, I can live with that. There were some major positives to build on there, like the play of Stuckey and how well Tay ran the team. Those are 2 things we can build on.

We had some bad luck tonight, it happens.

Sauce, point taken about Rasheed defending Lewis. But we were kind of forced into that match up with Rasheed’s foul trouble, so that’s even kind of hard to nitpick. If he’s guarding Lewis for most of game 4, then I might get pissed.

I’m a big Rip supporter but he tried to do too much this game and it shows in his game. Six TOs and 20 shots is too many with Billups hurt and the team needing cohesion.

’Sheed had a brain freeze game.

Zero points in 49 minutes from Maxiell, McDyess, Ratliff, and Hayes? That’s Zoo Poo.

On the plus side, Stuckey filled in well.

In Game 4 I’d go big and play more Tay at PG, more Afflalo at SG, and more Herrmann on Turkoglu. Don’t just give Stuckey all of Billups run. Split up the minutes between Stuckey, Afflalo, Herrmann, and Amir play within themselves and win as a team.

Orlando finally found a winning gameplan. Have the Pistons start the game on an epic scoring drought, Make sure Chauncey leaves the game in the first quarter, get a favorable whistles all game, and let the Pistons miss a ton of wide open shots in the fourth. Also, play in Orlando. Good luck with that.

Seriously, least impressive blowout I’ve ever seen.

After watching that game I’d be more concerned about Chauncey coming back at half-strength than him sitting out the rest of the series.

Other Matt…completely agree with you. Hopefully we can pull out game 5 once we have some time to game plan with out Chauncey (I’m assuming he’s out or won’t be 100%). Worst case is it’s tied 2-2 for game 5 in Detroit which is 6 days away and Chauncey should be back by then…thank you NBA Playoff scheduling.

Meant to say “Hopefully we pull out game 4”

Rasheed, 2nd half:

In the 4th, misseed like 4 shots, went 2-4 on free throws, grabbed a rebound, something like that. The 3rd quarter was abysmal, too. 3rd quarter was ridiculous with Rasheed out there from 12:00 to 7:22, like 1-4, a shooting foul, and a whole lot of lip for a guy who choked away the 2nd half.

Detroit didn’t get the game going in the 2nd half until Rasheed got his behind on the bench. He comes back out and gives it up on both ends in the 4th.

Michael… great post!

SERIOUSLY.

We trimmed that lead down in the 3rd WITHOUT BILLUPS AND RASHEED. Don’t even bother bitching about Rip.

joejoejoe, was the bench really that bad? Holy hell, zeros from Dyess and Max goes a long way towards explaining some of what happened there tonight.

I also agree about Rip trying too hard to force his offense. He’s at his best when we’re working the ball inside and letting him run around and curl off screens. Giving him the ball at the top of the key and letting him go into the lane is not a winning formula unless he’s being guarded by that little ankle biter, Nelson.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/playbyplay?gameId=280507019&period=3

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/playbyplay?gameId=280507019&period=4

You gonna lay blame, blame it on the Big Mouth.

Not comfy with laying blame on Roscoe? Try misery, loves the company. None of the elder bigs did a damn thing, either. Maxiell didn’t play well, either. Rip and Prince outrebounded all the bigs. ALL OF THEM.

“And before people get on my case, is there ANYONE who thinks matching up Rasheed, a clearly slower defender at this point, with Rashard Lewis, a 3 masquerading as a 4, was any kind of a good idea?”

Yes. It’s the only idea. Prince and Sheed on Lewis and Turkoglu is a big part of the reason we are at an advantage here.

Look, losing your best player throws the game off. And, by the way, Chauncey is indisputably our best player. If the Lakers lost Kobe, would you fault them for losing? If Chauncey is done for the playoffs (Jameer, you tiny sonofabitch) we can kiss the championship goodbye.

That said, look at how Stuckey played when he got the specter of Flip’s early hook off of him. If Chauncey is out ten days, we’ll take this in seven. Ball will continue not to lie against this MVC-ass team.

as much as i want to blame nelson for the billups injury (i finally found the fortitude to watch it), it looked completely incidental. just bad f-ing luck. this team better come into game 4 very very pissed and very very prepared. they owe their captain that.

I dunno Sauce, I have a hard time separating that run in the 3rd (which we only gained 6 points without Rasheed, by the way) from his entire body of work. Rasheed Wallace is just not a guy that you sit at crunch time because a mish-mash lineup has clawed its way back into a game. Rasheed has earned the right over his career and the entire season to get back in that game and try to help us out. I’d much rather have him suck it up in the 4th than have him start openly feuding with Flip over his ass being glued to the bench.

I’m not defending his play, far from it. I’m just saying that not playing him potentially opens a can of worms that we’d all prefer remain closed.

This is the playoffs people and the Magic are a tough team when they are hitting their perimeter shots. We lost CB to a hammy and Sheed to fouls and were still in the game at the start of the third. LB always said if you get down big you need to play perfect to win. Margin of error is so much smaller. There were stretches when Tay & Rodney were picking the Magic apart down low.

We need to keep the faith here. Pistons had a tough game, but didn’t phone it in. That’s all I ask. Play hard… win or lose. The magic play well at home. Weather the storm.

I just hope to christ that CB isn’t really screwed up. We may make it past the magic without him but going to the promised land will be difficult with his leadership. Come on Kander!!! Do your thing.

It wasn’t a big factor in the 4th, Kevin, when Rasheed decided watching everyone score was a better idea than spraining his vocal chords after another foul that was clearly his fault the whole time.

JackDutch, the thing to pay attention to when watching that play is the angle of Nelson’s foot. He falls down and his foot points to the inside and purposely hooks Billups’ foot. It was pretty blatant. You don’t accidentally fall over with your foot at that angle.

It’s not the only idea. Rasheed wanted no part of chasing Rashard, but he wants to hang out at the arc on the offensive end? He’s suddenly a slow 3. Forget that noise against a team employing one big man, 2 wings, and 2 guards.

“as much as i want to blame nelson for the billups injury (i finally found the fortitude to watch it), it looked completely incidental.”

If it were completely incidental, Nelson wouldn’t have pointed to his foot so quickly. That was flagrant, he knew it, and was moving to deny it from the get go. He wasn’t trying to injure Chauncey, but he was certainly playing dirty.

Chauncey better get better soon…

" He falls down and his foot points to the inside and purposely hooks Billups’ foot. "

Exactly. His foot was pointed out of bounds. There are several explanations for this.

1) He was trying to run out of bounds. Given that no other NBA player has done so in the history of the game, this seems unlikely.

2) He was trying to contort his body so as to lay a hard foul with his torso, which is more likely, but no more acceptable.

3) He was trying to trip him on the sly, which is not unheard of, to be fair. But at that point, you extricate yourself from the play immediately.

I am not prone to hyperbole, but that was absolutely intentional contact, and continuation of same.

om, i’d look at it again, but i deleted the damn thing off my dvr. i want to believe you, but it looked incidental upon review. they got tangled and billups got the sharp end of it. it did look awkward like you said though. a little unnatural. i want to hear if anyone on the team or the coaching staff says anything negative about the play and/or nelson.

Ripping on ’sheed tonight is probably the best and most effective way to announce to the viewers that you are a douchebag fair-weather Pistons “fan”.

believe me, fellas, i am more than willing to leap on the “jameer nelson is a dirty s.o.b.” bandwagon. i just didn’t see it. it won’t take much to convince me, i can assure you that.

That said, if the hamstring isn’t torn, we should see Billups back quickly. It seems unlikely that it is serious, because he would have felt a pop, and we would have known by the end of the game.

kevin s:

couldn’t sum up stuckey’s night better than “specter of an early hook”

re: nelson pointing to foot, might he have been saying foul was on the floor, not shooting?

pretty funny. if you google “jameer chauncey dirty play” the first page that comes up is om’s comment from the beginning of the thread. you live in google infamy, om. and the fact that it starts off “fuck jameer nelson” kind of cheered me up…

you also have to love the media. ratio of game clock mentions in game 2 to billups injury mentions in game 3:

20:1

ratio of billups’ health’s relevance to series to one play in the third quarter of game 2:

1,000:1

also love that espn led with the clock controversy after game 2, while now it’s just a picture of dwight and the resurgent magic. i guess it’s a better story than “the magic got a game, but the bigger question is the health of the best player on team no one really wants to see continue to advance”

38 point 4th quarter. We played tough for 3 quarters. That gets you a loss most every night in the NBA, and I see a lot of those dog-crap teams out there.

This team has been very fortunate to not have the unfortunate injuries . . . no Grant Hills, hardly even an Isiah Thomas hamstring. Outside of Antonio’s nose, this team’s been extremely fortunate.

So now that it’s not, they’re going to punk out after 3 quarters. If that’s how it is, well then.

I’m putting it on thick, but it deserves exactly that after what happened. If the game’s close, then no worries. The game wasn’t even close, it was ridiculous. The team got run out of the building with momma’s broom. That’s not our position.

JD, glad I could provide some modicum of humor on this night. I had to laugh at myself “I hope the league suspends him” is a blatant overreaction immediately after I said “I’m not one prone to overreactions”. I’m awesome.

Just heard Flip say that they’re shooting for CB to play on Saturday. Glad to hear this, but one big piece of advice: DON’T RUSH IT. If we knew it was comin’, we could’ve likely beat this team w/out CB this game. If he needs the rest for the next game or so, let him have it, we should win if ANY of the bigs show up and Tay plays even 3/4 as well as he did tonight. Oh yeah, and Rip plays his role, run-catch-shoot. This is good news, but I just don’t want to see it rushed…

“nelson pointing to foot, might he have been saying foul was on the floor, not shooting?”

Which would only mean he knew he was fouling, and with his legs. Look, cheap shots happen, but this particular cheap shot hit our best player. We are fans of THIS team, no?

I’ve been a Pistons fan since my daddy kindly explained to me that Houston isn’t the same as Houghton, and that my loyalties did not allow me to root for Ralph Sampson.

I want blood like Daniel Day Lewis wants an Oscar, and somebody had better deliver to me.

I’d give Chauncey a game off even if he COULD play in the next one. Better safe than sorry, plus even if the Magic win it’s still only 2-2.

i just watched the trip clip again on nba.com, and i can see where you guys are coming from. why else would his foot be pointed that way?

yup, watched it another time. i’m on board. nelson looks like he’s beat, so as he falls he twists his foot in and drags chauncey’s leg out from under him. i thought maybe the injury occurred before the leg was yanked, but naw, it looks pretty shady. has anyone brought this up at all outside of this thread?

garrett, i kind of agree. i’d almost prefer 2-2 with extra days of rest and a really 100% chauncey next tuesday. but maybe flip wasn’t just blowing smoke when they said they’re expecting chauncey being healthy and playing on saturday.

i’ll tell you this, if chauncey plays on saturday and plays well and is back to 100% that fast, the next “jersey” retired to those friggin’ palace rafters better be arnie f-ing kander. put his goddamn inversion table right next to daly, dumars, thomas, johnson, lanier, bing and laimbeer.

“We’re shooting for him to play on Saturday,” said Detroit coach Flip Saunders. “It’s sore right now [and] we won’t know for the next 24 hours where he’s really at, but all indications are we’re shooting for him to go on Saturday.”

From ESPN:

Working in his favor is that Billups gets two days off to recuperate. Also, Detroit’s record with its players recuperating from injuries is absolutely amazing. Trainer Arnie Kander is widely regarded as the league’s best, and he’s one reason the Pistons have stayed almost comically injury-free over the past half-decade.

I think this game was going to happen whether Billups got hurt or not, kind of take the biggest hit and see. Now Detroit gets to counterpunch in game 4, with Billups or without, they will play far better.
Bet on it.

Hell of a game by the Lakers though . . . Utah’s playing a good game, but Los Angeles is going legendary.

43-47, career Saunders playoff record.

Before everyone jumps off their ledge about Chauncey’s injury being the downfall of modern Pistonianity, I remind you that Flip (dubiously?) inactivated Lindsey and Juan Dixon for this game. The strategy wouldn’t have been all that bad, if Chauncey hadn’t gotten hurt four minutes in. I agree with those who say leave Chauncey out for Game 4. You know why? Because Juan Dixon is absolutely capable of stepping in and taking care of business in this situation. Start Stuckey if you so desire, but Juan Dixon is a veteran who plays tenacious defense, shoots fairly well, and runs an offense far better than Stuckey appeared to tonight. He’s a downgrade from Chauncey, no doubt, but it’s not the same downgrade as if Orlando had to go from Superman to Foyle/Gortat (ie: it’s not a legitimate game changer).

Everyone lopped the praise on Stuckey tonight, but I thought he struggled mightily (due to inexperience, not lack of skill) at times in tonight’s showing. He shot decently and played fairly aggressively (most of the time), and he KILLED it from the free throw line, but he did NOT look comfortable in the role of distributor for the 30+ minutes of run he got.

His immaturity seemed to show itself glaringly in tentative decision making, and a general inability to penetrate and subsequently distribute. It seemed to me that when Stuckey penetrated, he either tried to finish himself (at times much to our detriment) or he failed to create an opportunity for a teammate. Not good news for me, and I think Juan Dixon would do a much better job at making experienced decisions in the now. If we are without Chauncey (and please don’t rush him back at later expene!), I hope Flip utilizes Dixon. I’m not worried about us though unless Chauncey is less than 100% for the ECF. As Kevin S. said regarding Orlando “This squad is ghetto”. I couldn’t agree more. Even without Chauncey, they’re not in the same class as us. They shot 54% tonight as a team and 46% from three-point range (11 of 24). Rashard Lewis had 33, 6 and 5 and Superman had 20, 12 and 6 BLOCKS. Not gonna happen again. We’re fine.

And wow, everyone killed on Rip tonight here. He had plenty of STANK turnovers, no excuse for that. However, Rip and Tayshaun torched the nets tonight. They shot a combined 53% from the field while the rest of the squad shot 30%. Gotta disagree with joejoejoe, when you make 10 of ‘em, 20 isn’t too many shots.

The Chauncey injury threw us off. With or without Chauncey (for the rest of the series, even!), I still say Pistons in 5, six at the absolute most.

Is Flip ever going to get a clue, and put Amir in the damn game? You know he could match-up with Lewis who BTW is killing us just like their other SF, and killing Sheed’s energy as well as he runs after him.

And Spellcheck NEEDS to play more. Jesus the perimeter defense is bad.

God, Flip is so incompetant. Makes me want to scream.

pistons in five

i still believe it. they better come out as aggressive as it can get next game … i bet they will

This was the wrong night for Dixon and Hunter to be in street cloths. I mean was was Joe D and Flip was thinking? In the Playoffs you have to be prepared for everything. It couldn’t have cost more than losing the game to learn that. I know now why they paid what they did for Billups to stay in Detroit. Losing this game was painful and unnecessary in my opinion. We got it covered but we needed Billups’ leadership.

I agree with LawyerBoy (plus, he said “Pistianity”) — the injury totally threw us out of sync, but we made it a hell of a fight (until the 4th). Rest up, activate Dixon, and we’ll be good to go.

I’m a bit more concerned with Sheed’s ineffectiveness. I’ve never been a huge Sheed fan (even though he was the missing piece and all that jazz) but he’s certainly not the player he once was. And anyone that takls about him being the most talented player in the league is talking crazy talk.

Joe Dumars lying awake late one night before the trade deadline:

What else can I do … Think, Joe. Some scenarios that could hurt us.

Ok, got one. What if Chancey gets hurt. No problem – we have Stuckey and Lindsey. Wait a minute – could be a problem.

Ok,, need a veteran point guard without giving up anything. . .

Falls asleep . . .

Middle of the night – wakes up – I got it

Juan Dixon for Primoz

Goes back to sleep smiling . . .

If Lawyerboy’s scenario plays out and Dixon leads up to victory – we can chalk this up to another great move by Joe Dumars

Piston Fans – relax – we played really really poorly, lost Billips and we still could have won the game in the 4th.

We suck in game 3s. Sheed will be back — I guanransheed it

“Almos comically injury free”? Interesting line.

This game was not the fault of Flip, Rip, or Rasheed. Rip was 10-20. Rasheed didn’t have a good game, he certainly wasn’t the hero he could have been, but he wasn’t the goat either. Jeez, ‘Sheed was mostly excellent against Philly, has been pretty good in the first two Orlando games, and we all know that no Piston is going to be The Man every night. Also, Flip had to try going to him in the 4th. There is only so much you can expect two rookie guards to do: Stuckey did about as much as you could expect and Afflalo was OK also. If we want to point fingers, we could ask why Jarvis Hayes hasn’t been able to shoot or defend in the entire friggin’ playoffs. But it’s not the fault of a backup SF either.

Look, Orlando played really well in the first and fourth quarter. They ARE capable of making that many threes — they’ve been doing it all friggin’ year. Rashard Lewis is a tough matchup for us — when he’s shooting like he was last night, he’s a tough matchup for anyone. And Howard is a beast. It really was overconfident to think that Detroit was going to continue to bully him into games like he had in game 1.

Most importantly is Chauncey. Our BEST matchup against the Magic is him posting Orlando’s small guards. Without that, we’ll have to re-think the offense a bit. But like the others, I would rather see Detroit come home 2-2 and play game 5 with a more-healthy Billups than risk him trying to go up 3-1.

Assuming he can at least play well in game 5 and beyond, this is why it was great to go up 2-0. On the other hand, I assume the Pistons and their fans remember another recent playoff series in which Detroit was up 2-0.

If Billups can play, then he should play. He isn’t going to be 100% for the rest of this series, so we might as well take our best shot at taking command of the series.

kevin s.: You’re the one who called Orlando “ghetto”, now you think we need to go to Billups even if he isn’t 100% and it could possibly be at our detriment in later games/series? Disagee wholeheartedly. If there’s any starting point guard left in these playoffs that Juan Dixon can handle, it’s Jameer Nelson. While Dixon would probably struggle to some degree in the post against Nelson (not a big deal in my mind), Dixon would likely neutralize Jameer’s speed on penetration. It all seems moot in any event, as most news outlets say Chauncey will play on Saturday. As long as it doesn’t interfere with getting him back to 100% for the ECF, I’m fine with it.

HB: You don’t deactivate guys who might actually play in the game (Hermann, Jarvis, Afflalo, Amir) if fouls are an issue, so you can have a player (Dixon, Hunter) who would only see the court in meaningful time in the case of an injury. The way the NBA is set up with the team being able to activate and deactivate players on a nightly basis, Flip didn’t make a bad call at all. The worst part of the whole mess was that Chauncey went down at the eight-minute mark of the first. You shouldn’t be considered thoughtless if you don’t prepare for having Chauncey out there for only four minutes before going down to an injury.

Garrett: I suppose “Pistianity” looks much better than my original spelling of “Pistonanity”, kudos to you sir, I like your twist and appreciate your input. Can’t say I agree with you on the Sheed ineffectiveness as a whole, though he played really poorly last night. I agree with ToledoJoe saying Sheed’s been good most of the way and so he deserves to be cut some slack for a bad game or two.

I also agree with what ToledoJoe is saying regarding Rashard Lewis. When Lewis is playing like he was last night, it’s pick your poison. If you body him up tightly on the perimeter, he blows by you and gets into the lane (possibly still drawing three points from an and-1 AND causing a foul, as the Pistons did struggle mightily last night with foul trouble in the first three quarters). If you respect Rashard’s drive and take a half step back on the perimeter, he burns you for three. If you come to double, you’re going to get burnt by a different Magic player who’s wide open. Conventional wisdom says that Lewis won’t be that hot from both beyond the arc and penetration in the same game, and while conventional wisdom may be wrong for a game or even two, conventional wisdom is right over the course of a series.

Alex, certainly not Amir, and maybe only an act of God would’ve cooled Lewis’s hot streak last night. To blame an unstoppable Lewis being at his very best on Flip (who has done nothing short of a solid job thus far) and then spell the word wrong, only makes you look like the one who’s incompetent.

Afraid I have to disagree with Toledo Joe. A LOT of this loss is on Rip and Sheed. Dice too. People who are wringing their hands about Stuckey should try focusing on all the dribble penetration and easy kickouts that Detroit allowed. Rip’s inability to keep Nelson in front of him resulted in a fatal trade: Hamilton 2-pointers for Orlando 3s. Can’t win that way. Ditto Dice and everyone in our frontcourt except Prince and Fabio. Too many times someone had to cover and leave their guy at the arc, and Chauncey would not have changed that if he’d been healthy. Meanwhile we got NOTHING offensively from the frontcourt.

Walter deserves more minutes. Detroit genuinely needs his length and tenacity on the perimeter. Afflalo, ditto. Amir? I don’t know. But how can he be worse than what we had last night? Containing Lewis while conceding free throws to Dwight Howard is smarter math than letting Rashard bomb away uncontested from the arc.

LanierFan: Rashard shot 11-15 last night with 6-9 shooting from inside the arc and 5-6 beyond the arc. He was killing us both ways, and at times we gave him and-1s on drives, which is worse than just letting him hit the three. Yes, I suppose that’s poor execution, but apparently no one cares that the Magic shot 54% from the field and 46% from beyond the arc. That performance and Chauncey’s injury, coupled with what doggdetroit said about Mo Evans and the fadeaway jumper to beat the shot clock (that was so nasty), and I’ve got to agree that it just wasn’t our night. I don’t see anything in particular that needs to be tweaked for Saturday and the rest of the series as long as we come out and do what we do. You can’t shoot 40% and win, you gotta get to at least 42% or something. And you certainly can’t shoot 40% and win when your opponent shoots 54%. I don’t think we’re in danger of seeing a repeat of those numbers again (unless the roles are reversed) in this series.

“kevin s.: You’re the one who called Orlando "ghetto", now you think we need to go to Billups even if he isn’t 100% and it could possibly be at our detriment in later games/series?”

Correct. We are a radically different team without Chauncey. Without him, we go from a distinct advantage at the point to a distinct disadvantage. With a 2-1 lead, we should still be able to win simply because we have two home games left, but Orlando’s chances are greatly enhanced.

never fails. the bigger the blowout/devastating loss, the higher the comment count. over 300 now. misery loves company.

LB, we’ll see. All I want is for the team to give its most energetic defenders a chance when the starters can’t or won’t step up. Simple as that.

kevin s.: Radically different? Perhaps. At a distinct disadvantage? Not at all. Jesus, we won games against as skilled opponents as Orlando with Flip Murray starting at point guard (though to be fair, none were road playoff games). Juan Dixon may not be a natural point guard, but he is not Will Blalock, and he’s not Flip Murray either. And while he may not be as dynamic of a scorer as Flip Murray, Dixon’s much less foolhardy and much more consistent in what he does on offense.

We also can give different looks with Stuckey on the floor. Rodney would probably benefit from either being on the floor with Dixon at the same time and/or being spelled by him. I feel like it’s as if Dixon never helmed the offense for a team and won a game, which is far from true. Also, Lindsey could be called upon to hold things down. I’m sure he can body up Jameer. If Chauncey is unavailable I think it might be wise to also consider de-activating one of the following: Hermann, Hayes, Amir or Afflalo, and having both Hunter and Dixon at our disposal. It all seems moot at this point though with Billups likely to play in Game 4.

This squad would still be fine against Orlando if Dixon logged significant minutes at PG through the two games left in this series. If you give the guy 20-25 minutes, he’ll score in double figures and probably will only commit one or two turnovers. While he’s not going to directly setup players in a manner similar to Chauncey (read: collect mad assists), it’s not like Stuckey brings noteworthy distribution skill to the table either. Truthfully, the squad gets a lot of assists simply from stellar ball rotation and an innate ability to space the floor well, create an opening and finding the man occupying that opening. Chauncey equates for less than one third of our assists (fairly low for PG on a successful team that logs many assists if you compare teams). Our ball movement won’t collapse if we’re able to game plan ahead of time knowing we’ll be without Chauncey.

LanierFan: I see where you’re coming from on giving Rashard fits of energy to contend with. It probably won’t matter for Game 4 though. I just can’t envision Rashard pulling off a repeat performance, or for Hedo to produce that type of performance either (Tay essentially keeps Hedo to his average and nothing more every time).

Around the Horn is debating the effect of the Chauncey injury on the Pistons-Magic series. Woody Paige is the only rational one, saying it won’t make any difference really. Everyone else is handing Game 4 on Saturday over to Orlando (HA!) and possibly the series (HA HA!). Uch.

Look, unless you get Rasheed a new knee, scrap running him with Rashard. Rasheed lopes, and Rashard leaps, for comparison. Lewis is a 3 playing the 4.

I am a pretty devout Rasheed fan. In a game we needed him the MOST, he gave the LEAST. AND he pissed off their crowd while providing NOTHING for them to get riled . . . that spells ammunition, confidence, and less fear, when the whole Orlando set comes at us.

None of the other bigs did any more, they did less . . . but on this night, we needed Rasheed to be the best guy out there, to help out with losing our top dog . . . instead, we got a 6th man.

Nah, screw it, this one’s Flip’s Fault. Ride that refrain. He deserves it. 4th quarter collapse. They worked so hard to cut down the Orlando lead, and they gave up on the back of awful Rasheed play to start the 4th. Punt it. Burn it.

Sauce, you’re kidding about it being Flip’s fault, right?

I think Sauce is right about Rasheed. He can’t keep pulling this crap in every third game. Shameful play from our bigs doomed this game. I’ve no concerns about the point, since Orlando has no 1-on-1 answer for either Stuckey or Billups. Stuckey stepped right in and got what he wanted, and the Pistons looked pretty good with Prince as point forward. But the complete tank-job by the big guys killed us, when they should be murdering the Magic on the inside, at least in terms of physicality. Instead, the complete opposite occurs.

And Rasheed is damned lucky he didn’t pick up (yet another) tech.
Rasheed’s entire series so far has been lackluster. The Pistons desperately need consistency from the frontline, and of them, he’s supposed to be the leader.

Dyess, play like you want that ring as bad as you say you do.