Rip Hamilton returns to the starting lineup

OK, so the Pistons are finally doing what the DBB community has been advocating all year.

My prediction? This will make things better, but some serious problems will remain. Bold, I know. . . .

"It’s nothing on Allen," Curry said. "He’s just a guy that needs the basketball and because of it that, it reduced the time Stuckey had the ball in his hands."

-This is the straight-forward Curry we thought we were getting.

"Hopefully, with the change, more so than Allen and Rip, maybe more guys can play better with this change. That’s what we’re seeking."

-This is the inarticulate confused Curry we got.

Will the real Michael Curry please stand up?

To put this in perspective: this is the starting lineup that knocked Orlando out of the playoffs last year when Billups was hurt. Of course, there’s the whole MCIAFI and morale factors that make this a very different team, but when it comes to personnel, its the same group.

On top of that, we’ve got a fiery hall-of-famer coming off the bench.

If Flip Saunders were our coach tonight, I’d say this would be an easy win. Even though he’s not, I’m feeling roundly more positive about this game than I was 24 hours ago.

Good for Rip for bitching about losing. I’m sure Rip’s words and AI’s injury had nothing to do with the decision and this was all Michael Curry’s idea.

Michael Curry: Do you have strawberry ice cream?
Ice cream scooper: No, we are out.
Michael Curry: How about chocolate?
Ice cream scooper: Yeah we got it.
Michael Curry: You know what I’d like? Chocolate!

Michael Curry, discovers an ice cream shop has chocolate ice cream in stock, thinks he’s Vasco da Gama.

Restructure_It: I dunno about everyone else, but my first thought was that quote made a lot of sense actually … The most disappointing player as of late on the squad in my mind, hands down, is Rodney Stuckey. 8.5, 3.8/1.9 Ast./TO ratio and 35.6% shooting from the field for a starting guard is unacceptable for an eleven game stretch. Period. He has absolutely faceplanted in February after a brilliant December and January.

I think Curry is more or less saying “C’mon and step it up, Stuck.” I wouldn’t be surprised that in the event this fails Curry benches Stuck for AI. Problem is, there’s a lot wrong with this team. We need to play Dice and Sheed less and play all right when we do sit them. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but we could really use a backup SF the caliber of Jarvis Hayes. I can’t believe I’m saying this either, but we don’t have one right now. We could use some good defense and ball distribution from Stuck and/or AI. One or both of them has to start drawing fouls. They’re both doing a terrible job at that. A win is not a likely outcome for the Pistons either if they don’t get more assists than the other team. You don’t go from 27-21 to 27-29 without there being more than just one dude at fault. I just don’t see how benching AI is going to be the fix.

Better idea: give the consistent minutes you’d want to give to Hayes to Herrmann instead.

Herrmann from 2006-2007 would be nice. Herrmann from then on has been terrible.

Yea, I think putting rip in the starting line up is the right decision, but I still totally see us giving games up in the last few minutes because our play calling is just stupid. Also, I hope Stuck turns it around soon, but he wasn’t exactly tearing it up against N.O. after AI left the game.

Compared to Hayes, he and Herrmann are statistically comparable in production— which is a big negative on Hayes because Herrmann’s minutes have been the opposite of consistent this season.

Give Herrmann Hayes-type minutes from this season in Wash, he’s a much better player.

@Colin:
I’m hoping for the best— and unfortunately, its MCIAFI’s decision at the end of the day. Even after AI left the NO game, Stuckey only took 8 shots total. That’s not gonna work, and I’m hoping that we can translate MCIAFI’s suggestion that part of this move was to make more room for Stuckey… into more shots for Stuckey.

OT:
It’s not very interesting, but at least it confirms that Flip Saunders is actually alive and kicking… Flip on the Marbury pickup:
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1155031&srvc=sports&position=0

As has already been mentioned, this is what everybody other than Michael Curry thought should happen in the first place. I am afraid that it may be too late though. Playerwise, the Pistons have the pieces they need to be a very good team. At this point, however, I think the pieces may be so broken that they can’t be put back together.

The biggest X-factor for this season now is Stucky. Can he get his mojo back? If he keeps playing poorly then the Pistons won’t last long in the playoffs… If they even make them.

This will be unfamiliar territory for Iverson. Hopefully 25 minutes of instant offense from A.I. will be better for this team than 40 minutes of him trying to lead the team.

MP: If I said something was white, you’d say it was black. Kudos to you, sir.

Well, this at least makes tonight’s game interesting. To be honest, I wasn’t really planning on watching before this happened. I’m still taking the Cleveland loss a little hard, I guess.

My prediction is that this solidifies us as a playoff team but doesn’t help us get out of round 1. So instead of the roughly 1.3% chance we’d get Blake Griffin, we’ll have a 0% chance of finding what we need in the middle of the 1st. I’m not optimistic about this year’s draft.

I thought that was your whole M.O., L.B. Besides, I’ve been Pro Herrmann and anti Hayes since the Mohammad trade from last year. If anyone else had said that Hayes is the missing element on our bench, from Matt Watson to FRED W. CAPEL, I would have said the same thing.

A consistent 3-point threat would be nice to have on our bench, but Hayes couldn’t fill that role even when he had the chance.

MP is correct. LB, why do you hate Herrmann? His hair and sense of fashion are so… well, awesome.

Other Matt, get this, I’m more optimistic than you! I think we can get out of the first round if we place anywhere from 6th to 3rd. Especially Orlando. Sheed keeps Howard off the block better than anyone in the league… other than maybe Shaq.

Brad, of all the strange things that have happened this year it’s that we’ve switched places. That and well, we didn’t like each other before. Then this Petey guy shows up and I think we each know who the real enemy is. Turns out you’re not so bad. What a weird season.

is rasheed playing tonight?

Other Matt: Agreed on those counts but his 38.9% and 36.3% from the field in consecutive years is not awesome. Especially when Hayes has been hovering over 43% these two years and is less of a chucker. There are other important qualities beyond FG%, but Herrmann was supposed to be a “shooter” (nice 3 PT % for a “shooter”, ugh), or at the very least, a “scorer”. He hasn’t done either well since his rookie season, be it here or in Charlotte. So, basically, I’m not wrong, it’s a matter of what would you like in a player. I want a backup SF who can shoot over 40% knock down a three more than once every three tries. Herrmann is bigger than Hayes and a better rebounder, but that’s doesn’t interest me personally.

Figures, I’ve been waiting all season for this, and I have to miss tonight’s game. Hopefully when I look at the score on my phone, we’ll be up- even when the game is over.

"It’s nothing on Allen," Curry said. "He’s just a guy that needs the basketball and because of it that, it reduced the time Stuckey had the ball in his hands."

Please, someone ask MC to read the DBB blog. He’s only 3 months late.

Bold move by Boston picking up Crazybury. But their core is strong and Doc Rivers can be a total dick so I think they’ll make it work.

MP, still sticking with his man, I see:
http://www.detroitbadboys.com/archives/2008-02-20/the-argentine-solution-why-herrmann-should-replace-hayes/#comments

Still, Jarvis Hayes barely matched a Carlos Delfino-level of consistency while he was here. I’ll admit that Herrmann’s not showing me much more, but people have been banging that back-up SF drum for years.

Anyone have a link for the streaming feed tonight? I usually have it bookmarked but I am far from home and not on my computer.

All this will do is

1. Maybe get the Pistons the privilege of being eliminated in round #1 of the playoffs and missing the lottery.

2. Wipe out whatever hope Johnson and Afflalo had of salvaging anything of Curry’s travesty as a coach this year.

I’ve always enjoyed reading the game threads on this website, so I think tonight I will join in for the first time. Should be a good one with A.I. back home in Detroit.

We usually do not get any streams until around tip-off and sometimes well into the second quarter.

Here’s a link. It’s on a commercial break so I don’t know if it works yet:

http://atdhe.net/live-tv-4089.html

"It’s nothing on Allen," Curry said. "He’s just a guy that needs the basketball and because of it that, it reduced the time Stuckey had the ball in his hands."

Please, someone ask MC to read the DBB blog. He’s only 3 months late

=====
I guess Curry never followed the midget’s career. How anyone can coach in the NBA and not know that the midget needs to dominate the ball on offense is truely the biggest mystery in the last 10 years of the NBA

This is indeed the right link:

http://atdhe.net/live-tv-4089.html

Are we still Orlando’s bugaboo?

I always feel confident playing against the Magic. ‘Sheed is Superman’s kryptonite

And one!

Hedo is such a douche.

(The belated game thread is up.)

Not liking the ticky-tack fouls already – both ways.

Ben Wallace broke his leg?