Its sad to say, but we need Rasheed to hit alot of 3’s to be competitive every game.

Actually, you could make a case that the CAVS were the second best team last year. They took Boston down to the wire in Game 7. They played them much tougher than the Pistons or Lakers did.

omg…natalie’s latest post on n4s!!!! must read now!!! pnr!!!!

I agree that the games will be pretty competitive. Disagree with the slight on Kwame. He’ll be needed in this series because he can keep Ilgauskas off the glass, something I’m pretty sure that Dyess, Sheed, Max and Amir won’t be able to do.

Cavs in 4 by an average of margin of 15…sigh

Anyone has any last prayer? If the Pistons win today then there is hope.

I will repeat one thought: the way all the seeding and injuries have played out has maximized our odds of getting to the NBA finals, infinitesimal as they may be. If you do pull off the miracle upset against Cle, you get the 4/5, followed by Orlando. Just sayin.

Win or lose. At least we’re not Mavs or Suns fans. They’re seeing the collapse of their teams too, but have no title to show for it.

Watching Magic Johnson kissing LeBron’s ass on live tv is ambarassing. Lebron will be among those who will never win a Championship. Mark my word!

Rose is a monster in the Chi/Bos game. Unreal— one thing the kid certainly does have is grace under pressure…

I don’t have NBA TV. It’s a tight game right now judging from the score.

HB – can we bet 10 grand on whether LeBron ever wins a title?

@Forty, no thanks. I rather bet on how many fouls the rebs won’t be calling on Lebron. I hope McDyess go bananas if Sheed don’t do well because you know it’s coming. Sheed has been the weaklink in the roster during the Playoffs.

Why the hell is the pre-show is turning into the LeBron Show? David Stern give it a rest.

They’re comparing Lebron to Jordan? Are you kidding? Jordan is the GREATEST and Lebron is just overrated!

The Boston vs. Chicago game has been great, with Boston not having Garnett those two teams are very, very evenly matched.

Boston’s gotten the benefit of some bullshit calls in the 2nd half, not too many, just enough to make me swear loud enough for my girlfriend to give me a puzzled look.

Jordan is one of the few players that it is reasonable to compare LeBron to. Anyone care to imagine the Cavs with Scottie Pippen instead of Mo Williams? Let’s not be like MSU fans here.

Gabe – the stretch of Allen charge in open court, Noah foul on clean block of Davis really pissed me off

Great, now them A-holes are playing Nostradamus. Cavs all the way! Gees big surprise. I wonder if David Stern is writing the scripts for this show.

WOW. Gordon’s game is so damn herky jerky. But he’s just nailed the jumper and hit the free throw. and Tyrus with the silly finish.

I’m pumped to listen to JVG talk shit about the Pistons all game. Gonna be awesome.

I turned on the ending of the Chi-Bos game, and Boston is now shooting free throws 5 and 6 of their last 3 possessions, all within the final 90 seconds. Has it been NBA-ref-jobbed like this the whole game?

Lucas – to be fair, the game has been well-officiated down the stretch. Bulls can’t stop dribble penetration.

:( Pierce is so, so good at drawing those weak ass fucking calls. He has probably the all time ugliest, most hard to watch, but effective game that I’ve ever seen.

I like seeing Stuckey post up. Gotta keep Z off the glass.

Come on Bulls, one stop!

STREAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM PLS

LOL oh Bennet Salvatore, how dare Eddie Rush steal your thunder

Mo William two fouls already! the Pistons may win it.

Offense looks good. Defense doesn’t.

@Quick Darshan, I see that Sheed is his old self from the previous Playoff days.

Good to see Rodney taking advantage of his size early on.

Wow, they really need to play off Lebron more.

Nice defense Prince!

Yeah, I’ve been watching the Bulls game on and off since it started and Rose has been a monster. That kid is going to be really good.

Pierce with the choke! I’ll be happy with the playoffs if Boston loses.

Nice thing is, if they adjust to Stuckey, they’ll have to start over again with Bynum.

Was that foul on LeBron? I bet it’s Game 3 before we see another one called on him.

Okay, time for a fucking frontcourt sub, MCIAFI.

That should be -2 points for Cleveland.

I never thought I’d rather watch a regular season Cubs/Cardinals game than a Pistons playoff game, but it’s happened. Oh well, I’ll watch this until the opening pitch.

@Other Matt, I’ll take that bet!

The Pistons offense has looked great. Very aggressive. Lots of movement. Drawing fouls.

But, Lebron’s been great. Already hit two jumpers.

WOW…without KG the Celtic is playing like they were three years ago!

Pierce seems to not understand why the refs dont think hes yelling loud enough to get the foul call

And 1!

Ugh. It’s so sad for me to see Ben in a Cavs uniform.

McDyess and Sheed don’t play above the rim any more on D… :( How have we not fouled LeBron hard yet?

Is that a Comic Sans “CAVS.com” font on the side of the court? Classy.

Tyrus Thomas! Who knew?

That call sucked. Kudos to JVG for sucking it up and saying that we had a bad call go against us, it must have been difficult for him.

The Refs are betting in this game. Gotta be!

If Pistons loses today we can all feell better that Celtics lost too.

Not a bad start for Detroit. I wonder what these offenses will do when James and Stuckey get subbed out though.

That was a horrible call against Rose.

The second unit has to dominate theirs.

Did Joe Smith just hit a three?

Pierce just threw the ball out of bounds trying to draw a foul with 4 seconds left. He didnt get the call, but theyre giving the ball back to the celtics anyway.

Celtics loss!!!!!!!!!! Feel better Pistons fan!

Lucas: I agree with that call. It doesn’t make sense, but there was a lot of contact and a shooting foul would’ve been unfair to Chicago. Wow, Bulls, nicely done. We could’ve been you if we had just taken care of business.

Haha! BYnum lulled em there.

:) Excellent. Boston goes down 1-0. It would make me a very happy camper if Boston got beat in the first round.

Great posting boys…keep doing it!!!!!!!

LOL at Szcerbiak (Sp?) trying to guard Tayshaun.

for those in need:
http://gobabby.net/live21.htm

I see your point LawyerBoy. I think thats a good solution to a lot of situations, but I didnt think there was enough contact there. Maybe its just because im biased and Pierce had been trying to get fouls every time I watched the game.

Absolutely loving the offensive game plan so far.

Rasheed Wallace finds the Fountain of Youth on the jumper.

OMG! Sheed just scored!

Sheed is going to the post, like he should.

God our defense SUUUUUUCK.

Boo, Maxiel. He got lazy in transition and let Smith get a dunk.

I think we should just work Prince on LeBron all game. LeBron can’t guard him.

/sarcasm

The problem with James is it has gotten to the point where if you make any mistake on defense, he will find it. Kind of like CP3. Except LBJ is huge.

This might be obvious, but the key to staying in this series is to keep scoring. We’re not going to be able to regularly stop them, I don’t think. We’re too concerned with LeBron, rightly so, to shut them down offensively. Let’s hope that we’re not done in offensively by MCIAFI drawing up too many plays.

Actually, it was a miscommunication. Sheed was shading over to Lebron. He expected Max to pick up Joe Smith.

Late to the party on an account of watching the Arsenal collapse vs. Chelsea and Boston’s loss to da Bulls (How bout that Rose) but Im here

My take on the game so far?
Well at least it aint a blowout….

FINALLY! Sheed is showing some balls!

Rip with the fastbreak jump shot… Not a high percentage play.

Perhaps I’m not as ghetto as most, but they need to get off of Phil Collins.

I think Sheed should have laid him out…

Stuckey is making it hell for Williams out there. He’s challenging Williams to commit that 3rd foul.

Rip really needs to heat up in the second half.

Are you kidding me!? “In the Air Tonight” is a great song. Why are Van Gundy and his crew bashing Mo Williams and Phil Collins for.

@LawyerBoy, yeah man I thought Mo was gonna be walking all over us.

Phil Collins is still da man. Wish he still making music.

At least Stuckey is being aggressive. Hopefully he doesn’t get discouraged.

Danger time here. Can’t let this thing get out of hand before the half.

Ohhh crap! down by 10 already!

If the defense doesn’t improve “out of hand” will be coming up shortly.

Can feel the collapse coming- brainfarts, not getting a couple calls, lazy bullshit play from Rip. I’d be happy to have Stuckey and Bynum play the rest of the game, Rip looks like he doesn’t want to be there.

I hear this LeBron guy is a free agent in 2010

@Forty, Cleveland can suck it in 2010 if Pistons can land him!

Great, strong move from Sheed against floppy the clown.

FML

That sucked.

MOTHERF!

well that’s just insulting.

Well, fuck.

Fuck…

Well, fuck. It ain’t happening today guys.

So pathetically lazy to let Lebron catch the ball without anyone harassing him in the backcourt.

“Backboard did a great job” haha you do have to love James

I agree, your life is f***ed.

No discredit to Lebron — that was a great shot.

But I saw that coming a mile away.

Rip makes the jumpshot, and five Pistons stand still with 2 seconds on the clock.

Doesn’t that just about sum up the season…

Well, at least Sheed came to play. That’s a good sign. Hopefully he can keep it up for the whole series.

So, anyone want to start taking bets on when Sheed gets T’d up?

I’d say with about 9:00 left in the 4th…

Agreed QD, Sheed looking like he gives an F is a very positive development

I thought it was adorable that the Pistons actually tried to stay competitve in the first half.

Tough luck to end the half, but it’s nice to see the Pistons hanging in there. The Cavs don’t look as good as I expected, but maybe they are just getting warmed up. I don’t expect the Pistons to win the series, but I hope for it. And there is still plenty of hope to win this game.

Insert gratuitous praise of Lebron here: ______________

I hate announcers. Need to re-find my mute button.

Sheed and Stuck came to play, Rip and Tay didn’t (course it’s hard to tell with him). Give Herrmann some burn and let Afflalo go to work. So lazy on defense. So stagnant on offense. Not much fun to watch.

/really wishing MCIAFI would have thought about MB from SoCal’s defensive strategy…

Are they really doing a dramatic breakdown of Lebron making a shot that he claims not to have known it was going in?

Does this top ESPN hyping up how intense KG is because he cant watch the game from the sideline, he had to stay in the locker room and watch on tv?

LeBron with >2 points per shot, leading the game in rebounds, and with a 4:0 ast/to ratio. And no one has scored in the vicinity of him on the other end. I am sicking of hearing about this guy or that guy being the X factor. I don’t know what X is, but I’m pretty sure LeBron is the best at it too.

Michael, I disagree. The Cavs look great. The Pistons played 18 minutes of brilliant offense and were still behind. And when the Pistons did play good defense, the Cavs role players made their jumpers. This looks like a championship team.

Whoa..Lebron really was a Penny fan too? Nice!

And I see those Pennys you were rocking in the Wilbron interview Bron. Nice.

@Michael: No tough luck about it. We absolutely deserved to get that in the face.

And dammit players need to stop being so cocky in the fave 5 bits. It’s not funny – just irritating.

TRADE STUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can anyone tell me what our defensive strategy is? Because I’ve been trying to figure it out and am at a complete loss. We gave up so many upon jumpshots.

And speaking of strategy, maybe we should run a play on offense once in a while.

QD: Cavs are my guess to win it all too, but I just expected them to have about a 15 point lead going into the half without a lucky buzzer-beater three. Maybe my expectations were too high.

TRADE Holliday!

Derrick Rose from Chicago is making Lebron look bad! Top that Lebron!

@brugulker:

Curry’s strategy, in a nutshell:

“Play good.”

@Michael, come on man. Things will get bad as long as we are playing this bad! My point is it’ll get worst!

Our defensive strategy had been to play Lebron real tight in case he wants to throw a dunk down our throats. Then we adapted and did a play Lebron real tight, but everyone else stand around and watch Lebron instead of your man defense so that some role players could get some easy layups. Then we lost interest.

With Derrick Rose playing like today. David Stern has found his new Golden Goose! Wave bubye to Lebron from yesterday!

Lebron will still be getting his calls (when he plays a team where he needs them). The person who should be worried about Rose emerging as a star in a major network is Dwyane Wade.

HB doing his best Deshawn Stevenson impression today…lol

The replay of the halfcourt shot has rekindled my hatred for Tay. Seriously, that was one of the laziest plays I’ve ever seen.

MCIAFI said the problem was broken defesive assignments eh?

story of the season right?

What was his solution? No adjustments? Story of the season right?

JVG THinks MCIAFI is a good dresser.

That shouldn’t surprise me.

lol@ Jeff talking about Dress style between Mike Brown and Bebounds

We score when they talk fashion

Pistons playing that dumb ball again

Sheed is not even trying….TIME for him TO GO!

Lebron fouled in the act of being Lebron, so he gets to the line.

Side note on the Bulls-Celtics: Does anyone else get annoyed at how the media babys Garnett for not being with his team in a playoff game? He didn’t come back out from the locker room at the half and left his so called brothers to fend for themselves. I don’t care how hard it is for someone as intense (douchey) as Garnett to sit on the sidelines; it was a critical game and his team needed his presence in whatever form they could get.

I noted that earlier in the comments SadPanda. Not being able to join your team on the bench is not a good attribute due to intensity, its childish bullshit which should be laughed at.

lol@ the bitterness of Superstar calls in this thread.

lol@ Phil Collins getting the most mentions on national tv in like 15 years.

I’m satisfied with the effort I’m seeing. They’re just better than us. But I’m going to scream if Stuckey misses one more damn layup.

I’m kind of annoyed that the media is pretending to be shocked that the Bulls were able to beat Boston minus KG.

SadPanda
Apr 18th, 2009 at 4:35 pm

Side note on the Bulls-Celtics: Does anyone else get annoyed at how the media babys Garnett for not being with his team in a playoff game? He didn’t come back out from the locker room at the half and left his so called brothers to fend for themselves. I don’t care how hard it is for someone as intense (douchey) as Garnett to sit on the sidelines; it was a critical game and his team needed his presence in whatever form they could get.
^^^^^
Its a non-story. Garnett is a fucking intense guy generally but what the fuck is he gonna do for the team in a suit and gimpy knee flailling around and giving advice and getting his team fired up when Pierce can.
Sure he’s the emotional leader and you want that….but he’s too-much of an emotional leader at the same time. He would have lost his shit, hit Steph with a crutch and made Big Baby cry

SadPanda – my theory is that he’s such a jumpy asshole that Rivers asked him to stay in the locker room. Not that that reflects better on him. I’m just not convinced it was his decision (not convinced it wasn’t either…)

@prophecy_projectz, you know what’s coming? Phil Collins playing at the half time show should the Cavs make it to the Playoff.

You know I want to see Cavs vs Bulls in the Conference match up so that Derrick Rose can crush that little SOB Lebron and put his ego in check.

Does Curry really think our starters are going to grind out a win against the Cav’s? Why not take some risks, throw Bynum out there with Stuck and Max and try to run at every opportunity, press Cav’s guards full court, do something, anything different. It’s like an entire 82 games wasn’t evidence enough that our old way of doing things (slow, grind it out) isn’t going to cut it.

I still can’t believe how little Chauncey has played. Curry needs to get that guy involved.

@Gabe, Curry is a Flip’s clone! Not idea how to sub and when to sub.

Forty: Why not really shake things up and give Samb some burn?

@Forty, say what? wrong team man! Chauncey is a Nuggets since November! Are you having a blonde momment?

Forty, that hurt just a little bit.

HB
Apr 18th, 2009 at 4:40 pm

@prophecy_projectz, you know what’s coming? Phil Collins playing at the half time show should the Cavs make it to the Playoff.

You know I want to see Cavs vs Bulls in the Conference match up so that Derrick Rose can crush that little SOB Lebron and put his ego in check.
^^^
Seriously did Lebron steal your girlfriend? Im so over what he did to us two years ago. Just dont slit your wrist come June man. I’ve accepted he’s gonna be the best player of our generation (possibly better than Mike as sacreligious as that may sound) and we’re gonna be in for a bumpy 9 year period where he’s going to win at least 4 titles. It is what it is.

Is this where we put in Walter Sharpe and turn the season around?

@HB, Yeah, but at least Flip knew the X’s and O’s really well.

Is Patrick Ewing about to give birth to twin? man he really let himself go.

@prophecy_projectz, at least 4 championship? Nice dream world you got!

BAH. JVG is right. I hate that call.

Keegan

+1

Keegan: for that to work we have to wait until the series is 3-1 and Lebron starts running his mouth about how nice it is to make it to the second round. then we put Sharpe in to shut Lebron down and take the series in 7. Also, Sharpe has to turn out to be pretty good.

At least Afflalo’s auditioning for that role. That was NICE defense.

Yeah, not feeling Kwame right now.

But does that mean Tayshaun Prince will be a terrible Pistons coach in six years?

Um. There have been like 5 calls in the last 3 minutes that have pissed me off.

wow, Stuckey!

MP

+5

MP, I think Tay could coach this team better than Curry right now.

Hilarious how there’s an entire quarter goes by that Cleveland has ZERO fouls. Is that even possible?

“Cavs don’t have a single foul in the whole third Quarter!” Gotta love the NBA.

lol@ us being reduced to a team with “no human interaction”

But its true, and its one thing I noticed in the Iverson debacle. What was once a united team on and off court, has resulted in a bitter divided group. I dont think it was AI’s fault per say, he just fell into a thankless situation where the fellas were obviously butthurt over losing Chauncey (Im sorry but that is the truth, they could have made that shit work, hell they won games against teams like Cleveland, Lakers and the Spurs for goodness sake but they just dindt stick with it and I guess with Curry’s follies, this team mentally checked out). I know its spinning an overplayed broken record by saying that but thats how it is

Rip sucks. I would be happy to never watch him play in a pistons uniform again.

Mike Payne: Well played. Thank you and the rest of DBB for making it fun to watch what will likely be a rough series.

For the record, I miss Cheikh Samb.

If it came down to AI or Samb, I’m picking the Freikh every time.

Still 13 down….YAAY team! Can wait for the summer to hear about trades! No way in hell is Sheed is staying nor are we gonna keep him. I thinks that’s why he’s a flake at playing this season.

HB
Apr 18th, 2009 at 4:47 pm

@prophecy_projectz, at least 4 championship? Nice dream world you got!
^^^^
Im sorry but he is. This is like Mike, Duncan and Shaq all over again. Just a special generational player. I cant hate.

Other Matt
Apr 18th, 2009 at 4:51 pm

MP, I think Tay could coach this team better than Curry right now.

Hilarious how there’s an entire quarter goes by that Cleveland has ZERO fouls. Is that even possible?
^^^ No aggression

@SadPanda & Other Matt….FIXED.

no Brownie! the reason there was no foul call in the 3rd quarter was because the refs fixed it!

I wish the Pistons played w/ a chip on their shoulders like they did in ‘04 playoffs, not the ones for the last few years where the attitude was we’ve been through the trenches so we can win it again.

What kind of d-bag would wear a bracelet the calls himself king, has a tatoo of “Chosen 1” on his back, flexes on an and 1 all the while wearing his always ugly signature shoes until this year, where his shoes is basically a copy of the all time classic Air Force 1? What a d-bag?

And how does a team commit only 1 foul in the 3rd quarter of a playoff game?

Also, this is old news, but Curry is so fucking horrible at rotation management. What is the point of not throwing Max and Bynum out there for the final third of the 3rd quarter, now they’re gonna be thrown out there with us down 13 in the 4th quarter, and if they don’t immediately play well we’ll be down by enough to effectively end the game. Way to put everyone in a position to suck.

HB
Apr 18th, 2009 at 4:53 pm

Still 13 down….YAAY team! Can wait for the summer to hear about trades! No way in hell is Sheed is staying nor are we gonna keep him. I thinks that’s why he’s a flake at playing this season.
^^
Considering it was a contract year, you would think he would. Then again in this economical state and knowing how a lot of NBA players arent going to be getting big contracts, I guess maybe he said “Screw it, I won a title whatever” lol

Get it going Sheed!

It’s Bynum time, now! Bynum nabs 19 points. We win.

That was the most brutally missed tech free throw I have ever seen.

Nice stretch. Keep it up Pistons.

MFWB!

up by 8 and calling a time out because Lebron is on the bench? bunch of cowards.

Bynum takes off his clothes, but leaves on his socks.

It’s Byyyyyynum! It’s Byyyyyynum time!

You know it’s Bynum time because it’s the afternoon.

Cleveland I gotta say has got to be my favourite arena for music next to Phoenix, Miami, Detroit and Orlando. Random I know but I apperciate the Nas, Kid Cudi, Dr Dre and Jay-Z played so far.

God Tayshaun’s been a disaster today.

HB
Apr 18th, 2009 at 5:00 pm

up by 8 and calling a time out because Lebron is on the bench? bunch of cowards.
^^
Yeah, a real brave team doesnt call time out and watches the lead disintegrate in a 3rd quarter collapse like how our galliant Pistons did about 20 times this season.
Bravo for Bravery!

SadPanda
Apr 18th, 2009 at 5:05 pm

God Tayshaun’s been a disaster today.
^^
He’s always struggled against Cleveland. Tough to defend Lebron and the smaller guards and then on the other hand there bigs defend him well.

I don’t know what everyon’e problem is. The rotations have been fine. The offensive game plan has been fine. The problem has been the energy level on defense. If you want to blame Curry for that, then fine.

Hey, maybe the crowd should change it up by chanting “All-NBA first team! All-NBA first team!”

Also, the problem isn’t Tay on defense. There’s no help. Do you really expect him to shut down Lebron on his own? The bigs have been two slow to react.

Can we banned prophecy_projectz? are you with us or are you with the terrorists?

It is a good thing that Van Gundy didn’t announce Michael Jordan’s games.

The guy is just a cheerleader for whoever is most exciting / against Detroit. Van Gundy is legendary-poor. He’s Bill Walton-level of useless.

What a boringly mundane way to lose. If we lose game 2 like this, I might not be able to force myself to watch games 3 and 4.

Also, Jeff Van Gundy needs to get some sleep. I don’t care what it takes – sleeping pills, shrink visits, cutting out meat from his diet, getting off the cocaine, whatever it is, JVG has got to fucking quit it.

@Sauce1977, which is why Van Gundy is not coaching. He’s only useful for David Stern as his mouth piece at the announcing table. The guy just mad because his brother is coaching a sucessful team and he’s not coaching anything.

lol@ JVG and Mark Jackson shitting on the ’Stons. I cant be mad anymore there right. Fuck this squad for having the audacity to continue to think they can turn it on and off and say “Well we can pick up our swagger in the playoffs”. I love Sheed but he needs to kick rocks because he has seeded that mentality in them for years more than any player. They need a completley new direction and leader

@QD:
 
My problem with the rotation is that it’s exactly the same as it was during the regular season… The regular season that just finished, with us being essentially a lottery team. And I thought the evidence from the regular season would have led Curry to the realization that maybe the rotation/strategy would have to be shaken up for us to have any chance.

well down by 19 and 5 minutes left….I’m turning it off now….Seee ya next game everyone!

It was very nice of Cleveland to let us get within 8. Looks like they don’t feel like toying with us anymore though.

HB
Apr 18th, 2009 at 5:09 pm

Can we banned prophecy_projectz? are you with us or are you with the terrorists?
^^^^
Im a Pistons fan but this seaons was done in December. Sitting here and being bitter about Lebron is pointless because you’ll only end up breaking furniture looking at the next couple of months. Ive just dealt with the fact he’s good. shrug

Since when is clipping the outside of the front of the rim almost putting it in?

Nice temper tantrum Rip you dumbass.

Ug, give me a break. Not going to the basket is the symptom not the cause.

I believe that the Pistons offense will remain anemic until they find a big man who can post-up.

Rasheed won’t do it anymore, and McDyess will settle for a baseline J.

All great defenses have to do is apply pressure, and Detroit resorts to 5 guys loping around the perimeter.

Rip is a loser. Seriously, he’s a loser. As long as he’s a “leader” on our team we’re going to be average at best.

No Herrmann?

What gives?

Curry doesn’t like the 3 point shot in the playoffs?

Pistons turn a decent game into an ugly one by giving up after about 43 minutes. No effort to finish the game.

The cancer started from the answer, then spreaded to Rodney, and Prince tonight. These two guys and Amir would be traded this summer Kobe Bryant.

Rip was fine with his role. He isnt supposed to be the leader. Remember, we had a leader. Coincidentally that leader nailed 3’s from the top of the key. Our pg has caught the ball there with minimal coverage at least 15 times today. Nothing.

Let me get this straight. A player being held goes to the basket, the player holding on to him falls away from him and its a foul on the player being held. I’m glad we’ve cleared that up.

Hard to believe Max and Amir wouldn’t get any play in a game like this, where we desperately needed an injection of energy.

We started out so well.. but once the Cavs got up by double digits, our energy disappeared.

What do we have to lose by playing those guys, anyway?

Gabe, at some point, the players have to get some blame too. Not every single tiny little thing is Curry’s fault. The energy’s just not there. I didn’t see it from Maxiell either.

Lebron is still in with 2 minutes left and up 15. Can someone send a message?

As great as Stuckey started the game, he burned out hard to finish….

I agree with QD. Our players are not as good as theirs, plain and simple.

LBJ has too many amazing shots make pistons disappoint, I hate that but it’s truth.

In other words, our best game doesn’t beat them when they’re just having a good game.

Holliday
Apr 18th, 2009 at 5:18 pm

The cancer started from the answer, then spreaded to Rodney, and Prince tonight. These two guys and Amir would be traded this summer Kobe Bryant.
^^^^^^^^
This Cancer started way before AI got here.

This is sad. It’s like they pooped out in Game 1 instead of Game 6… hopefully they bring more energy and play Max some more next game.

The Pistons will be in a close game in game 2. The Cavs have made every shot. Fadeaway 3’s out of bounds, half court buzzer beaters… they made everything. LeBron will get his, but the others won’t every last game.

How about Prince+Stuck+Amir to KB this summer? Will Joe did that?

lol, making adjustments.

Curry is just trying not to piss and shit himself on the sidelines! Don’t talk about adjustments!

We need Maxiell!!! Let he and Afflalo stop LBJ!!!

No JVG, it really is that simple. Cleveland is a vastly superior team to Detroit. This series will only last as long as the Cavs let it go. Hopefully the Pistons will at least get a pride win or two at the Palace.

QD, very true, It’s definitely the players fault, except I don’t think Bynum, Max, or AA got a fair shake in this game (they all had positive +/- with a minute left).

As Curry famously said, the way you motivate is play people who are motivated… Rip/Tay clearly didn’t give a shit from tip-off. So take them out. Play Bynum and AA all the way. I saw them playing hard. They made mistakes, but at least the effort was there.

We’re not going to beat the Cav’s with our normal rotation. It’s just not going to happen. So why not try something different?

This season, we had two big troubles.
 The cancer
 MCIAFI

Curry is probably the worst coach I’ve watched since Don Chaney. I’m thinking Ron Rothstein had more scraps.

This team has way too much ambition and hunger to allow a Pistons team that doesnt have any ambiton and hunger itself to get back in. Im thinking the experts were right and this is gonna be a sweep. Plus you just know the Cavs want to bury us as cross-lake rivals.

Just out of intrest, are you guys rooting for anyone in the Playoffs just for fun after we’re out? Little Brother Orlando? Signficant Ex Denver?
Its tough because it just feels like LA and Cleveland have an easy road to the finals. On one hand I should be greatful Im gonna see two of the best players of my generation go head to head for the title…on the other hand, fuck seeing 3 weeks of Kobe-Lebron hype when Ive enduered it for at least 3 years.

I love Prince, but he was not concentrated in this game enough.
Looks like something is disturb in his head, does anyone agree with that? He really did a bad job tonight.

I’ve got a lot more Xbox 360 gaming in the future. Lots more … clearing that Pistons playoffs schedule throughout May, as we speak …

Pistons 84, Cavaliers 102

If you’re lookin’ for a good film this weekend, State of Play really is worth it … anyone with blogging or journalism in their blood is going to love it, and it’s a solid mystery/suspense offering.

Oh, Detroit Pistons …. way to look lost. You can’t hide the defeat written all over your face. Frustration, too … pretty pathetic.

Can somebody told me, why our PGs always had the most FG-attempt?

Well Holliday, they got into the habit back when they had a great point guard. I wonder what happened to him…

Gabe, AA played a lot of minutes. Maxiell stunk it up when he was in there. I saw at least two missed assignments that led to easy Joe Smith baskets. Bynum probably could have played more but Stuckey had it going early.

As for your idea of completly changing everything for the playoffs, I think that sends the wrong message. That’s basically telling your team that they need to start grab-bagging to pull out a win. That’s probably true, but my guess is that the Pistons would have just gotten beat worse if Curry started grab-bagging.

Just because what Curry tried didn’t work doesn’t mean something else would have. It’s just as possible that the other option is a greater evil.

Or the more likely possiblity is that the roster just plain doesn’t have it anymore.

Also, kudos to Tay for putting up one of the softest stat lines you’ll ever see:

4 pts on 2-7 fga’s (0 fta’s), 1 reb, 2 asts, 1 stl, 1 TO, 1 PF.

Meanwhile Lebron had 38, 8, 7.

There is a zero % chance of winning if Tay gets that badly dominated. In a way I’d actually be happy to see more turnovers and personal fouls in Tay’s stat line, at least that would indicate some level of activity on his part.

Sauce1977
Apr 18th, 2009 at 5:36 pm

If you’re lookin’ for a good film this weekend, State of Play really is worth it … anyone with blogging or journalism in their blood is going to love it, and it’s a solid mystery/suspense offering.
^^^^
I’ve got that on my must see list, but you NEED to see Crank 2 for its over the top ridiculousness. Crank was awesome because so stupid and this does it 10X more.

cleveland has come together and improved steadily as a team over the last four years. they were almost as good as the pistons four years ago. the pistons have deteriorated dramatically this year. cleveland has a truly remarkable superstar. the pistons have no superstar and a coach whose words and actions appear confused.
     i didn’t watch but i was disappointed anyway. hope springs eternal. but it isn’t rational.

@QD:
I don’t think we actually disagree that much, I’m with you in that I really, really doubt drastically switching line-ups or strategies has much of a chance of working, and it could, and probably would, have lead to an even bigger blow-out.

But the strategy/rotation that we did employ today I’m pretty confident has no chance of working, and is just going to lead to a boring 4, maybe 5 game series. I actually think the message sent from a major shake-up would be beneficial- if Rip and Tay are going to play lazily and not give a crap, then why do they need to play at all?

But I think you’re right in suggesting that the roster just doesn’t have the juice to pull off an upset, still as a fan I’d rather watch a group of guys go down guns blazing, then watch the painfully lethargic way we lost today.

I think we all at least want to see the boys put up a fight. But unless two of our players have career nights (ala Derrick rose) we aren’t going to even win a game. I say we give Stuckey, Afflalo and Bynum some good burn during this series for the experience. It will serve them well next year. I’m still comfortable with what I’ve seen from Afflalo and Bynum that they are my 3rd & 4th guards next year. We spend all of our money on 2 bigs.

Now I can’t believe I am about to say this buuuuuuut, as the self proclaimed President of the Maximus fan club, he can go right out the door with Amir. He misses soooooooooooo many defensive assignments its ridiculous. The once or twice a game spectacular dunk or block doesn’t make up for the lackadaisical play the other 90% of the time he’s on the floor. I just wonder what happened to the Maxiel of about 3 years ago that was the spark plug against one of our games against Cleveland. In limited mins he had something like 15 pts and 7-8 rebs, 1-2 blocks. He reminded me of when I watch Chris Birdman Anderson play for Denver (when he’s at his best anyway). Tay was just what I expected. I thought he would score 5 and Lebron 40. I was close.

Two high quality bigs and a back up for Tay. Keep Dice, Rip, Tay, Stuckey, Bynum, Afflalo. Kwame can be the 4th big. Sheed, Max and Amir can all go.

Maxiell has been pretty poor on defense. He’s also a shit defensive rebounder, too.

PNR over at natalies post on n4s!!!!!!!!!!!! pistons nation rise!

Gabe, yes, but I don’t think you can go into a game expecting a lack of effort and benching people right away and throwing off your rotations. Now, if the same thing happens at the start of Game Two, then you start benching people.

I was pretty pissed at prince. He didn’t even look like he was trying. There was a fast break where Rip slowed up his man and Tayshaun could have easily swooped in for the block, but just gave up and let him lay it in. Bullshit.

I’m going to go ahead and predict a win in Game Two. I think there will be much more effort. And Cleveland will have a drop off. Just eMotion.

I believe we could actually beat this team. But only if we go back to the Bad Boys. Giving up easy layups isn’t going to cut it – we’ll be done in four.

The Cavs aren’t going to lose ever if they shoot 50% from the floor with only have 4 turnovers. If Detroit can force them to miss and to cough up the ball a bit, they can win games. If they can’t, they don’t deserve to win games.

First time in a long time … I think the Red Wings are going to have Detroit’s undivided attention. Here’s hoping the Wings do the city proud. The rest of the teams, man, bleh.

i am all for give the young guys burn. worst case is we lose by twenty anyway. best case they have some success. in other words there is no downside. if david stern and the church nanny pundits are upset sheed is on the bench for the ritual sacrifice…screw them! they want a joke series, they get a joke series. treat it like pre-season. let’s get something out of it. if i were coach…i would start amir. tell him i expected him to foul out. but that i expected him to cause some pain in the process. i would make sure that both affalo and walter took at least four threes apiece. i would tell kwame, you are going to the hole with the ball three times……have some bleeping fun for chrissakes! curry looked like he was gonna cry in the post game. start walter sharp.

“We will win game 2..”

Still waiting for one of those…

“I believe we could actually beat this team. But only if we go back to the Bad Boys. Giving up easy layups isn’t going to cut it – we’ll be done in four.”

That’s what I was preaching a couple days ago, we need to foul Lebron to the point where he can’t get up if we are going to win this series. And to be honest, I’m all in favor for this.

Someone just end LeBron’s career. Please. Injure that motherfucker.

Jeff Van Gundy can shit all over the Pistons all he wants… he’d quit his talking head job in a heartbeat to coach the team.

horrible game by Detroit today. Horrible movement on defense, horrible non ball movement on offense… fucking pathetic display of basketball today.

need to pick it up for Game 2… steal one in Cleveland and see the Cav fans’ assholes pucker just a little bit

Jeff Van Gundy can lick ‘em. Stan, too. I avoid ESPN/ABC telecasts at all costs. I watched the Bulls/’Tics on Comcast Chicago and suffered through Stacey King’s horrible commentary. It was still better than the Stern-sucking you hear all over ESPN.

oh and…

LOL @ Yankees getting smoked by the offensively challenged Indians today in their new ballpark… the ball doesn’t play as well as the old ballpark… I’ve seen an awful lot of flyballs out to left center that would’ve died in the old park.

Tex and ARod are going to have big years this year but NY is far from putting it together enough to contend.

pnr!

pnr? puns and roses?

I really don’t care if LeBron gets 38 points, just make him get 25 of them at the line. Anything that isn’t a jump shot is a bone bruise.

And I don’t care if Stuckey and Bynum both foul out on offensive fouls, dribble the ball right at that big freak of a superstar and make the refs call a defensive foul on LeBron at least twice a game.

And if the Pistons go down 3-0 I want to see 48 minutes of Walter ‘insert non-narcolepsy related nickname here because chicks dig the empathy’ Sharpe in Game 4. Because WHY THE FRACK NOT?

pistons nation ruined?

Pabst New Ribbon? A new beer Pistons fans will need to drink much of to get over being swept in the first round?

get swept but have fun doing it? or get swept and almost cry at the postgame?
  joe, joe, joe offensive foul calls at lebron.! yes! great, great idea! sadly curry has no sense of humor or spark.
   bigs fouling out, blood on the floor. flagrant fouls! the bullets deserve to be playing more than us. at least they stand up for themselves. good post game quotes. bring on the crab dribble.
    boney, the yankees have cursed themselves by getting rid of the historic stadium. the longer they go without a championship in the new one, the more the curse will get discussed. good job by cleveland to get things off to a sad start.
      historic stadium. tons of personality. sport all about history and nostalgia. the team and stadium that most represents the history and nostalgia. how many heroes played in yankee stadium? how many championships?… and they replace it because it doesn’t have enough sky boxes in the year of economic collapse at the hands of corrupt financial institutions. city budget in the red and two perfectly good stadiums sitting side by side in two parking lots like double images in the same city. dysfunction.
      and then there is the old tiger stadium…what a shame!

Hey Colin, shut your mouth up!
Can’t you see Prince is injuried?
Just go to see Freep.com!!!
I can’t understand why MC never let Maxiell to defend Lebron?
He is strong and tough enough!!

Shinons, Pabst Blue Ribbon is a great macro beer. I love it.

Hey Pistons youngins, however you go, go hard. Don’t look all laid-back like Prince … guy’s a vet, it’s his smooth style. If you can’t be ice in your demeanor, then get crazy.

If you come soft, it’s easier for Joe D to ship you somewhere, so just remember that, if you think taking these games off is more preferable. Show us fans you want to be here.

On the vets showing a lackadaisical demeanor ….

I think I can forgive them a little depression over this season. They’re used to being in the championship conversation. I just don’t want any visible “fuck you” shit going on among them, in terms of fighting with other teammates, or slurs at the coach. Remember when Delfino cussed out Larry Brown? I hate that shit. These guys are millionaires, not a bunch of chumps on an internet message board.

Remember when Delfino cussed out Larry Brown? I hate that shit. These guys are millionaires, not a bunch of chumps on an internet message board.

+1

Tayshaun as quoted in the Freep:

“It’s not stopping me from jumping or running for that matter, it just locks up when I’m out of the game and sit for a minute or even during time-outs,” said Prince, who had a wrap around his waist after the game. “That’s why during the time-outs I was standing, because I really couldn’t sit down.”

I don’t see how his injury is an excuse to give up on plays.

Prince has Lebronitis!!

I have no doubt that his back is bothering him, but it is due his anxiety over having to play against Lebron for 4 games.

The last two year Prince has been punked down something awful in the playoffs playing against Lebron and Pierce.

It’s all your own view.

The way we look like we could care less out there on the court, and the way our coach looks like a complete idiot reminds me a lot of recent UM football.

I think Prince’s Team USA / 100 games a year / ballin’ 24/7/365 finally caught up to him.

I think Prince’s Team USA / 100 games a year / ballin’ 24/7/365 finally caught up to him.

Don’t get me started about that goddamn spread.

I believe in Rich Rod, but if we bring that Paulus guy in there, so much for a QB factory …

I won’t be saying anything bad about Tayshaun Prince. The guy has played about a million games in a row AND the Olympics AND gets the toughest cover every night. I’m glad he played in the Olympics last year too. At least a Piston won something recently. He’s on fumes and it shows but he’s on fumes because he left it on the court.

Mike,

stfu.

Everyone else,

Trevor Ariza played like he wanted to be a Piston today.

I like where your heads at Boney

joejoejoe,

I wouldn’t go after Prince, just for playing shitty, but he’s the last guy I expect to see giving up on plays. If he’s not giving his all, I don’t expect anyone else to.

Boney – I love Ariza. He was really good in Orlando too. I’m not sure why they ever let him go for Brian Cook and Maurice Evans. Orlando has two PFs (Hedo/Rashard L.) who are softer than the best SFs in the East (Pierce/LeBron). I’m not sure that’s a recipe for advancing in the playoffs.

Plus, Dwight Howard is one dimensional. So they’re fucked, basically.

Boney, it warms my heart that you’re carrying on the “(so and so) is playing like he wants to be a Piston.”

I wish a couple current Pistons would play like it too.

As for Ariza, my guess is that the Lakers will try to keep him and Shannon Brown and let Odom go.

Ariza is great, but if I had to choose one Laker free agent to join the Pistons I’d get Odom.

PS,

I usually won’t say this to another DBBer who’s posts I enjoy but… Odom doesn’t play like he wants to be a Piston.

Ariza is the only potential Laker free agent (other than Kobe who can opt out) who plays like he wants to be a Piston and make $8m a year while Tayshaun and our #1 is traded to whoever wins the lottery for their small forward and the #1 overall pick

(Tayshaun could be valuable going into next season because he’s an expiring deal, for those that don’t know)

signing Ariza for $8m and the #1 for Tay and our #1 basically would even out, salary wise. Plus Ariza is younger and more athletic at this point in his career…

I think I would be first in line for some of the Ariza kool aid

Boney—I forgot about Prince’s soon-to-be expiring contract, and I assumed that acquiring several PFs and Cs will be a bigger off-season priority than replacing Prince. If he’s gone, then of course yes on Ariza.

I don’t think the #1 priority is getting rid of Prince. Honestly, I don’t believe Dumars thinks Prince needs to go.

I think you have a chance to sign an offensive minded big man this offseason right? (Boozer, Millsap, Lee?) so you have room to sign a defensive-first SF, and in a league full of stars who are SG and SFs, I think Ariza could be a good pickup for a team looking for a solid option.

but then again… I don’t think Joe D throws the money at Ariza that it’s going to take to lure him away from LA, even though LA did let Turiaf walk last offseason.

Let me do like everyone else seems to have done:

PG – Stuckey/Bynum
SG – Rip/Afflalo
SF – Ariza/???(Amir and future pick for backup?)
PF – Millsap/Griffin/Maxiell
C – Brown/Sheed/Dyess?

that’s not a horrible starting 5… solid defense in the post then in year 2, you move Griffin to C and sign backup post players

Incidentally, Trevor Ariza went to Westchester, the same LA high school as Amir Johnson. The Wikipedia list of notable Westchester alums is a fantastic smorgasbord of actors, athletes, musicians, and potpourri:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westchester_High_School_(Los_Angeles)#Notable_alumni

My favorite entries:

Lynette Fromme and Patricia Krenwinkel, two members of the “Manson family”

and:

“Keisha, former adult pornography star”

As opposed to child pornography star?

Let me try that link again:

Wikipedia list of notable Westchester alums

but then again… do you bury Maxiell who is earning $5m a season that deep in the rotatio?

where does Maxiell end up if you acquire a front court player who is younger than he is while still wanting Rasheed and/or Dyess to come back? Does he get sent to the back of the line like Amir?

It’s not going to happen… trading Tay and our #1 for the #1 overall and their SF isn’t a smart idea for the team who will likely get the #1 pick (do you really want a guy at SF who is in his prime when your pathetic team needs more talent when the draft outside the top 3 is so weak?)

Everyone save me a seat on the Ariza bandwagon. Hopefully we can steal him away for something around the mid-level.

@Boney, looking at the teams ahead of us in the draft, one team that I’m thinking might make sense to deal with is Washington (if they get the top pick). If we sent them Tay for their pick and crappy contracts, Washington could move Butler to SG and put out a Arenas/Butler/Tay/Jamison/Haywood lineup and try to make a playoff run. It would use up some of our cap space on crappy players, but we’d get a beastly big man in the draft. If the Wizard’s don’t win the lottery or don’t want to trade their pick, and if we don’t get Ariza, I’d think/hope we might look to deal with the Bobcats, and try to swap Gerald Wallace for Tay and our pick (we could appeal to Larry Brown’s love of Tay and Wallace has a year longer on his contract so they’d save money).

Also, how much more disappointing is it that the Pistons didn’t get the 6th or 7th seed, in light of how vulnerable Orlando and Boston look? As bad as we played this season, we still very well could have found ourselves in the conference finals if we’d managed to grab one of those seeds.

Man, I’m watching Denver/New Orleans right now and Chauncey is sneaky good. I miss him, but it’s good to see him leading the Nuggets in the post-season.

Also, Birdman has crazy shot-blocking skills. I think the refs also let him get away with a bit more contact because he’s known as a high energy guy. He just body-checked Rasaul Butler and blocked his shot but the refs let it go. The refs would not have let Amir go.

4-4 from deep for Chauncey in the first quarter. We sure could have used some of those 3’s this year.

Chauncey back on his Big Shot Swagger for the ’Offs!

4 from 4 beyond the arc in the 1st.

Let’s get it Nuggets!!!!!

Birdman>>>>>>>Spaceman from Sunset Park>>>>>>> Sheed

As far as Weedhead PF’s go.

ba-ba-ba billups is dominating the hornets :)

8-9 from 3, is that a record?

Chauncey lights the world on fire…

Sheds a single manly tear

I miss Chauncey

wallowing in sadness

Incidentally, Trevor Ariza went to Westchester, the same LA high school as Amir Johnson.>>
=====
They were teammates for one year

My reactionary starting lineup for next year:

PG – Will Bynum
SG – Rodney Stuckey
SF – Trevor Ariza
PF – Paul Milsap
C – Hasheem Thabeet

Man, Billups is so good. I still can’t believe we let ourselves get sucked into “an ECF appearance isn’t good enough.” An injury to KG here, a bad game for the Cavs there…you just don’t trade away a superstar (which is what Billups is) because you’re pouting over not winning it all.

Dumars is one of the most overrated gm in sports, sorry. He’s clearly above average; maybe even upper quartile. But his total fuckups on the Darko pick and Chauncey trade are just inexcusable. And a lot of his best moves were pretty lucky (one of the five best players in the NBA demands a trade, and an undrafted throw-in you get in return…becomes a multiyear all-star!)

I think C-bill just gave a big fat “fuck you too” to Joe D

Btw, to anyone who watched the Mariners-Tigers series and the love affair Seattle has with Griffey…I have that with Billups. We have to sign him as soon as he’s an FA. He needs to retire here and get that #1 hung in the rafters.

Watching Chauncey is the only thing that isn’t awful about this year’s playoffs. And praying that I can see him in red, blue, and white sometime in the 20 teens is the only good thing about the future (anyone who thinks we’re coming out of the East with Carlos Boozer is smoking…much as I do think it’s a good personnel move).

It’s wonderful to see Chauncey destroying Paul and the Hornets. The man deserves all the best. Tonight he was by far the best player on the floor, and beyond tonight he’s become the unquestioned heart and voice of a team that for years swallowed whole anyone who dared to try to lead it. During stoppages in play he goes to the young guys to instruct them, and they look at him and listen and nod and then play better because of what he’s taught them.

Ironically, in the season when the Pistons most needed his leadership, because they effectively had no coach anymore, Chauncey was removed from the picture. The Pistons would have been so much better off installing Chauncey as player-coach.

How after all this time did Dumars fail to understand what Chauncey brings to a team? The 36 points (8-9 3PT), 8 assists, 0 turnovers, 2 steals that he had tonight are the very least of what he adds when he takes the floor. He’s a natural leader, probably the most effective of any NBA player. He makes his teammates smarter and calmer and more selfless. He’s one of the best people in the league too.

Dumars never intended the horrific Iverson trade to be a salary dump, no matter what he or the media say today. The smoking-gun quotation, from SI back in November: “‘The cap situation is a bonus,’ said team president Joe Dumars, standing outside the locker room before Iverson’s Pistons debut last Friday in New Jersey. ‘I absolutely would have done the deal [even without the cap relief]. This is a basketball decision.’” Don’t let anyone tell you that Dumars made the trade primarily to clear cap space. That’s a lie.

But even if Dumars felt that he needed to dump salary, if he decided that the Pistons could go no further with the set of players they had, trading Chauncey for Iverson was still idiotic. Salary dumps only make sense when the players involved are expendable. Chauncey was not expendable. When you give away a top-5 point guard for trash, your team gets a lot worse.

If in the offseason Dumars turns Chauncey Billups, consummate champion, into the undersized, overinjured Carlos Boozer, a loser, whiner, and blind-man-abuser whom the Jazz can’t wait to expel from Utah… Then I don’t know what to say, except that I hope Dumars will also trade away Rip, Tay, Roscoe, and Dyess so that I can stop caring about the team.

Does anyone think that the Pistons we’ve seen this season are a Carlos Boozer away from returning to contention? Anyone? Even Keith Langlois can’t believe that.

It’s a tragedy what Dumars has done to the team. He cut off its head. True leadership is worth many Carlos Boozers. It’s also worth many Rodney Stuckeys.

Well, on the bright side, should the Stones get the first round exit everyone and their mother is predicting, we here have a team to watch and root for outside of our own conference. For the weeks ahead, we might as well be the DenverBadBillups blog…

@QD:

PG – Will Bynum
SG – Rodney Stuckey
SF – Trevor Ariza
PF – Paul Milsap
C – Hasheem Thabeet

That would be the worst 3-point shooting team in league history. Additionally, with Milsap, Thabeet and their defenders, the lane would be too clogged for Bynum and Stuckey (or Ariza) to do what they’re good at. 1-5, none of those players can consistently score outside of the paint. If that’s our lineup next season, I’ll take up crocheting. Or wrist slitting. Not trying to be overdramatic, just sayin’.

(exchange Stuckey with a lights out 3-point shooter who can go 45% from the field, and if Milsap can develop a 15-foot jump shot in a matter of months, that’s another story. i’m not ready to wait for the latter, btw)

The “worst 3-point shooting team in league history” was every team before 1979. QD’s reactionary starters would have been pretty good back then.

Actually, I was just joking with that “reactionary starting lineup.” It could never happen because there’s no conceivable way the Pistons can trade up (why trade down in a draft with little talent?).

My point is that I would rather go young instead of trying to reload for another run at the title next year.

Yeah, Chauncey’s playing great. But, I think his great play has a lot to do with being in a new environment.

The core of Billups, Rip, Tay and Sheed were done. And EVERYONE on this site would be bitching about Dumars was stupid for not making changes (although I was one of the people advocating for him staying pat) if the Pistons went out before the ECFs. And I guarantee they would have because having Billups doesn’t change the fact that Sheed and Dyess are old.

MP, I’ve been watching Milsap. He has a nice stroke and I think he’ll develop consistency in that jumper, enough so to make his face up game more dangerous.

But, given the choice between a big man that can shoot a fifteen footer and a big man that can post up. I’ll take the post up player every time.

Yeah, QD is right. The whole situation sucks. I wish the best for Chauncey, I really do, but watching that performance was what I imagine it would be like to watch your ex bang somebody else.

I almost hope the whole damn thing gets blown up in the summer. We all need to see some fresh faces and get out from the ghosts of the past (not related to the basketball gods, fyi). We also need to get out from under the illusion we’ll be contending any time soon because without some nifty GM-ing from Dumars (my faith is a little shaken now) we’re done for the next few years.

sigh

QD said: “The core of Billups, Rip, Tay and Sheed were done. And EVERYONE on this site would be bitching about Dumars was stupid for not making changes (although I was one of the people advocating for him staying pat) if the Pistons went out before the ECFs. And I guarantee they would have because having Billups doesn’t change the fact that Sheed and Dyess are old.”

This is 100% accurate. Well-said, QD!
The other nice thing about Billups dominating (which hasn’t been mentioned yet) is that he did it against the NBA’s other golden child, Chris Paul. Paul had a decent game himself, but Billups went 2004 MVP on his ass.

Funniest sports line of the day compliments of C. McClosky at the DetNews
-—————————————————-
“Pistons plan to make LeBron James sweat”

http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/58651/20090420/pistons_plan_to_make_lebron_james_sweat/#

Anyone who has ever watched Mr. Smooth play knows that he sweats up a storm even when he goes for 38 in a playoff game.

Make Lebron Sweat. LMAO

QD, he said he’d make changes in 2007. So, Joe already failed, there. I gave up on his ‘big changes, no one is safe,’ until Joe overreacted.

@QD:
But, given the choice between a big man that can shoot a fifteen footer and a big man that can post up. I’ll take the post up player every time

Fortunately, with our money, it doesn’t have to be “either/or”. Both Bosh and Boozer can post up and shoot from 15/20. Not saying that landing either is a certainty, but that remains my preference over Milsap (whom I should state that I am very big on, I’d just prefer his skill set out of a center not an undersized PF).

Yeah, Chauncey’s playing great. But, I think his great play has a lot to do with being in a new environment.

Agreed. The last time Chauncey put up 30+ points in a playoff game was back in 2005-06. And given his track record against Cleveland, I’d bet he wouldn’t have a game like that as a Piston in our current matchup.

MP, yes, ideally you get someone that can do both. I prefer Milsap because of the youth. My preference would be to start building a new core. Perhaps, with Bynum at PG (boy, did I do a 180 on him) and Stuckey at SG.

I think Milsap still has room to grow. He’s a second year player, right?

Obviously, Bosh would be great but I have a feeling he’ll be playing for New York or Brooklyn.

@QD:
I agree, and my preference against Millsap should be explained. Millsap is a great builder, a frontcourt piece that could create one hell of a trio in DET. His 16-10-1-1 per 36 in his 3rd year in the L is impressive, with a ceiling that is likely a lot higher. Given the shots, he might end up a 20-10 guy in a season or two.

I know I’ve probably repeated this to the point of being annoying, but… My only remaining problem with Millsap at the 4 and Stuckey at the 2 is that this lineup’s success is predicated on both players developing a skill set that neither has exhibited yet. Millsap can’t stretch defenses for Stuckey, Stuckey can’t hit the 3. Whither Rip, btw?

Its going to be an exciting summer either way. I’d love to see Boozer’s market price come down to $10/yr, and Joe to ink that in a heartbeat.

MP, I’m thinking long term and having another core that could be together for 6 playoff runs like this last core.

I think Stuckey shoots threes pretty well in spot up situations. And Milsap will develop the outside shot to compliment his banging. But, yes, you would need two more players (an SF and a C) to round out the skill set. You would need a shot blocker and a three point threat that can guard on the perimeter.

If Boozer opts out, the Pistons should hope that Oklahoma City or Memphis get Blake Griffin. Those are the teams with good cap space and a need for a big man. They likely won’t be interested in Boozer anyway because they’ll probably want someone who can grow with their young players. But, the less team’s in the market for high priced big men, the better it is for Detroit.