… maybe it’s the coach’s fault.
The Florida writers are having a field day with the Pistons second-guessing Flip Saunders. Ethan Skolnick of the Sun-Sentinel writes:
Everyone knows what the Pistons, trailing 2-1 to the Heat, should be doing differently.
Rasheed from Philadelphia, kick it off. What’s your view of the Hack-a-Shaq? “It never worked when I was in Portland and it don’t work now. To me, if I was the coach, I don’t like that.”
What’s your take, Tayshaun from Compton, on keeping Dwyane Wade from averaging 30.7 points on 68.8 percent shooting? “I was pretty disappointed we didn’t give Lindsey Hunter any action in the second half. I know Dwyane can shoot over him, but at least [Hunter] has the pressure and the quickness to be where he’s at, at all times.”
Any suggestions, mild-mannered Antonio from Mississippi, on how the Pistons can generate more offense? “We need to let Rasheed go to work. He was dominating down there. Then we went away from that. We started calling plays that weren’t working.”
Got all that, coach Flip Saunders? You are the coach, correct?
It’s hard to tell, with Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, Antonio McDyess and others offering expertise. That seems a problem for you, and a remarkable opportunity for the surprisingly harmonious Heat. Now that the Pistons have selected their scapegoat, the Heat can’t be kind enough to open an escape hatch tonight.
Before I say anything, let me reiterate that I still consider Detroit the favorite not just in this series but also for the NBA title. My confidence in the team has not waned, though my perspective is starting to shift. There was a time this season that I wondered if Saunders would be fired if he failed to win a title, or at the very least make it to the NBA Finals. Right about now, though, I’m wondering if it wouldn’t be the starting five that’s broken up.
The Pistons have advanced to four consecutive Conference Finals under three different head coaches. Has all that success convinced them that they don’t need to rely on their coach? Or that when things do go wrong, it’s not their fault, but the coach’s? I’m not completely ready to jump to that conclusion, but statements like those above certainly don’t help me rule out the possibility.
I love the on-court chemistry that the Pistons have, and I think their success over the past three or four years shows that you don’t need a dominant superstar to carry a team. But one advantage that Miami has is that they know either Dwyane Wade or Shaquille O’Neal will carry the rest of the team or go down trying.
Is Detroit unselfish to a fault? When the Heat lost Game 2, Shaq said “I need more touches.” When the Pistons lost Game 3, McDyess says “Sheed needs more touches,” and Tayshaun says, “Lindsey Hunter should play more,” and Rip says, “We need to get the big guys scoring.” The only Detroit player I’ve seen ask for more touches for himself is Ben Wallace, but there he was on Saturday passing up a dunk so Carlos Delfino can shoot (and miss) a three.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not completely down on this team or the way in which it was constructed. I’ll take a balanced starting five over one or two superstars any day of the week — the “Jerry Stackhouse era” is all too fresh in my mind. But when the chips are down, this team needs a player to stand up and say, “I got this one,” not several players looking at the next guy saying, “I bet he could do it — if the coach would only let him.”
And that’s not on Saunders, but the guys actually playing the game.
Pistons’ question — Who’s in charge here? [Sun-Sentinel]
Great take on a situation that’s troubling a lot of us in Pistons Country.
Wasn’t a problem last year. Flip’s not in control of his own players. I wonder if we’ll see both coaching and roster changes in the offseason.
I don’t know if there will be a coaching change when it comes to Flip. The Pistons are just getting out played right now. I always state in my past comments ” Don’t Blame Flip”. Flip has only made a few bad moves this year, and I don’t think those would have made a big change to the outcomes of the games. Its not Flip missing from the foul line. Its not Flip turning the ball over. If we lose to these Miami Heat guys look for the Pistons to get better. I think we add a player with a old school low post game. This will help when we are not hitting the outside shot. Sheed and Dice I love but they are not true post players. I also look for the Pistons to add to their coaching staff. Flip is a good coach but he needs help on the defensive end of the floor. Adding a coach to his staff would help. Please stop it with the KG talk. We would have to give up much to get him. Joe will however look for a low player. You can not relay on jump shots this late in the season. Thats the real problem. We are being out played in the lane. And please stop with the LB talk. I think we would be in the same position if LB was on the sideline. Please don’t think our boys were always happy with LB. Flip just has less of a ego and is OK with his players speaking their mind. I think the way the games are being called is making us a little passive on the defensive end of the floor. We will see what happens today. All we have to do is win the rest of our home games and win 1 in the MIA! Not that hard. Plus when has it ever been easy for us. Lets save all the fire/blame Flip, trade this guy talk until we lose. Which I don’t think we will.
Carey- well said. LB fell behind in series, too. The Pistons went whole quarters without scoring a FG. The rotation was wack. There were people crying aloud then, too.
This series aint even close to being over. I think we win the series and the Title and people look back at this moment between games 3 and 4 as turning point. If we don’t then trouble.
I do believe that one of the starting five will be moved this summer if the right deal presents itself– to keep that edge. Dunno who, and right now it doesn’t matter.
GO PISTONS!
We need another “Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?” posts to get the fans rollin’ here…I read that Dan LeBetard(sp?) article in the previous post and I’ve got to say, he makes Wade out to be a pansy. Oh let’s all feel sorry for how the Pistons bump him and hit his legs when the refs aren’t looking…like that’s so bad…like it’s affected his scoring and ability to drive the lane so far this series.
I know this is going to sound like I want Detroit to play dirty, but I say you invoke the “no layup” rule in Game 4. It’s hard to do it against Shaq, so you let Shaq get his..anyone else tho? Antoine Walker with his 10000 dribbles in the lane you knock him down when he goes to lay it in. Wade and his gliding to the basket, you knock him down and make it known that the lane is going to be closed all night.
I know it will land some guys in early foul trouble, but you take away the fouls from the stupid hack a shaq and you plant Wade on his backside…guarantee it makes him think twice about driving the lane.
couple of things:
at first, it kind of bothers me that the players are second guessing their coach. then, at second glance, i’m surprised that flip isn’t giving them more input. remember: the pistons have been competitive the last 4 seasons. this is pretty much the first time flip has been competitive in the playoffs. i don’t think this stuff needs to be aired to the public, but if one of the key strengths of your team is your playoff experience, don’t you think you should be taking advantage of it?
second, and a bit more ominous. this team is starting to remind me of the ‘03-’04 lakers. brilliant during the regular season, good enough to get to the finals on talent alone. however things start to fall apart during the playoffs. i really hope it’s not like that, but the parallels are becoming somewhat apparent. just a question to ponder. if the pistons lose this series against the heat (which i don’t think they will), given the way ben has played, and given the way this team would be going out, does ben wallace stay with this team? i think he would, but it wouldn’t be as certain as if the pistons won the whole thing.
the_Allrights
Ben is frustrated because he doesn’t touch the ball ever. Rasheed is frustrated because he knows he’s not capable of doing the things he does to dominate a game because of his bum ankle. I don’t know what Tay’s problem. Just tired probably. Either way, somebody has to get these cats (to quoth Sheed) in line. You’re a team player on AND off the court. You don’t start throwing people under the bus in the middle of the Eastern Conference Finals. That’s what we do. We’re the fans. We have the luxury. So when I say “Flip Saunders is in over his head,” IT DOESN’T MATTER. But when guys start taking this stuff out of the locker room to the media, that is conduct detrimental. And that became the biggest reason I hated LB as a coach. He’s probably the best coach in the league on the court. But get him in that media room and watch for dead bodies to drop. A microphone is like a loaded gun pointed right at your head, but Larry had this special way of taking the “gun” and using it on his own players. Darko never recovered. We still don’t know if Delfino’s made the turn. At least we got a championship out of it.
I feel nothing but sympathy for Flip. He’s given these guys so much wiggle room and freedom and this is how they repay him? Unfortunately for him, I don’t think he has the coaching style/ability to pull things together. I think it’s going to take Chauncey. He’s the guy who sold Flip to the players. He’s the guy who’s been coming up short lately (except for Game 3). We need one of those MVP-type performances, like 25 points, 11 assists. We need a series-saving performance. And they’re going to need to BEAT Miami. The Heat know how important this game is. They are not going to take it easy or come out ho-hum. This is going to be the Pistons toughest test of the season.
Man, I can’t bring myself to talk about the offseason yet. Maybe after tonight, but I hope not.
the allrights- You hit it right on the head about LB. Last year we would 4 to 5 mins without a basket. Flip has done a OK job getting the guys open looks. We have just have missed shots we normally make. We have been turning the ball over more in the playoffs. I think we as fans forget that we are playing one of the best players in NBA history in O’Neal. And that guy D Wade, yes he is a cry baby, he one of the best in the NBA.I Don’t know when this goal has become so easy in the eyes of the fans. The last 2 years have been hard on my heart. Yes the do or die thing will get us sooner or later, but we have had a great run and a few more in us. People think that Flip has lost the team, maybe Sheed is running things. BS! I am sure we have had the same problems with LB, but we have become more in the public eye. Which is a good thing. We are mostly talking about the players and thats what Mr. Davis wanted. We see Rip and Ben on TV more and Mr.Big Shot has his own Video.For the most part our guys have been playing hard, not smart at times. We they stop trying and not playing hard I will be this 1st to call for Flips head.
Carey- I feel you. I think we pull this one out tonight, and everyone starts sleeping better and being nicer to their girls and dogs. AND FLIP, hopefully.
the quotes from Sheed and Tay yesterday could be an indictment of Billups, not Flip. He’s got to get the damn ball to Sheed and start running the offense. We need crisp movement and to get back to passing to the open man. Tay basically said that the things they discussed doing didn’t happen. Why not? If Billups ain’t running the show the way he is supposed to then he should have his butt on the bench.
It’s been a great run, no doubt. It’s not over.
I think the fans have gone soft because this year spoiled them after two back to back Finals appearances. For all the drama associated with LB, at least it kept us fans on edge. I was never comfortable, and I was always expecting the shoe to drop at any moment. It made me really appreciate the winning. I think the players had to really concentrate also. This year the onus is on the players. I don’t want to hear them dogging out their coach at all. Even if it’s true. Get the W’s, and tell Joe D in private.
peace, all. Enjoy the game. GO PISTONS!!!!!
Sure, Flip’s a nice guy. Xs and Os are hard to argue — I don’t like his offense and think it’s suited to Janaury and not June, but that’s just personal preference. You can win with any system, provided it fits your talent and is executed properly. But his style of treating the players like men didn’t work. Now he’s lost control, and he’s not going to get it back. Can’t let it fester, gotta make changes. Probably to coaching staff and roster.