The Pistons and Wizards meet up tonight for the final time this season. The Pistons took the first two meetings in November, but the Wiz extracted revenge in a close game at the Palace on Friday. Should the Pistons and Wiz finish with the same regular season record, this game will be a deciding factor if the Pistons get home-court advantage in the playoffs.
It’s hard not to admire what the Wizards have been doing lately, but I’m still confident Detroit can get into the same type of groove once the roster and rotations gets a chance to gel. From the sounds of things, though, not all Wizards fans are too worried about Detroit. From Bullets Forever:
We kind of did this already Friday, but let me reiterate that, of the contending teams in the East, Detroit scares me the least. The Wizards match up better with Detroit than either Cleveland, Miami (a top team in name only), or Chicago. This is especially true when they play Chris Webber at center, because Antawn Jamison can now guard a player who won’t pound him inside. There’s a reason why Antonio McDyess dominated the Wizards in the last matchup, while Webber struggled.
That’s not to say Detroit isn’t a formidable team. I’d just rather see them than Cleveland or Chicago.
Oh, he just dealt the disrespect card — nice! Here’s Ivan Carter of the Washington Post:
Detroit’s bench doesn’t scare anyone and in that sense, the Pistons are very similar to the Wiz. Flip Murray and Nazr Mohammed don’t play anymore, Lindsey Hunter is a capable defender and gives Gilbert a hard time but he’s not a scorer and Carlo Delfino’s nice games come and go. Whover gets the most from their bench tonight will win the game.
Hmm… I guess not everyone is worried about McDyess. What’s Wizznutzz saying?
Wizards just cant be stopped whether its against “Leprechaun IV: All QUiet on the DeLonte Western Front” or the Throwdown in Motown. Hey is CWebb on the Tyra Banks diet??? 9 wins over .500 is like Ledell Eackles genome: uncharted territory! SOmetimez it doesnt even seem like Wiz r so good but just that suddenly everyone else seems so ugly around them. Its like the reason Steve Czaban has so many friends!
Hard to argue with that. Meanwhile, the D.C. Sports Bog presents us this video of Chauncey Billups and his Tahitian Noni juice:
Persistence and Noni juice? I’m pretty persistent, I think, which means I might be just a few glasses of Noni juice short of an NBA contract. Oh, Chauncey also says “It keeps you stronger longer,” without specifying what exactly he’s talking about, although I think I might have gotten an e-mail about that.
I think Dan Steinberg and I are on the same email list. In any case, this is one of those games that you should be excited about. Ball tips at at 7 pm, and it’s on NBA TV for all you out-of-towners. As usual, leave your game thoughts in the comments.
Yes, a huge clash tonight with the Wiz, and with playoff homecourt implications, a game where they’ll have to pull out all the stops.
I was critically of the lack of bench use last Friday, but regardless of starter’s minutes spend tonight, Detroit needs to go with what’s working the best, and worry about rest tommorrow, when they face New Jersey; this game is more important.
Jamison is a hard cover for Rasheed, because he plays more like a SF. C-Webb can be exploited to by this team, so McDyess might have to log a lot of minutes. Hopefully, the Pistons will begin to intergrate Prince more into their new offense, that features Webber in a lot more of the playmaking.
As far as the “goon squad” getting minutes, Maxey might throw a monkey wrench into some of Eddie Jordan’s game plan; we’ll have to see how the tempo goes. Washington might have too much quickness for effective minutes from Dale Davis, but he does have the ability to shake up their frontcourt. It would be nice if Delphino summoned one of his “on” games tonight; they’ll need it.
Frustrating as hell! This game killed me from start to finish. I’ve never yelled at the TV this much since the cavs series in last years playoffs. What the hell is with these crap starts. No energy from the tip. It gave the wizards so much confidence out of the gate and then they couldn’t miss. I’m sick of this.
Would someone please protect the middle. No interior defense at all. When guys keep getting to the rim time and time again it’s time for someone to get knocked on their ass… old school. Send in Dale and just have him put someone on the ground.
Was it just me or was there a very slanted whistle in this game? I think I counted at least 10 missed calls that would have put the Stones at the line. Maybe our whinny rep is starting to hurt us. We got a raw deal with the officiating tonight.
Bottom line… I’m tired of watching this talented group lose night in and night out.
I need a drink.
-Tim
Tim — I hear you about the non-calls. How many FTs did the Pistons have in the first three quarters? I swear it was close to six.
soo whose gonna be really suspended coz of the T’s first? Sheed or Rip? well chauncey isnt that far behind either.
i couldnt watch the whole game. it got so frustrating i was turning the TV off.
ughhhhhh i hate games like this.
btw, what is Rip’s T count now?
thx
I’ve been watching ESPN’s NBA Cost to Coast, and I’ve got to say… the Pistons are pretty terrible. They’re slow, they’re old, they don’t want it bad enough. I’m a huge fan, but I’m starting to see just how powerful Phoenix and Dallas and Washington are. After pretty much getting squashed by the Wiz tonight, I think it’s safe to say that the Pistons are good for one round, two at best in the Playoffs.
I hate to say it, because I follow the Pistons more than any sports team, but I’m just seeing more and more how they’re going to get beat down into the ground by the new faces of the NBA.
I hope I’m wrong, and the reason I’m posting this here is so that you’ll prove me wrong!
The Webber signing was a mistake, IMO. They lost whatever inside muscle they had when they put Nazr in the doghouse to play Webber. There’s a reason we’re hearing complaining about the lack of inside toughness on this blog. Webber, Sheed, and McDyess just aren’t those type of players. If you’re going to play the type of hard-nosed perimeter defense Detroit plays, you also need shot blockers and bruisers to back it up.
As long as Detroit has a healthy Billups, Hamilton, and Prince, they’ll be pretty good. But my statement from earlier still stands.
By the way, this game was definitely still winnable for Detroit, until they put in Carlos Delfino and went small. Eddie Jordan should send Flip Saunders a fruit basket thanking Flip for matching up directly with Jordan’s team.
Just a Wiz fan’s perspective.
Prada: Nazr was always in the doghouse — he rarely played even 20 minutes a game long before Webber was even a possibility. He looks good in a uniform, but he’s a step slow on defense (which is why he always fouls) and really didn’t do much on offense. I wish he had a longer leash, but the Pistons certainly wouldn’t have won this game had he started in C-Webb’s steed.
To me, it was just a case of stumbling out of the gate. That 12-point deficit in the 1Q killed the Pistons and they could never get back over the hump. It’s a familiar problem for Pistons fans and has been something that’s killed the Pistons many, many times this year.
(Granted, losing Rip Hamilton, perhaps Detroit’s most consistent threat from night to night, to early foul trouble also hurt a lot, especially since it resulted in nine minutes for Flip Murray.)