Not only did the Pistons win both games, they did so in a remarkably dominant fashion: 117-91 in Milwaukee over the Bucks, and 118-95 at home against the Nets. Toss in the 109-74 laugher over the Cavs on Wednesday and the Pistons have the makings of a nice little winning streak, winning by an average of 28 points. That’s not a typo: twenty-eight points. Color me impressed.
I can’t get into the nuts and bolts of the last two games because, well, I haven’t seen them yet — I was out of town and still need to spend some alone time with my DVR. But after reading the recaps and looking at the box scores …
Holy Jason Maxiell!
On Saturday, he scored 13 and nine with two blocks, and on Sunday he went 18 and 11 with three blocks, all the while shooting nearly 65% for the weekend and finding time to pose for one of the most iconic images of his career to date (props to Mike Payne for spotting this one):
Random Maxiell interlude:
- Just because he’s producing on the court doesn’t mean he can escape the wrath of Rasheed Wallace: stop reading and watch now. [Need4Sheed]
- NBA fans outside Detroit are starting to notice Maxiell. [MVN]
Rip vs Flip?
One of the good things about the Pistons winning comfortably lately has been the starters getting a chance to enjoy a few extra minutes on the bench — no one guy has played more than 34 minutes over the last three games. Trouble is, when you’re a guy like Rip Hamilton who’s been struggling with consistency, sometimes minutes on the bench isn’t an immediate priority. From A. Sherrod Blakely’s blog:
For those who didn’t watch tonight’s game, there was a moment in the second quarter where Rip Hamilton was very upset at Flip Saunders for taking him out of the game.
It had the potential to be a real ugly, ugly scene.
But Hamilton had his moment of venting, and took a seat on the bench.
As Chris McCosky describes it, Rip was taken out after turning the ball over twice in a row. He told Flip he wanted to keep playing to regain his rhythm, Flip told Rip to “just make the simple play.” For what it’s worth, though, Rip has started to emerge from his offensive funk, shooting better than 57% from the field in the last three wins. But that’s in part because of better ball movement by the team as a whole, and if Saunders sees that start to wane, good for him in addressing it. Also, good for Saunders for spreading the minutes around.
Based on Joe Dumars’ comments this summer about preserving the starters and developing a bench, there’s absolutely zero chance of Rip winning this fight should it linger — not that I think it will. Blakely finished his post with this:
I talked with Rip after tonight’s game, and he made it pretty clear to me that, yes, he wants to play more minutes. But he understands that his minutes aren’t going to be plentiful now that the team’s focus is on continuing to develop the bench.
For what it’s worth, Rip is averaging almost three fewer minutes per game this year (34.1) than last (36.8), and the difference may grow larger after Rodney Stuckey returns. Which begs the question …
When Stuckey returns, who’s inactive?
DBB reader LawyerBoy brought up a good question in the weekend thread:
I was discussing this with my friend yesterday during the Bucks game … our 3 inactives have been: Dupe, Samb and Stuckey as of late. Who takes Stuckey’s place on the inactive list after he heals up? Neither of us could come up with a good answer, which I suppose is a good problem to have. Please feel free to enlighten me with your opinions; I’m very curious.
I don’t know the definitive answer, but I’ll try to find out at the next home game. In the meantime, my guess is Ronald Dupree, Cheikh Samb and Lindsey Hunter. Most fans view Stuckey as a combo guard; the Pistons consider him a point guard. So if he’s throw into the mix, is there really a need for three backups behind Billups? Maybe against teams with a quick backcourt, Hunter will get the nod and Arron Afflalo will be donning street clothes, but I don’t see the point on most nights.
I guess Flip Murray could get the dishonor (especially since he’s been relegated to fourth-quarter play lately), but I’m not sure that it’d be worth the risk. I’ve never heard anything suggesting that Murray is a malcontent, but if I were in his shoes, I’d be pretty ticked about being dropped out of the rotation in a contract year, especially considering he’s playing better than he did last year. I suppose Murray could still be traded, but I’m not sure what he’d draw in return is worth the loss of depth.
Also, as pointed out in the comments, players assigned by NBA teams to the D-League still count toward the 15-man roster, which means Samb will remain one of the three inactives even if/when he gets assigned to the D-League — which brings me to this …
On Samb’s future (and a possible nickname switch?)
Chris Silva had a quick note in the Free Press suggesting Cheikh Samb might be headed to the D-League soon. Not a huge surprise — it’s actually a bit remarkable that he’s stayed up here this long — but the kid just needs to play. Practicing against NBA vets and working with NBA coaches has it’s merits, but nothing beats good ol’ playing time.
Also, this dawned on me tonight: when Arron Afflalo, someone on DBB (forgive me for not remembering who) suggested his nickname be “Spellcheck.” Personally, I like it, even if I forget to use it. But considering there’s still some mainstream confusing over Cheikh vs. Cheick, wouldn’t “Spellcheikh” be appropriate?
And “Spellcheick,” and “Spellchek,” and “Spellcheque”? The joke, of course, lies in the fact that everyone spells it a different way. Or maybe my English major nerd-ness is shining through and it’s not that funny. Just thought I’d throw that out there.
When I’ve heard the players refer to Cheikh, they’ve pronounced it like the baby chicken, as in ‘chick’, which makes me think something like “The Funky Chicken” might be more appropriate. I’m just sayin’…
Flip Murray either deserves only 4th quarter play or to rot on the bench. Why? The pistons want to see Amir (and others) play and all Flip Murray does is hog the ball instead of passing it to others or trying to run set plays.
The Pistons are an unselfish team and that is their greatest strength. Flip Murray does not fit. He will either be traded or will not be resigned next year
Flip Saunders is playing the bench AND standing up to his stars? Was he kidnapped and replaced? is that a Flip Saunders-bot nervously sticking his chin out on the Piston’s sideline?
I’m glad Flip put Rip in his place. I don’t care if you struggle, but if you’re struggling because you’re playing stupid, that’s different. I know Rip wants to draw more fouls, but it’s not his game. The last two games were great reminders of how unstoppable Rip is when he catches and shoots. It was a stark contrast from the previous games where he was trying to be allen iverson, but without the ball handling skills.
Even J-Kidd knows this team is damn good!
“We aren’t as good as Detroit,” Kidd said. “We were playing against a very good team, and we didn’t have any answers. It seemed like they made every shot, or if they didn’t, they got the offensive rebounds and put that in.”
I like “Spellcheikh”. In fact, I like it a lot better than I ever liked “Spellcheck” for Afflalo. I don’t think it’s that hard to come up with a more clever nickname for Afflalo than “Spellcheck”.
Quick question on that MVN article … hasn’t Baby Eater slimmed down from his original 260 pound listing? Isn’t he somewhere in the 240-245 neighborhood these days?
Also, Flip Saunders’ grade so far this year has got to be something close to an A, if not most assuredly an A for this past week. But also, kudos to guys like Rip and (thus far) Rasheed, for learning to, as The Rock would say “Know your role and shut your mouth”. Flip’s job is to keep you in line, and he’s been doing that. Let’s keep it that way. And speaking of knowing roles, if Flip Murray continues to dribble it off his foot, he ought to be a serious candidate for the “dishonor”. He’s showing he can score, but you can’t score if you can’t maintain possession, knucklehead.
It’s starting to look like why we’re winning so easily is because the team is having fun again. It seems like there’s a new, fun, Pistons viral video every week (see: Maxiell’s Soulja Boy). Sheed was guilty of similar (probably funnier) chicanery (victim: Reggie Miller) as he was yesterday, in game 5 of the opening round of the ‘05-’06 playoffs. We won that game by 29. Obviously this is no science or automatic cause-effect relationship, but the general mood is one of relaxation and fun, and I believe that helps a lot.
We don’t hear stories of serious in house conflict this season. That Rip-Flip blurb, which seems wholly contained and minimal in effect, is the most I’ve heard this season. It’s still early, and yes there’s plenty of time to stall out (we did end up losing to Miami in the ECF despite “having fun” that season), but I just have a good feeling about this squad being a better squad, having better legs come playoff time, and being focused on what it needs to be doing.
lets start the nicknames now
I propose “A Game” as Arron Affallo always brings his A game whenever he plays
The gauntlet has been thrown
i’m sry but i have a problem with Flip M. now. I just don’t like it when he is also dribbling and also playing one on one basketball. I was upset when Amir was our there and Flip didn’t pass him the ball, that kind of made me upset. But flip is shooting really well though, just that i think he needs to pass more. I just like to flip get his teammates more involved
LET’S GO PISTONS AND LET’S GET THAT SHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2007-2008 IT’S OUR TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ALL BOUT DETROIT BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We’ve been using “Checksum” for Mr. Samb. I haven’t heard any nicknames for Afflalo I like yet - I hope one of you comes up with something great!
Take a look at nbablogs.info Almost all NBA blogs from each team.
Life is good. And Stuckey soon! It’s a fun year to be a fan.
I like “Checksum”; I like “Spellcheikh” better, but I definitely do enjoy “Checksum”.
I think “A Game” is a good starting point, but fairly cliché and there have to be more badass options out there. I was thinking “Count That Baby”. As in, “Count That Baby and Afflalo (a foul). It works on three levels for me. There’s a wordplay pun level, a topical reference to the Blahaism, and the fact that Afflalo is considered a reliable jump shooter. I’m sure there still have to be much better options than that, and it’s not like I’m a particular expert on the subject.
As much as I resisted Baby Eater at first, it’s kind of perfect, and I feel any member of the squad is worthy a solid nickname.
Does anyone have a video of that one-handed dunk Maxiell put in last night? Too bad i didn’t get a chance to watch the game but i seen a highlight of it on the news and it was insane.
nba,com has the junk http://www.nba,com go to pistons vs nj and then click on video highlights
Count that baby is a great nickname but affalo is known for being a tough all round player with a great head for the game of bball
whoever came up with babyeater is a genius
IP: The origin of Baby Eater … more funny stuff over there.
Matt - great stuff - must see for everyone
i never liked “Spellckeck” when written, but it’s fun as hell to yell when he enters the game “SPELLCHEEEEEECK!”
i want to call amir johnson “Lil’ Buddha”
That’s a cool Maxiell photo. I wonder if he has that as his desktop wallpaper? That would be funny.
hasn’t this web space used “Spelling Bee” for Afflalo?
I like that one.
Fun fact via NBA.com: The Pistons starters (.359) have a better +/- per minute than the Celtics starting five (.333).
im excited we looked really good jmax balled it up!
Can we ditch the whole spellcheck thing… not good enough for any player. I think the players already call him Show-be anyways.
Our nickname for Afflalo is based on an odd last name. I’d say, let’s let the dude earn a name the ol’ fashioned way - on the court. Max earned his name by being a complete badass. But it took him a while to get it. Let’s see what AA can do…