A bunch of other stuff commanded my attention today, and to be honest, I wasn’t exactly thrilled about dissecting last night’s loss to the Mavs (although this headline is awesome). One of the few bright spots, though, was the play of Walter Herrmann (aka, Strretch Arrmstrronng), whom Flip Saunders singled out for praise after the game. From Booth Newspapers:
“Walter Herrmann was the only guy we had tonight that gave anything to Nowitzki, as far as made him fight,” Pistons coach Flip Saunders said.
Herrmann is hopeful that his play will lead to more opportunities to play meaningful minutes, beginning tonight against a San Antonio Spurs team that features Manu Ginobili, who like Herrmann, is from Argentina.
“Everybody knows Ginobili,” Herrmann said. “He’s a really, really good player. We need to play hard. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow but I hope to play and help the team win.”
Speaking of Ginobili, I’m reminded of a HoopsHype article that DBB reader Ohad alerted me to last month about how flopping (on both sides of the ball) has infested the NBA:
For 23 years Stern’s silence has implicitly condoned flopping, flailing, diving, leg-kicks and unnatural arm-lifts by shooters (the two fastest growing forms of cheating), and other fool-the-ref techniques employed to gain unmerited free throws and/or saddle key foes with unmerited foul trouble and unmerited bench time in pursuit of unmerited victory. The problem is perpetuated by coaches who teach or at least condone these tactics and by broadcasting clowns who praise the deceivers and thus teach the next generation of hoopsters that this is how a true pro plays the game.
I won’t claim that the Pistons aren’t occasionally guilty (or that the original Bad Boys weren’t innovators), but it’s gone too far, and I’d welcome some kind of penalty being assessed to the worst offenders.
In any case, the Pistons are on the second night of a back to back but most of their starters didn’t even crack 30 minutes last night. The ball tips in a few minutes — leave your thoughts in the comments.
It’s very early in the game and we’ll have to see how it plays out, but I have to say we look very disjointed right now. Body language screams “bad blood.” C’mon fellas pull together. We NEED this win.
20-2 run? I’ll take it.
Eric I would have agreed with you until the 20-2 run. WE’RE BACK.
Rip is playing phenomenal.
Sh*t, maybe I should take that back right now! haha.
hell yes
if you show up for one game in texas this is it.
a good performance against the spurs is worth two against many other teams. Feels great to see that sharpness we’ve been spoiled with over the past month!
Tay is 4/5 for 9 points in the first quarter.. lets pray this is the beginning of an offensive revival.
It’s good to see Tay playing sharp and getting some inside buckets
Not to get too ahead of ourselves… But, I guess, maybe sometimes, great teams lay an egg.
Hope Flip lsts the starters play a little more. They’re in a real groove that’s nice to see.
holy crap. eight and a half left in the second and this is the best inside out basketball i’ve ever seen the pistons play. tay is playing great, sheed is staying on the block. phenomenal.
let me rephrase, “dominating the block”
Who’s this “Maxwell” guy that Albert keeps mentioning. And does he play for the Pistons?
Maxiell to Jarvis: Nice pass out of the double team.
im in class til 10 :(… i really appreciate ur updates!!
boosh! and, if i may be so bold, double boosh! that was a GREAT half of basketball. max made some great decisions when double teamed, as did sheed. we’re dominating down low to a ridiculous degree. rip is staying in his rhythm and hitting everything and tay is scoring at the rim, which i think is helping his jump shot (cause it’s falling)
Here’s our half time show– two pictures of Tim Duncan I’ve kept over the years:
http://espn-att.starwave.com/media/nba/2005/0601/photo/g_amareduncan_ft.jpg
http://espn-att.starwave.com/media/nba/2005/0608/photo/g_duncanginobili_ft.jpg
Yeah, I’m suggesting that he is gay.
Ree, Pistons are up 15 at the half. They look sharp and the Spurs look a little sluggish.
I’ve never seen Rip take it to Bowen so easily.
Sheed’s dominating in the low post.
Parker and Ginobli look off. Billups is definitely dominating his matchup.
Tayshaun’s getting to the basket a lot.
Bench played solid. Held the lead.
oh and our defense is dominating too. manu and parker have been non-factors and duncan only had about 3 good offensive possessions. even in the second when we brought in stuck, max and jarvis. stuckey did well too.
ooh, look everyone, quick, check it out. it’s a thing of beauty http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/scoreboard
thx Quick!!
glad tay is gettin back his game.
Ppl this game is far from over.. You can expect a strong surge from S.A this half.. Just don’t count them out already..
Flip’s been rotating Rip and Chauncey on Parker. It’s been real effective.
Good to see Tay getting back into the offense. Lot of time left though. If we keep getting eeasy ones though, this game shouldn’t be too hard to close out. Then again, it is the Spurs…
wow sheed is a +18!
most of the team is in the plus.
JESUS!!! How does the offense just disappear!!??
Detroit’s lucky to still be leading by 10+
Pistons basketball… providing heart attacks to Detroit fans since 1957.
what in the world just happened?
9 POINTS in the third so far…WOW!
Tay…
1st Half, 6-7 FGs
2nd Half, 1-5 FGs
J Mistakeill! damn a terrible exchange of no dunk and then a spurs dunk
PATHETIC!!!!!!!!!!
I’m always surprised every time I realize Jacque Vaughn is still in the league.
saunders looks blown out. imo.
clutch by billups to close the quarter
They need this win! Sheed needs a shower!!!
they need to keep their concentration..ughhh
Well, as bad as that quarter went, San Antonio only cut into the lead by 6. We could have another quarter that is even a little worse than that and still win.
Not that I’d like to watch another quarter as frustrating as that third quarter just was.
waltonlikesmen1
Jan 10th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
They need this win! Sheed needs a shower!!!
??? what do you mean waltonlikesmen1?? lol
If they lose, he’ll leave before showering he’d be so pissed!
i’m just going to be a homer and say maxiell was fouled!
locking down time..
Good thing for us that Finley’s trying to be Sheed from long ball land.
It’s not so much that our offense went away, as it is the Spurs stepping up and playing better D.
That being said, the Pistons kept up their D too. Spurs only scored 19 that quarter.
11-point lead with 8.5 left. This is a good test.
LINDSEY!!!!
Does Brezec ever sit?
Maxiell’s post game isn’t ready to go against Duncan.
Good experience though
It’s LINDSEY AGAIN!!!
you’ve got to be excited to be traded to the pistons in this year-and be respected and appreciated where you’ve arrived. I like seeing brezec and hermann being so enthusiastic.
Lindsey Hunter may be the BADDEST dude off the bench!!! Comes in against Boston at Boston and shifts the game. Comes into San Antonio and does the same. He’s a BEAST!!!
Still enough time for a little Spurs burst.
I’d say that if we can get to 85, it’s in the bag.
Over the limit, gotta love it!
A small petition here: I would like all you dudes who were dissing so HARD on Hunter earlier in the year and in the past to chew on your hats… ‘cos so far this season he’s proven he can play a valuable role and deliver when it counts.
As for this game.. turn out the lights, the party’s over, we’re not blowing this one.
And it sure looks like the starters “took last night off” knowing they wanted to bring the “A” game tonight. I don’t agree with it, but that’s what it looks like.
This has been one of the best games as far as officiating is concerned.
They’re actually letting them play.
PS. WLM: yeah, I was thinking the same thing re: JM vs. Duncan, after watching the last couple of sequences of those two. I love me some Maxiell, but he needs to realize Tim Duncan is not someone he can take it to like he does most of the league, and adjust… he’s got enough game to work around a guy like Duncan, just needs to know when he needs to do it, and execute.
Well the crowd certainly thinks the game is being called poorly but I’d say it’s been pretty equal. I’ve seen plays get called that I didn’t think were fouls on both sides. Hopefully, we’ll be celebrating a victory very shortly here.
Also, it’s probably time for TNT to get over “the block” but it was pretty priceless tonight given the previous Vaughn breakaway/trailing Prince scenario.
Crap, Dyess just fouled out.
Effective trap, Detroit better pay attention for the next two minutes
85! It’s sealed!
Good to see them rebound after last night. A win against San Antonio in Texas is as good as it gets for me.
‘Sheed is…what’s that word I’m looking for…oh yeah…GREAT!
Charles Barkley said ‘Sheed could be the greatest player in the NBA. I like Sir. Charles.
i kind of like the idea of using stuck in one half and lindsey in the other.
i also don’t think i’ve ever seen bowen such a non-factor, he usually gives chauncey and/or rip fits.
Diablo - TNT makes the game so much more enjoyable than ESPN. And I’m not just saying that because the Pistons won tonight.
I love the TNT crew… always entertaining.
Starters played a lot of minutes, but that’s OK. A great win.
Not that he ever had much of a chance to play tonight, but Amir Johnson didn’t even dress, right? Interesting. With Charlotte and NY coming up, it’d be nice to see him get some burn soon.
JoeJoeJoe, I believe the word is Sheedtastic.
I actually like the ESPN crew when it’s Barry and Tirico. Both seem to have an affinity for Michigan. Tirico lives here and Barry played here.
I also like Hubie Brown because I can grab a beer and take a drink every time he says “high-percentage.” “He shoots a high-percentage.” “He can always get you a high-percentage shot.” Etc.
Toledo Joe: Starters played a ton, but they didn’t the night before — average them out and they’re still right around 33-34, I think. Also, SA is the type of team that you save your starters for, so I don’t mind seeing them extended a bit.
In my best Hubie Brown:
“If I’m Flip Saunders, you’re thinking, ‘OK, you just lost two big games that my starters didn’t play in. You have to play my starters big minutes and get the win.’ And that’s what you did.”
That game did not suck.
I agree with alot of you: TNT is alot more enjoyable to watch than ESPN but I do like hearing Hubie Brown commentate, I think he is probably the only non-bias commentator on ESPN.
Good game everyone. The announcers were saying that Stuckey fell on his hand last night against Dallas and that’s why he didn’t play tonight. It was good to see Rip having his way on offense and not getting frustrated by Bowen, and Tayshaun looked sharp in the first half. The refs really let them play — normally I think Duncan would get a few more calls on those weird hook shots that he does where he doesn’t jump and his arms flail around a lot.
Great win for the Pistons, I congrats them.
Personally for me, it was dissapoiting. Manu scoring fell short, Oberto was erratic and Herrmann was no where to be seen.
Perhaps I would like to hear some comments from you guys.
http://mundoalbiceleste.blogspot.com/2008/01/nba-news-bench-power.html
I agree with g. You gotta love Lindsey’s effort. Remember that he was also instrumental in our win over Boston. If Lindsey had played in our second game against Boston, we probably would’ve won that one also. However, I agree with Flip’s decision to play Stuckey and Afflalo in that game because they need to experience playing against the elite teams. It’s only necessary to unleash Lindsey on special occasions like tonight.
Hmm… I just caught this on Tivo and did not realize that Wallace was so huge. As for the bench thing, give me a break. When you have a chance to lock down the Spurs on the road, you take it. Detroit did everything right tonight. They did a lot of things right last night, but got hit by a team that lives and dies by perimeter shooting.
If I’m looking at this three game stretch, I expect the average championship contender to win won, lose won, and coin-flip one. That is precisely what the Pistons did.
Sheed was all over the place. Defense, rebounding, scoring.
Tay - i owe you an apology after i thought you were becoming a liability on offense.
Too bad either sheed or dice ar getting into foul trouble lately, it has allowed much more inside scoring for the other teams.
Great game all around
Quick, sounds like you drink a high percentage of a 6-pack when Hubie’s on.
Anyone have the feeling the poor performance against Dallas might have been about the Pistons being caught looking ahead? They seem to get up playing the Spurs more than the Mavs.
i do think that we were caught with our pants down by dallas. unfortunately the way the first half of the san antonio game went it looked like we caught them with their pants down.
and i’ve been waiting for amir to disappear. unless we’re blowing people out again i doubt we’ll be seeing any more amir this season. next season flip (if he’s still the coach) will say how “inconsistent” he was (same with maxiell), as if there is anyone on the team (including and especially starters) that haven’t been inconsistent this year.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…
Charles Barkley is the only national announcer in any sport that I LOOK FORWARD TO seeing.
and reggie miller should be banned from announcing pistons games. His blind hatred makes it extremely awkward.
Matt and Kevin S.:
Sorry, I wasn’t clear. I definitely agree that in this game, it was fine and appropriate that the starters played a ton. Detroit needed a win, the starters need to play some long minutes in some games, they were up against an elite team, and I guess Stuckey was a bit dinged up. I don’t mind that one bit. Flip’s been doing a good job getting the bench guys in most games, and I’m happy about that. My comment was an observation, not a complaint. I should have made that more explicit.
In other news, I’m happy to see no crowing, “we beat the champs! We rule! The rings are ours this year!” Obviously, the Spurs are a great team. Some of those shots Duncan made in the third quarter were amazing). I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see them in the finals. And if Detroit meets them there, it would be a great series.
can’t believe how adamant both charles and the jet were about sheed’s potential to be the BEST player in the league. not top 10, not top three. BEST.
Bloomen, really? I always get the sense that Reggie likes the Pistons. I remember, the year after he retired, his old Pacers teammates got pissed at him when he predicted the Pistons would take the East again.
I think the reason Amir isn’t playing much is that he’s still not developed physically (he’s still pretty young).
As thin as he is, I can’t see him being able to guard anyone in the post. He’ll block some shots in help defense, but he’ll get eaten up by any physical frontline player.
Basically, he’s too frail to play center and not good enough to get into Maxiell’s minutes at the PF.
I think Reggie is fair to Detroit. It might be hard, given not that the replay of “the block” is not just a reminder of a play that worked out badly for him, it was a play that arguably cost him his best shot to get a ring. But he probably digs the comparisons to Rip.
The Pistons match up well against the spurs because they have enough one-on-one defenders to cover the Spurs’ big three, and they can throw enough bodies at Parker to keep him from getting to the lane at will.
Also, this is a good template for beating the Celtics. Let the big man get his, throw the sink at disrupting the perimeter game, and don’t let the Matt Bonners of the world get easy looks.
The TNT crew provided more entertainment than anything seen in the Suns vs Jazz game last night. Chuck never fails to get a few laughs out of me, especially when he’s punking on Ernie for his “stupid stats”.
“… I do like hearing Hubie Brown commentate, I think he is probably the only non-bias commentator on ESPN”
Diablo, I agree, Hubie is probably the only guy working in the NBA that doesn’t root for a team, he just appreciates good basketball. He doesn’t waste his time talking about things that take place off the court during a telecast like a lot of these commentators do. He actually points things out that should be noted and appreciated. I can only hope that Hubie calls every playoff game for us this year.
Whenever I see Doc Rivers, I think of the “Five Game Sweep” over the Shaq/Kobe Lakers because he was the commentator and he was of the few people not saying, “What’s wrong with the Lakers?” and giving the Pistons credit for putting on that beatdown.
My favorite Hubie-ism is variations on the, “OK, you’re the [name of team]”: “OK, you’re the Lakers. . . .”; “OK, you’re the Pistons. . . .”
I love Hubie because you can actually learn things from his commentary. He breaks plays down like no other, even off-ball activity.
He does that with players, too.
“O.K., you’re Rasheed Wallace…,”
Boy that Mohammed fellow in Charlotte is really playing well. I wonder if we could make a trade for him.
He’s the type of big body we need down low…willing to bang with 5s and get lots of offensive boards. Good character guy, too.
I wonder what pieces we could move for him. Anyone tried anything with ESPN’s trade machine?