Comments on: Pistons are in Toronto

By: Sauce1977

Sauce1977 — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:58:35 +0000

Lindsey Hunter = Eric Snow

All perimeter D, no offense to speak.

By: Quick Darshan

Quick Darshan — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 23:43:40 +0000

I say have Lindsey pick up Delonte West (or whoever’s bringing the ball up) full court. Give the Cavs less time to set up their offense and then double Lebron and see what the other clowns can do.

Then again, seeing Lebron in the playoffs would mean that we’re in the ECF and the Cavs have beaten the Celtics. Not entirely out of the question.

By: Boney

Boney — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 23:21:03 +0000

you know what, call me crazy but I say you put Arron Afflalo and Lindsey Hunter on LeBron in the playoffs… I say Prince starts at the 3, then when Hamilton or Billups go out, put Afflalo and Hunter on LeBron and Prince on Boobie/Devin Brown/Delonte

I dare Flip to do it, if you don’t think it’ll frustrate the hell out of LeBron you’re crazy

By: Sauce1977

Sauce1977 — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:18:05 +0000

Why couldn’t they have played awful vs. Miami?

By: LawyerBoy

LawyerBoy — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:10:11 +0000

Sorry, my bad, Mike posted the article (also, my bad on the triple post).

By: LawyerBoy

LawyerBoy — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:08:25 +0000

PS: Very encouraging performances from Amir and Stuckey last night. That Stuckey is turning into such a gamer with such wonderful breadth of skill. From the article Garrett posted it seems like Amir’s got a good head firmly on his shoulders and I really believe that having a good mindframe is half (if not more) of the battle.

By: LawyerBoy

LawyerBoy — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:01:42 +0000

Are we talking about the team with the 2nd best record in the NBA? Are we talking about one of only 2 NBA teams this season that reached 50 wins in 70 games? The team that if (though I prefer to say when) we win tonight will clinch the Central division with 10 games remaining? Newsflash guys: We’ve still only lost 6 (of 34) games at home all season. And we’re going to have homecourt in every round leading up to the ECF (and probably in the Finals if we make it there).

Yeah, Boston looks scary as hell, but we’re not going to mail it in against them. That is a promise. If we lose to Boston, it will be because they earned it. Fortunately, despite all the calls for Flip’s head, or for him to get fiery on the sideline, or for him to do freakin’ cartwheels or whatever, he’s miles ahead of Doc Rivers. Based on that and the comaparable skills our respective squads, I wouldn’t tuck us in to bed in the ECF just yet.

Boney hit it on the head before I had the chance to. This isn’t the Titanic god damnit. If this team was getting waxed by the likes of: San Antonio, Phoenix, and New Orleans instead of waxing them in season sweeps, yeah you guys might have a point. But seriously, get off the ledge, or at least temper your pessimism like QD. This team doesn’t need a meeting; it needs to win. And oh yeah, it’s been the second best squad at doing that ALL season.

By: mwhyte72

mwhyte72 — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:06:53 +0000

Some pre-game meeting, eh? I can’t believe we’re back to this. *If* we make it to the finals I’m afraid Boston will smoke us in 5 and again I’ll be crying for them to dish somebody from the starting 5 in the offseason. You’ve got to radically change the make-up of this team, there is something there mentally that has got to be removed.

By: Quick Darshan

Quick Darshan — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:10:59 +0000

*can’t just get rid of

By: Quick Darshan

Quick Darshan — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:10:31 +0000

I’m slowing moving into the “doom and gloom” camp. It’s not the losses that scare me. It’s the lack of consistent effort. I think it’s a bad habit that you can just get rid of when the playoffs start.

I’d rather the starters play 12 minutes a game and go balls out, then getting up for some games and not others.

By: IsraeliPiston

IsraeliPiston — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:30:21 +0000

ho hum- detroit played Toronto a team fighting for its playoff life, a team whose owner returned from abroad to push them into the playoffs.

I knew we would lose - just very glad that the rookies played a lot

What I would like to see is a great effort against cleveland and I would like to see Afflalo covering James.

I saw the fire in the Piston’s eyes during the Phoenix game and I am not worried about them. They will lose at this stage to teams fighting to make the playoffs. No big deal

By: Garrett

Garrett — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 06:00:26 +0000

Note to Amir: just don’t fall for the ol’ up-and-under.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 05:26:51 +0000

Johnson’s defense shines for Detroit
Posted by A. Sherrod Blakely March 27, 2008 00:30AM
Categories: Pistons Stories

TORONTO — On a night when very little went Detroit’s way, Amir Johnson was one of the few positives for the Pistons in their 89-82 loss at Toronto.

Johnson only had two points, but he led all Pistons reserves with seven rebounds to go along with a team-high two blocked shots. He also did a solid job defensively against Chris Bosh.

“The kid did a tremendous job guarding Chris, on the perimeter and on the block,” Detroit’s Lindsey Hunter said. “He’s growing. He’s getting better, more confident.”

Some of that confidence stems from being able to compete with, and in some instances, hold his own against some of the league’s elite players like Bosh.

“This is all mental, knowing I can play up against these dudes,” Johnson said. “Just getting a lot of minutes, get ready for some playoff time. It’s all mental.”

http://blog.mlive.com/state_sports/2008/03/johnson_a_defensive_highlight.html

By: Garrett

Garrett — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 05:13:38 +0000

Man, I was at this game and it was UGLY from the tip-off. At least the 4th quarter heated up a bit, and there were some nice blocks on D from the Pistons, but overall it looked like the entire team was asleep. They just sort of coasted aruond, didn’t really try on offense or defense. The offense went completely cold and guys were just standing around, stagnant. I wonder if Flip mailed it in, too, and just said, “I’ll let the young’uns play…” because Amir and Stuckey got a lot of minutes. And Amir had some nice blocks on Bosh. Ratliff obliterated one of Delfino’s (or was it Calderon’s?) shots. And the crowd was downright hostile when TJ Ford ALMOST airballed a 3. Bring on the playoffs. Please. And hurry.

By: Gagan

Gagan — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:56:12 +0000

I am shocked the Raptors actually played well defensively tonight, although Sheed did miss a few open looks which could’ve swung the momentum. I haven’t really seen much of Amir Johnson’s game, but wow! This guy seems to have all the talent to be in the league for a very, very long time. I’d love to see him in a Toronto uniform because that’s exactly the kind of player they need (yes, I’ll keep dreaming).

But yeah, everything was going well for the Raptors pretty much tonight, their PG play was amazing. So, Detroit fans shouldn’t be mad, games like this happen and I’m sure they will bounce back. I don’t think any team in the East will want to face them come playoff time, even Boston.