The Pistons and Raptors square off for the third time this year. So far the Pistons have handled the Raptors with ease, winning the first two games by an average of 15 points. Expect that trend to continue, especially considering the Raps are in the midst of a 2-8 slide that leaves them with a .500 record and all the way down to the No. 7 seed, which means this could very well be a sneak peek of the first-round of the playoffs.
Lots of links for you to peruse should the game lose your interest, including this Q&A that I did with Jeff Wong of The Score, as well as one that Natalie from Need4Sheed did with Hoops Addict (and vice versa). Last but not least, here’s a preview by Raps blog Cuzoogle:
Tonight the Raptors will try to scrape their sorry asses off the court and steal a home win against the Pistons. Considering the Sixers are hotter than Jessica Alba in the shower, Toronto needs to pull a rabbit out of a hat tonight just to keep pace in the East. Sadly there are a few factors going against the Dinos and one of them is a man simply known as Sheed.
Couldn’t have said it better myself. The ball tips in a few on FSN — leave your thoughts in the comments.
samb ACTIVE? and PLAYING? this a typo? who’s inactive tonight?
Typo. Yahoo’s screwed up. It’s Ratliff who’s in. Samb may be active, I dunno.
Yahoo needs to Cheikh itself before it wrecks itself.
Anyone got a way to watch this one? Channelsurfing is saying audio only.
Indeed, typos are bad for one’s health.
Amir looks beefier.
who wants to make a shot in this game? (the answer better be “the pistons”….)
This is like some Carlisle-era Detroit v. Indiana scoring.
And here come the whistles. Let’s grind this thing to a complete halt.
Judging mostly by little things here and there, the effort . . . McDyess is having another below average game.
Looks like that team-only meeting got things back on track!
way to mail it in boys
lol this game’s over
Detroit’s got to pull themselves off the floor.
Way to go, player-only meeting!
I dunno what makes them think this coasting thing will work. lol@ them trying to heat it up in the 4th…..
That’s right! You guys go on that heater right after I nay-say! lol.
Wow, too bad it took ’til 7 remaining to turn into a great game…
Oops, nix that.
Nevermind, haha, Toronto is busy blowing up Detroit’s D now.
Come on now Fellas. Did we expect anything different. Get a great win against the Suns while missing our leading scorer then lay a complete egg against a .500 club. Look at the smile on my face
I’m not even being sarcastic today. My anger management is going well. I understand that we will win 70% of the games against good squads and maybe, just possibly get bored 50% of the times we play subpar teams. To save us all some frustration. Don’t expect anything more than .500 record the rest of the way because there aren’t many challenging teams left. We play Cleveland twice but we don’t want to expose any of our plays to them so well lose those too. Oh well. I’m taking a nap now. Can someone wake me up in about 3 weeks when the playoffs start. Be well boys.
And just for the record, the Raptors are as soft as tissue paper and we can’t even score 80 pts. This is actually funny. Got to love it man.
Wait, no, it’s a game again.
Actually, I want to see Flip grow some balls. Bench McDyess. Bench Rasheed, don’t play a guy, do something.
If the Raptors follow through on this epic choke and let the Pistons win, they’ll only be encouraging bad behavior.
Just out of intrest, who thinks they could sleep on Philly or Orlando and bounce early?
Chauncey resorting to flopping and not getting the call
Looks like I am well behind the ball. Oh well…
This is actually funny. I’m not even upset. I’ve learned when you expect a sleeper from the squad and they give you one, you’re not upset. Ok, wait me when the playoffs start. Good night boys.
wake me
lol@ the dejected look on Sheed after hitting that long three
The whole team (Flip too) looks like they need a hug….
There not friggin getting it….
The bright side was Stuckey attacking non-stop in the 4th and Amir playing an allstar (even though hes not at his best since he just got back from injury) very tough defensively.
Oh and another thing, that win against the Suns aint nothing to brag about cause of the admitedly questionable calls in our favour. This team is in a slump at a bad time to be in a slump.
Well PHX is getting wiped by Boston pretty fierce so . . . like Dallas, against the better teams in the league, PHX is coming up short.
I love the overreaction! I LOVE IT! you guys and your overreacting is hilarious… this game did not mean anything yet we all want to make excuses as to why the team can’t win every single game on their 82 game schedule
This team is fading fast, 11-8 since the all star break. I could see them finishing 9-2, losing at Philly and at Cleveland, but of course there will probably be 2-3 inconceivable losses along the way. Luckily, Orlando hasn’t been playing well of late or the Pistons might lose the 2 seed.
Oh and you say the game is meaningless? Look at the standings, right now the Pistons may face Toronto in the first round. Nothing like giving a struggling Raptors squad confidence that they can beat you.
yeah, confidence from beating detroit once in 3 tries? please… take that noise somewhere else
someone needs to put back up the picture of the titanic! it was up there for a while, but let’s all abandon ship!
Detroit shouldn’t be limping 51 points into the 4th quarter against Toronto and letting them run up 7-0 to start the 4th, is all I’m saying. In terms of mailin’ it in, they gotta know that they can’t get too low.
In terms of how much this win gave confidence to Toronto, well, Chicago made a big deal about winning the Detroit series 3-1 last year. Then they found themselves down 0-3 before Detroit turned on autopilot for the rest of the season, which is why I think they ought to at least show up and make it respectable every night, win or loss.
Detroit had a decent defensive effort, but all those wide open bricks and mental mistakes were like watching the 01-02 version of the club. No O.
away game minus leading scorer? eh.
what’s the inside scoop on the players-only meeting? i have a hard time believing it was just about “conditioning” and “playoff preparation.” but that’s me….
This might sound like sacrilege, but I kind of don’t miss Rip. Don’t get me wrong, he’s one of my favorite players, but it’s pretty clear to me that he’s the most expendable of the remaining Core 4. And that’s looking at it objectively. I wouldn’t be surprised if we unloaded him for a first round pick or something and then turned Rasheed’s expiring contract into a major deal and bam, we’re rebuilt in less than a year.
This is, of course, contingent on us flaming out of the playoffs again. Which I’m not really worried about right now, nor am I in the “we’re all gonna die” crowd. Just to be clear.
A follow up, I’m not trying to re-live the great Flip debate, but at some point you have to stop letting the inmates run the asylum. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Joe D chose to stick with Flip and make an example out of somebody. They never really got a chance to make an example out of Ben since he left on his own accord. This is all me thinking out loud.
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.
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.
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
Note to Amir: just don’t fall for the ol’ up-and-under.
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
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.
*can’t just get rid of
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.
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.
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.
Sorry, my bad, Mike posted the article (also, my bad on the triple post).
Why couldn’t they have played awful vs. Miami?
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
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.
Lindsey Hunter = Eric Snow
All perimeter D, no offense to speak.