Tag Archive for 'Rip Hamilton'

Brief thoughts

Published by Matt Watson on May 31, 2008 in 2008 Playoffs. 76 Comments

The season ended much earlier than I thought it would, so I’m going to let this marinate a little bit and try to enjoy the rest of the weekend before posting some kind of grand finale. But first, some brief reactions:

  • Congratulations to the Celtics, who convinced me they’re the better team. Even when Detroit got going on all cylinders, the Celtics always found a way to hang around until the very end (Game 4), keep the Pistons at bay (Game 5) or weather the storm and seal the deal (Game 6). There’s no quit on that team from top to bottom. I don’t appreciate the way the team came together in just one summer, but you can’t argue with the results.
  • Antonio McDyess is taking this hard. Really hard. I implore you to read this.
  • This was easily Flip Saunders’ best year on the sidelines, and Tayshaun Prince did his best to deflect criticism from Flip after the game, but I think he’s probably gone — even if for no other reason than the fact that he’ll be entering the last year of his contract next season. I don’t think Dumars/Davidson wants to can him before his contract is up, but I don’t think they want to extend him, either, and bringing back a lame duck coach who’s allegedly struggled to earn the respect of everybody in the locker room doesn’t make sense.
  • Who do I think will replace him? Michael Curry or Avery Johnson are my guesses. Plus, Curry would be dirt cheap as a first-time coach, which would offset the expense of paying Flip to leave.
  • Did Rasheed Wallace play his last game as a Piston? I’m leaning toward yes. He can still produce and is an underrated defender, but he’s not consistent and (most importantly) will be entering the final year of his contract. That said, I don’t think Dumars will give him away — it’d have to be the right package, and it’s difficult to get full value on one of the most misunderstood players in the league.
  • Another guy who might be moved: Rip Hamilton. Not because he doesn’t fit this team, but because his trade value is still sky-high and the Pistons could probably enter next year with Rodney Stuckey playing next to Chauncey Billups and still expect to compete for a title.
  • If the Pistons do start making trades, they better not block Amir Johnson. I know it’s easy to scoff at the hype (though even I laugh at the “Amir LeKobe” nickname one of you came up with), but he’s absolutely the team’s best rebounder and shot-blocker. Even if that’s all he ever will be — and there’s no reason to think it is — that’s worth 25-30 minutes a game.
  • I’ll weigh in more on all of this later this weekend and throughout the summer, I just wanted to get some quick thoughts up lest you think I’ve abandoned ship.

Last but not least, thank you.

This site exists because you guys read it, and I never expected in my wildest expectations that it would draw such an intelligent, loyal and respectful community of readers. It’s extremely humbling to see so many of you guys to claim this little corner of the internet as your preferred destination to talk hoops and watch games. I hope you all stick around this summer — things should get really interesting.

Rip Hamilton: “There’s no way in hell I’m not playing tonight”

Published by Matt Watson on May 30, 2008 in 2008 Playoffs and Injuries. 7 Comments

From A. Sherrod Blakely of Booth Newspapers:

Richard Hamilton’s strained right elbow is still not feeling great, but it won’t keep him out of the lineup tonight.

As he was making his way off the practice floor to receive treatments, he told me “there’s no way in hell I’m not playing tonight.”

And from Dana Gauruder of the Oakland Press:

“This is now or never,” he said. “I talked to my dad and he said, ‘Man, just spit on it. You’re all right.’ We’re at war right now. You ain’t go no choice to sit down or anything like that. I feel all right. I feel good enough to go out and play.”

Last but not least, from Keith Langlois’ blog:

“My arm got stuck when we were wrestling to try to get that last rebound,” Hamilton said. “My arm got stuck, my hand went down and my elbow came up and I felt something like pop in there. I thought I could shake it off, but I couldn’t do it.”

After attempting a few shots – “nothing really deep, just trying to get range of motion on it,” he said – Hamilton had words of advice for his teammates.

“Don’t look at me as no handicap. That’s what I told the guys and I told the coach. Don’t say, ‘OK, Rip can’t shoot.’ No. I’m good. I’m fine. I’m ready to roll.”

And if Game 6 comes down to a final shot, would Hamilton be prepared to take it.?

“Yessir.”

Rip Hamilton has a strained elbow

Published by Matt Watson on May 29, 2008 in 2008 Playoffs and Injuries. 9 Comments

The Boston Globe posted the entire transcript of Flip Saunders’ post-game presser — here’s his answer when asked about Rip Hamilton’s elbow:

Q. Just give us an update on what you know what Richard did to his hand.

COACH FLIP SAUNDERS: Rip strained a right elbow. It’s sore a little bit. We’re going to have to wait and see how it is tomorrow and how it is in 48 hours. He got a little bit of, I think, hyperextended in there on the rebound on that one defensive sequence that we had. He was great again tonight, especially in the last three quarters. Hopefully he’s going to be ready to go for us.

Chris Silva of the Free Press reports that X-rays taken after the game were negative and Rip will receive treatment between now and Game 6. Cross your fingers, because he’s been nails so far in the conference finals, shooting over 50% and scoring at a 22.2 point per game clip.

All in all, a tough break for a guy who just recently became the Pistons’ all-time leader in playoff games.

Yes’sir!

Published by Matt Watson on May 24, 2008 in Alley-Oops. 0 Comments

There are some things as a Pistons fan I wrongly assume other NBA fans also know. This is one such example.

No suspension for Rip Hamilton, but cross your fingers for Rasheed Wallace

Published by Matt Watson on May 23, 2008 in 2008 Playoffs and Celtics. 4 Comments

This is old news, but just to be thorough, the NBA fined Rip Hamilton for throwing an elbow at Kevin Garnett in Game 1. This is actually good news, since there was a small (okay, tiny) chance that Rip might have been suspended. That said, it doesn’t sound like there’s any hard feelings on Boston’s side. From Chris Silva of the Detroit Free Press:

Added Boston coach Doc Rivers: “It was flagrant, I can tell you that. We thought that at the time. But again, Rip is a good guy, great guy, and it’s an emotional game and that kind of stuff happens. I’ve done it before, too, and thank God at that time we didn’t have flagrant 1s or 2s. It’s just part of the game at times, and it’s not a big deal.”

Speaking of suspensions, Rasheed Wallace is flirting with one of his own: he picked up his fifth tech of the postseason in the first quarter last night, just two away from a mandatory one-game vacation. Once a player accumulates seven techs in the postseason, another suspension follows after every other tech the rest of the playoffs.

In all honesty, this may be the stupidest rule in the game, especially considering by design it creates controversy. The only teams it could possibly affect are the ones who advance deep into the playoffs, which means the first time a player is actually punished under this rule, it’ll happen under a huge spotlight.

Besides, techs are so subjective in the first place — some refs give players a long leash while others actually egg them on (cough, Joey Crawford, cough). Punish players by hitting them in the pocket book, not ruining a series that millions of fans would like to see decided by the best players playing.

Chauncey Billups: I have to be more aggressive

Published by Matt Watson on May 22, 2008 in 2008 Playoffs and Injuries. 37 Comments

Chauncey Billups expects to be more aggressive in Game 2. From Keith Langlois’ blog:

Billups said he came out of Game 1 feeling pretty good physically and expects not only he, but backcourt partner Rip Hamilton, will attack more often in Game 2.

“I’m going to – I probably will,” he said. “I know with Rip and I not being aggressive and trying to score the ball, our chances, they go down a little bit. So I think that he and I both have to be a little more aggressive, and that’s not necessarily taking shots but just getting into the teeth of the defense. You know they load up, you know they’re going to be coming off on penetration, and (it’s important) to get guys easier shots and not fight the shot clock so much.

“The rhythm was a little bit off, but even when they don’t let you reverse the ball, then that’s when you’re going to take action, take seams. That’s just something that once you see how teams are playing certain things, that’s when you make certain adjustments. I think we’ll do a better job of that tomorrow.”

Like I said before, Game 1 was all testing the hamstring and regaining rhythm; tonight’s game is when we should expect the real Chauncey Billups to step forward. Rip Hamilton plans on giving his backcourt mate a hand. From Chris McCosky:

“If you watch our offense, 80 percent of the time it starts with the ball in Chauncey’s hands,” Hamilton said. “We have to put him in a situation where he can come out and catch the ball and not have to spend a whole lot of energy bringing it up the court.”

Hamilton suggested that he or Prince could bring the ball up.

“[Boston] is so aggressive on the strong side of the ball,” said Hamilton. “Chauncey has to spend so much energy bringing it up, then when he comes off he’s facing a loaded-up defense. Once he gets out of that, there’s seven or eight seconds on the shot clock.

From the sounds of things, Billups is hoping he’ll be able to get Rasheed Wallace more involved, as well. From Chris Silva in the Free Press:

The Pistons want to get their versatile big man more involved tonight, but defensive player of the year Kevin Garnett isn’t the only Celtic standing in the way. Because Boston loads up on the strong side, Wallace is seeing defenders from every angle.

“They’ve got a guy at the elbow, they’ve got a guy coming behind if (Wallace) is to get by KG, so you’ve got to be able to create ways to shoot the ball,” Chauncey Billups said. “You can’t just (isolate) him down there. (Garnett is) too good defensively.”

Neither Billups nor Wallace looked anything like the players they were for most of the year up until this point; if they revert to form, this series should head back to Detroit all tied up.

Lindsey Hunter’s advice to Rip Hamilton

Published by Matt Watson on May 15, 2008 in From the news. 2 Comments

This is kind of funny. From Krista Jahnke of the Detroit Free Press:

Hunter said after the game that Hamilton’s shot selection can anger him.

“Hopefully he’ll be settled down a little more (in the next round),” Hunter said. “I’m telling him, ‘You’re going to get 20 shots, so there’s no need for you to be out here acting like you’re not going to touch the ball again.’ So once he gets that in his spirit, then he can calm down and play the way he can play.”

You don’t climb your way to the top of the team’s all-time playoff scoring list by passing up shots, that’s for sure.

Pistons eliminate Magic in five

Published by Matt Watson on May 14, 2008 in 2008 Playoffs, Magic and Shameless Plugging. 22 Comments

There’s been a lack of activity on my part over here today and last night (not that it’s stopped any of you), but that’s in part because I’ve been pretty active on FanHouse. Here are some highlights from last night:

  • Flip Saunders on Chauncey Billups taking his time returning:

    “It’s up to the players [to decide] when they’re right,” said Saunders. “And when they’re right, I don’t want them to have any hesitation, because if they’re not right and they have hesitation, they’re not going to play very good, to be honest. So, he’s got to feel comfortable as far as about it.”

  • Stan Van Gundy on Jameer Nelson’s “guarantee” as well as calling out the media for making lazy judgments:

    “What happens all the time is how well [we] play determines what you guys write about a team’s character and everything,” Van Gundy told the gaggle of reporters. “So automatically, if you play well, you have great character. And if you don’t play well, it’s because you don’t have the ‘resolve,’ and the ‘mental toughness’ and all of that. We have all of that. We have to play well.”

    This is an excellent point. I’ve grown increasingly sensitive to assigning character flaws to a team every time they lose. The Magic didn’t lose last night because they lacked character. In fact, the opposite is true: they held Detroit to 36% shooting, they out-rebounded them and they gave up only three three-pointers all night long.

    Unfortunately, they also turned the ball over 21 times (for 34 Pistons points) while Detroit set an NBA playoff record with three turnovers, including not one in the final three quarters. Orlando showed a ton of heart by staying in this game all night long, but in the end, the Pistons executed and they didn’t. That’s nothing to be ashamed of. The Pistons have been to six straight conference finals for a reason.

    The Pistons see this type of logic used against them all the time. When the Pistons lose, it’s not because they’re complacent, they simply don’t well every single night. When Rasheed Wallace has a bad shooting night, he’s not being lazy, he just couldn’t get into a groove. If you ever see me relying on cliche instead of reality, please call me out.

  • Jameer Nelson thinks the media made too much of his “guarantee:”

    After the game, slumped in a chair in front of his locker with his feet soaking in ice and wearing only a towel, a dejected Nelson reflected on his “guarantee” and the attention it attracted. “I didn’t guarantee a win,” he said. “I didn’t say, ‘we’re going to …’ I said ‘we have to go win, we’re going to come get this win.’ And the media took it out of proportion or whatever they want to do. The media always wants a story. I mean, I really don’t care what people write, you know?”

    I mean, he did say the Magic were going to win, but if you read my whole post, he explains himself.

  • I spoke to Rashard Lewis before the game about a handful of things, including how competitive this series actually was despite the fact that Orlando only won a single game:

    We won one game, but at the same time, the record doesn’t say how hard we’ve been playing, how tough we’ve been taking a team down to the wire. They’ve beat us three times, we’ve only beat them once, but I can guarantee you that every game they had to go out there and win the game, it wasn’t handed to them.

And last but certainly not least …

Rip Hamilton’s reaction after the game:

“I didn’t even see who blocked the shot, to tell you the truth. The only thing I’d seen was Tay flexing. I went up to Rasheed and I was like, ‘Uh, who blocked that shot? It must be Tay, huh?’

Rip Hamilton climbs the leader board

Published by Matt Watson on May 13, 2008 in 2008 Playoffs. 2 Comments

A. Sherrod Blakely points out that Rip Hamilton is on the verge of an impressive milestone: becoming the team’s all-time leading scorer in the playoffs.

Making the record all that more improbable is the fact he has been able to do it in just six postseasons.

He needs just 10 points to tie Isiah Thomas’ franchise record of 2,261 postseason points.

“To me, it’s crazy,” Hamilton said. “Zeke is Detroit. If you get an opportunity to pass him … I don’t even feel as though I’ve been here long enough. It’s a great honor, a great accomplishment. I wouldn’t be able to do it without winning games. That’s the great thing about it.”

I was curious, so I checked the numbers: Isiah averaged 20.4 points in 111 playoff games over nine years; Rip, 20.7 points in 109 (and counting) games over six years. Also, if all goes well, Rip should take over the lead for most playoff games as a Piston, currently held by Bill Laimbeer (113), followed by Joe Dumars (112) and Isiah (111). By playing in Game 4, Hamilton moved into fifth place, moving past Vinnie Johnson (108).

Pistons go up 2-0 on Magic

Published by Matt Watson on May 6, 2008 in 2008 Playoffs, Games, Magic and Shameless Plugging. 60 Comments

I have all sorts of stuff from last night’s game going up at FanHouse this morning. Before the game, Rashard Lewis told me that the brewing war of the words between he and Theo Ratliff was over and done with:

“I’m a basketball player, I go out there to play basketball and not to trash talk. It was just something that he said and I responded to it. It wasn’t nothing personal, it was just me being a man and responding to what he said. But at the same time, I’m not that type of player. I go out there to play basketball and try to win for my team and let the trash talk stay on their side.”

After the game, Ratliff told me that Dwight Howard isn’t on the same level as David Robinson, Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon … yet:

“He’s a phenomenal talent — his athleticism, his size, but he’s still young. He’s going to continue to get better and continue to get better and he’ll probably be at the status of those guys later on in his career.”

Jason Maxiell explained why he’s so freaking active on the court:

MW: At the end of the last series, Thaddeus Young had a pretty entertaining quote about you. … He said, Maxiell is crazy, he’s crazy crazy. What do you think about that, that’s a sign of respect, wouldn’t you say?

JM: Yeah, to a certain degree. I guess with my size, I got to keep moving, going for offensive boards. They don’t run plays for me, so the way for myself to score is to get to the board.

And, of course, the clock thing. The Pistons obviously got a gift, but the Magic refused to blame that one play for their loss:

“They didn’t start the clock and he made the shot, but I didn’t think that determined the game,” said Rashard Lewis. “We were still in the game, we were down two points at the time. We still had another full quarter to go, we were still in the game, but I think we made a lot of little mistakes that made us lose that game.”

You can’t get too upset about an iffy call when you go out and finish the game shooting 25% and committing five turnovers over the last 12 minutes. That whistle on Keyon Dooling for “pushing” Rip Hamilton before the in-bounds pass? That was bad, too, but the Pistons were already up three with the ball so it’s hard to say that was a game-changer, as well. I will admit those types of things add up over time, though. I’m willing to chalk some of it up to the refs being partly influenced by a LOUD crowd at the Palace.

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