I'll take it. We won, got the monkey off our back, that's all that matters. We could have easily won this game. Stuckey and Tay were feeling the fatigue, AI has no problem playing 40-45mpg, but Tay and Stuck ain't ready for that. Even I was screaming for Coach to rest some guys. Kwame deserved more minutes, he really held his own. Tay and AI were missing some easy WIDE OPEN shots that they normally make. AI's misses were due to rhythm (just one of those games) Tay was pure fatigue. I really thought we were going to lose a game we could've won and was beginning to think some New Orleanean put some sort of voo-doo curse on us.
Really wish that Hermann would start hitting that 3 ball. He could be a definite zone breaker if he could get on a roll. He has lost his confidence and needs to get it back some how. Sheed cannot be our only 3 point threat or we will be seeing zone every night.
12 assists from Mardy Collins? He's only had a total of 13 since November 26th and his season high was 4! That's a crazy abberation. Other weird stat. 62 shots from Stuck, AI, and Tay. 68 shots for the entire Clippers team. But we won the following battles in this game: Steals Blocked shots Turnovers Offensive reounds (big time) We lost: Shooting% Fouls/ FTA's (big time, 36 to 16. Biggest deficit of the year?) Really glad we didn't blow this at the end. Overall, we missed a lot of wide open shots in this game and got away with it. Stuckey's shot was off, AI was cold, Tay was even missing FT's, Herrmann missing wide open 3's... we really didn't have anything except for aggressive drives and putbacks, which is why these things are so great. You don't have to be hot to get easy baskets, just aggressive. In that respect, Stuckey was spectacular today.
Tayshaun is going to be sludge by playoff time. He actually might average 40 minutes per game this year. And I don't care, i'll take this win. I don't even wanna ask who was defending Eric Gordon, but other than that i'm good. We'll need Sheed for Portland, though. Luckily for us, B-Roy will be out, and the Jazz have all kinds of problems. So that leaves the Nuggets to be the hardest game of the road trip.
Absolutely. The NBA studies team weaknesses. Until the Pistons show they can bust a zone without Sheed, they will be zoned.
BINGO my friend. On a day where our offense was OFF, and boy do I mean OFF, we won because we played tough defense and did all the dirty work. If I recall there were some folks asking for one of these vintage "Piston" games that used to be a norm for us. Gotta Love It!!! If this was last year you know what happens, we lose, and we have to hear, "We just didn't make shots" blah, blah, blah...guess what, today, WE DIDN'T MAKE SHOTS, but we won, because we OUTWORKED them!!!!!
Once Rip gets back it should be better. We had 3 3-point threats, but with Tay playing damn near the whole game lately, his legs are gone. Those 2 should be enough to open up the lanes though. We also attacked the zone completely wrong. Instead of getting into the middle, we just passed around the perimeter whether by inability or bad decisions.
Great minds think a like. I just posted the same thing at another forum. But I added this, Rip might not come back soon enough to prevent permanent (for this season at least) damage to Tay's legs. We should start playing Sharpe, to develop him, but more importantly, to get Tay off his feet. Now.
Sharpe is not going to play. Not that I don't want to see him spell Tay. It's just not going to happen this season. Rip is going to have to play the 2 and the 3. I'm curious to see what Curry is going to do. Let's say we keep this starting lineup (Stuck, AI , Tay, Amir, Sheed). We could do Stuck-Rip-Tay, AI-Rip-Tay, Stuck-AI-Rip (with only RIp out of position and Tay getting a couple minutes of rest). And then you have to account Afflalo's minutes as well (You almost have to bury Bynum for GT only). We have a true logjam, unless, you know, we go ball to playing some small ball. Last year I was hoping that Flip would try playing Amir minutes at the 3. This year as well. But no, it just looks like one of those things that aren't going to happen.
Maybe Sharpe can teach Tay how to sleep on his feet? That way he could catch some rest on the court. They do need a 3 pt shooter. Something happens to guys when they come here though and they don't hit 'em. There's always an if attached somewhere. The drive by AI at the end was something we are not used to seeing. McDyess is an animal. He straight changes people directions when he puts his body on them. Great move by Curry putting Tay on Gordon at the end. AI's on the ball D has gotten much better and he is both fighting through screens harder and putting up more resistance when they make him switch on D. Marc Stein on ESPN was talking about TGRH coming off the bench like it was a done deal in Saturday's Weekend Dime and also gave us the first we may have dismissed DET too early comment.
Kind of funny that the end of the Pistons Sunday curse came on the 1st Sunday after the Lions final game.
That is something. A win is a win is a win. One point win against a depleted team but I will take it. When you get a marshmellow team to start off a west coast trip you have to win - and win we did. Sheed should be back for Wed game. 15 boards from Dyess off the bench with sore ribs was very impressive.
Currey in his post game gave a TON of credit to Amir.... he said its at the point now that they don't want him on the court they NEED him on the court. the clippers were shooting about 50 percent in the first half when amir got all of 3 mins and he guessed close to 30 percent in the 2nd half when amir got his 20 mins. Yet another strong sign that there will be no more long spells of small ball. Amir is forcing his way into the lineup... which is how i want the players to do it.
Nice observation from Curry. If Curry needs Amir so badly, then why did he sit his butt on the bench for 2 straight weeks?
My guess would be ...1. his fear of damaging egos of rip or ai who he would have to choose which one to sit...or 2. he has no clue..
not sure i could even start to guess to why..... but did you see the third whistle... no way can i call that a foul, it looked like amir ran away from the guy so he wouldn't get the call.... if/when he gets the benefit of the doubt like ben and rodman did, maybe this foul issue will be put behind him...
I agree with you on that foul call. I didn't see the foul on that one. As for the issue of Curry benching Amir for 2 weeks...maybe Curry was sending Amir a message, making him work harder to earn his spot. Who knows but whatever the reason I'm glad Amir is getting his playing time and earning it.
I can not stress how much more confident I am with the sets we run to get buckets down the stretch now. We were so predictable it lead to our demise. Now down the stretch we get mid-range jumpers, Tay being AGGRESSIVE in the post, or drives to hole; in the past it was either Sheed or Billups launching a 3. His post defense is really underrated. Sheed is at his best when the player catches the ball, but Dyess really makes a guy work for that position, Amir could and should be learning alot from Dyess, he might be the most underappreciated Piston on this roster. Might be his first REAL in game coaching decision. Amen. I've been very critical of AI's D, but recently he's been bringing it. His OFF the ball D in the confines of our defensive scheme is FANTASTIC, the way he can get to loose balls and shoot the passing lanes is awesome. In the words of Sheed, we'll see them Bandwagon A___ Cats come may or june.
