IF they lose this one, then I see heads rolling or major changes... I know this is supposedly a transition year, but you can't attract a decent FA if the coach is still clueless on how to handle a superstar and mesh him into a line up after 37 games. There may not be a firing, but something needs to happen before the team quits on MC Smallballs.
Pistons' Wallace iffy for tonight's game vs. Thunder | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press Wallace misses shootaround | detnews.com | The Detroit News Rasheed Wallace questionable to start tonight - Detroit Pistons Basketball: News, Blogs, Photos, Audio, Schedule & Stats - MLive.com Sheed might not play, bad news
We were on a roll when Sheed was out and we haven't won since he came back, so not sure having KB replace him tonight is such a bad thing. Sheed needs to recover and not screw around with playing hurt.
That means we will really be small.... Maybe we should sit Rip too, and go back to last weeks starting line-up of Ai/Stuc/Kwame/Tay and Amir...
OKC is tough. I'm not entirely joking. Sheed out is actually good; KB/Amir >>>> hobbled Sheed unless we go small and Hermann plays a bunch of minutes. Then i think i give up.
I think I feel sick after reading this....... If Wallace does start, he will be joined by the usual three-guard lineup of Rodney Stuckey, Richard Hamilton and Iverson along with Tayshaun Prince playing power forward.
Darn, I'm going to miss, but I do love that you guys give such good recaps that it will be like if I actually saw the game.
First half. I will be watching the 2nd half later tonight. Small ball is rancid. We played small the whole first quarter. Amir did come in for the last few minutes of the quarter, but we still were small at gaurd thru small forward, as Rip, AI, and Stuckey all remained in the game. Then later, more Sheed Dyess combo. No speed, and I was thinking, no way we win this one unless Dyess fouls out and gets out of the way. No JMAX. So we could have been playing JMAX / Sheed, an excellent pairing of bigs, but the coach chose to go completely the wrong way. Fortunately, Dyess is in some foul trouble, and we ended the half with some normal NBA basketball being played, with us matching the other team defensively. Oklahoma still managed to stay with us though, with some good shooting. Still, we are beating them in the paint something fierce. If that keeps up, and of course Dyess stays in foul trouble, we should win the game. We looked pretty darn good at the end of the half with AI, Afflalo, Tay, Amir, and Sheed in. Tay and AI played a very effective two man game, mostly taking turns driving the ball in for a score. Amir has played much of the first half. Thats good. Stuckey has been driving it inside as well, but he has been missing some pretty easy layups. As some have pointed out, it seems he needs a nice, difficult shot. Go figure. Keep trying Stuck. Oklahoma is playing no D. Durant is pretty awesome, but to let him shoot over the likes of Rip and Stuckey for the whole first quarter is going to do nothing but heat him up. Bad coaching there bigtime. Tay has only missed one shot so far. Several jumpers made along with lots of getting rigth to the basket. Rip has not done much, but he has hit a few shots. He blew a layup on a 3 on 1 fast break attempt. Pretty lame in all the way he ran to the basket on that break, but at least he tried to get to the basket. Later, he just pulled up, and hit a shot on a break. Much more Rip like. Don't let your kids watch that kind of stuff - very bad habit to have. In contrast Afflalo was in the middle of a fast break later, and it was textbook. Prince finished off that on from a touch pass from Afflalo. Afflalo hit the one jumper he took. He is playing good D. He played about the last 9 minutes of the 2nd quarter, if memory serves - maybe less. He also finished off the 1st quarter. Rip did have the one drive in after establishing his J. We need more of that from him in this game. Even Sheed got in on this, starting the game off with a faked shot, and then a drive inside for a lay in. Amir set a nice screen for Stuck, and got the ball for a dunk. I do not think Amir has a foul yet, he has been a whirlwind on D, showing up everywhere. But although he is contesting on the offensive boards well, no fruit born there tonight. Catch you all later.
I didn't watch a single minute. Just a quick score peek. wirte it down: 4th quarter, January 16th, 2009, the quarter where the Detroit Pistons, an NBA power for 6-7 years, quit on their fans. And I'm glad for not watching.
