Don't spend too much time correcting me on such things. I post my reports without looking at the boxscores. I will make mistakes. The reason I do not look at the boxscore is that I want to get my impressions from the game down while they are still fresh in my mind.
wow saunders actually somewhat alludes to the fact that they were too late in playing pressure defense. of course, he says it in such a manner that he doesn't put blame on himself and uses weird English. 'you could say we could have went to it sooner, but we went to it late' is not even a coherent thought in the English language. i hate how he always says 'you' in the 2nd person while philosophizing, and always says 'we' when admitting the pistons did something wrong. this is how flip always speaks, and it avoids directly blaming himself for anything. i'd respect him a lot more of he manned up and took some responsibility for his mistakes, or just *once* say 'this game was my fault as a coach'. of course, just like being scared and overplaying the starters, he is scared to blame himself when he knows his job isn't secure.
I really wanted only about 45-47 wins, and the bench playing signifigant minutes. This type of game plan would insure a good team for the playoffs. Our current path will net us 51-53 wins and a first round good-bye. The starters will be ready for their summer break by then.......
The starters would be ready for their summer break by the All-Star game at this rate. Wouldn't you love to read the below headline in this thread today?
Joe says Enough is Enough! Flip Saunders is fired and replaced by Piston Bad Boy Bill Laimbeer. Makes my heart skip a beat just thinking about it. There is no doubt in my mind that Laims could get this talented team on the right path before seasons end.
I heard the game on my new Sirius Radio. This 07-08 team has some serious growing pains to get through. 20 and 10 would be nice for the first 30.
Does nobody else here feel like Portland played a really good game? Aldridge was unreal against Sheed. Roy was draining the life out of us with those jumpers. Jack had another great game (3 out of his last 4 have been huge). Plus, they WERE playing good defense. When a team that we don't respect plays this well, we get in trouble.
Face the facts, Flip relies on 6 guys to get the job done and other teams rely on 9-10 guys. If they are already showing signs of exhaustion at the end of the third quarter, just think what condition they will be in come May??? I think Sheed was trying to reserve his energy because he was in there for the long haul and when it came down to it, he didn't challenge those Aldridge shots like he could in the first qtr
Tricky? I liked Mr. Sneaky better. I agree though. We know what we are getting with Flip...AJ had a sprained ankle which apparently has healed but if one of the starters like McDyess gets hurt he just plays right through it making it worse.
Here is an unusual stat: Chauncey played significant minutes, had a nice game, and didn't attempt a 3-pointer. I noticed that he passed on a lot of the threes in transition that he would normally take.
Lee, you keep doing whatever you need to keep your impressions fresh. I support you in this endeavor.
He doesn't have it. That ingredient that enables a coach to recognize chemistry. Remember the synergy that Arroyo and McDyess had? Flip never would have recognized that.
In all sincerity, eventually Rip or Tay is going to have to get out of the starting lineup. No way on earth should we ever have any player shoot 5-20!!! We are too deep, versatile and talented to allow that to happen. You guys watch players- I watch plays. The ball rarely gets swung to the weakside on a possession, and too many times in a game there is too much one on one play. This is all coaching. There is not one single coach in the history of hoops that can stop these tendencies that hoopers naturally have, but I'll be darn if a coach has to accept that. Because this team no longer shares the ball and makes the extra pass, players games' are getting marginalized. Dyess & Tay's game are suffering because CB & Rip keep trying to prove they are the best backcourt in the NBA. We are unstoppable when Tay is on, we are a legit contender when he's at his best. When CB and Rip are at their best we are beatable and not champions. To be a champion we cannot afford for Tay's game to get froze out by Fake-A$z Batman and Robin. PS I don't know if anybody else has noticed but Dyess has begun to find his groove and rhythm, yet we can only seem to get this guy 6-7 shots???? Rip needs to accept a Ginobli, Terry, Barbosa, 6th man role.
Yeah, one thing I avoid is rewatching the previous game during commercials, or reviewing the current game during commercials. It gets too confusing that way. Instead, I watch another team, or maybe a movie if none of the other teams I follow are playing. (Toronto, Orlando, and Memphis.)
Maybe Dyess in the starting lineup isn't working? No wonder he wants to come off the bench...the starting lineup doesn't feed the hot hand.
