Scolas, I know micro did some evangelical work with the unwashed at the Detnews Pistons Talkforum endorsing your work. You need a catchy name for your 'caps.
scolas: Flip in the pre-game team talk: Ok guys, I know we're supposed to be the favourites tonight but I want you do go out and give a half ass effort. I read the Art of War during my CBA tenure and I believe in the importance of deception. For my part, I will continue with head scratching rotations. Delfino, I know you deserve more time and it looks like you're gonna have to get it playing in the Olympics because I don't want to tip our hand for the 2007 title run. And Jason, don't ever pass the ball in GT. You saw what we did to darko....
Missed the game was coming back from giving the Indians at the casino a down payment on some upgrades.So I can only make a general statement about play as of late.Pistonland should be concerned we should be hitting stride.I thought we stayed focused longer than I expected trying to get HC and I wish this BOREDOM thing would have reared earlier.So much for focusing the whole regular season.To close to the playoffs to be screwing around. I swear if they got all cocky looking at history with teams starting as well as we did all going on to win the ship and we fall flat on our faces .Don't get me wrong but Flip's decisions will play very big part in it but the players lack of focus/intensity are a problem.To go this far in looking to attain HC into the finals then lose it with lack of effort or preperation from FLip is Farking retarded.
Delk, Delfino, Dice, and Dale. The 4 D's. That should be the bench. No more, no less. Evans and Lindsey need to be situational guys. This constantly changing rotation is idiotic. Players need time to get into the flow of a game. Bringing them in for 4-5 minutes, then swapping them out for another guy to play 3-4 minutes is counter productive.
I actually thought the guys were giving a good effort tonight and just got outshot. It was more than just the shooting %, the Wiz were making tough, long, contested shots. On our side, Sheed was 8-14 inside the arc and making it look easy. That is what everyone wants him to do. We outrebounded them too, which is hard to do when they are making everything. On the bright side, Delk is settling in and Davis looked pretty tough. The Pistons have still only lost 2 at home, an overtime game and a double-overtime game. That is why we need to secure homecourt advantage.
My post clearly stated that being bored was NOT an excuse. It IS my opinion, however, that thay are playing in a disinterested manner. I also believe that Arroyo and Delfino brought energy to the team. They traded Carlos and Delfino has lost playing time because...???
It is a problem, but I do believe they have the ability to find that gear when needed. It doesn't mean I like it. I'm officially somewhat concerned and somewhat disappointed. I'm personally not to the point where I'm nervous or panicked. Not yet, anyhow. 49-12. Looks pretty good to me.
Being bored is definitely not an excuse. Unless Flip is coaching scared, he should bench the any of the starters immediately if the are getting bored. What's the difference when starters getting bored and Darko playing with no motivation? Almost everyone complained that Darko played with no intensity and that's the reason why he is at the last end of the bench. I have no preferences who should be traded and definitely not a hater, but I really have doubts about Flip's coaching style. Hall of Famers coaches do not hesitate to bench any players, be it the starters, if they play with no intensity or motivation or 'they are just bore out there'. Fans pay for their tickets to watch teams play basketball to their utmost abilities and most important of all, to have fun. Back to the game, Rip was hot early and so is Tay (although a few turnovers here and there). Flip rested them. Fine. When they came back onto the floor, feed them plays. Tay was in process getting back into the offensive sets but Flip decided not to call plays for him. Why? Well, hopefully everything will be back to normal for DETROIT BASKETBALL tomorrow.
I,m not able to see the games overhere; it's in the middle of the night. So all I can go on is the boxscore and the recap from NBA.com. Quote from Billups:"I think that for whatever reason, we think that we can coast to the finish line and not do what we have done all season. We are getting away from what we do and guys are looking far ahead to the playoffs." That's not being bored, that's being a bit to overconfident they will take care of matters in the 4th quarter. As I recall from one of the previous games, it was stated by someone: "The 4th quarter belongs to us". Why not make a stop in the 2th or 3th quarter, as they did at the start of the season? It also gives a hint ("We are getting away from what we do and guys are looking far ahead") there is still a lack of discipline on the floor. I'ts like they know what is going wrong, and nobody is taking command to put all heads in the right direction. I'm starting to wonder how much control Flip has over these guys.
Yes, and haven't you ever played a sport where you are overconfident at some point? When that happens, it often leads to a lack of focus which stems from boredom. You think you can turn it on at will. Problem is, you often can't do it in that game. The Pistons are going through a stretch of games like that. None of us are enjoying it. It will not last for long. They need to get back to what made them awesome earlier in the year. When they do that, they will be extremely difficult to stop.
Washington with 110 points--unreal. Only bright spot was Delk. Just when we had SA on the ropes we give them a game back.
this wasn't that bad- maybe the team actually just needed to be slapped in the face so that they wake up. Washington wanted to beat us and they did. No effort. No hustle. No D! This team won its ring with the going to work attitude and now sometimes they play like bored Divas. They owe full effort to the fans and this is what you can expect. No one of them could complain about too less money. The bad: Sheed taking another 5 3pt attempts. One less than CB, but CB at least made 2. Sheed didn't make one. I hate him taking so many 3's. His the leader in this team in 3 point attempts! What does he want? If he'd have an average above 40%, maybe- but he's shooting good, but not more. No effort. No D. The good although this was a bad loss, there are several good things Tay didn't play very much. Flip always said he's on the floor for his stellar D. Stellar D if his opponent scores at will? That's what Butler did! So he only played 24 minutes- should happen more often. He hasn't been good all season and now it's time to decrease his MPG. Fino did ok- solid D, solid O, he showed what he can do. Delk showed he can give a spark from the bench- this is something we need really bad. Many minutes for the bench- sure, it was because of the loss. But some of them proved that they're doing ok when given minutes. That's important.
Tick..Tock..Tick..Tock...Tick..Tock The season is winding down. What have we learned so far? Well..... what happens when a great offensive coach is paired with one of the smartest,well-tuned starting fives in the past 20 years? One of the greatest starts in NBA history. Sounds good. But.....now what happens when a coach with a history of playoff failures is called to lead a smart, well-tuned starting five that is looking for answers and is facing a league that has studied our team's tendencies for 3/4 of the season. Losses. Not so good. Simply put, I think the league has caught on to our offensive scheme that had suprised our competition to the point where blowout victories were becoming the norm. Now that the opposition has adjusted to our offense and slowed us down, it is time to make adjustments. Bring out the clipboard. Make some decisions with the great personel we have which includes our underrated bench. Coach us to a victory! It hasn't been happening. No effective adjustments. Tick...Tock...Tick..Tock... We're waiting Flip. So far, Flip hasn't shown me anything that suggests he has the goods to coach us to a playoff victory. Great pre-game preperation. No in-game ingenuity. Well, Mr. Davidson and the NBA's best starting five. Looks like you've got what you've been asking for. The team's best chance definitely does not appear to be coming from the coach's chair. It's all about the players. All these years of grooming from some of the NBA's top coaches will finally be put to its test. So fellas hit the video archives. Resist the urge to transform into Flip's Timberwolves and review what made you one of the best defensive teams in the past 20 years. Save the season and let's see if you guys can win one for Flip, since his value apparently ended once he finished teaching his offensive playbook.
Just watch this morning. Somewhere there in the third quarter the streams must have crossed or something and then all that inter-dimensionality stuff started up and things got ugly. Delk was a bright spot. And Tay actually going to the boards early and then pushing the ball up the floor was nice to see. Otherwise, no defensive energy - more zeros in a Ben Wallace line than I can remember seeing for a while, and whatever happened to knocking some guys on their butts sometimes?
This team is notoriously soft. The only players willing to get physical on "D" are Rip and Sheed. Even Ben prefers to play the ball, not the body. McDyess is starting to bother me, and he is a guy I carry the banner for. At one point in his career will he figure out how to disguise his cheap shots? The guy is not much dirtier than anyone else, but the refs nail him on those obvious calls every single time. He can complain about the quick whistle but being honest with myself, he's forcing them to call obvious hack attempts. My mission is to pretend this never happened and look forward to the next game. Some of Chauncey's comments about needing focus and what not, man, that's not an MVP talking. These guys gotta learn that they earn respect on the court, and everyone wants to see them taken down. The Ps and Spurs are not "feel good" stories. The world at large wants them to fail. Could there be a bigger target on their back? I'd be really curious to know what is going on in that locker room. There is no way all 5 guys are telling each other, "yo, we gotta play harder man", or "we'll get them next time". Because if there is 5 guys blowing this off, it could be a very interesting end to the season. BTW, did anyone see the Stones playing zone against a hot jump shooting team? Washington has a distinct lack of a post up game, it seems insane to me for the Pistons to play zone.
San Antonio was 12-10 last year to finish the season last year. They won the championship. Does anyone know what was our (pistons) record and the Suns record for the last 22 games last year? GO PISTONS!!!!!!!!!
Spanking... Spankage... Spankathon... Spankanator The art of going to the nations capitol and touching your toes to receive a well deserved swat on the buttocks as punishment for your lackadaisical effort.... daddy's Butler & Arenas will be receiving a call from child services. It might be worth reviewing our preseason expectations... if you expected the team to go 82-0 with no lob sided losses please step forward to receive your extreme optimist award. Seriously, just curious if the Pistons have not reached anyones goals at this point? Obviously not much to defend from last nights beatdown... I'll have to agree with Chauncey in that this is what the team needed as a wake me up.... I don't know of any other teams that has played at a consistently high level all year... would almost prefer a slight lag before the final couple weeks of the regular season... going into the playoff knowing that it's gonna take a high level effort or you'll get bounced early. Spankalicious... Spanky & the Gang.... Spank happens
