My boy Will Blalock again!!!!!! Some of you guys will over look what he did with ease, but this kid will allow Chauncey to get the rest he needs. Some of you will overlook the fact that Earl Watson pressured him big time and could not rip the kid, but I won't because I know Earl is a ballhawk just like lindsey. Some of you will overlook how we have a pg that can handle the rock with ease w/out over dribbling, can get into the paint, can feed the post, can actually run the pick and roll- not the dreaded pick and pop, will actually swing the ball weakside making the defense scramble, not think about swinging it and let the D get back into position, and can start the offense. This kid was a STEAL!!!!!! The shot will get respectable in time, a la Avery Johnson.
I think the point to remember here is that it is entirely possible to develop talented bench players without sacrificing W's. If you don't shake things up, you get those listless performances from the usual starters and we lose to sub .500 teams. What a blessing in disguise it was for Sheed to miss a few games. It forced Flip Saunders outside of his comfort zone. Also, for all of you that have been baffled by the interest in the Orlando Magic from several of us here on the forum, I think it is because they have been managing their rotations like the Pistons did for the past 2 games. I originally started watching to see how Darko, Arroyo, and Hill were doing, but then after a while, I noticed that they were playing with a lot more passion than the Pistons. The reason for that was that everyone was getting a chance to contribute. You got the feeling watching them that all each player wanted was to win because they all felt like it was their team. After a while, it started to become frustrating because the Pistons seemed to wasting that same opportunity. Such a simple change in philosophy was needed, but was not happening. Let's hope that Flip can keep this train rolling and not balk at the first loss.
Oh, and great game from Glynnysaurus tonight. Almost had 1 of everything. Min 11 FTM 1 Reb 1 TO 1 PF 1 Pts 1 (the rest were zeros of course)
That looks like one of my lines from high school. The infamous "multiple-single". Don't laugh. It's hard to do only one of a bunch of things. A lot of games, I had 6 fouls in under 15 minutes.
Thats amazing. And our team is supposed to have problems in that area. I saw the game live at the Palace which meant that I was not aware of what was going on statistically. That is something, something very encouraging.
You can hear this on the audio (posted in the thread) Goon Squad gives Pistons big boost against Sonics
PopcornMachine's GameFlow - Seattle @ Detroit This is the biggest disparity between 1 player and the rest of them on the Pistons that I can ever remember seeing on a +/- scale. Dice showed a horrendous # mainly because he was sucking horribly AND he wasn't on the court with JMax too often. The Goon Squad is the name we have been looking for. You can't give them a nickname until they earn it.
Alright, I'm pickin' up whatcha layin' down... however the young fella will have to start to get his own (remember when they started playing Arroyo to pass) and Blalock will need to stick it from outside sometimes... the scouting reports don't lie... funny story... in the D we were delivering the paper (after pulling an all nighter)... and we decided to take a rest next to a tree... this old fella come out and said "Yo layin' on Lye"... and we were like huh??? "yo layin on lye"... he meant we were laying on the poison he put on his grass to kill bugs. lol Moral to the story?... let's not be layin' on lye when talkin' bout the rooks.
Video highlights are up for those that missed it. Dale's putback is after he scored and got an opportunity to add 1 free throw. He missed and rebounded the miss for a putback. Also Delfino's game saving steal and Maxiell's game winning shot. (VIDEO) Pistons 97, Sonics 93 (F) Billups has been on a tear lately. He plays so much better with rest.
Ya beat me to it, I was going to say he went digital. "Michael Curry numbers... the binary man 10101010101". 32 minutes for Brahma...is he ready for that? Talk about dead legs. Good call on the score D59--- [97]
See if you and ArmyG can come up with a trade for him. Maybe you can get Dwade and Nash for him. I think JD would grudgingly pull that trigger. :nerd2:
I missed the first quarter and part of the second last night, but saw enough to begin to change my POV about JMax. This was the first time I've seen him on the floor when he was rebounding with intention. Most times he has seemed content to grab the ball when it was falling towards his hands, and not all that motivated to move somebody out of the way to get it. Last night was very different. I wonder if someone (Cowens?) lit a fire under him and made it clear that boards will keep him on the floor a lot longer than the occasional monster dunk. He had a nice jumper going too. Now we'll see if he can keep it going (if of course he ever plays again) now that the opposition scouts might actually tell their players his name.
So it was Rip who gave them the name. From the art. By Danny Knobler: Maxiell, 23, is one of the Pistons' youngest players. Davis, at 37, is the oldest. They came together the last couple of nights to help the Pistons overcome Wallace's absence, and to earn the nickname bestowed on them by teammate Richard Hamilton. The Goon Squad. "We're the physical brothers,'' Maxiell said. Maxiell (6-foot-7, 260 pounds) and Davis (6-11, 252) are big enough and physical enough to give the Pistons a different look under the basket, but for much of the early part of this season, they've been giving them a different look on the bench. Maxiell didn't play in seven consecutive games in late November and early December, and Davis played limited minutes.
front line scheme for rest of season: 48 min per forward/48 min per center..... SHEED 8 MIN /1ST QTR; 4 MIN/2ND QTR; 8 MIN/3RD;6 MIN/4TH: 26 NAZR 5 MIN/1ST;4 MIN/2ND; 6 MIN/3RD; 6 MIN/4TH: 21 DYESS 7 MIN/1ST; 4 MIN/2ND; 1 MIN/3RD; 5 MIN/4TH: 17 DAVIS 2 MIN/1ST;8 MIN/2ND; 0 MIN/3RD; 4 MIN/4TH: 14 MAX 2 MIN/1ST: 4 MIN/2ND; 5 MIN/3RD; 3 MIN/4TH:14 THIS is why a coach loses hair and sleep...managing minutes! WWuD??
Not bad HQ, I'd let Sheed do more in the 4th and let Nazz foul out in the first half, if he needs to, to minimize the free chili line/entree.
Does any one else notice, the great defensive plays CB is making at the end of games? He has gotten so many clutch steals. Either it's the rest, or his b-ball IQ went up a thousand in 2 days. I think it's the rest, but either way he's actually playing that second team all defense right now.
Yes, CB's defense has definitely improved with his energy level. I also get the feeling that he won't pace himself so much at the beginning of games if he knows that he isn't going to have to play 40 minutes. I think that a lot of the slow starts were caused by him not looking to score. All this talk about the bench and youth... am I the only Ronald Dupree fan here? I'm not saying that he should be a part of the rotation, but don't you have to throw a bone to the good-attitude energy guy every couple games or so? Just stick him with some of the starters when we look lethargic for 5 minutes sometime. We are not "hiding" him are we?
