vs Miami Heat Friday January 29 8:00 pm

Looking at today's schedule, this is a must for the Pistons ... must lose that is.
Will Gordon be back for this one? I really want to see him play again.

I find it very confusing when the Heat play the Pistons because I can't tell Dwayne Wade from Rodney Stuckey. Sometimes I find myself cheering after Miami scores.

Stuckey tends to get out and run more than D-Wade.
Pretty easy to see for even the casual internet fans.

God you guys are a bunch of masochists!

These teams are very similar with most offensive and defensive stats being a wash. I expect this to be close one and for Stuckey to put a show on for his idol, D.Wade.

Miami is one of the better ball blocking teams in the NBA and Detroit is a better rebounding team so look for some confrontation in the front court.

Stuckey needs to make sure he's getting contact when he drives otherwise it'll be a block fest tonight.

My keys to victory tonight:

Ball Control:
No not those balls. Miami likes to play the passing lane and they get away with it on a consistent basis. Rip needs to cut down on the cross-court passing and Tay needs to make sure he's got his handles on tonight.

Penetration:
Take it deep. Errr ... Our guards need to make sure they're driving the basketball. I think Detroit has got Miami beat on the boards, we need to cut down on the long rebound opportunities for Miami and let our bigs get some second chance points.

Defensive Sets:
I'd like to see Detroit switch up more to a zone on occasion when the opposing team is driving the ball well. Miami is not a great shooting team and I think this would benefit us tonight.

Stuck will get contact.
...aaaaaaaannnd it'll be a block-fest.

Thanks for the tip, I'm pretty new to this thing.

Stuck's got good control on the fly. He doesnt have the consistent finesse off the glass I'd like but he'll get better. I personally think he gets fouled more than they call, thats for sure. I expect the Pistons to be sending a tape to league officials after the year and Stuckey's PPG to jump up by 4-5 next year because of the foul calling.

Yes, I'm not joking.

You might want to spend some time reviewing each game on your VCR 2 or three times. Pay close attention to things like defensive rotations and Chucky Atkins' +/- stats.

Chucky's a crisp passer.

That's all I got.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Stuckey-the-poor-man's-D-Wade can do against the real thing.

PS: Welcome 313. Strong start to the forum dude. Keep it up.

I thought it was only JMAX that's doing all the baby-eatin'.

Im thinking he'll come out and attack hard to prove he was overlooked for all star nod.

That and I think Wade aka The Fake Stuckey will play meekly because of his bogus selection.

In fact, tonight might be a passing of the proverbial torch.

I've noticed that, too. When I get to the frame-by-frame in my 4th review, I have noticed that Kuester is actually playing Rip and Tay more than 48 minutes per game. Sometimes, they play 60+ minutes.

If the refs were more fair, about half of those blocks on Rodney would be wiped away with fouls.

Stern doing something to benefit the Pistons? Nah, can't see that happening.

A man can dream, can't he?