Easily.
That’s not the kind of game Detroit or it’s fans wanted. They came out playing solid in the first quarter and kept the game in striking distance, but any of the fight that Detroit had seemed to get knocked right out with LeBron’s half court buzzer beater to finish the half. The Pistons got within eight with the help of Will Bynum, but the Cavs quickly went back to work to stomp out any hope of a Pistons comeback. The Pistons will have a chance to tie the series up on Tuesday night after the 84-102 loss in game one.
Key Points:
- You can’t win without solid defense. And The Pistons defense was shaky at best. Gone are the days of Detroit used being able to make a an important stop. And from what I saw they couldn’t even get the fundamentals down against Cleveland.
- “Defensively, we just weren’t in sync with each other,” Antonio McDyess said. “When we would go to rotate, somebody wasn’t helping and we’d give up a layup. We just aren’t as sharp defensively as we have been in past years.” Via The Detroit News
- The biggest thing Detroit needed to do to get the win, they didn’t. You can’t take down this team when LeBron scores 38 and get to the line more times than the entire Pistons team. You absolutely can’t deny his game, but it doesn’t make me enjoy it at all, especially his grin after his 40+ foot buzzer beater putting his Cavaliers up 57-45 at the break.
- Counting on Tayshaun Prince to stop LeBron? It didn’t work Saturday afternoon for Tayshaun, Rip or Afflalo. He just made it look easy.
- “We go over things before the game on what we are going to do, but when the game starts it’s not going to play out the same way,” said Prince. “Guys tend to change how they read certain plays and that’s why you saw us communicating out there. It’s not always going to go the way you talk about it beforehand.” Via The Detroit News
- Detroit kept it close in the first half thanks to the play of Rodney Stuckey, who led Detroit with 20 points. He drove the lane in the first half and was quite successful, but he got somewhat cold in the second as did the rest of the team. He was just 7-for-21 shooting with 4 assists and 2 boards.
Photo/Getty Images
- Do you realize that The Pistons are the only team in the Post Season with a losing regular season record.
- Tayshaun scored jut 4 with 2 assists a board and a steal in 37 minutes, but apparently he’s been bothered with lower back pain.
- Another solid game from Kwame who dropped in 5 with 9 boards in 15 minutes.
- Nothing pretty about this one and I couldn’t even pull a good video highlight on the Detroit side. If you missed it, you can watch the Cavalier highlights of the game from NBA.com
- The Pistons turned the ball over just 7 times, but the Cavs even beat them in that department by giving up the ball just 4 times.
- Spark from Bynum in the fourth who scored 6 points with 2 assists in 14 minutes.
- Richard Hamilton chipped in 15 on 6-for-14 shooing with 4 assists. A not so productive Rip, combined with the game Tayshaun had usually spells disaster.
Photo/Getty Images
- “We have to know where LeBron is at all times,” Richard Hamilton said. “When you score 38 against us, we can’t have that and have a chance. We have to figure out a way to stop him.” Via NBA.com
- At one point in the first quarter the Pistons were shooting a whopping 65% from the floor.
- Conspiracy on the LeBron’s Half Court Make? C-Quense makes a point in the comments.“Lebron needs just 1.95 seconds ffor 8 meters. But Carl Lewis wasn’t catching a ball, turning, starts dribbling, jumping and shooting. He was just running. Watch the clock, when he was making that buzzer beater. The NBA is nothing but fake! Catching the ball: 2.00 Seconds leftTurning with the ball: 2.00 seconds left After catching the ball, turning, starting dribbling and running 2 meters. 1.9 seconds left…
- Rasheed Wallace, 13 points on 6-for-10 shooting with 9 boards and 2 assists. Tell me why we didn’t try to go to Sheed a little more?
- 16% from downtown for Detroit.
- Dyess had 10 points and 5 board, but boy does that guy put his heart on the line every game. If you saw his face while sitting on the bench when the starters left the game in the fourth quarter you know what I mean. Ice4dyess
- Michael Curry’s post game presser.
- Best part of this one, all the coaches wearing the CD pin in support of Chuck Daly and his fight with cancer.
- Team Need4Sheed Guest writer Rashid S. Umar over at Hoopsvibe: Going through the motions in Cleveland.
- Next one on Tuesday again in Cleveland. Detroit is going to have to come in with a totally different game plan to try to stop LeBron and the Cavs.
- Don’t give up on this team, they just might surprise you.
April 19, 2009 at 11:41 pm
woops my bad. he hit one more. 8/9
April 19, 2009 at 11:49 pm
Wow, Chauncey really knows how to make everyone miss him.
April 20, 2009 at 12:28 am
I just finished watching game 1 of the Nuggets Hornets series. I miss Chauncey…
April 20, 2009 at 1:24 am
Chauncey 36 with 8/9 from downtown, thanks mr. Dumars
April 20, 2009 at 4:57 am
They could have lost by 50 points,
I still believe.
April 20, 2009 at 8:28 am
Tay can’t handle Lebron. In fact Rip is the only person on this team that might be able to come close to holding back Lebron.
April 20, 2009 at 8:29 am
I have been mad about the CB trade since it happened-
I was/am mad when near the end of last season fans were calling for his head-
IF you did you should hide your head in shame….
Anyone who thought Chauncey was burnt out could not do it any more- should be ashamed for thinking such a thing… Watch last nights game!
I am mad because- Joe D made the biggest mistake of his career… A pointless trade- We got the raw deal..A whinny baby who was only concerned about himself- The team has always been based on team- Joe D trying to change that…mistake #2
After watching that game last night it was painfully clear that there was a huge mistake made… Their entire season was amazing
He should have retired a piston…Joe D should be ashamed of himself- letting go of a man– of all the pistons that should retire a pistons…If you still think it was a good thing( the trade) watch last nights game-
HE was amazing- he is amazing and we missed the boat- How many recored has he broken?…LOTS
I know its all about $$$… When has Joe D ever folded?? -Well there is always a first time-
Its not like the organization does not make some ching-They make LOTS of $$$-
Is saving money more important to the fans than winning? Is it more important to Joe D and the org?— –apparently—-
There has not been a day Ive ever wanted Chauncey gone..not for one sec… shocks me that anyone would..Watch last nights game
I bet your wishing for something different now huh…
Stucky will be great- someday- but he is not yet-
Chauncey could have helped him grow a bit more-
Its shameful and embarrassing… that the NBA chooses $ Over a great player- We would have been near the top of the heap if Chauncey was still here..another painfully clear— slap in the face clear
joe made a mistake—- all the fans calling for chauncey’s head made a mistake-
Its painfully clear
April 20, 2009 at 11:00 am
Tayshaun is a skilled defender, but that’s just not enough against Lebron. You need to be a ridiculous athlete to match up with him – Tayshaun isn’t strong enough, and not nearly fast enough to keep up with Lebron. The Pistons don’t have anyone who really matches up well with him.
But I have a feeling the Cavs could get knocked off in the next round by the Hawks, who are really playing great basketball right now. And they have 3 guys – Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams, and especially Josh Smith – who match up pretty well defensively against Lebron. That’s really going to be a series to watch put for.
And yeah, the Billups trade looks worse than ever right now with Iverson sitting at home, while Billups has the game of his life against Chris Paul and the Hornets. Oh well. I’ll feel a little better about it if we can sign Boozer this summer.
April 20, 2009 at 11:34 am
sue I think you underestimate joe dumars. He wants to win another championship so bad, more than you can imagine. We weren’t gonna win with the old team. sorry that’s how it is. If chauncy was still there we would have gotten beaten by the cavs just the same.
joe is planning to get enough cap space for 2 superstars.
What if he manages to get both Carlos Boozer AND Chris Bosh next year? We have the money.
Anyway, this is a learning year for stucky and bynum. The best we can hope for is to take it to 6.
I’ve been a bengals fan all my life in addition to being a pistons fan when I moved here to michigan over 20 years ago.
I have to say you people are so incredibly spoiled. The pistons are a great team EVEN IN THEIR WORST YEAR IN A DECADE. . . .
We have nothing to complain about, let’s enjoy the games, go pistons!
And come fall I’ll be really grumbling about the cincinatti bungles. Oh and the terrible detroit lions too.
The pistons are a pleasure to watch win or lose, because no matter what, those guys are always in the hunt, they play ball, and it’s wonderful.
April 20, 2009 at 12:02 pm
I’m all for Amir w/ a good help-side on Lebron; Amir is fast enough and with a solid help-side (Sheed?) to knock Lebron on his ass a couple times…
April 20, 2009 at 12:04 pm
And another thing.. why is one of our best rebounders and shot-blockers who happens to be FRESH and energetic sitting? I know Amir is inconsistent but come on! If the Pistons drop game 2 then what is there to lose? Give Amir the chance to get silly out there and maybe give the Cavs a couple rejected balls thrown back down on them.
April 20, 2009 at 12:20 pm
We got Iverson to make us more dynamic when it comes to the postseason grind? We should of let iverson be iverson and we wouldnt be in this position. We have no one on one scorers. Rip showed us that. As for teh cavs, lebron, mo and even delonte can take any man of the dribble. Iverson would help believe it or not
April 20, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Iverson is indeed a great scorer and is able to be an amazing offensive force. The problem isn’t the offense, it’s the defense where he screws the team. We lost to the Cavs in GM 1 because we couldn’t stop a toddler driving to the hoop. I don’t see how Iverson helps in this case… And on top of that, did he not say that he’d rather retire than do this again? There is bad blood now and bringing him back for the sake of it doesn’t help either. The guys just gotta man-up and give Bron some Deeeetroit hard-work….
April 20, 2009 at 3:02 pm
I am not going to say we can win the series; I am not going to say we can’t. What I will say is this: as if we do not feel badly enough right now as Pistons fans, but we have to lsiten to JEFF VAN GUNDY, too?!? Are you kidding me? Is this jerk-off on LeBron’s payroll? I cannot stand to listen to him. Of all the announcers available on ESPN, TNT, and ABC, why, oh why, are we stuck with him? He has his head so far up LeBron’s *&s, it is amazing. It is bad enough that we are struggling without having to hear how “The King” is the greatest of all time. PLease save me…
April 20, 2009 at 7:12 pm
“We got Iverson to make us more dynamic when it comes to the postseason grind? We should of let iverson be iverson and we wouldnt be in this position. We have no one on one scorers. Rip showed us that. As for teh cavs, lebron, mo and even delonte can take any man of the dribble. Iverson would help believe it or not”
Way to call out our leading scorer on this. Stuckey is FINALLY doing well after what I consider a horrible sophomore season, and Rip is still leading this team. AI will never step into a Pistons jersey ever again and his stat card will have a nice spit wad on his Pistons year.
April 20, 2009 at 7:22 pm
im not saying he should be playing now i understand that completely and there is no way as an organizing that you cant bench after what he said. But the problem occured way before that when iverson was first acquired. Iverson was never allowed to do his thing. he got yelled at when he took more that 12 shots. which is ridiculous because if you look at any other great scorer there taking shots in the 20 to 25 range. So essential we got iverson to play like billups. But im telling you go back and listen to dumars press conference and listen he says that he wants allen to be allen and that never happened
April 20, 2009 at 7:23 pm
im not saying he should be playing now i understand that completely and there is no way as an organizing that you cant bench him after what he said. But the problem occured way before that when iverson was first acquired. Iverson was never allowed to do his thing. he got yelled at when he took more that 12 shots. which is ridiculous because if you look at any other great scorer there taking shots in the 20 to 25 range. So essential we got iverson to play like billups. But im telling you go back and listen to dumars press conference and listen he says that he wants allen to be allen and that never happened
April 20, 2009 at 8:55 pm
dk do you understand that all superstars eventually have to take on a position as role player? I don’t care how good you are, when you get older and lose some of your skills, you must take a role position, you play less minutes.
When AI tells the world he can’t accept a role position, he can’t play less minutes, he’s basically telling the world that he’s unable to function properly anymore now that he’s gotten a bit older.
AI couldn’t adjust. I take nothing away from him, but he is not doing credit to the rest of his career with the way he behaved in detroit.
April 20, 2009 at 10:06 pm
Is shaq a role player, was MJ a role player with the wizards, Its not AI’s time to be a role player this team needed a leader not a role player. hamilton not a leader, wallace washed up and dosnt play hard all the time. Check out ai stats, Minutes have been decreased by 10 a game, shot per game cut in half. This guy can sleep walk through 25 pt games but nobody hear is ready to except the fact that team basketball is long gone in the NBA as much as i hate to admit it. Those days died when the stones lost to the spurs in the finals. Superstars rule the nba today and AI could of been that for us. Im not saying we are better with him than chauncey but we lose to the cavs with chauncey so it dosnt matter. But we definitly would be better off with him playing rather than sitting home and laughing at Curry’s inability to keep a rotation. Watch next year AI will light it up
April 20, 2009 at 10:36 pm
what is wrong with you? don’t you remember?
Michael Jordan PUT HIMSELF ON THE BENCH for the wizards in the 2002-2003 year. In 2001-2002, he stupidly tried to be a starter and broke his knee.
so yes, even michael jordan was able to accept being a 6th man. As for shaq, well, we all age different.
Some are old at 29, others are old at 39. Shaq is still in the prime of his career. At some point, Shaq too will have to accept being the 6th man.
AI however is old.
April 20, 2009 at 10:54 pm
MJ was an all star and scored 40 when he was older the 40. Its not AI’s time hes better the stuckey and i believe the pistons played best when hamilton and iverson where on the floor together. because of iverson slashing hamilton only had to spot up. MC never tried to incorporate iveson into the offense. Iverson loves to run up and down the floor in transition but curry would rather walk it up the floor. and lock down on D. I know that iverson is not a great defender but thats the point im trying to make. As a coach and a team you try to put players into position at which they can do there best? correct. That why hamilton comes off screens and antonio spots up for jumpers and why hermann camps out on the 3 line but for sheed he should get his ass on the block but for iverson when was he ever put into a position to succeed? people wanted him to be a true PG and that not what he is and thats not what he ever was or will be. You cant expect a guy who has never been a PG to stand up top and hit hamilton off screens, that what chaunce did. My point is not that Iverson is the greatest player or that he is even the best on the team. Im simply shedding light on the fact that the coaching staff could not adjust to what hand they where delt. They played the same after the trade as the did before it, and that just stupid cuz iverson aint billups. We should have been much better this Year but curry is a terrible coach. If you dont believe check our plays after timeouts, we rarely score, and timeouts are when coaches are supposed to draw up sets for us to score. Remeber flip and his backdoor alley oops after timeouts, and LB’s low post iso for sheed. Thats what im talking about and curry is not better than a bench player in my mind. Hard work and hustle work when you play but they dont help you coach
April 21, 2009 at 1:18 am
ok dk now I agree with everything you said. You have to put your players in a position to succeed, and curry hasn’t demonstrated that this year.
I don’t know if he’ll be any better next year. I think dumars is going to give him one more chance.
Then again . . . if the pistons get swept, I think curry will be gone.
it does take a lot of time, though to incorporate people into your team. It’s not just about coaching. Remember the dream team of 2004 got beat because despite having larry brown, perhaps the best coach in the nba.
if you don’t take the time to play together, it just won’t jell.
April 21, 2009 at 2:39 am
Imagine if we get swept, Curry gets fired, a real coach is brought in, tay is traded for bosh, sheed resigns for less, stuck takes backseat to bynum, the new coach hiring allows joe d to mend things with AI..
Bynum/Stuck
AI/Aff
Rip/Aff/Walter
Sheed/Dyess
Bosh/Kwame/Max
April 21, 2009 at 8:54 am
eric taylor Says–”I have to say you people are so incredibly spoiled. The pistons are a great team EVEN IN THEIR WORST YEAR IN A DECADE. . . .”
We are so spoiled we did not see greatness when we had it…
Im sure Joe D does what to win…but…when does the mistakes fall on his head- Its always the coach Its always the players…Who runs the show? Joe- Eventually it has to fall on him-
I was watching some bball recap last night- and the host said_ joe D made many great choices and with one choice( trade) he has made up for all his greatness…. Im not the only one who sees the mistake…. For goodness sakes… He picked flip.. He picked curry and fans are already calling for Curry’s head..So eventually it must fall to joe…
As for AI…Are you all for real??? Great players can play any where.. If they are truly great…He has been on other teams where his mouth.. attitude has caused problems- He acts like he is owed something-
What he is owed is a paycheck -for tons and tons of money- He gets paid- Its not like he is doing this for free… DO your job and suck it up…
I love the boys- id watch them no matter what- but- what would another year of CB hurt?
We might have gotten beaten by cav’s..But we don’t know that for sure.. He(cb) was not here to prove the point-either way- When the nuggets beat LA and take on the cav’s..You’ll again be wishing for something else…This is the year for upsets- the underdog will be at the top of the heap- whatever that team maybe be- Nuggets look pretty damn good-
About their Hunt- there is no hunt…fans said it last year.. the year before –that they did not want it bad enough- Now that they’re 8th your telling me they want it more??
April 21, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Sue check your stats iverson by himself brought the sixers the finals and even managed to win game 1. then he went to denver and still put up 27+ pts a game. Thats why we got him to put up pts. But we didnt let him do what he does, because people like you dont think thats team basketball. Team basketball isnt what it used to be. Its now a superstar and role players. Or at best 2 superstars and role players. Lebron mo and role players, Kobe pau and role players. Look at every good team in the NBA they have go to guy even the THUNDER with durant. Pistons have nobody they traded billups who was one for allen who is one but never used him as one. Ive said it for the longest time hamilton is just a gloryfied role player just like david lee and steve nash. Just products of the system, that why he was nothing before chauncey and back to barely anything with out him or somebody to get him the ball
April 21, 2009 at 4:44 pm
True enough on the Rip thing…love him tons and tons and more tons… I knew way before the trade Rip needed CB-
AI–whatever he “was” he “was” —Now is what matters… He could have shown his amazing skill just as easily off the bench…. But he was to good for that…
April 21, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Can you blame him for not wanting to come in off bench. You make it sound like everybody wants to come off the bench. So first off he can be pissed cuz i would be pissed and hamilton was pissed to. But the difference between hamiltons situations and iversons situations is the minutes per game. Iverson played like 12 15 17 minutes of the bench. Thats like hermann minutes. WHile hamilton played 35+ when he was coming off the bench. So i dont blame AI one bit for saying what he did. And you cant ever fault a man for saying what is on his mind. And if he will retire rather than playing the bench i respect that because he wants to go out on top and dosnt want to drag on like a jerry rice, zo mourning, MJ, emitt smith.