Literally…

I don’t know if you remember Sheed taking us on a tour of The Pistons newly renovated practice facility last season, here is the video just in case you missed it.

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One thing Rasheed failed to mention before the tour started was that you needed to leave your guns at the door. Lucky I left my glock at home that day or else I wouldn’t have been able to get inside the building. As I passed the sign the first thing I thought in my head was….was this here before Allen Iverson was? If you click on the picture to enlarge it….you can see the fine print at the bottom of the sign. Do they really need to have the sign…probably.  My guess is things got heated one day after a friendly game of H-O-R-S-E.

I got some pretty good inside information from Need4Sheed reader and friend Raul A. Mora aka El Patron Himself (of The Big Denial fame). Apparently he found out what LeBron James’s current iPod playlist is.

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1. King Nothing – Metallica
2. King Without a Crown – Matisyahu
3. Kryptonite – 3 Doors Down
4. Heartbreak Hotel – Elvis Presley
5. New York, New York – Frank Sinatra
6. The Takeover- Jay-Z
7. Sucks to be You – Prozzac
8. Lose Yourself – Eminem
9. Loser – Beck
10. Cruel Summer – Bananarama
11. A New York State of Mind – Billy Joel
12. Help! – The Beatles
13. Close But No Cigar – Thomas Dolby
14. Alone Again (Naturally) – Gilbert O’Sullivan
15. I’m Going Slightly Mad – Queen
16. You Got Another Thing Coming – Judas Priest

I blew up the picture so we could clearly see his iPod and from the looks of it on track 3.

Good job El Patron!

If know of any additions to LeBrons playlist, by all means leave them in the comments and if you didn’t get a chance to read this little piece on the “King”, by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports….I suggest you do so.

The Pistons are down 2-0 in their first round series with the Cavaliers. While things have looked less than inspiring off the court, Pistons fans should do wonders (crossing fingers) for them on the court as Detroit plays it’s first Playoff game of the year at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

It’s actually still not sold out, so if you can muster your way down (or up) to Auburn Hills, you may get a chance to witness see a playoff game on the cheap. Our Pistons can use all the support they can right now.

I have to say this is a must win for the boys in Blue, Red and White tonight. If they go down 3-0 with the fourth game in the afternoon Sunday at the Palace….well, you do the math.

Tip off is at 7:00 pm and will thankfully be broadcast in HD on FSN locally and ESPN Nationally. If you can’t catch either broadcast you can listen over at WDFN 1130 AM or follow the game over at NBA.com.

For those of you who are heading out…LOUD AND PROUD!

Leave your thoughts in the Comments or Chat live during the game.

Need4Sheed Guest Writer:
Rashid S. Umar

Okay Pistons fans, I know it was tough to watch. I was there watching from the opening tip hoping for a more aggressive and passionate effort too. “There’s no way they will not bring it tonight” I thought. It’s the playoffs right?

Well again the game started off with more disjointed play and lack of passion. Rodney Stuckey seemingly was the only player interested in driving to the basket as everyone else settled for jumpers. The defense did nothing but allow Lebron to pad his stats for his MVP campaign.

With the Cavs now leading 2-0, what can we take from the current circumstance? I’d say that we should expect an entertaining game 3 as the series shifts to the “D” on Friday night.

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Here’s what I think: as you all saw, the Cavs lead early in the fourth quarter 79-50 as they began resting their starters. The Pistons went with their bench players and suddenly like lightening the young and scrappy unit climbed back into contention cutting the once robust lead to seven, once the starters were reinstated the Cavs regained control.

So with the revelation that the starters, for whatever reason, can’t seem to compete for long stretches with these guys perhaps the second unit can provide the hustle and intensity needed to stay with this team?

It’s a bit obvious that the Cavs kinda put it on cruise in the fourth and I wonder if that is something that can be exploited.

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Remember the 2006 series? Detroit was the league leading number one seed against the underdog Cavs. The Pistons won game one rather handily but, in game two Detroit lead by as much as 20 in the second half and the Cavs made a game of it. The Piston would hang on but the Cleveland team gained confidence and later went on to win the next three games before losing in seven.

It’s the playoffs and anything can happen. I’m just saying.

Will Tayshaun Prince play in Game Three tonight?

“I will give whatever I can give,” he said. “It felt better today (Thursday), but at the same time, I didn’t go at game speed. I am not the type of person to give excuses about injuries because I know both Rasheed and Rip (Hamilton) played hurt for us this season.

“But this is the pivotal game, so if I am not getting anything going early, I will let Arron (Afflalo) and those guys take the load.” Via The Detroit News

Read into this if you will, especially considering all that’s been going around regarding Prince’s playoff non production.

He’s not injured enough to not start (remember the streak), but if he’s not productive he will let Afflalo play (injury or not). Sounds a bit like an excuse is already in play for Prince.

I don’t know about you, but I would love for Tayshaun to have  huge game, we need him to, but with the injury and how he’s been playing lately I wouldn’t mind Afflalo and Herrmann for that matter to try to see what they can do.

Could Tayshaun be worried about being moved in the offseason? He may not be untouchable anymore.

This stat line from last night’s 94-82 loss to the Cavs in game two pretty much sums up the series thus far for Pistons fan, the Cavaliers never trailed in the ball game and were up by 27 points after three quarters. Another lackluster game for Detroit, whoa are now on the ropes going into game three and four at the Palace.

Key Points:

• Dyess says it all “They are the best team in the league and they are at home, but at the same time, we’ve got to play with some type of heart,” We’re just going through the motions, it seems like.” When asked why that was, McDyess said, “Your guess is better than mine.” Via The Detroit News
• If you watched just five minutes (besides when the bench made their comeback) of the game you could see the flat performance Detroit put forth.  A carbon copy of Game One eerily like most of the season for Detroit.  Is it that they just don’t care or are they just outmatched?  Maybe 50/50.
• 14 first quarter points, 18 second and third quarter points aren’t going to will you any ball game let alone a playoff game against the #1 seed.
• The Cavs were up by 29 points in the fourth quarter until their bench blew most their lead against Detroit’s bench courtesy of Will Bynum.  James had to return to hold off the Pistons and secure the win.
• Rasheed Wallace, who scored just 8 with 4 boards in 25 minutes on the floor scored zero points in the paint and quite honestly looked like he wanted nothing to do with what was going on Tuesday night. To me he looked like he checked out as soon as he stepped on the court. The fire is obviously gone. Wasn’t it Sheed who claimed they needed to Knuckle Up?  What happened?

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• Though I tried to watch the local broadcast in favor of TNT, High Def won out and I heard something that I hoped wasn’t the case but just might be form Doug Collins when he said “It looks like Detroit doesn’t’ want to come back to the Q for a game five.” It sure looks that way now doesn’t it?
• At this point you can cry Fire Curry all you want, but he’s not the one on the court playing like he doesn’t give a damn.
• Four Pistons in double figures and two of them are Afflalo and Bynum.
• Amir Johnson on his Tech after shoving VareJOKE: “I wasn’t going to let him punk me. I did what I had to do.” Via The Detroit Free Press Good for you Amir, too bad you couldn’t slap that smirk off of that clowns face.
  
• The opposite of small ball when Curry put a lineup of Tayshaun Prince,Rip Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace, Kwame Brown and Antonio McDyess. That didn’t work either.
• Start Will Bynum at point is the chant I’m hearing from Pistons fans, and quite honestly they have nothing to lose at this point.  Bynum once again was the spark for Detroit sparking a 27-5 run in the fourth quarter. Sure it was without LeBron on the floor for the Cavs, but it put Detroit back in striking distance. Bynum finished with 13 points in 18 minutes adding 5 assists, 4 boards and 2 steals.

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• Was it just me or did most of the game consist of either Rip taking a jumper or Stuckey trying to drive the lane or settling for a shot. Rip or Stuckey….I wanted to scream for them to move the ball and try something else because it clearly wasn’t working.
• “Our bench played well,” McDyess said. “As far as the starters, we didn’t come out and do the job we were assigned to do. It’s like they were doing anything they wanted on offense. We weren’t giving no resistance to stop them or making it tough on them. Via NBA.com
• Rally comes up short.
• The Cavs held the Pistons to 39.5% shooting and outrebounded the Detroit 43-34.
• I used to appreciate Mo Williams, but it seems as though he’s caught come cockiness now that he’s in Cleveland.
• Rip Hamilton led the Pistons with 17 points on 7-for-16 shooting. But but that isn’t saying much either, he was a -30 for the game

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• Tayshaun Prince, another less than stellar game (and that’s being kind). Prince went 1-for-5 for 2 points and three boards. Dana Gauruder of the Oakland Press “Prince is a more maddening case. He seems to be full of excuses every postseason. Before, he’d decline in the conference finals. This year, he’s gone into the tank from the start. He’s averaging 6 points in his last six postseason games.”
• Aggressive in game 2….nope! Detroit was 13-for-16 for the line. Cleveland….32-for-43. LeBron once again went to the line more than the entire Detroit team going 13-for-17.
• Huge Piston Roundtable over at Pistons Powered with all of your favorite Pistons Bloggers as well as Newspaper columnists.
• The Cavs have now won six straight playoff games over The Pistons.
• Highlights from NBA.com if you dare.

• You can will them to Win all you want, but if they don’t come to play how does that help? I will support the Pistons no matter what, but being confident in a team that hasnt even shown heart is another thing altogether. You may feel different, but this team hasn’t showed me much to beleive in. How do you feel after game two?

Before game two tips in Cleveland I was lucky enough to do a little back and fourth  Q&A with Todd Dery (the brother of Matt Dery) over at the Cleveland Blog Waiting For Next Year (where they are counting down to a title). Todd was nice enough to answer a few question for me on the series while I answered a few of his over at WFNY.

N4S: As a Cavs fan, before the DET/CLE matchup was decided who was your ideal team to face in the first round?

Todd Dery: To be quite honest, I was hoping for Philly. Yes, they beat the Cavs on the last game of the season, but they did it without Lebron, Z, Mo Williams, and Joe Smith. Delonte West and Anderson Varejao only played a half, yet the Sixers needed OT to beat the Cavs third unit. I was actually scared of the Pistons. Thought they would take too much out of the Cavs for a first round series.

N4S: Who needs to play well (other than LeBron) to make things difficult for Detroit?

Todd Dery: It’s simple – the outside shooters have to hit their shots when the defense collapses on Lebron. Mo WIlliams, Wally Szczerbiak, Daniel Gibson, and Delonte West must keep shooting the ball they way they have over the last month or so. Gibson’s re-emergence has been a major key. His early and mid-season slumps pushed him out of the rotation for a while, but he has played his way back in by simply hitting shots. Also, Joe Smith has got to hit his mid-range shots. That gives the Cavs an extra-dynamic off the bench they didnt have when they had J.J. Hickson and Anderson Varejao as the bigs off the bench.

N4S: What do you make of the Tayshaun Prince/LeBron matchup, in that Prince is considered one of the premier defenders in the league? Do you think he does a good job on LeBron or does he need help like everyone else when it comes to stopping him?

Todd Dery: I honestly think Tayshaun is hurt. He has always done a nice job defending Lebron, but nobody can stop him one on one. Its the help defense that is the key. You must double Lebron and make everyone else beat you. The thing about Tayshaun is that Lebron has gotten stronger and quicker, while Tayshaun is starting to show signs of slowing down.

N4S: Who do you see as the biggest threat on the Pistons?

Todd Dery: Rip Hamilton is the biggest threat. No doubt about it. But Sheed always kills us. Time and time again he hits big threes late in games against the Cavaliers. He also seems to lose his cool the most against the Cavs as well.

N4S: Going into the series everyone (media and fans) seemed to look right past Detroit, do you think the team themselves are?

Todd Dery: Not a chance. This is a completely focused Cavaliers team. Lebron is on a mission. Look at the final regular season game. They had a chance to tie for the all-time best home record at 40-1 but had clinched the home court advantage already. Realistically, the game meant nothing, so the Cavs regulars all sat. When asked about why they did it, Lebron and coach Mike Brown echoed the same sentiment – the real goal is the NBA Title and everything else is meaningless.

N4S: Lastly, do you see LeBron staying in Cleveland once his contract is up and does the decision hinge on whether he wins a Championship or not?

Todd Dery: I’m from Cleveland, born and raised, so my initial response has always been to say he is gone win or lose in two years. But Lebron is a different cat. While he wants to be a “global icon,” which he already is, the thing he wants most is to win. If Cleveland is the place that gives him the best shot come next summer, then he will stay here. My gut tells me they will get a ring in the next two years and he will stay here, but on another three to four-year deal, which would give him another chance to go elsewhere at a relatively young age. When he signs his next deal, Lebron will be 25. Keep that in mind.

Thanks again go out to Todd and Waiting For Next Year for taking the time out to answer a few quiestions as well as getting a little Pistons point of view for Cavs fans.

I can’t help but agree with a lot of what Chris McCosky said today:

“It was the utter lack of urgency Detroit showed toward moving out of the eighth spot and avoiding a 66-victory Cleveland team that has come back to doom this team. Two giveaway losses to Chicago, the late meltdowns in Indiana and Philadelphia and the no-show in New Jersey — all in the final month — when they could have easily slid up to No. 7 and played Boston without Kevin Garnett, or even up to No. 6 and played Orlando, a team it has dominated.

Instead, the Pistons are a big underdog tonight in Game 2 against the superior Cavaliers. For whatever reason, avoiding the Cavaliers wasn’t a motivating factor for this team. Talking to the veterans, it was if they had long since resigned themselves to the bottom of the bracket and an early exit.

It was fitting that a coach — probably Michael Curry — wrote “Do we believe?” on the message board inside the Pistons locker room before Game 1. It’s a fair question. And, in truth, the answer would be no. They haven’t believed in a long time. But that’s probably for the best, because now there’s no doubt about charting a new course.” Via The Detroit News

You know as homers we all think the Pistons have a fighting chance, hell the Pistons beat the Lakers and shocked the world in ‘04. Sadly this isn’t that team and we all know it. It can happen, but it’s a longshot. We can be the biggest cheerleaders in the world, but when the guys that step on the court aren’t on the same mission as the one the fans are on, then what?

Before the Playoffs began Tayshaun Prince was confident that Detroit’s experience would help them in the Cavs series. I wonder how he feels after game one?

Curry on Stopping LeBron:

“Our initial pressure on the ball wasn’t good enough, so we got to do a better job of that,” Curry said. “Who’s ever on Delonte or LeBron, they got to get up the court so we don’t allow them to flow easy into their offense. Whatever we are trying to take away, we have to be more aggressive taking it away,” Curry said of James. “When we trap him, we got to aggressively trap him. When we contain him and try to make him shoot contested jumpers, we got to do that.” Via The Detroit Free Press

Sounds simple right, tell that to the guys trying to guard LeBron.

“Knuckling up,” the Piston center said. “Bottom line. There are no tricks we’re going to add. Just straighten on up.” Via The Detroit Free Press

The Pistons are in Cleveland to start the first round of the 2009 NBA Playoffs against the #1 seed Cavaliers. With things not going per usual with our familiar Detroit team, Pistons fans are still showing plenty of support.

We all know the odds are stacked up against the Pistons, but it doesn’t mean they have no chance at all like some people think. It may be a long shot, but nothing is impossible.

As you probably already know, I’m not a fan of anything Cleveland or the Cavs. In fact I have been known to poke a little fun here and there, but team Need4Sheed member Daniel Pantalleresco has a little more than hatred on his mind when it comes to the LeBron/Tayshaun match up. And like it or not, a lot of Detroit’s success in this series will hinge on Tayshaun stopping Burger King James.

I’m sure you have read a ton of playoff previews, most of which give the Pistons a little more than a snowball’s chance in hell, but that all means nothing when the Pistons play the way they are capable of playing. And that’s a scary thing for any team about to go into a seven game series with them.

As for my playoff preview, I did it a little different this season over at Dime.

So we Rise Up Pistons fans. It’s easy to get behind a team that dominates, but it’s even more special when fans stand behind a team that is struggling. Red, White and Blue forever!

Tip off is at 3:00 PM and will be nationally broadcast on ABC.  If you can’t watch, follow live through your computer over at NBA.com.

As for Pistons fans..

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments or Chat Live with fellow fans during the game.

Need4Sheed Guest Writer:
Rashid S. Umar

As the 2009 playoffs get underway, it seems as if no one is giving the Pistons any chance of competing with the mighty (at least record wise) Cleveland Cavaliers. Whether the series plays out to be as predicted, or if the boys from the “D” pull off the monumental upset, we need to show passionate support.

The one thing that I’ve enjoyed as a sports fan is proudly proclaiming that I am Pistons Fan. No matter how great the team has performed or how terrible, being a Pistons fan has been a joy and privilege for the last 25 years and counting.

It’s more than just being a fan of the team, for me it’s being a fan of the HOME team. Growing up in the inner city of Detroit, a place that has never had a great reputation for as long as I was there, team championships helped put us on the map. When the Pistons made their first finals appearance in 1988, the city felt electric. I neglect to mention, that years earlier that the Tigers won the ’84 World Series, but this was different—at least for me. The summer of ’88 felt like uncharted waters, with a team that had never been to the mountaintop. Seeing CBS Sports trucks and nationwide coverage in our city was exciting. Winning the title in 1989 and again in 1990 made me feel proud to not just be a fan of the red, white, and blue; but also a proud Detroiter. I also learned that sports could unite a community a lot better than tragedy.

Even through the lean years, the erosion of the post- bad boy era, the dreaded Sean Elliot 62-loss season, and the mediocre “horse-head teal” days, I held my head up high despite what seemed like everyone else jumped ship to root for the Bulls (I’m still bitter about that) I was proud to have MY team.

My point is that although the team posted its worse season in eight years, I’m not jumping ship. Even if the series goes as predicted, I’ll still be here with my Pistons jersey rooting for the good guys. I’ll still be hardcore with mine because that’s what we do!

I’ve read message boards sites (and I hate reading message boards) of opposing fans that are extremely joyful about this Pistons season, even some of our so-called fans who’d rather complain than rally. I know it’s not what we’re used to but come on gang!

It’s the playoffs! Let’s get behind these guys for support! If not to beat Cleveland, than to celebrate eight straight playoff appearances or that they are one of only two teams in American professional sports to win at least one title in each of the last three decades — bet you didn’t realize that huh? Well that’s why I’m here.

Let’s go Pistons Nation! I implore you join me in showing the world we can be the best fans under any circumstance!

The Detroit Pistons first round schedule was released today with the fist game on Saturday afternoon. As you can see I have already decorated the site with the usual countdown to keep track of Detroit’s run in the playoffs.

And yes….I see it too, Game 4 is a Sunday home game at 3:30.

Game 1 Sat., April 18 Detroit at Cleveland 3:00 p.m. ABC
Game 2 Tue., April 21 Detroit at Cleveland 8:00 p.m. TNT
Game 3 Fri., April 24 Cleveland at Detroit 7:00 p.m. ESPN
Game 4 Sun., April 26 Cleveland at Detroit 3:30 p.m. ABC
If Necessary
Game 5* Wed., April 29 Detroit at Cleveland TBD
Game 6* Fri., May 1 Cleveland at Detroit TBD
Game 7* Sun., May 3 Detroit at Cleveland TBD

This should serve as motivation for the series from Cleveland.com

“This time around, the once almighty Pistons are merely an opening band in a rock show that will go on long after their set is done. It’s like, “Uh, dudes, can’t we just move on to the next series?”

Don’t get cocky Cleveland, it won’t be that easy. Any team can take a series no matter what their record states. Detroit has a chance. Cockiness aside, Cleveland and it’s fans still would rather not see the Pistons in the first round, no matter what comes out of their mouths.