For the first time this season The Detroit Pistons actually put a hurting on the opposing team. In his first game coming off the bench for Detroit, Rip had a hard time getting acclimated to his new role so Tayshaun Prince and Jason Maxiell stole the show in this seldom seen (this season) 95-76 blowout of the Raptors.

Key Points:

• Give a hand to Rip Hamilton for making the move to the bench even if he didn’t really have a choice in the matter.  Rip sat courtside on his stationary bike to keep warm during the first quarter.  He had a rough time getting used to his new role, scoring 7 on 3-for-9 shooting in 21 minutes on the floor.  Three of his misses game from behind the three point line, but he stayed in the action picking up 4 assists.  Had the game been closer in the fourth Rip would had played more minutes.
• Rip on coming off the bench (audio) via The Detroit News.
• Rip has had a difficult time since his partner in crime was traded so a move to the bench is just another obstacle he needs to deal with. Time people.
• The Fluidics noticed something I didn’t last night (probably because I was busy talking to a good friend). “About Rip though. He didn’t do his pre-game antics in the corridor with the team, punching their chests. When they ran out of the tunnel, Rip was nowhere to be seen, he was the last to the court, walked out by himself.”
• Sure we made mincemeat out of a bad Raptors team, but we have to look at the bright side of things. We were losing to teams like the Thunder, so this is a welcome change no matter who it was.
• Nice start to the new lineup change, but lets see if the Pistons can transition to a new beginning.
• Jason Maxiell started the show in the first quarter throwing down dunks like he was playing nerf basketball in the basement of his mother’s house when he was 10. The man should never put up a DNP, but we have said that plenty of times before. (more…)

On a night when Toronto’s star Chris Bosh had a 30 point game, it was the Raptors who came up short. Jason Maxiell and company went into the fourth quarter up three and managed to dominate Toronto on both ends of the floor. Detroit’s bench, who finished off both the game and The Raps, pulled out a 91-84 victory at The Palace against a Toronto team that was desperate for the win.

Key Points:

• With this loss Toronto needs to win both its final two games against Miami and Chicago to finish sixth and avoid the Pistons in the first round of the playoffs. Toronto could also finish sixth if it wins one game and Philadelphia loses either of its last two games.
• Rodney Stuckey led the Pistons with 18 points, and an assist, rebound and a steal in 25 minutes. It’s too bad Stuckey missed so much of his rookie season, he shines a little more every game.
• While getting themselves ready for a playoff run the starters are still getting their rest.
• Chauncey, Tayshaun and Sheed played 25 minutes, Rip played 24 and Antonio McDyess 19.
• Impressive fourth quarter for The Crew, who not only played efficiently they really played suffocating defense.
• Amir’s post introduction dance was hilarious, it looked like he couldn’t stop laughing the whole time. I think Sheed’s job is in jeopardy.

• Speaking of the intro’s I actually captured them at the game. Stay tuned for the HD version that I’m really proud of, especially considering the fact that I did my best not to shake when the explosions went off.
• Blogfest was fantastic, more on that in a different post.
• Sheed and company had quite a few words with Mr. Delfino before the game, but no love for “The Gangsta.” Looks like Primoz doesn’t get much play in Toronto either, he was a DNP.
• Theo Ratliff, who played 14 minutes and scored 2 points, fits in with the team like he’s been here all season.
• J Max, coming off a career night on Friday, dominated again. Jason scored 14 points in 23 minutes on 7-for-10 shooting with 4 boards and a block. He’s just scary.

• “Maxiell’s career-night in Tuesday’s game came on the same day that a replica of his blue jersey was given to the first 7,500 fans at the Palace.”When I first saw it, I got somewhat of a chill,” Maxiell said of the jersey. “The first time I looked around the whole arena and I saw a lot of 54 jerseys, it felt pretty good and I guess I had a good game behind it.” Via The Detroit Free Press
• Steve made sure we didn’t miss the AP’s piece on the game when they call Detroit’s bench the “Zoo Squad.” Seriously, get it right.
• Rebound war won 44-33.
• Plenty of boos for Delfino, who went 2-for-7 for 6 points in 26 minutes.
• Jamario Moon’s missed dunk had the whole Palace crowd in stitches.
• “Most teams don’t have a group like that coming off the bench,” Bosh said. “Those five could start for a lot of teams in this league. They’re tough.” Via MLive
• Rip is back and has shaken off any rust that he may have had. He scored 12 points in 24 minutes on 6-for-9 shooting with 3 assists and 3 steals. This steal led to his best assist of the game, an alley to Tay. It happens a lot, but you never get tired of it.

• Mr. Big shot put up 14 points on 4-for-11 shooting.
• NBA.com Highlights of The Game.
• Pistons biggest lead was 9 points and Toronto’s 4.
• Flip let the youngsters close the game out, playing Stuckey, Maxiell, Amir , Hayes and Aaron Afflalo.
• At one point in the game Detroit started jacking up three’s as if they were in a three point contest. It didn’t continue thankfully, they shot 25% on the night from downtown. Toronto, who likes to shoot the three shot only 18%.
• Detroit can beat the West, but maybe not Boston.
• The Palace crowed screeched after this Sheed stuff. Looks like it hurt doesn’t it.

• Stuckey did a great job on the quick TJ Ford. “I’m just attacking, and I feel that nobody can stop my drive,” Stuckey said. “I love contact, so I’m going at the big guys, no matter who it is. It’s all about being aggressive.” Via NBA.com
• 48% shooting on the night for Detroit.
• I’m sure every Piston fan would love to see The Raps in the first round after this one.
• Like always, I would love to hear what Hubie and CO. had to say about Detroit. One thing I do know is Hubie looks older in person than he does on TV. Check out his cameo in the picture of Bennie and Jeff court side.

• Bennie and Jeff have a message for us from Blogfest, along with some great locker room interviews from their show Game Day Live, which I will have for you in the coming days.

The Pistons are taking on The 40-39 Raptors on ABC, so for those of you who don’t always get a chance to see Detroit play, here it is. In a game that is clearly more important to Toronto you can look for them to go all out. The Raptors are trying to avoid a seventh place finish in the East, which would have them going up Detroit in the first round of the playoffs. A sixth place finish would mean a first round matchup with Orlando. The Pistons will be taking this one seriously, and may send a message. Just like they did to The Wizards on Friday night, when it just looked too easy.

Tip off is at 1:00 PM and will be Nationally broadcast on ABC. If you can’t catch it on TV you can always tune in to 1130 AM WDFN The Fan or stream it live through your computer at NBA.com.

I will be enjoying this one with members of Team Need4Sheed, Detroit Bad Boys and Bennie and Jeff. This one should be fun, leave ‘em in the comments.

The Pistons failed to clinch the Central Division with a loss Wednesday night in Toronto. Detroit didn’t exactly play up to expectations in their 89-82 loss to the Raps, and I’m actually putting that mildly.

This is not going to be your typical Need4Sheed recap for the simple fact the my Tivo Loves me! I’m sure many of you know that real life sometimes gets in the way of watching every game. That’s why the the invention of Tivo or the trusty DVR is better than two ply toilet paper.

See, I have a system of watching games when I can’t actually see them live, which is not very often. I DVR and Tivo the game. Overkill? Maybe, but the system usually works for me. Well last night I forgot to set the Tivo (can’t use season pass or it will record every NBA game) to record the game. I’m golden right, I have the DVR backup in place. Thanks to a certain cable company and DVR box, that always seems to give me problems, when I got home the game looked like it had recorded just fine. So when I sat down to watch it, it was locked up with a black screen. I was spared!

Now if it was the Suns game you can imagine how pissed I would be, but something or someone was looking out for me last night, unlike the Pistons.

From your comments and the post game recap it was another lackluster, uninspired outing from our boys in red, white and blue. Rip wasn’t in the lineup, they were one win away from clinching the Central, they came off probably the best performance all season against the Suns and they had a players only “family meeting” before the game. So what was up with last night’s game?

These last few games of the season really don’t matter all that much and the Pistons are playing like it. I’m not worried right now, in fact I don’t really care. Let the youngsters get some burn, the starters get some rest and have everyone healthy come playoff time. If you want to worry you can, but until they have a game like this in the playoffs I’m keeping a level head.

If you want to relive the game Team Need4Sheed member GMac made a highlight reel for us to enjoy, though I think Toronto fans would appreciate it more.

I’m waiting for tonights game against Miami for a smile (I hope).

The Pistons take on The 35-35 Toronto Raptors tonight on the road. Detroit is 2-0 against the Raptors this season and has won three in a row and 10 of the last 12 meetings in the series. The Raptors, who have lost eight of their last 10, falling to 7th in the East. If the playoffs were to start today, The Pistons first round matchup would be with Toronto.

I got together with Ryan McNeill of HoopsAddict.com for tonight’s matchup and we exchanged a few questions with each other on The Pistons and Raptors.

How is Carlos Delfino doing for the Raptors. Pistons fans had high hopes for the flying Argentine, but things just didn’t work out here. Has he lived up to expectations or surpassed them?

HoopsAddict.com: ‘Los is a tough player to read. There will be stretches of games where I wonder why Sam Mitchell doesn’t put him in the starting line-up and then he’ll follow that up with another stretch of games where he seems allergic to the paint and has trouble scoring. However, even with that being said, I don’t know where the team would be without. He’s played every game this season and he’s been one of the key players off the bench for us. Because I had tempered expectations about him entering this season I would have to say he’s easily surpassed what I expected from him.

Who should Detroit be concerned with matchup wise besides Chris Bosh in Wednesday night’s game?

HoopsAddict.com: It’s a toss-up between Jamario Moon and Jose Calderon. Moon has posted three-straight game with double digits rebound totals while Calderon has been the MVP of our team this season due to injuries to Chris Bosh and T.J Ford. Look for Moon to post a double-double while frustrating Tayshaun Prince. Also, as strong as Chauncey Billups has played for Detroit this season, look for Calderon to show why he was being talked about as a potential All-Star this season. He doesn’t force shots, he gets his teammates open looks and he rarely turns the ball over.

Toronto really has to step things up in the final games of the season to assure them a playoff spot. What is the most important thing that needs to happen on court to get them into the post season? Will the fact that Chris Bosh has called his team help their chances?

HoopsAddict.com: While there’s frustration in the Raptors locker room and among fans, it’s clear Toronto doesn’t have a lot to worry about. Every NBA teams goes through a rough patch of 10 games each season where things just don’t click. Unfortunately for the Raptors it happened near the end of the season thanks to the loss of Bosh for 10 games and a nasty five game road trip. I don’t think Bosh venting the media will make as big of a difference as his return to the court will make.

The Raptors started off the season pretty strong, but have not been playing well since the all star break, what went wrong?

HoopsAddict.com: Simply put, an injury to Chris Bosh went wrong. Before he missed 10 games he was playing like one of the top players in the NBA while averaging 30 points and 10 rebounds for a solid stretch of games. Then, without him in the line-up the team had to endure a gruelling five-game west coast trip and with Washington and Philly playing some great ball we’ve slid in the standings. Raptors fans aren’t worried as 9 of our final 12 games come against teams with records below .500 so with a healthy Bosh back we’ll be able to soar back up the standings. Besides, Raptors fans have long wanted a match-up against Orlando in the first round so we’re hoping to end up as the sixth seed in the playoffs and avoid Cleveland or Washington.

Lastly, how’s our mutual friend Primoz Brezec been doing since he joined the team? Do you expect the Raps to resign him? And is he still the king of uniform accessories?

HoopsAddict.com: I have one word to describe Primoz Brezez: Gangsta’. Do I need to say more?

You can head on over to HoopsAddict.com for my answers to Ryan’s Pistons questions.

Tip off is at 7:00 PM and will be locally broadcast on FSN Detroit. If you can’t catch it on TV you can always tune in to 1130 AM WDFN The Fan or stream it live through your computer at NBA.com.

According to Chris McCosky “The Pistons’ magic number to clinch their sixth Central title in seven years is one (any combination of one win or one Cavaliers loss would clinch at least a tie).” Sounds good to me.

Leave ‘em in the comments.