Bounce back quickly from last night’s victory is what the Pistons plan to do tonight in Toronto as the e 2-2 Pistons are set to take on the 1-2 Raptors at the Air Canada center.  The Pistons will again be without Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton for tonight’s game against the Raps.

Who to look out for?

• Andrea Bargnani who’s putting up career numbers.
• Chris Bosh who’s always a weapon.
• Hedo Turkoglu who can shoot the lights out on a given night.

Me…. I’m hoping for a some playing time for our old friend Amir Johnson, especially after I found out he shouted me out on RaptorsTV.

Tip off is at 7:00 PM and will be locally broadcast on FSN.  You can also listen to the game on 97.1 The Ticket or follow the game on NBA.com.

After last night’s battle, I’m hoping for an easier time from our shorthanded and injured (Will) squad.

Could the current configuration of  this Pistons team be a stepping stone to future championships (EFC’s and the NBA)  like in 2001?  Well we do have Chucky Atkins and Ben Wallace back so who knows.

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Video Courtesy of The Detroit Pistons

On another note, those may be the best highlights I have ever seen from Jon Barry, someone needs to let him know.

The Detroit Pistons just dropped below .500 basketball with their seventh straight loss, 91-103 to The Miami Heat.  With the loss Detroit fell into a tie for sixth in the East with Philadelphia, and needs to win in New Orleans today to avoid matching the franchise’s longest skid since 1995.

Key Points:

• Should we look past the Teal Era and dub this the Black and Blue Era?
• The Pistons’ seven game skid is their longest losing streak since 2002-03.
• If this quote by Allen Iverson doesn’t speak for a ton of what Pistons fans have been complaining about all season I don’t know what does. “We don’t have any consistency of how we are going to play night in and night out. We play different ways. We have to find an identity for ourselves on how we are going to play every night and stick to it. We have to live and die with it.” It’s actually quite funny to hear Iverson complain about playing defense when, well he’s know not to play any.  “We can’t stop nobody,” he accurately pointed out. “The way we played, we would have to shoot 60 percent to have a chance to win a basketball game. Everybody looks at our offense, but I thought we scored enough to win. We can’t get stops consistently and we can’t get stops when we need them. It seemed like they scored every time down the court.” Via NBA.com
• At least they scored 42 paint points….right?
• It ultimately was a cold third quarter in which Detroit was outscored 17-28 that did them in.
• This is not your Detroit Pistons team.
• You could see the frustration on the players’ faces throughout the game.

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• Allen Iverson led Detroit with 22 points on 8-for-18 shooting with 2 steals, a rebound and 2 assists. Can’t forget the pretty layup that was the play of the game.
• You know Rodney Stuckey is struggling when Kwame Brown has 2 more assists than he does. Stuckey had 8 points, 0 assists, 0 rebounds, and 2 turnovers. Is it a wall or is it the system?
• Antonio McDyess once again played his heart out for a team that truly looks like it has given up. Dyess kept Detroit in the ballgame putting up 17 on 8-for-10 shooting.
• The Pistons shot 12% from downtown.
• Missing in action….Rasheed Wallace. Can’t win when Sheed puts up 6 points and 6 boards. Detroit needs him to dominate when they struggle.
• Rip wasn’t around either, just 9 points on 4-11 shooting.
• Tayshaun Prince came close to a triple – double with 18 points, 9 boards and 8 assists. Is Tay doing Rodney’s job better than he is?

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• Keep Curry, put Iverson in check?
• A Walter sighting, whom Curry vows to utilize.  Kwame Brown saw some action too.
• FSN Highlights by Quarter.
• Outrebounded by 10.
• Raise your hand if you wanted to see Detroit at least try to play zone when they were in trouble. I guess he will try anything because I can remember not so long ago that he didn’t want to play zone D at ALL.
• To make things worse, how obnoxious is Wade’s band-aid which reads FLASH with a lightning bolt on it?  I don’t care who you are, a display like that is ridiculous.  Can you see Antonio with a face band-aid with dice on it?  Yes he’s a great player, but get over yourself.
• Matt Watson – The Pistons are Tumbling Into Oblivion.
• Think twice before you put all the blame on Allen Iverson.
• Tonight in NO will be tough.  A back to back on a seven game slide facing Chris Paul.

Now Rip, there is nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to Hammer Time!

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This is starting to get a little tiring to write… after a third quarter of total domination by the Pistons they managed to once again blow a 15 point lead and the game to the Chicago Bulls.  This 107-102 loss to the Bulls is is a textbook example of everything that has been going wrong with the Pistons all season long.

Key Points:

• How much more can Pistons fans take?  From the comments in the game thread and in the chat room, not much.
• Too much talent to play the way this team is, period.  We expect losses, but it’s as if they are playing a game of NBA2K9 and think they can just hit restart when the game isn’t going their way (and yes I admit to doing that).
• Blame whomever you want, we have a coach who’s clearly in over his head, players that look lost, a system that doesn’t work, an unwillingness to change that system that doesn’t work, a defense that looks brilliant at times and then on the next play looks like a disaster… and to top it off when they can’t score they don’t make an effort to get the ball in the paint for easy buckets! We could go on and on.
• Think Joe is on the phone right now?
• 15 down with 8:09 to play…was it Chicago or did the Pistons hand the game to the Bulls?  Me…silver platter.
• Sheed utterly dominating, knocking down shots over everyone, and the Pistons stop going to him.
• 95 Points off the Bench for Richard Hamilton in the last three games for the Pistons.
• Rip led Detroit off the bench, but his 30 point game performance was all for nothing.

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• Is Curry actually calling a play in the last seconds of the game when Detroit has the ball down three?  Rip to the hole for the dish to Dyess is ok if it works, and if Rip doesn’t waste most of the clock. Perfect ending to the storm.
• Richard Hamilton Highlights.
• 15 careless turnovers.
• And why the home whites in Chicago?
• As for those of you who wanted to hear Curry’s post game comments, they were nothing life-altering.  He just looks like a deer in headlights who has no idea what to say.  Kind of like when you break your mom’s favorite vase and have to own up to it.  You stand there dumbfounded for a moment trying to grasp for words.
• And what happened to the Defense in the fourth quarter?  Nocioni was blowing by Tay like he was invisible.
• The only enjoyable part of the game…..Anytime Joakim Noah can be made to look like a fool by anyone other than himself can always put a big smile on my face. Tayshaun blocked the grin off Noah’s face.
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Maybe Detroit should have had an easier time with a struggling Bucks team that was without three of their starting five. Maybe they shouldn’t have blown a 10 point lead to Milwaukee only to have to fight back to send the game into overtime. Maybe….but nobody told Milwaukee’s Ramon Sessions, who had a career-high 44 points, tormenting the Pistons in their 126-121 victory.

Key Points:

• Give it up to former D Leaguer Ramon Sessions with a career high 44 on 13-18 shooting for the Bucks. This kid couldn’t be stopped and had he not put up such an impressive performance Detroit may have had an easy go at this game.
• Milwaukee tipped the scales in the free throw department going to the line 41 times to Detroit’s 28.
• Detroit could have possibly lost this one due to a late offensive foul on Antionio McDyess in the last few seconds in regulation.  It was hard to see, yes it may have been a foul, but it was definitely marginal and in most cases when the game is truly on the line like it was that one is a no call.
• Nothing much from Rodney Stuckey, who was just 1-for-10 for 6 points in 26 minutes. He did get posterized by Charlie Villanueva, but to Stuckey’s credit at least he tried to block the shot….most players would have stepped back and let him take the dunk.
• Allen Iverson was AI down the stretch of this one. He finished with 27 points and 9 assists and was gelling with the offense like he hasn’t since he was first traded to Detroit.
• Richard Hamilton and Allen Iverson combined for 15 of Detroit’s 17 overtime Points.
• “It was a great counter off each other,” Hamilton said. “When one of us got tired, or whatever, the other guy picked it up.” Via NBA.com
  
• Rip had the best game he’s had possibly all season long. His shot was falling and he was getting the ball right where he needed it. Rip scored  38 points off the bench for Detroit on 15 for 25 shooting in 36 minutes on the floor.

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• “We were cognizant that Rip had the hot hand, so obviously our thing was to make sure he got the ball,” Iverson said. “When they tried to take away what stuff Rip did, we got success with me and the big guys up top with the pick and roll. We were scoring effectively every trip down the court.” Via NBA.com
• Richard Hamilton Highlights.
• 44-36… Yes, Detroit won the war of the boards.
• 54 Pistons Bench points thanks to Rip and Antonio.
• Can we tip our hats to Antonio McDyess who doesn’t get much of the spotlight for Detroit but is one of the reasons Detroit has a chance to win every game. Dyess scored 16 points with 9 boards with a steal and a blocked shot in 34 minutes on the floor.  I have said this since Dyess came to Detroit, the guy never gets the benefit of the whistle.
• Engaged and on Fire! I know we don’t like when he does it but when it works we celebrate.  A career high 7 three pointers for Rasheed Wallace.  Sheed scored 27 points in 47 minutes for Detroit.  He added 2 blocks, 8 boards and two assists.

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• Yes Rasheed did pick up another technical foul (that makes 14), but in his defense, he got run over by Dan Gadzuric and didn’t get a call. Knocked down and stepped on, made the three with no call.
• Sheetastic Highlights.
• Tayshaun may not have put up double figures but he had a solid night.  Nine points, 9 assists, 13 boards and a steal.  Prince was a big part of running the offense when Rip and Iverson were dominating.
• Simple fact seems to be that Rip, AI and Stuckey can’t light up the same game.  Rip plays well, Stuckey doesn’t play much and we should be fine with it if we start winning.
• FSN Highlights by the quarter.
• Chris McCosky : “Coach Michael Curry did switch things up. He trapped Sessions. He used Hamilton on him in the fourth quarter and into the overtime. And down the stretch, he put Arron Afflalo on him. But nothing worked until Afflalo shut him down in the final seconds. “Every time we trapped with a big guy, they called a foul,” Curry said. “I think we committed more fouls tonight than ever.”
• Anyone wondering why Curry refuses to go zone when the Pistons are clearly getting burned?  At least he figured out that he needed to put AA in the game.
• The Suns Tonight at The Palace 8PM Tip on ABC ESPN.