The Bulls handed the Pistons their first loss of the season while getting their first win. The game came down to the wire with the final score of 97-93. Rasheed led the Pistons with 36 points, but his last two shots in the closing seconds of the game just wouldn’t drop. “This was a hard one to lose,” Wallace said. “The shots I got down the stretch couldn’t have felt better. You’re just going to have some of those in and outs like that on a night.”
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Key Points:
- Sheed’s 36 points is a career high with The Pistons.
- The Pistons played from behind for the first three quarters until they finally made it close in the fourth.
- Chauncey had 14 points on 5-for-12 shooting with 3 turnovers. Where is Mr. Big Shot? Because he hasn’t show is face yet this season.
- Much is going to be said about Rip intentional trip of Tyrus Thomas after he blocked Hamilton’s shot. I am sure it was done in frustration, but it’s just not cool. Thankfully he wasn’t hurt on the play. Immediately following the incident you could hear the crowd chant “Detroit Sucks”.
- I don’t know if it’s his injury or not, but that other Wallace is a shell of his former self.
- Heavy minutes for the starters again. Rasheed actually played 42 minutes.
- “Regardless 0f my game, it ended in an L,”‘ Wallace said. “I’m old school so it didn’t matter what I did, the team lost the game.”
- Ra was solid, determined and playing some of the best basketball we have seen from him in a while. Sheed owned the paint and even threw down some nasty dunks.
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- I would have been nice to see a little more of Jason Maxiell especially in the first half when the Pistons needed a spark. Did anyone catch the NASTY double block he had on TT? He played just 11 minutes but unfortunately turned the ball over 3 times.
- Rip had 18 points on 6-for-17 shooting and dished out 6 assists.
- Where is Amir?
- The Bulls has 28 assists to the Pistons 17.
- Lost the rebounding war 36-47.
- Sheed was campaigning for more minutes for Ben Wallace who had 24 and sat the entire fourth quarter. “They ain’t got no bigs,” Wallace said. “Not taking nothing away from the guys they have, but Joe, he don’t know their offensive or defensive schemes yet, Tyrus, to me, he’s really a three playing a four. (Ben Wallace), he’s good, but they don’t give him no burn. To me, that’s their loss.”
- Still don’t like Nocioni and Hinrich still looks like Alfred E.
- The Bulls had a balanced attack, 5 players in double figures.
- Tayshaun’s numbers have disappeared since Rips return. In his 36 minutes on the floor he shot the ball just 3 times for 5 points.
- Let’s give some credit to Rasheed who kept his cool all game. Played in the paint like we love him to do and carried the team on his back. Did I mention the man hasn’t had a tech this season yet. I was a little worried when he got angry with himself and pulled his headband down on his neck. Headband issues for Sheed sometimes result in a tech.
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- Ben Wallace says playing his former team, the Pistons, is old news. “It’s been just another game for a long time. All the hoopla is dead now,” Via SI
- I am still on the Flip Murray bandwagon and I’m riding it until I fall off. In just 10 minutes on the floor he was 2-for-2 for 5 points, a steal and I cant leave out the 3 turnovers either. At least he didn’t get punched in the unmentionables by Hinrich this time.
- Too many turnovers for The Pistons (17). Eight of them off the bench.
- NBA.com highlights.
- Scott Skiles is afraid of Sheed. “Scary is a good word to describe him,” Chicago coach Scott Skiles said. “He’s one of those guys who has an unblockable shot. You can’t get to it. I don’t care who you are, you just can’t get to it. You can just challenge it. And if it’s going in, it’s going in.” Personally I am afraid of Skiles, dude has got temper issues. Especially with his own team.
- Lets hope the Pistons can take care of business tonight against the unbeaten Clippers at the Palace to erase this one. If Sheed playes like he did last night we will be just fine.
- UPDATE: Love this comment by Sean of Team Need4Sheed and I have to agree with it. Noah actually is starting to get to me like the Mop Top Flopper who can’t seem to get paid.
“Does anyone else find Joakim Noah to be completely annoying? I understand he in an energy player coming off the bench but this guy is just downright gut wrenching to watch. He’s like the kid no one ever wanted to play with in elementary school because he was right in your face waving his arms everywhere. And on top of all this just another reason to despise Noah.
Does anyone else find Joakim Noah to be completely annoying? I understand he in an energy player coming off the bench but this guy is just downright gutwrenching to watch. He’s like the kid no one ever wanted to play with in elementary school because he was right in your face waving his arms everywhere. And on top of all this just another reason to despise Noah:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvQbQUv9qBw
The Skiles to Noah thing was overblown by the media:
>>”I don’t understand that,” Skiles said before Thursday’s game. “That’s the kind of thing that makes someone like me not really like most of you, to be honest with you. I said it in a very light-hearted manner, just taking a little jab at the rookie.
“So now I had to call Joakim this morning. I wanted to make it perfectly clear with him — I want him to say whatever he wants to say. I love his personality. Really, one of the first times since I’ve been here I felt like I was treated unfairly, to be honest with you.”<<
Sheed was awesome – he made me proud to be a Piston fan. I wanted that win for his sake. Wanted Max out there much sooner – I would have left him in longer, come what may. I still wonder if Flip is the best coach for our team.
the only disappointing about last night’s game was Rip’s technical foul..it was mean..BUT it’s Rip, so he’s still freaking amazing anyways! Let’s hope ALL of our Pistons show up to play tonight.
Sheed was awesome. Noah was very irritating.
But what the heck happened to the offensive boards?? If I heard right, the pistons didn’t get one between 5 mins from the end of the 1st until somewhere in the 4th. Bulls seemed to have far too much breathing room on offense.
defensive I meant 🙂
You hit the nail on the head, Sean. I couldn’t have came up with a better analogy for that Noah guy. I couldn’t stand him in the 20 minutes of the Championship game I watched and I couldn’t stand him last night. And him being a Bull just makes it worse.
I love Ra-Ra (Glad to hear somebody else refer to him as “Ra”). He was amazing. Missing those last few shots was disappointing but it didn’t take away from what he did throughout the game.
Definitely not enough Maxiell. And echoing Natalie, where is Amir??
Rip’s actions were in poor taste, but I still love him. Something about that Tyrus obviously rubs our All-Star the wrong way. What’s up with the four fingers he holds up every time he makes a basket? That in itself is enough to make me want to grab his ankle and trip him too.
Counting down the hours ’til game time… GO PISTONS!
What’s up with the four fingers he holds up every time he makes a basket? That in itself is enough to make me want to grab his ankle and trip him too.
LOL Amanda 😉
I knew Chauncey Billups’ productivity was going to go down this season, for (1) he’s old (2) he’s rich and happy.
In one of the last plays of the night Rip was in the paint trying hard to get to the basket and all I could think of was the fact that there were NO CALLS. If that would have been a “superstar” like James the foul call would have come immediately.
webber to cavs? that would be a traitor http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2007/11/09/webber-to-the-eternally-optimistic-cavs/
I don’t understand the problem with Noah, we have one more person in the NBA who dares to tell what he thinks which is so rare in Sternland, why making fun of it ?… OK he might be overexposed and maybe overrated but pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease, don’t compare him to Varejao… 🙂
I have mixed feelings about Noah. Yeah he’s annoying, awkward looking and overrated for this point in his NBA career, but at least he goes out there and tries. He’s an actual “energy player” unlike Varejao, though he took a charge last night and they called it an “energy move” IT’S NOT! Why do commentators call floppers/charge takers “engergy players”? RIP is an energy guy,, so is TT, Maxiell, or Noah- they’re out there hustling every minute they play; guys like Varejao who flop their way through every moment on defence are NOT engery players. They’re just bad actors.
I too anm confused about tyrus putting up several fingers when he scores. Does he know that a dunk s worth 2 points, not four?
~Richie~
Just so everyone knows the Pistons didn’t play worse than the other games, they played EXACTLY the same (well except for Sheeeeeeeeeeeeed) the only difference is they played a good team who knew how to get stops. Tayshaun showed that he doesn’t do well against good defensive teams, that’s why he struggled against Cleveland, not because he was tired. The thing that really bothers me is that when he’s not scoring he doesn’t make up for it in other categories with assists, rebounds, steals, and BLOCKS! has he even had one this season? If he doesn’t score he doesn’t even try to get himself going with offensive boards or something. He has to have plays called for him in order to score, and no it’s not cause he’s unselfish he’s underacheiving.
PS I’m hard on him because he’s my favorite player and I thought he was a very selfish scorer and played individual ball rather than team ball.
I loved how Sheed stood up for Ben man I wish we could have Sheed and Ben from 04 as our big men again, I love Antonio but he’s not really fitting into the starting unit very time, still gonna give it some more time though
i know this mite sound bad.. but we need to send Tyrus Thomas a message by send his ass to the floor a few times.
On another note. did anyone else notice, when Kirk Hinrich fell into our bench, Rip and everyone else didnt give one shit lmao !
it was priceless and i know the bad blood between Rip and Kirk
Oh man, after watching that Varejao youtube elbow for the first time, i scrolled down to the comments that many a Greek fan left and there is some bigtime hostility going on towards him. and he definitely deserves all of it. To quote one of the Greeks
“varejao! just f*ck off!! paliosister” Couldn’t have said it better myself.
If I were playing against my rival team and i took the ball to the hoop and got blocked and on the way down get my head crunched by an ass and hear no whistle i would probably do the same thing!!
The Pistons definately played worse than the other 3 games. They got out worked and out hustled on almost every play, semmed like when ever the Bulls missed a shot, they either got a offensive board or knocked it away from our bigs after we rebounded it. We really didn’t play with a sense of urgency until the fourth quarter and just sort of walked through the first 3 quarters, reminiscent of last year.
Also, Noah does resemble Verajo because they both kinda have a “spastic” style of play and they both have crazy hair!
Yeah, I understand Rip’s frustration, though that’s obviously not the right way to respond to it. Of course, I couldn’t help but cheer when Laimbeer did much worse, so…
Overall, it was a decent game, but Prince struggled a bit, and Max would have been much more effective than Dice in that situation (and looked like he was, with the minutes he got). I can’t also help think Amir would have been effective on the glass, though he would have probably countered any pluses with rookie mistakes.
I guess it’s hard to say. I really expect Stuckey and Amir to add some excellent depth to the bench, since both players bring a very different style of play than the starters. I mean, Afflalo has enough in common with Rip that he’s stepping into the same role, albeit at a lower skill level (natural, given the difference in their experience levels). Billups and Stuckey don’t play very similar ball, especially at this stage in their respective careers. Amir is pretty unique for a 6’11” player, and I suspect he could be the best shot blocker and rebounder on this team.
I’m really impatient to see Stuckey and Amir on the floor!
Go Pistons!
AH Rippy..*sighs*
I don’t think he has found his game yet…
That baby is keeping him up at night..OK I’m making excuses for him. I always will….Lets hope the baby slept last night.
( x-fingers)
I think allot of those no pts for Tay is all on Billups…Put them in his hands… NOT Rip’s fault
I think the entire game looked like a mess..very sloppy.
Whats the deal w Dyess?…He dropped the ball every time he had it..or so it seemed…
I think Flip needs to bring him off the bench and not a starter.
Thank the Bball Gods this was an early season game.
As for the Tfoul on Rip…I know its not cool but… they were beating him down and he was not getting the calls..That would be very frustrating…
All I can say is… settle down Rippy.
I adore him so in my eyes he can do No wrong.
Lets just hope he brings a bit more tonight.
Oh, I don’t hate Noah as much as Varejao yet, but it’s the first time I watched him play the Pistons. I suspect watching him more frequently will be increasingly difficult. At least he’s actually hustling, not flopping.
Excuses already Sue? Yes I do agree thank goodness it was an early game. If we would have started off the way we finished we would be happy right now.
And Dirge I like you want to see the young guns play but I think it just might be hart to get them time the way things are going. What if Flip S. thinking? No flopping is a good thing
I’m from France and I can tell you that a lot of people hate Noah (and Parker) here.
Noah’s game is ugly (and parker is too egocentric)…
Was McDyess hurt in the game? I thought I saw him grabbing his shoulder a couple times during the game
Nat. Im a great excuse maker..lol.
especially for Rip.:) As far as im concered they have to play 82 games, all of them with fire. Wanting it every second of every game. Like Sheed is. Sheed had his best game ever and they let him down. When one is playin like they want it… they all should step it up and help. One man can’t do it alone. Not even Sheed.
I have real issues w the Bulls, they worry me. They are only going to get better and better.
From what I saw last night, The Bulls offense is just extremely sloppy and hard to defend. It’s like they intentionally plan for it to be that way, so that no one can defend them and unfortunately it seems to work. There were so many times when I was at the United Center last night and watching them bring the ball down the court that I couldn’t understand a thing they were doing and that sucked because if I couldn’t understand then I’m sure our boys couldn’t either. It’s horrible that they have to play like they’re on the playground in High School again to win.
But I do have to say that Chicago has some of the dirtiest fans ever. I always fear for my life going into that arena and coming out with a loss because when we lose, they will do anything to get under your skin. And when we win, they’ll do anything to start a fight.
Tough loss last night, but it’s alright. It was only game 4 of the season! Many more to come.
I wouldnt stress at all…Chicago is a one-dimensional team that will never make the finals with the current personnel.
One question, though:
One analyst pointed out that Rip’s absence in the first two games seemed to free up Tay a lot more and give him more shots. For my money, they certainly seemed like a much more confident team and even executed better than with him in the lineup. In his two games back, they have struggled mightily against two average teams. I love Rip and all, but maybe Tay should be more of a focal point for this team right now.
Joakim’s wack ass free throw form is probably one of the most annoying parts about his wack ass game. I mean seriously who taught him how to shoot? Ridiculous.
natalie, get off the maxiell bandwagon, he is not that good. he played awful against joe smith last night
^ WHAT??
You must not be a Pistons fan. And if you are, I have to say that’s one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard coming out of one. Wow.
[Monstrous slam dunk sound]
God damn! That must have been Shaquille O’Neal!
Hell no! That was our boy, Jason Maxiell!
His game got thunder you can both hear and feel!
You best watch out when he charges toward that steel!
trw said:”One analyst pointed out that Rip’s absence in the first two games seemed to free up Tay a lot more and give him more shots.”
So here the question.. cuz ive read that too…where was tay when Rip sat the( i think) second Q??
Its bs.. IMO
anonymous said at 7:05
“get off the maxiell bandwagon”
One thing( among many things) I’ve noticed about Nat is she supports the entire team.
That is what a REAL fan does. Heck, she even supports Flip M.
He is a tough one for me to get behind..
Can you say that? Apparently not.
Anonymous 2:31 – I did notice when Hinrich impaled himself on that chair that Rip appeared as if nothing had happened….it was hysterical.
To the people knocking my comment about maxiell…
Are you people that crazy that you think Pistons fans should support every player on the team, no matter how good they are, and regardless of anything else?
Would you support ron artest and stephen jackson if they were pistons? What if they didn’t play as well as they do?
Anyway, yes, Maxiell has some nasty dunks, but I have seen him miss at least 3 of them so far this year.
Yes, he did have a big block in the Bulls game, but he also let joe smith set up a tent near the FT line where he knocked down a bunch of shots, only when maxiell was on him.
I am not saying the guy sucks, I am just saying that he is not a great player just yet…
But if you guys don’t want to accept that, you must be bandwagon, no-basketball-knowledge fans
To Anon above:
With all due respect, I am not on the Maxiell Bandwagon. I have liked the kid since we saw glimpses of him in his rookie year. I saw a little of him in college.
Nobody is saying he’s the next Sheed but he’s got skill we all should respect. Nothing wrong with likening a player even if they haven’t reached their potential yet.
The people who do start like them at that point are Bandwagoners..
The only bandwagon I’m on is Flip Murrays just because someone has to be.
Joakim Noah reminds me of “Verajoke”. Seriously, I am really starting to hate him as much as verajoke. I just think they both got same attitude problems and silly hair-do.