For most Pistons fans the yearly West coast trip is always a challenge. Late night games, usually during the work week that keep us up all hours of the night. I assume that many of you turned your televisions off after first quarter (especially with Chauncey and Dyess out) of the game ended with the Pistons were down 40-25. Big mistake, the Pistons mounted a comeback in middle of the third quarter after being down by as much as 22 . Everyone stepped up in this one, but Sheed’s monster 4th quarter was key. Final score of the game was 111-104.
Key Points:
- Chauncey and Antonio McDyess didn’t play because of injury.Jason Maxiell and Flip Murray started in their places, and both stepped up.
- My one foot that was off the Flip Murray bandwagon is firmly planted this morning. Flip tied his career high of 12 assists, scoring 15 with a steal and 6 rebounds. The best part about it was he was driving the lane, attracting a crowd and dishing it to the open man. That’s what we like to see Mr. Murray!
- Jason Maxiell made a case for himself in the starting lineup, a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds and 2 clutch free throws with a minute left in the game.
- A simply Sheedtastic night from Rasheed who put up 22 points, 13 of which came in the fourth quarter, the biggest being a late game 3 that put the Pistons up for good. He also added 9 boards, 3 assists and a steal.
- “The fourth quarter was just about execution,” Wallace said. “It wasn’t about taking over. We got some stops that that we should have got in the first half and came out with the victory.”
- The Warriors were manhandling The Pistons so bad in the first quarter it didn’t look like they could ever get close.
- Billups will be getting a MRI most likely today.
- Finally a game plan, or should I say adjustments by Flip Saunders. “It was the first time ever we probably played zone for every possession (of a half) except the last possession of the game,” Saunders said. “The whole second half.”
- 22-22-22 points by the usual starters Rip, Tay and Sheed.
- The Warriors were living off the three in the first half but they stopped falling in the second. They were 13-34 for the game. They shot just 24% in the second half.
- I haven’t heard Mr. Blaha this exited since Sheed’s 60 footer.
- Highlights of the game.
- Rip put up 22 in his 38 minutes on 9-for-20 shooting with five rebounds and a blocked shot.
- Baron Davis lit Pistons up for 29 but luckily for them his second half wasn’t as good as his first.
- Gutsy win the boys.
- Flip Murray (41) and Jason Maxiell (43) played the bulk of the minutes as starters.
- “Teams like that live by the three and they can die by the three,” coach Flip Saunders said. “The other thing is, it’s easier to make threes when you are up by 18 than it is when you are only up by six.”
- The Pistons shot 53% for the night, 46% from long range and 68% from the line.
- Rebounding was won 45-44 after letting GS turn offensive rebounds into endless points.
- These late nights are killing me, luckily we came out big in the end.
- Don’t worry, Stuckey’s keeping busy.
- Tayshaun stepped up big in the third quarter putting up 10 of his 22 points. He also knocked down this dagger, a three pointer with seconds left in the game to clinch it.
- I can’t seem to remember comeback this big since Flip Saunders has taken over the coaching duties.
- The Warriors are still winless on the season.
- Amir sighting, he played 11 with 3 points, 4 rebounds a blocked shot and 2 assists.
- Rasheed abused Andris Biedrins, who was guarding him, in the fourth.
- Nasty block by Maxi in the first, who finished with 3 in the game.
- It was Jason who actually kept the Pistons in the game in the first quarter.u
- Thanks for representing N4S! We know your not happy right now.
- We have to do it again Friday night in LA against the Lakers. The scheduling gods couldn’t have made it worse for the Pistons, but hopefully the day off will help.
- No news yet on when Chauncey or Dyess will return.
- For those of you who actually stayed awake for this one, I would love to hear your comments.
- UPDATE: From Stoey, one of the Members of Team Need4Sheed, who was at last nights game in Oakland.
“Every year when they play Warriors, our D-town possee (transplanted in San Francisco) heads over to Oakland for the game. The game started off terrible and i was having visions of last years thrumping. Very psyched to see them pull it out. Impressive team play.
There were a lot of Piston fans. At the end of the game, i led some in a Deeeeeeeeee-troit Basketball cheer. Also, just like at the Palace, every time Sheed had the ball, we were all yelling Sheeeeeeeeeeeeed.
The funniest moment was this kid sitting behind me, wearing a Tay jersey making this awful and annoying noise every time the Warriors shot the ball. I told him….”hey, do you notice how every time you do that, the Warriors make the shot?” He stopped doing it and felt like he was the reason they won. Was pretty cool….. “
And I shall be the first! lol
I’m glad my passion for Detroit Basketball made me watch the entire game. Sometimes when the Pistons aren’t playing so hot, I feel like shutting off the TV but I can never make myself do it ’cause I’m always afraid I’ll miss something like a huge comeback or a ‘Sheed ejection. haha
Flurray was great. There were a couple of times when I grimaced when he had the ball but I noticed as the game went on, he was making better decisions. I didn’t realize the 12 dimes until the game was over but kudos for tying his career high!
Jason Maxiell was amazing yet again. It doesn’t matter how many times I see him slam the ball through the net or how many times I see him jump 10 in the air for a rebound, it surprises me and amazes me every single time.
Games like this may be worse the heart but they’re so much better than blow out wins especially when it’s on the road. I love when the fans of the opposing team think they’re going to witness a victory and then WAHBAM! Detroit comes back and crushes their hopes. It’s a thing of beauty.
I stayed up to watch the whole game and the post-game stuff and THEN did my homework so I didn’t get to sleep til 3:30ish but it was well worth it. Let this be a lesson to all who turned their TVs off. Keep watching, even if it hurts. haha
I like what I’ve seen from Afflalo so far. He is poised, patient, and smart off the bench. He doesn’t get flustered and doesn’t rush things like you see with a lot of young players. He can knock down shots and is very quick to get loose balls. He’s got a lot of potential, and i’m excited to watch him develop
I would watch the pistons even if they were down by 40. By the end of the first quarter I really really didnt expect them to come back. Even though this is Goldenstate we’re talking about, I remember all too well the two 30 point butt-whoopings they gave us last year. At the poing they were down 22 I was actually excited because I knew with chauncey and dyess out I’d get to see some playing time by some of the other guys like Amir and Afflalo and Lindsay. And it was nice seeing Flip do awesome. It’ll be tough splitting up time between him and Stuckey once he gets back from injury. Overall this was an extremely gutsy performance and an amazing comeback story over a team that was absolutely desperate to get their first win. Very Impressive. And for all those people who missed the game because it was too late at night, I suggest that you do what I did. I just “TIVOed” it on my computer. I love being able to skip the repititious commercials and get right down to the action. Anyways, Go Pistons!!
This is def why it pays to have a good bench. Two starters missing, our number one draft pick and we still won the game. I’m glad I didn’t shut it off after the 1st half. This game reminded me of the one game last season against the bulls where we were down by twenty something and came back. Only this time it was evennnn beter!
I also stayed up for the game even though I had an 8am class this morning. This was probably one of the better games I’ve seen from this group in awhile. As much as I love JMax he really needs to keep the ball up high because teams will start to notice every time he brings it down it’s there for the taking. Other than that I would like to see him in the starting lineup, but I know McDyess is a much better option right now because he can actually guard centers where JMax would be dead in the water. As far as the other young guys…Afflalo impresses me because he’s not great at anything, but he’s good at everything and knows it, and Amir continues to impress in the little amount of minutes he’s been getting. He seems to get winded at times and gets to be stagnant on offense, but he’s just finding his way right now, and lastly I know it’s a dumb idea to count on a rookie to make you an elite team but I feel Stuckey’s game will do just that. I believe a second unit of him, flip, hayes, maxiell, and a starter will kill any other bench because of the looks it will get on offense. With stuckey and flip being able to drive to the basket, it will in turn create wide open kickouts to jarvis hayes, and offensive rebounding opportunities for JMax. The present and future look very bright for the Pistons, and hopefully the national media will stay on their knees for the Celtics so that the Boyz in Blue can fly under the radar and do their thing.
Amanda: Ditto on Maxiell, amazed even though I know what he brings every night he still surprises me.
Ed: I can’t believe I didn’t mention Afflalo. Surprisingly, he may turn out a step ahead of Stuckey in the readiness factior.
Tivo—-I’m watching it again.
“With stuckey and flip being able to drive to the basket, it will in turn create wide open kickouts to jarvis hayes, and offensive rebounding opportunities for JMax”
I hope Flip continues to dish the ball, instead of taking erratic shots.
guess who voted for our Pistons for the AllStar game today? ME! After my test, I was like “i’m gonna go home and vote for the Pistons!” lol yea, how dorky. But people, go vote! it’s your right!
Btw, go on pistons.com and read the article about allstar voting. Each Piston has his own “running platform” or philosophy or watever. but I think Sheed’s the funniest one.
Yeah, Ms. N
I was like what n the hell is going on! They were so flat and no energy and GSW were fired up for this! I was like man, I need to take my butt to bed……………but u guessed it! I turned back on the tv and the real Pistons showed up. N a very big way might add! I was saying Flip we gon have to bitch-slap him, because of the way our boys were playing! But I don’t know what was said @ halftime. But we bet not rely on it again. They need to stop playin those “I’ll play when I need to” But I could be wrong cause if I had that kind of road trip too, I would b very flat also. But Flip showed me that he got skills and then some. So I expect Ty to rule since he’s at home!
Can U feel me?! I knew that U Could!
THOR
I hope Flip M. comes to this site and sees the praise for his play last night. If he can keep playing like and keeps getting better, Detroit will have the best backup PG on the bench.
Sometimes, money and fame doesn’t mean anything if you are a horrible team mate, just look at Kobe, A-Rod and Stephon Marbury.
They make tons of money, but they are all poison for their teams and they are miserable head cases
i love him and all, but lindsay can barely walk. did you see in the 2nd quarter when he fell under the basket? he had to get helped up just so we could inbound the ball. joe’s gotta buy out lindsay’s contract and just sign him on as a coach. i know we need him for nights like this when chauncey and stuckey are out, but c’mon. dude can’t move out there.
amir looks lost sometimes out there. hopefully as his playing time increases his basketball iq will as well.
Im so angry for sleeping
Thor,
I almost turned it off and went to bed too but something Special K said in the fist half made me think we had a chance. Im still not on the Flip Saunders bandwagon yet though.
I have a Flip Murry surprise for you guys… DO you want it tomorrow or should I wait?
Claire: Going to start the Allstar campaign ASAP!
JMAX is a beast!! holy crap! hes 6-7 but he plays like hes 7-6 dang. the game last night was awesome! well the second half… i live im minnesota so i cant watch it but i listened to it on the audio leauge pass thing on nba.com i almost fell asleep in the first half. Sheed is soo much better when her plays center and not shooting 3s the whole time. he can shoot them when hes open but hes such a good post player its crazy!
Brennan
Wow, that was quite a game. What I liked…
The Pistons looked totally out of sync (which was mostly to be expected) and Flip was not looking good until partway through the second quarter. When Flip got it together the Pistons looked a lot better. The point is important! I agree, kudos to Flip for figuring out how to play it right while there was still time.
Flip (Saunders or Murray?) went back to Sheed in the 4th quarter after trying it unsuccessfully in the 3rd. Sheed was huge in the 4th.
Tayshaun came through in the 3rd when Sheed was having trouble getting it to drop.
Rip bounced back from that 5-20 game the night before when he couldn’t hit it from a foot away from the basket. He’s averaging 19.5 points so far this season, which is great, but what I like even more is his 5 rebound and 5.5 assist average.
Maxiell played great. He’s really stepped up his rebounding this season. If he can get his free throw percentage up, he’s going to be a real problem for other teams.
Afflalo and Amir didn’t look bad. Looking forward to seeing more of them.
I actually didnt give up on the pistons for some reasons, i know its hard to belive especially after the first quarter.but thats why we always in need4sheed, hes a great player especially when hes focused and locked in the game. great win with even better taste since sheed basically won it for the team.
if it wasn’t for sheed we would be a bad team
i stayed up =] i don’t care if we are down by 100.
I am very pleased that we won this game, or we would have a losing streak of 2. It gains confidence.
Plus, SHEED HAS NO TECHS!!!
The most key thing about this win, is the poise flip murray played with.. frankly he scares the hell outta me when hes at point guard.. so hot and cold but he dictacted tempo in the 2nd half.. also stepping up his defense on baron davis.. who kinda looks like a young danny glovers.
kudos to prince for being aggressive also.. I wish he would be like that all the time.
Every year when they play Warriors, our D-town possee (transplanted in San Francisco) heads over to Oakland for the game. The game started off terrible and i was having visions of last years thrumping. Very psyched to see them pull it out. Impressive team play.
There were a lot of Piston fans. At the end of the game, i led some in a Deeeeeeeeee-troit Basketball cheer. Also, just like at the Palace, every time Sheed had the ball, we were all yelling Sheeeeeeeeeeeeed.
The funniest moment was this kid sitting behind me, wearing a Tay jersey making this awful and annoying noise every time the Warriors shot the ball. I told him….”hey, do you notice how every time you do that, the Warriors make the shot?” He stopped doing it and felt like he was the reason they won. Was pretty cool…..
is it just me or is the highlights to the game golden-state oriented
the only word on the pistons is the deficit that they came back from and a couple of shots… they showed 4 fast breaks and reverse layups…. i think yahoo is just terrible…
^^ I was going to say the same thing. I watched the highlights on yahoo, and 2/4 of it was all about Golden State, 1/4 of Pistons, 1/4 for their advertisements. Way to go, Yahoo. And the Nba one is even worse, the commentator is clearly a Warriors fan (“there’s my man, Baron” “that’s why we love ya Monte”) or something like that. They showed like 2 scenes of the Pistons. Psstt. Looks like we should start making our own recaps and highlights.
Okay- I stayed up, and loved the comeback just like everyone else who stayed up did!
However, I’d like to do two things here:
A. Defend Linsdey Hunter. Elliot says he’s too old to move etc. and that’s just not true. A 3 pointer, a steal and a dime ( zero TO’s) in 6.5 minutes is pretty good for someone who hasn’t played a minute in a game all year.
B. I am still not on the Flip Murray bandwaggon, and never will be. I hate to be pessimistic at after a huge game like this, but I want to bring up a couple of things here before we all star worshiping Murray.
-He played 41 minutes, and that’s the kind of time he needs to be that productive. He’ll never be that productive off the bench.
-The game was very fast paced, which gives both point gaurds more chances for assists (BD had 10 and he took 24 shots of his own).
-Flip’s assist to turnover ratio was 3-1. ‘Sheed managed the same turnover ratio in 10 fewer minutes, and Amir nearly averaged that same ratio in 31 minutes.
Flip doesn’t have me sold yet. Lindsey is still the more qualified point gaurd, and I think he should be the one replacing stuckey at the first man behind Mr. Big shot.
Why didn’t Dupe play?!
in today’s Bill Simmons column referring to the Pistons.
They’re like the “ER” of NBA teams — I know people are watching, I know the ratings are fine, but it feels like they’ve exhausted every possible story line and it might be time to wrap it up.
Great win. Glad I could at least listen to the damn game on NBA Listen Live. FSN Detroit and the Northwest and Bay Area stations blacked out both of these games (POR, GSW) on DirecTV. Sooo frustrating! What’s the deal with that, anyway? The game probably sold out at Oracle and it wasn’t carried on any national networks… NO FUN. I’m done whining.
“I can’t seem to remember a comeback this big since Flip Saunders has taken over the coaching duties”
Actually Natalie I can remember one, remember that 2006 season? Where we won a franchise high number of games and 4 (shoulda been 5) Pistons made it to the All Star game? WEll during that All star game the East was down I believe 21 pts, while this is less than the 22 that we were down this game,but rmember We were up against the best of the West. Even in the All-Star game it was the Detroit Pistons who were the best team on the floor. And Saunders was coaching. If Anyone doesn’t watch the All Star Game, or wants a reminder of that glorious moment here’s a video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8afX6PYhC0
awww mann hold on .. was this game on tv like espn or tnt or something????? cause i triple checked !!! did i miss something?!?
yo, huge pistons fan im the one who had the sheed tattooos on the site laste yeat, anywya im trying to get a lil hipop career started and if you guys could show some suppport it would be great
myspace.com/rbann
chck it out pelase
Yay richie! Thank you for both defending Lindsey and pointing out the (more than) obvious about Flip Murray. I agree with you about everything you said so don’t feel alone (if you do) because I’m right there with you on all of it. You nailed it man… way to go!! The only thing is… I can’t see Lindsey playing 41 minutes a game anymore so I guess the start would have to go to Flip Murray with both CB and Stuckey out of the lineup. The sad fact is we do have to depend on Flip in situations like this one and all we can do is hope that it doesn’t come up too often.
Natalie, have you watched the NBA highlights!
I’m not a media complainer, I swear, but that ish was crazy! the whole thing was GSW clips even when they got to the 3rd and 4th quarters!!!! Then they added as a disclaimer …Pistons came back, Rasheed had 22 points….
oh and anyone else see the irony in this statement:
“Teams like that live by the three and they can die by the three,” coach Flip Saunders said.
Dominic: Good point, but I guess I should have said Pistons Comeback. But it was nice to see a clip when the Pistons played aggressive D.
Sheedfan: Why do you think I put up the Yahoo clips instead… I have grown tired of the clips of the Pistons that I see from the national media and while it used to bother me, I had to let it go.
M-Fax: Simmons..talking (*&^ because his Celtics are winning.
Check out the picture of tayshaun, the chick in the front row 3rd from the right is scoping out tayshauns booty, ladys man huh?
Am I the only one that wants / noticed that Natalie has a Flip Murray Surprise???
What is it, what is it!
Whats the filp murray suprise? has he learned how to play basketball? cuz that would be amazing
Brennan
On FSN after the game it flashed at the bottom of the screen in red – “Need for Sheed”. Did anyone see it?
Great game – I did turn it off but luckily back on again to watch the 3rd & 4th – it was great!
So I’m not the only one who saw the “Need for Sheed” text at the bottom of the screen during Pistons Live on FSN Detroit. Kind of caught me off guard, made me smile though.
I stayed up to watch it, but the thing is: I’m so used to staying up late, I thought it was like 11:00 with 12:00 am being the latest. I checked my phone and it was 1 in the morning! XD
-BabyBen
Man that was a GREAT game to watch, and I just happened to be one of the fools to stay up to watch it, and with me being a preschool teacher, the kids kicked my butt!! But it was so worth it! The whole team really stepped up and showed out, it was AMAZING!!!! Rasheed really showed out! Glad to hear that my boo-boo CHauncey and Antoino are doing ok!!!! GREAT JOB, PISTONS!!!!!
Flip Saunders moves into THIRD PLACE already on the Pistons Head Coach all-time wins with the team, in just over two seasons. And, unless the Pistons have the worst turn around in a season in NBA history, and are unable to get about 20-some more wins, he’ll move into 2nd place sometime this season. Sooner the better
if you haven’t already go to the banner on the side of N4S and vote the Pistons in on the All Star game, yes all of them!! 66 days left, if everyone votes once a day that’s a damn lot of votes SO VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just took a 4 hour nap so I’m caught up on sleep. Again, SO worth it!
Just went over and voted for our boys. I have to disagree with what it says after you get done voting. I don’t believe the All-Star game is “the most exciting basketball event of the year.”
The Finals are the most exciting, as they should be. Of course, it’s only exciting to me if Detroit is in the Finals. If they’re not, I completely cut myself off from anything NBA. haha…