The Pistons continue to go through their growing, slowing, showing or blowing pains….take your pick. After a semi-solid three quarters of ball at the Palace of Auburn Hills against a Sixers team that was minus their All Star, Detroit let a 15 point third quarter lead turn into a demoralizing loss. Another struggling team comes into The Palace and takes down the home team.
Key Points:
- 38 points in fourth quarter for The Sixers pretty much says it all.
- 96-91 Final Score, Detroit didn’t really even have a chance in the closing minutes.
- When does Sheed come to play and when doesn’t he? It’s not about talent because from an outsiders point of view he looks like he puts forth effort when he feels like it. The Timeberwolves or the Sixers aren’t good teams so he doesn’t show? I knew it was going to be one of those nights when his first shot was a ridiculous hook that I cant recall him ever attempting since wearing red, white and blue.
- Put as much effort into the games as you have for North Carolina basketball and Detroit will win it all Rasheed.
- I’m putting much of the blame for the loss on Coach Curry. Like The Fluidics said in the comments, he would rather sit a player to prove a point than put his best team on the floor. I’m not saying that happened last night but you can see his mistakes are costing Detroit games.
- Webster buried us with a three. It doesn’t get much worse than that.
- Was it just me or was Kwame Brown doing a hell of a job on the defensive end in the first half and then Curry didn’t use him when Detroit’s defense was breaking down in the fourth.
- A Maxiell dunk has to make you smile if you actually read down this far…enjoy.
Video Courtesy of The NBA, The Detroit Pistons and FSN
- Jason went 4-for-6 for 8 points with a blocked shot in 16 minutes.
- The Palace crowed booed Detroit as they walked off the court. I still think that’s a bit harsh.
- Tayshaun Prince is being realistic, it’s not about AI anymore.
- “We can say as far as A.I. coming or when McDyess comes or whatever, but sooner or later, you have to put everything aside and bring energy, bring aggression and not let leads slip away like it did tonight and find a way to win on your home court,” said Prince” Via The Detroit Free Press
- Another game where the bench brings the energy and the starters deflate things.
- Rip led the team with 19 but I’m sure he would have rather come out with a victory.
- Allen Iverson scored 17 in 40 minutes on the floor and did some really nice things. At what point does Detroit take the reins off and let him take over because nobody on this team besides Stuckey looks willing or ready to do that.
Photo/Getty Images
- I know McDyess isn’t the cure to all the Pistons woes, but boy will I be happy to see his smiling face back on the Palace floor. If anything, I know his heart will do this team some good. ICE FOR DYESS.
- Recap it in the NBA.com Highlights if you want to turn the knife a little more today.
- Tayshaun went 5-for-13 for 12 points. Had his late second three with 0.4 left went down it would have sent the game to OT.
- Still no time to jump ship, I have complete confidence in this team and that they will get better. They just aren’t the solid team we are used to right now.
- Detroit lost the board war by 2, 38-40.
- They shot better than the Sixers, 48% to 46%.
- Amir Johnson, solid and scrappy and comes to play. That’s the kind of effort everyone on the team should bring.
- On the bright side, a great game by Rodney Stuckey who is making difficult shots look easy. Changing hands…..OK!
Video Courtesy of The NBA, The Detroit Pistons and FSN
- Stuckey finished with 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting with 6 assists, a steal and just 1 turnover. His jumper is falling and his Highlights are
I have to say, I’m okay with benchings to send a message, that is what tough coaches do. Even Larry Brown did that. He’s still preparing and experimenting, and like you said, it’s growing pains. Although I do wonder, what is the matchup that Herrmann will be used for? I think his outside shooting is a good thing, and with Andre Igudala playing guard, I think he could have gotten some burn. And I always miss the little guy Bynum when he doesn’t play. Though I’m still holding out hope, that we can bring Lindsey back later.
Notice we have 13 roster spots filled, 14 with Dyess, so that leaves one more. Wonder who we’d get with that, how much money do we have left under the salary cap?
Wonder what Kelser’s gonna look like in Tar Heel powder blue?
and also didn’t see a link for this on the site so wasn’t sure if you saw this but it is a cool sheed fan page
http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Loge/7346/
Man, I’m so sick of Curry’s erratic line ups and him being out coached. I understand sticking with the hot hand and rewarding guys for playing hard but regardless you still have to go with the guys who have the proven track record in the closing minutes. The name of the game is still to win, even Flip understood that.
With as well Stuckey played he should have been the story of the game, but the headlines are that of the Pistons choking away a big lead in a little over 12 minutes of play. >:(
Stucktacular?? Mm Riiight? What’s the deal with dogging Ryan Field for his “annoying catch phrase” at the beginning of the season when this site is littered with them (Amirzing? Sheedtastic? Tayriffic? Ice for Dyess?) Hello pot, kettle calling.
Not looking forward to another Sunday debacle. Get it together Pistons!
~Reid
Some of you might believe that the Pistons will get better by the end of the season, and I hope they do too. But will they ever be good enough to get past Boston? Because that’s probably who they’d end up playing at some point in the playoffs. Who knows at this rate we might see them in the first or second round.
I just don’t have a very good vibe about this season. I’d love for the Pistons to get through all this and be an awesome team. We just have to wait and see I guess. It’s very frustrating watching them struggle like this though. We’ve been spoiled for a long time.
We’re still on a 50-win pace… barely. I know it doesn’t exactly apply, but the Pistons were 16-13 in late December under Larry Brown in 2003 – then they won 13 straight. If anything, we can hope for a rash of MCL/ACL injuries in Boston.
#1…. Projected Record
12/07 @ 8-11 New York 12:00pm 8-11
12/09 @ 3-14 Washington 7:00pm 3-14
12/12 vs 7-12 Indiana 8:00pm 8-13
12/13 @ 7-12 Charlotte 7:00pm 8-15
12/17 vs 3-14 Washington 7:30pm 4-15
12/19 vs 13-8 Utah 8:00pm 17-10
12/21 @ 12-6 Atlanta 2:00pm 16-10
12/23 vs 8-11 Chicago 8:00pm 11-16
All I want for Christmas is to be at least 17-9!
#2 As for the Answer, I say we do let the reigns go loose a bit, while staying unpredictable with a Stuckey/Prince point. 3 options of production. Whichever one produces Curry can stamp his approval on and “make his point” by sitting the other ones or whatever.
#3 Pff. Too many points made, Curry. Let’s win!
#4 Vote for Tay! http://www.nba.com/allstar2009/asb/eng/landing.jsp?cid=131a
#5 Ratliff with 3 blocks to Pistons 4 total!
Patience grasshoppas…
Curry is still playing with line-ups trying to figure out what works. You can bet Joe D is keeping close tabs on this.
Let’s look at who we beat this season..LA in LA, San Antonio in San Antonio and Cleveland. Then we lost at home to teams like Philly and Minnesota in sad fashion. We have done this for the past 2-3 years. The players (we all know the ones in particular) are giving half-assed efforts against the teams we’re expected to beat. That new goal of playing hard every night Joe D has counted on Curry to implement I still have yet to see. Honestly, the bench has played much harder than the starters.
With that being said, the Pistons just need more time to find their way without Billups and adjust to Iverson. It may take a half season or a full season. Hopefully, it won’t be an impossible task. Until some of the starters play hard EVERY NIGHT, this jekyl and hyde detroit team will continue to be here.
Losing sucked, still had a blast though, the crowd was great last night.
I say give Iverson the reins. Everybody knows he’s running the lane and handing the ball off under the net for a low percentage jumper. As often as he’s under the basket with the ball, he should be averaging 25-30 a night. That way, no matter how bad the effort is from SOME players, AI is still getting you 10 points more than he has been, which he is quite capable of doing.
Sheed must bring out the stupid in some people. What does rooting for a college basketball team have to do with playing the professional basketball? Sheed has always been an ardent fan of the Tarheels. One has nothing to do with the other. Sheed played for the Tarhells 1993 to 1995. Sheed is playing like crap because he is not a top tier basketball player anymore, not because he is animated at a Tarhell game. How ridiculous. He needs to come off the bench for 15 to 20 minutes. When he gets limited minutes, you will see a better brand of basketball consistently from him. Until then you will have a very inconsistent Sheed.
When you beat good teams and then lose to bad teams, you have to start pointing fingers at the coach. As a coach, you have to have your team ready to play every night!! I also see that this team has no calling card. Whats their identity? Are they a run and gun team, will they hang their hat on thier defense? Who knows. They also have no idea of what to do in tight situations when the game on the line. There’s no we’ve been there and done that mentality. This is when you wish your coach had more experience. Curry might have been a good choice before AI, but this team is a different animal. No Billups to coach for you. I know its early, but I am very nervous!!
who is curry punishing by not playing? will bynum would have changed this game? really? he’s good and i’m glad we have him, but he doesn’t do anything that stuckey doesn’t do. last season when amir sat there was a logical argument, he’s longer and more athletic then our other bigs. bynum is almost the same player as stuckey, except smaller and not as strong, i’m not buying that he would have changed anything. if curry is mad at him i want proof, because to me it’s pretty obvious why he’s not playing. we have a wealth of talented guards and he’s last on the list, sorry.
curry played the starters too long in the third, but i’m sure he was thinking they’d extend the lead even more and he could let the bench have the entire fourth quarter. instead the starters got tired and let the 76ers into a rhythm that they never got out of.
umm anyone notice that chauncey is tearin up?
This loss in no way shape or form is MC’s fault, he had the right line up on the floor at crunch time. His line up down the strech was Sheed, Tay, Rip, AI, and Stuckey. Tell me that isnt the most potent offensive line up we have. I blame this loss on who ever the hell didnt guard donyell marshal, ( i suspect it was Tay seeing as he was playing the 4) He’s a old man that can only do one thing, and thats shoot stand still 3’s, and some one refused to cover the one accpect of his game that he still has left.