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.
Video Courtesy of The NBA, The Detroit Pistons and FSN Detroit
- Jason put up a double-double with 16 points and 11 boards with 2 blocked shots in 24 minutes on the floor. The highlights were plentiful and babies were in danger.
- Amir Johnson, who started the game, scored just 2 points, grabbing 5 boards and a blocked shot in 21 minutes. Mark my words, he going to fit into his new role just fine. Give him time.
- A less than quiet night from Rasheed Wallace who went 1-for-6 with 3 points, 2 boards and a blocked shot in 24 minutes.
- Finally Tayshaun Prince is back to where he belongs….his position. To commemorate the occasion, he led the Pistons with 24 points on 11-for-16 shooting in 32 minutes on the floor. When he’s where he’s supposed to be things happen.
Photo/Getty Images
- The Tayriffic Highlights.
- Five Pistons in double figures.
- Detroit shot 50% from the floor and 80% from the line.
- 37 points for the Pistons bench who really haven’t put up those kind of numbers save a couple of times this season. Most of that was due to playing time so you really can’t fault them much for that.
- “We’re just a more balanced team,” coach Michael Curry said of the starting lineup of Prince, Amir Johnson, Rasheed Wallace, Allen Iverson and Rodney Stuckey. “So when you have a quarter when you don’t play great basketball in that first quarter, you can go to the bench and be really good.” Via The Detroit Free Press
- It was nice to see the Pistons finish a game in convincing fashion. Someone tell me the last time they did that. It was especially nice after starting the game down 10 to 2 to Toronto.
- Poor Jason…. He has a big game and just when he’s getting some face time with Matt Dery, Rasheed Wallace strikes.
Video Courtesy of The NBA, The Detroit Pistons and FSN Detroit
- A surprisingly quiet 17 points and 7 assists for Rodney Stuckey.
- FSN Highlights by the quarter.
- Rebound war won convincingly 40-28.
- Not much from Allen Iverson who scored just 11 on 3-for-9 shooting. He did however have 6 assists in his 38 minutes.
- Rip or AI are both upset, trust me. AI isn’t getting the number of shots he’s used to and Rip has got to be pulling his hair out coming off the bench. I just hope if this translates into wins they will be able to deal with it better. You would think so at least.
- I was lucky enough to get invited to the game by Matt from DBB. It was actually his suite night, so meeting his readers and enjoying this win made last night that much better. Thanks Matt!
It was nice to see an easy win. I still think AI should be coming off the bench. he has no reason to be upset, he got the starting spot. I felt so bad for Rip though… he looked so sad over on his bike in the corner.. i think he’ll eventually embrace the role and realize that he is still very important to this team… and AI could tske more shots if he wanted to … just look at the Memphis game. But on the other hand… we were on national TV that game so you know he was trying extra hard. Look for him to take more shots the next couple games cause well be on ESPN 3 times this week. thats just what superstars do. blah
I know you gotta do what you gotta do, but I feel for Rip and am hoping he tears it up as a dominant sixth man.
I’m wondering if the Pistons are hiring for somebody to massage Rip and AI’s egos…
OMG, that video of Sheed pulling the towel over J-Maxx head is hilarious.
still think this move was a big mistake… AI should be the one coming off the bench, not Rip.
And I’m not sure if Curry is head-coach material… he can’t keep changing the lineup every other game, it gives the impression that he has no idea what he’s doing.
Amir has been disappointing so far, Sheed is as frustrating as ever, AI doesn’t fit in, Maxiell isn’t getting enough minutes, and now Rip is on the bench? Is this season almost over yet?
Rasheed makes me laugh soo much! Hes gotta be a little careful tho looks like a potential stiff neck for Max. lol
START RIP!!!
We need his scoring and defense much more, than the ballhandling of AI.
AI of the bench with Max, Dyess… and everything is perfect.
Curry has to figure that out.
Look what happens when you give Max decent minutes. Max and Dyess should be starting. Sheed should be bench player with Stuck. Who actually believes this is a permanant line up. You know Curry will panic again. Plus, the idiot ran a small line up three times during the game. How is Rip going to score if Ai or Stuck are still in the game. Forgive me for saying, but Curry is a RETARD.
You cant tell me that each and everyone of us wouldnt feel bad if we got a demotion (because no matter what they say, thats exactly what it is) at our place of employment. Even if it would make the company better. So, Yes I feel bad for Rip. At the same time i realize someone had to be benched, but i feel it should have been AI. I was watching PTI on espn and they also felt it should have been AI. They called him instant offense off the bench. The other day on TNT, CWebb felt the same way.
Max-Aholic, unless you want Tay playing 48 minutes we’ll need to have some 3 guard line-ups. I’m fine with Rip/AA splitting 12 minutes at back-up SF during a game…it’s Tay at the 4 that I truly hate.
It was nice to finally see a blow-out win. Hopefully Curry will stick with this line-up for the last half of the year and we’ll be a team no one wants to play in the playoffs.
WOW!
Rip looks really Grrrrrrrrrreat off the bench. We win by 20. what more can i say? i dont wanna say i told you so, but..
Great coaching decision curry and joe D.
I was surprised that Rip only had one field goal in the first half, because he made such an impact, I thought he had more. But overall even though he didn’t score, I thought Rip played excellent overall.
I think everyone got an assist in the first quarter to Jason Maxiell. Rip, Tay, AI, Stuckey, everybody.
Where’s the Dyess dunk? That might have been his first of the season, we have to celebrate it.
I think Tay had a good game but the problem I have when Tay has games like that is that he is very easily goes on tilt and starts making bad decisions. Those who play poker probably know what tilt means but for the rest of you. Tilt is when a player gets on fire for a few hands and is playing great, but then they start to get careless and start playing hands they shouldn’t or betting more than they should etc. And that’s what Tay does. He gets hot but then he stops seeing the whole floor and only thinks about shooting, and ends up taking bad shots. IT just so happens the shots fell last night, if they didn’t he would of stunk up the joint.
I hope the unselfishness sticks and wasn’t just a one game thing for most of the team.
this was a win against a struggling Raptors team, but still entertaining.
Does anybody else notice that Rip and AI dont ever embrace eachother on the court, and rarely pass to eachother?? Is it just me who notices it? I hope there aren’t any chemistry problems on this team, because we are always known as a family more than a team.
Dang I didn’t even see what Sheed did to Max.When I saw it I immediately thought about that Hitman game where you sneak up behind people and take them out with Fiber Wire. He even threw in a couple small jerks just like the Hitman game.
Chris M
I’ve noticed that too, although to be truthful, it is kind of the whole team. I rarely see much emotion from the guys when on the court
Although I did notice Rip and AI do a small chest bump before the game started.
this game was a relief, at least for a few hours 😀
i think smallball was only capable of achieving one thing: keeping tay’s stats down. otherwise, this would be his career year. go tay, you’re a great guy.
and sheed please move your ass and play hard in the paint! shooting threes and limping around won’t help.
does anyone agree that sheed got comfortable after winning that ring? i understand that his first step isn’t fast anymore, but how many times did we see him putting the ball on the floor and dunking? being almost 7 feet tall that’s pretty miserable.
go detroit!
James, I hear what you’re saying but we have Hermann and Afflalo who can play Tays spot. I know Hermann isn’t the greatest but hes a reserve and he should be used that way. It doesn’t matter much to me if they don’t start the small line up if they’re going to play it later anyways. Besides, we rarely played small ever before this, and I’m talking the past 20 years. Currys dumb ass played 3 guards because he thinks it works.
I agree with Joe 2 million percent. If anything, AI’s whiny, selfish, over paid self should be coming off the bench I totally agree with Rip. Coming off the bench after starting for so long is not an option. A lot has changed for him and it has happened so fast he’s having a hard time adjusting.
I also agree with Joe about how MC looks as a coach. Yes its his first year but im pretty sure that LB & Flip didn’t change the lineup as much as MC does. I think Joe D shoulda put some thought into who he was hiring cuz to be honest, I didn’t like MC as a player and I don’t really like him as a coach because I don’t think he shoulda made any changes to the lineup and if i was Mr. D i don’t think i would be too happy with whats going on with my organization. Poor Rip i just wanna run up to him & give him a hug
Natalie, I don’t think the link to Rip speaking about coming off the bench is working.
Glad for the win. Glad for Maxey (Sheed screwing with him at the end of the game was pretty messed up, especially when Sheed did little to contribute on a night where Max came up big.) I feel for Rip, but disagree with everyone about benching AI instead. You can’t bench AI. He would pout and cause such a stink to the point of being detrimental to the team. Plus he’d probably look to be traded by the deadline.
I love Rip as much as the next piston fan, and I even feel we could get more production from him as a starter than AI. But i think a lot of people are over-looking the fact that Rip, not being a superstar, is more of a team player and can weather the transition better. But hopefully, the situation will become an opportunity for our bench to step up, and we’ll finish out the season strong. For now, i’ll settle for 2 wins in a row…
hey Nat what would you say about iverson as our 6th man?? some points about that:
– rip would be comfortable as a starter
– it would be the same starting lineup that got us to 6 east finals, with stuckey instead of billups (which makes it even better id say)
– iverson on the bench would feel comfortable with our bench players, since he would be the obvious king of that lineup, which skill wise resembles the lineups hes been on in the past (ie. he would get most of the shots)
– we would have 2 great lineups with completely different styles to suit whatever team we are playing against
– amir, maxiell, brown and dyess would be pretty much interchangeable between the lineups to customize them a bit to suit the style they want to play.
I would say the lineups would develop great chemistry by playing only with each other, and maybe they would compete with each other to be the better 5 man lineup. If i was MC i would try this, at least, i am pretty confident it would work!
Great win. When Max and Dyess were on the floor they were +14 for Max and +13 for Dyess. They bring energy off the bench and hustle. AI should come off the bench, ’cause he would get more shots that way anyway. Nat you were dead on with the comment, that they are both (AI and Rip) upset. Tay might be taking over as the teams leader. I see him growing into that role very nicely. He seems to be doing more interviews and he’s being a leader on the floor.
For everyone that is talking about a possible lack of chemistry I totally agree. This team was like a family dating all the way back to the Ben Wallace days. I think they could handle loosing Ben because he chose to leave, but trading Billups I think is what did it. I can’t say enough times how his imprint on the team was underestimated. Look at how stable Denver is because of him. And they’re playing without their superstar.
At the same time this is a professional sports team and changes are inevitable. Athletes always say that they know that it’s a business, but there’s no way that they don’t get attached to where they are if they’re there long enough.
No matter what happens, I think you’ll see Sheed and AI walk after this season and that leaves you with a lot of $ to get a real center and power forward (that operates in the paint). And really that’s all this team needs to be a true contender again. You already have Stuck, Rip, Tay, and a decent bench so you get those two pieces and hopefully they’ll continue to be a great team.
I’ll take one mediocre year so that they can be at the top again. Go Pistons!!
Wow guys. You do realize if we do anything great that it is because of Rodney Stuckey. The man is amazing and you can’t doubt that. Forget the numbers he puts up just watch him on the court. He isn’t even in his prime yet ladies and gentlemen. And Sheed pisses me off. I know his foot still probably hurts but really? Mcdyess is doing more then Sheed is and he’s had knee surgery. I really do think Sheed is beginning to be lazy and not worth having. He’s got talent he just doesn’t have the drive.
In response to DEEEEEETROIT BASKETBALLL, most of us have been begging for Iverson to be the 6th man for all of those reasons for a few weeks now.
AI needs to come off the bench. Sheed needs to come to play. Max needs to never have another DNP ever again.
If AI won’t come off the bench and Sheed won’t play harder, we need to package them before the trade deadline and take whatever we can get.
the pistons are going all the way because of the BIG LINE UP putting rip off the bunch is the most best thing that hipped to the pistons all year. go pistons
The problem with AI off the bench is he either has to play point, which is not his postion which makes him ineffective, or he plays with Bynum, which is two very small players on the floor at once, smaller than any line-up in the league. THat’s why it has to be Rip off the bench.
Desperately looking for someone who recorded the game. If you have it please email me at smitb42421@yahoo.com Thank you.
“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.”
That for some reason made me sad. It feels like Rip should be the face of this team. First it was Ben’s team, then Chauncey’s, it seemed like Rip was next in line. Now AI’s face is plastered everywhere. I get it, but I still feel for Rip.
^^^ I’ve been really irritated since the trade how much they want to make everything about this team about AI. I don’t have anything against him, but come on FSN, there are other guys that deserve a lot more credit for what this team has done.
Good job Rip
and AI might look better on the toilet than he does in a game
See what happens when Maxiell actually plays decent consistant minutes! He hit a few jump shots, had some great dunks, picked up 2 nice blocks NO turnovers and only 2 fouls! Shot 2/2 from FT! When the comfort level is there, which comes with consistant playing time, Maxiell can DOMINATE.
Its still really frustrating seeing how TALENTED Maxiell is, yet he has to work so hard for his shot on the offensive end. Most coming off broken plays, offensive boards, or bail outs with the shot clock down.
Imagine if he was given the ball in the post at least a few times a game?
in response to Fluidics:
who cares if your bench players are small, you cant be picky about that because, after all, you take whatever you can get from the bench. you know the starters in the situation i listed earlier are gonna keep it close at the very least, so bring in a burst of energy in maxiell iverson and bynum and it will give the starters a nice break and momentum when they get back. we would have a grind it out starting lineup and a high octane bench to fire up the palace baby!