The 17-29 are in Miami to take on the 31-14 Heat Friday night. NBA.com seems to think that a visit from Detroit is just what the Heat need during their toughest stretch of the season.
If you’re keeping tabs, Rip Hamilton’s “flu” symptoms have subsided enough to make the road trip to South Beach and NYC.
Rodney Stuckey (right shoulder contusion) is listed as day-to-day. Does that mean that Rip will play if Rodney doesn’t? Your guess is as good as mine.
The Scouting Report via Pistons.com
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Tip off is at 7:30 pm and will be broadcast on Fox Sports Detroit . If you can’t catch the game on TV, follow it live over at NBA.com or on the radio over at 97.1 The Ticket.
Leave your thoughts in the comments or Chat Live with your fellow Pistons fans during the game.
u know how happy id b if the pistons just killes them, see the look on the “kings” face haha i hope
I just read that Rip didn’t make shoot around this morning. Bosh and Wade ore out from what I heard. I’m at this game tonight. Brrrr. Cold front here at the moment. It’s only 72
As I said to Nat on Twitter, the way things have gone, I have no false hope that Rip will be covering for Stuckey. Rip wouldn’t be in there even if Bynum, Gordon and McGrady got injured (or the flu) all at the same time.
Even in the worst case, right now, an emergency call-up (or signing) from the D-League is more probable than Rip getting in the rotation.
And I find it ironic and frustrating that the official Detroit Pistons twitter mentions Rip being with the team on course to Miami. Either that was a hint that he’s playing (which I doubt), or it’s just to say something to the crowd to calm the questioning.
Rip could have faked an injury that took longer to heal if he wanted to be off the court. He’s performance is down, he didn’t help the team this year as much as he could, and some are already saying that the Pistons without Rip are playing much better, and that that alone guarantees him a permanent no-minutes spot on the bench. But as it seems, unless he gets food poisoning in the next one and a half hour, he’ll just be there to be sulking for another game.
And I have to ask the question that another fan had posted in a previous newspost, why isn’t Rip getting ANY minutes? Even some off the bench. A reduced performance can make you lose your starting position or lower your minutes, but a no-minutes role? On what grounds? Has Ben Gordon been consistent? Was Stuckey consistent on the PG role? Is Bynum consistent? No. We haven’t seen any of them get that position.
No matter what happened with Rip, no matter his bad performance or cry-baby attitude this year, no matter the improved performance the last few games, Rip deserves SOME minutes. Anything upwards of zero. Anything. Get the damn player in the game, for all you know he could be trying to prove a point once again and actually help the team.
This is getting ridiculous. Is Rip in Florida for shopping or something? Why would the Pistons twitter announce he’s with the team? Has Q changed his mind? What’s going on?
My guess is as good as yours, just like Nat said.
But this, this situation, is helping nobody. Sure, the team is playing better, and I’m crossing fingers that it’ll keep playing that way, but if a breakdown happens, what will the alternatives be? If and when Rip is again needed in the rotation, will there still be any place for this team in his heart to actually do anything on the court?
Rip is part of the team. And he may just as well be needed later. This is no way to handle this, even if the team’s playing better the past few games. The trade didn’t happen. Rip is still with us. And before we lose him while we still need him, give the man some damn minutes!
Nice “article” man!! I agree with you in everything you said. Hopefully, we’ll see him perform tonight.
woo hoo! the game is televised here, although it’s delayed telecast.
good all around game (except for the shooting) for tmac. 6 rebs, 7 ast, 3 blocks by half time
Man, it was a foul on Austin’s dunk attempt!!!!!! But he could have dunk it anyways… heartbreaking loss…HATE THE HEAT!!!
wut the heck?!? that was a foul. way to fix the game refs
double bullshit. ben gordon did not foul, so they give house a free 2 points, then when austin daye went up for the dunk, he clearly got hit on the hand, why do you think he missed the dunk.
on the plus side, this pistons team looked absolutely great, who cares if they are missing wade & bosh, pistons had crisp passes, good defense, ball movement, and honestly coach q outcoached spoelstra in this game.
I dont expect a rookie like daye to get a call. and ben gordon is well known for fouling instead of guarding properly. but it’s not fair.
We won that game and the refs took it away. I reserve my right to bitch like this because we are a terrible team trying to sneak into the 8th place and miami does not need any more wins it doesnt matter to them.
ROBBED is right nat they gave lebron touch me not fouls n daye was slapped anbviously changed shot bad no call
oh one more thing. Daye HIT THE DAMN WEIGHT ROOM in the off season
next year when you throw down like that someone hitting you on the hand will not make you miss. oh and greg monroe pls join him there. You go the same problem, all it takes is slightest foul and you can’t power it in. You need strenth young men.
Getting the hand on the ball was one thing, but he was late getting into the play and pushed on the body with his off hand. So really it was two fouls, either on its own and the Pistons win. Compare to the gift given House on the other end. But to me the game turner was the bullshit offensive interference earlier. I mean call was “right” in the sense that yeah, I guess. But McGrady was so wide open that it didn’t matter. Why bail Miami out of that embarassment? Oh yeah, because this is David Stern’s NBA and the team that has Lebron gets to play eight on five all fucking night long.
u said it edt
SUCKS! But good game from the Pistons. At least we’re competing. We’re playing good teams well. Hopefully we’ll continue to do so in NYC on Sunday!
On the bright side. I dislike the heat even more. Coach Q, 30 sec left, your team up by one with possession and you got 3 time outs left. Why didn’t u call a time out to draw out the best possible play? And why CV instead of Monroe in the 4th?
i was thinking the same thing, but not surprised. He always fails to call a necessary timeout which ends up screwing us in the end.
i think q coached well i this game. its not his fault the refs decided to give the game away. I think he wanted to save a timeout because he knew he would get the ball back, they would foul and we would have just a few seconds left, and if we had problems inbounding he wanted that extra timeout so we could try again. That final play was killer you have to admit.
Robbed!!! DAMN IT!!!
Robbed, but not surprising, considering the opponent.
Lock up T-Mac. Brightest spot of the season, hands down.
It would be cool if that final dunk got in. Nice finishing dunk!
That was pure robbery.
smh….smh….
You know what really annoys me?? The two calls in the last 10 seconds – Gordon getting called for a foul, and Jones not getting called for a foul – were identical calls. Gordon got mostly ball, forcing House to begin to fall over, but clipped him on the wrist on his way down. A 50/50 call, but not one that I’ll burst a blood vessel over. Jones did something slightly different, he pushed (hard) into Daye’s body putting Daye off balance, then got mostly ball, but clipped the wrist on the way down.
I get upset because 4 seconds earlier, they are prepared to call a foul, but then don’t call it for Daye. Refs have to be consistent. I know the idea is to let them play, but if they were going to call the Gordon foul, they HAVE to call the Jones foul.
Absolutely robbed, which is disappointing because we played did enough to win. Brilliant coaching by Kuester.
smh….smh….