dallas27

Anytime you want to take your foot out of your mouth and give the Spurs their props for beating up the defending champs you can do so. They need to finish the series before anyone crowns them champs but they are well on their way to doing so. Keep on X'ing and O'ing the series for us. I like reading all the commentary on basketball games from a hockey point of view. Anytime you want to jump off the Spurs bandwaggon you can do so as well. I never said I'm not giving the Spurs any credit, did you see me say that? Did you not see me post that I would not mind losing to the Spurs? Or did your bandwaggon ass just see that? You know what, next year I'll just wait untill the finals and pick the favorite to win just like you k? Maybe I'll get my degree in journalism too. Few questions: How long have you been a Steelers fan? How long have you been a Wings fan? How long have you been a Spurs fan? I see you are from socal and none of the above teams are located there. So make up your bulls**t answer that you've been their fan for a long time to cover up your bandwaggonism (is that a word?). It's not that I have anything against you I'm just sick of you coming here in a Pistons thread and posting non-stop about the Spurs like you've been a fan of them for your whole life. Guess what? You aren't a fan of them, if anything you are a bandwaggon fan, they aren't even your favorite team. Back on topic: The only difference I see here is that the Spurs are getting calls and making their shots and the Pistons aren't getting any calls and they aren't making their shots. For pete's sake they aren't even making simple layups and little 3 foot shots, it's disgusting. Before you go off and say that I'm not giving any credit to the Spurs for saying that: They are playing "the right way", they are sharing the ball, playing good defense, just playing "the right way." Yes, you do have to drive to the land to draw fouls, but you also need decent refs to notice obvious ones eg. Bens phantom block on Ginobli in the first game, even the announcers said he got away with that one. I notice the Spurs are hella traveling as well, or is it just that the nba is leniant on it? Other than that the Pistons just plain ol' suck (I've never said that before, you can go back and look at all my Detroit posts) and the Spurs are just giving them an ass whoopin'.

Really? They aren't? Man, good thing you said that becuase I thought they were, thanks for pointing that out Captain Obvious. It's more like the Pistons stopped hitting shots, they had wide open looks nearly every shot but couldn't hit them. The Pistons did not come out "tentative" they were real aggressive in that first quarter/half hence all their steals, blocks, and buckets but seemed to die down after that. I was using the first quarter as an example of how well the Pistons can play, that is when Sheed is involved, he was responsible for many of those steals, blocks, and buckets in the early going, but they faded away from him and in turn so did the game. *EDIT* I think the Pistons only had 2-3 turnovers in the first half...

Depends on which Pistons team shows up. That first quarter was everything but the Spurs and want to know why? The Pistons had Sheed invovled, they have such an easier time and seem to play so much better on both ends of the court when he is going. When they start to shy away from him well, game 1 happens. But if you look at the games Sheed gets like 15+ points a game it is a blowout win for the Stones so they MUST get him involved. I mean they were beating the Spurs fukkin 20-4, there is no way the Pisotns should have lost that game. Guards start taking too many shots, refs start sucking ass like they usually do, but the refs don't really matter when you aren't hitting any shots. The Pistons had like 4 points in a 7 minute span not to mention Rip missing 4 easy layups, this should be a rule, when you are a proffesional basketball player and you can reach up and just throw the ball down in the hoop, you aren't allowed to miss free throws. Oh well, Pistons gonna come out and shoot 45% on Sunday and destroy the Spurs, win game 3, lose game 4, and then win game 5 and 6...From what I saw in that first quarter and saw the way the Pistons can manhandle the Spurs I have full confidence in the above.

Anyone else hate this 2-3-2 format for the games? In a way I think it actually favors the road team, if the road team can win 1 game even 2 in the first 2 games on the road and they have 3 at home and just take care of business there....

Well the refs gave Miami quite a bit of points but my favorite call was late in the fourth quarter: Damon Jones, I think it was him, was at the side out of bounds line with Chauncey guarding him. Here comes the ref barreling into Jones and then the ref calls the foul on Chauncey when he clearly didn't even touch him. You had to have seen it because words really can't describe how funny it actually was. I wish I had Tivo so I could just relive that call over and over, we decided that that call would make a good #1 blown ref calls on The Sports List Spurs have been sorta given the team to beat card and I think they are in for a rude awakening... *EDIT* A LOT of people picking the Spurs in 6 games...good...I love the being the underdog, as do the Pistons.

God forbid they actually say something about Rips calf... I used to watch all the pre and post game stuff on tnt, espn, and all that but I don't anymore becuase I realized who gives a *** to as what they have to say, especially Mr. 3 game 12 minute 2 points in the playoffs himself Tim Legler. Let them say all the sh*t they want, if it gets the Pistons to the finals and another ring who cares? Cruiser is right though, Stern and the refs will not let Detroit win the game, Shaq vs Duncan sounds too good for them and their ratings. I can already hear all the crap that would be going on about "can Shaq win a title in his first year after leaving the Lakers?" And the answer is.....no way in hell....the Pistons are the only team that is capable of beating the Spurs....

I agree with all of you... I only watched some becuase I just can't take the refs anymore but I thought the effort was there as well, they cut it to 2 in the last 1-2 minutes in the second quarter but got blown out after that. Coming from a hockey player, which is different than basketball, but when the officiating is as bad as it is for Detroit it is really hard to get into a game, you can't do things you would normally do becuase you are afraid of a penalty/foul. David Stern can rot in hell for all I care, if he needed some type of transplant to save his life that only I could do I most likely would not do it. The only way is if he 1. begs 2. brings back the old 2003-2004 Rules so Detroit can go back and play their relentless defense 3. he resigns as the commisioner of the NBA. The NBA does not need a commisioner that is more worried about ratings than the actual game itself. Here is a little food for thought on how much Stern has been penalizing Detroit for not having a superstar: Detroit was ranked third when it came to commiting the LEAST fouls in the regular season. Why? Becuase ratings don't matter then, nothing is on national television. But when the playoffs roll around everything is on national television. Uh-oh this poses a problem for Stern now. The Pistons supposively do not bring in ratings and this is not good. Hmmmmmm......he thinks to himself.....what can I do as commisioner to reduce the Pistons chances of winning drasticaly....hmmmmm.....I got it, lets f**k them over with the officiating!! YAHTZZEEEEE!!!!! Does anyone know which team is the most penalized so far in the playoffs? I can't find it but I would be willing to bet it's Detroit.

Looks like Matt has a new job after Brown jumps ship

e.g. The Pacers series...They have played the games the exact same way in both series. Came out smoking in games 1 and 4 and in games 2 and 3 looked like jackasses although they very well could have won them.

Lot of blame going towards LB as it should, he is more concerned about what he is doing after the playoffs eg Clevelands Prez. ^ is unexcusable for the playoffs, I agree with Stein, try to get Daly, whip them into shape for the rest of the series. Dalys Pistons did not let the refs get into their head, although the calls against them weren't nearly as bad as the current Pistons. Sportsnation has 81% blaming Brown for the Pistons play...

I'm glad everyone is starting to see what I have for the past month, horrible refs and calls. Mourning is not only pissing me off with all this s**t he's getting away with but his freaking NON-STOP OVER-EXAGGERATED CELEBRATIONS. It's good that he got over some minor kidney thing he had, good for him, but you don't have to sit there and celebrate like a fukin clown. I am borderline almost hating him, and hate is a very strong word... The Pistons should have won that game, especially coming back from a 12+ point deficit, one minute I turn the game off (in anger) and the next they are up by 1, I couldn't see how they would lose that game after doing that....but the 38% shooting got them. So despite their horrible shooting, turnovers, horrible referring (but what's new), or pretty much one of their worst games they STILL hung in there and pretty much should have won. That being said, I still love our chances, despite Sterns extreme hatred for the Pistons style of play and we know how he takes it out on them. I'm sorta thinkin' that losing that game was good becuase it plants a seed of doubt that the Pistons are gonna have a easy time and repeat and all that good stuff. If you watch all the ptis, around the horns, and all those shows you know that if the Pistons win one game it's "omgzzzzzzzzz they r guna repet" and if they lose it's "omfgorz thy r so scrwed ther is no way thy r going to win teh seres" And JohnO you are spot on with Shaq and all the freaking 'bows he dishes out, I think a few actually hit Ben in the head. I was watching the game with a few of my buddies and all we did was yell at the tv all game, especially when Shaq gets the ball. Van Gundy looks (and talks) like a little ch0de not like Ron Jermey...

Sorta... He wasn't driving to the basket at all that much and even when he did he got stuffed by someone. And he only got to the foul line I think twice. He missed some shots that he normally makes but the majority of them were HIGHLY contested not only by Tayshaun but the whole Pistons defense. I hope this is a reality check to all the bandwaggon "analysts." The only ones worth listening to are Stephen A. and Greg Anthony and they have the Pistons winning it all, which they should.

Well they, the Heat, have been rolling through these playoffs with ease becuase they haven't been playing the best of quality of teams and it's becuase of that same fact that Wade has been a scoring machine. Chauncey or Rip could very well have the same stats if they played those same teams, but I'm not trying to take anything away from Wade, the kid knows how to ball. The Pistons in the regular season held him to 5 points one game, 17 another game, but 31 one game. I wouldn't call it a tough match-up, Tayshaun will most likely be guarding Wade and he has had no problem guarding the likes of the best players in the NBA, those of who are a ton better than Wade. I echo Chauncey's beliefs on rest: I'd rather be playing every other day than have to sit out of gametime for 2 weeks or however long the Heat sat out. Right now the Pistons have the momentum going into game 1 becuase of that. I mean, would you want to take 2 weeks off before the Masters for rest? Hell no, you'd be out on the golf course everyday practicing and playing in those two tournaments before. Same could be said about other sports as well. Shaq has to be a force in order for them to win this series and I also think he has to be 100% in order to be a force. 75% Shaq is still scary but don't forget the Pistons have Elden to slow him down a little. Dwane Wade isn't going to win the series for the Heat by himself... The Pistons have been following in their footsteps from last year if you think about it. They have been up and down for the first half of the season, started stepping it up the second half, played awesome the last 2 months, finished with the same record, hasn't had an easy series yet, and people are still picking Miami and San Antonio over them... *EDIT* Shaq did not practice yesterday either.

Was reading the ESPN Pistons board for my daily humor and I found this interesting: Indiana got the victory despite blowing a 17-point lead and losing its starting center to fouls with more than six minutes left. Most impressively, they overcame an inspired performance from a Knicks team that was undeterred by all the adversity that came its way -- everything from the referees' whistles to the Pacers' fans throwing beer and coins at them. And Pacers fan sit there and call Detroit Pistons fans thugs and all that crap, oh this irony is killing me...If anything this article proves that it was Artests fault for what he did, not Ben or the cup...

This is all I'm going to say: Conspiracy theory huh? This officiating is down right sickening, it's pitiful, it's horrendous, words don't even describe it. The refs are totaly bringing the Pacers back into the game this second half, to the point where I can't even watch it. *EDIT* And Carlisle has some big balls to say the LB was whining about the non-call....which it was clearly a shove off....

TheRock-- grammar lesson--"i don't see why you think the pistons are different than they were a year ago. they have the EXACT same tendancies as last year and they did the same things all season long." That period signifies a new thought, a new sentence, so you did say they have the same team and the same tendancies. Next time use a comma instead of a period. It would be helpful if you can form proper sentences. And no my point about 115 points was not backing up yours, you simply stated (the "point you were referring to") that the Pistons lowered their intensity, you made no mention of the 76ers shooting lights out. The Pistons lowering their intensity does not affect whether or not the ball goes in the basket. On another note, I guess the Philly announcer was screaming out Six-ers Bas-ket-ball so Sheed went over to him and told him to knock it off...

They aren't any different? So they aren't more mature, Tayshaun and crew aren't any better, and they don't know what it takes to win a championship? Want to know where 115 points came from? The 76ers were 55% from 3 point land the whole game (11 of 20) and 55% fg% the whole game, something crazy like 15-18 in the fourth quarter. Now what they were the fourth game? 42% FG and 34% 3 point land. Find it odd that two other people thought those refs were homers? The officiating was simply horrendous plain and simple, and this game wasn't the first, nor will it be the last. I don't mind a few bad calls AND missed calls here and there but this game was unacceptable. Conspiracy theory? I can add more to it if you want. Why would everyone make such a big deal about KG, Kobe, and Lebron not being in the playoffs? Maybe becuase they bring in ratings? Now you look at the Pistons and people don't see any superstars (although I see five) and in turn won't bring in ratings. There were many discussions on PTI, around the horn, and 1st and 10 on whether or not the abscence of those three would be good for the NBA. But if Shaq was in the finals.... It doesn't help that Stern does not like the Pistons style of Basketball, although he doesn't say it outright he does imply it. He wants the NBA to be like the Phoenix Suns style, just run and gun crap and no D. A little off target huh? Right.... *EDIT* Wade is a freak and it's only his second year...I still think they don't have the depth to take out the Pistons, they would just wear down Shaq and Wade, especially Wade considering he would have to guard Rip. That series would go 7 games though, and Miami has home court adv.

Really? How do you figure that one out? Any bets doesn't signify a bet is placed, so enlighten me. Anyways, about 6 minutes left and I already know they are going to lose? Why? Officiating, it's simply horrendous, my dad who is also a basketball ref agrees with me. It is getting downright sick to watch a Pistons game now. My dad counted 3 fouls on Philly within a 3-4 minute span, don't even get started on calls that are going against Detroit. And is traveling out of the rulebook now? Are refs fined if they call traveling? Iverson is the king of travelling, Weber should have been called for travelling on numerous occasions to. Of course I blame the officiating on Stern. Just becuase he doesn't like the Pistons style of basketball doesn't mean he should (a) change rules just for the sole purpose of making it harder for Detroit to play defense and ( give refs the "hint" of what the refs shouldn't and should call, if I were him I would be ashamed. Sorry that you are a rating ***** Stern and think that the only way to get ratings is to have a superstar *cough* SHAQ *cough* in the finals.

Nawww, they did it to plant a seed of doubtfullness in everyones mind for them going far so everyone can still continue to jump on the Miami Heat bandwaggon.

Eh, when Philly is hitting every shot they take in the second half you can't expect anything else. They went something like 12-13/15 that fourth quarter. They [Pistons] were putting hands in everyone faces it's just that Philly was knocking down everything. When the bench isn't firing they are in trouble? How do you figure that one out? Just using one game? Iverson played EVERY minute in that game, you think LB is going to put in Arroyo or Hunter for long periods of time to counter that? I don't think so. So you are saying that if the bench isn't "firing" they have little to no chance at going deep into the playoffs? Philly won't hit everything they throw up next game and they will lose, it's as simple as that. But everyone start panicing and all that good stuff anyways. *EDIT* And the deeper they will go the less the bench will play. If the game is close they will start subbing in to let the starters get breathers and that's about it. If the game is more wide open they may get more time. Diceman and Arroyo are the only people I see getting around 15 minutes.

New Jersey BLEW that game last night, so much for my upset pick. Look, the Pistons learned from last year against the Bucks or some other team, they went up 2-0 and I think it ended up going 6 or 7 games, just as they learned from last year when they came out flat in the second game. Look what happened the other night. The Pistons will not let down and they will not lose. The ONLY way Philly will win is if Iverson drops 55 points, and to do that he will have to take about 60-70 shots.

If it was the regular season sure that would happen....any bets that they beat them again by 15+ points?

He has pretty much been the spark for the Pistons the past two games to really let loose the fire. It seems they are getting off to an ok start and then Dice comes in and just absolutely lights the whole place up on BOTH defense and offense. The thing is though, it just isn't Dice who has stepped it up, Lindsey and Arroyo have been contributing a ton as well, especially Lindsey. It would real nice if Lindsey could hold out for a couple more years for us. A lot of people are starting to ride on the Miami bandwaggon today becuase of Mourning's play the past 2 games and the fact that Shaq is only playing 25-30 minutes. I hate to disappoint them but the way the Pistons and the bench are playing right now and the way they are executing on both defense and offense, there ain't anybody that is stopping them. They also like to leave out that we got Mr. Elden Campbell back, the only person that knows Shaq like the back of his hand, that can tone Shaq down.

Another blowout and yet another poorly officiated game...some of the calls the refs make on the Pistons are ridiculous. Assuming it's a Miami Detroit ECF matchup I can only imagine the calls the Heat and Shaq would get, Stern would love to see Shaq in the finals soley for ratings...

Tell me about it, this is just me but the Detroit-San Antonio games are my personal favs to watch. I'd rather watch a trench fight 75-80 game rather than a 110-118 game. Same goes for hockey with me as well, give me a 1-0 game rather than a 4-5 game. It's all about suspense with me, there is no suspense in high scoring games.