Detroit Pistons Season Thread

[betterREDthandead 58]

Jim Rome-

"Game night operations director Leland Patton reportedly was responsible for rolling in video showing dilapidated buildings, burned out cars and barren streets filled with garbage. Believe me, if you think Detroit can riot with the best of them, you just gave them a reason to do so. I’ve been to the “D� and I came away thinking two things about that town:

1) Great sports fans.

2) You do not want to crack on their city. They don’t like that."

http://www.jimrome.com/home/article/article_4.html

Hehe. Excellent point. But I'm really pleased with the response from the Kings...apologies from the Maloofs and the president of their operations, and full-page ads in the News and Freep. The Kings are likely to be fined by the league, as they should be, but it's nice to see the Kings run a decent enough organization to issue a public mea culpa, and doing so before the league announces any punishment.

Terrell Owens take note.

[dallas27 7]

i think jim rome has his own radio show in det.....he likes the city, the people and the sports

I think it's a national show. But considering we have two radio station purely dedicated for sports I can see why you would think that.

[betterREDthandead 58]

Suns tonight. Important game, even though the Suns are without Amare. The Wizards lost last night, so the Pistons are now the only undefeated team left in the NBA....lets see how long they can keep that up. It'll be tough with the run-and-gun Suns tonight and then a flight to Portland to take on the Jail Blazers tomorrow.

By the way, what about the new-look Tayshaun? He has definitely added some muscle, you can see in some pictures of him....he's no longer a stringbean. Watching highlights of the Sacramento game, I didn't even realize it was him with the ball til I saw that distinctive lefty jump shot with the elbows pointed every which way.

[RockyMountainWingGal 108]

Great entertaining game vs the Suns so far - tied at the half. Beats watching the Canucks get their ass kicked.

[Aussie_Wing 354]

Maurice Evans is really struggling today, they should play Delfino more, he is going to be a terrific player. Pistons down by 7 points late in the 3rd.

Edit: Detroit 111 Phoenix 104. Pistons tear it up late in the third, with a 17-4 run, including the last 9. Detroit clearly has the best starting five in the league, every member played awesome tonight. Rasheed hit two huge three's in the last, Hamilton had a dozen, and Ben with 8.

Pistons are the only undefeated team in the NBA! Great start guys!

Edited November 11, 2005 by Aussie_Wing

[BlueMonk 102]

This is the first time I've seen this Pistons team attack the regular season like it matters. They're playing these early games like they want home court advantage throughout the playoffs. The offense is hard to believe. I used to think they'd collapse defensively if they started playing faster and improvising more, but it's looking like the opposite right now. Like they've been stifled by the strict sets they were forced to run under Larry Brown. The players are shooting lights out every game. The shooting percentages are off the charts. And they're not even playing all the guys yet.

No team is playing close to the level Detroit is right now. Very impressive.

[dallas27 7]

I will say it again: If I'm any team in the NBA I am sh*tting my pants right now. This Detroit team is going to be scary good The Pistons schedule the next couple games:

at Trail Blazers (Nov. 11)

vs Celtics (Nov. 15)

at Mavericks (Nov. 19)

at Rockets (Nov. 18)

vs Nuggets (Nov. 23)

Those are all winnable games, the Mavs or the Rockets could do them in. It wouldn't surprise me that they win all of them or only lose one.

Magic (went something along these lines)-

"Detroit is starting to make a serious run doing serious damage to the league in the regular season and do some serious damage in the playoffs"

I wonder if any sports show people will start to change their tune today, if not after the next couple.

[MisfitJake 2]

i think jim rome has his own radio show in det.....he likes the city, the people and the sports

Rome has a nationally syndicated show that airs in Detroit. He was here a few years ago for one of his "Tour Stops". He will probably be here for the Super Bowl too, as he has traveled to the each of the Super Bowl locals since I can remember, and broadcasts the whole week prior from that location.

Really, the Sacramento thing was stupid. If we are really that mad about it, why don't we just fix the problems so people can't throw it back in our face. I'm not embarrassed because they showed those images in mocking Detroit, I'm embarrassed because they still can. And when did Detroit become so sensative? Isn't this the same metro area that takes pride in it's toughness? Quit crying about it.

Great game last night against the Suns. 5-0, but I guess Indiana and Miami are still teh teams to beat.

[BlueMonk 102]

I wonder if any sports show people will start to change their tune today, if not after the next couple.

I think they already are changing their tune. The articles I've read on ESPN and some of the usual doubters who do TV analysis are raving about the Pistons' play so far.

[dallas27 7]

I've figured out why you can never find good Pistons tickets

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/attendance

We only have had 2 home games and have higher attendance then some teams that have had 3 games. We average 2,000 more people than the next team.

[RockyMountainWingGal 108]

I think they already are changing their tune. The articles I've read on ESPN and some of the usual doubters who do TV analysis are raving about the Pistons' play so far.

Let them stay doubters - the Pistons like being the underdogs. I actually think the Pistons enjoyed being about 5-7 points behind in the second half last night - just to show they could turn it on big in the last few minutes - totally awesome. Saunders seems great from what I've seen (hard not to at 5-0 I guess).

[Aussie_Wing 354]

What is happening tonight? Midway through the 3rd quarter and Detroit are getting out rebounded 32-15. Ben Wallace only 2 boards? As of yet, no one has really stamped their authority on the game.

[Cruiser008 37]

With the win tonight they're now 6-0. The best starting 5 in the league actually looks even better this year which is just scary for the rest of the league. Flip Saunders must be thanking his lucky stars right now to have inherited such a talented, hard-working and coachable group of players.

P.S. I wonder what's going through Larry Brown's head right now (after tonight's loss the Knicks are 0-5).

Edited November 12, 2005 by Cruiser008

[Aussie_Wing 354]

The Knicks are pathetic. They are going to trade Marbury, they recorded the lowest home attendance in their history the other day, and they are now 0-5. What a mess, I hope you are satisfied Larry Brown. The Pistons are in a completely opposite situation.

[dallas27 7]

Last nights game was a closer than what I wanted it to be but they just kept hanging in their and then made a good run. I'm sure all of you know that it's been 17 years since they had this good of a start...in 1988...and I think we all know what the Pistons did that year

[edicius 3,269]

The Knicks are pathetic. They are going to trade Marbury, they recorded the lowest home attendance in their history the other day, and they are now 0-5. What a mess, I hope you are satisfied Larry Brown. The Pistons are in a completely opposite situation.

Personally, I find it hilarious. Some kind of cosmic balance thing. As long as the Pistons keep winning, the Knicks will keep losing.

[BlueMonk 102]

Going 3-0 on a West coast road trip with 3 games in 4 nights is pretty damn good, regardless of the teams. And the last two games especially were against fired up teams playing on national TV, so they were extra impressive.

You gotta love the Pistons right now. Like the Spurs did last year, they've added the component that they can win in either a low scoring or high scoring affair. They can win 114-107 or they can win 87-84. They adjust to the way the game is going and hang in there for three quarters. Then, at the end, they get the big baskets and big stops to win it, thanks to their experience in big game situations. That's a huge part of winning games, especially on the road. Teams that have had a lot of playoff experience look at those close, late games like they're no big deal. Compared to the big playoff games, they're not. But the inexperienced teams sometimes tighten up and lose, even on their home court.

Great start no matter how you look at it.

[dallas27 7]

San Antonio gets blown out at Washington and Indiana blows a 17 point lead.

[BlueMonk 102]

Duncan in that game Saturday night couldn't make a shot. It reminded me of the Finals, when he was being shut down and would sit on the bench looking really down on himself. You wouldn't expect him to have a game that bad against Washington, of all teams. The Bullets aren't exactly known for their stifling frontcourt defense.

The Pacers game reminded me of something I'd forgotten: Without Reggie Miller, they don't really have a go-to free throw guy. They made 6 of 16 free throws to end the game! That's something that is often underrated, having a guy like Miller who you can always get the ball to when the other team starts fouling down the stretch. It's like an automatic 2 points. Now, they really don't have a guy like that.

[betterREDthandead 58]

Pistons win again, 115-100 over Boston. Looks like Flip is developing a habit of relying extremely heavily on his starters in close games or when the Pistons are behind, as they were again tonight. Hopefully he will learn to trust his bench a bit more....only Arroyo and Dice got so much as 11 minutes, Mo Evans with 10 was the only other reserve to play double digit minutes. That will have to change or there will be a tired starting five come May.

First-round pick Jason Maxiell saw some action too, hitting the only shot he took for 2 points in 2 minutes.

[The_Cub 0]

That Detroit-Boston game tonight was sweet.

[Aussie_Wing 354]

That Detroit-Boston game tonight was sweet.

How about the Billups-Hamilton combo, 50 points!

Also good to see Sheed have an impact on the game.

[BlueMonk 102]

The Pistons offense is shocking to watch when you consider the struggles they had in recent years. It's like a different roster. They're shooting 50% from the field in almost every game. They didn't score like that even against bad teams last year.

[dallas27 7]

Pistons win again, 115-100 over Boston.  Looks like Flip is developing a habit of relying extremely heavily on his starters in close games or when the Pistons are behind, as they were again tonight.  Hopefully he will learn to trust his bench a bit more....only Arroyo and Dice got so much as 11 minutes, Mo Evans with 10 was the only other reserve to play double digit minutes.  That will have to change or there will be a tired starting five come May.

First-round pick Jason Maxiell saw some action too, hitting the only shot he took for 2 points in 2 minutes.

They are easily the best conditioned team in the NBA, there isn't anything to worry about.

10 people played in last nights game for the Pistons, who also played very well when they were behind. I don't know if you watched the game or not but I watched the whole thing and the bench contributed quite a bit, offense and defense.

The bench isn't going to play 30 minutes a game, 20 minutes a game seems right, 25 tops.

Nobody can beat the Pistons this year, sorry gowingsgo and Rampage, but it ain't happenin'. If you think they are good now wait 2-3 months down the road.

"With us, we didn't like the taste we had in our mouths all summer. No disrespect to San Antonio, but we knew we could have beat them in Game 7," Rasheed Wallace said.""

Edited November 16, 2005 by dallas27

[betterREDthandead 58]

Pistons win again, 115-100 over Boston.  Looks like Flip is developing a habit of relying extremely heavily on his starters in close games or when the Pistons are behind, as they were again tonight.  Hopefully he will learn to trust his bench a bit more....only Arroyo and Dice got so much as 11 minutes, Mo Evans with 10 was the only other reserve to play double digit minutes.  That will have to change or there will be a tired starting five come May.

First-round pick Jason Maxiell saw some action too, hitting the only shot he took for 2 points in 2 minutes.

They are easily the best conditioned team in the NBA, there isn't anything to worry about.

10 people played in last nights game for the Pistons, who also played very well when they were behind. I don't know if you watched the game or not but I watched the whole thing and the bench contributed quite a bit, offense and defense.

The bench isn't going to play 30 minutes a game, 20 minutes a game seems right, 25 tops.

Nobody can beat the Pistons this year, sorry gowingsgo and Rampage, but it ain't happenin'. If you think they are good now wait 2-3 months down the road.

"With us, we didn't like the taste we had in our mouths all summer. No disrespect to San Antonio, but we knew we could have beat them in Game 7," Rasheed Wallace said.""

15-20 minutes would be about right for the bench....but they didn't even touch 12 against the Celtics. Check out the last game against Boston, or any close one so far - same thing. The bench has only gotten significant time when the game is under control the whole way. Flip will probably learn to trust the bench a little more as the season goes on, but right now he's leaning very heavily on the starters.

I think it'll happen after the first loss....right now they clearly want to keep the streak going.