Expert Analysis and Breakdown:

"It ain't gonna be pretty."

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/3923/munchies4jf.gif

ok, seriously here's everyone has to say:

Yahoo.com - http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/playoffs/mildet
Bottom Line: Thanks for coming, Milwaukee. Hope you enjoyed your stay. Pistons in 4.
ESPN.com - http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2006/series?series=mildet

Pistons in 4
Pistons in 5
Pistons in [512/(8^2)] / (1.5/0.75)
Bucks-Pistons: Detroit's experience will be the determining factor in each fourth quarter, but the Bucks have the right combination of size, speed and shooting to keep up with the Pistons. Detroit in 4. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dailydime-060420
Pistons in 4
Pistons in 4. The Bucks got that deer in the headlights syndrome in this series. Fuck these bitchmade ass non ballers!


no official matchup thread yet, so this will have to do for now.

this wasnt the matchup i wanted.

chicago would have been more fun, and i think waukee was the toughest draw (good big men, redd, ford can play ok, etc).

shouldnt go more than 5. atleast i wont be distracted during finals.

Bring on the Bambis. and Micheal Redd fears aging*throwing the rogaine bottle at him*

What Devin said. Dude's chrome looks like a golf course.

I wanted Chicago as well, but this'll do. Pistons in 4.

Pistons in 5.

Why?

Because they always give away a 1st rounder.

I also think its the Pistons in 5. In that one game we lose, I think Redd will go for 40.

Other than that, we should c ruise

We did not want to get Chicago.... Those games are too heated and the last thing we need is Sheed picking up a couple of techs in the first round when he only has 6 to spare in the playoffs.

Pistons in 5.

Why?

Because they always give away a 1st rounder.



I agree with Taymelo.

Pistons in 5.

Why?

Because they always give away a 1st rounder.



I agree with Taymelo.
...
I agree with Glenn

I totally wanted the Bucks, not Chicago or the Pacers.

We spent too much energy leading up to playing the Spurs last year. An easy series to start with would be nice. Hopefully the starters will be on the bench for the 4th quarter.

http://img-srv.everestwebworks.com/w2/Pictures/Photo%20Objects%201/Broom.jpg

http://img-srv.everestwebworks.com/w2/Pictures/Photo%20Objects%201/Broom.jpg [smilie=2thumbsup.g:

Good thing it's not the Pacers.

You don't want to let Jamaal Tinsley get ahold of a broom like that.

Good thing it's not the Pacers.

You don't want to let Jamaal Tinsley get ahold of a broom like that.

im sure carlisle wouldnt either. [smilie=anxious.gif]

Pistons playoff roster set (http://www.mlive.com/weblogs/fullcourtpress/index.ssf?/mtlogs/mlive_fcpress/archives/2006_04.html#133213), Amir and Acker sit.



Pistons playoff roster set
Here is the finalized playoff roster, nothing too unexpected.

Chauncey Billups
Kelvin Cato
Dale Davis
Carlos Delfino
Tony Delk
Maurice Evans
Richard Hamilton
Lindsey Hunter
Jason Maxiell
Antonio McDyess
Tayshaun Prince
Ben Wallace
Rasheed Wallace

You guys are going to get absolutely smashed by the Bucks. I am from Australia and Andrew Bogut is a God. He is unguardable. Get ready to cry you little Detroit bitches [smilie=arnold.gif]

You guys are going to get absolutely smashed by the Bucks. I am from Australia and Andrew Bogut is a God. He is unguardable. Get ready to cry you little Detroit bitches [smilie=arnold.gif]
http://slamonline.com/magazine/features/Bogut863.jpg
Yea he looks fearsome.

Michael Redd in 4 weeks

http://www.pagine70.com/1/telefilm/images/jeffersons.jpg

No Fear theres still hope
http://www.siubhan.com/sithacademy/art/rogaine.jpg

You guys are going to get absolutely smashed by the Bucks. I am from Australia and Andrew Bogut is a God. He is unguardable. Get ready to cry you little Detroit bitches [smilie=arnold.gif]

Just give him the dildo already.

You guys are going to get absolutely smashed by the Bucks. I am from Australia and Andrew Bogut is a God. He is unguardable. Get ready to cry you little Detroit bitches [smilie=arnold.gif]

Just give him the dildo already.
Not yet. He's too easy to bash :)...and its playoffs. Playoffs!!!!!????
http://www.wndu.com/sports/pics/pic_11716.JPG

Dingery dingos, mate! We just found ourselves a beaute of a dildo.

You guys are going to get absolutely smashed by the Bucks. I am from Australia and Andrew Bogut is a God. He is unguardable. Get ready to cry you little Detroit bitches [smilie=arnold.gif]

[smilie=iagree.gif]

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y174/oobir/bully.gif

Fuck outta here with this third-rate troll.

Come on guys. I bet you the Bucks win. Lets make it interesting. If the Bucks win then you have to cancel your Internet connection (which I know is your only reason for living) and if the Pistons win I will stop banging your sisters. Andrew Bogut is going to fuck all your boys up. At that time you will cancel your Internet, leave your room at your parent's house and go out into the real world. Reality can be scary at first but not as scary as the number of times you guys visit this forum in your sad daily lives. BAM MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Better..... but still pretty weak.

Ok, how about we upgrade you to a 2nd-rate troll?

"Bam?" Is it your hobby to pick up on American catch phrases and use them 15 years after they've stopped being cool?

Come on guys. I bet you the Bucks win. Lets make it interesting. If the Bucks win then you have to cancel your Internet connection (which I know is your only reason for living) and if the Pistons win I will stop banging your sisters. Andrew Bogut is going to fuck all your boys up. At that time you will cancel your Internet, leave your room at your parent's house and go out into the real world. Reality can be scary at first but not as scary as the number of times you guys visit this forum in your sad daily lives. BAM MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/7940/bam9ld.jpg

LOL. Yeah, we're the losers. Someday I hope I'm cool enough to be a Bucks fan, use the word BAM!, come up with original jokes that consist of sister banging, and take time out of my busy life to register at a forum just to call everyone a loser. That right there just screams winner to me.

Dildo this douchebag.

I dont know. I find this guy funny. his team barely makes the playoffs and he's talking shit like they wanted to play us~lol~. [smilie=applause.gi: This is the type of shithead i wanna see around here after we whoop his team to the edge of the universe and back. But he'd probally run for his life never to return rather than eat his proper crow.

I wonder if he lives near Pharaoh. That would be nice if Phar could whoop his ass and take photos. [smilie=angel.gif]

Define Irony - Trolling an Internet forum for hours just to tell people that spending time on the Internet is a waste of time.

Nice post knobjockey, keep up the shit about the Bucks being awesome and the Pistons being unable to guard Bogut.

Just remember it will be you that is biting the pillow after we fuck you with our big sweeping broom.

The last time we got Milwaukee in the first round, things worked out well for us. I expect similar results. This is OUR TIME.

I wonder if he lives near Pharaoh. That would be nice if Phar could whoop his ass and take photos. [smilie=angel.gif]

I'm wondering that myself.

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e390/bogutfan1/PSP/Bucks.gif

stolen from some site, somewhere.

I was talking to my buddies today about this series.

They're not NBA fans and when I said Milwaukee was the opponent they said "Bogut will make a difference"

I laughed, told them he's gonna have to deal with Sheed and his chances of "making a difference" are ZERO!

Sheed, even if he's not motivated will destroy Bogut.

And laugh his ass off while doing it!

http://www.phscardinals.org/IMAGE/webclass/Gloria/stuart.jpg

With Coach Stuuuuuuuuuart, I fear the Bucs.

105-87

105-87

Had to be posted

Yep.

Flip: 214
Bucks: 34

The Bucks haven't played on a Thursday all year, and there are no Thursday games in this series.

The Bucks haven't played on a Thursday all year, and there are no Thursday games in this series.

Well that's because TNT didn't want their games. There are probably quite a few teams with no thursday games for the year. Obviously the Atlanta, New Orleans, Portland, etc are most likely.

This will be something to keep an eye on...

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dailydime-060424


Bucks not crying foul, yet

By Chris Sheridan, ESPN Insider

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Milwaukee Bucks coach Terry Stotts was sitting by himself in the corner of the visiting locker room some 45 minutes after Game 1 had ended, keeping all the bullets in his gun for use another day.

His team had attempted as many foul shots as the Detroit Pistons had missed, but Stotts wasn't going to gripe publicly about the 34-10 disparity in free throws attempted. There may come a time when he'll have to, but that time has not yet arrived.

"I'm not going to do that tonight," Stotts said.

I pointed out that his team had been treated like an eight seed, which is pretty much what he should have expected coming in.

"Yeah, that's about how I saw it," Stotts said. "Them and San Antonio are probably the two most physical teams in the league, yet both of them go to the foul line more than anyone else."

Stotts was simply stating the facts and wondering aloud in the final minutes before he exited The Palace for the quick flight back to Milwaukee to plot some kind of strategy change for Game 2 Wednesday night. More than needing to get his team to the line, he needs them to get back on defense.

The Bucks were outscored 21-7 on fast-break points and 24-8 at the line in a game that was a quintessentially typical Pistons victory. Detroit was ahead by six at the half, boosted the lead up to 19 in the third quarter, got bored and let it slip to four early in the fourth quarter, then put down the hammer with a 9-0 run over the next 2:39 to turn it back into a blowout.

"I thought we competed well and we came back against them, and we've played them well before," said Stotts, whose team went to the line only four times in the second half to Detroit's 24.

Two of those Pistons free throws came early in the third quarter after T.J. Ford and Andrew Bogut both drew technical fouls. Bogut wasn't giving up the secret of what he said to the refs after he tried to draw contact in the low post against Antonio McDyess and shot an airball that led to a 24-second violation, but McDyess provided an eyewitness account.

"He kept saying 'If that was Rasheed Wallace you'd have given it to him.' He came back down and said it again, I think, and they called the tech," McDyess said. "I think that's a good thing for a rookie. It lets them know he's a got a little fight in him. A rookie getting a tech in a playoff game, you don't see that much."

Bogut played a team-high 39 minutes and shot 5-for-13 for 10 points with eight rebounds -- none on the offensive end. The two players he defended had much better stat lines (Rasheed Wallace scored 22 points and McDyess had nine points and 10 rebounds), but Bogut and his teammates were not totally discouraged.

"Man, they put up points quick, but we just have to try to withstand some of those runs," Ford said. "How many fast-break points did they have, 21? And 24 points on free throws? If we can limit half of that, we'll be better off."

If not, expect Stotts to empty his gun prior to Game 3. It may be his lone opportunity to give his team a chance in this series.

Scott Skiles and mark cuban have started a revolution of whining and hating on the pistons. he should tell his team not to foul people when they get beat to the basket. shit the bucks did so much hacking that the refs let them get away with some hilarious cheap shit(like when magloire assbumped tay into the camera after he got the rebound).

This tactic will be everyones tactic. it'll probally soften the refs up by the time we get to the heat. Then Shaq will be elbowing us to no end, wade will go to the line 25 times, and they will still complain about the calls being slighted towards the pistons. [smilie=baby.gif]

Another sportswriter slams the Pistons for being "too boring"....


Five Pistons starters vs. Redd: You do the math
Posted: April 24, 2006


Michael Hunt
E-MAIL


Auburn Hills, Mich. - On the whole, I would've rather been somewhere more exciting, but the Greater Detroit Society of Philately was closed Sunday night. So was the Oakland County Fellowship of Bottle Cap Collecting.

This is meant in the kindest possible way, but to watch the Detroit Pistons play basketball is the amusement equivalent of an evening before a junkyard crusher. And right now, the Milwaukee Bucks are the '74 AMC Pacer. The roof and the windshield, along with a couple of tires, have collapsed. It's only a matter of time now.

The optimum descriptive term, one would take it, is "grinding." Pistons coach Flip Saunders used it several times after the 92-74 defensive pulverization of the Bucks, who have about as much of a chance in this series as Lindsey Hunter does to make a playoff jumper.

That is not to say that the Bucks played neither hard nor semi-well in limited stretches during Game 1 at the Palace of Auburn Hills. They did, but truth be told, this series is Pistons vs. Pistons. As long as Detroit maintains its interest against the mind-numbing realization that it still has anywhere between 15 and 27 games left before desensitizing the NBA-watching part of country on the way to a second title in three years, there isn't much the Bucks can do except assume the position.

You could measure the difference between these teams in many ways - the NBA's best against a playoff qualifier with a losing record would be the most superficial - but the most telling would be a post-game quote from Bucks coach Terry Stotts.

"One of Detroit's strengths," he said, "is it's hard to concentrate on one guy."

Could the Bucks be any more the anti-Pistons in that regard?

The sum of Detroit's game plan was pretty much like Darth Vader sending the entire force of The Empire against one Luke Skywalker and a bunch of Jar Jar Binkses. The Pistons ran two or three defenders at all times against Michael Redd, who got off but 15 shots in 36 minutes and made just four. Naturally, this frustrated Redd to no end, but what are you going to do if you are the Pistons? Redd was the only reason the Bucks were reasonably competitive against Detroit during the regular season, so why not give generous leeway to the other four? Seriously, is anybody else on that 36% shooting team going to make a shot against that defense?

It's easy to say that Redd, who had one assist, should've passed the ball more, but to whom? It would also help if he didn't take the ball into the teeth of Detroit's defense, but the Pistons' gaping jaws cover a discouraging swath. That cannot be a happy Game 2 thought for Redd.

"I expect them to come even harder," he said.

So again the Pistons will grind defensively and turn every loose-ball opportunity into points until the Bucks are reduced to mush. PistonsBall may be excruciating to everyone outside the Palace walls but the thing is, they bore you to a certain demise.

That doesn't mean there weren't moments of levity in the otherwise grim workmanlike atmosphere cast by the Pistons. To say Rasheed Wallace is a different cat would be like saying the Michigan economy could use a B-12 shot; he spent timeouts giving ex-Bad Boy Rick Mahorn righteous grief for a really funny spot Mahorn cut with Bill Laimbeer. Under different circumstances, the Bucks would laugh, too.

How is it possible that someone who is supposed to be an expert on the subject of basketball has no appreciation for the game is supposed to be played. Pistons basketball is some of the most exciting basketball played. Why would you want to watch one guy dribble for 20 seconds and try to make a miraculous play in the last 4, while the rest of his teammates watch from the wings. And boy is it fun to watch a team not bust their ass on the defensive end and allow that one person to make his miraculous shot. That article is the most ridiculous thing i've read in some time. If anything the high pressure defense leads to the exciting fast break opportunities.

How is it possible that someone who is supposed to be an expert on the subject of basketball has no appreciation for the game is supposed to be played. Pistons basketball is some of the most exciting basketball played. Why would you want to watch one guy dribble for 20 seconds and try to make a miraculous play in the last 4, while the rest of his teammates watch from the wings. And boy is it fun to watch a team not bust their ass on the defensive end and allow that one person to make his miraculous shot. That article is the most ridiculous thing i've read in some time. If anything the high pressure defense leads to the exciting fast break opportunities.

Becasue his team is getting its ass handed to it.

The writers can shove their collective pens up their asses. Who gives a fuck what they think?

Best part about being a champion (or fans of a championship team) is all the hate you get. I love it.

Terry Stotts might want to check his stats. SA is 29th in FTA/pg and Detroit is 26th. "Simply stating the facts", huh Sheridan? Guess what city that hack went to college at, and you wouldn't be wrong if you said Milwaukee. I can't believe they make you pay to read that turds blog.

Michael Hunt is just being a homer, and I'm fine with that. It's not like you have to pay money to read his nationally syndicated blog, unlike Chris 'Poopdick' Sheridan. But let's be honest here, it's not like the Milwaukee Bucks are the Phoenix Suns. They're not some well-oiled offensive machine. The Pistons are a more efficient offensive team, and they're lightyears ahead of them on the otherside of the court. I'm really sorry we just don't let you score, douchebag.

The league is definitely favoring the Pistons and Spurs, because we both know they're ratings powerhouses.

[smilie=stern_sig.g:

The guy's name is "Mike Hunt".

Say that out-loud a few times, and then let me know if you still care what he thinks about the Pistons.

Assassin-like.

The guy's name is "Mike Hunt".

Say that out-loud a few times, and then let me know if you still care what he thinks about the Pistons.

LMAO! I thought I was the only one that noticed that.

Assassin-like.

It seems to me... anyone...can be an assassin.

http://www.movieactors.com/freezeframes510/NakedGun48.jpeg

The league is definitely favoring the Pistons and Spurs, because we both know they're ratings powerhouses.

[smilie=stern_sig.g:
Well played Com.

more smear tactics from the Wisconsin media....


Chris McCosky's guide to Game 2

Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

 Apparently there are those in the greater Milwaukee area who think the Pistons have resorted to Bad Boys tactics against their Bucks. A fan posted this on the Racine Journal Times website on Tuesday: "Same old Pistons. They have always been one of the dirtiest, most egregiously illegal teams in the NBA and Flip (Saunders ) was on the (Minnesota) Gophers team that assaulted Luke Witte , so he's no choir boy, either."

 Saunders thought that was pretty funny.

 "That's wrong," he said. "But don't let the facts get in the way of a good story. I wasn't on that team."

 Saunders came to Minnesota two years after the infamous Minnesota-Ohio State brawl. He will neither confirm nor deny his being a choir boy.

When 'Sheed speaks

 You know it's the postseason, because Rasheed Wallace has not only amped up his game, he's amped up his interview sessions. On Tuesday, he offered these gems:

 
# What adjustments do you think the Bucks will make? "I haven't the slightest, but they better come up with something because we're ready. This is what we've been waiting for all year."

 
# Are the Bucks' two big centers forcing you to shoot more from the outside than you would like? "I go wherever my shot will take me. They give me that tramp (three-pointer), I will bang (make) that tramp. Give me the low-post, and I will go in the low-post. If it's a mid-range J (jump shot), then I'll knock that down. It don't matter. Anywhere on that 94 (foot court) is my range."

 
# Are you the team's emotional spark plug? "Nah, guys on this team have emotion. I just show it. Guys on this team have passion. I just express mine a little more."

Bucks: Set the pace

 It's pretty clear what the Bucks aim to do in Game 2. To unlock their offense, they are going to try, somehow, to force the Pistons into a more open-court game. They are going to push the tempo and try to attack before the Pistons can set their defense.

 "We haven't seen their best punch," Chauncey Billups said. "Not even close. But they haven't seen our best, either."

 Bucks forward and former Piston Joe Smith said he and the other Bucks front-court players were going to have to step up to help Michael Redd .

  "I just have to knock down a couple of more shots," he said. "Our penetration got me some good looks. Ben (Wallace ), Rasheed (Wallace ) and (Antonio ) McDyess are coming to help on the penetration, so it's just up to us."

 Added center Jamaal Magloire : "We're confident in our game plan; we're confident in our personnel."

Pistons: Move the ball

 The Pistons weren't overly pleased with their offense in Game 1.

 Coach Flip Saunders pointed out that of the Pistons' 75 field-goal attempts in Game 1, 50 came off one pass or none.

 "We have to get back to playing our game, moving the ball, making the extra pass," he said. "We have to get back to making easy plays. We tried to make too many spectacular plays. We had 21 fast-break points and we should've had 40. We butchered about six or seven breaks trying to make too hard a play."

 The Pistons only had 17 assists in Game 1, seven below their season average.

 "We have to get more people involved," Saunders said.

Rock and a hard place

 What do the Bucks do? Do they do more things to create shots for Michael Redd , or do they try to exploit what the Pistons defense is allowing -- shots for other players?

 "It's a Catch-22," Flip Saunders said. "They have had success because Redd gets off and others play off of him. But, as a team, it's tough to change the way you play after you have played a certain way for 82 games. It might work for a little while. But over the long haul, it might be tough."

 Redd sounds like he wants to keep the status quo: "I don't want to force bad shots," he said. "That does nothing but defeat the purpose. I have to get my teammates involved a little more, and we've got to find ways to get me open."

Keep your eye on

 The Bucks did a good job in Game 1 of keeping the ball out of Chauncey Billups ' hands. He had 14 points and seven assists. They paid for that, though, by way of Rasheed Wallace 's 22 points. Wallace expects a different strategy tonight.

 "They will probably double-team me," he said. "That just means somebody else will be open to do damage."

 Said Flip Saunders : "They made a concerted effort to stay on Chauncey. But if you do that, you are just putting the ball in 'Sheed's hands. That's the decision you have to make. Fortunately, both Chauncey and 'Sheed have the ability to make the right decision and find the guy who is open."

Number three

 Flip Saunders was the Eastern Conference's coach of the month for the first three months of the season and his team finished with the best record in the league. Yet, he placed third in the coach of the year balloting.

Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson won the Red Auerbach award going away, getting 419 points. Phoenix's Mike D'Antonio was second (247) and Saunders third (223).

Saunders did get 18 first-place votes, though.

Sound byte

 You have to love those TNT guys.

 Kenny Smith asked the other night, "You say to yourself, 'What would beat the Detroit Pistons?' "

 To which Charles Barkley replied, "The 1986 Celtics."

...and a breath of fresh air, from Mike Hunt of all people....


Just quit whining and play basketball
Posted: April 25, 2006

Michael Hunt
E-MAIL

Auburn Hills, Mich - Although the outcome of their first-round playoff series against Detroit is as inevitable as a $50 fill-up, there are a couple of things the Milwaukee Bucks can do to maintain their dignity and, who knows, maybe even win a game or two.

They've got to stop whining about the officiating.

And if they don't like the Pistons' physical play, then shut up and try to match it.

It was disappointing, really, to hear the Bucks complain about Detroit's clutch-and-grab defensive style after just one game. After all, the Bucks are a playoff team. It is time for them, beginning tonight in Game 2, to can the whine and act the part.

It's been a couple of years since they've been on this elevated stage, but surely the Bucks recall that playoff basketball is different from regular-season basketball. It contracts to the half-court. Referees tend to allow more because it is time to let the players to determine the results. And certainly they know that the Pistons are all about physicality and aggression, anyway.

There is but one solution, and that is to get tougher because these, after all, are the playoffs.

They say that Rip Hamilton is holding Michael Redd, who got off only 15 shots and failed to score from the outside in Game 1, save for a running 12-footer in the beginning of the game? Then it is time for Redd, with the help of his teammates, to fulfill his role as a maximum-contract player and rise above it. It does not help when coach Terry Stotts makes a point of the Pistons' tactics as he did Monday, and again at least three times Tuesday. Because Detroit did not play particularly well Sunday, the Bucks are only poking a metaphorical stick into the figurative hornets' nest.

You can imagine how Stotts' comments played Tuesday at the Pistons' practice facility.

"Rip has become 6-7, 250 pounds," Detroit coach Flip Saunders said.

The Pistons can afford to be, ahem, flip because they're dealing from a serious position of strength. But they also have a point when it comes to the Bucks' complaint about the 34-10 free-throw discrepancy in Game 1. Both teams fouled about as much Sunday night as they did on average during the regular season. The Pistons claim they haven't changed, and to an extent that is true.

"Hey, we're just playing, man," Rasheed Wallace said. "Ain't got nothing to do with being extra physical. That's the way we've been playing all year."

But they did alter their defense against Redd, who averaged 30 points against the Pistons during the season, by running two extra defenders at him.

"Do we play hard? Yeah, we play hard," said Saunders. "Did Rip do a good job? Yeah. But the one thing that was different from the games before was that we gave no weak-side help off of Redd. He wasn't going to have as much breathing room.

"Hey, listen. They played hard, too. They were holding Rip, too. It was not like Rip was open all over the place. That's the way the game is going to be played. What has to happen is players have to adjust to those situations."

Saunders continued the gamesmanship by saying the NBA had issued a pre-playoff memo advising teams to not talk about officiating. "Hopefully the league will abide by what has been sent out," he said.

Better yet, the Bucks should censor themselves, but not because David Stern says so. No one respects a complainer. It's time for the Bucks to earn respect.

damn, this is a sobering article....if you're a Bucks fan.


Going against Pistons an exercise in futility
By MICHAEL HUNT
mhunt@journalsentinel.com
Posted: April 26, 2006


Michael Hunt
E-MAIL


Auburn Hills, Mich. - It was almost as if the Milwaukee Bucks' protestations had been recognized and granted: 29 points for Michael Redd and more free-throw attempts than the Detroit Pistons.

And still it did not matter.

Even with this first-round series going to the Bradley Center, where the Bucks' comfort level might be the only thing that will be enhanced, you get the distinct feeling that they will have no better shot against the Pistons than they had Wednesday night in Game 2. The 109-98 loss may very well be recalled as the apex of their 2006 playoff experience, as good as it's going to get for the Bucks.

They freed Redd from Detroit's vise-grip defense, and still it did not matter. They were more aggressive, willing to take on the Pistons' physicality where they did not in Game 1, and still it did not matter.

Because here's the thing about the defending Eastern Conference champions and soon-to-be NBA champs: Adjust reasonably well as the Bucks did with two days to amend their passive ways of Game 1, and the Pistons will merely - and casually - find another way to beat you down.

Credit Bucks coach Terry Stotts for devising a way to speed the game up, because it was the absolute only chance his team had to liberate itself from Detroit's certain-demise half-court jaws of destruction, but again, it just doesn't matter. That's because the Pistons are as adaptive as a chameleon, changing their methods of annihilation to fit the occasion. Coax them into running, as the Bucks did Wednesday, and they will scorch you with 28 fast-break points and 10 three-pointers, a lot of them made in transition.

"That's our game," Redd said.

Well, not when the Pistons decide to co-opt it.

"We're not playing Milwaukee," said Detroit coach Flip Saunders. "We're playing ourselves."

That's really no slap at the Bucks, just the stone-cold truth. And that's why it's hard to be overly critical of the Bucks in this series - outside, of course, that they brought Detroit on themselves with their late-season collapse - because the Pistons are in a whole different class.

Take, for example, Charlie Bell, who has received a lot of favorable press because he was one of the original Flintstones, the local heroes from nearby Flint who once led Michigan State to glory. But as likable and hard working as Bell is, he cannot be one of the Bucks' leading scorers in the playoffs. That means a number of high-priced players outside of Redd aren't coming through for the Bucks, even with all the defensive energy the Pistons are expending on Redd.

Yet again, would it really matter against Detroit's powerful and versatile lineup? Five different players scored the Pistons' first five baskets, a stark contrast to the Bucks' primary reliance on one guy. And the one advantage the Bucks seemed to have entering the series, a deeper bench, has eroded with the loss of Toni Kukoc and now maybe Mo Williams.

But of all the ways the Pistons can dominate, the one that has to frustrate the Bucks most is how Detroit toys with them. Every time the Bucks cut the lead to a seemingly workable margin, the Pistons react with a barrage of points from every point on the floor. Most of the damage occurs immediately after timeouts, indicating the Pistons are in complete control of this thing.

And now the Bucks are coming home, not that it will matter.

From a selfish standpoint, this is exactly why I didn't want to play the Bucks. Booooring! There's no drama at all. Hell, even the Bucks beat writers are bored as hell.

Now from a team standpoint, this is the best possible scenario, especially if Flip can get our starters off the fucking floor before there is a minute and a half left when we're up by 16.

Wake me when the next series starts.

From a selfish standpoint, this is exactly why I didn't want to play the Bucks. Booooring! There's no drama at all. Hell, even the Bucks beat writers are bored as hell.

Now from a team standpoint, this is the best possible scenario, especially if Flip can get our starters off the fucking floor before there is a minute and a half left when we're up by 16.

Wake me when the next series starts.

Get ready for continued boredom the next rd be it Wash or Clev. The Pistons really lucked out with their road to the ECF this year. Actually they earned it but all the same.

Of course you will,have to be okay with getting beat over the head with LeBron playoff story or Arenas's Piston revenge story.

I'd rather we play Lebron and the Cavs next, just so the media can hype up LBJ and compare his games to Michael Jordan's from back in the day.

This way we get to re-live past glory while enjoying the current glory.

A good time will be had by all. Well, all Detroit fans.

Flip said...

"We're not playing Milwaukee," said Detroit coach Flip Saunders. "We're playing ourselves."


OUCH! That is one the coolest things I'ver heard a coach say in years.

I know he didn't mean it as a hack on the Bucks, but its like "who are we playing again? or 'it doesn't matter who we are playing. That has to sting a little if you are the Bucks.

If Daly said this about the Celts in 87, 88, 89, it would be headlines.

Great line, funny as hell.

I'm not much of a Flip fan, but I will give him one thing. He has some great lines. My favorite line of the year was when he was informed that Pippen said the pistons forgot how to play defense, he answered "He musta had a migraine when he said that"


Fucking Genius.

Doesn't Flip do magic tricks?

If not, he should.

He looks like a guy that would know a few magic tricks.

He's got a few tricks up his sleve.

Ok that was gay.

But he does do magic.

"Because here's the thing about the defending Eastern Conference champions and soon-to-be NBA champs: Adjust reasonably well as the Bucks did with two days to amend their passive ways of Game 1, and the Pistons will merely - and casually - find another way to beat you down."

What a turnaround: In days, the guy goes from thumbing his nose to deepthroating. What versatility!

Part of an ESPN Insider article.

HOT: Tayshaun Prince (PER 21.40). If you haven't watched much of the Pistons-Bucks demolition, I can't say I blame you. But here's the salient fact from that series: Prince is killing Bobby Simmons (PER 8.46). Maybe he's mad that Bobby got more money this summer, or maybe he just has better help. All I know is Tayshaun's numbers in the first two games are 18.5 points, 7.5 boards and 53.9 percent shooting, while Bobby has 16 points combined and hasn't taken a foul shot. There's plenty of blame to go around for the Milwaukee side, but if Simmons doesn't at least play Prince to a draw in his first-ever postseason series then the Bucks truly have no chance.

LMAO

Bobby Simmons just got Hollingowned.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060427/SPORTS03/604270647/1051


NOTEBOOK: Ford guarded Rip Hamilton instead of Redd. "Part of the thinking is not to have Michael chase around screens as much, take out the one-three pick-and-roll, put a bigger guard on Chauncey," Stotts said. "You saw down the stretch they tried to post T.J. with Chauncey. I think Chauncey's probably more of a post threat than Rip is."

Hey Stotts, remember earlier in the season where Rip was just posting up Ford, trying to show he figured out a few things since being flustered by Tony Parker last playoffs? Apart from the ankle, what makes you think he won't do that again and again? Oh, and as for that bigger guard on Chauncey -- good idea! It's clear that Chauncey is having trouble deciding if he should score or if any of the few thousand open Pistons around him should.

"I think Chauncey's probably" = coach who has no fucking idea of what to do

Fun fun fun...

I have an important question about this series that has really been bothering me.

Does Bogut die his hair black? It sure looks like it.

Yup, he dyes his hair. It used to be Darko bleach blond at one point:

http://www.castefootball.us/images/temp/cbc4f3f9cf21abf1e2c9a6b092111fac.jpg

Lol!!!!!

http://www.hoopshype.com/milicic_pistons.jpg+http://www.geocities.com/nbarookies/darko_milicic.gif = http://www.castefootball.us/images/temp/cbc4f3f9cf21abf1e2c9a6b092111fac.jpg

So to summarize:

1. Flip knows some magic tricks

2. Bogut dies his hair and looks like Darko's more talented brother. (They are both Serbian, right?)

3. This series is almost over

3. This series is almost over

Game 4 isn't till Monday

2. Bogut dies his hair and looks like Darko's more talented brother. (They are both Serbian, right?)

No. Bogut is Croatian. Darko was born in the former Yugoslavia (now serbia).

2. Bogut dies his hair and looks like Darko's more talented brother. (They are both Serbian, right?)

No. Bogut is Croatian. Darko was born in the former Yugoslavia (now serbia).


Both Mexican.

Darko's a strange name for a Mexican.

He certainly doesn't have the work ethic of a Mexican.

He certainly doesn't have the work ethic of a Mexican.


That might be the best Darko bash you've ever done

I also think its the Pistons in 5. In that one game we lose, I think Redd will go for 40.

Other than that, we should c ruise

Shit I was right...

Well, it will be interesting to see how (if) Flip adjusts after that beatdown. Even though it's a meaningless loss as long as we take care of bussiness from here on out, the Bucks clearly showed they can beat us on any given night. A loss in game 4 would be brutal.

can we please stop double Ford evertime he drives to the basket? i mean all he does is drive and dish...we cant give them open jumpshots on the perimeter, they obviously can score...also RIP is clearly bothered by his injury on the defensiv end, he cant stay with Redd at all....now it wouldnt hurt if Ben and Tay show up at all and beat the shit out of Magloire and Simmons on monday.

Ben Wallace needs a makeup game tomorrow. More than anything, he played really fucking passive and it rubbed off on everyone else.

Seems like they decided that rather than play solid team defense that they'd rather just try to block every shot.

I don't think I've ever seen the Pistons bite on so many pump fakes.

Yeah, I noticed that too, KStat. He didnt seem 1 bit agressive as he usually is. I have no doubt in my mind that Ben is going to come out and grab 20 rebounds next game. The bucks are pretty much done.

Oh yeah: and I agree with Ben Wallace: When Sheed is cooking like that, FORCE Milwaukee to double-team him. Keep feeding him until he startes to break down their defense.

Redd doesnt concern me, because he scored so many baskets in transition. We take that away, and we can keep his numbers down.

Redd aint shit. If He gets his, and we turn off everyone elses water, then we're looking at a 5 game series. Last night, he was able to get everyone else involved. I doubt that happens to this team 2 games in a row.

The Sixers did the same shit to us last year, and a Redd-led Bucks took one from us at home a couple years back. God will have his little joke. We just have to work through it, and I'm confident we will. Ben and Tay need to get their head in the game... it's just that simple.

Yeahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!

Memo to anyone who thought we overpaid for Tayshaun Prince:

Please reference Bobby Simmons, $9M/yr:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3551

dude hasn't done squat in the playoffs.

Simmons is a pretty good player. Tay is just better.

Game 5 starts at 6:00? How the heck am I gonna get to the game, I usually dont get out of work till 5:30.

Simmons is a pretty good player. Tay is just better.

true, i'm just comparing them based on money. even i was a little worried we paid too much for Prince, but seeing how Tayshaun always seems to step it up in the playoffs and has put together some really nice games....i think we did very well.

tayshaun had 18 pts, 8 rebs, 7 asts, and 3 stls tonight VS bobby simmon's 3,3,3.

Game 5 starts at 6:00? How the heck am I gonna get to the game, I usually dont get out of work till 5:30.


I'm pretty sure that is incorrect. At one point and time game 4 was supposed to be played at like 3pm. Since most of these game times are TBA they just throw out random times. It'll be on at 7 at the earliest. TNT has to play Law and Order at least once a day.

Which Law & Order? There are like 45 different versions.

game 5 will start at 8PM most likely.

There will be 2 games 5's wednesday: Cavs/Wizards and Bucks/Pistons.

There's a 7pm slot on TNT and an 8PM slot on NBATV.

I'll let you guys guess which game is going where.

everywhere says 6pm and blaha said it during the game.

i think it is 6.

http://www.nba.com/pistons/playoffcentral/index.html

There is not going to be a game before 7PM on a week day.

alright blaha is wrong, espn is wrong, the pistons site is wrong.

i am just reporting what i read and heard.

they obviously have another game they want to show at 8:30, thats my only guess.

everywhere says 6pm and blaha said it during the game.

i think it is 6.

The NBA is probably trying to get both the Pistons and the cavs on TNT, instead of putting one of them on NBATV.

My guess is theyre going to have the cavs/wizards at 830.

alright blaha is wrong, espn is wrong, the pistons site is wrong.

i am just reporting what i read and heard.

they obviously have another game they want to show at 8:30, thats my only guess.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/scoreboard?date=20060503

is everyone lying diddy?

They won't have a game starting before 7. Show me once in the last 5 years when a playoff game started before 7PM EST on a weekday.

I can see it happening, since they have 2 eastern conference games on wednesday and no western conference games.

TNT obviously wants a double-header, so moving one game up to 6 and the next to 830 works.

They won't have a game starting before 7. Show me once in the last 5 years when a playoff game started before 7PM EST on a weekday.


i hope you are right.

Yeah, Pistons radio WDFN is announcing the game is at 6 and reminding everyone to get to the game early.

diddy will turn on his tv at 7:30, because everyone else is wrong.

6 pm?

Great, now I have to preempt my kid from watching Blue's Clues or Go Diego Go.

I feel like a shitty father, lol.

Go Pistons?!#@

That baby jaguar is adorable.

They won't have a game starting before 7. Show me once in the last 5 years when a playoff game started before 7PM EST on a weekday.

Last year, the Pacers had a home game start a 6:00 local time (they were on Central during the playoffs) against the Celtics.

now thats the way you end a series with a medicore team!

Dang. Couldn't they have waited a little longer. Just got off work, and the dang thing is over.

I'm sure WB will replay the game later.

Ok, on to the next series.

on a side note, the Pistons and the Spurs are #1 and #2 (tied) in points per game in the playoffs, lol. 107.2 ppg

link (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/stats/byteam?cat1=Total&cat2=team&sort=232&conference=NBA&year=postseason_2005)