What happened to the team that averaged 97 ppg in the regular season? Where is the offense? What can be done to correct it? This isn't a one game thing, the most the Pistons have scored in the last six games was tonight's 86 (and most of those were meaningless at the end of the game).

We're going to have to hold the Heat to 75 or 80 ppg at this rate if we want to win the series, unless some adjustments are made.

its tempo, coaching, and execution. we are failing at all 3.

Our offense has been struggling since Game 3 of the Cleveland series. (Actually, more like the 4th quarter of Game 2).

Yes, flip saunders is the reason why we missed 50 open shots today.... lol

plain and simple, we missed open shots. There is no deeper reason.

If we get those exact game shots for 7 games, we'll win 5 of them.

I think our offense just ahd a carry-over effect from cleveland. They needed a game to get back into a good groove, even with all those good looks.

I guess we're still looking to duplicate the 2004 playoff run...

We lost game 1 of the ECF to Indiana that year as well.

Right now I am ashamed to be a Piston fan. The effort these asshole have given since the 3rd quarter of game 2 against the Cavs in embarassing. Flip deserves to go and Joe is on thin Ice. I'm sick of these arrogant asshole sleep walking through games. Blow the fucking team up. I hope Davidson moves the franchise back to Fort Wayne so I don't have to root for these fuckers anymore.

here's a theory and i want to know what you guys think. could it be that the opposing coaches have really been studying the Piston's offense, and they've found some good countermeasures? i know it's easy to think that they are just collectively ice cold and missing shots they normally hit.....but it seems to me that most of those shots are being contested. and how can a team that scored so well be struggling so badly? it started w/ Mike Brown making adjustments and i'm sure Riley's been studying game tape of the Cavs series to figure out what worked. i'm wondering if there are nuances that the opposing coaches have done to really mess up the flex-hyperbolic-offense-thing that Flip runs.

of course the discusssion will inevitably end with questions of why Flip isn't countering the adjustments.

maybe i'm way off.....just trying to make sense of this struggle we've been having to score.

It's laziness. There is no people movement at all. Rip and Tay are running off screens and cutting like they were early in the season. Most everything now is moving the ball around the perimeter and ISO garbage. That's the playcalling and laziness.

here's a theory and i want to know what you guys think. could it be that the opposing coaches have really been studying the Piston's offense, and they've found some good countermeasures?

Is teams were disrupting our offense, I'd agree with you.

Miami didnt do shit to shut us down tonight, though. We got some great looks and just couldnt put them down.

I'm sorry, I just dont see what coaching has to do with our players missing open shots. If this shit repeats itself in game 2, I'll agree that there's a problem, but for now all I see is us missing easy shots.

The only thing I'd change is getting Delk in the game more. Our guards had no gas left in the 4th quarter. Lindsey cant be our only reserve guard to get major minutes.

Dead legs compounded with lazy shot selection. We need some of the guys that havent been playing much (Delk, Evans, Delfino) to to get some minutes and give us a spark. I'll take those guys shooting on fresh legs over Billups, Rip, Tayshaun, Sheed shooting on tired legs anyday.

The starters just have no defensive intensity either. Watching Wade and J Will blow by Mr. Big Head made me want to puke. How the hell did that guy get 2nd team All-Defense?

Dead legs compounded with lazy shot selection.

Yeah, we got good looks, but some of them could have been better.

I think fatigue played a huge factor in tonight.

I say that with the exception of sheed, who took one good shot all night.

here's a theory and i want to know what you guys think. could it be that the opposing coaches have really been studying the Piston's offense, and they've found some good countermeasures?

Is teams were disrupting our offense, I'd agree with you.

Miami didnt do shit to shut us down tonight, though. We got some great looks and just couldnt put them down.

I'm sorry, I just dont see what coaching has to do with our players missing open shots. If this shit repeats itself in game 2, I'll agree that there's a problem, but for now all I see is us missing easy shots.

The only thing I'd change is getting Delk in the game more. Our guards had no gas left in the 4th quarter. Lindsey cant be our only reserve guard to get major minutes.

co-signed. The offense worked fine, the shots were there, they were mostly short. Dead legs played a big role in that..If we get the sam shots in game 2, we'll win going away. If they give us those shots all series, we'll win in 6 games. It's definitely NOT time to push that red button.

i dont know varsity, i think the heat are looking very sharp right now and are playing well collectively. It think we atleast need to lift the cover off the panic button

i dont know varsity, i think the heat are looking very sharp right now and are playing well collectively. It think we atleast need to lift the cover off the panic button

They had a week to prepare for this game and rest. Any team in the NBA would look sharp.

If they had lost, this series would be over.Tonight was their best chance to beat us.

I think the offense was fine, we just missed shots. I was very dissapointed in Billups' defense on Payton though. That let the Heat build a lead with Shaq and Wade in foul trouble.

I think the offense was fine, we just missed shots. I was very dissapointed in Billups' defense on Payton though. That let the Heat build a lead with Shaq and Wade in foul trouble.

I could say the same thing about virtually every aspect of his game in each of the last 8 post-season games.

1. Tired legs. No question, no argument to be had. Tired legs make jumpshots miss, and make players more inclined to shoot jump shots instead of working for a better shot.

2. Poor shot selection by the players - Sheed only shoots 3's and Chauncey'd rather shoot a 22 footer than drive on his man. I disagree that they got their shots but just missed them. That's true to some extent, but its oversimplification. They took a lot of "lazy" shots - no ball or people movement, no will to take it to the lane - just junk up a 20 footer - even if its open, its not a good shot, IMO. Its a lazy/tired shot. Sheed starts the game with a three? Have you EVER heard of starting as close to the rim as possible, and moving back from there once you've found your groove?

3. Poor coaching. I keep saying this - benches play better at home than on the road. Where was Tony Delk? Where were the backup big men? Sorry, I fell asleep in the 4th, but did Flip follow through on his claim that he would play Delfino?

As usual, everyone is making good points. There's enough blame to go around when you AVERAGE something like 35% shooting in the playoffs.

2. Poor shot selection by the players - Sheed only shoots 3's and Chauncey'd rather shoot a 22 footer than drive on his man. I disagree that they got their shots but just missed them. That's true to some extent, but its oversimplification. They took a lot of "lazy" shots - no ball or people movement, no will to take it to the lane - just junk up a 20 footer - even if its open, its not a good shot, IMO. Its a lazy/tired shot. Sheed starts the game with a three? Have you EVER heard of starting as close to the rim as possible, and moving back from there once you've found your groove?


Co-Signed.

Sincerely,

Larry Brown

but did Flip follow through on his claim that he would play Delfino?
yea, when pigs fly.

otherwise no, he doesnt follow through on half the things he says. but i'll leave it at that because his gay partner is around here somewhere looking to hop in on any negative thing thats said about his lover.

if we were just tired and missed shots........how come this offensive drought has been going on since Game 3 vs the Cavs? what's the probability that an entire team goes ice cold for 5 straight games?

also, it's a shame, because Tayshaun was actually taking it strong to the rack a bunch of times.......even getting some fouls on Shrek. i do hope he continues that.

Missed Shots. Thats whats wrong. We get open looks, we just brick em.

Missed Shots. Thats whats wrong. We get open looks, we just brick em.

that's all, then?

we went 82 games without losing more than 2 in a row.... during the regular season we averaged 45% FG as a team (slightly better than average) and 97 ppg.

how is it that during the last 5 games, we've been shooting probably in the 30% FG range and are stuggling to score?

i hope it's just coincidence that all 5 starters are shooting like crap and we'll get back in the groove by Game 2. it's just weird.

The Cavs were doing some good things defensivly. Miami was just a carry-over effect. They werent playing good defense at all.

Missed Shots. Thats whats wrong. We get open looks, we just brick em.

that's all, then?

we went 82 games without losing more than 2 in a row.... during the regular season we averaged 45% FG as a team (slightly better than average) and 97 ppg.

how is it that during the last 5 games, we've been shooting probably in the 30% FG range and are stuggling to score?

i hope it's just coincidence that all 5 starters are shooting like crap and we'll get back in the groove by Game 2. it's just weird.

No, it's not "just missed shots". They're getting similar looks, but this has been a trend all year. At the beginning of the year this team was unbeatable. Slowly but surely those shots started coming up a little bit short. More and more frequent. I think it wasn't quite as recognizable toward the end of the year because the bench really picked it up when Delk arrived, but you could see that all of the starters outside of Tayshaun significantly wore down as the season went on (If you didn't notice, Tayshaun was the only guy that didn't come exploding out of the gate). Now, the starters are playing even more minutes (and more intense minutes at that), and the bench isn't getting any burn to take some pressure off them. That's why this is happening.

Sure, you can be a jumpshooting team and still win in the playoffs, but you can't be a worn out jumpshooting team. That's the difference between these teams that can go inside consistantly and the teams that can't. No matter how tired Miami is they will be able to win if they execute because you don't need fresh legs to throw it in a layup or a dunk like you do shooting 20 footers.

Our defense is breaking down too. I'm thinking some coaches might have figured something out about our D, or our players don't have that defensive committment like we used to.

How many dunks have we 'witnessed' coming right down the lane, and no one was there? Even Walker did it last night, let alone Wade, etc.

I guess we can just go outscore teams, but we aren't getting stops at crucial times like we used to either. And Defense is why we won it all 2 years ago.

Our defense is breaking down too. I'm thinking some coaches might have figured something out about our D, or our players don't have that defensive committment like we used to.

How many dunks have we 'witnessed' coming right down the lane, and no one was there? Even Walker did it last night, let alone Wade, etc.

I guess we can just go outscore teams, but we aren't getting stops at crucial times like we used to either. And Defense is why we won it all 2 years ago.

Two Words... Chauncey Billups. Williams, Wade, Payton... All of them got uncontested layups against him. He just isn't "Bringing it" on defense. You can't rely on Ben to clean everything up down there when Shaq is in town.

Our defense is breaking down too. I'm thinking some coaches might have figured something out about our D, or our players don't have that defensive committment like we used to.

How many dunks have we 'witnessed' coming right down the lane, and no one was there? Even Walker did it last night, let alone Wade, etc.

I guess we can just go outscore teams, but we aren't getting stops at crucial times like we used to either. And Defense is why we won it all 2 years ago.
Two Words... Chauncey Billups. Williams, Wade, Payton... All of them got uncontested layups against him. He just isn't "Bringing it" on defense. You can't rely on Ben to clean everything up down there when Shaq is in town.

I agree with that. It seemed like everyone was blowing by Billups yesterday and when guys get off the line that easily, dealing with a help defender is much easier.

I agree with that. It seemed like everyone was blowing by Billups yesterday and when guys get off the line that easily, dealing with a help defender is much easier.
and one thing he should being doing to compensate is going for 30 points in the game on his end. he has to abuse williams until Pat takes him off the court like he did in the regular season.