http://www.michigan.gov/images/pistons_161141_7.jpg
featuring:
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http://photos1.blogger.com/img/199/2524/320/Chauncey%2C%20his%20wife%2C%20and%20Antonio%20McDy ess%20at%20Shock%20game.jpg
http://photos1.blogger.com/img/181/6440/320/Billups%20family.jpg
http://blacksportsonline.com/images/rip.jpg
http://blacksportsonline.com/images/billups_wife_copy.jpg
http://blacksportsonline.com/images/tayshaunfarrahprince.jpg

VS.
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featuring:
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6941/480/400/amyduncan.jpg
http://www.blacksportsonline.com/images/eva.jpg
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/040827/040827_ginobili_vmed.widec.jpg
http://chicago.comcastsportsnet.com/Images/Luke-A-Likes/LAbalkiGinobli.jpghttp://www.basketsession.com/images/titre_odc_flop.gif

Game 51: Detroit Pistons vs. San Antonio Spurs
TV: TV20 Detroit; Radio: WDFN 1130 AM - The Fan
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
The Palace of Auburn Hills - Auburn Hills, MI
Probable Starters | Game Notes | Injury Report | Tix

The skinny: The Spurs got the break they needed Tuesday night when Jason Kidd’s back flared up and he couldn’t play, allowing San Antonio a rare road breather that didn’t require anyone to play longer than the 30 minutes Tim Duncan logged. So even though they’ll be on the last leg of an eight-game road trip that started on the West Coast 18 days ago, they’ll be as fresh as a team in that situation could be. There’s also the not inconsiderable rivalry that’s existed between these teams since their memorable seven-game 2005 NBA Finals to fuel a prideful team. The big three – Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili – remain the core, and Bruce Bowen is still a lock-down defender. The supporting cast is either longer in the tooth or less consistent than in the past, though, one reason the Spurs are fighting to hang on to the No. 3 playoff seed behind runaway trains Phoenix and Dallas in the West.

What to watch: With visions of All-Star break beaches and Las Vegas neon dancing in their heads, which team will be able to block out the distractions and take care of business before heading into the break? The Pistons would love to carry an eight-game winning streak and its attendant momentum into All-Star weekend. San Antonio’s defense – at least until holding the Kidd-less Nets to 39 percent shooting and 82 points – had been more porous than usual of late. In weekend losses to Orlando and Miami, San Antonio gave up 100 or more points in consecutive regular-season regulation games for the first time since December 2001.

Special Night: Free Jason Maxiell Bobblehead Thunderstick vibrators for the first 500 female fans(Batteries included).

ROFLMAO!!!!!

good stuff, Gutz.

DAMN, i'll be at work tonight so i'll miss the game. should be a great one. we know these teams get up for this game.

I really hope class gets cancelled for me tonight (I can pray) so I can watch this game.

typo on pistons, somebody get the edit rebound assist on that please.

Class got cancelled for me tonight, but I don't get MYTV20 in Toledo.

I work at a school and go to a different school, neither are closed.

I have a feeling being that it's Valentine's day I won't get to watch it. Might have to tape it and watch it later tonight.

Great thread BTW Gutz.

I like that the Spurs played last night and had to travel.

Hopefully the snow delays their arrival until about 20 minutes before tip off.


I have a feeling being that it's Valentine's day I won't get to watch it. Might have to tape it and watch it later tonight.

http://www.posterpop.com/images/merchandise/designs/pizz/PZ03.gif

Game comes on at 4:30 and the wife gets home around 6 so I'm pretty much in the clear.

Pistons favored by 3.5 in my area. I was hoping for a pickem.

Game comes on at 4:30 and the wife gets home around 6 so I'm pretty much in the clear.

Pistons favored by 3.5 in my area. I was hoping for a pickem.
the luck of west coast time.

7:30 local residents for the record.

i doubt there are any delays. it's nice and sunny hear in Pontiac right now. Roads are basically dry.

4 different wagers for this game have been posted in the Sportsbook: http://wtfdetroit.com/forums/vbookie.php?

I was supposed to go to this game live but caught a case of VD.

First 2,500 womens get a red rose.

The 2,501st woman gets a stick in the eye.

"stick"

First 2,500 womens get a red rose.

The 2,501st woman gets a stick in the eye.
or

Special Night: Free Jason Maxiell Bobblehead Thunderstick vibrators for the first 500 female fans(Batteries included).

if i were a woman i'd be absolutely terrified.

Special Night: Free Jason Maxiell Bobblehead Thunderstick vibrators for the first 500 female fans(Batteries included).


SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING: DO NOT USE IF YOU ARE PREGNANT OR MAY BECOME PREGNANT, AS THE VIBRATOR WILL EAT YOUR BABY. KEEP AWAY FROM SMALL CHILDREN.

Yeah, not a very good start.

does Delfi ever guard Ginobli?

STOP SUCKING DAMNIT!

must.stop.dribble.penetration.


TAICEW

TAICEW ??? I don't even get one word.

Pistons defense would be fine if ...you know...

The spurs weren't going ape shit and Billups Sheed and Prince couldn't throw it in the ocean right now.

LOL. Glenn, you're getting carried away with this acronym shit.

Speaking of shit, it is synonymous with our team at the half.

TAICEW

Tim And 'Isco Cannibalize East... Westsiiide!!!

Bullshit call on Dyess.

We are playing like shit. Running up and down the court, missing shots, etc. But we coud still win this fugly thing.

No passing, forcing everything, crappy defense!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Delfino brought some real energy. Sheed played like absolute shit until five minutes left in the 4th. We looked awful but were still in the game.

"The Ailment Is Curable - Earl Watson"? It did have to do with dribble penetration.

Oh my God, Zekyl, you might just have it. Fucking brilliant.

Tony Parker was doing anything he wanted to out there.

Lindsey was getting abused by Jacque Fucking Vaughn.

When you make Jacque Vaughn look good, you lose.

The Answer Is Clearly...

Just read a post from somebody on another site that blamed the Pistons loss on Mason for not being at the game last night.

The team looked like they had planned vacations and didn't want to be there.

Way to show up stones. Now a 6 day wait for another game. Yay All-star breaks!

BTW, did I miss a Will Blalock injury of something? Last I knew they shut him down in a misguided hope that Flip would figure out how to play the point. I know Hunters back and all that's nice but I hope they haven't projected Flips inability onto Will. Kid can penetrate and dish. Develope that J and he's got a chance to be productive.

Charley rips CWebb a new one for last night's effort...

http://msn.foxsports.com/fe/img/Writers/header/227.jpg


Webber's game is more about finesse

Charley Rosen / Special to FOXSports.com
Posted: 9 hours ago

Before getting gored by the Spurs, 90-81, the Pistons have flourished ever since Chris Webber arrived in town. They'd won 11 of 14, and seven straight. Even with the loss, Detroit is still riding high with C-Webb in the lineup.

So let's put Webber under the microscope to dissect his performance and formulate an objective prognosis about the Piston's destiny.

Webber's stats vs. San Antonio
MIN FGM-A FTM-A REB A ST BS TO PTS
35 6-9 2-2 5 3 1 1 1 13

OFFENSE
For most of his court-time Webber was positioned at the high post. From there, he made several snappy reversal passes, and when his defender withdrew to protect the basket against ball-penetration, Webber uncorked his line-drive jumper to good effect. Early in the fourth quarter, he also executed a fundamental show-and-go that beat Tim Duncan for a layup. One of his assists came when he dropped an absolutely picture-perfect pass to Rip Hamilton who had made a sharp scissor-cut to the hoop. Yet most of Webber's touches at the high-post resulted in simple hand-offs.
His only turnover came when he threw a flat entry pass into Chauncey Billips that was easily intercepted.

http://msn.foxsports.com/id/6475182_36_2.jpg
This jam wasn't enough to help the Pistons to a victory on Wednesday night.
(Allen Einstein / Getty Images)

On numerous occasions Webber stepped into screen/roll position, but (except for one solid interior screen he set late in the game) he invariably failed to hold his spot long enough for any contact to occur. Time and again, Webber demonstrated that he'd rather slide away than take the hit. Unfortunately, without effective screens from both of Detroit's bigs, Hamilton's perpetual-motion curls, cuts, re-cuts, and fake-cuts simply didn't happen. As a result, Rip was responsible for creating most of his own scoring opportunities.

From a medium-post position, Webber was a more integral part of the offense. He tossed an absolutely gorgeous bounce pass to a cutting Tayshaun Prince, but a missed layup cost C-Webb an assist. A kick-out to Rasheed Wallace turned into an assist when Rasheed drained a 3-ball. With Webber catching the ball only two dribbles away from the ring, his reversal passes often forced the Spurs' defense to scramble — but his teammates had difficulty knocking down open shots.

Webber moved into the low-post five times:


Against Robert Horry, he dribbled in place once, then turned away from his defender and flipped in a jump hook.


Webber made the same move with the same results against Francisco Elson.
The next time he posted Elson, Webber tossed up a fadeaway jumper that missed.


As the result of a switch, he found himself in the lane surrounded by San Antonio's guards, but instead of looking to take advantage of his size and length, Webber never even looked at the basket and instead threw a meaningless pass-out.


The one time he posted Duncan, Webber did a couple of shimmies and shakes, then passed out without challenging TD.


His finest moments on offense came in an early offense sequence when he made a nifty catch-and-pass to Hamilton, who bagged a baseline jumper to give Webber his third assist. Credit his veteran status for another outstanding play: Webber executed a blatant 2-hand push that moved Bruce Bowen out of the play and cleared enough space to catch an incoming pass and throw down a modest dunk.

In all, he was solid if passive on offense. But Webber really didn't get sufficient touches to fully utilize his justly celebrated pass-work.

DEFENSE
Webber had mixed success on the few occasions where he was asked to defend Duncan. Twice he made solid plays when TD was stationed on the right box and attempted simple turns and flips. But whenever Duncan gained ground with his dribble, or made any kind of spin, Webber was reduced to either spectating or fouling.

Early on, Duncan lifted Webber with a clever head-fake and drove to the basket for an easy layup. Henceforth, Webber simply played Duncan loosely on the perimeter and barely contested any of the Big Fundamental's jumpers.

Webber was caught with his back to the ball in the first quarter, and wasn't aware of Brent Barry's scoring a layup until he turned and saw the ball dropping through the net. In general, Webber's off-the-ball defense was putrid. He was frequently caught out of position, or he failed to challenge penetrating guards, or he failed to recover after he showed, or he loafed in offense-to-defense transition. Indeed, Webber never actually ran at any time during the game. He either walked or half-trotted. Nor was he very aggressive in trying to capture any loose balls in his vicinity.

His solitary steal came when Manu Ginobili threw a pass that was 5-feet behind a cutter and hit Webber in his hands. His only blocked shot came when Horry was compelled to launch a desperation 3-ball as the shot-clock buzzed off.

A rebound every seven minutes (and one of his rebounds was totally unopposed) is adequate for a small forward, but is less than half of what a center is supposed to produce.

In other words, except the pair of effective stands he made against Duncan's out-of-control heaves, Webber's defense was horrid.

So, then, what do Webber's pluses and minuses auger for the Piston's post-season chances?

His finesse-to-a-fault game plan won't be very effective when the bump-and-grind money games roll around. His don't-touch-me-and-I-won't-touch-you screens will severely handicap Hamilton's ability to score within a team-oriented framework. His dead-legged movements in all directions limit the Piston's fast-break opportunities. His lack of overall intensity will prove downright demoralizing against the league's elite teams. And his limp off-the-ball play puts a huge hole in the Piston's once-famous defense.

Even so, Detroit probably has sufficient experience and fire-power to beat back their incredibly inept conference foes and survive into the finals. "Probably" is probably not what Joe Dumars had in mind when he signed Webber.

Charley Rosen is FOXSports.com's NBA analyst and author of 13 books about hoops, the current one being "The pivotal season — How the 1971-72 L.A. Lakers changed the NBA."

Sounds like he's pretty accurate, except that in most games since we got him he's been a very good rebounder. I agree his off the ball defense and picks need work. Hopefully his conditioning and injuries will improve enough that he can actually run again.

I'm upset he didn't mentions vocalization on D. He's Michael Curry-esque with that stuff. What? You think Chris just happened to know he was mic'ed for that game?

How did he go 6-9 and 2-2 from the stripe but only have 13 points? 6*2=12 + 2 free throws = 14

Maybe I got an A in calculus because I never had to add 12 and 2.

CWebb could be a lil more agressive on defense. When I played (and I was awesome I might add) my coach ALWAYS talked about peeps with 2 or less fouls. He said get more agressive.

How did he go 6-9 and 2-2 from the stripe but only have 13 points? 6*2=12 + 2 free throws = 14

Maybe I got an A in calculus because I never had to add 12 and 2.

Jumpshots = 2 points. Heal-lift shots = 1 point.

Jumpshots = 2 points. Heal-lift shots = 1 point.
You mean to tell me he only took ONE heal-lift shot all game? For shame!