I got so pissed watching this Game 5 tonight against Chicago. Pistons are starting to come back. Webber gets his second reverse dunk to cut the lead to 7. I'm LOVING Hunter's intensity he is coming with. He comes in the game and decides to give the Pistons a boost by bodying up Heins and disrupting their offense. As he does this, I can just sense an explosion by the crowd if they get a stop and bucket. Lindsey gets called for a reach and then Flip freaking blows it.

The camera goes to Flip as he calls out "3-2, 3-2" asking for a zone. I yelled, NOOOOO, what are you doing?! Hunter is finally giving some energy to the Pistons, they are on the verge of a run and he switches to zone. What happens? THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE CHICAGO! It's back up to 10, Pistons miss a shot, Sheed gets called for the T, back up to 14, GAME OVER. One simple decision turned the entire game. Horrible coaching move. Easy to say from your couch, but I hated this call and it cost the Pistons a chance at closing it out.

we had game 6 already and lost? damn, we're falling even faster than I thought....

I agree Tre, but I can tell you about another "Flip" turning point. I thought that Lindsey had been doing a great job all post season, but for some reason, in game 4, Flip decides to play his namesake, Flip Murray instead of Lindsey. Flip consistently forced up bad shots, turned the ball over and played lackluster defense. What in the Flip is going on here? I'm pissed.

my buddy actually mentioned this during the game too. something i never really thought about. it seems like lindsey or zone, never both.

If you thought Lindsey was great all post season, you're on drugs. He was terrible for every game except one.

Game 6?? I wish the Bulls had won game 6 :)
Way to look ahead though ;)

Isn't it funny how this version of the Pistons always seems to collapse when the other team finally makes adjustments? The Bulls didn't make any real adjustments until after Game 3.

If you thought Lindsey was great all post season, you're on drugs. He was terrible for every game except one.

Well, maybe not grrrrrreat, but he's done a good job of picking cats' pockets, always plays solid D, and even has knocked down a few shots. All Flip has done is dunk on the troll-ass Hinrich family.

Hey it's not Kirk Hinrich's fault his father is his uncle.

the man behind the meth hasnt been too good since he stopped getting hopped up on goofballs before tippoff.

as lambier would say, 'just about tiiiiiiiiiiiime to hang em up'.

Well, maybe not grrrrrreat, but he's done a good job of picking cats' pockets, always plays solid D, and even has knocked down a few shots. All Flip has done is dunk on the troll-ass Hinrich family.

Let's be real here. His D has been poor, and his O has been awful. In the playoffs he has 11 fouls (many of the "WTF was he thinking" variety) and 4 steals. He's shooting 13% from the field. He played well defensively in game 1 (as good as you can going scoreless in 20 minutes on 0-for-3 shooting), and has been terrible in the next 4.

Let's not confuse an aggressive defensive stance as good defense.

My thread would have probably read "Turning Point: Chauncey's 4th foul", but I agree that Flip doesn't have any kind of sense for when to make adjustments. Whether it's Dice/Webber allowing a Chicago layup line at the end of the 1st quarter (No Max, Dale to protect the paint?), or the game slipping out of control with Chauncey ridding the pine (what good are those 2 fouls when you're down 25 mid-way through the 4th?).

was there ever a time in his career when Lindsey could finish layups?
why does he keep thinking he's some sort of offensive beast waiting to be unleashed. sure PJ went off for a half tonight, maybe Lindsey thought he could have one of those nights too..

i absolutely cringe when he has the ball. will he ever understand that his first 3 options should be pass? 4th and 5th options should be pass too. but that would be too easy on the fans.

All I know is that Lindsey scored 7 points, locked down Hinrich, and took the Bulls completely out of their flow offensively. Get off me!

Bring back Tony "fucking" Delk.

Bring back Tony "fucking" Delk.

We could probably get him. He hasn't been so hot in Europe:
http://www.euroleague.net/competition/players/showplayer?gamecode=230&pcode=LFY
http://www.eurobasket.com/events/eluleb/06-07/eurol.asp?NewsNo=1&NewsType=2

Tony Delk the celebrated ex-NBA player for the Greens hardly left the bench and rumors said that most of the year he experienced a difficult time adjusting to top-level European basketball.

It may be a good idea to accept that this team does not have the quickness to stay solely in a man defense... The zone has to be used to cover asses.... this ain't your 2004 team.

It may be a good idea to accept that this team does not have the quickness to stay solely in a man defense... The zone has to be used to cover asses.... this ain't your 2004 team.

i miss "i'm mike james bitch!" from our championship year.
/objection/ withdrawn.

i miss "i'm mike james bitch!" from our championship year.
/objection/ withdrawn.
Seconded.

Shit I even miss Darvin Ham.

http://ronniemervis.com/love-advice/#comment-50

I'll never undertsand how you find this shit, Mxy.

But by all means, keep doing it.

I'm not sure what the hell is going on with this team but if it has a light switch, Flip doesn't know where it is. The only person that seemed to know where it is was Larry Brown. And that isn't a slur to Flip, I think he is a decent coach with the correct players. I'm just not sure he is the guy for this group.

Again, WTF is going on here? Flip Murray plays major minutes in the 2 games in Cleveland, and what do ya know, we're 0-2. I'm not blaming this all on Flip, but I don't understand Flip S.'s random insertions of Flip M. into the lineup. UGH!

Can Flip Saunders survive another playoff implosion?

(probably could be a seperate thread)

:mccosky:


Rising up

It's no longer just a slogan. LeBron James officially has risen. He, almost single-handedly, has carried the Cavaliers to three straight victories. His performance Thursday -- 48 points, 29 of the Cavaliers' last 30 -- was unprecedented in NBA history.

"We threw everything at him," Billups said. "We couldn't stop him."

How is that going to change -- especially with the Pistons second-guessing themselves and their defensive schemes?

That Wallace would shoo the coaches out before delivering his postgame rant was emblematic. The Pistons had been walking away -- literally and figuratively -- from the coaches' stratagems the entire night.

"To not be locked in, to have so much miscommunication with so much at stake, was disappointing," Billups said.

For whatever reasons, the Pistons never were on the same page. Defensive rotations were missed, allowing James to streak to the basket for two virtually uncontested dunks in the final two possessions of regulation.

On the first, Jason Maxiell was left alone to cover James at the top of the key. Maxiell wasn't supposed to switch onto James.

On the second, with Tayshaun Prince on James, all the help defenders inexplicably abandoned the lane.

The only success the Pistons have had against James was in their ability to wall him away from the basket.

Suddenly, with the game on the line, they either forgot that or failed to execute it.

Billups said messages delivered in the huddles weren't always being carried onto the court.

That is inexcusable, of course. And the blame falls as much on the players as it does coach Flip Saunders.

Major disagreements

Also inexcusable was the relentless internal bickering. It's not unusual to see the Pistons yelling at each other during games -- that is part of their familial bond.

It was a differentkind of bickering Thursday. It seemed players often were in disagreement with what was being called in the huddle. Wallace visibly was upset at several of Saunders' decisions. He voiced those vehemently to assistant Dave Cowens before the fourth quarter.

Webber, too, voiced his displeasure with some of the strategies. Prince, especially in the overtimes, seemed to be carrying on a running debate with Richard Hamilton and Billups over how situations were supposed to be played.

Wallace called out Billups on a couple of occasions for trying to do too much on his own.

"I ain't going to get on all of that because it's going to get too personal," Wallace said.

Blame to go around

The Pistons could not have picked a worse time to bail on the notion players play and coaches coach.

That's what Cowens appeared to be trying to stress to Wallace. Two victories away from the NBA Finals, a tie game with one quarter left at home, and now, 97 games into a season, you are going to start second-guessing the system?

It's inexcusable.

Some will blame Saunders for not being forceful enough. But he always has said his style always has been to give players just enough rope to hang themselves. He put a system in place that got the Pistons the No. 1 seed in the East, had them up 2-0 in the Eastern Conference finals, and had them in position to win in the fourth quarters of the last three games.

Suddenly, after a couple of late-game collapses, the players seemed to get antsy and bailed on the system.

Suddenly they had a better idea, they wanted to do it their way. And now they are one loss from getting hung by a young, hungry and united Cavaliers team.

Blame whomever you want. The reality remains the same.

The Pistons, who didn't practice Friday, had about 32 hours to vent, vanquish the demons from Game 5 and recommit to the task at hand -- solving the riddle of King James, lest he finally conquer the East.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070602/SPORTS08/706020359/1127/SPORTS0102