OST: Eastern Conference Semifinals: (2) Detroit vs (3) Orlando, DET WINS 4-1

[Higherwarrior]

honestly i think we lose even if billups hadn't got injured. and as crazy as it sounds i think we should rest him for game 4 anyway. (although i doubt he can be ready for it anyway)

but stuckey showed he is more than capable of running the team and hurting the magic.

what lost us this game was the fact that we dug a hole early on and played the whole game trying to catch up.

we forced some really bad shots early in the game and then some silly turnovers and poor shot selection late when we were trying to close the game. we let them go on a run and let it get out of control.

our D was horrible (38 points given up in the 4th quarter after closing it to 4 points....?) and we did not contest shots like we should have.

but seriously- this is a team we can definitely beat even without billups. we just need to play our game.

another thing i noticed- FAR too much standing around on offense. we let 10 seconds run off the clock while we hold the ball and look around with NO movement by anyone else. that's a complete waste and leads to us forcing up poor shots late in the shot clock instead of moving the ball to the open guy and/or driving to the hole.

when howard is not in the game, we should be driving to the hole non-stop.

[Wilfredo Ledezma]

wait, is Chauncey for sure out on Saturady Tahoe??? (I didn't see Flip's post game presser)

I think we could win w/o him, it just wouldn't come as easy obvioulsy, but I'd still much rather see him play...

[Higherwarrior]

agree 100%. an added bonus to 'resting' billups (or really just letting him get healthy and not rushing him back) is that stuckey is playing and gaining valuable experience in a larger role. there were times tonight when he was our best player on the floor.

I have enough confidence in Stuckey and the rest of the guys to keep CBill out on Saturday. I think we could win a game in Orlando without him.

Worst case, we come home tied 2-2. If we come home 3-1, rest CBill the next game too.

We need him HEALTHY vs Bos/Cle winner.

[Tahoe]

Wil....No, Flip said they're shooting for him to play on Saturday, but they need to give these things a day to see how sore he really is. He said he is sore right now, but we'll have to see.

[Higherwarrior]

i don't think he's out 'for sure' but it's hard to imagine him being ready with an injury like that. it needs time to heal as it can very easily be re-aggravated and re-injured if he comes back too quick.

just looking at the injury i would guess he could be out for some time and to bring him back sooner is unwise if he's not 100%. but hopefully he can come back sooner if arnie can work his magic again.

in any case i think we NEED to take the cautious approach as we don't need him to win this series.

[Tahoe]

I agree with most of what you said bout CBill too, but that last line about when Howard is out we should take it to the hole.

I wouldn't change one damn thing with that guy. Go to the hole wheneve we want. I don't think he is good enough for us to have to make that kind of adjustments on.

[Black Dynamite]

If they keep shooting threes and we get our 2 points at the FT line, I'll take that any day.

Shooting 3's is not an issue, wide open ones are.

[Higherwarrior]

true except that our guys are not the best at finishing in the lane to begin with. and from what i've seen so far, we do not finish well with him in there- we are getting blocked or being forced to just throw the ball up there as he contests it.

you're right- sometimes the best thing is to go right at a shot blocker. but we have few finishers who i feel comfortable doing that with. for example......rip? good lord no- he can't finish on his own, much less when howard is coming at him.

what we need to do is take guys off the dribble- mr. stuckey i'm talking to you! and then swarm the lane and DISH. but even then it can be problematic as we saw tonight. we need to maintain our composure under pressure, that's all.

that will allow us to see the floor and make sound decisions- and often times it's something as simple as a PUMP FAKE and then either dish or go up, OR draw contact and get to the line. we seem to be rushing things a bit when we are in that situation right now.

hopefully a good film session will open our eyes a bit.

I agree with most of what you said bout CBill too, but that last line about when Howard is out we should take it to the hole.

I wouldn't change one damn thing with that guy. Go to the hole wheneve we want. I don't think he is good enough for us to have to make that kind of adjustments on.

[Black Dynamite]

True. Theres something to be said when pieces of shit like Keyon Dooling are getting wide open looks, I'm not worried about something like that being adressed next game..

I wouldnt be either if this wasnt the second str8 game we let it happen.

[Higherwarrior]

howard should have broken his leg when he was in there with 2 minutes left and they were up by 20.

that's not to say i wish anything bad on the kid, of course. just that i hate van gundy and want his blood for such coaching decisions. and for just generally being a prick.