Game 3: Pistons @ Heat (Sat 5/27, 8p ET, ESPN, Chat)

[Black Dynamite]

The refs did fuck us, though... totally killed momentum twice with obviously bad calls and no-calls. Even if Ben and Tay brought it tonight, we'd still have lost in an 8 on 5 game.

this was forseen in the stars.

Larry Brown raised the point after game 2 vs the Spurs that the Pistons were 1-7 when Danny Crawford or Ron Garretson officiated their playoff games. Of course we all know that it’s just happenstance that its turned out that way. If the Pistons just happen to play poorly when one of those two officials were on the court, that’s just the way it goes…..

as you can see i felt we'd lose too. hmmm where that danny crawford cast you to oblivion avatar?

[realistic]

LOL at anyone who has a problem with hack-a-Shaq. You call people who favor it bitch-made, but bitch-made is when you care more about style than substance. The substance was that Shaq wasn't hitting his free throws, we couldn't get a stop, and time was running out.

Shaq misses those freethrows, we get the rebound and go on to win the game--would you still be bitchin about it, would you still be whining that the Heat players would think less of us? WHO GIVES A FUCK WHAT THE HEAT THINK? Talk about bitch-made.

Well, we should have tried to get a stop.

Maybe, but we weren't getting stops. Wade was abusing us. We were trading baskets. Time was running out. We were going to lose. You complain about the lack of adjustments, but hack-a-Shaq was an adjustment.

People used to complain the the physical defense the Bad Boys played wasn't real basketball. What if our guys had said, "Oh, I don't like when people call our style 'bitchmade'. I'm gonna play the way other teams do."? We might not have those banners.

Shit, the Pistons have a history of using unusual tactics. The Fort Wayne Pistons used to freeze the balll against dominant offensive teams. They did what they had to do to beat a superior opponent. Probably some of you would call that bitchmade, but it worked. And the NBA (whatever it was then called) changed the rules to prevent it. It changed the rules after the Bad Boys, and it changed the rules again after we beat the Lakers.

Bitch-made? Maybe some of you would be better off as Suns fans.

[Black Dynamite]

LOL at anyone who has a problem with hack-a-Shaq. You call people who favor it bitch-made, but bitch-made is when you care more about style than substance. The substance was that Shaq wasn't hitting his free throws, we couldn't get a stop, and time was running out.

LOL@anyone who thinks we "need" to hack a shaq. because obviously they think we are the suns. we arent the heat, suns, or dallas. none of those teams are anything like us. we were built on getting stops. not begging for shaq to go cold from the line. the idea that calling the fouling of shaq a strategy is a joke within itself. Since we are applying whats good for the heat to us. lets start flexing after every free throw and crying about shaq fouling us with that "bumping stuff".

Also calling good defense "style over substance" is pretty far of a stretch. its about getting stops. hack a shaq is not a defensive stop, its "depend on Shaq" gamble and lacks any real substance of good defense. which is what we really need. I rather we control our own destiny and get our heads out of our asses. Instead of asking shaq not to make his free throws on a 50/50 gamble.

[Gecko]

Just about to write this and low and behold I see a Foster article writing on the same thing. My take on what's wrong is fairly simple and goes like this.... The team has lost respect for Flip and can be traced back to Ben's refusal to go into the game. You have now heard from one local writer and one national media type that there is some issues brewing in the Pistons locker room. I think this may not have a good ending here fellas.

http://sportsinferno.com/viewheadline.php?Headline=213

By Terry Foster
The Sports Inferno
MIAMI – We’ve seen the Pistons rally before. Orlando, New Jersey, Indiana and even the Miami Heat are teams the Pistons got themselves in trouble against before rallying and ending their seasons.

But now the Pistons must do it this season with a new skeleton. There seems to be a few cracks in team harmony as they prepare for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals Tuesday night at American Airlines Arena. The Pistons trail the series 2-1 and Chauncey Billups said outside of a Game 7 this is the Pistons biggest playoff game he’s been a part of.
The Pistons are fighting more than the Heat. There might be some inside fires they need to put out.

We saw Rasheed Wallace kick over a chair and refuse to shake his coach’s hand Saturday night. Players complained the day after about focusing too much on offense and not enough on defense. That is an indirect criticism of coach Flip Saunders who took a lot of the heat even though his name was not mentioned.

“I ain’t going to mention what was frustrating me,” Wallace said.
Later the question was asked again and he scolded: “Why are you trying to stir up some bleep?”

Someone asked Rasheed Wallace if he preferred the defensive style implemented by former coach Larry Brown or the offense first style of Saunders and he mentioned being an old school type of guy who is defense first
.
He did not directly blast Saunders but you got the message.
Ben Wallace was not in the mood to talk about the chair or Saunders coaching philosophy.

He fumed while sitting near center court prior to practice Sunday. He did not like the Rasheed question.

“Well you need to talk to Sheed about that,” Wallace said. “You’re going to ask me about it? Don’t ask me. That’s Sheed’s frustration.”

Even more telling was when he was asked about the difference between Saunders in the regular season and the post season.

“Ask him,” Ben barked. “Don’t be asking me these Rasheed Wallace and Flip Saunders questions man. Y’all want to talk to me, talk to me.”

You can see the anger in his eyes. Once again Wallace is not happy with teammates and he is not thrilled with his coach. He won’t come out and say it but you sense it reading between the lines and reading his body language.

I have been on a personal campaign for the Pistons to double Shaquille O’Neal in the post. It appears as if Wallace cannot handle him one on one. O’Neal blitzed Ben for 27 points in Game 3 as the Heat outscored the Pistons 50-16 in the paint.

The Heat is shooting 51.7 percent from the field in this series and 57 percent in their two victories. The one-two punch of Dwyane Wade and O’Neal is devastating for every team. But the Pistons have been their personal play things. They’ve combined for 51 points a game and shot 65 percent from the field.

“We don’t need no double team,” Wallace said. “We need to stop getting our defense broke down. That is how. Any time we allow guys to get to the middle and get in the paint then anybody can catch the ball where ever they want because the defense is broken down.”

And Ben did not like my follow up when I asked if he thought his perimeter defense was letting him down.
“Next question man,” he said.

The Pistons talked a lot about being in a hole before. On the surface this seems like the same old Pistons. Remember, they trailed the Heat 3-2 a year ago and won the last two games. But it is running much deeper this year. There is a divide between player and coach. It was a tiny crack after the Cleveland series but it is beginning to splinter.

Pistons President Joe Dumars made a wise decision in not showing up for practice Sunday. He would have been blind-sided by Saunders questions he might not have been prepared for.

The Pistons are angry and frustrated. We’ve seen the anger before. We just have not seen them angry with each other before.

[Black Dynamite]

Terry Seems to be enjoying this. he's been begging for pistons drama and a detroit apocolypse for years. Either way this is kinda a result of Flip not taking on the responsibility for things not working. no i'm not saying its all his fault. but taking the in some of the pressure would be helpful. his job security is pretty tight and he gets paid regardless. but i think he can't handle the pressure. and nervousness like that becomes contagious. this team will take on some elements of Flip. and he's not great under pressure. he gets so nervous he forgets to take ben out after to a silly ass hack a shaq.

As far as the article goes. terry's adding his own shitbag element to it. but what i get from it is that the players fustrated. they are expected to dominate this year more than ever. the burden of the best record. unchartered burden for them. reading it for next year is a little premature. but i am curious as to how we rebound monday.

[UberAlles]

As far as the article goes. terry's adding his own shitbag element to it. but what i get from it is that the players fustrated.

There appears to possibly be one misquote in there.

Wallace replied, "Next question, man" to

You weren't frustrated at all last night?

Terry also needs to learn how to write (or proof).

The Heat is shooting 51.7 percent from the field

hmmm, let's assume "The Heat" refers to a group....

The Heat are shooting 51.7 percent from the field

The best lines were from Tayshaun

It didn't really seem like they were trying to get you the ball much in the post-ups?

TAYSHAUN PRINCE: I caught one or two, and then the thing that we talked about before the game was we was going to really try and get the pick-and-rolls, me and Ben and Rasheed and things like that, but we never even came close to doing it.

If Wade keeps going off the way he's going off, would you say, hey, I'll take another shot at him?

TAYSHAUN PRINCE: I mean, we're going to have to try different things. We're going to have to try different looks. I was pretty disappointed we didn't give Lindsey Hunter any action in the second half. Obviously he's our best suit for Dwyane as far as putting pressure on him. I know Dwyane can shoot off him, but at least he has the pressure and the quickness to be where he's at at all times. We didn't give him the opportunity the second half.

[ojay]

Whoa, it's themicrowave.

What's new guys, honestly? Flip is garbage, his word can never be trusted and his in-game adjustments seem like they are nonexistant.

As much as I despise Terry Foster it's just true that the players aren't happy with Flip and as team that should never happen.

And don't get me started on Hack-a-Shaq. It's fucking garbage and you all know it.

[Black Dynamite]

Whoa, it's themicrowave.

What's new guys, honestly? Flip is garbage, his word can never be trusted and his in-game adjustments seem like they are nonexistant..

i honestly think he gets so nervous he forgets. that twitching aint an act son!

[Gecko]

Terry Seems to be enjoying this. he's been begging for pistons drama and a detroit apocolypse for years.

I have read and listened to Terry for years and personally have never picked up on this, and can't ever recall a previous made up drama. Maybe you're thinking of Sharp.

SAS and Greg Anthony also reporting shitbag drama going on with the Pistons.

The only thing to debate is how much or little of a part of thier putrid play it has a part of.

[Black Dynamite]

Terry Seems to be enjoying this. he's been begging for pistons drama and a detroit apocolypse for years.

I have read and listened to Terry for years and personally have never picked up on this, and can't ever recall a previous made up drama. Maybe you're thinking of Sharp.

SAS and Greg Anthony also reporting shitbag drama going on with the Pistons.

The only thing to debate is how much or little of a part of thier putrid play it has a part of.

ummm nope, i'm on them both. Foster is only slightly less negative than sharp. and he's even less responsible(the tyson chandler for ben wallace fabricated trade story he bit some serious bait on was probally his lowest point).

And yes greg anthony and SAS along with any other reporter likes the idea of drama in detroit. nevertheless terry foster has his own shitbag element. if you're into his material i doubt you'd agree. that wouldn't make a lick of sense ... either way, the pistons just sound fustrated. they have every reason to be.

but honestly i think its an improvement. they were pretty "ho hum" losing 3 str8 to cleveland. And this game 3 was a game most people had marked down as a loss. i take their anger as sign of life and urgency. Not to mention that Flip only seems to respond to post game criticism from his players(i.e. ben wallace indirectly calling him out during the season on the lack of defense and the immediate improvement aftwards). So tonight we get a really good idea of where this team stands and whether they are so good, that it doesnt matter whose the coach.