Game 4 OGT: Life or Death 5/29 8pm ET on ABC Bitch!

[Tahoe]

In either case, he has to make at least %50 from the line. Its officially a problem.

We lost our defensive identity. We lost the drive to play defense. If we aren't going to play D, let him get his max deal elsewhere.

[Kstat]

In either case, he has to make at least %50 from the line. Its officially a problem.

We lost our defensive identity. We lost the drive to play defense. If we aren't going to play D, let him get his max deal elsewhere.

Silly notion.

Name one team that plays great D. Nobody does. Miami SA and Dallas all win because they shoots over %50 and they have a bunch of scorers. They dont allow any fewer points than we do.

The problem with our players is theyre still under the assumption the NBA cares about defense. Clearly, that's no longer the case.

I'm just speaking hypothetically anyway, this only applies if laimbeer gets hired.

[Tahoe]

In either case, he has to make at least %50 from the line. Its officially a problem.

We lost our defensive identity. We lost the drive to play defense. If we aren't going to play D, let him get his max deal elsewhere.

Silly notion.

Name one team that plays great D. Nobody does. Miami SA and Dallas all win because they shoots over %50 and they have a bunch of scorers. They dont allow any fewer points than we do.

The problem with our players is theyre still under the assumption the NBA cares about defense. Clearly, that's no longer the case.

I'm just speaking hypothetically anyway, this only applies if laimbeer gets hired.

And so am I...speaking hypothetically...And thanks for making my point. If we aren't going to play D, let Ben go elsewhere and bring in a scorer. Outscore Miami, SA and Dallas.

[metr0man]

so NOW will people FINALLY believe that being an all jumpshooting team with no post scoring presence and last in points in the paint is a BAD THING!? These guys are playing like they don't even know how to do basic inside-out basketball, its either jumper, or go iso into the paint. As I recall there were a few people here complaining about this during the regular season, and basically had the regular season record shoved in their face.

[DennyMcLain]

Two things might happen here:

Either Flipper pleads his case to JoeD, suggesting that this "isn't HIS team yet", that he should be allowed the requisite 3 year "wait and see" philosophy to get his kind of players in, or:

Fire Flip, and hire a coach who's a better fit with the current team's philosophy.

This team is going to make the playoffs, that's a given. Then the coach takes over, and Flip simply isn't a playoff coach. He is incapable of winning the big games. Can anybody here point to Flip and his gameplan as the "reason" the Pistons won game 7 against the Cavs? Honestly, it never should've gotten past game 6.

When teams look past as opponent, or feel an entitlement that a trip to the Finals is a given -- that's all on the coach!

[Comrade]

so NOW will people FINALLY believe that being an all jumpshooting team with no post scoring presence and last in points in the paint is a BAD THING!? These guys are playing like they don't even know how to do basic inside-out basketball, its either jumper, or go iso into the paint. As I recall there were a few people here complaining about this during the regular season, and basically had the regular season record shoved in their face.

The problem isn't how many jumpshots we take (in fact, all 3 of the top jumpshooting teams are still playing), it's how bad our inside game really is. We have one player who can really do it and he'd rather sit 5-feet behind the 3 point line. That and he has only had 2 or 3 good games the whole playoffs.

[Kstat]

Our offense would work just fine if Ben Wallace could hit %50 of his FTs.

Seriously, the difference is that thin.

Everybody on the court knows ben cant hit a FT. Ben knows it. His team knows it. The other team knows it. So, theyll leave him wide open to play defense 5 on 4, and when he gets the pass, theyll foul him, and it winds up being a turnover.

Of course, nobody on the team is going to keep on passing it to ben if they know itll wind up being a turnover, so were stuck.

Don't mistake this either: Ben is WIDE open on every play. We just cant give him the ball. No style of play will change that.

Our problem isnt that we dont go inside, its that we dont HAVE an inside game to go to.

[DennyMcLain]

so NOW will people FINALLY believe that being an all jumpshooting team with no post scoring presence and last in points in the paint is a BAD THING!? These guys are playing like they don't even know how to do basic inside-out basketball, its either jumper, or go iso into the paint. As I recall there were a few people here complaining about this during the regular season, and basically had the regular season record shoved in their face.

The problem isn't how many jumpshots we take (in fact, all 3 of the top jumpshooting teams are still playing), it's how bad our inside game really is. We have one player who can really do it and he'd rather sit 5-feet behind the 3 point line. That and he has only had 2 or 3 good games the whole playoffs.

Or maybe it's because the Eastern Conference is still the Leastern Conference, and the records of both the pistons AND the Heat are inflated with cupcake V's.

The problem isn't the erratic shooting %, or a lack of an inside scorer, though both contribute. It goes deeper than that. When WaDe is penetrating the paint like Shaq penetrates a Blue Plate Special and coming away with all of his blood still inside his body, something is wrong. The moment when it was apparent that the refs were siding with the Heat (game one?), Flipper should have unleashed the alpacas. It was nice to see WaDe smash into the floor several times tonight, but only AFTER he'd taken his shot. Rule of thumb: any guard willing to drive the hole should be risking his life in the process. After all, the refs are blowing more than Paris Hilton after five blunts, so you may as well foul HARD.

There's a lack of championship effort, here. A lack of ownership. The Pistons should feel, after all of the talk last year of "well, if DWaDe had remained healthy", that they have something to prove against the Heat. Prove that, WITH a healthy DWaDe, the Heat STILL can't beat Detroit!

It's simply not there, and that's too bad. There's still a chance, but I don't think Flipper is a strong enough personality to rally around.

[DennyMcLain]

Our offense would work just fine if Ben Wallace could hit %50 of his FTs.

Seriously, the difference is that thin.

Everybody on the court knows ben cant hit a FT. Ben knows it. His team knows it. The other team knows it. So, theyll leave him wide open to play defense 5 on 4, and when he gets the pass, theyll foul him, and it winds up being a turnover.

Of course, nobody on the team is going to keep on passing it to ben if they know itll wind up being a turnover, so were stuck.

Don't mistake this either: Ben is WIDE open on every play. We just cant give him the ball. No style of play will change that.

Our problem isnt that we dont go inside, its that we dont HAVE an inside game to go to.

Worked fine in 2004, and almost as well in 2005.

[Kstat]

Our offense would work just fine if Ben Wallace could hit %50 of his FTs.

Seriously, the difference is that thin.

Everybody on the court knows ben cant hit a FT. Ben knows it. His team knows it. The other team knows it. So, theyll leave him wide open to play defense 5 on 4, and when he gets the pass, theyll foul him, and it winds up being a turnover.

Of course, nobody on the team is going to keep on passing it to ben if they know itll wind up being a turnover, so were stuck.

Don't mistake this either: Ben is WIDE open on every play. We just cant give him the ball. No style of play will change that.

Our problem isnt that we dont go inside, its that we dont HAVE an inside game to go to.

Worked fine in 2004, and almost as well in 2005.

Um, our offense was actually WORSE then.

Back then we won games 79-70. Now we're losing them 85-90.

Its the fact the NBA does not allow for one-sided defensive basketball anymore. It is IMPOSSIBLE to succeed with a mediocre offense anymore, because no defense today is able to shut a team down completely, under today's rules.

You saw it out there tonight. We tried to clamp down like we used to, and we only sent Miami to the line 50 times. We will not be permitted to play the same brand of defense we used to. The NBA is making it VERY clear our style of ball isnt going to work any longer.