Blown out in Dallas
The Mavericks handed the Pistons their second straight loss, and they did convincingly. Dallas, led by Dirk Nowitzki, had this one right from the start. The closest this one got was when the Pistons went into halftime down by just five points. That's about as good as it got for Detroit who tried to play catch up all night.
The final score of the thrashing 102-86.
Key Points:
The final score of the thrashing 102-86.
Key Points:
- If you missed this one, consider yourself lucky Pistons fans. Dallas fans on the other hand slept well.
- Jerry Stackhouse lit the Pistons up right from the get go. Stack was knocking down threes with ease. He finished with 15 points in limited minutes off the bench.
- 55 combined points for The Pistons starters.
- Foul trouble for Sheed had him out early in the first quarter. You know the game was bad when Sheed was the Player of the game with 9 points, 11 boards and 3 blocked shots. At least the D was working for him.
- Dallas was 10 for 16 from behind the arc.
- 56.8% from the floor for Dallas while the Pistons shot 40.5%.
- Rodney Stuckey had the most minutes off the Pistons bench with 22. Stuckey continues to learn, penetrate the lane and play surprisingly impressive defense. Rodney finished with 10 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist and three steals.
Photo/Getty Images
- If I wasn't such a big homer I would have made a clip of Brandon Bass's ridiculously sick two handed slam over Maxiell. JMax fouled him hard and he still threw it down. I just couldn't do it to Maxie.
- Rip led the Pistons with 18 points on 9-for-18 shooting with 3 boards, 3 assists and 2 takeaways.
- Tayshaun was awful, in fact as much as I love him I was pleading for Herrmann. Tay put up 6 points on 1-for-7 shooting, 1 rebound, 2 assists a takeaway and a blocked shot. Tay has missed 15 of his last 19 shots from the field.
- McDyess, not much better but at least his shot seems to be falling a bit more. Antonio had 6 points, 6 boards a block and 1 assist.
- Chauncey, less than impressive.
- NBA.com Highlights of the Game.
- Is there something I don't know about Amir Johnson and why he's not playing? Please
LarryFlip don't make him the new Darko. - Rodney Stuckey's first NBA Dunk, on his way to a career high 10 points.
Courtesy of The Detroit Pistons and myTV20 Detroit
- 38 points in the paint for Dallas to The Pistons 26.
- Biggest lead for the Mavs was 22.
- National Television Jinx?
- Is Devon Harris's nickname lightning? I liked watching Stuckey go up against him.
- In case you missed it, The Bobcats beat the Celtics in Boston. Our good friend Nazr Mohammed put up a double-double in the win.
- "Hey, that's how it flows some nights," said Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace, who had 11 rebounds, nine points and three blocks. "Some nights, you're hot like fire, and some nights cold as ice." Seems Sheed was a little upset with the Pistons playing small ball, Flip has his own opinion. "Well, he better get over that because, right now, Walter Herrmann was the only guy who gave anything to Nowitzki, who made him fight. If we've got to put five guys out there who are 6-foot-2 to fight, that's what you do." Via The Freep
- Dirk was hot right from the start, he led the Mavs with 23. Good thing Walter Herrmann did such a great job defending him or he might have put up 30 plus.
- Just thinking out loud: Do you think maybe Amir isn't getting any burn because the club is testing Brezec and Herrmann to see if they want to keep them through the end of the season?
- Hermann was +12, while all the starters were in the negative. Dyess in particular was a -19. Ugly Box score.
- Even on the boards with 38 for both teams.
- 3 Pistons in double figures and one of them was Stuckey with 10.
- At one point Dallas was shooting at about 70%. Everything has to be working right to beat a team that's on its game like the Mavericks were last night.
- Amir did get 3 garbage minutes when the game was clearly out of reach. What did he do? A fantastic putback jam.
- Herrmann a bright spot on a bad night. He was getting it done, though he initially looked a bit nervous.
- Chauncey Billups is now second on Detroit's all-time list in 3-pointers made, with 792.
- Remember when everyone was giving Arron Afflalo a hard time about dunking? Well he proved he could throw one down. First NBA dunk for Arron Afflalo. I think I'm not the only one who thinks Afflalo has surpassed expectations.
Courtesy of The Detroit Pistons and myTV20 Detroit
- Pistons Spurs tonight... It's not going to be easy but I am sure Detroit's going to go at San Antonio. Sheed is always up for Duncan and I am sure The Pistons don't want to be on a three game losing streak.
posted by Natalie Sitto at 9:00 AM link to this post
42 Comments:
Tayshaun looks dis-interested out there...or tired (which makes no sense unless he is sick). I like Hermann a lot, but I was hoping to see Amir on Dirk to see what he could do. This game was painful to watch for many reasons. The starters looked like they wanted to take a nap (except for Rip). Awful foul call and then tech on Maxie's defensive rebound. I didn't know it was a foul when the offensive player did chin ups on your forearm and then fell down (and he still almost got the rebound with one hand). Pick and roll defense on Terry was awful (no thank you, Dyess). So, this is two "No big deal, it's just one game"s in a row. Let's hope for a better effort in SA tonight.
What's up with tay?
He started the year so well,sort of looks to be in a funk?
Wonder if there is something up that we don't know about.
Hopefully they put forth a better effort tonight. I kinda wish it wasn't televised. I have no doubt that the Pistons can beat Dallas, but they were on fire especially from 3 point range, and it's hard to stop someone if their hot from there because everytime you think your closing the gap they hit another 3, and that's what happened last night. Flip could have put Hermann back in the game on Dirk. Sheed looked sleepy in the game, and Chauncey look disinterested. I hate they had to lose two straight, but I guess it's better to get beat by Dallas than to get beat by the Bobcats. Also the Pistons should be mad at themselves because this same Dallas team almost lost to the Miami Heat group of rejects the other day. NOW that's sad. Also I think the young guys need to be incorportated more into the rotation with the starters because only putting them in during garbage time will not cut it. In garbage time they are playing against the other teams weak bench so that doesn't mean anything. In the playoffs it's going to be the core doing much of the work, and that's who they need to get some burn against. Don't only play them in garbage time.
Well, we knew this was comin! So we just have to deal with it! ...and work through it cause we cant get out there help! I hope Sheed and Flip work their drama out! What U think Nat?
Peace!
THOR
I have no idea what's up with Tay but he's really got to snap out of it. It seems he either has a couple great games and then goes into a slump.
I don't know what's up with Tay, but he needs to do a lot better. I just don't understand his play. He needs to understand that he's not the first option on scoring. Take on the Bruce Bowen role. Give us some excellent defense and when we really really need you to score then you score.
Thor: I'm hoping there isn't any drama because as history tells us... It just builds up.
Im not worried yet, but I do hope it's nothing because its too early in the season for Drama.
I guess I haven't been noticing Tay's performance, maybe that's because he's been playing bad that it became a routine....NOW THATS BAD! Natalie, it's a good point to bring why Amir wasn't given more minutes because of Hermann and Brez playing time, I was thinking about that. Maybe becuz Joe's not sure whether he should keep them longer or not. Well, Hermann did pretty good, as for now. Brez, not sure, maybe more minutes needs to be burned. Hey, did anyone even notice how Chaunce played D on Harris? I thought it was ridiculus!!!
And suddenly I hate Jason Terry...
After a loss, do you ever get the feeling that's like "Daaammmnnn" ? Like you don't even know what to say or speculate why we lost? You're just like "ughh...it hurts, it hurts."
But it's okay, losing is a part of the game and so is argument within the team. If Sheed and the guys are feeling frustrated or angry at each other or at anything, they should just scream it all out for like an hour.
Just all 12 players + Saunders yelling at the same time to each other, to the basketball, to the gatorade, whatever. I think it would help to let it all out, go take a shower, have some fruits, so they'll feel good and start playing some D again.
Tonight is not gonna be any easier, if not harder. I mean our guys played last night and their guys didn't. Ugh...
I still love the Pistons by the way, and I will watch the game tonight...or maybe I shouldn't because they always win when I'm not watching.
Just thinking out loud: Do you think maybe Amir isn't getting any burn because the club is testing Brezec and Herrmann to see if they want to keep them through the end of the season?
Ya know what Nat, I think that might be spot-on. Amir was getting more minutes before they arrived (albeit slightly, and to be honest I didn't research the stats so it's possible it only SEEMED he was getting more) and we all thought they were only here as trade bait for something closer to the deadline. That's still possible but I think we saw some flashes and wanted to check them out... we could probably still dump Flip for a second rounder from some team searching for hope so we might not need to get rid of Brezec and Herrmann. Of course, if some amazing Joe D deal transpires I also know he won't hesitate to pull the trigger on that.
Bottom line: I think we might be feeling out the former Bobcats right now. There's no other truly logical reason to be barely playing Amir and thus hindering his development.
I sincerely hope that that is the one and only reason that Amir is not playing. It does make good sense (something that happens rarely for me).
I'm wondering also if Joe Dumars has more to do with this than Flip?
Awful loss. I don't think we're gonna fare much better against SA with this fractured team.
Flip Saunders is mediocre at best, and his insistence on sticking with underperforming starters despite the backups playing better is annoying - because that just promotes complacency. The starters can slack off and still not be worried they'd get yanked and our endgame strategues become painfully predictable.
And if Flip thought Herrmann was doing so well on Dirk, why didn't he go to him more in the second half? Dice/Sheed were getting burned badly out there. Flip is on the verge of losing Sheed again I think. And for all the hype about "playing the bench more" I don't see it. At least not when it really matters. For all our depth, Flip only really uses a 7-8 man rotation, with player number 8 only seeing like 5 minutes. The low PT for the starters is a product of all the blowouts. I'm looking for that to go back up as the season progresses.
Amir - I feel bad for the kid. All indications are he's a good kid and a hard worker, (i.e, nothing like Darko) not to mention he's very talented - but Flip always goes to the veterans. I've had enough of his excuses. I mean, Brezec over him? Even in garbage time? Seriously? Flip would rather play small ball and get killed on the boards than play the kid. Amir needs to play; he won't improve any other way. I won't even talk about weak sauce Tayshaun.
steve - Herrmann might be a keeper if he plays the way he did against Dirk. With brezec, though, I think we're diminishing his value by playing him - he's just sooo awkward he makes Nazr look fluid.
Flip is on the verge of losing Sheed again I think.
I was worried about that too, I just didn't want to say it out loud.
No no no! No way in hell Sheed or any Pistons gonna break down. They might fight, they might yell, they might get techs, but it's just sibling fighting, like when you act angry and yell at your brother for doing something stupid, but inside, you got nothing but love for him.
At the end of the day, the Pistons are still gonna be a family. They might like some family members better than others, but they're still a family! And at this point, Flip Saunders is a part of that family (whether we like it or not).
I know I sound like I'm in denial (or maybe I am in denial) but I just can't bear the thought that there is something wrong with this team's unity. Maybe we are just being hypersensitive. Players are humans and they sometimes get mad at each other or at their coach too.
I'm not gonna worry until the players start demanding trades or the Pistons start losing in the playoffs. With that said, keep those I-wanna-retire-as-Pistons speeches coming, Pistons!!
steve - Herrmann might be a keeper if he plays the way he did against Dirk. With brezec, though, I think we're diminishing his value by playing him - he's just sooo awkward he makes Nazr look fluid.
Agreed... I definitely don't think Brezec looks like he's got any sort of coordination out there, but in garbage time it doesn't kill us. Of course I'd much rather see Samb in there instead of him, and of course Amir. Fabio's been most impressive in very limited action so far and I want to keep him around for a while.
rasheed wallace is really starting to piss me off, what he as done in the Dallas and Boston game is exactly what he did last year in Cleveland. He gets beat fair and square on the defensive end, has a hissy fit, complains to refs, gets mad at coach, teammates get fed up, Detroit loses. I have seen nothing good come from his crybaby emotions. if only rasheed could be KG
^^^^ Amen to that
LET'S GO PISTONS AND LET'S GET THAT SHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2007-2008 IT'S OUR TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ALL BOUT DETROIT BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pistons fans out there and around the whole world...just keep believing. I would rather them lose them now than in the playoffs. Like Claire said before... this team is one big family and when u have a family with all brothers you are going 2 get some wrestling on. Amir is the baby brother and is getting picked on now, but he will toughen up and will get his time.
That thing about Amir now playing because we want 2 see what Brezec and Hermann can do was a good point. I think that makes most sense. But Pistons fas don't wry because Amir will get his burn of minutes. Just beleive yall, just believe :D
LET'S GO PISTONS AND LET'S GET THAT SHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2007-2008 IT'S OUR TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ALL BOUT DETROIT BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
guys the only reason tayshaun really scores is because his teammates spoon feed him the ball and tell him it's his turn to score. He doesn't do much on his own.
Everyone says Rasheed's a great teammate, but doesn't a good teammate put his team on his back and carry them when they need it. Detroit needed Sheed the past two games.
Walter Hermann. Finallly someone on this team who isn't afraid of contact (other than Maxiell)
Nice dunks.
We need another reliable 7 footer.
DO NOT BRING BACK CHRIS WEBBER, WE NEED DEFENSE NOT YET ANOTHER OFFENSIVE PLAYER
Does anyone know why it took so long for Flip Saunders to put Hermann back into the game in the 2nd half? Why did he wait til we were 19 down. Obviously the starters weren't getting it done and Maxy wasn't having a great game either.
WE WANT AMIR, WE WANT AMIR WE WANT AMIR ETC ETC
WE ALSO WANT LINDSEY WE ALSO WANT LINDSEY.
IF HE IS NOT AT THE VERY LEAST ACTIVATED I'M REALLY GOING TO START QUESTIONING FLIP SAUNDERS ABILITY TO HANDLE A ROTATION OF A LOT OF GOOD PLAYERS. lINDSEY EMBODIES DETROIT BASKETBALL AND HE'S SITTING ON THE SIDELINES IN A (PRETTY NICE) SUIT
does anyone think Lindsey look like Usher? we were watching the game last night, and my brother was like "hey I didn't know Usher was a Pistons fan" and I was like "no he's not. That's Lindsey!"
natalie....this is what i told/asked matt watson, about my concern on amir's development and playing time 1-2 weeks ago,needing to be developed along with stuckey. he said that amir isn't getting that minutes coz of maxie's performance but that he should still be ahead of hermann/brez. but now, im convince that's not the case. whether hermann/brez are being tested or not, how the heck are we gonna give the kid a better comfort zone before the playoffs comes. this is the only time for that, and if anything, joe better have something to do with this type of strategy bcuz i know he loves the kid, hell...he wouldn't sign a 3year deal for the kid if hes behind hermann/brez rotation...what do you think natalie?
I for one believe Brezec and Herrmann are playing because they are showing heart and intensity. Hopefully it is contagious because the pistons are turning into a bunch of posers, afraid to take charges and go to the hole to draw a foul (minus a few that always do).
another possibility is that Brezec and Herrmann are being played to show what good trade bait they are.
a third possibility is that Amir is not working hard in practice and thus is put behind those that are working their butts off.
Ric
I thought that's was the case early on in the season, since at lease he was getting some minutes but I did read somewhere(I think possibly Mlive) that Amir wasn't cutting in on the defensive end so that was a concern.
I do agree we have to get him minutes like Afflalo and Stuckey. Either he's fallen out of grace as far as Flip is concerned or they need to decide whether or not to Ship Brezec and Herrmann along with Flip. I figure it's one of the two things.
I'm at a loss for thinking of a better or fee feasible reason.
i thought he did well or at least improving on the defensive end? remember when they played the lakers? i thought that was impressive.
assuming we're gonna ship brez/hermann with flip.....i think we need guy who lives in the paint both defensively and offensively....anyone have someone in mind???
This is probably the first time i havn't heard this site all over Maxiell's D1ck.
20 minutes. 1 for 5 shooting, 4 boards, 0 blocks, 4 points...
Extremly weak performance. Not to mention hem getting absolutely out manned on that dunk.
Hope this leads to less Maxiell Hype.
On the other hand McDyess puts up 3 for 8 shooting, 6 boards and 1 block and you guys call him out for a bad game? PLEASE.
I think you forgot to take your happy medicine this morning.
Even the greatest players don't put on a "show" 82 games out of 82. That's why most statistics are "averages" in sports.
HERE IS SOMETHING I READ IN PISTONS MAILBAG REGARDING AMIR, NOT AN NBA READY???? IM A LITTLE CONFUSE, PLEASE CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN WHAT LANGLOIS IS TALKING ABOUT. IT SEEMS TO ME THAT HES REFERRING TO HIS WEIGHT BY GETTING OVERPOWERED, ISN'T HIS BODY STRUCTURE SIMILAR TO PRINCE, WHO'S ONE OF DETROIT'S GREAT DEFENDER, MAN-TO-MAN? NATALIE, IS LANGLOIS EXPLANATION REASONABLE?
QUESTION: As a longtime fan dating the Dave Bing era, it concerns me that Amir Johnson doesn’t get much playing time. He could have helped against Big Baby with his knack for shot-blocking. This is the time to build up his confidence.
LANGLOIS ANSWER: Flip Saunders is picking his spots for Amir. The potential you keep hearing about with him is real, but he’s not as NBA ready right now as the players ahead of him in the frontcourt rotation. Amir will make spectacular plays but also struggles with some aspects of the game, particularly in his man-to-man defense where he can sometimes be overpowered. Keep in mind that he’s two years younger than Arron Afflalo.
If this makes you feel any better, the celtics lost to the Bobcats !
=]
Dallas was just making all sorts of nerdy ass shots out there, but whatever...all power to them. They're not going to play like that every day. Dirk and Terry and Stack just didn't miss. For as well as Dallas shot, I guess giving up 102 points doesn't seem that bad. Just take this game with a grain of salt.
I hate Keith Langlois, he never answers the questions, and seems to always talk down to the fans who send him questions and constantly undermines the fans intellegence. He always says everything is fine, everything is fine.
Then after the season's over, he starts to say all the things the fans were saying and claiming them like they were his idea.
"This is probably the first time i havn't heard this site all over Maxiell's D1ck.
20 minutes. 1 for 5 shooting, 4 boards, 0 blocks, 4 points...
Extremly weak performance. Not to mention hem getting absolutely out manned on that dunk.
Hope this leads to less Maxiell Hype.
On the other hand McDyess puts up 3 for 8 shooting, 6 boards and 1 block and you guys call him out for a bad game? PLEASE."
There will ALWAYS be Maxiell HYPE! He's amazing. He had one bad night. BIG DEAL! Who doesnt every now and then? Same thing with Dyess but we expect more from him. Dont forget he is a starter. Same goes to Tay and we can go on all day about the difference of a starter and a bench player. And when a bench player (STUCKEY) scores more than a serveral starters (who get way more minutes) its not looking too good.
TRADE GAYSHAUN! HES WORTHLESS AND GET RID OF FLIP SAUNDERS WHILE UR AT IT! HE RUINED A DYNASTY.. I say Tayshaun and flip murray and 2nd round pick for shaun marion..all day baby
sadly i think flip has pretty much given up on amir. pay attention next season, because i have no doubt he'll play well and whoever is in charge will point to how "inconsistent" he was last season and claim that's why he never got any burn.
amir did get more playing time at the beginning of the season, but he was still almost always the victory cigar. all that has changed now is that there are two more people in front of him before the cigar comes out.
flip hasn't learned anything about the bench if you ask me. the only difference is that the names have changed. instead of dyess, delfino and hunter it's max, jarvis and stuck. i doubt he'll seriously delve any deeper than that (though herrmann may take jarvis' place) and i doubt that their minutes will stay anywhere near this high in the playoffs.
I could plainly see that Rasheed was upset when Herrmann came into the game. (I don't know why he was upset, but with Sheed, you can see his emotions written all over his face.) I love Dyess and I love Sheed, but Herrmann was the only one who seemed capable of handeling Dirk. I was a little confused when Herrmann hit the floor too, but it was working! It pisses me off when something is working and it seems to me like Flip Saunders goes away from it. I will never understand Flips techniques - NEVER!!
Another thing... this is a team (the starters and some of the bench) who has gone deep into the playoffs multiple times together. That being said, I am having a huge problem with the way they seem to break down and lose their composure -- panic almost -- when the calls don't go their way (something they should be used to by now) or when they start to get into a big hole. These guys need to keep it together when things start to go wrong and just have each others backs. I have so much love for this team I can't even put it into words and I want them to succeed. The bickering isn't going to get it done. I know it's hard to just let it go and continue to play when you think you have been wronged, but I have seen them take themselves out of games by allowing this shit to get into their heads and take over. Sometimes it seems like a sickness that spreads through the whole team like wild fire. One guy gets pissed off and infects the others. I think if they could just figure out a way to stop the spread of the infection sooner they could and would stay in games like the one in Dallas. They have got to use their experience, act like veterans, and keep it together when things start to go bad. Composure people! Let's act and play like the professionals that we are. Adapt and overcome! I see us winning it all this year but sometimes it's as much mental as anything else. I don't think this is going to become an ongoing problem - I think we can get beyond these last 2 games. I know we will see the playoffs, but if we don't figure out how to work through the mental bullshit when we need to... well, we all know what happens then don't we?
GO PISTONS!!!!
Detroit loses two games and everyone starts to point fingers. How does that happen?
Give our guys a break. No one is perfect in this league and when they start to lose games everyone has to put the blame on someone. Tayshaun isn't going anywhere and if Joe D decides to trade him he can trade me too because Tay is part of this team and this team only. He'll get out of his funk, just have patience.
As for Amir, we don't know how NBA ready he is. The guy is still young and has amazing potential and has proven that on the court. But I think Saunders knows how ready he actually is, considering he is their watching him practice when were not. I'm sure it will only be a matter of time before we see him. He is competing in minutes with a bench full of potential.
Greetings Pistons fans.
I agree with those who say it might be a bit early to hit the panic button. This is a tough three-game stretch, playing Boston, Dallas, and San Antonio is taxing for ANY team. In fact, it might be healthy for them to lose all three. Detroit doesn't play their best when they're not against the wall.
So far, I've been impressed with the depth we have. I still think Maxxie i