Pistons spank the Collusionists

[Reality]

Kwamster Brown putting down some powerdunks over softie Gasol and the other Laker front liners.  28 solid minutes for the Kwamster, 10 boards to go along with the powerdunks.

A.I. getting off on "Prop 8 No" proponent Dereek Fisher.  No phony ref intervention to save Dereek or Kobster.  That was the key to this game.

Pretty sad ending to this game.  Refs allowed Sashie Vujac to go on a PMS fouling rage after Lamar Odom had earlier bloating and puffiness leading to some after the whistle hacks.  Sashies lame shoving Pistons out of bounds should have gotten him a retaliation slap upside the head, but i guess the Pistons knew who and where they were playing, didn't want to face Stern suspensions.

[westkoast]

Funny how you've been quiet for the past 3 weeks and as soon as they lose you magically start talking about em.  Why can't you save yourself from looking silly?  I didn't even read a word you typed aside from the title.  No need.

Pistons played very well.  They were running their offense perfectly (they made ALL the right passes) and AI getting on fire at the tip really made all the difference.  I watched the Denver/Boston game and saw Billups as well. Looks like the trade was a good fit for both teams.

[rickortreat]

Yeah. AI did a great impression of a point guard in that game.  He didn't have a lot of assists, but he did bring the ball up to initiate the offense.  The Pistons have a lot of good passers, anyway.

I was hoping to see a good game, and expected LA to be better, but last night the Pistons were clearly the better team, even though they were playing for their 2nd night in a row.

Kobe said the Pistons caused matchup problems for them, since Rasheed Wallace can go outside, pulling out his defender and opening the lane up.  That's a problem they're going to have to figure out if they want to beat Detroit.

I thought the Pistons defense did a good job of pressuring LA's shooters.  The Lakers only shot 42% for the game. The other big key was that the Lakers sent the Pistons to the foul line over twice as many times, mostly Iverson victimizing Fisher and the other Laker guards.

It does look like the trade has benefited both teams, as they are energized by trying to fit in their new team-mates. The Pistons looked like they were playing at a high level last night.  Very efficient.

[westkoast]

Yeah. AI did a great impression of a point guard in that game.  He didn't have a lot of assists, but he did bring the ball up to initiate the offense.  The Pistons have a lot of good passers, anyway.

I was hoping to see a good game, and expected LA to be better, but last night the Pistons were clearly the better team, even though they were playing for their 2nd night in a row.

Kobe said the Pistons caused matchup problems for them, since Rasheed Wallace can go outside, pulling out his defender and opening the lane up.  That's a problem they're going to have to figure out if they want to beat Detroit.

I thought the Pistons defense did a good job of pressuring LA's shooters.  The Lakers only shot 42% for the game. The other big key was that the Lakers sent the Pistons to the foul line over twice as many times, mostly Iverson victimizing Fisher and the other Laker guards.

It does look like the trade has benefited both teams, as they are energized by trying to fit in their new team-mates. The Pistons looked like they were playing at a high level last night.  Very efficient.

There is a gap issue at the PG in terms of defense.  While Fisher is a solid defender his minutes need to be limited in order for him to be effective.  The guy is older and this is expected.  Jordan Farmar is quick but he doesn't quite know the veteran defensive tricks and how to think a step ahead of certain offensive players.  The defensive gap between the two is not the grand canyon but you can see the difference when someone like Allen Iverson comes to town.  IMO they should have moved Kobe onto him earlier.  Once he got hot in the first quarter it really knocked the Lakers defense out of sync and they didn't recover the entire game.

The Pistons did a good job throwing off the Laker shooters but they also got them to rush shots.  Pretty much the entire starting 5 was guilty of this at least 2 or 3 times in the course of the game.

I am glad the Lakers got slapped upside their head by the Pistons last night.  There was a number of issues I had with the way they were playing in the previous two games against more quality teams.  Wins or not the screws could be tightened and the Pistons showed that.

[Wolverine]

Did anyone else wonder what was going through Detroit's mind when they called timeout late in the 3rd quarter?

They were up by 12 after scoring on the offensive end, and then one of the Piston players had a huge block back at the other end.  Iverson takes the ball to halfcourt and the coach calls a timeout.  I couldn't believe it.

They had ALL the momentum, were in the middle of a scoring run, and got a huge block to further silence the crowd ... THEN you call timeout?  I didn't understand it at all.

I would never call a timeout (unless a player was hurt) if I were on a run and had all the momentum.  I wouldn't care if my players were exhausted ... you let it play out.

What happened after the timeout?  The Lakers got a quick basket and the crowd got back into it.  IMO, stupid timeout by Detroit.

[WayOutWest]

Funny how you've been quiet for the past 3 weeks and as soon as they lose you magically start talking about em.  Why can't you save yourself from looking silly?  I didn't even read a word you typed aside from the title.  No need.

Pistons played very well.  They were running their offense perfectly (they made ALL the right passes) and AI getting on fire at the tip really made all the difference.  I watched the Denver/Boston game and saw Billups as well. Looks like the trade was a good fit for both teams.

LOL!

Same here, I almost started a thread about the game last night but I knew Kobe-Man-Love-Crush Reality would be on it after being quiet for SOOOOOOOOO long about the Lakers.

The Pistons just came in hot after a late game win vs GS, the Lakers poor defensive rotation allowed the Pistons to get uncontested looks and they stayed hot.  The Lakers did not do much to make the Pistons work for their shots.  After the 1st quarter the Pistons front line did a great job of one-and-done after giving up 10 offensive boards in the 1st quarter.  I really thougth Rasheed and AI would shot the Lakers back into the game, they hit a few and start shooting tons of stupid shots, Rasheed did it but AI was under much better control.  Prince had a great game and I don't understand why they didn't put Ariza on him more, Ariza was a real spark.  The Lakers second unit was pesky but were getting smoked on offense by the Pistons. 

It almost seemed like the Pistons came in with a lucky star, Rasheed banking in 3 pointers and Kwame banking in FT's should have been a clear warning sign that they were not going to cool off.  I was very upset that Gasol and Bynum did not take advantage of their size on the offensive boards after the 1st quarter, it seems that Bynum is not brining the toughness that the Lakers need, I would rather see Odom in there fighting for boards at this point.

AI was a killer last night.

[westkoast]

Did anyone else wonder what was going through Detroit's mind when they called timeout late in the 3rd quarter?

They were up by 12 after scoring on the offensive end, and then one of the Piston players had a huge block back at the other end.  Iverson takes the ball to halfcourt and the coach calls a timeout.  I couldn't believe it.

 Players moving, momentum is on your side, and your most potent offensive weapon has the ball.....timeout?  How he thought they didn't have a better chance of making something happen at that moment then off a set play I don't know.  When they interviewed him in between quarters he seemed to be nervous talking to the reporter.  Maybe it was a jitters call?

[westkoast]

Anyone have my old graph that displays Reality's post count dropping with each Laker win?

Yet another reason to cheer for the Lakers 

[WayOutWest]

Anyone have my old graph that displays Reality's post count dropping with each Laker win?

Yet another reason to cheer for the Lakers 

The way things are going with the Lakers W/L record, Reality might drop out of the top 10 posters. 

How the heck did the T-Wolves spank the Pistons?  Are the Pistons going to play Dr Jeckel and Mr Hyde (SIC?) this year?  The Pistons are mostly a jumpshooting team, primarily off an Iverson drive and dish.  IMO they should not last long in the playoffs unless Iverson completely takes over and Iverson's history indicates that will not work either.

[westkoast]

Anyone have my old graph that displays Reality's post count dropping with each Laker win?

Yet another reason to cheer for the Lakers 

The way things are going with the Lakers W/L record, Reality might drop out of the top 10 posters. 

How the heck did the T-Wolves spank the Pistons?  Are the Pistons going to play Dr Jeckel and Mr Hyde (SIC?) this year?  The Pistons are mostly a jumpshooting team, primarily off an Iverson drive and dish.  IMO they should not last long in the playoffs unless Iverson completely takes over and Iverson's history indicates that will not work either.

Good ol fashioned "playing down to the level of your opponent"

[WayOutWest]

Anyone have my old graph that displays Reality's post count dropping with each Laker win?

Yet another reason to cheer for the Lakers 

The way things are going with the Lakers W/L record, Reality might drop out of the top 10 posters. 

How the heck did the T-Wolves spank the Pistons?  Are the Pistons going to play Dr Jeckel and Mr Hyde (SIC?) this year?  The Pistons are mostly a jumpshooting team, primarily off an Iverson drive and dish.  IMO they should not last long in the playoffs unless Iverson completely takes over and Iverson's history indicates that will not work either.

Good ol fashioned "playing down to the level of your opponent"

Did not catch the game so I couldn't say but I figured as much or somebody on the T-Pups went off.

Edit: Our tiny-minded friend must be seething...he's the user who logs in as hidden...he's on all the time but doesn't post.  Must be busy digging up some more pics for his "man crush" collection.

[jn]

Foye scorched Iverson.  Yeah, you read that right.  Tayshaun was the only one who showed up for the Pitsons. 

[WayOutWest]

Foye scorched Iverson.  Yeah, you read that right.  Tayshaun was the only one who showed up for the Pitsons. 

Will you be excited to see KG back in town?

[jn]

That was Friday, actually.   I watched the first half and the first 2 minutes of the 2nd at home before I went out.   The C's had grabbed the lead to start the 2nd so I was relieved to get to the bar and find there was a hockey game showing instead of the Wolves.   I knew what was coming.  I think the Celtics won by 17 or so and by all accounts it wasn't even that close.

[WayOutWest]

That was Friday, actually.   I watched the first half and the first 2 minutes of the 2nd at home before I went out.   The C's had grabbed the lead to start the 2nd so I was relieved to get to the bar and find there was a hockey game showing instead of the Wolves.   I knew what was coming.  I think the Celtics won by 17 or so and by all accounts it wasn't even that close.

How did the fans greet KG?