Detroit Fans... Have a question

[Gilateen]

Re: Detroit Fans... Have a question

Dallas used speed and quickness on both ends and attacked the rim vs Detroit. The difference is the Mavs have Dirk and if Ben or Rasheed come out to defend that opened up lanes for Howard, Terry, Harris and Daniels to attack.

The Mavs have used that strategy vs Detroit the last two matchups they have met and won both games. The Pistons are usually the aggressor on the offensive boards and usually teams that crash as hard as they do become vulnerable in the transistion game and Dallas has very good rebounders who can also bring the ball up like Howard, Dirk, Van Horn, Daniels, Griffin and Stackhouse that helps to get out in transistion quicker than most teams and get Detroit back on their heels.

I think the key is getting a bigger wing player on Chauncy Billups and using a smaller quicker defender on Hamilton. The Mavs have used that tactic with success aswell putting Howard on Billups in both matchups and switching terry, Harris or Daniels over to Hamilton. They have played off of Ben Wallace and doubled Rasheed but in only if he's in the low blocks otherwise they have given him the jumper and basically played 5 on 4 defense without anyone defending Ben Wallace.

Well said.

[Shaver]

Re: Detroit Fans... Have a question

Well said.

You couldn't have said it better yourself... oh wait... you couldn't have said it.

Now maybe someone will post an opinion for you on your Cleveland and Utah claim.

[Pointguard]

Re: Detroit Fans... Have a question

There is no strategy. The Pistons are just damn good and if you try to shut down one or two players, then two or three other ones will beat you.

Dallas just played a hell of a game and whoop some butt.

[OneBadMutha]

Re: Detroit Fans... Have a question

The Detroit Pistons will be a better team by the playoffs than the one that's on pace to win 70 games after the first half of the season but I don't actually seeing them winning 70 games. They still have a lot of games left against their rivalry teams (Miami, Indiana, and Cleveland) and they have a lot of back-to-backs and multiple games within a short span of time.

I believe at some point Detroit is going to realize that the Spurs have no chance of catching up in the standings and they'll coast a bit. It probably would be a good idea to spend some time developing the bench and resting legs during the final quarter of the season.

With all that said, I do believe Detroit is only going to get better. People like to point out that Sheed, Chauncy, and Rip have shot out of their minds but I so no reason why any of their shooting percentages or efficiency should go down in the 2nd half of the season. It seems like those guys are able to get open shots at will in Flip's offense.

The bench is just now starting to come into their own. Delfino and Evans are finally starting to look comfortable which means Tay will get plenty of rest down the stretch. Last year he hit a wall by the 3rd round of the playoffs with all his minutes. Dice is just now starting to get back into last year's form. Hunter is Detroit's best on-ball defender and he'll be back soon.

Speaking of Tay...Detroit has made this run with Tay struggling a bit. It's my guess that Flip will put in some more plays to get Tay back on track during the 2nd half of the season. Tay was Detroit's best player during the middle stretch of the season last year so the fact that Detroit has been rolling without big contributions from Tay should quiet anybody who believe the starting lineup has peaked.

Flip is still adding plays. Supposedly he only added half his playbook but still is putting in new plays for Detroit to run. Detroit will continue to be unpredictable heading into the playoffs.

As for Dallas...you guys are making too much of one regular season game. Dallas was the last game of a road trip which was a back-to-back and 3rd game in 4 nights. Dallas played like it was Game 7 of the Finals and Detroit had nothing left. At the time Flip was also playing the starters heavy minutes and they were as flat as they've been all season. We can start talking about Dallas's brilliant game plan against Detroit if they duplicate it when they come to the Palace.

[redskinrussell]

Re: Detroit Fans... Have a question

I could care less about 70 wins. I would rather win 65, keep home court throughout, rest the starters, let the bench really click, and win the championship. We are in the midst of a nice little run in Detroit, I'm really hoping for Miami in the ECF so ESPN can get their dream matchup and we can hear the excuses as to why Detroit won. I think New Jersey would give us the toughest challenge in the East and San Antonio is the main competition in the West though Dallas could take a series to 6 or 7 games.

[WTF]

Re: Detroit Fans... Have a question

Well, after watching them tonight against LA, right now, unless they have a significant player go down to injury, they are a heck of a team, and have a real good shot at the NBA championship.

With that said, Ben Wallace gets a whole lot of fouls called his way, that should be against him. But then again, when you're a known Defensive Player of the Year, I guess it's expected. I enjoyed watching them play tonight, although it is against an LA team who, in my eyes, haven't played their best basketball yet.

Here's to hoping Detroit suffers no injuries