Spurs would have done the same if Ginobili didn't get injured. If he was healthy we wouldn't have these 3 losses during his absence and all that Pistons domination talk wouldn't occur!
Looking forward our next meeting in 14th January!
Thank God the Pistons are playing well. I was sick to death of every self-proclaimed NBA expert picking the Spurs to win at the beginning of the year, just because they were too gutless to look at anyone else. I still think the Spurs will win, but it's nice seeing the morons jump to someone else's bandwagon for a while. The Pistons deserve a little recognition. They've been pretty good the past few years when they want to be, and they deserve not to have their coach hogging up their spotlight.
And people wonder why the Pistons feel they don't get any respect?
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dailydime
I would say you had point if it weren't for the fact that Flip has coached 1 NBA team with 1 Star the entire time. If he had done it with another team or two I would agree, but that isn't the case. This could be an issue with KG, not Flip.
Also the fact that they only had homecourt in 2 of those 1st round series'. The one they lost was to a Laker team that slept their way through the regular season and had only a couple less wins than the Wolves. Most people looked at the Lakers as favorites in this one anyways. The other time, they made it to the conference finals, just to have Cassell get injured in the 3rd quarter of game 1 and ended up losing in 6. Without injuries, who knows?
The Pistons should be happy with the respect they are getting IMO. They are the best team in the league right now, but they aren't far and away the best team.
BTW, Legler picked the Timberwolves to represent the west last year.
True, but the timing of the article is rather ridiculous.
BTW, his points on why the Heat will win are rather vague and, for lack of a better word, ty IMO...
See the last line of my previous post. Legler is a moron, and he's grasping at straws to defend a moronic gutless pick of Miami even though they have a roster full of team-killers. He also has to come up with something to talk about. I don't envy him that part of his job.
My point was simply this: The Pistons are healthy, they are playing with confidence and they are beating the teams they should beat. They should enjoy the praise they are getting. Oh by the way, they are only two and a half games ahead of the Spurs, who have played like most of the year. How confident are you in the Pistons if they don't have home-court in the finals? At this time last season the Spurs were a game and a half behind Phoenix.
I've mentioned that the Heat are going to have to get quite a bit better to beat the Pistons, but I don't know how much better the Pistons can get to beat the Spurs if both teams are playing good ball.
Tim Legler, as usual makes moronic statements and then cannot argue them in a coherent manner. He basically says fear Miami because of Riley and Shaq.
The duplicative Riley? He truly sucked as a coach in his two last stints in NY and Miami when it counted, often losing in upsets in the first round and it was his inane front office skils that brought in the "defensive non-stalwarts" of Walker and Williams and got rid of Eddie Jones.
Shaq, who seems to be aging before our eyes, was not overly dominant last night - he shot less than 50%, took two FG attempts in the 4th as he was fronted wonderfully by the Pistons, had a key shot blocked by Ben Wallace in his face leading to a fast break, and pulled down a measly 6 rebounds.
If the Heat get by the Pistons it will be due to Wade, who was impressive last night especially on his mid range jumper, not Shaq.
Last edited by Rummpd; 12-30-2005 at 07:31 AM.
It's always nice to have the respect of sports announcers but I honestly couldn't care less if they think another team is better, moreso because it's Tim Legler. I remember just 2 years ago when the Knicks picked up a bunch of worn out veterans how the Sam A(nnoying) Smith and others picked up the mantra of "the Knicks are coming out of the East", what a joke! Some of them are entertainers and some are good analysts, Tim IMO is neither.
We're getting plenty of respect from most other teams and even opposing fans, that in my opinion is worth much more than T L's view.
Shaq running out of energy in the second half/4th quarter is nothing new, it's been going on for the last couple of years. That block of his shot by Ben in the 4th quarter probably wouldn't have happened 5 years ago, Shaq had no legs or lift, father time is catching up with the big guy. On top of that he's not someone you want at the line at any time during the game. He's getting to the point where he's almost a liability in crunch-time late against good teams.
Great success for both of our teams to this point and I expect a big run for the Spurs now that Manu is back to add to their already impressive start of 23-7.
The Spurs have been sleepwalking through the season yet they have still done better with their playoff "hangover" or malaise than the Pistons of last year. I have been very disappointed with some of the losses this year but a 23-7 record with much of the season ahead of us is nothing to be ashamed of.
The Pistons have been bringing it every night and deserve any props that they get. The only thing I would worry about if I were a Pistons fan is the ability to maintain this level of excellence for the rest of the year and into the playoffs. It's a long season and it's very difficult to maintain the pace they've been setting. If the Spurs were playing this way I'd be nervous that they were peaking too soon - but hey, that's just me. You can't fault the Pistons for playing great ball.
Barring any unforseen disasters, a Pistons-Spurs final this year would truly be an awesome series.
Pistons are the shizz.
We Spurs fans are gripping and we should be. Chauncey & Rip are having career years. McDyess is looking more and more like the old Dice.
If the Spurs have all their guns, they can compete, but this Pistons team is better than the one that it took seven games and some Horry heroics to squeak by.
And this year Detroit likely will have HCA.
Spurs will need a major nut check to repeat.
Almost sounds like you are giving the Pistons the le.
From Elias Sports Bureau...
"Shaquille O'Neal scored 11 points in the first quarter of the Heat's loss to the Pistons. That equaled the highest first-period total ever by a center starting opposite Ben Wallace. The only others to oppose Wallace and score 11 points in the first period were David Robinson (2001) and Kevin Willis (1999).
Pistons have the best starting five in the NBA. They are playing like a team that was 8 minutes away in a Game 7 of the NBA Finals from repeating. They have something to prove and they certainly are proving it.
I can't see anyone in the East dethroning them (unless maybe the Sixers! J/K that was homerism on my part). People can talk crap about Flip Saunders and his record all they want. But the fact is, the Pistons players are good enough themselves and have the experience and comfort of playing with eachother for years that they can overcome these coaching changes.
I'm sorry that an honest assessment of the Spurs' challenges to overcome makes you want to suck your thumb.
Each public statement like this only emboldens our enemies and makes them all the more confident that they face an opponent who is not up to their challenge. Perhaps you and all of the other "fellow travelers" around here would be happier if you were all deported to a Detroit Pistons fan board!
Pistons have a pretty easy January:
Tue 3 Orlando
Fri 6 Seattle
Sat 7 Utah <<<<< but Pistons will want payback
Tue 10 @ NO/Okla. City
Thu 12 @ San Antonio <<<<<
Sat 14 Charlotte
Mon 16 Boston
Wed 18 @ Atlanta
Thu 19 @ New York
Sun 22 Houston
Tue 24 @ Minnesota
Wed 25 Milwaukee
Fri 27 Memphis <<<<<
Sun 29 L.A. Lakers
Tue 31 @ New Jersey <<<<<
I can see 15-1, 14-2 max being very possible.
Spurs could be Piston's only loss, if Spurs decide to play.
25 - 3 thru end of Dec
14 - 2 in Jan
39 - 5 thru end of Jan??
Im going to go out on a limb to say I am pretty sure The Pistons are not reading any of your posts.
Pistons have a tough one against a rested Cavs team in Cleveland tomorrow morning. Can't sleep on them at "the Q". They may suck on the road, but they're 12-3 at home.
That's just the sort of subterfuge that I and any other diligent Spurs defender would expect from a Pistons player posting under an assumed name. Not only that, but as you may or may not be aware a person does not even have to register to this sight in order to view it! This lax security allows the Carlos Delfino's of the world to tell all of their friends in the Pistons blue, white, and RED(!!!) nation that the fans of the greatest team in the world are disjointed and in turmoil. Thus they enter the SBC center not with a proper sense of fear or awe of the Spurs fans, but content in the knowledge that one in three of them may actually be a card carrying Pistons fan!Im going to go out on a limb to say I am pretty sure The Pistons are not reading any of your posts.
I will not rest until they are all exposed!
What the fans think means nothing cause I am sure The Spurs know they can beat any team when there are playing right.
Are you now or have you ever been Marcus Bryant?
Yeah I agree. Mourning should get somewhere between 20-25 minutes a night. This would also prevent Shaq from wearing down late in games. Alot of coaches don't seem to utilize their bench as well as they could.
Makes me want to suck my thumb? WTF? I'm sorry I didn't praise your post and agree with you. Actually I didn't even really disagree with how Pistons are playing right now. But its WAY to early in the season, and the Spurs haven't even been healthy and acclimated and your already making it sound like it will be an impossibility to beat the Pistons.
I'm sorry if I didn't start praying that the Spurs would get better and ever be on the same level as the Pistons because they are 23-7 without being at full strength. I apologize, next time I will bow down to your posts and continue to suck my thumb on the account of your sarcasm.
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