It's a 3 Game Series

Thanks to a huge Pistons win last night, it is now a 3 game series. Antonio McDyess was nothing short of spectacular in this one. He was hitting every shot, grabbing every rebound, and playing stellar defense all night on Garnett. Speaking of defense on Garnett, the block that Jason Maxiell put on Garnett was awesome! Max was great all night as well. We will need him to continue that type of performance the rest of the series.

It was also great to see Chauncey hit a huge 3 in the 4th quarter. Hopefully that goes a long way towards bringing his confidence back. At this point, he doesn't look hurt to me. He just looks like his timing is a half second off. I'm hoping the end of yesterdays game is a sign of things to come. The Pistons must do everything in their power to win Game 5 on Wednesday. I firmly believe they don't want to play a Game 7 on the road. Winning Game 5 will be extremely difficult; however if they can pull it out, it should shatter the Celtics confidence and allow us to put them away at home in Game 6.

Must Win Game 4!

The Pistons are in a must win situation tonight in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference Finals match up with the Boston Celtics. They simply can't afford to go down 3-1 and expect to win the series. By winning tonight, you at least guarantee a Game 6 back at the Palace. I was blown away by the lackluster effort on Saturday. I fully expected a great game out of the Pistons, but was totally wrong. The bright spot in the series so far has been the stellar play of Rodney Stuckey. He has shown he is ready for anything and has really stepped up to the plate. However, for everything good he has done, I still believe that we must have Chauncey Billups to defeat the Celtics. I'm coming to the sad realization that Chauncey probably won't be 100% the rest of this season. That makes winning a championship extremely difficult.

Well, here's hoping things turn out better this evening. We've had a couple days to make some adjustments and hopefully we'll play with a sense of urgency and work to regain the momentum in this series. The game starts at 8:30 pm on ESPN. Let's go Pistons, win this Game 4!

All Square in the D

The Pistons continue their Eastern Conference Finals matchup with Boston tonight in the friendly confines of the Palace. The series is all tied up at 1 a piece. Detroit sent Boston to their first loss at home this postseason with a win on Thursday night. Thanks in no small part to the contribution of Rodney Stuckey. Stuck played great in his 15 minutes or so off the bench. He was hitting his open jumpers and driving the lane with no fear. He was referred to on many occasions as the next D-Wade by the TNT crew. I for one think he will be better than D-Wade for the simple fact that he is much stronger and won't bruise as easy as his counterpart in Miami.

Back to the series at hand though. Game 3 will be this evening and you can bet the Palace will be fired up for this one. Boston remember still hasn't won a road game this post season. It will be a tough task for them to achieve at the Palace at this late stage of the playoffs. I expect a fired up team this evening that is hitting on all cylinders. I llok for ths boys to take a 2-1 series lead tonight heading into game 4 on Memorial day. Enjoy the game this evening on ABC at 8:30pm and as always, GO PISTONS!

The Pistons are coming, the Pistons are coming!

Paul Revere went on a famous ride to announce the arrival of the British in Boston. Some one should probably let Boston know that the Pistons are coming. Weren't they already there for Game 1 you say? Not really. It might have been some guys in Detroit Blue, but it wasn't our Pistons. I'm hoping the real Pistons show up tonight. We'll see the tenacious D we've come accustomed too and better continuity on the offensive end as well. Hopefully Chauncey will be in a better flow that he was in Game 1 and realize he doesn't need to shoot all those jumpers early. He can take advantage down low on the box and get him in foul trouble. The Celtics don't have a very competent back up for him and when he was out i Game 1 is when we went on our runs. I'm still confident we can win this series by taking 1 in Boston. Here's hoping that will be tonight. Game 2 will be broadcast on ESPN at 8:30pm. Enjoy the game and GO PISTONS!

A Visit to Boston

The Pistons will face the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. All I'm looking for is the Pistons to steal one of the 1st 2 games in Boston. If we can do that, we will pretty much have the series. The Celtics have shown they absolutely can't win on the road. If you can't win in Atlanta in the postseason, you most definitely are not going to come into the Palace and take one. Detroit is possibly the most hostile road environment to play in; and you can bet the Detroit faithful will be out in force to back up the Pistons against the Celtics.

We definitely will be looking for big games from Chauncey and Rip. The Boston back court has looked terrible these last few games. The Pistons need to take it too them early and often and keep breaking their will. Tayshaun will have his hands full against Paul Pierce who is playing out of his mind this postseason. He single handily has kept Boston alive in a lot of games. Garnett will get his, and it's up to Sheed to keep pace. We should have the advantage at Center as well with McDyess vs Perkins. Antonio has really stepped up his play since the broken nose and is playing like a man possessed with winning a championship. Tuesday night is game 1 and it will be broadcast on ESPN at 8:30pm. enjoy the game, and as always GO PISTONS!

Awaiting An Opponent

The Pistons have handled their business. They dispatched of the Magic in 5 games, even without the services of Chauncey for basically 3 of those games as he went down very early in Game 3. Lindsey Hunter and Rodney Stuckey did a great job filling Mr Big Shot's shoes. The experience they gained will prove invaluable for the eastern Conference Finals, regardless of the opponent. The Celtics and Cavs continue to duke it out. Both of them still showing the inability to win a game on the road. This bodes well for the Pistons. We will see a very tired opponent in the next round. Chauncey will be rested and recovered. we have the ability to win on the road should we face Boston in the next round. I firmly believe we could take 1 of the first 2 games in Boston. And that would really be all we need as we've seen that Boston just flat out can't get it done on the road. No matter who we face, I like our chances to advance to the NBA Finals. This team has the feeling of a championship squad. They are winning on the road, overcoming adversity and injuries, and getting huge contributions from their role players. All of those ingredients add up to a Larry O'Brien trophy in June. Go Pistons!

A Chance to Clinch in the D!

The Pistons will look to clinch another trip to the Eastern Conference Finals tonight in Detroit. The Pistons won a huge Game 4 on the road without the services of Chauncey. This was thanked in large part to a huge game from Rip and a killer shot to clinch the win from Tay. Stuckey played well and Lindsey was huge off the bench; especially in the third quarter when he hit consecutive 3's during a huge Piston run to close the quarter. Chauncey will be a game time decision tonight. Joe D made it clear that the decision is totally Chauncey's to make. If he feels good, he can play, if not, then we roll with the rest of the crew. Game 5 will be broadcast this evening on TNT at 7pm. Lets go Pistons and lets send the Magic home to the golf course for the summer!

Tough Loss in Orlando; More Than Just the Game

I think we all knew the Magic were too good to get swept by the Pistons this year. Going to Orlando for games 3 and 4 I personally was hoping for a split. A split in the games mind you, not a split for Chauncey. There was definitely a loss bigger in the grand scheme of things last night than one game in the series. Early in the 1st quarter on a drive to the basket, Chauncey's feet got tied up with Jameer Nelson causing Chauncey to take an awkward fall doing the splits as he went down. It was diagnosed as a hamstring strain. The way the game had started, it certainly was a good idea in my opinion to rest him and hopefully get him back for Saturday. Hopefully Arnie Kander, the Pistons strength and conditioning coach can work his magic on Mr. Big Shot and have him ready for Saturday's game. If we can re-group and get a win going back to Detroit up 3-1, we'll be in prime shape for a series win. Get well soon Chauncey!

Game 3 in Orlando

Tonight the Pistons-Magic series shifts to Orlando with the Pistons up 2-0. You can bet the Magic will be primed and ready for this one. Especially with the news coming down that the NBA officially said that Chauncey's 3rd quarter 3 came with time expired. None the less, the people who blame the Magic's loss on this shot first off need to do the math, you lost by 7 points, not by 3. Also, if you read the full article with the statements from the NBA officials, they also say that the officials for the game made the correct call according to the rules in place at this time. Look, I'm all for re-play for shots at the end of a quarter. I believe it will ultimately get the call right for all teams all the time. But in this case, I'll take it. Every now and then you need the ball to bounce your way. I think we all know here that the Pistons usually aren't the team getting the benefit from the whistle or anything to do with the officials for that matter.

The Pistons will need exceptional games tonight from their front court guys, primarily on the defensive end. There's no question that Orlando is going to be very aggressive on the offensive end tonight. We also have to do a much better job on our rotation defense. If you watch the 3rd quarter of Game 2 when Orlando hit all those 3's, you will find most of them were not contested. The Magic were getting good open looks off of ball rotation. The Pistons have to tighten up their perimeter defense to limit those open looks. Other than that more of the same and I think we'll be fine. It also wouldn't hurt for Rip to get off the snide early as well.

This one will be broadcast at 8pm tonight on TNT. Go Pistons!

Forget the Contoversy; We're up 2-0

I'm sure the only thing everyone will talk about after this Piston win is Chauncey's 3 at the end of the 3rd quarter. After looking at the replay with the clock overlayed, it appears it was a tenth or 2 tenth's of a second late. However, let's analyze how many calls are questionable during a basketball game. Maybe they don't get replayed a hundred times like Chauncey's shot last night, but rest assured, they happen. Think of all the fouls that get assigned to the wrong player, continuation calls that are given or not given, shot clock violations that get called after the opposing team is already out on the fast break. The fact is, there are numerous things that happen during the course of a game that officials have to decide in a split second and many times they get it wrong. That's just the way it is. And, as a fan who hasn't missed a game in over 10 years, I can assure you the Pistons have been on the other side of this argument as well.


So, back to the game. The Magic certainly stepped up the effort last night. Howard was back to his normal self of 20+ points and 15+ rebounds. This guys is a beast and there's no way you're going to hold him down for a whole series. You just have to hope that if he goes off, you limit the production of the rest of the Magic team. Chauncey was again superb last night, even taking on the role of cheerleader. When he is aggressive, the rest of the Pistons follow suit and it makes the whole team better.

The next 2 games will be in Orlando with Game 3 tomorrow night @ 8pm on TNT. This will be the most difficult game for the Pistons. The Magic will be looking for payback after feeling robbed in Game 2 and they'll be in front of their home crowd. If the Pistons can steal this one, you might look for a sweep. However, the Pistons just need to get at least 1 game down there so they can come back home for a Game 5 closeout game.

The Statement Has Been Made!

It looks as if the Pistons we saw in the last couple games of the Philly series have shown up for this Orlando series as well. The Pistons dominated in Game 1 against the Magic Saturday night. The game was close at the halp but we came out firing on all cylinders in the 3rd quarter to put this one away. Granted, this is only one game, but if the Pistons keep this same game plan throughout the series, I believe they will be just fine. The barrage of big men we threw at Howard seemed to keep him off balance all night long. He never really got going and I only remember seeing him get 1 monster dunk.

On another note, Rashard Lewis needs to watch who he's trying to pick fights with. He may play the Power Forward, but he's in the weight classs of the ball boy. According to an article on ESPN, he had some words for the Rattler, but I assure you Rashard, you don't want to get bitten by the snake. Oh and if you didn't notice, J-Maxx was quick to come to the defense of his teammate, and I assure you that would be a motor-city beat down!

Chauncey also continued his absolute abuse of Jameer Nelson. Chauncey can get whatever he wants, whenever he wants in this matchup. I think this is the key matchup more than any other in this series. Howard is too good to be shut out the whole series and the other guys are going to make shots at some point. However, if we ever get into an offensive lull, all we have to do is go to this matchup and it's money in the bank.

Game 2 is tonight at 7pm on TNT. I'm sure the Magic will look to counter in this game. The Pistons will have to come out hard and take them out of this game early. You don't want them hanging around at the end with a chance to win. We don't want to lose a chance to go up 2-o on these guys and really send a message that we are ready for any challenge. Let's go Pistons!

Pistons Finish off Sixers

Well I'm happy to say that I was wrong about last night's game. I definately thought the Pistons would win this one, but I thought it would be much closer. The Pistons came out ready last night, knocking down shot after shot. Rip was absolutely on fire in the 1st quarter and got us rolling early. And everyone followed suit. The ball was moving well on offense and the defense was swarming all night long. Even the Zoo Crew came in at the beginning of the 4th quarter and kept it rolling. Amir Johnson had 10 points and 6 boards in like 8-9 minutes. I was glad the bench got some run at the end of this one. We are going to need them more in the next round.

Speaking of the next round, we will kick it off at home tomorrow night at 7:30pm against the Magic. The game will be televised nationally on TNT. I expect Rasheed to be up to the challenge of facing Dwight Howard. Sheed seems to revel in these moments of playing those who are at the top of their game. That is certainly the case with Howard. He averaged ridiculous numbers in the Toronto series, something like 22 points and 18 rebounds a game or something. I'm sure we will also see more of the Rattler (Theo Ratliff), in this series as well. He still has the height, strength, and defensive prowess to give Howard fits in spurts of the game. Here's hoping for us getting off to a good start in this series tomorrow and posting a W. Go Pistons!

Pistons Looking to Move On Tonight

The Pistons will be in Philly tonight for Game 6 of their series. This could be the closeout game with Detroit coming in up 3-2 in the series. Look for the Sixers to come out fighting in the 1st quarter and 1st half. I think the Pistons will have to absorb a lot of "punches" early on. Maybe the best we can hope for is to trade baskets for most of the 1st half and carry only a small lead if not a small deficit into the half. The hope has to be that the stiffling defense will wear the Sixers down over the course of the game and allow us to take over in the second half; much the same way we did in Game 4 in Philly.

Of course, I would much rather we just blow them out right off the bat. I'm just trying to be realistic and mention what I honestly think is going to happen. This Sixers team is not going to go quietly. They have fought hard the entire series and I expect no less this evening. They definately have the potential to be a good team for years to come with many bright young players and a lot of cap sapce over the next few seasons.



Tonight's game is the only NBA game this evening so it will be broadcast on TNT at 8pm. Or if you're like me and like to listen to my main man George Blaha, "Count that baby, and a foul." and "Special K," Greg Kelser, you can tune into your local MyNetwork affiliate for the call. Thanks and enjoy the game. Go Pistons!