State of the Pistons Address (Feb. 28)
The Pistons continue to prove they're the best fourth quarter team in the NBA.
With just over 10 minutes to play in Monday's 84-72 win over Cleveland, the Cavs took a 67-64 lead, and that's when Detroit got serious. Two free throws from Dice, two jumpers from Mo Evans, free throws from Chaunce and 'Sheed, then three straight jumpers from Rip, and school was out. Over those last 10 minutes, Detroit outscored Cleveland 20-5 and proved that the Cavs have a little more work to do if they hope to be considered among the NBA's elite teams.
They also made an intriguing discovery. Apparently, it's possible to receive a technical foul for laughing. After Cleveland's Big Z (Zydrunas Ilgauskas) knocked 'Sheed to the ground, he was called for a foul, then he was whistled for a tech. As 'Sheed proceeded to laugh and high-five his teammates, he, too was whistled for a T -- his 15th of the season. The Pistons plan on questioning the call with the league office; after all, 'Sheed is just two techs away from incurring a one-game suspension. (The suspension should start at 16, but one of his Ts from earlier in the year doesn't count, since it was for hanging on the rim.)
'Sheed also made an interesting comment following Ilgauskas's T, saying that he heard Big Z mumbling, and that he wished Darko were still around so he could translate. Mr. Rasheed must have forgotten that Big Z hails from Lithuania. Darko's from Serbia.
The boys in red and blue now embark on a three-game west coast swing. They're at Denver Wednesday, then it's a back-to-back with the lowly Sonics Friday and the always-dangerous Los Angeles Kobes Saturday.
I'd like to see big minutes from the bench on this trip, not only to solidify confidence in them, but to rest the starters as well. June will be here sooner than everyone thinks, and it'd be nice to keep the legs of the best starting five in the world as fresh as possible.
With just over 10 minutes to play in Monday's 84-72 win over Cleveland, the Cavs took a 67-64 lead, and that's when Detroit got serious. Two free throws from Dice, two jumpers from Mo Evans, free throws from Chaunce and 'Sheed, then three straight jumpers from Rip, and school was out. Over those last 10 minutes, Detroit outscored Cleveland 20-5 and proved that the Cavs have a little more work to do if they hope to be considered among the NBA's elite teams.
They also made an intriguing discovery. Apparently, it's possible to receive a technical foul for laughing. After Cleveland's Big Z (Zydrunas Ilgauskas) knocked 'Sheed to the ground, he was called for a foul, then he was whistled for a tech. As 'Sheed proceeded to laugh and high-five his teammates, he, too was whistled for a T -- his 15th of the season. The Pistons plan on questioning the call with the league office; after all, 'Sheed is just two techs away from incurring a one-game suspension. (The suspension should start at 16, but one of his Ts from earlier in the year doesn't count, since it was for hanging on the rim.)
'Sheed also made an interesting comment following Ilgauskas's T, saying that he heard Big Z mumbling, and that he wished Darko were still around so he could translate. Mr. Rasheed must have forgotten that Big Z hails from Lithuania. Darko's from Serbia.
The boys in red and blue now embark on a three-game west coast swing. They're at Denver Wednesday, then it's a back-to-back with the lowly Sonics Friday and the always-dangerous Los Angeles Kobes Saturday.
I'd like to see big minutes from the bench on this trip, not only to solidify confidence in them, but to rest the starters as well. June will be here sooner than everyone thinks, and it'd be nice to keep the legs of the best starting five in the world as fresh as possible.
posted by RGarfield @ 8:42 PM
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