Will be interesting to see how Reggie responds, because he's going to get crushed for his performance in the clutch. I expect us to get run out of the building in game 2.
Sounded like Stan regretted not going back to Stanley in the 4th in place of Tobias. If they both play the same way in game two, I get the rationale. Tobias was bad today, but Stanley's probably not going to shoot like that again in this series, and I hope they don't force it with him based on one game. I do like they moved Bullock in for Tolliver in the rotation, although it didn't help on D in defending Love. If Cleveland goes to a lot of Love at the 5 moving forward, I wonder if SVG would counter with Tolliver at the 5 in those situations. Baynes can't play if he has to guard Love.
If you don't want to dislike Reggie Jackson, don't read this. If you do want to hate him, here you go from ESPN about his T:
I'm fine with it. As much as I hated all the bitching from Sheed and Friends, a young team like this needs to demand equal standing from the officials.
I'm not gonna lie...I fucking loved that game. All week the Pistons said that they weren't scared of the Cavs. Despite being an 8 seed...despite being full of extremely young players that have never played in the playoffs. Who knew if that was true...but, they sure proved today that it was true. They answered every single run that the Cavs made...except for the last one...with one of their own. Fucking Stanley Johnson was bodying up LeBron James and drilling 3's. I couldn't care less about the Jackson T...he's an extremely competitive player in his first playoff game as one of the alpha dogs....frustration is gonna happen. It was the most fun I've had watching the Pistons in six years or so. Sucks they lost...but, this is a competitive extremely young group that also has some swagger to them. SVG has them going in the right direction.
We were down late in the 4th, and Jackson basically demanded that the ref gave them a point because he was mad about a call. That, combined with the minutes that followed, is pretty much everything that's wrong with that guy. The fact he says he doesn't regret it scares the hell out of me moving forward, because our ceiling is dependent on him thinking more about wins and the team than himself.
My problem with this is that Reggie makes me think that his competitiveness is more about him putting up numbers and proving to people that he's a star than he is about making sure the team is going to win. I'm not saying he doesn't want to win, but I think he wants to be the reason they win. There are so many times where the offense is going and the team is up, and then he'll pound the ball into the ground and take a couple bad shots trying to get involved instead of sticking with what's working. Today was a perfect example. We were killing it offensively for 42 minutes, and suddenly Reggie stops it all to go for his. He does that all the time.
I just don't agree. It was a huge moment in the game and he got slapped on the wrist on the way up causing him to throw up a brick. A foul and two free throws would have been crucial there. If you want to expand it to him trying to take it upon his own with less than two minutes left then whatever. But, he flipped out after knowing a missed call ruined a monster possession. Doesn't make it right by any means..but, he's also learning his role as a leader. If something like that happens again then I'll be disappointed in him.
I wasn't born when Isiah Thomas was young, and Reggie is already 26. He doesn't have 3-4 years to figure it out. By that time, he'll be on the downside. I hope I'm wrong about him, and he makes a huge jump next season with this first one establishing himself under his belt. I'm just skeptical about the likelihood of that happening.
Maybe I'm making too much of the T today. None of the other stuff I'm saying is a new opinion. Like I said, I hope I'm wrong and end up looking stupid.
You mean "a chance" as in a chance to win this series? We have no chance to win this series. No league enforces procedure like the NBA.
Pistons will not win the series, but I think we can win a game or two just as a confidence booster for next season.
I forgot how much I hate NBA playoffs schedules. At least after this break games are every other night.
Like has nothing to do with it. I accept it for the loosely scripted drama it is. Our role this season is "plucky and sassy upstart".
Tobias Harris is a good player, and I still love that trade, but he's been awful these first two games. Really hoping he turns it around in game 3.
Cavs didn't cool off at all from 3 (our defense had a lot to do with it) and we started turning the ball over in the third.
I'm going to game 3 tomorrow, it will be interesting to see the energy at the Palace considering the 7 year absence.
Thought this was an interesting read on Drummond. Talks about his athleticism (and how he's the most explosive big man in the league), and also his FT shooting woes. http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/15292921/science-andre-drummond-explosive-athleticism
Playing the last 5 without Drummond isn't awesome. He needs to shoot better free throws, but it would be nice is there was a penalty for intentional fouls away from the ball.
Seen some Cavs fans on twitter who think Drummond should have been kicked out of the game for his "elbow" to Lebron's head in the 2nd Q, and now want him suspended for game 4. Really hope the league doesn't do anything about it, although maybe they give him a flagrant 1 after the fact. Don't think he meant to hit him in the head, but that's where it ended up.
Was happy to see Tobias show up in the 4th. Also really liked the way Reggie played offense, even though he didn't shoot it well. Got rid of the ball much quicker. We just couldn't make 3s tonight to take advantage. If he's willing to play like that moving forward, my comments after game one will look much dumber.
It's true. Also had a choir singing along to Lose Yourself leading up to the starting lineup intro. Palace certainly went all out for this game.
Those guys probably got 100 bucks apiece to paint their faces, dress up like it's Halloween and do one, 3 min KISS song. Not a bad nights work.
We look awful right now. Can't believe we're not down 10+. We're getting lucky with some whistles (or lack thereof) after Drummond went to the bench. Baynes has been nice for us this year, but he can't play in this series. Stan needs to adjust. And also stop overreacting to Love post ups and doubling off JR Smith. He's killing us and we keep leaving him.
The positive is Harris is finding space away from Lebron and doing work. That has to continue if we're going to win tonight.
I feel bad for KCP in this series. We've given him no help on Kyrie. They give him screens, and our bigs are standing under the rim. SVG's defensive gameplan in this series is confusing me. The doubling on Love makes no sense. The only guy they have a decent gameplan against is Lebron, and it just doesn't matter when all these guys are hitting shots we're giving them whenever he gets into the paint.
I know it doesn't work perfectly this way, but... We're currently down 3. Since the start of game 2, we've been outscored by 30 points. Steve Blake in those 2.75 games is -30. He allowed Delly to look like Isiah Thomas in the second half with the drives and pointless fouls that fucked up the run we were on to end the 3rd.
Pretty good fight from this team. Really wish they could find a way to win this one...but I don't know if I see it happening. Fuck this cavs team is hateable.
Everything is just so easy for Cleveland on offense. We have to work like hell to fight back, and then can't make big shots with the chance to tie or take the lead (see Harris wide open 3 missed).