Another year, same team, same coach, same result.
Once again, the Detroit Pistons looked flat and uninspired as they fell to the Philadephia 76ers 90-86.
Even as flat as they were, they jumped out to a 13 point halftime lead before gagging the lead away and missing crucial shots down the stretch.
There's only one solution to this problem and I will give it to you with my fan hat on.
Dear Joe Dumars, please fire Flip. Pretty please?The team was flat and lazy and lacked the sense of urgency that Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press says that the team needed, and it falls at his feet. He's the coach, you prepare your team to play and he doesn't. This team doesn't respect him and it never well. Reggie Miller even pointed out that at one point late in the game during a substitution that Tayshaun Prince looked annoyed with him coming out of the game.
You want to know why?
Because Prince was putting the Pistons on his back at that point and carrying them offensively and had just hit a baby hook in the lane to extend the lead.
That leads me to point number two.
He's the worst playoff in-game coach I've ever watched. Mike Brown of the Cavaliers thinks this guy is a moron. He has no idea how to adjust and exploit mismatches. Samuel Dalembert couldn't guard the Statue of David and Rasheed Wallace and Jason Maxiell scored over 20 points combined on him in the first half -- Maxiell has two points in the second half.
Flip's also awful at running a bench. Other than Maxiell, no other bench player got over 15 minutes of action. We didn't even see Aaron Affalo or Amir Johnson tonight. We got to see 12 minutes and three points of Lindsey Hunter though. I know Hunter is in there for his defense but sometimes you need to actually score points to win basketball games. Crazy, I know.
Some in Pistons fan circles have said this is a good loss. To them I have this to say.
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A GOOD LOSS!!!!!!!
This team looked lazy and uninspired throughout the game and so did the fans. The fans sat on their hands and booed at times late in the game. What happened to the crowds of 2004, where the roof would be blown off of the Palace? It's just another example of the latest trend in sports -- Success = Alienating your fans with high ticket prices.
While there may not be such a thing as a good loss, there are good things you can take away from it.
- It took a lot for the Sixers to beat Detroit. Chauncey Billups missed three-out-of-four foul shots down the stretch -- a rarity for a 90+ percent foul shooter.
- Missed layups by Wallace and Billups down the stretch.
- Missed open jumpers by Prince and Hamilton.
- Reggie Evans (47 percent foul shooter) hitting two foul shots down the stretch and scoring 11 points and grabbing 14 boards
Also, you have to tip your hat to the Sixers. They came ready to play and were just flat hungrier than Detroit. Mo Cheeks (a coach of the year candidate in my opinion) did one heck of a job coaching tonight with his young team and got the poise out of them that they needed to close that game.
That being said, if Reggie Evans even sniffs a double double on Wednesday, Joe Dumars shouldn't wait until the offseason to fire Flip -- and Joe Dumars knows what it takes to win a championship.
"Urgency comes from simply trying to win a world championship," said Dumars. "I think it's a prerequisite to winning a world championship. It's imperative that you have urgency to win a world championship. The urgency doesn't come from the window being open or closed. It's simply what you have to have to win."
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