Bricklayer said:
I'm not going to bother to respond to the impressions garnered at random intervals stuff from a 2 post poster, but Detroit looked flat from the opening tip. Mustered a little energy in the middle of the game, but faded off again by the end. I am not the world's biggest Pistons fan, but this was not anything remotely like the active aggressive pressing team you normally face when you meet them.
i actually had quite a few posts previously. this is a newer account. like i said, i've been reading a lot for quite a while, and like i said, it's not really relevant to this subject specifically. i just wonder why so many fans are reaching for negatives now, when even espn pundits and the like are giving us a break for once.
anyway, the question isn't how detroit played; obviously they did not bring it. the question is, why did they not bring it.
I have no idea what you think the relevance of the Phx and Seattle losses were for Detroit. I did not see the Seattle game, but they certainly did not look tired in Phx. Just got beat.
like i said: if the threat of a three-game losing streak is not enough to overcome being "tired", after a non-game day, coming from seattle (which obviously is right over there), when their division is far from locked up going into the playoffs, then the pistons need to reevaluate themselves in a hurry.
Being flat and tired happens, particularly at the end of a long road trip -- we were clearly flat and mentally/physically shot in Miami, and Miami was flat as well for 3/4 (maybe due to it being a back to back for them as I recall). In the end the Miami game played out about as you'd expect it to, as the better/deeper home team got a second wind (or a first wind in that sloppy game) and just ran away in the 4th quarter on pure energy. This one was dicier for us, because we weren't the better/deeper team. But we did have tons of energy (home debuts of the new guys were a big boost), and Detroit did not, and so chalk one up for us.
mentally/physically is an important phrase. sac had the trade to deal with, plus an increasingly short bench, back-to-backs, one more game than detroit (in the same 10 days), and frankly, greater odds to overcome in miami, as you said.
detroit is considerably deeper. think about it: they still have "darko sightings" over there. darko milicic on the kings roster right now would be getting at least 8 minutes a game. in fact by now, he'd probably already be starting for someone who's on the injured list.
detroit plays more bodies than us in spite of this, and frankly, they're still more active and athletic than us overall. anyway, they're capable of being such, but did not tonight because they sold their opposition short, i believe.
thusly, as someone who curses the kings more than any rabid fan should or probably does, it is my esteemed opinion that today's was a quality win, given the odds of overcoming a generally disciplined team without three of our most important players.