Cavs v. Pistons thru 2 games

Pistons - 28 FT's attempted
Cavs - 70 FT's attempted

Pistons - 45 fouls committed
Cavs - 28 fouls committed

Just saying.

Billups has a big dollar contract with a lot of years on it. I believe AI's contract is a max contract, who else could they have got with one of those? Dumars obviously made a decision that they werent good enough to compete this year anyway and started revamping for the future.

Nothing would have been obvious if AI would have worked out.
But you are right. Dumars now has AI and Sheed to get rid of
and start over. Hamilton was given an extension. I think that says
something. And Stuckey looks like he might work out anyway.
Even the other
Bynum has had some good games.

Have you watched the games? The games haven't been close. Your theory is silly.

What difference does it make what AI did or does? He wasnt who they traded for, they traded for cap space. Now they have lots of room to operate and it will be interesting to see what Dumars does.

It makes a hell of a lot of difference.
So they would have traded AI if they had won the division?
I dont think so.
If had the best record in the East they would
have traded AI.
I dont think so.
If they had won the championship they would have traded AI?
I dont think so.

Uh they traded for him. It was quite obvious that they couldnt do any of those things with or without him. They have virtually no post game, Stuckey has disappointed, Wallace is slipping, Prince is a great role player but isnt a star, RIP is still in his prime but is mainly a catch and shoot guy on a team that has no inside game to draw pressure off of him. In the NBA most trades are player for contract or contract for player.

yes it is quite obvious.

Now.

At first part of the season when he was traded
it was quite obvious...? So there were no other big contracts
for players that would be obvious failures?

No way I give up on Stuckey yet.
He was caught up in a lot of team stuff this year.
With a group of new players (ie AI and Sheed gone)

Who thought the Pistons weren't in decline? If he can clear out cap space and get some players in there it will be a good move. Dumars understood that his team wasnt good enough to beat Cleveland or Boston the next few years so he is revamping. That is smart, tough for the fans this year and probably next but good in the end. There are a lot of NBA teams losing money that will be looking to dump salaries, having cap space makes Detroit a big player in the market. It may not work as he may not be able to get the right combination but who really thought detroit was a viable contender?

With the offense that Iverson could bring,
I thought it was possible they might be better.
(I actually love his effort, just hate his stubborn
nature.)
Detroit had always been a defensive, slug it out team
that was in an offense rut as I remember. I was of the mind
that he might work out. They certainly were not going
anywhere with Billups. You never know with a brand new
component.

But the point that he clears space with a large expiring contract
made it a decision with options, which is really important.
Especially as we look at Detroit now.

AI missing practice and then having pine splinter phobia makes
it so much easier in the end for all involved.

Cannon is 100% correct. The Pistons, with Billups, were NOT going to be better than Boston. They were NOT going to be better than Cleveland. They were going to battle with Orlando and Atlanta for third best team at best. So Dumars did the best thing he could do. He needs to rebuild and he wanted to try and stay competitive at the same time. Iverson is still a good player and a drawing card. He watched teams like Boston with their old big three and the Bulls ride their cards out til the wheels came off and nobody had any value left. He did not want that to happen to Detroit. I said it when he first made the trade that it wouldn't necessarily help or hurt the team this year but for the future, it was the right move.

Exactly. You saw this coming a mile away. You evidently missed the Cavs last regular season game when the Sixers shot 43 free throws and the Cavs shot 12. It had nothing to do with their style of play when James, Ilgauskas, Smith, Williams and Varejao didn't play. Tarance Kinsey, Jawad Williams, and Sczerbiak play and go to the hole with the same authority as James, and there should have not been a 31 FT disparity at all that game.

Just saying.

It is sad that the sixers BARELY won that game...

ESPECIALLY when they would've been better off losing it and drawing the Celts in round 1. We needed to break the 6 game losing skid though before we headed to the postseason.

They would've been better off playing the Celts? The team they lost to at home without both Garnett and Allen on the floor? As opposed to the Magic, who lost to the Knicks and the Nets in the last week of the season? K.

joey - what did you think of dampiers comments after game 2

he basically said we can't give parker the paint , if he wants to come in there we have to make him pay

if they can take parkers penetration away and force jump shots by the spurs , i think the mavs can win this series

I didn't see anything wrong w/it. Basketball's too much of a neutered game as it is, might as well send a message to a softie like Parker and risk a flagrant and/or fine.

who do you like in game 3 and then the reat of the series , cuban looked like the end was near after game 2

i'm not so sure , i think the mavs can handle this team

Twas in the midst of their worst skid of the season. We gave up an 11 point lead in the 4th to your B team (you guys came back to win it with the Pierce on the bench for most of it too). We are capable of playing alot better than that, as seen in the Feb. 3rd 1 point loss against Boston, who was playing without KG b/c he was sick.

And after the Knicks beat the Magic in the last week, they had nothing to play for and practically shut it down for the games against the Nets and Bucks.

It's only my opinion, one that probably isn't echoed by the majority of the Sixers fanbase. I just think that we'd have an easier go at it against the Celts than we will have against the Magic, call me crazy.

The matchup debate wouldnt even matter if the Sixers were playing as piss poor as they were down the home stretch. We wouldve been swept by either team. Getting Thad back gives us a much needed boost at the PERFECT time and allows Dileo alot more wiggle room when it comes to tinkering with his bench. Without that, we're toast.

I just think he was pissed off that his team was getting blown out, as any owner would be.

The Mavs finally have no burden of expectations on them and the Spurs seem disinterested at times. They miss Ginobili. Mavs in 6.