ClutchCity.net Game Thread: Pistons @ Rockets 1/24/2003

It will be close. And Detroit executes down the stretch, I think they will edge it out.

Detroit 88
Houston 82

 

Which jersey will Mobley be wearing tonight? Houston's or Detroit's?

 

Piston fan here, I figured I drop a line from my domain and talk some friendly smack

1. The Pistons have the best record against Western Conference Teams

2. The Pistons are well rested

3. The Pistons are hungry especially after the last game when Steve hit that jumper to seal the win for you all

Looking at History we haven't won there since 1992, but history will be made tonight that's for sure.

 

How do you like Rip Hamilton over Stackhouse?

And how on earth does that team win so many games??

 

Rip is much much better than Stackhouse in our offense because Rip doesn't take ill-advised shots and is not careless with the ball.

It's funny you ask about that comparison. I was watching the Wizards and Hornets and was relieved that Stackhouse was making all those careless errors on the Wizards when it use to be for us.

You'll see how we win come gametime when Chaucey lights Francis up

Seriously though, sometimes I ask myself that same question. We just have guys that step up on any given night. Put it this way, when we win someone has at least 25 points. It may just not be that same guy all the time

 

I've got to tell you, I think the Pistons will be the best team in the East next year. I'm sure Dumars will make a deal over the summer for one more scorer who can play good D and insert him a SF. If they can find a player who brings Micheal Curry's defense but can score consistently, that team is dangerous.


But I have to say, the Rockets are pretty damn good against the East. Interesting that they're the best against the West from the East, and we're one of the best against the East.

Here's the edge: We're at home, against the East, after 2 days rest and after 2 of our players were announced as starters for the All Star game. Plus, Detroit is not a good reboudning team, and we tend to hammer teams on the boards at home. With Cato and Ming, we have MOST MOST probably the best rebounding C rotation in the league, with Griffin being a notable contributor as well. Add to that the best rebounding G in the league, and you have a really bad situation for Detroit.

Mobley can cancel out Rip, so I find it hard to believe that Ming won't at least tie Wallace, Griffin won't tie Corliss or Cliff, Posey won't beat Curry, and Francis won't beat Billups. Then there's Cato and MoT off the bench to counter Okur and MoT.

I just feel we're very wel equipped to win, especially with Ming taking it easy for a couple of days.

 

It will also be interesting to see Wallace go up against Ming. It will be sort of a preview of the all-star centers in this years All-star game in ATL

 

When I saw the Rip for Stackhouse trade I thought the Pistons were crazy. I figured they would be better off with a maturing Stackhouse. But Rip is a lot of fun to watch, very quick.

The Rockets need a little of the Pistons system. Patient, moving the ball around, giving EVERYONE a chance to contribute. Right now it's just Steve and Cuttino in the 4th. It works really well.

 

That's the thing, in the fourth quarter we know who to focus on in Francis and Mobley. With us, you don't know who to focus on. It could be Barry, Williamson, Robinson, Hamilton, Billups, etc.

Let me take that back, in the fourth quarter, you know who NOT to focus on Ben Wallace (at least on offense)

Going back to Stackhouse, his game matured to the point where you just could not change it and his game is not Max Money material he would never be the piece to build a championship team around. So that's why we traded him. Plus his ups are no longer there so he's not as exciiting a player in my opinion

 

I don't know. You can focus on Francis and Mobley, but Ming will burn you. But here's the problem you'll have: Since we don't need to send much defense Wallace's way, we'll have 2 weakside shotblockers to swat shots: Ming and Griffin.

Good matchup.

Here's somethign I wonder about: How will Detroit ever acquire an impact player? What/who will they trade? Their picks won't be good and they don't have capspace this summer (do they?).

 

Its cool to have friendly fans from other teams in here. Welcome FWG_wani.

Just want to add a couple things to what you've said.

1. you do have the best record against the western conference...of course you haven't played Sacramento, San Antonio, Houston, or the Lakers...and you beat Utah and Phoenix by 2 points, which is still a win, but you are in no way dominating the west.

2. If being well rested is a pre-requiste to a win, then we have the upper hand since we've had 2 days off, compared to one day off that you guys have had.

3. I think you're making too much of one game...I hardly think you guys are still 'hurting' over a close regular season game last year.

Either way, it should be a good game. Hamilton has really taken at Mobley in the past couple of games and Wallace is always a monster in the middle. Given wallace's aggressiveness and Yao's recent drop-off, I think Yao is going to get punished pretty bad tonight if he tried to bang with Big Ben down low.

 

Actually we do have enough cap space this summer not to mention Memphis first round draft pick (If it isn't number 1) in addtion to that, we have several other picks from trades in the last two years. I think we are going to have about 8-11 million in cap space. That in addition to the picks we have and the abundance of role players should be enough to get a superstar that deserves the money (Duncan, perhaps but a very loooong shot) to come to Detroit

 

Severe Rocket Fan,

you are right. I was just trying to light a flame to spark some convo, but in reality, very few regular season games (especially inter-conference) are games to really get hyped over.

My guys on my message board are more worried about whether or not Rodman's jersey should be retired or not than this game

 

My conclusion is that you are a boob. You can argue about Rudy's decisions and skill level, but not his devotion to the team. He has been with the Rockes for 35 years. Are you even that old?

 

WOW, who's coming off your cap to give you 8-11M in capspace?

Dumars, I must say, is absolutely brilliant if the Pistons have even 7M in capspace, plus a top 10 pick from Memphis. Can you imagine? With 7M, they can pickup a real impact player, and then pick a player to groom on their bench for the future.

Dumars is easily the best GM in the league if all this is true.

 

Hey, is that our pick? Don't we owe Memphis a first round pick this year??

 

i have no problem of duncan going to Detroit.

 

Yao is the elephant, Big Ben is the poor man.

 

that was sick man

 

Two things that the Rockets should try to minimize.

1) 3 Ptrs. (Detroit is a sharp shooting team 37% and they shoot it often.

2. FT. Detroit is a good FT shooting team 82% and they shoot FT quite a bit.