The Great Deeee-pression
Chris Paul (photo. Zach Wolfe)You have to give the Pistons credit for battling. After Allen Iverson left in the first quarter (sore back) and Rasheed got ejected in the fourth (knucklehead), Detroit still played the Hornets close on the road, and came within one shot of possibly snapping their losing streak. Definitely an “A” for effort and overcoming adversity. Here’s the thing, though: Rip, Tayshaun, McDyess and the rest of those guys have accomplished too much in this League to buy into the “moral victory” concept. For the Pistons, all that matters is they lost their eighth game in a row, dropping two games under .500 while failing to crack 90 points … Chris Paul (20 pts, 13 asts, 3 stls) and David West made the difference. After the Pistons tied it up late, CP got himself to the line, made his free throws, and hit a clutch pull-up J down the stretch. As for West (30 pts, 10 rebs), he grabbed the two biggest rebounds of the game with N.O. protecting a one-point lead in the final minute; the first was when CP missed a shot and West played volleyball with himself until he secured the rock, then after getting it to Paul to re-start the offense, West rebounded another CP miss and stuck the free throws to make it a three-point game. Walter Herrmann bricked a three on the Pistons’ last possession (he never wanted the ball in the first place), and that was it … With the way Detroit played in the first quarter, it’s a wonder Michael Curry wasn’t fired during the commercial break. The Pistons were getting owned on the glass, leaving West wide-open to shoot his favorite shot, and making spot-up shooters Rasual Butler and Peja look like professional slashers. And they only scored 13 points in the quarter. No defense, no offense, no fire — they were playing like it was practice. But after A.I. went out, everybody else picked it up … Last game of a West Coast road trip, sorry opponent on the schedule — you just knew the Celtics wouldn’t bring their “A” game last night. And since the Clippers surprisingly brought theirs (despite losing Eric Gordon in the third quarter with a shoulder injury), it was the most entertaining game of the night … Please believe this when you read it: The Clippers would not have won the game were it not for Fred Jones and Mardy Collins. After the C’s threatened to pull away early in the fourth quarter, Jones’ defense sparked an L.A. rally, and he hit a huge fadeaway three to beat the shot clock that tied it up with five minutes left. As for Collins, he was — again, we’re being serious — kind of beasting Paul Pierce in the fourth. It’s entirely possible that Mike Dunleavy Sr. was trying to throw the game by constantly running isos for Mardy against Pierce (Baron Davis was hardly involved in the offense in the fourth), but if that was the case, nobody told Mardy. He was getting buckets on Pierce, and that’s when he wasn’t collecting steals, blocks and assists. Pierce was so frustrated that he picked up a technical foul late in the quarter after Mardy rough-housed him on D …
Zach Randolph, Dime #19After Baron fouled out with 30 seconds left, the Clips went with this lineup: Jones, Collins, Ricky Davis, Zach Randolph (30 pts, 12 rebs) and Marcus Camby. If that was a team’s full-time starting five, they’d win three games all season. But on the decisive possession, Jones dropped Ray Allen on a pump-fake/drive and hit Collins on the baseline, who air-balled a floater that fell right into Z-Bo’s hands (“What a pass!” screamed one Clippers announcer) for the game-winning bucket underneath … Big Baby was at the line when one L.A. announcer said, “He’s listed at 6-9, 289. The 6-9 is generous, the 289 is conservative.” The other one then chimed in, “He’s just like LeBron!” … The Nuggets almost blew it against the Hawks. Knocking on a blowout at the end of the third quarter, at one point in the fourth Denver led 108-98. Next thing you know, it’s 110-109, and the Nuggets are scrambling to hold the lead. Chauncey Billups (33 pts) missed a wild shot in the final seconds, and Joe Johnson ended up with the ball and only one man to beat in transition. But J.J. decided to bypass the shot and gave it up to a trailing Flip Murray, who short-armed a runner he probably had no plans on taking … Dime’s Andrew Katz was at MSG for Knicks/Magic, where Dwight Howard turned in a 24-point, 21-board, 4-block line. E-mail from AK from the Orlando locker room pre-game: “I walked in and Dwight was holding court, cracking everybody up — he and Skip were killing Anthony Johnson about being ‘so old he was here when the Garden was built,’ and ‘he saw Joe Louis fight here in person.’ Everyone was dying. Then in the middle of his story, Dwight turns to me standing against the wall, nods his head and says ‘GALLINARI!’ like he was greeting me.” … Other big stat lines from Wednesday: Tony Parker (again without Duncan and Ginobili) dropped 39 points and nine dimes on the Blazers; Andre Iguodala posted 22 points, nine boards and 11 assists in a win over Washington; Devin Harris slapped 42 points on the Bulls; and Kevin Love had 24 and 15 boards in a loss to Utah … On his off day, Kevin Durant was at the U of Texas for their game against Texas Tech, where he had his #35 jersey raised to the rafters. It’s not often you see guys who only played their freshman year get their number retired, but Texas rules say anyone who cops National Player of the Year gets the honor … We’re out like Anthony “Bert Sugar” Johnson …
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February 26th, 2009 at 4:33 am
the_don_mega says:
“they were playing like it was practice.”
- maybe that’s why AI got off the court…LOL!!! seriuously, they gotta get their game on before its too late…
February 26th, 2009 at 4:48 am
Big Sia says:
Nets are gonna beat Orlando in the first round
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qyRYkvvSz4
February 26th, 2009 at 4:59 am
Fobuless says:
Clippers!!!!!
Dime,
what do you think of this?
http://www.nba.com/clippers/video/2009/02/25/mike.taylor.dunk.nba/index.html
February 26th, 2009 at 4:59 am
Benoit Benjamin says:
That’s all you guys say about TP? I know Austin Burton is probably writing another post about him right now, but still, you guys could say he was arguably the best baller out last night.
February 26th, 2009 at 5:15 am
Yowiz says:
PG ranking update :
1. CP3
1.b TP
2. Deron Williams
Open your eyes Spurs Haters
February 26th, 2009 at 5:27 am
bruce says:
Ya leave Anthony “Beetlejuice” Johnson alone!
February 26th, 2009 at 6:08 am
solomon (el latino machismo) says:
looks like motown’s rallying w/o AI – the perfect “we better without him” demonstration… too bad… sad that AI’s headed into that steve francis path…
anyway, just a 1-liner for the devin harris show? c’mon dime, step up your game and bring some more… he’s abusing them like either he’s making an early playoff statement or he wanna sbuse d-rose while the rook still can’t get back that much…
anyway, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out how old anthony johnson looks like… pair him with clyde frazier and noone would notice the age gap…
and looking the opposite way, mardy collins and fred “love thyself” jones should be thanking mike sr. for extending their financial stability and making them stay away from d-league or europe…
1st quarter already has D-Ho in double double… kinda expecting something like a 35 / 30 / 10 game from him… letdown… letdown…
and @ post#4 & 5, kinda agree with the need for much TP smakc space, but IMO, it’s like this:
1. CP3
2. DW8
3a. TP8, 3b. DH34
don’t go hatin’, im entitled to my opinion… something like that…
we’re out like respect for elders… haha
February 26th, 2009 at 6:19 am
YOUNGFED..."Im bout to pop off at the mouf like Orville Redenbacher" says:
Ok lets start the day off with real talk 101. Its funny how the only time the Pistons get a damn near a whole paragraph is whent they get their A$$ busted. DIME thats true b*cthassness at its finest.
Im glad they atleast reported on pierce getting murdered out there though. I hate that snaggle toothed lame.
BTW every starter on Boston is uglier than Lil Wayne on a bad day, which is everyday. (lol)
February 26th, 2009 at 6:26 am
YOUNGFED..."Im bout to pop off at the mouf like Orville Redenbacher" says:
Almost forgot
YOUNGFED’S BANGER OF THE DAY: New Cameron “Cookies and Apple Juice”
http://www.xxlmag.com/online/?p=38581
And yes this track is off the Meat Rack, Straight Bannaaanaaaasssss!!!!!!
February 26th, 2009 at 6:31 am
solomon (el latino machismo) says:
nah… no way ray-ray uglier than lil wayne even on a good day, excellent day, whatever day…
and LA outta learn something from that… if only ariza got better handles, he can at least make pierce work hard on D and tire him some… oh wait, they have kobe, right… i wonder how it works for LAC and not for LAL…
anyway… snaggle toothed LMAO!
February 26th, 2009 at 6:32 am
sh!tfaced says:
You just knew there was payback when Ray-ray said the “another win in LA” speech.
February 26th, 2009 at 7:09 am
dank says:
A game or not, thats no excuse for the defending world champs to lose to the clippers. ive said it before and ill say it again, they will NOT make it out of the 2nd round. stephon marbury will sign with em tomorrow and all hell will break loose.
MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHHA ANYTHING IS POSSIBLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(ive seriously watched that video a thousand times this year, its my fuel. just rages me up so bad. its gunna be sweeter saying that while we’re parading on figueroa in june baby)
by the way, Ralph Lawler (clippers announcer), great guy. i got the chance to interview him for a project during my senior year in 06. but hes such a homer. he was saying things like “oh yea, we’re better off without kobe. so selfish” and he was all over the owners ish, praising sterling like he was god. he gets annoyin with the “BINGO!” and the “Oh me, Oh My”
worse is that when the clippers are playing ok (or good) he gets super excited and sounds like hes crying
last but not least, last ngiht he said “fasten your seatbelts gang” 3047 times since the 1:21 mark. seriously? and the other guy is garbage!
Lakers 4 cavs 1
February 26th, 2009 at 7:28 am
Ross says:
No mention of Steve Blake taking a swing at Oberto?
February 26th, 2009 at 7:32 am
Rafa23 says:
youngfed, you are so funny. the pistons have lost like 8 straight.
if there would have been a paragraph about them the last couple of weeks, it would always be a loss. so what is your logic again?
February 26th, 2009 at 7:50 am
YOUNGFED...."Just to show off I hang my wrist out the window" says:
My logic is whenever they go on a killing spree we get no love. But who cares anyway we upsetting someone in the playoffs anyway.
BTW Anybody looking for a 6-11 cry baby shooting gaurd cause we got on that i’ll give away for free.
February 26th, 2009 at 7:55 am
rangerjohn says:
Come on dime, two nights in a row, TP destroys playoff teams single handedly, and by a margin of like 14 points, and all he gets is a couple lines?
No mention of how nonclutch dirk was and how nobody has slowed brandon Roy like the spurs. Didn’t he go off on every team with a better record then the spurs?
February 26th, 2009 at 8:06 am
Rafa23 says:
well ranger, they had a lot about parker yesterday. and there was nothing about devin harris either, who also killed a team by himself(albeit no playoff team).
the spurs will get enough lines in the playoffs when only a few teams remain.
February 26th, 2009 at 8:13 am
rangerjohn says:
Rafa, nahhh they will focus on the LA Kobes and Cleveland Labrons and only post the rediculous line Duncan always gets but that will be about it
February 26th, 2009 at 8:17 am
AB_40 says:
“He’s listed at 6-9, 289. The 6-9 is generous, the 289 is conservative.” The other one then chimed in, “He’s just like LeBron!”
WOW
and when is detroit gonna delegate AI to the bench? or release ‘Sheed
February 26th, 2009 at 8:36 am
TJ says:
So the Pistons info got me thinking…McDyess must really regret the decision to come back to the Pistons. He could have made more money AND been on a better team if he had just stayed on the Nuggets.
February 26th, 2009 at 8:40 am
Just another case of that ol PTA ...GEE says:
Houston Up!
Detroit and Atlanta let me down!
So Props to San An. for handeling their business once again!
Gonna sic Ron on LeBron tonight. Outside of LeBron’s ridiculous threes, if they don’t let him drive to the hole 8,875 times Houston should get it!
Please get rid of Detroit’s coach now and get somebody who can come up with a winning formula. A.I. is not the prob.
LOL at crackin on dude seeing the Joe Louis fight! That is old!
February 26th, 2009 at 8:45 am
len-e says:
“After Allen Iverson left in the first quarter (sore back) and Rasheed got ejected in the fourth (knucklehead)”
CLASSIC
February 26th, 2009 at 9:15 am
Dagomar says:
Austin, gotta give it up: TP is the league’s second-best PG, and that’s with DWill playing great ball. You could argue Parker knows the team concept better than anyone else in the league. What an amazing two games against playoff teams in the West. I’m seriously impressed.
As for AI: it’s time for everybody to acknowledge that he won’t win a title. It’s not because of the teams he’s been on, it’s because of the player he is.
February 26th, 2009 at 9:47 am
Ian says:
the little fundamental destroyed the blazer guards last night. again deron who?
February 26th, 2009 at 9:53 am
Kobeef says:
After two games back Chandler is averaging 12 points and 13 rebounds – can someone please explain to me why the Thunder chose to trade Wilcox for Malik Rose instead of Chandler???
February 26th, 2009 at 10:09 am
Sanpitch says:
before everyone jumps on tp’s nuts, d-will had:
34 pts 12 ast, 34 pts 4 ast, 31 pts 10 ast, 31 pts 15 ast, and 20 pts 15 ast games all in a row. so you got to tip your hat to tp but let’s see if he can do it a few more times.
ian
alright alright he’s got 2 of those games in a row if he can get another or two then i’ll shut the hell up on the pg argument for this season.
what is up with detroit? is it really the coaches fault? man, something needs to happen in mo-town. i hate to see that team just fall like they are. the only good thing is they are still in the playoffs.
February 26th, 2009 at 10:12 am
SWAT says:
lol…nice GEE. was tht leaders of the new schol…either way nice reference. ok so i went to see blazers at spurs last nite and tht game was so DJ (dumpster juice)!! The damn spurs had no interior defender (besides Kurt Thomas)and the blazers dont drive in the paint until well too late in the fourth. WTF? and by the way here’s the spurs game plan…parker ISO, drive the ball, and kick out to the open man on the wing. No bull they ran the same play 99.9 percent of the time and the blazers had no answer for it, whatsoever. it was beyond boring and just a tad annoying. Then on a def switch they put travis outlaw on parker. Ok maybe his length would help, but damn dude was giving TP so much room he was just pulling up and hittin. on the last note, rudy fernandez and rodriguez are officially trash. damn i cant understand why Bayless is not playing more.
February 26th, 2009 at 10:23 am
fallinup says:
GALLINARI!
February 26th, 2009 at 10:25 am
isotope says:
Y’all watch out. The Rockets are streaking again. Watch them take the Cavs tonight.
February 26th, 2009 at 10:27 am
Amar says:
man . . . some good games last night. hawks let me down though. that would have been a great comeback.
TP is flat out exposing some teams’ lack of defensive concept. i have a newfound respect for the little french fry. very inspiring play of late. portland really sucks ass though. gotta love the hype machine though . . . we’ve seen them on TV so many times this year, probably going to end up 3rd in their division when all is said and done.
they’re sandwiched between denver and utah (only .5 games back, used to be like 6 games back), and are going to get squeezed out soon enough.
February 26th, 2009 at 10:28 am
Amar says:
isotope: we’re going streaking! — from old school
February 26th, 2009 at 10:40 am
Brown says:
@ Dagomar
Well said on AI.
Is there any doubt Detroit lets AI and Sheed walk this summer? Carlos Boozer will be a likely target. This year’s free agent class doesn’t offer much, but the Pistons will have a boatload of cap space. Maxiell should obviously be re-signed, so that will take up some of that space.
FED, what do you think they’ll do this summer?
February 26th, 2009 at 10:47 am
alf (from melmak) says:
dime, that was really funny how the clippers commentators describe big baby. they should be stand up comedians or something. but then again that is par for the course as the clippers are one big joke. props for the win though.
as for detroit, me and my meal allowance was pulling them earlier to win.
i still like that team or how i remembered them when they were still hungry a couple of years back. and i do love them during the laimbeer, rodman, sally, dumars, and vinny johnoson time. i do not want to mention isiah — he sucks.
dumars better get larry brown back again next season or get chuck daly out of retirement.
one last note — the utah defense sucks. something must change there. they will never always outscore a quality team.
February 26th, 2009 at 10:57 am
Sanpitch says:
So Dwight put up another monster night 24 pts and 21 rebs. Can we officially call him a MVP contender. Right now it’s got to be between Dwight, Dwayne, and Lebron. Right??
February 26th, 2009 at 11:11 am
Lou says:
I hate fucking vinny del negro
February 26th, 2009 at 11:14 am
Lee says:
Will Marbury win a chip before Iverson ??
February 26th, 2009 at 11:44 am
K Dizzle says:
C’mon, Joe. No doubt the most disappointin play o the night: Atl fights all the way back, have the ball with 5 secs, in their best player’s hands and he tosses it back to Flip who’s like “R u kiddin me? Which one of us just got back from the All Star Game?”
February 26th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Ian says:
lou
as a david robinson fan i hate del negro more than anyone
shaq had penny
pat had starks
hakeem had drexler
and the admiral had vinny i mean WTF
sanpitch
hehehe i was waiting for u to post the deron numbers but hey lets see how many more games parker is balling alone btw deron was playin with a team as bad as this.
February 26th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
infini says:
BINGO! on boston’s ass son.
February 26th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
doc says:
Good game Mardy.Norf Phil stand up!TP balling his ass off.He been balling his ass off.But his fans and yall know who yall are,need to get yall boxers out a bunch because a lot of people like D-Will better.It aint like we saying he aint shit.People put him 3rd best and yall come with I dont wanna gloat talk like we said he 10th.It aint our fault 2 young guns came in and took his shine.D-Rose is next for what its worth.
February 26th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
doc says:
And I wasnt here yesterday but Pip is not fucking with D-Rob and Pip has come up short in MANY big game moments.As a matter of fact what did Pip ever do thats memorable in the 4th quarter of a big game besides shit like sit out with migraines and bad backs.He is STILL the shit out there,but not better than D-Rob to me.
February 26th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Just another case of that ol PTA ...GEE says:
Yea SWAT that was that L.O.T.N.S.
Inside, outside come around….who’s that?
Broooooooowwwwn!
February 26th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
jackass says:
at least no one is crazy enought to argue that the admiral is better than the dream. thank god.
February 26th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
K Dizzle says:
Ian,
you are killin me.
Admiral didn’t have Del Negro, he had Sean Slliott, who was a stud in his own right, was a two time all star, and hit the biggest shot in spurs history – imo- versus the Blazers. Del Negro was the Spurs’ Jeff Hornacek, a good third option but you knew it was Robinson or Elliott doin work. Only guy I remember actually havin no help was Mitch richmond in Sacramento
February 26th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
doc says:
K-dizz I get what u saying but I cant give Vinny and Horny same status.Horny was a fucking baller.I still can see him wiping his face like a retard before wetting the freebie.
February 26th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
BROGDEN says:
Number 46 SON!! (well, at the time I started typing – we KNOW that’s gonna change)
LOL — Pistons catchin’ “MORAL VICTORIES” – Sweet!
MARDY!!! A certain publication had the AUDACITY to consider him the WORST PLAYER IN THE L. Shame on you.
Mardy F%$#in’ Collins YO! LOL hahahahahaha…he was giving the Defending World Champions…DA BUSINESS! Props to Mardy and that SICK DIME to Z-BO!
Miscellaneous question that popped into my head last night after seeing 3 NO starters grab a double double ::
What is the record of the New Orleans Hornets when DWest, Tyson and CP get a *double-double in the same game??
*Any kinda double-double. I’m thinking the over/under’s gotta be 7 losses. I’ll take the under.
Dwight accidentally knees Nate in the bosack…by far the funniest, most unintentional case of AGGRAVATED ASSAULT. Dwight has no control over the height of his lower leg. Nate has no control over his height period. Funny-ness ensues.
AJ PRICE – Yooooooo that ish was crazy. It seemed like dude got crossed on a JAB STEP! WOW…nah seriously though, that was a FANTASTIC CROSSOVER! Props to the reformed knucklehead even though that “AI-looking-at-Lue” stare leads me to believe you’re still a knucklehead. Gamemanship goes a long way man!
And finally…PROPS to DEVIN HARRIS and TONY PARKER for showing the world that they are truly ALL STARS! If anyone ever doubted them, I don’t think they do now. These cats been BALLIN’ outta control recently.
February 26th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
BROGDEN says:
wrong i am
February 26th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
the cynic says:
Big Baby is just like Lebron!
The Clips broadcast crew is probably the most sarcastic broadcast team in the league, and they are the only thing the clippers have going for them