Game 78: Indiana Pacers (46-32) @ Detroit Pistons (39-38)

[_Und3r][D4wg_]

So... The team waiting again for other teams to lose and bail us out?

[DETermination]

Without Blake we are a bottom 5 team

[_Und3r][D4wg_]

Without Blake we are a bottom 5 team

But I thought the offense would flow more freely and be less predictable without Blake, everyone getting more touches and shots would get more people engaged and in rhythm?

[vege]

Without Blake we are a bottom 5 team

Especially with this awful lineups. 4 guards and Drummond. How we rebound? How we stop Thadd or Bogdanovic? Yeah we don't, and the only guy shooting really well to justify being in the game is Ellington. There is absolutely no reason to have Reggie and Ish there at the same time.

[DetroitSho]

Without Blake we are a bottom 5 team

But I thought the offense would flow more freely and be less predictable without Blake, everyone getting more touches and shots would get more people engaged and in rhythm?

Dude, they're getting wide open shots. They're just missing them. TF you talking about?

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[DetroitSho]

Without Blake we are a bottom 5 team

Especially with this awful lineups. 4 guards and Drummond. How we rebound? How we stop Thadd or Bogdanovic? Yeah we don't, and the only guy shooting really well to justify being in the game is Ellington. There is absolutely no reason to have Reggie and Ish there at the same time.

Yeah he should put Thon out there to not rebound or box out.

By the way both Ish and Reggie are among the 5 best tonight, why not?

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[Manocad]

The rest of the team outside of Dre and Blake not only doesn't try to rebound much, the way they play it looks like they don't even know how. They get rebounds because a missed shot comes directly to them, not because they're boxing out or outjumping anyone.

[_Und3r][D4wg_]

Without Blake we are a bottom 5 team

But I thought the offense would flow more freely and be less predictable without Blake, everyone getting more touches and shots would get more people engaged and in rhythm?

Dude, they're getting wide open shots. They're just missing them. TF you talking about?

I know, man... It's the "missing" part which happens a lot that's got me frustrated...

[_Und3r][D4wg_]

The way things have been going, might as well hold out Blake again vs. OKC and just go all-out on our last 3 "more winnable" games to drag ourselves into the playoffs.

[ElectricMayhem]

Blake: My knees are feeling great, coach. I'm ready to go.
Coach Casey: *Eyeing Toronto matchup* Better to give you some more rest.
Blake: But they're perfectly fine, coach. See? *hops up and down like a bunny*
Coach Casey: *slaps Blake's knees with a ruler*
Blake: Ow! Hey, whadja do that for?
Coach Casey: *scrawling in his notebook* Blake Griffin. Out. Knee soreness.
Blake: *looks to camera with exaggerated shrug*
Coach Casey: *looks to camera with evil grin and walks away*

[DetroitSho]

Blake: My knees are feeling great, coach. I'm ready to go.
Coach Casey: *Eyeing Toronto matchup* Better to give you some more rest.
Blake: But they're perfectly fine, coach. See? *hops up and down like a bunny*
Coach Casey: *slaps Blake's knees with a ruler*
Blake: Ow! Hey, whadja do that for?
Coach Casey: *scrawling in his notebook* Blake Griffin. Out. Knee soreness.
Blake: *looks to camera with exaggerated shrug*
Coach Casey: *looks to camera with evil grin and walks away.

I'm dying

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[Uncle Mxy]

It's embarrassing and frustrating how flimsy Thon Maker is with the ball.

It's embarrassing and frustrating how Thon Maker's earning starting minutes over Leuer who's healthy and making $10 million/year.

[Ugly0598]

Blake Griffin not out the rest of the season, but he's not playing and the Pistons are losing without him, April Fools?

[El Chivo]

We really suck

[Manocad]

We really suck

Stop being so negative! Just because the team shows that they frequently play like garbage and lose because they lack talent, depth and consistency doesn’t mean they can’t make a solid playoff run.

Oh wait...yes it does.

[DBC10]

Without Blake we are a bottom 5 team

But I thought the offense would flow more freely and be less predictable without Blake, everyone getting more touches and shots would get more people engaged and in rhythm?

Well, when you try to play like the Rockets but minus the personnel, this is going to be more like the norm rather than not. Outside of maybe Ellington and Kennard, they can attempt to chase our "shooters" around but not make the full fledged effort to close out properly and won't be severely punished by it.

In the playoffs, I can see this being a disaster if we have dry spells like we did last night.

[El Chivo]

Without Blake we are a bottom 5 team

But I thought the offense would flow more freely and be less predictable without Blake, everyone getting more touches and shots would get more people engaged and in rhythm?

Well, when you try to play like the Rockets but minus the personnel, this is going to be more like the norm rather than not. Outside of maybe Ellington and Kennard, they can attempt to chase our "shooters" around but not make the full fledged effort to close out properly and won't be severely punished by it.

In the playoffs, I can see this being a disaster if we have dry spells like we did last night.

our roster is a mess, SVG tried to make them play the right way, Casey is more loose, but this is a 35 to 45 w team, so there's not much to do.

[DBC10]

But I thought the offense would flow more freely and be less predictable without Blake, everyone getting more touches and shots would get more people engaged and in rhythm?

Well, when you try to play like the Rockets but minus the personnel, this is going to be more like the norm rather than not. Outside of maybe Ellington and Kennard, they can attempt to chase our "shooters" around but not make the full fledged effort to close out properly and won't be severely punished by it.

In the playoffs, I can see this being a disaster if we have dry spells like we did last night.

our roster is a mess, SVG tried to make the play the right way, Casey is more loose, but this is a 35 to 45 w team, so there's not much to do.

A couple years ago, we'd have killed to have 40 or so wins before the playoffs began so in all likelihood, this season is a success, or should be considered a minor success either way.

Statistically, we're not really better than where we were last season, but we did make some internal improvements here and there and had mostly a fully healthy Blake trying to scrape some wins. So that's something. We're in cap hell, so I had low expectations to begin with.

[Moses ShamMoses]

It's embarrassing and frustrating how flimsy Thon Maker is with the ball.

It's embarrassing and frustrating how Thon Maker's earning starting minutes over Leuer who's healthy and making $10 million/year.

Thon needs strength and bulk more than anybody in the entire NBA. He'll need to hit the dinner buffets and gym over the summer.I guess he has time on his side as he just turned 22...with these young guys we need to be patient and understand its a maraTHON and not a sprint.