Chauncey's comments, Detroit's weakness

[ljp24]

anyone think he sounds like LT after the playoff game vs the Pats?

That's because the Pats were dancing on his field.

[Jimmy103]

That's why they're not a dynasty, they don't have the killer instinct. They think they have an edge because they go out and mug people, that's not tenacity, that's just dirty play.

[wigglestrue]

That is what seperates the good teams from the very good teams: The very good teams take each and every game seriously and celebrate each victory. Detroit, according to Chauncey's comments, just didn't put all of their effort in it. However, I think they did and he just wants to make it sound as if Detroit can beat Boston every day of the week, only if they want. But that is ridiculous. Teams should always want to win.

Whenever a team is called out for celebrating too much, I laugh and fondly remember watching, with tears of joy in my eyes, the Red Sox celebrating Papi's HR in Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS like they had just won the World Series. "What the...why are those guys so happy?" Don't you wish you knew?

[threrf23]

I don't necessarily disagree with Chauncey.

First, one of the Pistons strengths (or weaknesses, depending on how you look at it) over the past few years is that they've been consistent in the way they play as a team - and they take every game seriously - perhaps even too seriously. Meaning, they've always got a real good regular season record - they'd arguably be better taking everyday games less seriously and saving some energy for the playoffs.

They're not the same team with Ben Wallace. IMO they need Cheikh Samb (and I think Cheikh Samb's the man) to contribute and Maxiell to continue to improve and their other young guys to provide sparks off the bench before they can contend again. But no one is more professional, more serious than they are. So I have to disagree with anyone here saying their weakness is that they do not take each game seriously enough.

Anyways, great teams don't celebrate every victory. They are always professional and acknowledge every victory and perhaps they have as much fun as they can within the realm of keeping a serious mood (advantage Celtics), but when push comes to shove a victory is just another victory and their sights are on something much bigger. If you have confidence, you don't need every single game to go your way to still have a quiet confidence.

As longtime Celtic fans we have a right to be excited about the victory. As longtime losers, PP/KG/Ray Allen have every right to be excited. When push comes to shove though, not only is it one more game, but the Pistons aren't even our biggest threat to the title, regardless of whether or not they have the best stats. We'll still have to get past the Spurs and Mavs. And getting past them in the regular season, if we can, is not the equivalent to getting by them in the playoffs.

Anyways, I'm not criticizing our guys, I'm just saying that I don't get the negative reaction from Chauncey's comments. There would be no reason for that unless we felt threatened IMO, and we have no reason to feel threatened at this point.

[SuigintouEV]

qft... AND they got no inside presence

Eh, Wallace, Prince, Hamilton, and especially billups are all deadly postup guys...

[Kefa461]

All top teams want to win their home games and defend their floor. If they say anything else they are lying. If a fan believes them they are living in a state of denial. The Pistons wanted that game, close to as much as the C's wanted it.

[wigglestrue]

Anyways, great teams don't celebrate every victory.

Not every victory, but...some great teams celebrate every big victory, and don't pseudo-snobbishly define a big victory as only a t-shirt game. I mean...



WTF guys, relax, it's only one regular season game.

[wigglestrue]

They're not the same team with Ben Wallace. IMO they need Cheikh Samb (and I think Cheikh Samb's the man) to contribute and Maxiell to continue to improve and their other young guys to provide sparks off the bench before they can contend again.

Samb is cool, very talented defensively, but I think Amir is #1 - better and #2 - readier. It baffles me that they haven't started to give him regular PT, even in their string of blowouts, in order to have him ready for the playoffs. Then again, he's so freaking talented he could probably come off the bench ice cold and dominate, as we saw last season.

[SeizeCoup]

qft... AND they got no inside presence

Eh, Wallace, Prince, Hamilton, and especially billups are all deadly postup guys...

True, they got skills with their backs to the basket, but first and foremost they are face-up players. None of their "stars" spend much time battling down in the paint. This is why they take less ft's. Last night it seemed like Maxiel was the only guy taking it hard to the hole. The rest of the guys, even when they got in close, it's not like they were attacking the rim.

Also, imo their best post-up guy is their PG, Billups, but he can easily be countered by matching up TA or Ray against him on defense. Once you do that, they got no balance, all their guys are out on the perimeter.

[toecutter]

Word on Billups and Detroit's post-up talents. But if they had a true inside presence, they would've done something about Glen Davis. He absolutely exposed Detroit's interior as ripe for the pickins.

[pierced]

I never thought that they didnt want to win this game.. CB is just arrogant.. They were on a streak the Cels were on a streak and it was a clash.. They did their best with the game.. Sheed was playing hard.. CB and Rip played hard and so was Maxiell.. They were fired up with this game.. We made the adjustment and won.. They're just arrogant..

[SuperDeluxe]

Billups also had some gracious things to say after the game:

"He came up big for them," Billups said of Davis. "Give him credit. He played good and they outplayed us."

"I can't use (fatigue) as an excuse. It's not like we had been playing 40 minutes a night in those other games," said Billups, who finished with 17 points (4 of 12 shooting). "We got too locked in on trying to chase mismatches and we got locked in on one side of the court. They are a really good defensive team, especially on the strong side. We had to keep swinging the ball to get better looks."

"They outrebounded us by a lot," said Billups. "They had a lot of second-chance points. Nobody on our team shot the ball great. We never could get a hold of that play they were running with Pierce and Davis. And yet, we still, with all that, we had a chance -- down three and I shot an airball. We should have been down by 12 or 14. But they won, that's the bottom line."

So the other crap was an unfortunate thing to say, but he's not 100% sour grapes.

Link

[THE X-FACTOR]

I wish Paul Pierce would act like he's been here before. You know, the guy is a vet. He has been in the playoffs. Granted, he went through a lot of lean years, but the way he was popping and doing his best Ali impression walking off the court Saturday -- "We're the best team in the league" -- it came off as boorish, immature. It's January, Paul. Relax. To his credit, he was more subdued afterward. "You can't take anything away from Detroit," he said. "They're a great team. They're a champion. We're still learning from them what it's like to be in these type of games."

http://info.detnews.com/redesign/blogs/pistonsblog/index.cfm?CFID=9485604&CFTOKEN=58486725


Detroit News

[wigglestrue]

Schizophrenic double standards suck. On one hand, you're supposed to "act like you've been there". On the other hand, when it's backed up, your trash talking is celebrated like its own kind of talent. Larry Bird didn't always act like he'd been there before, even long after he had been there. Michael Jordan didn't always act like he'd been there before. Rasheed Wallace doesn't act like he's been there before. Also, the Celtics are the best team in the league. Fact. They're owning. They're on pace for the greatest regular season in history. They're pumped, as they should be. And yet they still follow the "been there" protocol of lip service during public interviews, so what the hell is any of these judgmental wankers complaining about. They do the serious trash talking off camera, and they're as respectful as they need to be on it -- that should satisfy these pseudo-righteous hypocritical hack writers since that's all they want, for the players to "behave themselves" when the camera is on, to be as milquetoast as the writers want them to be. Anyway, I love it that the players talked trash to the Pistons fans behind the bench, it's not like they weren't responding to taunts they were getting all game. Unleash the dogs of war. Sometimes I wish mang were the official Celtics spokesperson.

[tmorgan]

Samb is cool, very talented defensively, but I think Amir is #1 - better and #2 - readier. It baffles me that they haven't started to give him regular PT, even in their string of blowouts, in order to have him ready for the playoffs. Then again, he's so freaking talented he could probably come off the bench ice cold and dominate, as we saw last season.

Dunno if you guys already knew this, but Samb busted his jaw and lost a bunch of teeth early in the D-league season. He's now recouping.

Amir is the real deal, but Flip is cautious -- overly cautious. Amir makes a lot of defensive mistakes, but there's really no reason why he can't play 4th big man minutes behind Sheed, Dyess, and Max. If he loses us a couple of games, so be it. We're paying the guy almost 4 mil a year for the next three years, so he needs to develop on the court.

Barring a miracle in terms of Saunders' thinking and Johnson's development, you definitely won't need to gameplan for his defense and dunks in the playoffs, cuz you aren't going to see him. *sigh*

[bru87tr]

ya, that little team dance and hoopla that was going on looked like it meant nothing to CB and the pistons.....bahahahahahahah.

[SeizeCoup]

Amir Johnson is the X-factor, similar in style to Maxiell but with a higher ceiling. As of right now, Antonio Mcdonalds is their starting center. That's not great. If Amir steps into that role of big-man on the inside, consequently Sheed will become that much more effective.

Oh, and since we're sort of talking about a couple of things here, thought I'd voice my opinion on the "swagger" these guys exhibit.

They definitely talk a lot on the court. KG, House, Pierce, Posey, those 4 (in that order?) probably do the most talking.

But Ray too, he must piss the ish out of the other team. He seems to draw the ire of a lot of players. He and Kobe don't have a good relationship, and everyone knows about the Bowen ish. Maybe it's the bang bang bang he does after draining a three. That would piss me off. I'd hate guarding him, all that running around the picks, and range, sweet-spots, all over the court.

Definitely there is some cockiness, but they can back up every single thing they say. This isn't Qbitch, these guys aren't fakers. High-class professionals, with chips on their shoulders. The rest of the league, watch out!

[sully00]

The thing about Billups playing it off like it doesn't matter is the Pistons have been hot and were telling everyone that they were the ones who were going to send the league a message over this 3 game stretch, with Dallas and SA coming to town after the C's. They drop the first game against the C's at home and sure they can play it off like it doesn't matter, it is just a regular season game, but then again maybe it is also a sign that their run is coming to an end they lose a big game and it doesn't really matter.

Boston has acted like every close win was game 7 all year long no matter the opponent they are having fun.

[I love heinsohn]

He's right -- if the Celtics lost to the Pistons 2 out of 3 games this season (if not 3 out of 3) including at home in Boston, some of our players would probably have a mental block if we met them in the playoffs and question if we could beat them.

Teams like the Spurs and Kings had a similar problem with the Lakers for years -- and the Kings never were able to get over that hump.

As often as not, things do not work out this way. Example: I think the Celtics were 4-0 vs. New Jersey in the 2002 regular season.

[rambo_ortega]

he's just making an excuse.