Re: The refs have drastically favored the Heat so far.
 

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"It's like night and day (from last year)," he said. "We've gone from like the first- or second-best team in the league in holding teams to low field-goal percentage to now we're in the middle of the pack. It's night and day."

He put some of the blame on coach Flip Saunders for putting too much emphasis on the offense.

"We work more on offense," Wallace said. "We practice more on the offensive end, than we do on the defensive end. What you practice hard you usually bring to the game."

Clicky

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ok you have basically the same roster as you have had for the 2yrs before this, where you were a top defensive team, much weaker offensive team, finished 1st, 2nd .. and Ben is saying that they need to spend more time on defense??

come on they shouldn't need to practice very much on the defensive side

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I disagree. Continuing to practice and use skills is what keeps them sharp.

Re: The refs have drastically favored the Heat so far.
 

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"It's like night and day (from last year)," he said. "We've gone from like the first- or second-best team in the league in holding teams to low field-goal percentage to now we're in the middle of the pack. It's night and day."

He put some of the blame on coach Flip Saunders for putting too much emphasis on the offense.

"We work more on offense," Wallace said. "We practice more on the offensive end, than we do on the defensive end. What you practice hard you usually bring to the game."

Clicky

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ok you have basically the same roster as you have had for the 2yrs before this, where you were a top defensive team, much weaker offensive team, finished 1st, 2nd .. and Ben is saying that they need to spend more time on defense??

come on they shouldn't need to practice very much on the defensive side

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I disagree. Continuing to practice and use skills is what keeps them sharp.

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yeah, but Ben is coming across like they need to spend 80% of practice on defense, instead of a 75o/25d, 70o/30d type split

I'd say its 80-90% players fault, 10-20% Flip

Re: The refs have drastically favored the Heat so far.
 

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I'd say its 80-90% players fault, 10-20% Flip

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I don't think it's possible for me to put my views into a percentage. Of course it's not all Flip's fault, though. I just don't think he has done much of anything that helped the Pistons this year. Most of what can be blamed on Flip has happened in the playoffs. He doesn't seem to be very good at making adjustments, and that really hurts a team in a best of seven series. While he's not the sole person responsible for this team's decline in the playoffs, he is a fairly significant part of the problem, IMO.

Re: The refs have drastically favored the Heat so far.
 

why does it have to be someone's "fault?" how bout less on what's wrong with detroit, it's not like it's their NBA finals to win.

Re: The refs have drastically favored the Heat so far.
 

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why does it have to be someone's "fault?" how bout less on what's wrong with detroit, it's not like it's their NBA finals to win.

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The Pistons haven't been playing up to their capabilities since before the Cavs series even started. I personally think it's worth discussing.

Still, Miami does look pretty good right now. Wade has been amazing, and Shaq has shocked the hell out of me. Riley also deserves a lot of credit at this point. I know there are some who still disagree with that, but this team is working during the most important part of the year in the NBA.

Re: The refs have drastically favored the Heat so far.
 

is it possible that the pistons are just gassed, and dont match up well with the current miami team which is a whole lot deeper than detroit so they can rest players, as opposed to the pistons who only go 7 deep realistically and while lindsey hunter is good on defense, is cringeworthy on the offensive end. detroits starting 5 probably spent the most time on the floor as a group this year, and after deep runs since the 02-03 season i think it looks like they are gassed, detroit should try to add some quality bench players in the offseason imo.

also i hope detroit does lose, and we have a matchup between a hungry miami squad and a hungry dallas/phoenix squad, because i dont think any of those teams have won the nba title to date. exciting stuff!

Re: The refs have drastically favored the Heat so far.
 

Apparantly according to Flip they are going to try playing zone for most of the game.

The Heat are playing they're best basketball all season. Better defense and better offense. The Pistons need to be playing they're best basketball of the season in order to beat them. They're not.

Contrary to what people think..the team Riley put together is much better than last years. The only problem with it is you need a Riley to keep the team from imploding.

Re: The refs have drastically favored the Heat so far.
 

"Apparantly according to Flip they are going to try playing zone for most of the game."

very good idea, I just doubt they'll use it to it's full potential

Re: The refs have drastically favored the Heat so far.
 

Way to go Flip, just tell the Heat what your major strategy adjustment a day before the next game. Wouldn't want them to prepare for it or anything...

Re: The refs have drastically favored the Heat so far.
 

I don't think Flip is a terrible coach but he isn't a great one either. In the playoffs coaching is more important as well (especially if the teams are even talent wise (Dal/SA)) since teams play each other again and again so adjustments can make a big difference in how a series plays out.