Purple Post-Game: Pistons
I had this game on the DVR and started watching pretty late, which leads me to two things: A.) DVR is a must if you are a die-hard NBA fan. It takes me about half as long to zip through a Lakers game, and I never miss one now. B.) I was upset by the outcome (the Pistons are my least favorite team) and didn’t really feel like whipping up the PPG at 2 AM.
Now, this whole game can be summed up like this; If we play that shitty defensively and Kobe Bryant plays like ass, we’re not going to beat the good teams.
The defense was terrible. Way too much dribble penetration allowed, which lead to way too many good looks. You cannot let a team that defends and rebounds as well as the Pistons do to shoot over 50 percent.
It was good to see the Lakers challenged, though, it really was. And, hey, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if we saw those guys in the Finals. That is, if we make it and A.I. and Waffle Iron Hands keep it up. History shows that we will make it, especially with Diaper Drew back in the fold and another year under our belts. History shows that both the Answer and the Question (why in the eff did M.J. pick him?) will flake out. I just noticed that I can’t even write his name. It was great to see him booed. It stung unbearably bad to see him play a crucial role in beating us.
I do want to point out a few specifics, though.
Lamar Odom was 5/5 in 20 minutes. Trevor Ariza actually played 30 minutes, and looked good for the most part. Vlad Radmanovic was 1/6 and basically played poorly enough to almost get himself deported. So, if Phil Jackson is set on L.O.off the bench and playing Trevor more because of his obvious potential and the fact that Lamar’s days could be numbered, then why not start Ariza? Look, Vlad’s outside shooting has not been good enough to justify keeping him in there with the first unit. Honestly, last night, I would have rather had Luke Walton in there. But L.O. needs to get more than 20 minutes, especially when he’s 5/5 and the Pistons are hurting us on the boards.
The other thing is that Andrew Bynum is a beast in the first half, but pretty much blows later in games. Why is this? Has to be conditioning. Has to be.
That’s as much memory lane as I can stomach with this one. Good thing Ant, Jack and Leo have dough to burn, because the rest of us sure as hell don’t. Feel sorry for anyone else who pays for NBA League Pass (like me) or — Gulp! — actually bought a ticket to last night’s…whatever.
Let’s go out and thrash the Bulls — get this bad taste out of our mouths!
