the last time pistons went 5-0 at the beginning of the season, they went on to become the nba champions...

the last time pistons won the nba championships, their bench was DEEP, and produced a lotta help.

an omen for things to come?

i watched last night's game, and ben wallace's 1-handed putback got me all riled up. completely sucked the life outta the crowd.

charles barkeley's totally right; all championship teams defend well and rebound well; teams like the suns may be able to beat 90% of the teams during the regular season, but what are you going to do when you come up against the elite teams in the playoffs? in close games, near the 4th quarter, you see just how important defense and rebounding can be, and the pistons slowly climbed towards the suns and then passed them.

watching the way rip dismantles defenses on the offensive end makes me wish we played more 5-on-5 or even 4-on-4 rather than 3-on-3; you can do more team plays than 3-on-3; i still feel 3-on-3 is too much 1-on-1ish. the way rasheed is on one side of the court, and ben and tay are on the other end, and chauncy's out on the perimeter; rip did this so many times during the 4th; he'd run towards sheed looking for a good screen, but couldn't get one(ie bell or barbosa? would still be on his tail), so, he'd cut towards the other side, where a double screen by ben and tay were set perfectly, then curl right into the key after passing tay. tay would step out at the last minute when rip passed him, trapping rip's defender, setting him free. billups would read him perfectly, dribble over and pass him the ball; you know what rip would do there. he was just on fire. if billups couldn't get a good pass at rip, he would back up, take nash 1-on-1, and nail the 3.

also watching how the pistons defended the pick and roll and adjusted in the 4th always impresses me; at first they had problems defending against nash's pick-n-roll because chauncy always went over the screen and then nash would either drain it for a 3 or drive in. or the same against barbosa when rip was guarding him. but they adjusted in the 4th and then rasheed or ben instead switched and that made all the difference, so that's given me a realization that defending against pick and rolls is not all about switching or going over the screen(or under it), it's all about what what the small guy and the big guy are capable of offensively; i know how to do all 3(done them all playing w/the other guys), but you need to read the opponent and know what they're capable of.

going over screen - beats those who can't drive, but can put up a shot if they have time to gather themselves
-works better if your big man defender isn't very fast
going under screen - beats those who can drive, but can't put up a shot
switching - works if your big man is fast enough or the opponent can put up a shot or drive very quickly.

this is an example of good team defense over individual defense. that can only come if you know your teammates and have good insight and communication with each other.

also, this puzzled me; i heard a LOT of cheers during the pistons vs suns games for the pistons. at first, i thought it was only for antonio mcdyess when he was hitting his foul shot, b/c i knew he had played at suns for a while. but then i also heard it for ben. and then saw a LOT of pistons fans in the stands after the game. are suns fans just really bandwagonish? did detroit hook up some of their fans to travel to phoenix? is there some connection i don't know about?

truth

*sigh* it seemed like t.o. was supposed to be such a humble guy destined for greatness when "the catch II" occurred...

and yet, now we have to wonder...

"what the hell happened?"

i believe fear is the correct term. once you get a taste of power, you become afraid of letting any of it go.

sorta like anakin skywalker.

the only really important things i've got to do today are

finish my fungal lab assignment before class
pray a little
look at some possible internships (i REALLY need to get this thing going; lazyass)

and buy some snacks...

or as luwen would say it, "snex"

haha... remember that?

that is, snacks for tonight's fellowship.

man, i am so tired.

i mean, there's other stuff i really need to take care of, but these are the important things.

do i even need to say anything?

pistons win AND kings lose in a blowout...
in other words, a team i absolutely love b/c of their approach to the game wins and a team which i absolutely loathe b/c of their approach to the game loses :D

warriors also won, which only made me VERY happy.

pistons are looking sharp in the beginning of the season, which is rare... undefeated... look for them to possibly come out #1 on the espn power rankings early. i like this, but i'm keeping my fingers crossed that they don't burn out and forget what got them to the finals the past 2 seasons. or lose to the heat or pacers.

also, this pissed me off

that's just disrespect. just be glad the pistons didn't see that video before they played; chances are if they did they'd play with even more passion and absolutely destroy the kings(if you didn't think that occurred). rasheed would just bring his hate.

my fav piston prince was ON FIRE in the 3rd; i watched him, and he just could not miss; rediculous. and he even got his only block that night as his trademark fast-break block that everybody knows him for on mike bibby's layup seemingly outta nowhere, which made me smile even more. ben wallace and tayshaun prince simply took brad miller and peja out of their offensive game.

it really is interesting to note how just because flip saunders lets the players run free on offense, especially an athletic team like the pistons, allows them to do a LOT better offensively. if the pistons don't forget and let down the defensive intensity that got them where they did last 2 years, expect them to be even better w/flip.

i try to watch prince and learn off of him, but now that flip has let him and other pistons run free, i'm starting to see the huge repetoire of offensive moves that he's never unleashed when larry was coaching him. he DOES have a good handle. and a good shooting touch. so it's like last year all over again.

about time...

Eagles fire TO

ykno, i liked to too, even when he became an eagles player.

but everything that's happened in the offseason and during this season is rubbish.

donovan didn't mean that to was worthless when he said the team would do well even without to last year; he just meant the eagles are deep.

to seems to be a guy who seems to take everything emotionally and personally and then never forgive.

for a game which is arguably the ultimate in team sports, it's absolutely unacceptable to put yourself above the team. times three. or four.

so, this really is the best for philly.

pny technologies 512 mb usb drive is only...

27.99 at fry's.

(normally 59.99)

better hurry; ends on the 8th.

glad i got one; 128 mb is a lot more than a disk, but it still gets annoying when i can't save stuff onto my usb b/c i have a large slideshow collection or video or whatnot.