Empty the Bench

Before I tell you why Sunday night’s embarassing loss to the Philadelphia 76ers is no big deal, let’s get the formalities out of the way: that was sickening. Inexcusable. A terrible way to open a postseason this Pistons team has been pointing to all season long, and a bad omen for the ensuing rounds.

Not only was head coach Flip Saunders off his game, so was the All-Star backcourt of Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton, who combined for just 8-26 FG, 27 points, 8 assists, and 4 turnovers. Billups uncharacteristically missed 3 of 4 free throws in the game’s waning minutes (he’s the NBA’s second-best from the line behind Peja Stojakovic), while Hamilton suffered through an absolutely dismal night from the field. I have some thoughts on Hamilton and his future with Detroit, but will save those for after the playoffs are over.

After building what seemed to be a comfortable 13-point lead at the half, four of the five Pistons starters (Rasheed Wallace being the exception) stopped doing what got them the lead in the first place. They stopped hustling, they stopped making easy shots, they let an offensive nobody named Reggie Evans score 11 points and pull down 14 rebounds. Flip Saunders stopped playing his bench (something he promised all season long wouldn’t happen), and the hometown fans stopped cheering… and started booing as the final buzzer sounded.

And rightfully so. They paid good money to see what should have been a gimme win. What they got instead was 1 1/2 quarters of vintage Deeeeeeeee-troit basketball and 2 1/2 quarters of the brand of basketball that ushered the Pistons out of the Conference Finals each of the last two seasons: complacent, unemotional basketball.

Okay.

It felt good to get that off my chest and out of the way. Visit any Detroit Pistons online message board today and you’ll read similar sentiments, albeit expressed in a much more juvenile, harder-to-read format.

But what you probably won’t find is the following sentiment: as twisted and unnecessary and ridiculous and frustrating as it may sound, sometimes this Pistons team needs losses like this for them to really get going. Believe me, I’m sick of it and I wish it wasn’t true. They’re too good to need a good kick in the ass to get motivated to beat on a lesser opponent.

This happened once before, however—losing homecourt advantage in the first round to a team they clearly should have swept. When, you ask? Back in the 2004 playoffs. That’s right, the year they won it all.

More on the Detroit Pistons and how they can quickly turn it around after the jump…

Exactly four years ago today, the Detroit Pistons waltzed onto the Palace of Auburn Hills floor armed with a 1-0 lead in their seven-game series against the underdog Milwaukee Bucks. By the time it was over, Michael Redd had led his team to a 92-88 win, taking back homecourt advantage and heading back to Wisconsin with a world of confidence and the thought that maybe, just maybe, they could spring an upset on the Pistons.

They didn’t win again, dropping the series in five games. As the story goes, the Detroit Pistons went on to “shock the world” (or the media, you be the judge) by pummeling the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals.

Now, again, that was then, this is now. The Pistons should know better by now, especially considering how they bowed out the last two seasons. And the difference between that Bucks loss and this one to the 76ers (who played marvelously, by the way—I give them all the credit in the world for the win) is that it followed a Game 1, 20-point trouncing of the Bucks; it wasn’t the postseason opener, when a team supposedly harboring serious championship ambitions should be trying to make an emphatic statement that they are here, they are hungry, and they are going to be a tough out.

Flip Saunders Photo Credit: Icon SMI

Well, it’s safe to say the Pistons accomplished the exact opposite on Sunday. But I digress. The sky isn’t falling (yet), they are still the much superior team, and they are still very capable of making short work of the Sixers and closing them out in five games. I really do believe that. Kind of.

For it to happen, however, a few things need to change starting on Wednesday in Game 2:

- Stop staring, start moving. While Sheed Wallace is a dangerous weapon on the blocks, at times his teammates tend to feed him the ball and then stand there and wait for him to shoot. That’s not a good thing in case Sheed wants to kick it out, and it’s really not a good way to position yourself for an offensive rebound. If the ball goes down on the blocks, movement needs to continue. Sixers head coach Mo Cheeks purposely did not double-team Wallace, even as he was abusing Samuel Dalembert, because he didn’t want to give up open shots to Detroit’s sometimes dangerous perimeter shooters. Keep moving, and the young Sixers will scramble.

- Rip Hamilton needs to wake up from his second-half slumber and start making shots. It’s as simple as that. Yes, he’s been bothered by a sore hip for awhile now, but he’s had plenty of rest in sitting out 8 of the team’s final 13 regular season games. The normally high-percentage shooting Hamilton has knocked down 50% of his shots or just 5 times in his last 17 games. That can’t go on for much longer.

- Flip Saunders needs to follow through on his promise that’s been repeated all season long to rely on his bench more than in the past. Rodney Stuckey played less than 13 minutes, attempting just one shot. Despite making a defensive impact with 2 blocked shots and helping keep the Sixers out of the hole while he was in there, Theo Ratliff logged just 5:41. Long-range sharpshooter Jarvis Hayes played 5:17 and took just one shot. Amir Johnson, who matches up well with his fellow youngsters on the Sixers, never left the bench. Neither did rookie defensive (and hustle) specialist Arron Afflalo. Veteran Juan Dixon, who’s played well since joining the team at the trade deadline, was inactive. Playoff rotations are always shortened—but when something isn’t working, or more specifically when starters are playing up to par, it’s on the coach to recognize and make the adjustment.

- Don’t let the inexperienced 76ers “grow up in the second half,” as Cheeks described it. In fact, don’t let them do anything except doubt themselves from start to finish. There’s no excuse for 19-year-old rookie Thaddeus Young, in his first postseason start, to notch an early 10 points and a few steals. Willie Green should not score 17 points, even if he does have a history of lighting up the Pistons. And Reggie Evans—who was talking smack for most of the game, strutting around like he’s more than a role player, and doing a victory dance before the game had even ended—should be boxed out, shut down, and shut up. He’s a great rebounder, but that’s all he is. Whether it’s Antonio McDyess, Jason Maxiell, Wallace, or Amir Johnson: get a body on him. And if he goes to the hole—if ANY Sixer goes to the hole—give ‘em a good, clean, hard foul. Let them know who’s boss.

- Finally, just relax. Know that you’re a much better team with much more experience. Don’t worry about the second round or the Boston Celtics or about winning it all. Play Wednesday night’s game (and Friday’s and so forth) like the hard-nosed, talented, fun-to-watch team every Pistons fan knows you are.

It’s not going to be easy getting to where this team hopes to go. But it doesn’t have to be this hard this early, either.

Tags: Flip Saunders, Rasheed Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Detroit Pistons