DTroppens

20 turnovers, 20 turnovers, 20 turnovers. AUGH.

Need to check what the Pistons did the final one or two minutes of each quarter. It seemed they just got zapped at the end of every quarter. I'd think, Iet's at least keep the lead, keep it within 2 or something like that and each time it seemed it never happened. I'll have to check on that one.

I always talk about going to a Walleye game but never have. Maybe next season.

Well you have to make that trey.

Offensive foul down 2. How many many more times do we shoot ourselves in the foot.

Tip put back dunk and then a missed trey.

What are the turnovers up to. I'm afraid to check.

Still time, but eventually the Pistons have to rise to the challenge.

Just one time don't make that bucket to put it up two possessions again. Gosh, every time.

I think most of us knew that before the playoffs began - the Pistons part. And I'm not knocking the Pistons. You could see in the reg season it was going to win any playoff series the way the Pistons try to win with some serious deficiencies. But Orlando is definitely better than people wanted to admit as well.

Yup.

Stewart - just stupid, stupid, stupid.

In a night of ups and downs, the thing I'll remember about this game more than anything was Bobby Scales' story about how he almost gave up baseball and why he didn't. Maybe he's told that story before, but I never heard it. It made me a little bit of a Bobby Scales' fan hearing him being as honest as he could and revealing a major point in his life. I've always looked at him as some generic guy with the Tigers' announcing crew that I wondered why the heck he was here. At least I remembered Rod Allen from the 1984 Tigers. It made him a lot more human at least to me.

This with one or two other points has been pretty much my thoughts all season. I really tried to enjoy the regular season and initially hoped by the trade deadline something would change this dynamic so that this team could legitimately contend in the playoffs. When it didn't, I just tried to enjoy the regular season and just hope I was wrong. My nephew (who I go to the occasional game with or we exchange texts during games) tried to convince me otherwise, but it was always apparent after the trade deadline this team was going to find it mighty hard in every round of the playoffs. I would've hoped they could get out of the first round. At the very least I wanted them to get that first playoff series win, but even that is looking crazily hard. The Pistons win game #4 and it's basically best of three with two games in Detroit. Have to win game #4.

You will find other entertaining means to "kill your back" if you are like me. I hope you can find some sort of compromise. The other day, I realized that I'm close to seeing my last "long-term generation" of players in athletics. At 57, if this year's rookie class plays 18 years, I'll be 75. That's pretty darn close. Every 8 to 10 years I kind of label a group sort of in its own generation of players. I mean, how long will I be able to do that? Not much longer. A little depressing, but it's the facts.

Thanks for the tips.

I don't spend time learning about players for the draft, but the Lions selecting an OT with the first round has my approval.

Alice Cooper was awesome. The energy he has at 78 is amazing. The guy tours probably 250 days a year all around the US and Europe. The surprise of the concert was a rendition of Smells Like Teen Spirit during his encore. First time he's ever done that. Well, I'm sure he's done it for the few shows during this tour, but never has done it during any other tour in the last 25 years.

Played my first night of outdoor sand volleyball last night. The first night of the season is always one of the best. What outdoor sports do people play around here during the spring/summer/fall seasons? I get the feeling I'm going to be peer pressured into pickleball. Actually played it during a day of sand volleyball the Sunday of Labor Day week barefooted for about four hours. It was fun. But we did the bridge walk and walked some trails at some state parks in the area that day and my feet were hurting pretty bad. Basically wore off a couple of layers of skin. So I learned one thing - don't play four hours of pickleball with bare feet.

I had to cover a sporting event and I got to my car late in the second quarter. Heard the score, heard Champion pretty much saying the Pistons were playing mighty well but the Magic just weren't hitting shots and it's scary how it was still tied. So I get home, my wife has me do something outside before I get in to watch the game. I walk in and the Pistons are up 15. It almost blew my brain. 🙂 It's nice to see it's still possible to hold a team to 38-point halves in an NBA playoff game.

I will be on the road for this one. It's going to be a sirus/xm radio game for me. My wife has a super rare Saturday off (had to use her last vacation days of her work anniversary) and had this planned a couple of weeks ago. Hmmmm, It's a Peacock game. I do have Peacock and keep forgetting I do. I think they archive games, right? Maybe I should just try to ignore social media and radio stations (I've become pretty good at doing this) and just watch the game when I get a chance late Sat night. I think I may try to do that.

If there is a player beyond Robinson (who is supposed to be one of those players) can possibly do that, Marcus Sasser. It looks like he'll never play in a playoff game (don't think he did last season and he has hardly played this season) but over the last two seasons the few minutes he plays during the regular season he looks to be no worse than the team's second-best shooter from behind the arc.

Really, almost a must-win. If the Pistons don't win tonight, visions of never winning a playoff series (and a home playoff game) in what seems like forever will be the narrative and this team isn't going to win four games in five left with three being on the road. It also would mean they've done nothing to change solving the puzzle Orlando created in game #1. Orlando did a lot of the things I'm guessing a lot of us worried would happen in the playoffs and they won easily. There's no reason for them to think they can't win three more doing the same thing. Duren isn't suddenly start roaming to hit 15-footers. It's hard to have spacing when you don't have legit perimeter shooters and the guy that is supposedly your section option can't even spread the floor to 12 feet beyond the bucket. There is no one on this team that is going to scare you into making a defense taking your perimeter game seriously. Put an arc 12 feet from the rim and it'll look like a rush hour traffic jam in a construction zone on an expressway the rest of this series. Really, unless the Pistons suddenly can hit from 40% with a few options consistently from outside, life isn't going to get any easier. And even if the Pistons did that for a game, Orlando or no other potential future opponent is going to change what they do defensively because of one game. They'll challenge Detroit to do it a second, a third and a fourth time and take their chances. I'm not as hard core about Thompson thing as a lot of you from game one. I love to see him out there for his defense. And, yes, this team needs that presence. However, he presents nothing to the team offensively and him being out there isn't going to help what this team's dire problem is right now - getting sort of offense that makes life tougher for the opponent on defense. Unless the Pistons get on the break more reliably due to him being on the floor, he also creates some headaches on the other side of the floor. Could he have played more? Of course. I would've liked to see him play more. But it's not like this magic potion that if he plays another 10 minutes in that game the Pistons suddenly win. And it's quite possible if he played another 10 minutes nothing changes, and the offense could've struggled even more.

Going to see Alice Cooper tonight in Toledo.

That's an excuse for a quarter.