I normally answer in "Peck's Odd Thoughts" but did not want to desecrate his post this time with my own observation, nor does it feel right to start any kind of "heavy discussion" at this moment in time.
Most of you are asleep right now, whilst I am already up again for hours on end, after what was a great game with the wrong outcome, and trying to deal with the goodbyes said/experienced.
I tried making that more or less clear by posting the stop biatching post and thanking the team and Reggie in particular, hoping to avoid the "get rid of JO/Tinsly/AJ/Fred/Ron/Pollard/Croshere/Bender/Jackson" posts.
Sometimes I think I am watching or when not watching listening, (to) a completely different game then some, untill Peck arrives
Last night was one of those occasions, and Peck did not take that feeling away, for once.
The first half was simply good, JO and Reggie aided and abetted by Tinsley were "on fire" both shooting over 60% and Tins dishing out most of his Asts then and there (5 in the first Q) and as so many times before this year, coming out of the break things went kind of "pear-shaped" after that.
The 3rd Q was a sad occasion; we let the Pistons way back into the game, stopped playing the smothering defense of the first half and settling for shots we should not take.
Did the Pistons make adjustments at halftime? ok some, but we didn't and why would we, as we were playing "great".
JO imo did play a monster game, considering his "health" and at the end of the game it became so clear what he ran on this game, sheer willpower, he wanted to win this one for Reggie, he went to the hole, and back, ignoring everything for the man he simply adores, Reggie Miller, who in turn showed up in great style.
Tinsley had that exact same drive in the first half, but he lost his cool in the 3rd quarter, and never regained it.
These are my thoughts, my observations, but Tinsley was extremely unhappy on the floor the 3rd quarter, for several reasons but I think they were all "play related".
Tinsley knows by heart the movements JO and Reg will make, he gets them the ball in usually good position to take a high percentage shot.
In the 3rd quarter after giving the initial pass, waiting for the ball to come back and what play to be ran so he could make the pass for the assist, the ball never came back, it went into a dark hole, so dark even the usually "adeptly missing most part of the game because he is to busy licking some parts of some player nonsense Hubie" noticed the idiocy of the fact that Reggie hardly and JO not at all got the ball anymore.
Tinsley was very clearly very upset with that, and it did not improve his play alas, in fact he started to lose his handle and started fouling out of frustration, he wanted to change the tide in order to "decide" it for us, to give a win to Reggie.
What happend in the 4th, despite my being upbeat, was merely a culumination of that frustration and Rick benched him, which imo was an even bigger mistake as no matter how good AJ can be, he is not in the same class as Tinsley and I feel that right there we gave up the game, and the series.
I find it hard to believe that he would bench a starter and a warrior like Tinsley in Reggie's last game, but it happened.
I refuse to gripe on JO, for the simple reason that he is a certified star in this league and he has given it his all and then some, wounded, he played, he fought, he rebounded, he hustled.
JO, while ending up on 50% was at 60% at that moment in time, yet he did not get the ball, nor did Reggie, or hardly, Reggie had 3 shots in the 3rd going 2-3, JO 1-3 and Jax 1-9, the other players that had attempts; DD 2-4, Jeff 2-3 and Fred 0-1.
The players who shot well and scored the first half 17 and 14 points, combined for 6 attempts in the 3rd quarter, where as the player with 4 pts and 2-6 in the first half took 9 shots all alone.
Someone was not playing in the offense, and it got to Tinsley, perhaps Rick protected him against himself by taking him out, I do not know, but it was not a substitution I would have made.
The 3rd quarter is where we lost the game, not the 4th, that was a formality, we lost it by going away from what got us te lead in the first place and not players going cold.
In the end it doesn't matter anymore, it doesn't matter that more calls could have gone our way, that the refs did not call the game "equal", it doesn't even matter that we lost.
Upon reflection this is better then losing in Detroit, this way we were able to say thank you team and most of all Thank you Reggie, how empty would it have been if we had lost game 7?
Perhaps we have another Zapruder moment and find the conspiracy that we were not to win this game to make it Reggie's last at home, knowing that in all likelyhood we were not going to beat the Pistons in Detroit, who knows, I really don't care anymore, we had a great run, we have a very promising future and we will be back, stronger, better and just as motivated.
Most of you are asleep right now, whilst I am already up again for hours on end, after what was a great game with the wrong outcome, and trying to deal with the goodbyes said/experienced.
I tried making that more or less clear by posting the stop biatching post and thanking the team and Reggie in particular, hoping to avoid the "get rid of JO/Tinsly/AJ/Fred/Ron/Pollard/Croshere/Bender/Jackson" posts.
Sometimes I think I am watching or when not watching listening, (to) a completely different game then some, untill Peck arrives
Last night was one of those occasions, and Peck did not take that feeling away, for once.
The first half was simply good, JO and Reggie aided and abetted by Tinsley were "on fire" both shooting over 60% and Tins dishing out most of his Asts then and there (5 in the first Q) and as so many times before this year, coming out of the break things went kind of "pear-shaped" after that.
The 3rd Q was a sad occasion; we let the Pistons way back into the game, stopped playing the smothering defense of the first half and settling for shots we should not take.
Did the Pistons make adjustments at halftime? ok some, but we didn't and why would we, as we were playing "great".
JO imo did play a monster game, considering his "health" and at the end of the game it became so clear what he ran on this game, sheer willpower, he wanted to win this one for Reggie, he went to the hole, and back, ignoring everything for the man he simply adores, Reggie Miller, who in turn showed up in great style.
Tinsley had that exact same drive in the first half, but he lost his cool in the 3rd quarter, and never regained it.
These are my thoughts, my observations, but Tinsley was extremely unhappy on the floor the 3rd quarter, for several reasons but I think they were all "play related".
Tinsley knows by heart the movements JO and Reg will make, he gets them the ball in usually good position to take a high percentage shot.
In the 3rd quarter after giving the initial pass, waiting for the ball to come back and what play to be ran so he could make the pass for the assist, the ball never came back, it went into a dark hole, so dark even the usually "adeptly missing most part of the game because he is to busy licking some parts of some player nonsense Hubie" noticed the idiocy of the fact that Reggie hardly and JO not at all got the ball anymore.
Tinsley was very clearly very upset with that, and it did not improve his play alas, in fact he started to lose his handle and started fouling out of frustration, he wanted to change the tide in order to "decide" it for us, to give a win to Reggie.
What happend in the 4th, despite my being upbeat, was merely a culumination of that frustration and Rick benched him, which imo was an even bigger mistake as no matter how good AJ can be, he is not in the same class as Tinsley and I feel that right there we gave up the game, and the series.
I find it hard to believe that he would bench a starter and a warrior like Tinsley in Reggie's last game, but it happened.
I refuse to gripe on JO, for the simple reason that he is a certified star in this league and he has given it his all and then some, wounded, he played, he fought, he rebounded, he hustled.
JO, while ending up on 50% was at 60% at that moment in time, yet he did not get the ball, nor did Reggie, or hardly, Reggie had 3 shots in the 3rd going 2-3, JO 1-3 and Jax 1-9, the other players that had attempts; DD 2-4, Jeff 2-3 and Fred 0-1.
The players who shot well and scored the first half 17 and 14 points, combined for 6 attempts in the 3rd quarter, where as the player with 4 pts and 2-6 in the first half took 9 shots all alone.
Someone was not playing in the offense, and it got to Tinsley, perhaps Rick protected him against himself by taking him out, I do not know, but it was not a substitution I would have made.
The 3rd quarter is where we lost the game, not the 4th, that was a formality, we lost it by going away from what got us te lead in the first place and not players going cold.
In the end it doesn't matter anymore, it doesn't matter that more calls could have gone our way, that the refs did not call the game "equal", it doesn't even matter that we lost.
Upon reflection this is better then losing in Detroit, this way we were able to say thank you team and most of all Thank you Reggie, how empty would it have been if we had lost game 7?
Perhaps we have another Zapruder moment and find the conspiracy that we were not to win this game to make it Reggie's last at home, knowing that in all likelyhood we were not going to beat the Pistons in Detroit, who knows, I really don't care anymore, we had a great run, we have a very promising future and we will be back, stronger, better and just as motivated.