Stuff

My quick and dirty thoughts (I don't get to say that enough) on the Pistons first-round playoff series.

**I hope this is the same type of great coming-out party for Rodney Stuckey as it was for Tey-Tey in his first playoff series, also against the 76ers. In that series, it was Prince's defense against Iverson which carried the Pistons to the Finals. In this series (and for the entire playoffs, for that matter) it may likely be Stuckey's offense which will prove to be essential for teh Pistons to advance. I hate to admit it, but Simmons' NBA podcast this week was spot-on in that the Pistons have suffered from a misplaced sense of security in some of their bad playoff losses over the past few years. That Cavs series last year was brutal to watch, especiallya s they seemingly gave less than maximum effort for long stretches at a time.

Hopefully the extended rest the starters got down the last 10 games of the season will prove to be beneficial for this year's playoff run. Stuckey, Cram Max, Ratliff, and Hunter all provide very different but vital things to this team as reserves and here's hoping they continue to be productive.

**I think the Pistons cruise in this series, as long as Tey-Tey and the boys contain Iguodola. The 76ers have very little scoring in the paint and are one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the league, which is NOT the way to beat Detroit. The Sixers try to play uptempo and get a ton of points in the paint and from midrange jumpers. Detroit should be able to get a lot of easy shots at the offensive end while not expending a ton of energy on defense.

**That last sentence is a good thing, and hopefully they'll also be able to use that rest to full advantage in Round 2 against the winner of the Cleveland/Washington series, which promises to potentially get ugly with some junk-talking from both teams occurring over the past few days.

Hope the Fun Run went well today.
Hope the cow frees itself soon.
Hope Al's Acres are growing well.

These are the kinds of days I miss home---talk of going to Tiger games, Pistons playoffs, golf, etc. Plus, I get to ref tomorrow! Yay! 7th and 8th grade boys games don't exactly excite a man on a 75-degree April Saturday afternoon.