God forbid the Pistons win a basketball game...

by Andrew Feinstein on Feb 19, 2009 9:33 PM MST

Did any of you catch yourselves really getting into tonight's Spurs/Pistons game like I did? For those who didn't see the game, Allen Iverson almost beat the Spurs all by himself. In an electrifying fourth quarter performance, A.I. put up 20 of his game high 31 points. But unlike he did regularly as a Nugget, he failed to make a key game-ending/game-tying three-pointer to send the game into overtime.

It was funny watching Marv Albert and Reggie Miller comment on how poorly A.I. shoots three's percentage-wise at the end of the game. I don't have the stat handy, but I seem to remember A.I. having a better three-point percentage in the fourth quarter than any other quarter when he played in Denver, and he regularly pulled the Nuggets back into games by making clutching three's.

Regardless of A.I.'s splendid performance tonight, the Pistons remain a total disaster. The Pistons have lost five straight games, lost 11 of their last 16 outings and are just two games above .500. It sure would have been nice if they had bested the Spurs tonight.

On an unrelated note, I know I'm late to the party on this story but I'm appalled (and genuinely beside myself in shock) that the Clippers' known troublemaker Zach Randolph got a mere two game suspension for slugging the Suns' Luis Amundsun in the face the other night. How is it that Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith received a 15 and 10 game suspensions, respectively, for throwing punches at Madison Square Garden a few years ago - partaking in a brawl they DIDN'T START mind you - and Randolph gets...gulp...two @#$%& games?! This is a travesty.

Did Melo and J.R. receive bigger suspensions simply because their incident happened at the NBA's doorstep in New York? One has to wonder. It's as if there was a New York suspension "tax" levied on them based solely on geography. The NBA needs to explain the inconsistency here, because it makes no sense whatsoever. Either Melo and J.R. deserve to get some money back for receiving excessive suspensions, or Randolph's suspension needs to be extended to at least 10 games. Anything short of that, this is an injustice against the Nuggets.

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I was really hoping for a Pistons win too. I didn't realise until halfway through the game that we already were 2nd!
Great last quarter by AI, but I though his 3 was a little rushed and he should have tried to set one up for 'Sheed anyway.
McDyess did well, he would be great at Denver, do you reckon he regrets "leaving"?

by Julian from Australia on Feb 19, 2009 10:40 PM MST reply actions

I watched the whole game..disappointed Pistons couldn't get a win dispite an injured Ginobili...

by Kohaku on Feb 19, 2009 11:13 PM MST reply actions

Also, Mikki Moore cut and Joe Smith rumoured to be bought out soon...

by Julian from Australia on Feb 19, 2009 11:25 PM MST reply actions

Maybe Flip Saunders wasn't such a bad coach for Detroit after all...the loss of Chauncey not withstanding (our gain), they lack any kind of cohesiveness or plan.

by Nuggets Fan in IL on Feb 20, 2009 8:05 AM MST reply actions

My take on the Melo / JR fight has always been that if JR had responded by punching Nate, he would have been suspended for 2-3 games. What Melo did escalated the whole incident and caused the suspensions to be so much longer. Melo was the third guy in and that gets you a nice long suspension (even in hockey). JR was penalized much more severely than he should have been because of Melo's actions. I also think the hit and run method of Melo's attack extended his suspension. I'm a huge Melo fan, but he made a mistake that night and I think he knows it and he has done a great job of putting that behind him after serving his "time".

by Anonymous on Feb 20, 2009 8:31 AM MST reply actions

The Pistons last night looked alot like the Nuggets last year. Alot of one pass and shoot and alot of too much dribbling not enough passing and alot of standing around while one guy dribbles. That maybe the effect that AI has on any team. As far as Zach Randolph's lack of a suspension goes...he's being punished just by having to put on that Clippers jersey night in and night out. Isn't that humiliation enough???

by Anonymous on Feb 20, 2009 9:00 AM MST reply actions

And at the same time somehow Utah beats the Celtics, a very promising duo of games last night that went completely down the crapper.

by Zachm219 on Feb 20, 2009 12:29 PM MST reply actions

It's kind of funny (or not funny at all, depending on how you look at it) how a lot of people consider the missing piece to the Nuggets roster a legit big, which we should have had had McDyess not been such a girl about the whole thing. It did suck that both the teams we needed to lose won instead last night. It sucked even more that the teams we needed to win had multiple shots at beating them and couln't, especially AI's. The one thing that ticks me off the most these days is how Pistons fans (yes, the same ones that try and fight NBA players and throw beverages all over the opposing team) think A.I. is some sort of bumb that totally destroys team chemistry. Obviously everyone here know that is not the case. A.I. won us 50 games last year, and had we been in the East that would have been good enough for home court advantage. The real bumb is Michael Curry. That guy coudn't coach a varsity high-school team to victory over a pee-wee basketball team. He has more talent on his team than 99% of the teams in the NBA yet he can't do squat except try and make dumb roster moves like moving a long time Piston who outplayed Kobe Bryant in the 04 Finals to the bench with no justification. I love Andrew's rule about how to judge a good coach from a bad one and if we follow those guidlines Curry is probably the worste in the whole entire league. The A.I. formula is simple: give the ball to A.I. on offense, watch him score. If everyone else plays good defense, you will be set for at least 50 games. Anyways, that is that. If I hear another Piston fan bitching and moaning I will probably just resort to killing them right there on the spot, and that is that.

by Goldennugget on Feb 20, 2009 2:42 PM MST reply actions

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STIFF LIST (as of 4/26 by Andrew Feinstein)

1. METTA WORLD PEACE

Metta resorted back to Ron Ron last Sunday by clubbing James Hardenwith an "inadvertent celebratory elbow", landing him a 7-game suspension. Apparently, changing his name didn't prevent NBA commissioner David Stern from overlooking Metta's past behavior problems.

2. CHARLOTTE BOBCATS

The 'Cats are on the verge of securing the worst winning percentage in NBA history. Given that the guy who runs the team - Michael Jordan - had previously drafted Kwame Brown and Adam Morrison, should this really be a shock?

3. OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
The team that was supposedly built to overcome the lockout-shortened season managed to lose 7 of its last 14 games, ceding the Western Conference's 1-seed to the Spurs in the process. Their reward might be a first round matchup with defending champion Dallas.

4. BILLY HUNTER AND DEREK FISHER

With report after report coming out about NBPA union head Hunter's shady, nepotistic dealings and questions arising about Fisher's own role in dealing with NBA owners behind Hunter's back during the lockout, this off-the-court scandal could prove to be more exciting than the playoffs themselves!

5. STEVE NASH AND THE PHOENIX SUNS
The Suns are on this list for squandering the last few great seasons from Nash. Nash is on this list for his stupidly stubborn loyalty to a franchise as awful as the Suns.