Recap: Warriors 87, Pistons 109- Need4CocoaPuffs

by Atma Brother ONE on Dec 16, 2007 9:07 PM PST in Recaps

If the Warriors lose I spend the first paragraph of the recap writing about how dumb the league is for having a West Coast team play their first game on the road at 9:30am on a Sunday.

(as promised in the GSoM preview in my predictions)

Preview/ Open Thread (80+ comments)

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At least there weren't that many barbarians in attendance for this game.

Final Boxscore

If you slept in and missed this Sunday morning blow out against the Detroit Pistons in front of a pretty quiet Malice at the Palace crowd, good for you! You didn't miss much, but in case you're curious about what you slept through there's a fun, colorful assortment of 22 post game thoughts for you about this 22 point stinker... AFTER THE JUMP!

I swear I did not photoshop this picture of new Piston Walter "Fabio" Herrmann.
By the way, are two rr's and two nn's really necessary to spell Herman?

Boom Dizzle got a ton of credit for ending the Faker drought this past Friday on national TV and rightfully so. If we're going to stay consistent and fair, then I don't think it's all that unfair to say he's one of the major reasons (maybe the main reason?) why the Warriors stunk up the joint tonight. There's really not much to say about his performance tonight except that it was probably the worst game of his professional and collegiate career. After carrying this team on his back countless times the past 4 seasons, I'm happy to just say even the greats are entitled to an off night (or morning in this case) now and then. Moving on...
The Warriors looked okay in the 1st quarter (22 to 23), got abused in the 2nd quarter (13 to 35- yes, that wasn't a typo), somehow actually won the 3rd quarter (32-29), and played it pretty even in the 4th (20 to 22). So here's your Sunday meaningless stat of the day: take away that 2nd quarter disaster and this game was tied 74-74!
During last year's playoffs I firmly believed that the Warriors could take out the Pistons in a 7 game playoff series. It further illustrated the disparity between the Western Conference and the JV Conference that an 8th seed in the West could take out an Eastern Conference Finalist (although to be fair an 8th seed did take out a 1st seed in the West). This year... not so much. Anyone see this Warriors' cast beating the Pistons in a hypothetical playoff series?
The Pistons' largest lead in this game was 26 points. Last time when the Pistons came to Oakland they were down by as many as 22 points to the Warriors and course they still ended up winning. Let's give credit where credit is due. They can come back from a huge deficit and beat this Warriors' cast and they can also maintain a huge lead and seal the deal. Hey the Pistons own the Warriors right now.
One of the main reasons the Warriors have been able to get away with getting massacred on the boards nightly and even having next to no low post offensive weapons in their big men is that they've been taking care of the rock so well. Call it jet-lag, the ridiculously early start time, the Pistons' solid D, or even the Warriors fearing for their lives in the Barbarian's Palace, but they had 17 turnovers to Detroit's 9 today. Very uncharacteristic and a very ugly loss.
Starters Baron Davis, Monta Ellis, Stephen Jackson, and Andris Biedrins collectively played some awful defense. I can't say I'm impressed by anything they did today on the hardwood. Let's just call it an anomaly. This team isn't as bad as they played today, especially in that brutal 2nd quarter.
During the garbage time Nellie went with a big lineup (haha who would've ever thought?) that featured Matt Barnes at the 2-guard spot. It seemed like a good look. Barnes was creating shots for himself and drained several pretty jumpers. He also made a beautiful touch pass to Brandan Wright as he was falling out of bounds. Unfortunately that resulted in this...
Amir Johnson rejection.
Marco Belinelli played some significant minutes this morning. Sure it was garbage time, but it's fun to see what the Warriors got with the #18 pick this year. It's pretty simple actually. This man has no conscience with respect to shot selection- meaning he'll fit right in! Seriously though, I can understand Nellie's short leash with him until Belinelli steps up his D, passing, or rebounding. He has Stephen Jackson's shot selection, but doesn't have Jack's smarts, passing, rebounding, or D. That's not a good combo. Belinelli and the coaches have a lot of work to do.
Good news. Unless they meet in the NBA Finals, the Warriors don't have to face the Pistons till the 2008-2009 NBA season!
Props to Chauncey Billups. He has next to no flash in his game, but he might be one of the most slept on players in the league. You have to love a point guard who can get to the line 11 times and sink every single one. That's 11 easy points that drives opposing coaches crazy.
After Wednesday's loss to the Blazers I gave the Dubs props for still winning the battle of the boards by 1. After today's loss to the Pistons I'll give them sporps (props backwards) for being out rebounded by 15 (Warriors- 32, Pistons- 47).
Believe it or not, but the Warriors got to the line only one less time than the Pistons. The difference was of course in the conversion rate with the Warriors shooting an poor 65.2% (15 for 23), while the Pistons knocked down 20 of 24 for 83.3%. Sidney Moncrief has his work cut out for him. Good thing the Warriors understand that this is going to be a full time job.
I'm guessing the majority of Warriors' fans would rather take Andris Biedrins and Brandan Wright over Detroit's young duo of Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson. I'm also guessing that the majority of Pistons' fans would rather stick with their guys. Interesting topic. Maxiell (+21) and Johnson (+2) won this battle.
I haven't been to any Warriors practices this year, but Patrick O'Bryant must look really bad or lazy out there. What else explains walk-on DJ Mbenga stealing the backup center spot from this former lottery pick? Makes you wonder how POB could fall so far in Nellie's meritocracy. Nellie doesn't care about how you're getting paid (ask the Dunmurphy's). He's of the "what have you done for me lately" type and it doesn't look like POB has done anything lately for him in practice, Practice, PRACTICE. Yeah, we're talking about practice.
Rasheed Wallace just had to sprinkle in that tech just for kicks in this blowout. Gotta love Rasheed. Like that old silly, saying "I drive better with a few drinks in me" (kids, that's a no-no) I think he plays better with a tech in him. Crazy man with crazy game. I don't think he gets enough credit for being unselfish and not caring about his own stat line. Putting aside the probable technical difficulties tag teaming with Stephen Jackson, anyone think Rasheed would be a good fit at the 4 or even 5 for this brand of Warriors basketball?
After Rasheed retires I propose we call technical fouls "rasheeds",
just like we call rebounds "rodmans".
Actually- let's start now!
Troy Hudson was inactive for today's game and I think that's unfortunate. It would be good to speed up the evaluation process and see whether he's a good fit for this team. If not, it's probably time to move on and go shopping in the NBDL or see what's out there on the trading block. It's amazing how the Warriors haven't been able to find Baron Davis a decent backup point guard to spot him some minutes and sub in when he's injured (it's only a question of when unfortunately) for the past 4 seasons. Derek Fisher wasn't a point guard in any sense with his poor court vision and random attempts to put up shots that only Kobe Bryant would dare attempt. Monta Ellis is as we all know a combo guard who would probably rather drop 25 points than drop 10 dimes. Aaron Miles and Keith McLeod didn't work wonders either. I'd make a call to PJ "mustard" Carlesimo and the Sonics and see what it would take to bring Earl Watson to the Bay. He's the most underrated defensive point guard in the league.
I'm a big fan of Al's defense and think he can create his own shot more than people give him credit for. The good man is in the middle of some serious struggles right now though. His point totals for the past 5 games are alarming: 6 @ Lakers, 6 vs Spurs, 3 @ Blazers, 22 vs Lakers, and 7 today.
How is it that the Warriors have been unable to find a decent, traditional 4 or 5 in the past decade plus (Antawn Jamison- unorthodox, Al Harrington- great fit for Nellieball, but an average to lower tier starting 4 in this league, Andris Biedrins- not a back to the basket center), but Joe Dumars and the Pistons just find these guys so easily? Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Chris Webber, Antonio McDyess, Nazr Mohammed, Amir Johnson, and Jason Maxiell- that's pretty impressive.
This guy is a...

BEAST!!
Even though he didn't put up big numbers (not that he needed to today), Rip Hamilton really seemed to have his way with Monta Ellis. This is a red flag that the Warriors really need to think hard about before inking him to some ridiculous extension. It's probably too early to give up on him as a full time point guard, but I don't project him to ever fit that mold. If he's going to be a full time shooting guard the Warriors are going to continue to struggle defensively against All-Star level or 2nd tier 2-guards. Nellie couldn't put BD on Hamilton because there's no way you can put Monta on Billups.
Brandan of "Do the Wright Thing" fame looked pretty decent out there. Radio Raheem would've been proud. It's too bad he couldn't finish off that nice Barnes dish, but he was incredibly active out there. I'm just in awe of his Inspector Gadget arms. Like Fitz and Barnett commented, BWright looks like a taller Tayshaun Prince minus the jumper. Who knows if he'll ever get there, but I'll take a 6-9 version of Prince on my team anyday. For now Tayshaun is the only one who can scream in a high-pitched voice that women randomly seem to fall over: "My Name is Prince!"

One of those songs from the early 90's that no one wants to admit they owned.
I was going to give the Auburn Hill's crowd props for not throwing anything at the players or rushing the court to start another brawl, but I'm reminded of that old Chris Rock line where he says you don't give people props for things they're SUPPOSED to do (e.g. not going to jail), so I won't.
Big ups to Stephen Jackson for not picking up a rasheed today. (Ooooh, look at me! I'm already using it in a sentence!)

Tonight's honors go to Matt Barnes. You can't knock his hustle- even in a blow out! Seriously I really liked his energy and all around game this morning featuring 15 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and a pick. His minutes at the 2-spot were intriguing. I wonder if Nellie will ever consider going with him at that position in a big lineup.

Haha who am I kidding?

Fellas- next time we've got one of these silly morning games thousands of miles from home,
see what my man Sonny can do for you in the morning.
Just crank up the chocolate!

For some good Pistons fans' thoughts on the game as always check out Need4Sheed.com and Detroit Bad Boys.

Photos: Allen Einstein/NBAE via Getty Images + AP Photo/Chuck Burton

0 recs | Comment 22 comments

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Comments

At least

the bench got some minutes. Does that count as a silver lining?

by Calamity on Dec 16, 2007 9:35 PM PST 0 recs

RECAPS

i love reading these recaps. they are so funny(as well as practical). The pistons were playing a different level today, and so this loss doesn't hurt that much. Now if we lay an egg against Grizz or Minnesota, I WOULD BE PISSED!!!!!!!!!!!

brb, going to ORACLE

by warrior510 on Dec 16, 2007 9:59 PM PST 0 recs

Azabuike

i don't he had his SPECIAL-K serial today(nor cocopuffs), i expect a good game from him next time.

brb, going to ORACLE

by warrior510 on Dec 16, 2007 10:01 PM PST 0 recs

I don't know why barnes doesn't get more burn...

He is about the 2nd or 3rd best at almost everything, and first best at getting roughing the shooter flags.

But who doesn't love a guy that brings more to the table than a good waitress.

Best duo since...

by Tim N Chris Burger on Dec 16, 2007 10:09 PM PST 0 recs

upset at barnes

I was a tad upset in the 4th q w/ Matt Barnes. I felt he was hoisting up shots at first touch (reminded of him last year. always shot the ball when he got it b/c he knew if he passed it he wouldn't get it back). I wanted to see more plays set up for Bellineli but barnes was just shooting like a mad man.

He took 15 shots and pretty much all of them were shot when he first got the ball.

Not a big deal, but I just wish I could've seen a bit more of Bellineli.

by InNellie WeTrust on Dec 16, 2007 10:17 PM PST 0 recs

jason maxiell is a stud

perhaps its because he's surrounded by an all-star cast of players and gets some of those easy looks. but this dude is for real. undersized, but he's surprisingly got the athleticism and muscle to get some 2nd chance points and rebounds in bundles amongst the trees. i'd love to have a guy like him on my team, f'real.

by dj fuzzylogic on Dec 16, 2007 11:37 PM PST 0 recs

From a Pistons fan

Alright, first of all, let me say that I'm a Pistons fan. This is my first time visiting this site, mainly because it was a link on a Need4Sheed recap. And to be honest, you guys have witty writing on this site. Kudos. And thanks for giving our players props.

However, just exactly what did Pistons fans do, beside the brawl a few years ago, that makes you brand them "barbarians"? Now with all my years being a Pistons fan, I never throw anything at any opposing player (though sometimes I wish I could), so to see an outsider like you generalizing all Pistons fans as barbarians surely is an insult to me and many other Pistons fans. We understand that there are rowdy ones among us, but honestly, can you say that you are all great, classy, and appreciative Warriors fans and you don't have any hooligan-type fans among your crowd? I don' think so.

And I am sure you will think of me as a barbarian too for saying this, but if you look at the brawl from another point of view, those Palace fans who threw stuff at the Pacers are the gutsiest fans any team could ask for. They saw that their players were in a fight with the opponents, and they didn't hesitate to help their players, knowing very well that the opposing players are all tall, bigger, and stronger than they are. Now if you ask me, that's a lot of commitment and guts right there. Sure it's wrong, sure it's classless, but if Baron gets in a fight with say...Sheed, are you gonna have the balls to literally fight with Baron against Sheed and the Pistons? Now, those Palace fans involved in the brawl simply did what many other fans regardless of what teams they supported wanted to do but did not have the balls to do so. Again, I'm not saying that it's the right or sensible or legal thing to do, but a story has to be told from 2 sides.

So please, stop referring to the general Pistons fans as barbarians. It is not only insulting to us, it also shows that you are very close-minded and seem to nitpick only the negative things about others. One brawl does not make us all barbarians, one lose does not make a team bad. It simply shows that we made mistakes and who doesn't make mistakes?

by BadBoysAreBack on Dec 17, 2007 8:09 AM PST 0 recs

BabBoysAreBack, you suck!

Dude,

If you're really a freakin' bad boy and if you truly think the rough and tough Pistons are back (except for Sheed and Maxwell I think your team is soft) then why post of GSoM site and whine about being called a barbarians.

By the way here's what the term that got your panties in a bunch means:

1 : of or relating to a land, culture, or people alien and usually believed to be inferior to another land, culture, or people
2 : lacking refinement, learning, or artistic or literary culture

When I think of Detroit I'm sure I do think an alien land because your city is completely different from most cities out here in the West. Furthermore, if you had any balls you'd take the quote with some pride saying "ya we're freaking barbarians here at the Palace in Auburn Hills... so don't mess with us." You could you that chip on your shoulder attitude like B-diddy does and get your crowd rock all 48 minutes of every home game, rather than be offended.

In closing I'd like to say that I'd take the crazy Warrior fans over the Piston fans any day. I've seen your games on TV and your arena has a lot of music and sound pumped in from the PA (though if the Warriors had your PA announcer I'd pump him up too) where as the Warrior fans start most all of the "let go WARRIORS" and "DE-Fense" chants with out the aid of the PA system. I never heard of the Piston fans willing their team to a victory, where as you hear about all time for the Warriors.

by mcwalter44 on Dec 17, 2007 8:52 AM PST up 0 recs

I'm literally speechless

I'm sorry, but that might be the stupidest thing I've ever read.

by Atma Brother ONE on Dec 17, 2007 9:09 AM PST up 0 recs

I'd just let them do their thang...

If Baron were to pick a fight w/ sheed at the O, then I'd just break out my camera or call my buddy and ask him to tape it. But I'm not gonna throw ish or start a fight, cuz 1) I ain't EVEN gonna incur the wrath of a dude twice my size(remember crazy, not stupid), and 2) I spend too much Godd@mn duckets for a great time out to be asked to leave EVEN 1 minute before I want to.

Best duo since...

by Tim N Chris Burger on Dec 17, 2007 9:25 AM PST up 0 recs

THe Pistons announcer

His annoying as hell, i wonder what the pistons fans think of him. B B B Bill u p Shut tha beep' up

brb, going to ORACLE

by warrior510 on Dec 17, 2007 10:29 AM PST 0 recs

Well compared to the blazer's

blatantly homerish colorman, they were all-stars.

Best duo since...

by Tim N Chris Burger on Dec 17, 2007 11:51 AM PST up 0 recs

foul words from Oaklan fans...

Generalizing the Detroit fans as "barbarians" is a low blow, and a bit classless if you ask me.

Detroit fans have been generalized by these words in this particular thread:

1 : of or relating to a land, culture, or people alien and usually believed to be inferior to another land, culture, or people
2 : lacking refinement, learning, or artistic or literary culture

Perhaps you are unaware of the influence Detroit has had on American culture, but you might want to head to the library and read up on things like Motown music, or Techno music, or perhaps on art deco architecture. Maybe you want to read about the "arsenal of democracy", or the fact that the universally accepted process of assembly line production was invented in Detroit. Detroit lacks no refinement in any form, in the areas of culture, land, or people.

As for the brawl, that was one classless fan, making a stupid mistake. Artest gave a classic example of "when keeping it real goes wrong" and the rest of the Palace fans were simply coming to the defense of a fellow fan being beaten on by a professional athlete.

Now, I would never excuse the beer throwing fan, he had a shady past, and acted completely without any form of class. And while I don't condone Artest running into the crowd and beating (the wrong) fan, I can understand the anger there. I also understand Oneal fighting a fan on the floor. But your guy Jackson was absolutely inexcusable during those events. Nobody threw a beer at hime. Nobody came on the floor after him. He acted like a fool, running into the stands and starting fights with people who did nothing at all to him. If you want to point a finger at a so called "barbarian", look no further than Stephen Jackson. Enough on the brawl though, that was a long time ago.

"At least there weren't that many barbarians in attendance for this game."
The game was played in the middle of a blizzard. The Pistons fans who came to the game proved that Detroit has the best sports fans in the country.

"I've seen your games on TV and your arena has a lot of music and sound pumped in from the PA"
Funny, about a week or two ago, another blogger came to the Palace for the Chicago gaem, had the exact opposite thing to say. Don't judge based on what you see on TV, go by real life experience.
http://theassociation.blogs.com/the_association/2007/12/my-trip-to-the.html

"THe Pistons announcer His annoying as hell, i wonder what the pistons fans think of him. B B B Bill u p Shut tha beep' up"
He's so annoying, the NBA chose him to be the anouncer for the all-star game in Vegas, and why half of the announcers in the league try copy him.

by The Fluidics on Dec 17, 2007 11:49 AM PST 0 recs

Clarifications

I respect Detroit (even though it's now a ghost town because of urban flight and a global economy) and its culture (Motown is unforgettable). I'm not criticizing urban Detroit, I'm pointing at the barbarian ways of the Auburn Hills crowd.

From my preview of the game:

On Sunday morning the Warriors take on the Detroit Pistons in front of the most barbaric fans in the league. If I was commish after that Palace Brawl I'd ban this sorry suburban city from ever hosting another NBA game again. I'm not pointing the finger at urban Detroit here, I'm pointing the finger at the most likely reasonably wealthy barbarians in the lower bowl. We're not talking about one or two dumb, obnoxious fans- hey even the great Roaracle Arena crowd has a few of those- I'm talking about the masses of losers who should be in jail.

Well Stephen Jackson's back and if those losers try anything stupid again hopefully Commissioner Stern will quit focusing on dumb policies and instead move the Pistons away from these barbarians. It's disturbing that still to this day Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson are painted as the sole criminals seemingly every time the national mainstream media brings up the brawl, but they never seem to bring up these barbarians in the stands (not to say that Artest and Jackson were angels that night either). They also fail to bring up incidents like a member of the Auburn Hills barbarians throwing change from the stands at then 76er Allen Iverson just a few weeks later. The rhetoric of "players getting into fights with fans" is disturbing as well. It's as if being a fan justifies idiocy, makes the fans the good guys/ victims, and absolves them of any blame for their actions. How about we call it players getting into fights with barbarians? Seems more fitting.

It's really too bad that these barbarians have been treated to a very solid team that's gone to the Eastern Conference Finals 5 straight season. They don't deserve this squad. They've done a huge disservice to the rest of the league and their foolishness is arguably what enabled the NBA's front office to justify such silliness as the NBA's dress code and zero tolerance rule with refs who don't exactly have squeaky clean records themselves. Just like those losers in Salt Lake City proved during last season's snoring and boring Western Conference Finals, the NBA has a fan problem.

Let's not paint this is as the foolishness of 1 single barbaric Pistons supporter either. Check the video tape of that stupid brawl. We're talking about tens if not hundreds of violent classless cowards. Yup that's really classy to pour beer on a someone when they're being rushed to the tunnel, talk trash and act like an e-thug (see BadBoysAreBack's inane 100 on 1 is okay response), and rush the court like a mob.

Look if the Pistons fans are going to boo Artest and Jackson every time they come there and the mainstream media is going to bring up that incident every single time they mention their names, shouldn't the Pistons fans and suburban Auburn Hills be held accountable as well? If Artest and Jackson are supposed thugs, then aren't losers in the Auburn Hills crowd barbarians?

There's no reason why the players should have to play in front of such a barbaric environment. Move the team from Auburn Hills to Detroit and maybe you won't have such incidents. Or you could just contract the Pistons and hook the Warriors up with some of those big men!

by Atma Brother ONE on Dec 17, 2007 12:31 PM PST up 0 recs

the brawl, again.

One stupid fan started the brawl. If John Green doesn't throw a beer, it doesn't happen. Artest should have taken the high road, and pointed Green out to security, and the whole incident would have been handled. But Artest decided to keep it real. He charged into the crowd and atacked a fan who didn't do anything. It wasn't John Green, it was just a guy with a good seat to the game. I would be ashamed if the fans didn't fight back in that situation. If you are looking for guilt, look at the suspensions. 138 games for the Pacers, and they still haven't recovered. The poor decisions from Artest and Jackson have doomed the Pacers for 3 seasons now, and have arguably changed the face of the Eastern conference. The Pacers went from challengers to chumps, because of one rowdy fan, and a bunch of Pacers who couldn't control themselves. To say the NBA should move the Pistons from the cidy is just plain dumb. The Pistons are one of the top teams in the league, and are perennial attendance leaders within the league. Detroit itself was recently named the #1 sports town in the country.

Just to be clear on this, I'm a lower bowl season ticket holder at the Palace, and I personally take offense to the generalizations you are making, and being called a barbarian, what, 6 times in your preview. I've been to dozens of games at tha Palace, and never thrown a thing. If players like Jackson don't want to get jeered, they should stay on the floor and leave security up to the police.

You can keep slamming Detroit fans, but how would it have played out if it had happened in Oakland? Keep in mind, I have seen Raiders games.

by The Fluidics on Dec 17, 2007 1:18 PM PST 0 recs

Wow... The Fluidics.... Wow...

First you state:
"As for the brawl, that was one classless fan, making a stupid mistake. Artest gave a classic example of "when keeping it real goes wrong" and the rest of the Palace fans were simply coming to the defense of a fellow fan being beaten on by a professional athlete."

This seems to justify fans attacking a player who comes in the crowd. Maybe it not, maybe I'm just reading that statement wrong, but that how I interpret it.

Then you state:
"You can keep slamming Detroit fans, but how would it have played out if it had happened in Oakland? Keep in mind, I have seen Raiders games."

This seems to say that we shouldn't slam Detroit fans because you've seen Raider games, which indicates that you believe we are as classless as the Detroit fans.

However, need you forget that Oakland already has had a violent attack from opposing players when Frank Francisco threw a folding bullpen chair into stands hitting a young woman in the face. And just like Detroit that happened because the crowd was getting on Doug Brocail and he and rest of the Bullpen approached the crowd, so in effect you could say like Detroit the fans started it. Crowd definitely gathered from the fans side, but at no time did the fans grab or attack any of the Texas Rangers nor did any fans run one the field (like the fans in Detroit did running on the court).

So to insinuate that because you have "seen Raider games" that you know we'd act the same way, when the evidence I just cited proves otherwise shows how shallow your argument really is.

As far as my comment on the PA system and music I may be wrong since I haven't been to Auburn Hills yet. It's just what I've notice from watch games on NBA TV, ESPN, etc. Thanks for the posts, I just think you're logic is flawed.

by mcwalter44 on Dec 17, 2007 1:45 PM PST up 0 recs

meh

Detroit stinks,

BAY AREA ROCKS end of discussion.

brb, going to ORACLE

by warrior510 on Dec 17, 2007 1:31 PM PST 0 recs

Jerry Springers final thoughts...

And thnaks for your time as well. Obviously, I'm not going to sway anybody on a GS board, I just wish you wouldn't go on slandering an entire city of sports fans because of the poor judgement of a drunken fan and an egomaniac. If every time GS plays Detroit you call the people of Detroit barbarians, then nobody will ever move past an event that was years ago. It's unfair to say every Pistons fan is a barbarian, as much as it is to say that the NBA is full of thugs and gangsters. Generalizations, are bad in concept.

Good luck for the rest of the season, I actually do like the Warriors.

by The Fluidics on Dec 17, 2007 2:02 PM PST 0 recs

Hi @ll

Barbarians...oh my god...c'mon, I guess we all heard worse stuff than that. Don't make a big deal out of it.

Who cares what fans of other teams say anyway? ^^

BTW: Hi @ll. Newbie here. :)

by Cereal Killer on Dec 17, 2007 2:59 PM PST 0 recs

what's colder than cold?

i went to a pistons game in detroit a couple years ago. i remember:

boring: pistons ball is, yawn, what was i saying?
drunk: the fans were drunk. they sell molson canadian beer in very large cups there. i noticed a few college aged gals stumbling around outside afterwards. walking was very hard for them. one laid down on the ice to take a nap.
cold: detroit is a very cold city. see item number 2 above about being drunk. i would be too.
arena: not intimate. i was row 16. their seats are so far back (at least on the baseline) that i felt like i was up in second level in oakland.
nowheresville: auburn hills - the name sounds like a nice city. its about an hour from downtown detroit during gametime rushhour in the snow...which is maybe like a five mile drive?
announcer: irritating, but more entertaining than the, yawn, badboys basketball.

we're so spoiled in the bay with nellie-ball, the lovely oracle arena (where you can buy nice hip-hop mixes for $5 off kids in the parking lot), the OMG its 60 degrees and i'm freezing weather, and in'n'out burger across the street.

by krawdaddee on Dec 17, 2007 3:30 PM PST 0 recs

Pistons fans:

Atma Bro may have overstated the case slightly -- I'm sure not all Detroit fans are this way -- but I have to say, as a fan of neither the Pistons nor the Pacers, by far the most disturbing thing to me about the brawl was the behavior of the fans in the lower bowl.

Artest basically behaved the way any normal person would have in that situation. I especially admired how he gave himself a "time-out" courtside after Wallace shoved him halfway across the court; and how he continued to stay calm while Wallace antagonized him and generally went berserk. He clearly would have remained in that zen state had the fans not exacerbated the situation.
Jackson, while out-of-line, and probably out-of-his-mind, was basically being "loyal to a fault." Everyone who has ever played with him, including Duncan, has praised this quality in him.
Pistons fans... "mob violence" at its most chilling. You wonder how human beings could be capable of lynching people and sending people to the gas chambers and stuff? Watch that video. Not saying I'm 100% sure Warriors fans wouldn't be capable of the same thing, but I can say, speaking for myself, that there is zero chance that I would have escalated the violence in such a way, even if I was cranky and had a half-dozen beers in me. Same goes for literally everyone I know in the Bay Area.

The Pistons fans posting in this thread may or may not be cut from the same cloth as those Barbarians at the Palace. But at least one of you has defended their behavior, which is almost as shocking. If the shoe fits.

Meanwhile, Atma Bro, I can't resist asking: if the Eastern Conference finals is Detroit v. Boston (as appears likely) will you overcome your anti-Boston bias and root for the Celtics with me?

by Sleepy Freud on Dec 17, 2007 8:56 PM PST 0 recs

I think you nailed it

That mob violence was just disgusting. If you watch that replay, I'd contend that's the same inhumane barbaric emotions that explain why human kind is capable of bombings, lynchings, and gang violence like you noted. Just disturbing.

I really don't believe that would've went down here in the Bay. When other cities win championships there's looting. When we pull of the biggest upset in playoff history we have people shooting fireworks, cheering together on BART trains, rolling phat ones in a 60's throwback of love + peace, and random high fives. You know how we do it.

Meanwhile, Atma Bro, I can't resist asking: if the Eastern Conference finals is Detroit v. Boston (as appears likely) will you overcome your anti-Boston bias and root for the Celtics with me?

OH HELLYEAH.

(I like KG, Pierce, and Ray-Ray. Can't stand Boston sports and the Boston Collusion though)

by Atma Brother ONE on Dec 17, 2007 10:08 PM PST up 0 recs