"Get dat fuckin' camera out my face!"

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Eastern Conference Finals, Game 6
Pistons 81-89 Celtics


If Joe Dumars decides to shake shit up this offseason, that quote from Sheed might be the last memorable one we get from him in a Pistons uniform. After picking up a big 2nd half foul in yet another game he just never quite got into, a camera man thought it would be a wise idea to plop right down in front of the disgruntled vet and capture his frustration from two feet in front of his scowling face. Why anybody would think this is a good idea is beyond me, but at the very least it provided a hilarious moment in an otherwise disheartening game.

Going on 34, inconsistent swings in effort, and the always attractive expiring contract all point toward the end of the Sheed era in Detroit. If nothing else, you can say that he's an interesting dude; you always hear that, if he wanted to, he could be one of the top 5 players in the game -- he's got that type of pure talent. We see it in spurts ... that high arching, indefensible fall-away jumper that always feels like it's going in ... that up-and-under move that he can seemingly get whenever he chooses ... and solid enough D that we can match him up with anybody's front line in the league.

But all of that upside comes the negative stuff. The antics ... the uncontrollable anger ... the times where it just doesn't look like he gives a shit. The times where he looks so convinced that everybody's out to get him, to the point where he completely shuts down and just says "fuck it." I haven't watched the postgame press conference yet -- and I won't subject myself to it in the days to come anyway -- but I'm sure he's going to bitch about the referees to an annoying extent. It's just what he does. He lets the calls get to him so bad that I swear he's going to retire 2 or 3 years too early just to rid himself of it.

Sheed's an interesting guy because nobody knows what makes him tick. I've heard that he's a family man, a real "nice guy" off the court. I've heard that he's maybe the most well-liked guy in the entire NBA, and he's obviously one of the most respected players in the game. But he's just a different character altogether. There's nobody even close to him in terms of his combination of personality and playing style. The part that intrigues me is how fired up he can look when the shit hits the fan, but how laid back he is when things are going right. You rarely see him get over-emotional after a win or a big play or anything positive. And therein lies the mystery of this guy -- what exactly motivates him? He had more fouls than points in a home elimination game for fuck's sake. What would it take for him to just completely dominate a game? Not Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, I guess. A couple playoff games, sure. A number of December or January games, yes. But the thing is, you just never know what kind of effort you're going to see from Sheed from day-to-day. And if he has played his last game in Detroit, or even if we're heading into his final season here, we'll all be left wondering what more could have been made out of these 6 straight conference finals appearances. Other thoughts on the depressing final game of the season ...

- This game wasn't lost because of a lack of Chauncey Billups. He was playing with a purpose from the start of the game and finished with 29-6-6, and was aggressive the whole way through.
He was abusing Rajon Rondo so bad it was almost embarrassing. We did a good job of utilizing the pick-and-roll for all that it was worth.

- Rip Hamilton was awesome, bad elbow or not. 21 points on 9-14 shooting in 39 minutes. He might have an off night for time to time, but he's the guy I trust the most in pressure situations. With all do respect to Chauncey, Rip is the real "Mr. Big Shot" of this team. Real gutty effort from him tonight.

- God I hate the Celtics. I really do. I hate Sam Cassell, I hate Kendrick Perkins, I hate James Posey, I'm tired of hearing the words "Big 3", I'm tired of hearing how great KG and Rajon Rondo are ... I just hate that team. I can't believe Doc Rivers just beat us. Seeing Paul Pierce beaming with joy in front of Michelle Tafoya was sickening. Seeing Rivers celebrating like he just won the NBA title, the lottery and an Oscar all at once was even more sickening. The fact that this all happened at the Palace was the most sickening.

- Tayshaun had a terrible series offensively. We needed him to have a decent Game 6 at the least, and he scrounged up zero first half points. He finally found his stroke later on but still only finished with 10. Then he fell asleep in the backcourt for the final dagger in our hearts as Posey (I think it was Posey) made a huge steal to basically end any chance of a comeback.

- The rebounding edge was only +2 for Boston, but it felt like it was at least +10. They had a number of killer offensive boards that made me want to pull my hair out.

- Rodney Stuckey wasn't a huge factor in this game, but it wasn't a crucial element of the result (Rip and Chauncey had 50 on their own.) Like every other Pistons fan, I'm already excited to see how his game is going to develop next year. He's off to a terrific start.

- I hate Jeff Van Gundy as an announcer. He's the definition of "douche bag". When he called Chauncey's reaction to an illegal, moving pick from Rondo a "flop" and bemoaned about how embarrassing it looked for the next 30 seconds, I considered muting the game permanently. Chauncey didn't even fall down -- just merely threw his head back a little bit like every other fucking player in the NBA would've done.

- I love Dice, but never really got himself into the action. Only 6 points, and only 3 shots in 36 minutes. If the team played with his heart every playoff game, we'd be in the finals right now, I'm convinced of that.

- Unfortunately, I was under the assumption that this series was lost after the Pistons failed to show up for Game 3. That was the most disappointing Pistons game I have ever watched. Period. They didn't just dig themselves a hole, they went to a whole new plateau of complacency that was once thought to be unattainable.

- Lindsey Hunter's last game? Possibly. My dad will be thrilled ... despite his on-ball defense, nobody hates one player on planet Earth more than my dad hates Lindsey Hunter. Every time Lindsey takes a long range jumper, 5 to 6 months come off my dad's life. I'm not kidding.

- The Palace crowd, I'm sorry to say, sucks. It just does. I don't know what it is, but out of the four major professional sports teams in Michigan, the Pistons by far have the lamest crowds. People were leaving the game with over 2 minutes to go in the 4th quarter. That's fucking embarrassing. If I ever leave a semi-close elimination conference finals game two minutes early -- and for some reason you know what I look like, are also at the game, and in possession of a rifle -- please shoot me dead. Thanks in advance.

- Jason Maxiell had 7 big points and another trademark block in 16 minutes.

- I was 100% convinced we were going to win this game. It never crossed my mind that we would lose until it was getting toward the end of the first quarter, and despite Chauncey and Rip tearing it up, I just started to fear that the frontline didn't have it, and would never recover. Sadly, my fears played out exactly as I envisioned, and a 10 point 4th quarter lead vanished shockingly quick, leading to our exit from the playoffs. The Celtics outscored the Pistons by 16 in the final frame. Sixteen.

- I'm going to try to refrain from going on and on about this, but this is the 3rd year in a row, I believe that we lost to a team that we were better than. These were all trips to the ECF, and I know Flip can't be blamed for everything, but .....

- I'll get to a Season Review post in a couple of days, after the initial shock of this game wears off. As much as it pains me to say this ...... go Lakers. There is no way in HELL that a Doc Rivers team loses to a Phil Jackson team. No way.