A Sense of Doubt blog post #4100 - Gillen on What Makes me Want to Run a Game?

A Sense of Doubt blog post #4100 - Gillen on What Makes me Want to Run a Game?

Anti-climactic milestone of post 4100, but I am not derailing to do something more significant.

Visual above and the map at the bottom from - https://oldmenrunningtheworld.com/the-mythic-bastionland-gm-oaths/

Last week, I played games with a friend on Saturday and then, as usual, am playing D&D on Tuesday.

I don't think I want to run any of these games Gillen writes about either. :-)

Fortunately, I am not.

https://oldmenrunningtheworld.com/what-makes-me-want-to-run-a-game/

What Makes Me Want To Run A Game?

Written by

Kieron Gillen

in

blathering

Or, to give it its true clickbait title, “Why I have absolutely no interest in running 7/9 of the games Quinns Quest has reviewed.”

You see, you can tell I’m a Jedi Knight Still Pining After His Age Of Lightsaber, because if I was properly clickbaiting I’d say “Why 7/9 of the games Quinns Quest has reviewed bore me to tears” but I can’t, because that’s not true.

They don’t bore me to tears. I watch them and think “that sounds great” or “Vaesen exists”. I love hearing Quinns talk about them. I love their strengths and weaknesses and ideas. I like to consider them. I would certainly play in a game of any of them, if there was someone who wanted to get them to the table.

It’s just that I have absolutely no desire to run 77.777 recurring of them.

There’s probably an essay on Quinns’ impact on the RPG scene – he’s essentially someone who has learned skills as an pop-critic in a more monied area and then brought them to bear in a medium where no-one has had the money to support the development of those skills. That’s when he launched Shut Up And Sit Down. And then he did it again, moving from the relatively bounteous space of Boardgames to indie rpgs. Indie-rpgs! No wonder he’s been a sensation. It’s like if Pele has turned up to your five a side kickabout, and asked if he can play.

However, seeing an old friend go out to bat for these games they (mostly) love has really made me drill down on my own tastes, and where they’ve separated, and ended up in a different place. If you’re reading this blog, I suspect it’s worth showing where my present biases are.

So… when I see a game, what makes me want to get it to the table? Why 7/9 of Quinns’ choices will be left on the shelf choke under the dust? What turns me on? What turns me off?

The most basic criteria is actually the easiest.

I will flick to a games’ average NPC stat block. I will compare it to the length of my index finger. The more knuckles it covers, the less chance there is I can be bothered. If the game assumes you need to know every random bozo’s ability to identify clouds, you can assume it’s way too much work for me to handle. Life is too short, and my index finger is too long.

This is what happened when I was going through a Runequest-curious stage a year or so back. I was thinking I could handle this, and then saw the NPC stat blocks and realised the level of detail for the lead characters was applied to everyone, and oh, no, definitely not.

None of Quinns seems to trip up on that – with the possible exception of Delta Green, but I’m not going to check that, as it fails on another count in a minute. Arguably Lancer, but that’s more a level of crunch generally.

The next step is actually it failing on strengths, not the weaknesses. The things which people say to excite you? In advertising or reviews? Sometimes they just don’t excite me. That’s not a problem. They excite a lot of people. If you did math, I suspect I’m in the significant minority. That’s fine, but it’s also true.

The first of these is that the game’s strength is outside the game itself. The game is primarily a serving device into which the real appeal is poured: the setting, scenarios, or campaigns.

No interest whatsoever. This is where Delta Green drops. This is where Mothership drops. This is a core one for me, and should be considered foreshadowing of where this is going.

The second is that a game’s appeal is who you are playing or the world you’re exploring. Some really cool fiction, or unusual characters. Maybe we’re dimension skipping Jet-Set-Radio-esque teen adventurers? You in?

Nope. More interest, certainly, but not enough to make me wrestle with my google calendar and see when the nerds can all hang out. Most of them go here: Slugblaster, the Wildsea, even Triangle Agency starts to wobble.

Third, if your game does something really cool in session eight, I’m out. This is an extension of my aesthetic as a videogame journalist – if your game gets good after twenty hours, it sucks. This isn’t exactly 1:1 that, but if a key element which makes the game interesting is way off? No, I’ll spend my time on a game which excites me from session 1, thanks. So Triangle Agency bounces into the void.

(I suspect I’ll be playing that one in the new year – looking forward to it. But I just won’t run it, guys.)

Which leads to what does excite me?

I realised it was pretty simple.

It’s whatever the thing which I tell you excitedly whenever a game is mentioned.

It’s always a single fact.

This article was originally going to be a list of these one cool things. But since then, I realised that my 101 Favourite Games Ever series is going to touch on a bunch of them, so I don’t want to repeat myself.

But anyway. A single fact. And with my present tastes, it’s probably a mechanic. It’s not always a mechanic, but usually is.

I am firmly of the corner that a system that gets out of the way can just get out of my way. The only point of a system is that it takes me to a place where I wouldn’t reliably get to by myself.

This certainly includes an element of formalist neophilia: I just like new ideas I haven’t seen before. However, it’s not just that. I have no interest in games which change mechanics to something novel for the sake of it, as if cool math is a turn on. This isn’t boardgames.

What I am mainly interested in is a mechanic which shows profound understanding of the fiction of the game, and has been designed to enable and magnify that fiction.

You see, you can throw a huge world of cool stuff at me, but I’m going to be taking it on faith you actually understand what any of it means. What a mechanic does is show that you understand your fiction, as you are capable of abstracting it.

The second I see a mechanic which does, I can trust the book. If I’m going to spend time with it, I need that. It excited me, because I feel safe, and I feel excited as I can see the implications of a mechanic spinning off into play-space.

My indie-TTRPG journey really started with Monsterhearts. Why was I attracted, when I spent the 90s dodging playing World of Darkness. Yes, I’m a (blood)sucker for a more explicit queer theme, but that certainly wouldn’t be enough for me now.

But even over a decade on, I read this…

…and I’m as all in as I ever was.

This absolutely understands something about its genre, and has created a mechanic to ensure it happens. This is a story about people’s messy, confused sexual awakening, and you can’t run from it. The game won’t let you.

RPG critic sorts may have sensed I’ve been resisting mentioning System Matters, even though it’s floating there. I don’t need to go that strong, even though I clearly have sympathies for that position. I don’t think it matters most, but it’s certainly there.

I’m also aware that my neophilia may be biting me with some of the above – there’s mechanics in the games I’ve rejected which certainly show how the games understand their genre. But, at least in terms of what I’ve seen, they’re not the incandescent brightness of Turn Someone On. There’s an implicit caveat there – in that if I actually went through myself maybe I’d find one, as it’s what I care about most. Perhaps if my copy of Slugblaster wasn’t stole on the train to Sevenoaks I’d be writing a different article?

Which leads to the two of the nine I am attracted to.

Firstly, Heart. I’d already ran Heart, and it exists as the meniscus between what I think primarily interests Quinns and what primarily interests me – it’s got all this berserk worldbuilding and excellent classes and all that for him, and for me, it’s got the Beats system which turns Stars & Wishes into both the GM prep and the XP system.

And then there’s the second game, Mythic Bastionland.

You know from The Skim that Jim and I dig its vibe from across the bar. I actually include the One Thing I Tell People About Mythic Bastionland in that feature.

It’s this rule…

Why on Earth would the ageing rules excite me?

Firstly, they’re just beautiful. People may improve from their youth. People age in an unpredictable, but inevitable fashion. People die. They change meaningfully, with a few moving parts. This is a designer who really knows what they’re doing.

Secondly, it also shows exactly how Mythic Bastionland knows how to engage with its theme. It’s a micro-Pendragon, doing a story about knights adventuring across a longer time period. As such, it wants to compress some of the thrills of the Great Pendragon Campaign‘s 80-year 100-odd-session game into a OSR-format.

That it’s a game of dynastic knights fighting myth means that the ageing rules are just a great test for how well McDowall gets it.

He clearly does, and I wish I could play a game of it right now.

Which is lucky, as our Mythic Bastionland campaign starts tonight.

We will report back, and probably go on about the ageing rules some more. They’re nifty.

Kieron Gillen

Kieron Gillen lives in Bath, for a certain value of the word “lives”.

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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2605.09 - 10:10

- Days ago: MOM = 3964 days ago & DAD = 618 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.

A Sense of Doubt blog post #4099 - UFO Records Released by Pentagon

A Sense of Doubt blog post #4099 - UFO Records Released by Pentagon

As Trump continues to try to distract all of us from the failed "excursion" (war) in Iran and the lack of disclosure about the Epstein Files, they are releasing more underwhelming information with a few interesting tidbits as described in the following two articles, one from AP via Yahoo and the other from the NY Times.

Thanks for tuning in.

Bright lights and hot orbs: UFO files shed light on sightings but leave interpretation to the public

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/us--trump-ufos-122859592.html

SEUNG MIN KIM and COLLIN BINKLEY

Updated Fri, May 8, 2026 at 5:28 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Buzz Aldrin observing a “fairly bright light source” while aboard the Apollo 11. A mysterious object making “multiple 90-degree turns” at a speedy clip. A blaringly bright object doing corkscrew twists over the skies in Kazakhstan.

Those are some of the details in a new batch of files on UFOs that the Pentagon began releasing on Friday as President Donald Trump taps into the public's long-held curiosities about "unidentified anomalous phenomena” in the broader universe. Though the Pentagon has been working on declassifying the documents for years, Trump put attention back on the topic months ago by teasing a major UFO document dump.

“Whereas previous Administrations have failed to be transparent on this subject, with these new Documents and Videos, the people can decide for themselves, ‘WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?’ Have Fun and Enjoy!” Trump wrote Friday in a Truth Social post.

Trump's Republican administration says the public can draw its own conclusions with the information in the files, which includes old State Department cables, FBI documents and transcripts from NASA of crewed flights into space. A new Pentagon website housing the documents on UAPs has a decidedly retro feel, with black-and-white military imagery of flying objects displayed prominently on the page, with statements displayed in typewriter-like font.

The files reflect cases that the government deems unresolved, meaning that for a variety of reasons they couldn’t be explained with certainty. The Pentagon described the files as new and “never-before-seen,” though some had been made public years ago.

Experts urge caution around the release of the new files, warning that UAP videos are often misinterpreted and mischaracterized by those unfamiliar with military technology. A 2024 Pentagon report rebutted claims that the U.S. government has recovered alien technology or confirmed evidence of alien life.

Files describe numerous sightings of UAPs

The initial release is a trove of videos, other imagery and testimony that is sure to stir more speculation among those who believe we are not alone in the universe.

For instance, a State Department cable from the U.S. Embassy in Tajikistan in 1994 details how one Tajik pilot and three Americans saw a brightly lit UAP while flying a jet over Kazakhstan. The object, according to the cable, was “making 90 degree turns, doing corkscrews and maneuvering in circles at great rates of speed.”

That's not the only instance of erratically moving objects cited in the document release. A military report from the Aegean Sea in 2023 cited a UAP flying just above the surface of the ocean and making “multiple 90-degree turns at an estimated 80 mph" (129 km/h).

One interview with a U.S. intelligence official details an incident last year in which the official, doing a search on a helicopter, encountered a “super-hot” orb hovering over the ground, traveling about 20 miles (32 kilometers) at a speedy clip, then spotted four or five more orbs that flared up and down.

In a 1969 debriefing of Apollo 11 crew members, the astronaut Aldrin recalled spotting several unusual sights, such as a “sizeable” object close to the moon and a “fairly bright light source” that the crew felt could be a laser.

One document details an FBI interview with someone identified as a drone pilot who, in September 2023, reported seeing a “linear object” with a light bright enough to “see bands within the light” in the sky.

“The object was visible for five to ten seconds and then the light went out and the object vanished,” according to the FBI interview.

Another file is a NASA photograph from the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, showing three dots in a triangular formation. The Pentagon says in an accompanying caption that “there is no consensus about the nature of the anomaly” but that a new, preliminary analysis indicated that it could be a “physical object.”

The documents include more than 20 video files showing unidentified objects captured by military sensors in locations from Syria and Japan to North America. The objects range from fast-moving specks captured in the distance to a football-shaped object spotted over the East China Sea in 2022. The most recent video is from Jan. 1 of this year and appears to show two circular lights flying against an inky black backdrop in North America.

Several files include military videos from the past several years that showed small ambiguous dots moving above the landscapes of Iraq, Syria and the United Arab Emirates. The white objects sometimes streaked across the screen in less than a second, while others slowly glided through the air or were followed by the camera.

Other files include written reports from U.S. military service members who were surveilling locations in the Middle East. One report described an object that was “shaped as a bouncy ball” and traveling 483 mph (777 km/h) consistently for at least seven minutes over Syria in 2023.

The object was later determined to be benign.

Among the files are hundreds of pages detailing reported sightings dating to the 1940s. A 1948 report from U.S. airmen in the Netherlands raised concerns about recurring flying saucer sightings. Swedish counterparts saw them, too, and believed they did not come from “any presently known culture on earth,” the report said.

One military video that quickly caught attention on Friday appears to show an aircraft shaped like an eight-pointed star weaving through the air. The video, from 2013 in the Middle East, is probably nothing more than a hot jet engine producing a diffraction pattern in the camera, said Sean Kirkpatrick, a former director of the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, which investigates UAP.

Kirkpatrick said there’s nothing unexpected in the release and warned that without analysis it will “only serve to fuel more speculation, conspiracy and arm-chair pseudoscience.”

Some call for even more transparency on UFO files

Trump has previously released records related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. that revealed little beyond what was already known.

The Pentagon has been working on declassifying documents related to UFOs for years, and Congress created an office in 2022 to declassify material. Its 2024 debut report revealed hundreds of new UAP incidents but found no evidence that the U.S. government had ever confirmed a sighting of alien technology.

A small group of Republicans in Congress has pressed for further transparency, accusing the Pentagon of holding documents back. A March letter from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., demanded 46 UAP videos identified by whistleblowers. Luna said Friday those videos will be released later by the Pentagon.

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., thanked Trump for “keeping his word” on transparency and disclosure.

“I would like to remind people that transparency won’t all happen at once, it will take some time,” Burchett said in a statement.

Others used Friday's release to urge further transparency into what the government knows about UAPs. The Sol Foundation, a research group focused on UAPs, pushed for passage of legislation that would force a “thorough” review of classified UAP records "with the aim of providing Americans with the full truth about longstanding government knowledge and programs concerning technologies and vehicles not of human origin.”

“While today’s new step toward a full disclosure of government knowledge concerning UAP is welcome, many more need to be taken to bring an end to the decades of secrecy by which the American people were kept in the dark,” said Peter Skafish, the foundation's executive director, and retired Rear Adm. Tim Gallaudet, a former acting administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency.

Pentagon Releases Files on U.F.O.s

The initial files are murky images that show what could be anything. The government said more would be released on a rolling basis.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/08/us/politics/pentagon-ufo-files.html

By Helene Cooper

Reporting from Washington

May 8, 2026

The Pentagon released what it called “new, never-before-seen” files on U.F.O.s on Friday, hailing the step as an example of the commitment of the department, which kicked out reporters earlier this year, to transparency.

“No other president or administration in history has followed through on this level of U.A.P. transparency,” the Pentagon said in a news release, referring to what the Defense Department calls unidentified anomalous phenomena but what most people call U.F.O.s, or unidentified flying objects.

The collection is being “housed,” the release said, at war.gov/ufo. Files will be released on a rolling basis.

The initial files are murky still images that show what could be anything. In one, a cluster of dots appear on the screen. In another, there are some strangely shaped objects.

President Trump on social media framed the release as fulfilling a promise to the public: “Whereas previous Administrations have failed to be transparent on this subject, with these new Documents and Videos, the people can decide for themselves, “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?””

In 2017 The New York Times reported that the Pentagon had a secret and classified program, which began in 2007, that investigated reports of unidentified flying objects. Since then, there has been a push from lawmakers for the government to declassify its work on U.F.O.s.

Former representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, took to social media to deride the release, calling it “‘look at the shiny object’ propaganda” while the administration waged foreign wars.

“Unless they roll out live aliens and test demo UFOs or actually admit what we know this really is then I have way better things to do on this Friday,” she wrote.

 

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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2605.08 - 10:10

- Days ago: MOM = 3963 days ago & DAD = 617 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.

A Sense of Doubt blog post #4098 - Letter to Dad #34 - Pistons up 2-0 in Semi-Finals Over Cleveland!

A Sense of Doubt blog post #4098 - Letter to Dad #34 - Pistons up 2-0 in Semi-Finals Over Cleveland!

Hi Big Guy,

I keep delaying the Seeing Bowie Live post with pictures from your little black book. I will get to it.

But this Pistons news seems more important right now. You would be so thrilled if you were still here. I remember watching so much Pistons basketball from 2003-2007, especially. Chauncey, Rip, Ben, Tayshaun, Sheed... such a great team. However, I was in Seattle when they won the 2004 championship, beating the Lakers.

Now the Pistons are up 2-0 on the Cavs in Eastern Semi-Finals after roaring back from being down 1-3 to beat the Magic in a game seven on Sunday.

Not much else to report. I am on quarter break. I maintained my 4.0. I am applying for jobs. I have an internship (pretty certain).

Trying to keep up on house stuff. Wish you were here to discuss that.

Enjoy the Pistons news from games one and two of the Semi-Finals.

This is a bit of a cheat as I am writing on Friday but publishing this post backwards to before Game Two.

Love you, BG.

~ christopher


https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2026/05/08/detroit-pistons-thrive-thanks-to-j-b-bickerstaff-emphasis-on-youth/89990042007/

Growth-first approach from J.B. Bickerstaff winning games for Pistons

Omari Sankofa II

Detroit Free Press

May 8, 2026, 5:10 a.m. ET

After a 60-win regular season, the first round of the 2026 NBA playoffs revealed that the Detroit Pistons still had some growing up to do.

Coach J.B. Bickerstaff trusted his young roster to figure it out. 

They were on the brink of elimination in Game 6 against the Orlando Magic, down by 24 points early in the third quarter on May 1. And yet fourth-year big Jalen Duren, who who struggled to assert himself on both sides of the ball earlier in the series, played the final eight minutes of the game over Paul Reed, a vet in the midst of a strong performance. 

Second-year guard Daniss Jenkins, who couldn’t hit shots through the first five games, played 10 of 24 second-half minutes in a historic comeback to force a Game 7, eventually won by the Pistons to set up their Eastern Conference semifinal matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Bickerstaff leaned on them for a simple reason: To learn how to handle high-pressure moments – to, perhaps, become pillars of the franchise – they first had to experience them. 

The decision has paid dividends since: Duren and Jenkins shook off their poor starts and delivered their best performances of the series in Sunday's Game 7. And as the Pistons have built a 2-0 lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers, they've delivered even more.

“When you have young guys who are doing things for the first time, playing in these situations, it’s not going to be perfect,” Bickerstaff said after the Pistons’ 107-97 Game 2 win over the Cavaliers on Thursday, May 7. “What we judge them on is, if it’s effort-based and if they’re giving us all they got, then we’ll stick with them and give them a chance to play through some of the bumps and bruises, because we trust that they’re going to get through it and they’ll be better for it.” 

The Pistons have won five straight since an April 29 loss left them trailing the Magic, 3-1. Even as they continue a rapid trajectory to contention, Bickerstaff – and the front office – hasn’t abandoned a growth-oriented approach to coaching and team-building. Their young core is meeting the moment, even if it took a first-round scare for them to get there. 

President of basketball operations Trajan Langdon decided against a big trade deadline swing for a potential star to help Cade Cunningham, instead allowing his players to grow into stardom. That patience extends to Bickerstaff, who is coaching with the big picture in mind even as the team is in the midst of its deepest playoff run in nearly two decades. 

“We’re going to be here for a while, right?” he said after the team’s practice on Wednesday. “And this group is going to be together for a while. So we have to do what’s best for this group in total and not just react to our emotions in the moment. Being here, working with Trajan and Tom [Gores, Pistons owner], they’ve afforded me the ability to be able to do that and see the game that way, where you don’t feel like you have to win or lose every possession or your job's on the line.”

Jenkins was one of the Pistons’ many success stories this season, earning a standard contract after playing his two-way contract to the 50-game limit, winning several games for them early in the season. But he looked overmatched in the playoffs, shooting 26.3% from the floor in his first five playoff appearances this year.

Bickerstaff recognized that Jenkins needed time to adjust to the postseason pace and physicality. The Pistons needed what Jenkins could bring – namely, secondary ballhandling alongside Cunningham. Instead of benching him, he gave him an opportunity to rise to the moment. 

Jenkins had 16 points and five assists in Game 7, and 12 points, seven rebounds, three assists and four steals in a Game 1 win over the Cavs. Game 2 brought Jenkins' third straight game scoring in double figures.

“You can’t simulate the playoffs, you can’t do that,” said Jenkins, who had 16 points and four assists Thursday. “This is my first time going through it. I knew I wasn’t going to be scared or nothing like that, I just had to go through it and adjust to the intensity, atmosphere, the physicality. I think early on I was just pressing a little too much. I just had to relax and just play, and once I did that I knew it was going to be up from there.”

Duren, meanwhile, looked stiff and unfocused at the beginning of the Magic series. He fumbled the rebounds and passes he usually nabs with ease, had issues establishing himself on the boards, gave up too many baskets in the paint and was outplayed by Orlando's Wendell Carter Jr. 

He found his rhythm as a rim protector during the Game 6 comeback and looked like the All-Star version of himself in Game 7, in which he tallied his first double-double of the series – 15 points, 15 rebounds (six offensive) and three assists. He kept it rolling in Game 1 against Cleveland, finishing with 11 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two blocks. 

“Young players don’t develop if they don’t feel that belief and trust in them, and if you’re just yanking them and pulling them in and out they don’t get the opportunities to grow,” Bickerstaff said.

The Pistons are winning like a team with urgency, but their philosophy has remained the same since September's media day: Internal growth was always going to dictate their level of success this season.

Turns out, their patient approach is also the approach most conducive to winning.

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/columnists/shawn-windsor/2026/05/07/pistons-cavaliers-game-2-playoffs-cade-cunningham/89985640007/

Cade Cunningham sends message with Game 2 takeover vs Cavaliers

He looked patient then sluggish then focused, and when the game was in the balance, he looked like him. 

Or, more accurately, Him.  

That’s how it goes some nights, when the game isn’t quite there, and the feel is a touch off, even for budding superstars. What matters is what happens when it is time to win. 

Cade Cunningham clearly gets that. He continues to show these playoffs that he gets it, and did so again Thursday, May 7, at Little Caesars Arena. 

Lose Game 2 to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Detroit Pistons are looking up again in the playoffs, like they did for most of the first round. Cunningham wasn’t going to let that happen.

And so, with a little more than two minutes left and the Pistons leading by six, he pulled the ball back between his legs, smooth as flowing water, and knocked down a dagger 3-pointer.  

Ball game, 107-97. 

Also, message sent. 

Cunningham finished with 25 points and 10 assists, a superlative second-half performance from one of the best players in the game. That’s clear. And clearer with each step through these playoffs. 

Even on a night when he looked out of it for a while, he found a way to close. Though he wasn’t the only one.

With each game, this team is finding plays from up and down the roster, and what a roll it has led to. That’s five in a row now. They’ve won in all sorts of ways.

They’ve come back. They’ve blown teams out. And now they’ve made winning plays at the end of the game. 

Actually, they did a version of that in Game 1 against the Cavaliers, but that win was decided before the final few minutes.  

Whatever else you say about these young Pistons, they are proving by the game that they belong here and that they have the ability to respond, no matter the situation.

Like the first game of this series, Cleveland came back from a halftime deficit and tied it in the fourth. This time, they actually took the lead, on an Evan Mobley dunk. Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff called a timeout, and his team quickly went back to work.  

It started with the vets. Tobias Harris tied it. Who else? Duncan Robinson buried a transition 3-pointer from not too far inside the halfcourt line.

The quick 7-0 run settled them for the stretch run. For once, their offense picked up their defense. Well, that and Ausar Thompson checked back into the game despite a tight foul situation. That never hurts. And he kept going for the rest of the fourth. 

Stops? 

It’s hard to imagine a better defender outside San Antonio. 

Buckets? 

It’s hard to imagine a more unlikely source than Daniss Jenkins. He was at it again Thursday night. 

The start of the Pistons guard's postseason was a blip. This is who he has been for so much of the season. Maybe not draining buzzer-beating, end-of-quarter 3-pointers, as he did Thursday – the Pistons' third buzzer-beater in two games – but serving as the secondary playmaker Cunningham needs.

And the shot-maker the Pistons need. There he was pulling up from the elbow, from the baseline, taking the ball and waiting, patiently, until a big man flashed under the rim for an open look, as he did when he found Jalen Duren for a dunk late in the second. 

He helped the Pistons build their lead in the first half and helped them from completely collapsing in the third when the Cavaliers made their push. He scored 14, and the Pistons needed it, as Cunningham looked a little sluggish in the first half. 

Then again, maybe he meant to sit back and pass first and assess? 

[ Cavaliers don't respect Pistons. It's time the cities don't respect each other either ]

If he was, he’d had enough when Cleveland came out of the half with more juice and cut the Pistons’ 11-point lead to six. He drove and dropped it to Duren, who missed the layup. On the next possession, he drove and drew a foul. And on the next, he drove and dunked.

They had energy at the start again, especially defensively, which has become a pattern now, a sign that they understand what is needed from the jump. They swarmed. They blanketed. They rotated. 

They suffocated. 

Thompson was in the middle of it all, primarily ping-ponging between James Harden and Donovan Mitchell, as the Pistons built an 11-point lead at the half and held Cleveland to 43 points. 

The defense disappeared in the third but returned in the fourth, like Cunningham did.

A wicked combination, as it turns out.

A promising one, too.

Game 2 Box Score  

https://www.espn.com/nba/recap/_/gameId/401871334

Cade Cunningham has 25 points and 10 assists to lift Pistons past Cavs 107-97 for a 2-0 lead

DETROIT -- — Cade Cunningham had 25 points and 10 assists, Tobias Harris scored 21 points and the Detroit Pistons beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 107-97 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 lead in their second-round series.

Game 3 is Saturday in Cleveland, where the Cavs were 4-0 in the first round against Toronto.

The top-seeded Pistons have won five straight games since Orlando put them on the brink of elimination in the first round.

“We're going to keep swinging,” reserve guard Daniss Jenkins said. “We're still trying to prove something to ourselves.”

Donovan Mitchell scored 31 points and Jarrett Allen had 22 points and seven rebounds, bouncing back from a poor performance in Game 1 for the fourth-seeded Cavs.

James Harden, though, missed 10 of 13 shots and was limited to 10 points. Harden had four turnovers, including one with 33 seconds left when the Cavs trailed by just six.

“We just wear on you,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “That’s what our objective is.”

Cleveland's Max Strus scored just three points after he had 19 in the series opener. The Cavs went 0 for 11 from 3-point range in the fourth quarter, with Strus having four of the misses.

“Unfortunately, it was not a night where we shot the ball well — 7 of 32 from 3,” Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said.

Detroit’s Duncan Robinson had 17 points, making 5 of 9 3-pointers, and Jenkins came off the bench to score 14 points, his third straight game in double figures.

“I don’t think people can keep up with my pace and my speed,” Jenkins said.

Cleveland made the first shot but didn’t lead again until Evan Mobley’s dunk put the visitors ahead 81-79 early in the fourth quarter.

The Pistons led by 11 points in the first quarter and 14 in the second quarter.

“I don’t know what it is with the start of games,” Atkinson said. "They came out super aggressive of course, but it’s the playoffs. Obviously, we haven’t figured that one out. Still back to the drawing board.”

The Cavs scored the first six points of the final quarter and Detroit responded with plays at both ends of the court.

Robinson had a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 9:40 left and Cunningham made a 3-pointer to put the Pistons ahead by nine points with 2:12 to go, sealing the victory.

Cavs reserve guard Sam Merrill missed Game 2 with a hamstring injury after he was hurt in in the series opener.

Cunningham, Pistons not going to let up with 2-0 lead on Cavs

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/48708023/cunningham-pistons-pull-away-take-2-0-lead-cavaliers

DETROIT -- Even after taking a 2-0 series lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night, Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham remained even-keeled amid success.

With a 107-97 Game 2 win, the Pistons celebrated their fifth consecutive postseason victory for the first time since 2008.

However, it was hard for Cunningham to forget that less than a week ago, the Pistons' season was on the ropes as they faced a 24-point deficit on the road against Orlando in Game 6 of their first-round series.

"It taught us how fragile and how thin of a line is that comes between winning and losing," Cunningham said of the Magic series. "So, being up 2-0 right now, we know it's a thin line still. So, it's one game at a time. We've got to go into Cleveland now and they're going to have their home fans around them, they're going to have more energy in there, so we've got to handle our business and be focused."

Ultimately, the Pistons rallied to win Game 6 and the opening series versus the Magic, overcoming a 3-1 hole before advancing to host the Cavaliers in Round 2.

But that first-round experience continues to motivate Cunningham to maintain focus.

On Thursday night, Cunningham led the Pistons over Cleveland with 25 points and 10 assists while Tobias Harris added 21 points and seven rebounds.

"Last series, learned a lot for sure. I mean being down 3-1, back against the wall, there's a lot of things that go through your mind with the potential of your season being over and stuff," Cunningham said. "So, just trying to find the best way to execute, but going through that series, you realize how long a playoff series can be and it's a war more so than just a battle.

"Being down 3-1 and then having a one-game-at-a-time mentality, fighting our way back into it and then winning it, coming down on the right side of it, was a great thing."

Cunningham has now scored at least 20 points in all 15 of his career playoff games, which is the fourth-longest streak to begin a career in NBA postseason history behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (27), LeBron James (19) and Anthony Davis (16), per ESPN Research.

He has averaged 31.4 points per game and 7.4 assists while shooting 55.2% from 3-point range during the Pistons' five-game win streak.

Cunningham started the first half of Game 2 against Cleveland with just five points and six assists but came alive in the fourth quarter, scoring 12 points -- including a step-back dagger 3 to put the Pistons ahead 101-92 with 2:12 remaining.

"I mean, Cade is just fabulous," Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. "He's the killer, closer and all of the adjectives you want to talk about. Like, he's it. And in the fourth quarter, he does his best work."

Pistons guard Daniss Jenkins was solid off the bench with 14 points, six rebounds and four assists, and sharpshooter Duncan Robinson became the first player in franchise history with five 3-pointers in back-to-back playoff games. Robinson finished with 17 points while going 5-for-9 from 3.

Detroit led by as many as 14 in the first half but allowed Cleveland to come back and take an 81-79 lead at 10:19 in the fourth quarter after a huge dunk by Evan Mobley. From there, the Pistons went on a 28-16 run to secure the 10-point victory.

The Pistons are 12-1 in best-of-seven playoff series when leading 2-0, while teams in that 2-0 scenario also go on to win the series 92% of the time, per ESPN Research.

But the Pistons aren't focused on history or statistics, after their experience with Orlando. So, they'll be prepared to see a hungry Cavaliers squad Saturday.

"We just know, just last series we was down 3-1. So, we're going to keep swinging," Jenkins said. "Our back still against the wall. The world still don't believe. We still trying to prove something to ourselves. We set out this year with certain goals in our mind and we're not there yet. Job's not finished."

Detroit Pistons learned their lesson in Round 1 and applied it vs Cavs

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/columnists/shawn-windsor/2026/05/05/pistons-cavs-game-1-nba-playoffs-cade-cunningham-ron-holland/89953525007/

They are learning, these Detroit Pistons: quarter by quarter, game by game, series by series. Sometimes, even play by play. 

They showed this again in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinals against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday, May 5, at Little Caesars Arena. They were tough when they needed to be and resourceful when they had to be, beating the Cavs, 111-101, to take a 1-0 lead in the series. 

That resolve showed up early and late, especially after they’d given up a 13-point second-half lead against one of the NBA's better offensive teams, riding a gutty effort from Cade Cunningham – who didn’t play his most efficient game, but surely played one of his grittiest. 

The Cavaliers finally tied it when James Harden hit three free throws after Ausar Thompson fouled him behind the 3-point-line. The crowd, anxious for chunks of the night, fell quiet, except for the Cleveland fans in the building (of which there were too many). 

Cunningham, who looked a bit sluggish at times, checked back in after a late fourth-quarter rest and missed a 3. Jalen Duren blocked Harden at the rim and grabbed the rebound. Cunningham then forced his way into the lane before dropping it off for a Duren dunk. 

Then he did it again the next time down the floor to give Detroit a four-point lead. Cleveland called a timeout. 

The Pistons made every play from there: another Cunningham to Duren dunk, a Daniss Jenkins pull-up, a late-shot clock jumper from Tobias Harris – of course – and a Cunningham midrange special. They needed all of it, from everywhere, on a night when the game was chippy and feisty, with a little shoving, a little pushing, and a lotta jawing.

Let’s see, Duncan Robinson chest-bumped Harden after a floater and Harden pushed him back.

Double technical. 

Cunningham shoved Jaylon Tyson and Tyson ran and got in Cunningham’s face. 

No technical. 

Meanwhile, Dennis Schröder looked for a scuffle everywhere. He played that role well last season for the Pistons. He played it well Tuesday night for the Cavaliers.

It was physical, not quite in the way the last series was, but still, these are the playoffs, and this is the second round, and it’s been a while – 18 years, in fact – and this is how it should be. Fighting, scrapping, willing stops and buckets and a win when it gets tight and white-hot. 

Besides, Javonte Green hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the first quarter. Ron Holland hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the third quarter. How often do you get one of those in a game, much less two?

You’ve got to take advantage and seize the opportunity, like Holland did. He had played one minute since Game 2 of the first round; on Tuesday, he only got 10 minutes, but had a tough finish at the rim and started to figure out how to slow down enough to harness that crackling energy. 

The kind of energy – and competitive spirit – that was there for the entire team from the start, unlike Game 1 of the Orlando series. It needed to be. Cleveland is far more explosive.  

The shooting was there early, too, largely from Robinson and Cunningham, who combined to hit five 3-pointers in the first half. Robinson couldn’t make a shot from deep against the Magic, and Cunningham was more efficient beyond the arc (2-for-5) than inside it Tuesday (4-for-14). He balanced his slightly off-kilter middy, though, by getting to the free throw line (9-for-11).

They were ready, in other words, in a way they weren’t the last series. Whatever they thought they’d accomplished in the regular season – and they thought they’d accomplished more than they had, they admitted – they'd shoved aside.  

They knew. They understood the assignment, the moment. 

They got to the line and made 11 of 12 free throws in the first quarter. They rebounded. They rotated on defense, they jumped to a 37-21 lead after one.  

They made plays early and then again late, when they had to. They are learning.  

Game 1 box score

Cade Cunningham scores 23, Tobias Harris has 20 to help Pistons beat Cavs 111-101 in Game 1

https://www.espn.com/nba/recap/_/gameId/401871333

DETROIT -- — Cade Cunningham scored 23 points, Tobias Harris had 20 and the Detroit Pistons beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 111-101 on Tuesday night in Game 1 of their second-round series.

Duncan Robinson added 19 points for the top-seeded Pistons, who ended an NBA record-tying 12-game postseason losing streak against a single opponent, a drought that dated to the 2007 Eastern Conference finals.

Game 2 is Thursday night in Detroit.

The Pistons forced 20 turnovers that led to 31 points in a strong performance against Cleveland's potent backcourt of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden.

“That's what this series presents, but we're up for a challenge," Harris said. "I thought tonight we did a great job of that.”

Mitchell scored 23 points, ending his NBA-record streak of scoring 30-plus points in nine straight series openers.

Harden had 22 points and Max Strus scored 19 for the No. 4-seeded Cavs, who pulled into a tie midway through the fourth quarter after trailing for most of the night and by as much as 18 points.

Harden committed seven turnovers and pointed the blame at himself.

“You look within first,” he said. “Look at my turnovers and a lot of them are just on me and nothing they did.”

Cleveland center Jarrett Allen was limited to two points and three rebounds, coming off a 22-point, 19-rebound performance in an elimination game against Toronto.

Two days after both teams won a Game 7, the Pistons started strong and led 37-31 after a quarter. Detroit took a 59-46 lead into the second half, when the cushion was no longer comfortable.

Cleveland pulled within three points late in the third and Ron Holland hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the quarter and put the Pistons up 83-76.

After the Cavs cut their deficit to three again early in the fourth, the Pistons responded with eight consecutive points to restore a double-digit lead.

Cleveland, though, wouldn’t go away.

Harden, playing the Pistons for the first time since Cleveland acquired him, scored seven straight points to pull the Cavs into a 93-all tie with 5:28 left.

Jalen Duren blocked Harden’s next shot and dunked on Detroit’s next three possessions — each off Cunningham assists.

The Pistons won the Central Division this year by eight games ahead of the defending champion Cavs, splitting four games during the regular season.

Detroit earned 60 victories and the top seed in the East just two years after losing 68 games and setting a single-season NBA record with 28 straight losses.

The Pistons rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the first round against Orlando to advance in the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

Cleveland outlasted Toronto in seven games to reach the second round for the third straight year, a run that started with Bickerstaff, who was fired by the Cavs and hired a month later by the Pistons.

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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2605.07 - 10:10

- Days ago: MOM = 3962 days ago & DAD = 616 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.