<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">AUBURN HILLS - Many things need to go right for Milwaukee to make the Pistons nervous in their firstround Eastern Conference playoff series. Ranking at the top of that list is a succession of highscoring nights from Michael Redd. The sight of Redd rising up and releasing perfectly measured 3-pointers became quite familiar to Flip Saunders and his team this season. Redd averaged 30 points against Detroit and made an astounding 17 of 23 shots behind the arc against the team that led the league in defensive 3-point shooting percentage. "The bottom line is, he's going to score," said Saunders, whose team began preparing Thursday for its Sunday playoff opener. "What you can't let him do is get into that 40-point range. You've got to make sure that you make him a volume scorer. "What he's done is he's been able to score and he hasn't had to take that many shots. We've got to make him work more at the other end defensively, whether he guards Chauncey (Billups) or Rip (Hamilton)." No one had better success at The Palace this season than Redd, who averaged a career-high 25.4 points this season. He scored 41 in the Bucks' first visit and 37 the second time around. Milwaukee still lost both times, though the Pistons were extended to overtime and required a fourth-quarter rally in those games. "It's a challenge because he's the No. 1 option on their team," said Hamilton, who usually draws the defensive assignment against Redd. "He can score in so many different ways, and every shot that he shoots, he believes that it's not a bad shot. When you've got a scorer like that, who can score in so many different ways, you've just got to put a hand in his face and hope that he misses." Hamilton was able to keep Redd distracted two seasons ago when the teams met in the first round. Hamilton outscored Redd 101-90 in a series the Pistons won 4-1. This time, Redd has teammates who can take some of the scoring load off of him. Point guard T.J. Ford missed that playoff series during his rookie season after suffering a serious neck injury. Ford, his backup Maurice Williams and small forward Bobby Simmons averaged at least 12 points a game this season. Simmons, signed away from the Los Angeles Clippers during the summer, makes it difficult for the Pistons to switch long-armed Tayshaun Prince onto Redd. "Simmons is their secondbest scorer, and he's got the ability to post up," Saunders said. "If you take your threeman off of him, now all of a sudden, you've got Rip guarding somebody down in the block a lot." Lottery pick Andrew Bogut and center Jamaal Magloire, acquired from the Hornets at the start of the season, also give the Milwaukee some inside scoring presence. Ex-Piston Joe Smith, ex-Spartan Charlie Bell and graybeard Toni Kukoc are capable scorers off the bench. If Redd can keep his hot hand against the Pistons, he'll make his teammates more dangerous. "He's a deadly shooter," Billups said. "A lot of their offense is set up for him to get shots. Any player like that is going to be difficult, no matter what team or who it is." Saunders and his staff will try to find many ways to make Redd's life more diffi cult on the court. After Miami's Dwyane Wade had a big game against the Pistons this season, Hamilton and other defenders were able to deny Wade the ball more often in subsequent meetings. </div> Source
Redd was contained very well tonite. His shot was off, and every defender we had was giving him trouble.
