Chris McCoskey of the Detroit News reports that Pistons coach Rick Carlisle was not happy after Friday nights? victory over the Bucks. He laid into the team in a post-game rant. Carlisle preached about effort and a lack of intensity.

Pistons players seemed a bit taken aback by Carlisle's outburst. "We got the win," Cliff Robinson said. "It wasn't the best effort defensively, but at the same time, we fought hard and got the stops when we needed to. "When you get a win in this league, you have to be thankful. They're not that easy to come by."

"To make believe everything is rosy is foolish," Carlisle said Friday. "I am just not seeing the effort plays that I am accustomed to seeing out of this team. I am so tired of seeing guys jog back defensively and getting their butts kicked under the basket. It's a disgrace."

Carlisle must have seen something because the following night, the Bucks handed the Pistons a 109-86 defeat in Milwaukee.

"Certain things are unmistakable," Carlisle said. "The identity of this team, to me, is sacred and right now it is being compromised by how we are playing on the defensive side of the ball. "We are giving up transition jump shots and layups like they were free cotton candy. It's a joke."

The Bucks turned 17 offensive rebounds into 17 second-chance points. They also scored 15 points off their fast break. They outscored the Pistons, 32-12, in those two categories. In the last two home games, the Pistons have been outscored 64-29 in those categories, and they have won in those areas only five times all season.

Ben Wallace agreed that the Pistons need to tighten some things up. "We just have to get down and guard guys," he said. "At times, we get lax out there. We took some quick shots at the offensive end, and a lot of times that gets them easy buckets in transition."

Carlisle said he was not planning to alter the lineup any time soon, but the lineup had the same problems in Saturday's loss.