Was the Det/New Jersey series the REAL NBA finals????

TheMDKid · Jun 10, 2004

I'm only partially joking here. I'm so tired of hearing how LAL/San Ant was the REAL NBA finals, or how the East is really the WNBA. I mean except for a 30 sec Det meltdown in game 2, the Lakers have been completely dominated in this series. The Nets, on the other hand, dominated the Pistons in 3 games, being the only team to take the Pistons to 7 games.

OK, so let me guess ... the Lakers haven't really tried yet, right?. If they had, this series would be 3-0 Lakers, right? You know what - I'm so tired of everytime these overrated chumps lose, everyone talks about how they weren't taking their opponent seriously. I mean do the Lakers ever lose because the opponent was better???

It's funny, everytime you listen to the postgame comments of any of Detroit's many victims this season, you heard the same thing ... "We just couldn't hit any open looks." "We didn't have the energy we normally have." "A couple of questionable calls go our way and we woulda pulled this one out." Yadda, yadda, yadda. Its time to face reality people. The NBA is no different then any other sport. Offense wins praise, but DEFENSE wins championships.

wilheim · Jun 10, 2004

Believe it or not I was thinking the same thing. The Nets gave the Pistons ALL they could handle, and most likely would have done the same to Indiana if they had knocked off Detroit.

wil.

dr.chau · Jun 10, 2004

SA who also had a pretty good defence, and LA took 4 straight from them to get here.

TheMDKid · Jun 10, 2004

SA defense was pretty damn good, but the Piston's, since acquiring Rasheed, may arguably be the best in NBA history. After watching plenty of their games this year, the only defensive weakness I saw (and this is nitpicking) was transition defense. That's why the Nets, with the NBA's best fast break, gave the Pistons such fits. And thats why the Lakers, with no playmaker at PG, have struggled so much.

dr.chau · Jun 10, 2004

Ya that's true, Lakers can't do anything on a fastbreak unless it's Kobe. Brown is doing a good job pressuring the ball so LA can't even bring the ball up easily.

wilheim · Jun 10, 2004

Don't for one second think that the Lakers did not try tonight. They tried everything in the Jackson arsenal. They pressured the ball, they tried different match-ups on D. They used bench players and nothing worked. The Pistons just match-up to well and the Lakers really have no answer for Billups or Rasheed.

wil.

Horseshoe · Jun 10, 2004

The difference between Det and NJ is merely a Sheed, switch unis and you switch the results..a 7 footer that can run, block shots, shoot outside, rebound with anyone, make baseline fadeaways on quick turnarounds.

NJ is minus a good big man with skills & one more quality "tweener" from contending for the title.

TheMDKid · Jun 10, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>Don't for one second think that the Lakers did not try tonight.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
I agree 100% Wil, but you know damn well that the ole "Western Conference is the only conference" theorists and the "Lakers can win anytime they are motivated" advocates will use THAT as their convenient excuse, because they just cannot FATHOM being completely outplayed 3 straight games by a "WNBA" team.

wilheim · Jun 10, 2004

MD - good point - kind of a "lakers denial syndrome". IMO the handwriting is on the wall.

wil.

TheMDKid · Jun 10, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>The difference between Det and NJ is merely a Sheed, switch unis and you switch the results..a 7 footer that can run, block shots, shoot outside, rebound with anyone, make baseline fadeaways on quick turnarounds.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
The Nets thought they had just that, until kidney failure KO'ed Zo. Incidentally, Zo reportedly is attempting a comeback next season. Probably a long shot, but to even attempt it is amazing, since the man was near death at one point.

Journeyman · Jun 10, 2004

I believed the West had come back to the pack enough to make for an interesting final, but figured the only way to actually win would be with Indy`s home court advantage...

Detroit didn`t even play their A game tonight and manhandled L.A., Billups is dominating whenever Fisher is on the floor, and Jackson needs Fisher as Payton continues to look washed up.....Hamilton had a lousy shooting night or this game would have been a blowout at halftime...

I know the Lakers will probably find a way to steal one of these 3 but at this point I just don`t see any reason why they will...Losing Malone was the kicker, with Malone healthy it still would have been difficult, Malone did more than people are giving him credit for, it was Malone who stopped Duncan and shut down KG in Lakers wins...

Going back to LA down 3-2 is all they can hope for.

Horseshoe · Jun 10, 2004

Love Zo as a warrior and classy family man, but he was already aging and in skills decline, and now with the time lapse I do not see him ever being more than a possible 5 to 10 minute filler player at this juncture, if that?

Sheed was a steal, as there just isn't many(any?) like him in size and skills, he could help make up much of the difference for NJ, SA, Hou, Sacto, Dal, Indy in winning it all..the man is about to be locked up and paid MAJOR JACK this summer.

McGrady is similar in size and offensive skills(actually even superior), yet is softer defensively than Wallace, and doesn't have the amount of playoff experience that RW has..time to get paid!

TheMDKid · Jun 10, 2004

Horseshoe,
Good points. Question - do Pistons have cap room to sign Sheed to a killer contract?

Unsung hero of the game, and for most of the playoffs for that matter, is Lindsey Hunter. I hate that pesky little bastard. He is a relentless defender who gives fantastic quality minutes coming in for Billups. While Billups is resting, Hunter is wearing out whoever he is guarding. IMO, he would be Defensive Player of the Year candidate if he had more offensive skills (and therefore got more minutes).

wilheim · Jun 10, 2004

Seriously can anyone really see the Lakers winning three of four from the Pistons who match-up so incredibly well with them?

wil.

WildBill · Jun 10, 2004

Hunter is a nice pickup, but the Pistons need all the offense they can get from that spot. Billups is great because he never forgets to drive to the basket. Notice all these Pistons have no fear whatsoever of Shaq. I think that is the unnoticed key. The Wolves didn't take it to the basket much and only Ginobili was consistently doing it for the Spurs. The Pistons have one guy after another going to the basket and challenging Shaq. Their aggressiveness is forcing the refs to call the fouls and they have such ferocious rebounding inside that they don't worry if Shaq gets the occasional block because they are still getting opportunities even after a miss.

Horseshoe · Jun 10, 2004

MD, I don't know, as I had only watched two NBA games all year until the Playoffs started, but saw on Sportscenter an interview of RW where his wife and kids are still in Portland, and he was unsure of what or where would be happening this summer, but imho he has used the platform(of great cast/team, under 70 run after trade, & current Playoff run) to his advantage, and will wind up in the top 15 salaries in the league(where his HS & College skills) predicted him to be.

Wil, unless we've been duped by a sandbagging act of Olivier & Hepburn skills/proportions, the Lakeshow appears exposed(even if draws to 2-2)?

wilheim · Jun 10, 2004

Final 1 2 3 4 T
Lakers 16 16 19 17 68
Pistons 24 15 24 25 88

Outrebounded 51-40
Lakers go 27 for 74 from field (36.5%)
Pistons go 31 for 76 (41%).

Look at those quarterly score Lakers never break 20 in any quarter.

wil.

NickyDeuces · Jun 10, 2004

Sportsline, "The defensive intensity was contagious from player to player for the Pistons, holding the Lakers to less than 70 points for the first time in 560 playoff games since the 1949-50 season and it was the third lowest Finals total since the inception of the shot clock in 1954."

TheMDKid · Jun 10, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>Look at those quarterly scores Lakers never break 20 in any quarter.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Wow, I didn't even realize that. I wonder if the Lakers have EVER (playoffs or regular season) been held without a 20 point quarter in a game before? Truly amazing to do it to a team in the Finals! This Piston defense is legendary. And the scary thing is, I've seen them play better - much better ... Pistons had only 4 blocks, Big Ben had NONE! How about the 19 block game vs Indy 2 weeks ago.

RobFunk · Jun 11, 2004

greg anthony said it best. . .LA is not as fast as detroit, the pistons are always back on D, so the only chance they have is to beat detroit in a half court game and again with the defense of the pistons this is not an easy task.

remember in the NJ series, when NJ was scoring they were getting a lot of easy baskets in transition? LA wont get these, and that is why detroit will walk away with the title.

kobe has a hard time scoring on prince, detroit is faster getting the loose balls and creating turnovers which gives them extra multiple scoring opportunitys and as bad as they are shooting, you give a team enough chances to dump the ball through the hoop even a kid in a wheel chair will knock one down eventually.

detroit is also faster on offense, giving themselves more trips to the line and getting to the rack creating havoc even on missed shots with their great athletic and tall rebounders.

detroit is -120 to win the series. go ahead lay it and forget about it. still a great price with 2-1 lead at almost even money knowing what we know now and malone hobbling around.

no reason to think the pistons cant take 2/4 or that LA is miraculously going to win 3/4 with this beat up, unmotivated and frustrated club