NBA Basketball 2004-2005 thread - Page 12

Can there be two more dissimilar series than Pistons/Pacers and Mavs/Suns?

Alright! Pistons got it done. They had some disturbingly bad stretches at times, paticularly on defense, but they went to the hole in style in the 2nd half, and dominated from the foul line as a result. Great game for Rip, and for Ben and Rasheed hitting the boards, thrilled to see that.

Of course, in the end, it was all about #31. I'm glad we ended his career, but also glad that he went out with a great game. Very nice touch from Larry to call a TO when Reggie went out of the game right at the end, to give the crowd some extra time to cheer for him, with all the Pistons coming to midcourt to applaud as well. The cameras and mikes were close enough after the buzzer to hear what he and Rip were saying to each other, with Reggie saying something like, "There's no more players left like us, the torch is passed onto you now." Undoubtedly that meant an enormous amount to Rip. So long, Reggie...you were a punk, but the best kind of punk, the one we all loved to hate.

Now that the pesky Pacers are eliminated, it's time for the series we've been anticipating for many months now. I think the key for the Pistons is to stop Dwayne Wade, just as they did Kobe in the Finals last year. Shaq will do some damage, but they need to keep Wade from hurting them, too. Detroit needs to win -- no team with Christian Laettner should be allowed to play in the Finals.

Especially compared to someone like John Stockton, with whom it was just pure hate


With this, I heartily agree.

How quickly we forget the Dream Team.

I thought that in last year's finals, an even bigger key for the Pistons than slowing Kobe down was preventing anyone outside of him and Shaq from contributing. Nobody else on the Lakers scored double figures in any of the games until the last one, when I think Fisher and maybe Medvedenko had 10. There's only so much anyone can do against someone as great as Wade, but they've got to keep the Joneses and Haslem in check.

Man this thread is dead. Anyway hopefully now that my first year of medical school is over and done with I'll be participating more.

So it's Spurs-Sins in the conference finals, should be a good series. Much depends on the health of Duncan's ankles. If he's healthy Spurs are in tight control. Their depth, defensive presence, and experience make the Spurs a tough team to beat. Phoenix needs to just run run run. If they can't run they can't score. Their halfcourt offense is acceptable but not much more. The trick is the Spurs just had two great running teams to prepare them for the track meet that will be Phoenix. the other issue is the Spurs can run too, as seen earlier in the season where the Spurs played Phoenix basketball and won. granted they won't do that every game, but it does show the team's versatility. One way or another, should be a fantastic series. I like the Spurs in 6, especially since game 6 is in San Antonio.

Also looking forward to Suns/Spurs, should be great. We've got both of the conference finals that I think most of us have been expecting for months.

Suns in 6 I say.

Still not sure on Miami vs the Pistons.

At this point though I don't have a favorite. I'm happy if ANY of these teams win. Easily the 4 best teams in the NBA I thought all year for what little I caught and what I tried to keep up with. I do like Miami quite a bit though and much of that is because of the whole Kobe ordeal. I'd like to see Shaq shout off "Told you so" when he hoists the trophy just to piss off the Laker Management and Kobe. The Pistons OTOH I'd like to see win too.

Gosh I can't make up my mind.

I'm rooting for the Pistons, overall. I like their style and I don't think anyone really took them all that seriously as defending champions during the season, so it makes me happy to see them still there knocking teams out.

I'm definitely not rooting for the Suns because I don't like their all-offense style, and the fact that NBA representatives and sportscasters can barely contain themselves from praying for their victory irks me

Impressive work from the Spurs today--43 points in the 4th quarter, wow! It just demonstrates once again how great an all-around team they are. You can't beat them just with offense, or just with defense. They can do whatever they have to against any opponent.

If this happens I will be able to say that I know what its like to be really happy and extremely pissed all at the same time.

Thought this was kind of amusing:


http://www.detnews.com/2005/pistons/...C12-189302.htm

I really dislike the Piston's style. I know, they get a lot of creedence for their defense, but defense doesn't always equal "no points" and "low scoring affairs".

The showtimes lakers, 86 celtics, early 90s bulls played great defense. Seriously. They would shut down a teams option at one and, and off of a defensive rebound, block, or steal, they would ignite a fast break for quick points.

Detroit plays a game with virtually no fast breaks. They don't go for quick points off of a turnover. It's get the ball, setup, milk clock.. these kind of low-scoring affairs are brutal to watch.. when I think of great defenses, I think of Bird, Jordan, Magic, Stockton.. netting 10 steals in a game and running fast breaks for quick points, confidence busting breakaways, etc.

I know there has to be people who love the way the Pistons play, but eh.. count me out. If it comes down to them and San Antonio in the finals.. talk about a yawn fest. Whereas SA and MIA would be pretty interesting, IMHO..

San Antonio plays great defense, but when they need it, they have solid offense as well, and they do trigger the fast break, the quick points off of a defensive stand. That's the thing Detroit doesn't do very effectively.

Yes! Awesome win. Dice and Arroyo were also good off the bench: even though Arroyo didn't score, he had 7 assists and only one TO in just ten minutes. The first 4 minutes or so of the fourth quarter were key, where three bench guys played at the same time, and yet Miami didn't make up any ground before all the Pistons starters came back in. I was bumming when they went ice cold after that and Miami tied the game, but the defense down the stretch was beautiful, and a few big shots did the trick.

TNT's on-air stats showed that Miami totally dominated the points in the paint, something like 52-30, but the Pistons responded to the Heat's lane-clogging by hitting jumpers from everywhere. Even Ben hit three in the third quarter, I was stunned! After being nervous because of the reliance on threes in the first half--they hit their first five, but obviously they weren't going to shoot 100% on threes for the whole game--I was loving life in the third quarter, as good shot after good shot went down from the perimeter (and almost none of them were threes).

Brilliant defense on Wade, although I still think we can't count on him struggling in every game, the guy's just too good. But he couldn't get easy shots, so if that continues, he won't be able to explode. Eddie Jones kept them in the game for a while, and Shaq was possessed in the first half, but we'll see how long he can keep that up as the series progresses. I'm greedy--now I want game 2 as well! Obviously the pressure will be on Miami, so if Detroit can keep their intensity up, maybe they'll benefit from some nerves on the Heat.

Before the series, the big question was whether Detroit could contain Shaq. Well, most of us know that's not really possible. They did show that they can defend Wade. However, I think the key question after watching Game 1 is -- how are the Heat going to contain Rasheed, Prince, Hamilton and Billups. Miami is going to have a difficult time defending that many offensive options, and they are playing 4 vs. 5 on defense when Shaq is out there (he can clog up the middle, but he can't move much).

This is a much different match-up than the Indy series. The Pacers have a defensive system that matches up well against the Pistons, but they had trouble scoring (especially with O'Neal and Tinsley injured). Miami, on the other hand, has scorers but is not a very good defensive team.


You may not like the style, Chris, but it is very effective basketball. They have one of the quickest defenses I've ever seen, and while the Pistons run mostly a half court offense, they do have some guys who can score -- Hamilton, Billups, Sheed, Prince and McDyess.

Looks like the Spurs took another one in Phoenix.

Bring it home boys

Another brilliant 4th quarter by the Spurs, this time after weathering some huge runs by Phoenix in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Amazing how clutch they were, with Horry hitting the 3, Parker with some big shots, Ginobili going around the back in the lane before scoring on a reverse, etc. And Duncan, usually a mediocre free-throw shooter, has gone 8 of 10 and 10 of 11 in these two games. Nash and Stoudemire were amazing, and Richardson hit a few big shots, but not much from anyone else for Phoenix (execept for Marion hitting the boards). Extraordinary how this is suddenly on the verge of a sweep!

The same thing was being said about the Mavs after they lost the first two, at home, to Houston.

The pros usually put losses behind them and play the next game. Even so, the Spurs have been very tough to beat at home.

Yeah, but the Spurs aren't the Rockets. This is an enormous hill for Phoenix to climb, and they already played pretty well in the first two games, certainly for most of the 2nd and 3rd quarters in Game 2.

I'm not suggesting that the Spurs will lose the series. But I'll be surprised if the Suns can't win one.

They'd better win Game 3, lose that one and it's sweep city. Though maybe getting Johnson back will help.

Pretty frustrated with the Pistons' loss last night, but I'm still confident about the series. They were so awful in the 2nd quarter that I just stopped watching for most of the third (stop doing that to me, guys!). A slew of bone-headed turnovers, at least 5 blown fast-break chances, lousy shot selection...you name it, they did it wrong in the 2nd period. Chauncey had 8 turnovers--in the first half! I tuned back in late in third during the big flurry of threes that got them the lead again, and I guess Miami stunk it up in that period, as they only scored 15. But Detroit went cold again in the 4th, and Wade kicked it into overdrive with 20(!) points in that quarter. Throughout the whole game, Miami was outhustling them, which I sort of expected in that the Heat were going to be desperate, but it was still annoying to see the Pistons standing around on occasion. On one play in the 4th, O'Neal got into the lane, drawing a double-team from Prince, and was forced into a tough shot, which he missed. But Prince just glued himself to the floor after Shaq spun away from him, leaving Wade, who was standing right next to him, completely unimpeded for an easy tip-in.

The good news is that it doesn't seem like it's going to get much better for Miami, and the Pistons played a mostly lousy game, and still had a chance to tie it up in the last minute. Wade had a transcendently great game, but he's not going to play any better than that, and probably not quite that well again in this series (though I do expect him to settle into a very productive rhythm, with his Game 1 being the fluke, not Game 2). It's clear that Shaq isn't capable of giving them much more than he has been, which is pretty good, but obviously not great. And the Pistons aren't likely to repeat that horrifying second quarter once they get back home. Plus, Rip and Chauncey shot only 4 of 9 on free throws...WTF? Chauncey missed 2 in the first quarter and never got back to the line, but Rip missed a big one down the stretch in the 4th. And guess who shot 10 of 10 on the line for Miami--oh, what do you know, Dwayne Wade did.

I guess my overriding feeling after last night is jealousy, having seen what the Spurs did when they got Phoenix's best shot in Game 2. That's what I wanted last night, to take a stranglehold on the series. I'm confident that the Pistons will bounce back, but this is the conference finals, that sort of thing shouldn't be a concern anymore.

Spurs looking good. I hope they stay healthy, and I will accept whatever outcome.

More impressive work from the Spurs. And Duncan was 15 of 15 on free throws! At this rate, I'll be pretty surprised if they don't win the championship, regardless of whether they play Detroit or Miami. They're just clicking on all cylinders. I guess it turns out that they match up even better with Phoenix than most were expecting, and I doubt that either Detroit or Miami can give them big enough matchup problems to beat them four times.

WOW! Spurs really played some great ball!

I feel sorry for Phoenix fans..wait a minute..no i dont :p

Unfamiliar situation last night, as the Pistons lost because they couldn't stop anybody. In the first six minutes of the third quarter, the Pistons had zero stops--that's right, ZERO. The Heat scored on every single possession. There was a dramatic turnaround for the rest of that quarter and the first few minutes of the 4th, with Miami struggling to get any points at all, but it came apart for Detroit in the last half of the 4th. Shaq was good last night, a little better than I expected, but not that much more effective than he was in the first two games. Wade had another teriffic game on offense, but another key for them was getting production from everyone else, Eddie Jones in particular, and also Rasual Butler. They just got too many good looks on offense.

One common pattern in the first three games has been that whoever's had the lead for most of the first three quarters has gone on to win, even though the other team has always come back to tie or even take the lead in the 4th. Whichever team has dictated the pace for most of the game has been able to re-establish that in the last 5-6 minutes. My faith in the Pistons' ability to win this series has dropped quite a bit, since their defensive effectiveness has never been in question up to this point, and now it is.

That was surprising last night. I fully expected the Pistons to take game 3. Not sure which I'd rather see,k Spurs-Pistons or Spurs-Heat. On the one hand, Spurs-Pistons would have the tension between Popovich and Brown being forced to play each other when they're close personal friends. On the other, that would be some ugly basketball. The Spurs don't do much to force the pace of the game, they'll play at the speed of their opponent. That's led to a highly entertaining series with Phoenix, although a shorter one than expected because the Spurs are so damn good at it. That said more time for Duncan to heal is a good thing. As for Spurs-Heat, well I just don't want to see Shaq in the finals. I can't stand the guy. He's smug, arrogant, and I can't for the life of me understand how he's gotten a free pass with the press all season to say whatever he wants about the Lakers and get away with it while Kobe stays silent and takes tons of flak for being selfish and unprofessional. Ah well, the Pistons lost game 3 to Indy to go down 2-1 there as well right?