Well, I hope Detroit knows that, though the entire city of LA is rooting for the Lakers, but the rest of the country is rooting for the Pistons. -- droxford
True. But this one might even be worse than the Laker/Sixer. 4-1 for that. This one might be a sweep.
The Pistons will probably have an easier time to score, because they showed a lot of ability to overcome the Pacers very, very good defense...The Pistons just had the edge in that regard, and they literally wore down the Pacers' young players...How will it affect the older Laker players? I think it will be one of the better finals in the last 5 years or so because the East really has a chance, and I think the run of the Lakers is showing wear and tear signaling the end...(which Ireally hope for.)
honestly how can anyone say that the pistons have an advantage over the lakers at any position? pg - payton isnt good anymore but chauncy billups is so inconsistent that it pretty much negates anytime he is good. i seriously cannot think of a more inconsistent player in the league that is supposed to be a leading scorer on that team. they can't depend on chauncy for 20 a night. combine payton with derek "never miss a 3 pointer when my team needs it" fisher and you have a tandem better than what the pistons put out there. sg - kobe is truly a great player. he simply makes everything look so easy. he gets to the line a ton, he is a great defender, he has great court vision, doesn't force the game because he doesn't have to. rip hamilton is the only source of consistent offense for the pistons and he played great last series. but he is nowhere near the player kobe is. sf - this is the closest match up out there and the pistons would win this one except tayshaun prince has been almost non-existent since the milwaukee series. i know this isnt a good way to look at things but if you see what prince has done the last 2 series he has pretty much been the same player as devean george. the pistons need prince to average 20 a game...the lakers don't need george's contribution. whatever he puts up is a bonus. pf - rasheed against malone is a wash in my opinion. i wonder how well rasheed will hold up when malone starts doing those bs cheap moves against him. rasheed and malone are about the same on offense with rebounding and scoring. rasheed is a better defender but malone is cooler and knows how to push people's buttons. plus malone is playing for something here. he went to LA to win a championship. the guy means business and he is one of the hardest workers ever in the NBA. it doesn't matter if you hate how he plays. he will do everything possible to make sure the lakers keep their energy up and dominate. i'd have to say either a push or advantage malone here. c - shaq is shaq. who on that pistons roster will match up with him? okur is the only guy who could actually pull shaq away from the basket on defense but dumbass brown refuses to play him. plus okur is a big body too on defense and he could provide some help there. shaq has been a more dominant defender in the playoffs and he is simply more dominant than ben wallace on defense even though he is a lazy b*stard. the main problem with the pistons is they lack a true center and that will be their biggest problem going against the best center in the league. and i hope none of you guys are buying into this stupid argument that rip will make kobe work on defense and wear him down. come on...kobe is a top defensive player in the league and when have you ever seen that guy tired or sucking wind? NEVER! plus kobe has about 30 extra pounds of muscle on him and can body up hamilton all he wants to. if the lakers play all out for 4 games this series will be over in 4 games. if they get lazy in a game like they tend to do then they might lose one in detroit. that's my assessment of the matchups and the series....lakers in 4.
Good analysis robbie. I'm also a bit pessimistic when it comes to this series. And this coming from someone who predicted that the Rockets was gonna win in the 1st round against the lakers.
Steve Franscis? If you only looking at the numbers. They don't need CB score 20 a night. So play defense doesn't count? Prince is a major reason why Detriot wins the Indiana series. They have a defensive center and a low post threat. Wallace and Wallace. And Williamson can come in occasionally for some low post offence. Remember the name Ron Artest?
To say francis is as inconsistent as billups is just silly in my opinion. chauncy will flat out disappear from games at times. francis will have bonehead games and poor shooting games but he is always doing something else with rebounding or giving assists or just hussling. but thats not the issue...the pistons need 20 a night from billups. i dunno how you can say they don't need it. they need scoring and their only consistent scorer has been rip and you aren't gonna get it done with only one consistent scorer. defense matter but the pistons need offense. they aren't gonna be able to beat the lakers shooting 37%. they shot 38% in their wins and 35.8% in losses. if they do that against the lakers then it will be a complete embarrassment. defense only goes so far when you have no offense. ok so ben wallace is a defensive center...so what? are you telling me he is gonna be able to defend shaq? he is giving up like 4 inches and 80 pounds. and rasheed...if you think he is a low post threat then fine, but i don't see guys who are jacking up a quarter of their shots from the 3 point line as consistent post up threats. williamson is also shooting just under 36% for the playoffs. yeah i remember him. i also remember he was nowhere near healthy. i was also making the point about how people are saying rip's offense will tire kobe down to the point where kobe's offensive game will be hurt. if you are saying artest is anywhere near the level of kobe as an offensive player then i'd certainly disagree. there is no way in hell that kobe will get worn down by rip.
I have never been less impressed with the NBA than I am right now. The Lakers....geez, this is a team that our 7th seed Rockets gave a good run to. I have not been impressed with the Lakers at all. I think they're vastly overrated. The Pistons -- this is a team that struggles to score 70 points in the playoffs. how bad is that??? I'm yawning. I could literally not care less about the NBA Finals. Sad, because I used to be a huge NBA fan, in general.
Yeah, but Mad Max, the Lakers have won 4 out of 5 years. Shaq and Kobe. The game may not be exciting, but it's only because we are in the middle of a dynasty. The Lakers are rivaling the beloved Bulls.
no they're not. who the hell are they beating?? it is quite evident watching the NBA today that it takes far less to win a championship than it once did. two good players and a cast of nobodies can get the job done. that wasn't always so.
Just to remind you, we lost 4-1 in that series. Is that a good 'run'? I don't think so. There are a TON of ex-NBA champs that won a lot of their series in close games, so a 'but we kept the games close' excuse wouldn't really be valid. A loss is a loss. And an ass-kicking is an ass kicking.
ok..they kicked our ass. they didn't..but i'll go with that. i'm still not impressed when i compare this team with champions of the past.
this is true. remember back in the 98 series the nets gave the bulls "a good run" in round one: translates to the bulls swept the nets in 3 games, but won by 3 points in overtime in game 1, five points in game 2, and 15 points in game three, an average margin of victory of ~7 points. "it was a good run"- just playing devils advocate. although one stat from this season's playoffs stood out. the media went crazy when Minnesota held LA Lakers to 71 points in their game 2 victory. well in our game 1 loss(the one that got away), we held LA to 72 points, not bad for first round fodder.
Anyone else catch Bernie Mac in the Pre-Game calling Malone out as a CHEAP PUNK and how he wouldn't take that mess! Boy my love for that man (B-Mac) just continues to grow!!
