While I don't think Detroit wins the game anyway, it was a real bad stretch of calls (block on Ben, and no call on next Manu drive when a Piston was out of the circle), took it like a 3 point deficit to 8. They were the same calls the Spurs were getting whether right or wrong, that is point. Consistency wasn't there. Still, I doubt the Pistons win even with those calls, see next point. Or Detroit simply didn't have energy after the 1st period and went in a major tailspin defensively and offensively after they pulled their starters. Prince always seemed low and w/o energy, Rip tried to shake of out it but missed shots he normally doesn't and stayed in a fog the whole game. The fact Detroit was the best rebounding team in the league (Spurs are 2nd or 3rd) and got out rebounded by 15 makes me thing energy had a lot to do with it. Game 2 will be much more telling about which of our theories are right-- A) Spurs adjusted 10 minutes into the series and the lanes that have not been consistently open to anyone else the last 2 years suddenly were there, OR simply Detroit had low energy and didn't play their kind of basketball, particularly defensively and crashing the boards, after their first focused 10 minutes by their starters).
I think that is accurate. Basketball is a game of momentum and the technical on Ben really turned the tide of the game over to SA. It had the opposite effect of what he wanted it to. Brown should have got the tech for the team, not Ben. I would look for game 2 to be extremely physical with a lot of attitude from Detroit and hard fouls. They will try to incite SA with some hard shots. I think they need to give some hard fouls so Manu and Parker think twice when coming in the paint.
I look for a tough game two too. Like I said if Detroit wins they have the upper hand in the series by a lot. If Spurs hold home court Pistons are in a world of hurt. My prediction is who wins game two will likely win the series.
Detroit looks like toast to me. Obviously I am shocked, but most surprising is Duncan hasn't even had to go off. Manu has been the MVP and the whole Spurs team is humming, the Pistons look like a beaten down dog. Like I said, I survived the NBA dark years with Jordan, I can survive this.
27 points on eight shot attempts for Ginobili. That's incredible, incredible efficiency. I know I'll catch some heat for this, but I love watching Bruce Bowen play. In addition to the skill and hustle he gives on the defensive end, he's proof that subpar offensive talents can be passable if they learn how to play smart. He knew the Pistons would focus on Ginobili and force the ball to him. But he knows exactly how much space to give Ginobili and exactly when to move out to that corner so that the Pistons don't have time to adjust and move to him. He's also not afraid to fake the three and take it inside and force the defense to collapse again. He's still a bad, bad offensive talent, but I like seeing players who can compensate for that with a high IQ. Also, did anyone catch Darko airballing that 5-foot hook shot?
These Pistons aren't playing like last year Pistons. Granted, the Spurs are better than last years Lakers but something is wrong with Detroit. They are missing a spark. The Pistons should be ashamed that after losing Game 1, it was the Spurs that came out energetic and hustling in Game 2. I expected Detroit's best punch tonight but they looked disinterested & whiney from the opening tipoff. I hope it reflects on Larry Brown and he gets blamed.
The only reason LA beat the Spurs last year was because after game two Malone was allowed to mug Duncan in the paint and Parker was allowed to get hammered by everyone in purple an gold when he drove the lane. That series was the only time in all the years that Duncan and Malone played each other that Duncan didn't completely own Malone and if you don't believe it since Duncan joined the Spurs, while Malone played for them, Utah never beat SA even once. LA was the faux WC champ last year.
Gotta agree with you the Pistons just don't have that fire they had last year. Last year when they dismanteled the Lakers they were passing the ball, slashing, finding the open man. Now they are playing one on one basketball. Larry Brown is being completely outcoached and what is up with Ben?
Last year Detroit was able to take people by surprise. They don't have that going for them this year.
You all have some interesting points. But I think looking at this analytically and trying to discover why the Spurs have such an edge over the Pistons there can only really be one answer. Hakeem visited the Spurs locker room before game 1 to wish them luck. They have former championship Rocket Robert Horry on their team. The Pistons were not wished luck by Hakeem, and don't have a championship Rocket on their team. Any analysis needes to factor in these important points.
I think the Spurs will win ultimately, but it seems like too many people are already counting Detroit out. All the Spurs have done is protect homecourt. It'll be a different series when they go to Detroit.
I can see Detroit pulling out 2 of 3 at home. They play really well at home and their home court crowd is one of the best. But to get a hat trick at home? I don't know. All I know is: the PIstons have got to stop whining. It's just not watchable basketball.
Billups and Prince have been the biggest disappointments and Parker has been the biggest surprise to me. Parker is playing very touch D, especially when Billups attempts to back him down. Prince should be dominating his matchup since Bowen is running around on RIP. And Billups should be dominating Parker with his size and strength. I look for Detroit to bounce back strong at home but I think now that it is highly likely that SA will eek one out up there and come home and finish them off. Watch the officiating turn to favor the Pistons at home. All the calls that were going against them, and all the non-calls will be in their favor and Pops will be barking about the officiating. I thought Brown played it very cool last night but it was obvious that he was upset about the foul calls. He kept making little comments about the Spurs shooting way more 3 point shots, but somehow they still had way more free throws than Detroit. I can't stand the incosistencies of NBA officiating.
Could it be that the Spurs have something to do with putting out that fire? Could it be that Richard Hamilton et al are not being as productive because they are facing a defensive team with equal or superior talent? Don't be afraid to give the Spurs credit for Detroit's ailments. This may change, but so far it looks like Detroit is whining about being played the same way they play other teams.
Billups dissapointing? He is the only one playing well for Detroit. The officiating throughout the playoffs has been horrible to saqy the least. It seems like it gets worse and worse each year. One minute they are calling ticky tack fouls, the next minute some guy is getting mugged and there is no call.
OK, Striker just exposed a lot about being a Spurs homer. I admit I don't like them at all, but I know where you are coming from too. Nothing Malone did was any more egregious than anything Bowen was allowed to do on Kobe all the time. The Lakers won that series fair and square. You can say it was a close series, and who knows if Fisher's miracle shot had not dropped (albeit after Duncan's miracle shot that seemed to steal the game for the Spurs which seems to be more often forgotten), maybe the result would have been different. But this was no different than 2 years ago (2002), had Horry's wide open game 5 three gone down--that he always seems to hit--the Spurs might be sitting on 1 ring right now (Lakers would have been up 3-2 with 2 chances to clinch). One thing similar both years, despite the last shot deciding games 5s in both series, when it came to winning game 6 when the down team had to, the Lakers in 02 and Spurs in 04 were very much handled, and to me clearly showed who was the better team.
Homer? Well for sure I'm a SPurs fan, but ... there was one move in particularly used repeatedly by Malone and even commented on by Fratello and Barkley. Whenever Duncan could establish post position and go up for a shot Malone would move into his body pushing Duncan two three feet away from the basket just as he was taking the shot, sometimes using the guise that he was beginning to run up court. Duncans shot was inevitably falling short off the rim. Duncan complain but refs never stopped it. It basicly took Duncan out of the offense, particualrly late in the game. I don't know that Spurs would have gotten past the Wolves, certainly with a healthy Cassell who gave Parker fits. If they had I think they would have had a harder time against Detroit than they're having so far. But I think they got screwed against LA. You think that's a homer take, fine. That's the once in a lifetime though that Duncan didn't totally own and abuse Malone. Don't belive me look up the matchups.
There may be some truth to this. I think there is some truth to this too. Making Marion, Q, Prince, Rip and Ben dissappear, maybe the Spurs defense (including blocking out ability) is more demoralizing than we thought. One thing odd to me is Seattle game the Spurs all they could handle, 1 shot away from a game 7. Phx & Det are way better than Seattle, but they sure havn't looked like it. I don't know if Det is just playing crappier than the Sonics, or the Spurs are playing better. But something is going on. I think home court is overrated late in the playoffs, an intense playoff game is a intense playoff game. The bottom line is Detroit is in a 2-0 hole, and few teams get out of such holes. I don't think they need to win the next 3 to win the series (right now I am sure Brown/Det would be happy with coming back to SA needing to win 2 to win the series), but right now I am doubtfull they can get 2 of 3. Right now the Spurs are playing so much better and getting so much better shots it doesn't matter where they play.
