have to go with the Pistons, since they did beat Miami, which made me a happy camper, and because I simply dont want SA to have more titles than us.
I don't have too much confidence in the Spurs "killer instint", that's why I think Detroit will pull it out. Manu haters rejoice to the fact that all he did this year was lead his team to a Gold Medal and help the Spurs make the Finals.
even though i don't like either, i would rather detroit validate their first title and hear that "team play" garbage for another year than see SA add to their titles. plus, like Dave2000 said, they did just beat miami so that kinda endears them to me. but SA better keep duncan in a bubble or something. detroit is dangerous. kidd got injured when he played them last year, jermaine o'neal got injured against them last year, karla went down for the finals, artest missed the series this year (okay that's a stretch), and now wade misses game 6 and is limited in game 7 this year due to a rib injury. duncan's ankle is already shaky so they better watch out and hope the tim duncan voodoo doll hasn't been completed yet.
I think San Antonio will be killed by Billups if they intend on having Parker on the floor for long stretches. Realistically, they would bring in Barry and maybe put Bowen or Manu on Billups and the other on Rip while Barry defends Prince. Nazr Mohammed should be able to do a better job on 'Sheed then Haslem but that ain't saying much. Now I'm thinking this series will drag out to an agonizing 7 games
San Antonio has not had to play a team with the physical defense of a Detroit or the inside presence of the Wallace x 2. Throw in McDyess, fast quick atheltic guards who are both tall enough and quick enough to defend Manu & Parker, as well as score on their own - guys like Rip, Billups, Prince - that's a 3 to 2 advantage....one quickly realizes that SA is overmatched. SA has been feasting on soft teams (Dallas, Phoxnix, Memphis), and now they are about to hit a brick wall. Detroit takes it in 6.
This thing is going to be ugly. Detroit's major mismatch is obviously Billups against Parker. That one might actually go both ways unless Billups can keep Parker in front of him. SA might put Manu on Billups and have Parker chase Rip around, though he would have a huge height advantage. Spurs have the best player, but the Pistons have the best combo to try to contain Duncan. Will Duncan be able to draw a consistent double team? Should also be interesting to see if Prince can limit Manu's penetration. Another question is will Bowen guard Rip, Billups, or Prince. Can he defend Prince on the block? Spurs have the more versatile and consistent offense. Their defenses are pretty much a wash I think. I think the Spurs have more shooters coming off the bench. I'm expecting a lot of stay at home D in this series, so the team that hits the few open 3's that are available will win. I think the Spurs will end up winning it in 7. The homecourt could be the deciding factor. The series against the Sonics could be good preparation because Allen and Rip have somewhat similar styles, and the Sonics have a lot of big, physical big men like Detroit.
SA has matchup problems on the perimeter. Billups is too strong for Parker and too quick for Bowen and Manu. They will move Bowen around on whoever is hot, Chauncey, Rip, or Prince, but whomever Parker is left to guard is still a mismatch. Barry isn't going to do much this series because Detroit has the defensive answer for him. The only place he can realistically play is at the 2, and if he is playing the 2, then Manu is on the bench or playing the 3. Duncan is going to get worn down because he has to play too many minutes. Rasho or their other big man off the bench???? Total joke. SA has nothing down low outside of Duncan. Nazr gives them a few boards and a couple buckets but that's about it. And Rasheed and Ben are going to give Duncan everything he wants. Rasheed and Ben are 2 of the best matchups in the whole league against Duncan, and they'll both be in the game. Detroit in 6.
When faced with the choice of rooting for a Texas team or one from another state, I always go for Lone Star State teams -- even the little agricultural and mechanical ones.
Man, this is a tough, tough one, because both teams are soooo similar in style and the way they built their teams. That's why I am so excited about the finals this year, it will be a war. If I HAD to make a pick, based on nothing more than a wild guess (since both teams are very close to the same level that I just can't find one specific area that one team is better than the other in), then I would have to say San Antonio. The matchups will be interesting though: Parker vs. Billups - advantage Detroit Geno vs. Rip - draw Prince vs. Bruce - Detroit on offense has advantage Duncan vs. Wallace - Back with the Blazers, Wallace actually once outplayed (I thought) Duncan, but this time I think Duncan will have the last laugh. But great matchup nevertheless. Mohamed vs. Ben - draw; Mohamed better on offense, Ben better on defense. I think this is the key matchup, whomever plays better will likely help his team win the series; the "X" factor if you will. Bench - advantage San Antonio; Horry, Barry, Glenn Robinson, better bench I think. But Detroit has good bench too.
Why all the gloom? There are some interesting matchups in this series. I think it will be fun to watch. Should be close, will probably go seven. Many of you dislike the Spurs players, but I like them as a group. They play well together and will likely win the series. I agree with Billups, the two best teams in the NBA are playing each other. How can that be bad? And who said that the Spurs have only played a bunch of soft teams in the playoffs? Huh?
lol, they didn't even play 2 of those 3. the seattle and denver series were both plenty physical. neither of those have the overall team defense of the pistons nor as much defensive quality as the wallace boys (just thugs like fortson and james and nene) but SA has played physical teams and beaten them. and a fastbreak team and beaten them. i think the wallaces are as much of a problem for duncan as any two guys in the league (especially sheed) and prince may be able to slow manu, but i just don't know if detroit will have the offense. they went into droughts against miami and miami is not the defensive team SA is. i just think SA's offense is too much better than detroit's to offset whatever small advantage detroit might have defensively. the one thing detroit would seem to have working for it is that the matchups seem to work out better for detroit than SA but SA is just too complete, too disciplined, and too versatile with too much depth to be beat, imo. some of the responses in this thread act like SA is undertalented or that detroit just whiped the floor with miami instead of barely beating them.
Yeah, well, you know what I mean. I am curious to see how Manu & Parker do against the Pistons D. With Seattle hurting, and Denver just not being good enough, I think SA hasn't been tested with tough Defense. To be sure, the winner of the series could be considered the best team thus far this millenium. Both of these teams have knocked off Phil's Lakers, both have knocked off the two other teams expected to make noise in the post-season.
I really hope Detroit wins. I can't stand the thought of having less titles than San Antonio (no matter how short a period that may be now that we have T-Mac and Yao).
The ONLY reason I'm going to chear for the Pistons is because I really like PRINCE.. I hate hardcore Piston fans, but I have a man crush on Tayshaun Prince.. so, go Pistons?!?!
