You can't say last year's pistons team was underrated nor underachievers. They had the best starting five team in the league. As for Brown being a great coach that helped them get the ring, this is more about how well Carlisle molded that team more than anything else. He was the one that got them to play the stifling D that they continue to play today. No one can say that Carlisle couldn't have easily coached the Pistons team last year to the Finals and win. He had back to back 50 win seasons BEFORE Prince and his rise and BEFORE Sheed got there. I think Detroit has a great team, but they are brainwashed/depending too much on Brown to get them playing at a high level game (i.e. he has to put clamps down before they can do anything good). Basically, Brown got a good team when he got there, and at the end with Prince's rise and the acquisition of Wallace, he ended up with the best team in the league. Great team? Absolutely. Great coach? Don't know.
Kobe was an established superstar? Ben Wallace, MVP canidate, DPOY Ben Wallace was not an established superstar? Brown won his championship with a team that made it to the ECFs the year before he arrived and then added one of the best PFs in the league. The Bulls or Lakers never made it that far in the playoffs (???) before Phil Jackson arrived and they didn't add said PF. Still, he should get a lot of credit for what the Pistons did to the Lakers, he had great players, so what? Winning a championship is the hardest thing to do in the NBA, you need great players just like you need great coaching. That's why all this taking away credit to give it to someone else is pointless. If you get someone that is a huge Phil Jackson fan, another that is a huge Shaq fan, another that is a huge Jordan fan, one for Pippen, one for Kobe, one for Brown, one for Ben and Rasheed Wallace and put them all in a room to argue why those teams won championships, in the end you'll get to a point where NOBODY is great! CRAZY!
Wow, D. Wade's offense is no match for Pistons' defense. He is playing like a rookie out there. Shaq looked sharp in the beginning. But he got completely wore out during the process and Ben Wallace played huge in the fourth QT. No wonder ppl put him before Yao in the all NBA team. Pistons will win the series, 4-1 is my prediction.
I surely don't call myself a Pistons fan...but I have already said that there is no doubt in my mind that they are about to repeat. I think Miami will win 2 games AT MOST...and they'll be lucky if they do that. The finals will be much tougher this year though, whether they are playing Pheonix or San Antonio. As far as comparing Phil to Larry Brown...I look at Jackson as a better coach for superstars, and Brown as a better team/basketball in general coach. Jackson knows how to get the most out of his superstars, which leads him to winning. Brown knows how to get his team to play their best as a unit, which allows him to win. They've both had great teams on paper, just as any great coach has to have to win.
Game 1 was like deja-vu. Shaq dunks on Ben a few times, his running mate struggles, Shaq doesn't really do much outside of dunking, his team gets outrebounded, and he loses. Sheed represents! 20-10-3! Wade has to turn it around for the Heat to succeed, no more Kobe-esque games. Lucky for him he won't get the hate that Kobe got if he doesn't turn it around.
Talking about overrated, I think this Miami team is overrated. Despite its record, how many quality wins did it get in the season? Look at how Sheed has transformed, you have to respect what a tremendous coaching job Larry Brown has done in Detroit.
wnes, do you remember the 2000 Portland LA series? Sheed DOMINATED those guys, resting him in the fourth quarter of that game 7 equalled game over, no championship. What about some North Carolina stuff? Dominating #1 pick Joe Smith? Sheed has always been a great player who was wrongly perceived as a horrible teammate and "what's wrong with the NBA". He goes with Larry Brown and he changed him? Not true. Fact of the matter was that he never needed to be changed, he was always one of the best, most unselfish teammates and players to coach in the NBA and college. Just ask Mike Dunleavy or Dean Smith who probably highly recommended him to former Tar Heel Larry Brown, ask Jermain O'neal. That said, Larry Brown has done a nice job of controlling his emotions, unlike his days in Portland his outbursts are mostly positive. No more leading the league in technical fouls! The Heat aren't overrated though, it's just one game. As long as Wade bounces back the Heat won't look bad, he has at least 3 great games and they could easily win the series.
Yeah, I do. Especially that game 7 in which Lakers had a miraculous run down 15 to start the 4th. Agree. I like Sheed. Even during those times when he acted "outrageously" on the court, he is never a dirty player. That itself is no small feat. Heheh, we'll see.
When everyone knew that Portland was going to trade him, man I was hoping the rockets were going to make a run for him. I really thought he would of been the ideal PF for the Rockets. Good overall game inside and out.
Look at the game stats, Pistons only commited a grand total 12 personal fouls. This is how a truly great defensive team play - tough team defense but very few, if any, unnecessary, silly fouls. I think Van Gundy could take a page or two out of Larry Brown's playbook.
One thing Wade has going for him is that the Heat understand that they have to get him going to be successful, they will make the game easier for him.
it doesn't hurt to have Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince either. Honestly, if Wade can think of ways to overcome even some of Detroit's D, Miami will have a chance. AND these guys need to go to Shaq early in the 4th. The man barely had any touches. Granted he's injured, but they'll swarm him regardless. If Wade don't bounce back quick and find a way to get to the rim and if they don't pass to Shaq, this series ain't going further than 5 games.
I guess this is the official ECFs thread. This is a MUST WIN for the Heat, not impossible to come back but very improbable, I think Shaq will lose his mind if he loses to Detroit. Don't think he has wanted anything more than this year's championship, and he hasn't had this much riding on any playoff series before. A ring would prove the Lakers wrong and basically assure him of an extension, a loss and the Lakers are vindicated at least a little bit, his extension is in doubt, and he probably has to move on to another team before his career is over. Wouldn't be surprised to see him do everything in his power to get Wade back on his game, but he's complaining about not getting the ball enough yet again, so who knows. Larry Brown is probably hoping he gets the ball more and Wade keeps struggling though. He has to understand that no amount of dunks will beat the Pistons, they have to be beat at their own game (defense and rebounding), and Wade has to be the best player on the court. On the Pistons, I don't see Rasheed having that good of a game again, but I also don't see their back court struggle as much as they did for most of the game outside of the fourth quarter. They play on offense like they did the previous game and they should be fine there anyway. Since Shaq is still worried about scoring first the Wallaces and McDyess should have another outstanding game rebounding the ball. They'll do more of the same against Wade, but they should probably make him give the ball up more with traps because the guy will be ready to break out. Other than that, defensively they have to keep Eddie Jones in check, he's been in a zone during these playoffs (even hit a game winner) and he can be the difference if they're not careful with him. 92-88... Probably Heat this time.
The Heat played excellent defense, they rebounded a lot better, and Wade was the best player on the court. Rinse and repeat. Why the hell do we have to wait till Sunday to see game 3?! This series just turned into a great series. Now I feel bad for Shaq, the guy can't even jump but he still played his ass off, this series ain't even close if he's that motivated and healthy. 10 rebounds and two blocks while getting off the floor maybe a grand TOTAL of 12 inches all night long and basically dragging his leg up and down the floor for 34 minutes. And ZO? Who's that big Zo fan here? I think it's Rivaldo, he can't be any more proud of him right now, winning the game on defense about as well as Wade won it with his offense. Again, it sucks that we have to wait till Sunday night for game 3. Oh well...
please tell me, was it dumb of Wade to get a rebound with 4 secs to go, then dunk it on the other side? or im i just reading the play by play wrong?
Not to be nit-picky (and not that it matters now), and I have always been a Zo fan...but must he swat every blocked shot into the 3rd row? That last block on Hamilton it looked like he easily could've just tapped the ball and grabbed it so the Heat could've kept possession. I know he's playing with a lot of intensity and emotion, but you have to control it enough to know when to use your head. If Miami recovers on that block, the game is sealed. Wade probably put on a top 3 playoff performance of this postseason so far...right in there with Nash and Mcgrady's game 2 (yes I am biased ). He's gotta keep it up for Miami to have a shot. I'm still taking Detroit though. If Rasheed force that 3 at 87-82 Detroit could've pulled it to a 3 point game. I think Sheed just got a little out of control tonight and it hurt the Pistons.
