I think Detroit's issue -- and has been throughout these playoffs so far -- is that they're playing with absolutely no sense of urgency, zero energy, just very complacent for whatever reason. Big Ben needs to take control of this team and whip them into shape QUICK, or else a few heads will be chopped off in Detroit. Flip Saunders 'softened' Detroit, I never thought much of him to begin with, but now I think even less of him. Detroit needs to fire Saunders next season and bring in a fiery, defensive-minded coach that will give the Pistons back their edge and not let them relax.
Was it the same thread I started a few months ago where you said this? I also said the Pistons weren't as scary to me as the two previous years despite their incredible start. I saw the Wizards storm back on them in the 4th quarter in Detroit to win and a couple of games later LeBron went off on them in Cleveland. Sure, as someone pointed out, those two games biased my opinion but they also illustrated these Pistons are missing something. Larry Brown had them at a higher level of execution than Flip does now. LB's constant complaining and insistence they could always do things better kept them on edge. Clearly that edge is gone. This series reminds of 2 scenarios. #1 is the Suns vs. Lakers in round 1. The Pistons will snap out of it, focus and win games 6 & 7 because they are the better team. LeBron is great but I still believe the series is the Pistons to lose. #2 is the Bulls vs. Lakers in 1991. Magic led James Worthy, Byron Scott and the Lakers while MJ and young pups Pippen & Horace Grant led the Bulls. When the Lakers won game 1, seems like everyone assumed they would take the series and championship #4 for Magic. When it went back to LA for games 2-4, Laker fans were saying they wouldn't be going back to Chicago. They were right for the wrong reason. A new world (er NBA) order was established very suddenly. I want the Cavs to win badly, but the Pistons are so talented and the Cavs are so weak after LeBron I still give the edge to Detroit. But if the Cavs keep playing tough defense anything can happen. tigermission1, if all of this is Flip's fault, use your 20/20 hindsight and tell me who the Pistons should have hired as coach. Anyone else's suggestions are welcomed too. After 2 years of LB, it's hard for any coach to come in and not seem "soft". I don't know if the Pistons players could have taken another year of that kind of "over the top" coaching.
didn't realize a thread was already made for this. does anyone think the game was rigged to a certain extent? like c'mon, all the cavs have is lebron. hughes didn't even play and ilgaukas is an o.k. center. and yet they beat the pistons on their home court?
That's just silly. I understand that Lebron James is probably the biggest commodity in the NBA, but I think the NBA has proved time and time again that they don't rig games. If they did, a small market team like San Antonio couldn't be a perrenial powerhouse with three trophies on display. Also, Hakeem never would have won a championship because the league would have rather seen a more marketable guy like Charles Barkley or Shaq and Penny win it all. For sure New York would've beaten the Rockets in the 94 Finals if the NBA was in the business of rigging games. NY is a much bigger market and everybody makes more money if they win. I could go on and on about all the examples that prove this is a preposterous idea, but I'm going to stop now and go to bed.
I agree, there are other non-game examples as well How about Yao and LeBron both getting drafted by small market teams? Or Yao losing ROY to Amare? Or Steve Nash winning MVP instead of LeBron? I think it's about time to stop talking about how everything is rigged.
So every time a big star wins a game, it's a conspiracy, right? Kobe won all his games because the league was dying for him to win, right?
Guarantee has his ass tied to the bench for crunch time, Mr. Big Shot fouled out with 2:50 remaining, and the 2nd team all NBA center missed two clutch FT's for a total of 0/7 from the FT line. I can't stand the Pistons and their arrogance (especially Ben Wallace) and hope that the Cavs can put them away on Friday.
Detroit will win the series, for them this is a joke, they havn't even gotten into 6th gear (which they do have )
If the Pistons go on to win the series despite this setback, I think it would have all been a blessing in disguise. It would have forced the Pistons to shift into another gear and they will be mentally prepared for the rest of the playoffs, I would expect no more letdowns from them. May be this is the kick in the butt they needed all along, maybe it had to come this way because Flip Saunders' puppy voice/demeaner couldn't provide them with what they needed. This Detroit team strives on being pushed and hollered at, that's just the overall character of their team. They're a bunch of 'tough guys' and they need a tougher guy to scream in their ears all day long, not someone to cuddle them.
I'm glad the Cavs won...Detriot is really on the ropes now and honestly, not sure if they can come back...
game two was telling in this series when the pistons won but they had to hold on. they aren't a young team, they aren't old either but i think they were up and down towards the end of the season because they just didn't hold up. these teams that go a few years in the Finals, they get worn down. it really puts into perspective how good jordan's bulls and russell's celtics were that they had such long extended runs. its not the talent that's hard to keep up, its the stamina.
Yeah, I wasn't the only who said that... The Pistons needed a heavy defense mentality, Rick Carlisle and Larry Brown gave that to them, Flip gave them a great offense that made the look a lot better than they really were offensively. They then forgot how to win with defense, they won a championship and got to a game seven in the finals through the strength of their defense. They're not that talented, I mean can any of their players go one on one? Chauncey is a good one on one player, Rasheed can be when he's playing tough in the low post not out in the perimeter, but Rip and Teyshaun are horrible at going one on one unless they have a physical advantage, and we won't even talk about Ben Wallace. That's another thing, they can't win going one on one, they need to pass the ball and find open shots, they've been trying to go one on one these past two games and down the stretch they've failed miserably. The Cavs are good after Lebron too, with Z, Varejo, Gooden, Snow, Flip, Jones, and Hughes when he comes back, that's a talented group of players, it's just that Lebron is so good they look bad by comparison. The worst thing about this for the Pistons is that those guys are busting their ass even though the Cavs sometimes employ an all Lebron all the time offense. Lebron must be an awesome teammate/friend for them to be playing so well in limited opportunities even though Lebron is getting all the credit.
I hadn't been paying much attention to this series until now. I'd assumed Detroit would roll the Cavs. But, I'm psyched now that the Cavs are up. Detroit was a great Cinderella team when they beat the Lakers for the championship. Now, they're just annoying. And I like the Cavs (despite the Lebron hype which may later become unbearable), so it'd be cool for them to knock off the Pistons. And, I wouldn't say the Cavs are very untalented compared to Detroit. I think, since their championship, the Pistons' players have been overestimated -- that the industry's tendency to make a star out of anyone with success has made these guys out to be something they're not. They're good basketball players who play hard and play as a team. They want us to think it's some sort of All-Star cast, but it's not. Trade any individual Piston to Milwaukee and he'll be a good player, but pretty pedestrian.
Watching this series, I've come to hate Rip Hamilton. His idea of defense is either reaching in or flopping (anyone see that dive he took trying to draw a foul on LeBron? Absolutely ridiculous, he fell like 2 seconds after initial contact). The Pistons aren't looking to win; they're looking at the refs to bail them out. There is NO excuse for not getting a final shot off...and Rip was obviously trying to bait the refs into bailing him out with that weak attempt at drawing a foul...On offense he tries to initiate contact and come out looking innocent. Pathetic. I hope the Cavs win this series; I'm tired of hearing how great a team the Pistons are.
