Well the time has come. The matchup most people expected to see, and anticipated, begins tonight. The Boston Celtics, and Detroit Pistons do battle in one of the NBa’s most storied rivalries. Vegas has the Celtics winning in seven games. If I had to make a prediction at this very moment, I’d say Pistons in seven. I see no reason why they can’t get the job done, that is if the Pistons play up to their competition. The switch is right in front of them, if they chose to flip it and play like the NBA title contenders they are. The Piston’s bench must play better, similar to the way they did at the beginning of the regular season. It’s no secret that Boston’s big three are the best three players on the floor (although Ray Allen against Rip is debatable) so the Pistons deeper roster needs ot show up big. Rasheed Wallace is key as well. Garnett is a more consistent player by a long shot, but Sheed matches up with him well defensively, and posseses most of Garnett’s offensive skills, if he choses to use them. Neutralize Garnett’s advantage in this matchup is key for the Pistons success. Chauncey Billups should carve up Rajon Rhondo if he can keep the pace more to the Piston’s liking. However, if Rhondo can use his superior speed to run up and down the court, the Pistons may struggle. Either way, 8:30 on TNT. All fans of good basketball should enjoy this one
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Great teams put a lesser team on the chopping block. Great teams have a killer instinct that beats their opponents when they are down. Judging from the performance the Pistons put on last night, they have yet to show signs of being a great team. With a chance to go up 3 game to 0 against the Magic, the Pistons got slapped around for the majority of the 48 minutes, and folded in the final quarter, just when they had cut the deficit to only three points. So the Pistons could, and probably still will, win the series against the Magic, leading 2 games to 1. But a great team would be geared up for a sweep heading into Saturday night, and a chance to get some much needed rest in preparation for Boston Celtics. Instead, the Magic can even up the series at home, with the possibility that Chauncey Billups may not even play. This is the fate of a very good team, not great one.
Ok so the Pistons tied the series up with the 76ers at two games a peace. Am i supposed to be happy about that? Happy that the Pistons got beat by 20 points, and missed 17 straight shots? Happy that just like the last couple years, the Pistons have looked apathetic, and disinterested? Nope sorry, I’m not that happy. What would make me happy is if the team with the second best record in the NBA during the regular season, would decide to take every opponent they play seriously. I would love to see that. Can the Pistons play with hte Celtics? Yes. Can they play with any team out west? Yes. will they give themselves a chance to prove it? Not unless the team brings anything less then their A game, or maybe their B game, any game that would get me a passing grade in Algebra at least. If the Pistons make it out of this first round series (yea I said if) then hopefully the adversity will be good for them. Maybe it will take a nice kick in the teeth by a far inferior team to wake them up to the reality that THIS IS THE PLAYOFFS!. Here’s to hopin.
Not a good way to kick off the playoffs for the Pistons. Shockingly the team decided to lay a big fat pile of stink on the palace floor, losing to their first round opponents the Philadelphia 76ers in game one. T Pistons blew a early fifteen point lead by basically missing every shot they needed to make. Who would have thought Reggine Evans would come come up more clutch then Mr Big Shot Chauncey Billups at the free throw line? Not I, but Chauncey ended up missing three straight from the line, despite being second in FT% on the season. It would be an understatement of enormous proportions to say that the Pistons didn’t show up to play On Sunday Night. If they don’t come up with a good ole fashion but whooping Wednesday night, we will be seeing a all too familiar sight. Early vacation.
Get it right boys!!!
Just a quick note that the playoffs are just around the corner. It looks as though the Pistons will be in a pretty good position because Boston and Cleven may end up duking it out against eachother before roling into Motown. It always pays to be extra causious though, since the last couple years looked like a clear path to the NBA finals, but didn’t turn out that way for the Pistons. At least the first round shouldn’t be much of a problem. The Pistons dispatched of the Raptors on Sunday, showing that Toronto matched up well with them, but not quite well enough. On a humerous side note, I always enjoy watching Carlos Delfino jack up three pointers and not even coming close to the rim. Man do we miss that guy on our team?
The answer is no we don’t!
Since the Pistons have enjoyed elite status, the last month of the regular season has become quite enjoyable for me. This year is certainly no exception. With the Pistons pretty much guaranteed the second seed in the Eastern Conference, it gives the team a chance to rest starters for the upcoming playoff run. This means ample playing time for the young bench players. Tuesday Night, Rasheed Wallace, Rip Hamilton, and Chauncey Billups, all sat out the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves At first it seemed that the Pistons Bench could not hold their own playing against an equally young Minnesota Timberwolve starting core. The team fell behind by 22 points in the first half, being dominated in every facet of the game. A late run however, cut the gap going into the third quarter, giving the Pistons a chance. This is all they would need as they pulled out a very gratifying, and encouraging 90 to 88 victory. Rodney Stuckey set himself apart, scoring a career high 27 points, and shooting 6 of 12 from the field. He did so in a variety of different ways, capitalizing on his ability to get to the basket and either convert, or draw a foul. Stuckey also showed vast improvement in his jumpshot, inching him closer it would seem to becoming a complete point guard. Although not putting up numbers that jump off the stat sheet, Amir Johnson also played well, scoring five points, and grabbing three offensive rebounds in 20 minutes. Not only did this game provide rest that hopefully will hope valuable for the Piston starters, it also demonstrated, at least for one one game, that the Pistons have more weapons in their arsenal then a power starting five. All in all, this game was a blast to watch. Basketball at its finest.
Last nights overtime win against the Phoenix Suns was satisfying in every sense of the word. The Pistons snapped a ugly two game skid where they performaed subpar at best against the Cavs and Wizards. Besides the win, other bright spots aren’t too hard to find. Rodney Stuckey finally showed some improvement in his jump shot, and better judgement going to the rack. Chauncey Billups said after the game that this was by far Stuckey’s best game. Not that my opinion matters all that much (except on here of course right?) but I tend to agree with Billups on that one. Stuckey showed glimpses of the complete player he can most definately become in the NBA. It was exciting to watch. The win also was impressive because the Suns were on a hot streak (pun intended). They had one seven straight, finally showing the chemistry they needed to show after making the deal for Shaq. The game wen’t back and forth all night, but key defensive stops were the difference in this one. The Pistons made the, the Suns did not. Even with the absence of Rip Hamilton, the Pistons also were able to keep up with Phoenex offensively. When the Pistoms play like a complete team, these are the kind of performance they are capable of. Let’s hope games like these are not few and far between come playoff time.
P.S. I apologize again for the long delay between post. But hey, it builds suspense right?
Sunday at 1 p.m. the Pistons face the New Orleans Hornets and Chris Paul. Chauncey Billups against one of the top three point guards in the NBA and a legit MVP canidate this season. The contrasting styles (Paul’s run and gun tempo, against the more methodical, shoot first Billups) should make for a intriqing match up. Piston fans sit back relax and tune into ABC for this one. A more detailed breakdown of what goes down after the final whistle will soon follow.
Until then I bid you adeu
G
The Pistons got beat by the Boston Celtics 90 to 78 on Wednesday night. Prior to the matchup, radio personalities from The Sports Inferno, discussed whether the game really mattered in the grand scheme of things. Well, according to how NBA writers from ESPN.com reacted to the outcome of the game.
It mattered.
Questions arose about whether the Celtics were “hungrier,” then the Pistons, and remiders were made of how the Pistons have let up on their opponents when it counted. To be honest, I am annoyed by how every bad perforamnce by the Pistons against another elite team, is seen as nothing more then a sign of the team’s lack of desire to win. The Pistons played terrible on Wednesday, they only scored 13 points in the first quarter, and after making it close early in the fourth, finished equally as poor as they started. Does this mean however, that the Pistons are merely going through the motions and on their way to another premature playoff exit? No, of course not! The Pistons should be held accountable for their past mistakes. They had no business being beaten four straight games by the Cavs in 07, nor were they they ready to play against the Heat in 06. But these mistakes should not be c0nsidered the sole reason for every bad game the team plays down the stretch. Let the Pistons prove the skeptics right, 0r wrong, come playoff time. Until then, each game should be judged as one 48 minute performance, not an omen for the future.
Prior to tip off of the Detroit Pistons, Phoenix Suns game, all the hoopla surrounded Shaq, and how he said that this was the best team he has ever played on. Well, I hope he does not plan to use Sunday’s performance as a reference point.
The Pistons beat the the Suns 116 to 86. For those of you with rusty math skills, that is a 30 point difference. With Shaq in the middle, these Suns looked nothing like the run and gun experts from the West that NBA fans are so used to seeing. Yes it was only one game, however, it does not take a biblical prophet to see that the acquisiiton of the Diesel could cause problems. Even in an undersized NBA, the center position is crucial to a teams success. It is certainly no secret that Shaq is well, slow, really slow, Chris Webber slow in fact. For the Phoenix Suns to think they could maintain a lightning quick style of play, and have Shaq be a vocal point in the offense, is foolish. When the team traded Shawn Marion for Shaquile Oneal, they also acquired a halfcourt offense, like it or not. This is not to say Phoenix cannot run at all, but Steve Nash must learn to slow things down significantly. With the lack of shooters on the Sun’s roster, a slower tempo could be an issue. However, this is a risk the team had to take. The payoff? Improved rebounding, defense, and hopefully, a reinvigorated Shaquile Oneal leading them to the NBA Finals. Also, now Amare Stoudamire can finally play power forward, his natural position. Their are risks involved, however Steve Nash certainly has the ability to change the tempo enough to take advantage of a much improved front line. Shaq’s best team?
We will see come June.
