Originally posted by Myth
This game was all Spurs again. Detroit better pick things up at home if they want to come back. At this rate, it seems that Duncan is being overlooked by the press because what he does is expected. It seems that people want Manu to be MVP because he is more exciting.
It just goes to show how great Duncan is when he can put up those numbers and its just another day at the office. Ginobli is unstoppable at the moment, i cant believe this is the same Pistons team that destroyed the Lakers last year. They actually looked more like the Lakers in this series with all their one-on-one bullshit. One of the Pistons greatest strengths is that they move the ball and find the best shot, the Spurs have completely taken them out of that game and have them trying to beat them off the dribble.
As bad as the Pistons have played so far you cant say enough about the Spurs, they are playing some serious ball. I wish my Lakers could move the ball like them, its a joy to behold when a team is that unselfish.
The Pistons arnt playing smart at the moment. One play that sums it up is Billups and Sheed running the pick and roll and getting the switch, now Sheed is being guarded by Parker and he just stands on the three point line waiting for Billups to break Duncan down. Im pretty sure if Sheed had taken Parker down to the block then he would get a much higher percentage shot. The Spurs are a very intelligent team and Detroit has to match that, so far they are the opposite.
I dont really mind who wins it all but i would like to see a competitive series, at the moment its a walkover.
i hope the pistons take the next two, i dont want to see a series sweep in the finals. isnt fun to watch (unless you;re a spurs fan of course). hopefully its just the homecourt advantage taking care of the situation, and it'll get to 3-3. if it does, i see the spurs winning... but the pistons have won a game 7 away. manu is a class act, so is parker and duncun. it was always obvious they'd be he ones spurring on san an. is bruce bowen playing his normal trademark D?
Yep, Bowen has been owning Rip. Rip has been totally thrown off his game and his frustration was evident in the last game. I think Rip is shooting something like 30% from the field, which is way below his average. As much as we keep going on about the Spurs big three, you cant underestimate the contribution of Bowen. He always guards the best perimeter player and shuts them down. Kobe, T-Mac, Allen, Rip, Bowen guards them all and does it as well as any in the league. Considering he is not as athletic as those players i just mentioned its a pretty amazing feat.
The Pistons really need to go back to the basics. They got to the finals the last 2 years shutting teams down by playing team defense and sharing the ball and getting good looks. All the talk before game 2 was the Pistons saying they are gonna come out with intensity and play their style, didn't happen. Their team defense was non existent and the shot selection was woeful. If you gonna take bad shots you have to either get the offensive boards or get back on transition, the Pistons did neither.
I'm gonna be cheering for the Pistons for the next couple of games until it hopefully gets to 2-2, then I'm neutral again. I just want to see a good series, we had a one sided finals last year. The Pistons need to forget they are champs and play like they did last year, there's no excuse not to.
Have you heard Phil Jackson is on his way back to the Lakers? Hopefully he can keep Kobe's ego in check.
I don't think the Lakers have the personnel to run the triangle offence effectively, it requires good shooters coming off screens (something the Lakers are lacking). Also Kobe running the 2 man version of the triangle with Mihm isn't quite the same as when Shaq was in the house. At least Jackson will make defense a priority, last season we couldn't lock anyone down.
The other things that worry me is the fact that the Lakers are way over the salary cap for the next couple of years, we have 5 SF's if you include Odom, no inside presence (Mihm is our toughest player on the boards - thats not good), we have no PG (sorry Chucky you don't qualify) and then we have Medvedenko and Brian Cook (say no more).
Jackson is a great coach but i don't think he is a miracle worker, i hope he proves me wrong though.
i think the lakers case is a bit sad. they're not so much a team as an institute in the nba. i hope phil jax can do something to help them turn it around, isn't right in the playoffs without them. i think a couple of the smallforwards will go, possibly for a big man. mihm aint too bad, i mean the bulls won 72 games with luc longley! but he did what he had to do. rebound and knock a few open buckets. they do need a better pg, and possibly a bigger powerfoward. odom needs to play the 3, make advatage of his size agianst a lot of other small fs. obviously theres kobe, who needs to learn when to play team ball, and when to take over a game. they're a couple of trades away from being a good team however, especially with the west being loaded.
on a different, note, what are all the draftees like? i've heard a bit about marvin williams? we dont get any coverage over here, so help me out bit! cheers guys.... darth
I dont mind Mihm at all, he has good skills for a big man and does the job. The fact that he is our most physical inside player worries me though, we need a tough power forward because Odom doesnt have the strength to play the 4 position which is a shame because he can take alot of the PF's off the dribble. I like Odom's game but for him to play the 3 spot he really needs to work on his outside shot (especially if Jackson is running the triangle) and his defense (when you think about some of the SF he would be guarding).
I would quite happily say adios to Brian Cook, Medvedenko, Jermaine Jones and Chucky if we could get a "pass first" PG and a tough PF with a post up game. If we keep Butler he could do well in the SF spot as long as he works on his jumper. Hopefully we can get some slept on talent in the draft, we've got the tenth pick so we could get a decent player.
As for the draft my Welsh friend, i have taken the liberty of finding a site with more information than i could muster. Hope it helps:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2005/index
One other thing i was made aware of about the finals is that Ben Wallace is only averaging 7 boards. The last time he had a double figure rebound game was 8 games ago, i hope he turns it around today.
After Ainge denied the rumors, Paul Pierce's agent told the Blazers that he is available for the 3rd pick plus Van Exel. I would take it if I were Blazers. Fills a need and is a good guaranteed player. If Blazers had the #2 pick and a better chance at Marvin or Bogut, then I might think differently.
Pierce would be a nice acquisition for the Blazers. He gives them a proven scorer straight away and they do seem a bit slim at the SG spot. Damon and Pierce could make a good back court tandem. Are the Blazers shipping Miles elsewhere? He was a thorn is their side this season. Do they have much salary cap room?
Originally posted by koolruningz
Pierce would be a nice acquisition for the Blazers. He gives them a proven scorer straight away and they do seem a bit slim at the SG spot. Damon and Pierce could make a good back court tandem. Are the Blazers shipping Miles elsewhere? He was a thorn is their side this season. Do they have much salary cap room?
Damon is the most likely candidate to leave (via Free Agency). I hope Miles leaves but I highly doubt it. Just because of the contract to effectiveness ratio. Although he did drop a 50 from the bench this year.
Originally posted by wuTa
yes!!!!!!!!, YES!!!!!!!!!!!....FINALLY!!!!!!, Detriot's defense showed up with its kid brother named offense 😱 ....now we just need one more game of that defense, and a combo of billups/rip, with some play from the bench and were golden fellas, golden
Been hiding have we? Seems as if you haven't been around much until Detroit finally gets a win. Don't worry, I'm just messin with ya. You know, seeing as you are currently siding with the enemy. Amazing how fast a team I support so strongly last finals is the team I'm rooting against this one.
Now we have a series. Well done Detroit, I cant believe I was cheering for the Pistons after they raped my Lakers last year. The Pistons finally hit the Spurs hard enough and the Spurs collapsed, the first 2 games the Spurs had poise even when the Pistons made a run. Ben Wallace was awesome, 5 blocks in the first quarter? that is ridiculous. Rip finally shook Bowen loose and hit some shots and how about that sweet lefty scoop shot by Billups on the break? That was the Billups who made Payton look like Steve Kerr last year, welcome back Chauncy. One last time "post up Sheed!" he hit three in a row from the low block and then went AWOL, the Pistons wont win the series if he lives on the perimeter.
Theres not much to say about the Spurs, Im sure they would like to have the second half back again. This is only one game though and Pop will not allow the Spurs to play like that again.
Hopefully we will get a 7 game series now.