NBA finals

[Plainview1981]

Who do you think will win? I dislike Detroit and have

since the Hawks were playing them in the mid 90's but

it would be cool to see them win it. But I think the

Lakers will take it 4-2. As much as Detroit plays defense

they are almost as bad on offense. For Detroit to have

any chance they have to keep the games close. With their

lack of offense they just can't afford to get behind by

any more than 8 or 9 points.

[Traceman]

wins in six. For DET to have a chance, Sheed, Billups and the bench have to be great. I think DET's 2nd 5 has a big advantage over LA's bench and if DET's aggressive style can get LA in foul trouble, they might have some hope.

[cyman3]

Detroit has the defense, but not the offense...

they are not going to keep the lakers in the 60-point range...

KOBE and SHAQ are very good at going to the free throw line... therefore, the lakers will have an easier chance scoring...

as far as DET- w/ their defense... having a chance... but their offense is so poor, i really dont know if they can keep up. the only way they can win is if they score enuf points... the defense will be fine.

[Wretch]

Does defense win championships? It does if you can score! Which is why LA is a model of the rule. If you can't score, you can't win...so you need players that can put the ball in the basket. But if you want to win you have to play defense. You have to keep the other team from scoring too...or else, it's just a tossup free for all...

You hit the nail on the head Cyman. Detroit doesn't have a great deal of offensive firepower; and since there is no way they're keeping the Lakers in the 70's and 80's there is no way for them to win this series. I think Detroit's defense will make the games interesting, but I think they will fall short in every game.

I'm calling for a sweep.

[DominiqueWilkins]

I hate to say it but LA wins the championship.

I hope the Pistons bring the championship back to the East.

Shaq will slap Big Ben around, so Rasheed is going to have to help defend Shaq. If they don't stop Shaq we all know who will become the Champs.

The Pistons guards can stop Gary Payton and Kobe, but do the Pistons have enough to stop Karl Malone and Shaq?

LA wins.

[cyman3]

i wanna see Karl Malone (the dirtiest player in the NBA) and Rasheed Wallace (mr. i dont tolerate anythin) get in a FIGHT...

lol

[vonrauss]

If Sheed scores 20 points, Pistons win.

He will do this 4 times in the series. Come to your own conclusions.

Pistons in 6.

[OGRat]

If Sheed is healthy I think it will be close. If Malone is healthy, forget it. LA in 6.

[Wretch]

I have SERIOUSLY underestimated the Detroit defense. Wow. And Larry Brown's gameplan worked to perfection. They let Kobe and Shaq do whatever they wanted, but nobody else could get anything for the Lakers.

I still think LA is going to run away with this thing. Payton and Malone are going to have to earn those rings - no more riding on Shaq and Kobe. Maybe they were just a little giddy after getting this far and they underestimated the competition...? Perhaps they were just out of sync.

Either way, they're both close to that elusive prize and I expect them to step it up in Game 2. The rest of the series should follow suit.

[cyman3]

my prediction says that i believe LAL will win... but i honestly want DETROIT to win

i dont like the fact that MALONE/PAYTON are gonna get a ring the EASY WAY... i mean, even i can win a ring ridin SHAQ/KOBE...

and i love the emphasis on DEFENSE... which is definitely an underrated part of the game... these days everyone wants 20 ppg, but nobody cares to try to get 3 bpg or 3 spg...

i love the way LARRY BROWN controls the tempo of the game... the lakers were FORCED to play brown's game... and the players definitely stepped up...

didnt the next highest scorer after kobe/shaq have like 5 points or something (george)...

thats wat i call DEFENSE! go pistons!

[Wretch]

I'm happy because it could be a series now. I wanted to say that before - because of Detroit's defense and the addition of Rasheed Wallace; but, I just thought there would be no way to hold LA under 80 points.

That's the only way the Pistons are going to win this thing. But I don't see them getting 4 games like that out of the Lakers. I fully expect the rest of the Lakers to step up...especially Malone. He'll come out swinging next game.

[Plainview1981]

The game was a snoozer brickfest...However, Detroit did

what they need to do. Lakers didn't seem to play with

enough passion tonight.

[pathway23]

I think Detroit will win this series. Think about it. They already stole one in LA, they have 3 more at home, 3 in a row, where they play extremely well. Rasheed Wallace didn't play hardly at all, foul trouble, they missed a bunch of layups and freethrows...I just don't see that happening in game 2 for the pistons. I agree that Malone and Payton will step it up in game 2 but I don't know if it will make a difference. Payton cannot handle Billups. George can't handle Prince. The only favorable matchup for the Lakers is Kobe/Shaq vs Rip/B.Wallace...

Matchups

Billups/Hunter vs Payton/Fisher ... Pistons in a landslide, Fisher has an MCL strain and Payton looks like an old man vs Billups.

Bryant/Rush vs Rip/James.... Lakers. But not by as much as you think. Rush and Bryant aren't going to get open looks, Rush can't dribble but Bryant can get his off the dribble but he will be met at the rim by the 2 Wallaces.

George/Fox vs Prince/Ham ... Edge goes to Pistons. They aren't getting open looks and they can't create off the dribble that well. Prince can, Ham can't but he can finish.

Malone vs R. Wallace... edge goes to Pistons. Malone is going to be left open from 18-20 ft so he will have to knock it down. I don't see it happening consistently. Wallace has range out to 25 ft and he took advantage of it in game 1.

Shaq vs B. Wallace... edge goes to Lakers, of course. But B. Wallace isn't the easiest opponent Shaq will have.

Looks like Larry Brown will play Shaq 1 on 1 until he gets 3 ft from the basket and attempt to shut everybody else down. I think it will work.

[Plainview1981]

I'm just hoping to get some entertainment value out of it=)

[Weez]

out of curiousity, just so I have a frame of reference, what do you like/want in a basketball game? what "entertains" you, or makes a game a "good game"?

[vonrauss]

Weez, this is a good point.

I thought last night's game was very watchable basketball. Sure, the Lakers seemed to play uninspired hoops (or was it the Pistons defense), but the game was close most of the way, most of the stars showed up to play (the Lakers NEED NEED NEED to get the ball to Shaq more, Kobe was killing them), and the Lakers made a late run.

The bothersome part about last night's game was the LA crowd's uninspired role. Watching a game in Detroit will be so much more enjoyable.

As for everyone who is now hopping on the Detroit bandwagon. I've been saying all along that they would win it in 6. But let's not go throwing the baby out of the bath water. Foolish Americans (analysts and fans alike) are FAR too fairweather. The Lakers will be just fine. Game 1 is a big statment for the Pistons, but it doesn't mean the series is over. Everyone was saying that same thing about the Spurs.

[Plainview1981]

Ball movement, scoring, passion from BOTH teams, good

duels,(Nique/Bird MJ/Clyde Shaq/Hakeem) good passing.

How long has it been since this has been provided?

Detroit played good defense, but they should have

scored atleast 105 points as bad as the Lakers

defense was last night. They were missing freakin

layups and you have Ben Wallace air balling 15

footers.

[OGRat]

I rather enjoyed the game. I predicted the Lakers to win game one, but I am glad that Detroit won. This makes the series much more compelling.

As for your comments...

"Foolish Americans (analysts and fans alike) are FAR too fairweather."

Maaan please! I pull for the Hawks. Do you know how commited someone has to be to be a Hawks fan? You can take that comment back to where you came from.

[Weez]

yeah, Ben Wallace missed the first shot of the game, badly. That's to be expected, but I can see you asking for more. But then, what about Campbell? knocking down 15 footers with ease, playing solid ball...do you ever watch the game without watching the ball? Rip's simply rediculous...and could be part of why Kobe struggled so mightily. Man, he was forcing it last night. Shaq was great last night, spin moves, banks shots....much fewer slams.

I simply thought it was an entertaining game if you like basketball, and not just of the pretty, street kind. It's simply near impossible to get the same play you had back then, because as you said, Detroit's defense was great. Did you hear the stuff about Red this past weekend, about how he was the only scout on his team, scouting other teams on his off night? That he only had 7 offense sets (course the Lakers probably have about that many, but the triangle is a different entity). You have to realize how well scouted teams are now, how much info you have about players' tendencies and the coaches prefered plays.

I don't know where you get passion? It got rather chipy there at the end. Yeah, you can blame the Lakers for not showing enough...and I agree. I sympathsize with the fact that a) fisher is hurt, and b) as much as they want to use GP, he's so much less effective in the game than DFish.

I enjoyed it. it was close. competitive. People like Prince (ugliest shot this side of Korea) and Elden made the difference. that's about all you can ask for...

and yet, I can't help but think back to the '01 series, with AI and co. winning game one in LA...and not winning another one. But the Pistons' are beat up like they were....

[vonrauss]

Quote:

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Maaan please! I pull for the Hawks. Do you know how commited someone has to be to be a Hawks fan? You can take that comment back to where you came from.

---

Of course, dude. I know that! I'm just saying, 2 days ago most people weren't giving the Pistons a chance. Now all of the sudden there is talk of the Pistons winning the series.

While I think this will happen (the Pistons winning the series), I don't think it is wise to jump on a team's playoff bandwagon (like the Spurs) before all of their eggs are hatched. I'm not saying they become your new favorite team, just that they become the overwhelming pick to win (or in this case, even 50% chance of winning represents a huge bandwagon effect).

One game. Potentially 6 more to go. We're gonna have a great series, with some very good basketball!