First things first: be sure to check out Henry Abbott’s piece on Tayshaun Prince today on TrueHoop — it almost makes up for the fact that he picked the Bulls in the first place. Tay doesn’t get nearly as much recognition as he deserves, both locally and nationally, in part because he’s always doing the little things and rarely puts himself on center stage.
But think about it: the Pistons have been to the Eastern Conference Finals every year that he’s been in the league, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence. (For more Tay-Tay love, check out my post on the FanHouse.)
Secondly, I’m curious: who should Detroit hope to face? I think Ron Harper tipped his hand after last night’s game:
“Cleveland. We don’t like Cleveland. That series is going to be fun.”
That series, if it indeed ends up being a Cavs-Pistons Eastern Conference final (Cleveland leads New Jersey 3-2, with Game 6 set for Friday night) will begin Monday night unless the Cavaliers-Nets series is extended to seven games, in which case it will begin Wednesday.
Honestly, I don’t know who I’d rather the Pistons play. I guess it would be nice to put LeBron James in his place (We are all witnesses!), but after James’ lackluster season I hate the idea of him advancing to the Conference Finals and having to listen to everyone about how he “took the next step,” when all he really did is luck out with an easy playoff bracket. Do you really think the Cavs could have beaten the Bulls? Neither do I.
On the other hand, man, I (still) hate the Nets. So I’m torn. What do you guys think? Who will you be rooting for in tonight’s Cavs-Nets game? Who do you want the Pistons to face in the Conference Finals?
I expect LeBron James to get a minimum of 50 free throws a night.
I understand Nets-hatred (”Natred”) but at least they don’t play like cream puffs; their talent is visibly declining, but they’re much more hard-nosed than LB and The Poster Boys.
Bring on the Cavs, we ate bull now let’s eat veal(much more tender).
Nets perimeter game matches up to Detroit’s for the task. Their only 1-3 deficiency is Vince Carter’s defense. Jason Kidd’s still a great point. A healthy Richard Jefferson makes for a dangerous Richard Jefferson.
New Jersey’s going to miss Nenad Krstic at some point. It’d be fun to see the Pistons mess around with Mikki Moore, though . . . Mikki’s improved since his Pistons days, but damn if he can’t be abused by Detroit’s bigs.
New Jersey essentially has a similar problem to that of Chicago - their bigs just don’t score enough points.
I want the cavs since I think he can match up better and the history of the last two years. With sheed crackin’ Z’s head, varjao flagrant fouling sheed, and that we beat them last year. I also want the pistons to set things right with last years performance against the cavs. That series should have never went 7 games so I want the pistons to correct that this year. Oh, and I want to see tay block lebron again.
I think I prefer the Cavs as well. It would be really nice to finish them off in 5 after last year’s stupidity. Plus, I think Jason Kidd has a killer instinct that I’d like to avoid.
Nothing would please me more than to make the CAV’S witness our 3rd finals in 4 years! Anyone see Gooden talking trash to the fans at the Palace last year? He said we kicked your ass in your own house we own this place its Lebrons palace. I want to see Tay give him a nice face wash and then shave that ridiculous thing on the back of his head! Just dont want to see Lebron go to the line 100 times. The officiating is terrible, you even breath on Lebron and get a whistle!
ill be rooting for the nets so that i can go to new jersey since i live in connecticut and see my pistons in the playoffs lol
I *still* hate the Nets too–they’d be easy to dispatch. Five-game series. Tons of half-assed jokes about how shitty the series is.
Cavs.. don’t care for ‘em, definitely one of the most boring teams in the league. Varejao’s flopping makes Heinrich’s look legitimate. Tons and tons and tons of whistles for Lebron.
Ehh… I’d rather see the Nets if only because the Pistons would have no trouble with them. Either way, here’s to a Nets win tonight to force a Game 7.
I’d like to face to face the Nets. For one thing, I hate watching the Cavs play–although I wouldn’t mind proving that last year was a fluke. Also, the thought of LeBron in the conference finals makes me a little sick. But we really seem to have good games against the Nets while dominating them, and there would be a lot of fun matchups as opposed to just Tay against LeBron. Either way, we’ve got a great chance of winning the series, which gives me chills just thinking about being in the Finals again.
That was a great piece by Henry Abbot, although I was offended at his picking the Bulls over us. I can never get enough of people praising Tay. He is so unbelievably good.
Looks like Cleveland’s starting to pull away…
I think Webber will have a better series. Playing Ilgauskas to a standstill.
If Sheed brings his A-game (and he should after having to eat his Guaran-sheed last year) he’ll have a field day.
Pavlovic will have success early but will disappear later in the series once he’s figured out.
The bench will probably play more. Delfino and Lindsay on Lebron. Maxiell punking Varejao. Flip eating up his old team.
I’m guessing six games. Lebron will single-handedly win one. The supporting cast will inexplicably play great in one game and win another.
You know what? Cav again! Can’t wait for the Pistons to beat them hard.
Don’t need to make a choice. Let’s witness another Cavs series. Oh, boy. God, I hate marketing.
I’m glad Cavs won the series, but I just wish the Nets had forced a Game 7. More rest for our boys would’ve been nice…but perhaps keeping them on their toes will keep them competitive.
Looking ahead (for fun), since we already know we’re facing the Cavs, should we defeat them, who do you want to see in the Finals?
My vote? Spurs again. I want this to be the revenge campaign. Beat Bulls after they took Ben (or he left for them…whatever), beat Cavs for taking us to seven last year and contributing to the meltdown against the Heat, then beat the Spurs for that lucky Horry shot to win Game 5 and prevent us from going up 3-2 in ‘05.
If not Spurs, then the Jazz for sweeping us two seasons and trying to win like us…no big superstars.
Your opinion?
the cavs scare me crazily… u never know, we could have our hands full again
I could care less who the Pistons face. Cavs, Nets…Tayshaun is going to shut down their best player regardless…Sheed is going to swallow Danyell Marshall whole…and sometimes I want Flip to take our boys big so that Dyess and Sheed can be in there together…I want Dyess to put his ass on their ball-headed boy with the headband and little ball o hair in the back’s chest…and we can wonder where the Cav’s front court players went…so the question is…can Larry Hughes and that dude whose name starts with a V beat us? Um, yeah. Pistons in 5, ya’ll.
I say Pistons in six over the Cavs. The Cavs will win a game on their own, either Lebron going off, Lebron getting help, or the entire supporting cast stepping up. Then the Pistons will get disinterested up 3-1 and lose Game 5, get pissed, and win Game 6.
so, say the spurs and pistons make the finals, as expected.
who wins: the spurs’ dirty tricks or the pistons’ whining? kind of a irresistible force/immovable object type battle. bowen’s “who, me?” face is the only one that even comes close to ’sheed’s.
In celebration of a potential Spurs’ NBA Finals appearance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKMv9LrgF6M
Enjoy!
The scary thing about this series is that Lebron is the last big star left - he’s the only one with any national appeal. I’m expecting the NBA to do whatever it takes to get him into the Finals.
ECF . . . lucked out . . . TNT coverage instead of ESPN/ABC.
Go Pistons!!!! The Pistons will sweep Labron and the James Gang. They cowardly slipped into the Playoffs and now it is time to give them a reality check. Pistons in 4. See you at the parade after we finish off The DIRTY SPURS. Go Pistons!!!
You’re a bit too hard on LeBron and his season. Lackluster by who’s standards? His previous season totals? That’s hardly fair. He has more help this year than in previous years and hasn’t had to carry every single win.
I don’t completely disagree with your opinion that they might not have gotten to the conference finals playing either the Bulls or Pistons in the second round, but they are there now and Detroit is just going to have to deal with them.
By the way, Rob G. You’re making an excuse before it is even needed. Don’t do that crap! Even getting a few calls in their direction won’t be enough to carry the Cavaliers into the finals. I cannot believe you are a real Pistons fan and actually believe that could happen.
I’m a Pistons fan, but I still predict the Cavaliers will be NBA Champions. RELAX ! Not this year, but in two years. It will be LeBron’s 6th season, which is how long it took MJ in Chicago. You know a bookie interested in giving odds?
ABC’s group included Dan Patrick, Michael Wilbon, Jon Barry, and Grant Hill.
Patrick asked Grant Hill about the Pistons and Cavaliers.
Grant Hill proceeds to bring up a story about disrespect involved with Detroit’s starting five in relation to the popularity of LeBron James. Hill believes the Pistons will use that as fuel to lock down for every game and play the best basketball that they’ve played all season, using the league’s star preference as motivation.
Michael Wilbon asks if we haven’t been down this road before, which is very similar, as Wilbon made point, to the 89-90 Pistons, with regard to Michael Jordan and the Bulls.
Dan Patrick asked if the Pistons believe that LeBron James is not as much as the sum of his hype.
Jon Barry takes over, restating the disrespect briefly, stating an opinion that Detroit learned from their mistakes in the series from last year, and he proceeded to call the series - Pistons in 5.
Are they trying to motivate LeBron James?
Ok guys. Reality check. If you are not a fan of the Pistons or Spurs or a real fan of the sport, a final between those two teams loses some of the luster needed to generate high ratings.
OK, Hamilton and Billups were All-Stars this year and Price should have been in many eyes. Webber is an intriguing story and the Spurs bring All-Stars Duncan and Parker along with Duncan’s tandem, Bowen. However, none of these players carry public interest outside of the markets where they play the way LeBron James does.
Of course, we all know not calling Duncan a superstar is like not calling the Pope a Christian, but NBA executives are looking at the bottom line and it is a no-brainer that they’ll get a more national audience with LeBron playing the final.
For this reason, NBA sports anouncers, executives and pretty much anyone outside of Detroit can be forgiven for doing anything to motivate Cleveland to the final, especially since they’ve probably already resigned themselves to the Spurs making it from the West.
As long as it remains in motivation and not in the actions of referees we gotta just suck it in and understand it’s just business. Let our boys do the talking on the court and the rest is irrellevant.
LeBron James is a devastating player, straight up. The man can play guard or wing. If he develops a post-game, he’ll be lights out from practically any position.
I question his supporting cast.
I really, really don’t care about “the ratings.”
Don’t misunderstand me. I’m a true Pistons fan. I’m a fan of team basketball and defense.
I’m not a fan of individualism, marketing, or commercialism. But that’s what drives the NBA. And that’s why they’ll do just about anything to have a Finals with LeBron. Because the alternative does not bode well for ABC and the NBA. Utah, San Antonio, and Detroit have no national appeal. They’re not big media markets. The last thing the Association wants is a repeat of the ‘05 Finals (even though it went to seven games and was a hell of a battle).
So I don’t look forward to a series dripping with ‘Bron worship. I’m not looking forward to talk about “destiny fulfilled,” because I don’t want some shady-ass, self-fulfilling prophecy.
But I do look forward to Tay shutting his ‘Bron’s ass down. That’s what this technologically backwards, advertising adverse Pistons fan really, really wants to see.
Let’s crush ‘em like we crushed MJ back in ‘89.
Okay, so we know LeBron James has an NBA body. You look at him and you think, “This is a two-guard in a forward’s body”. He’s got the power, the speed, and the moves. But then you have to look at his team mates, right? You have to look at them and, as a coach, you ask yourself, “Can they sustain the intensity? Can they bring the toughness?”
Oops. Sorry, my Hubie Brown translator was on.