A Detroit Pistons blog
Let’s face it, if the Pistons lose tonight, the series is might as well be over. There’s not much else than can be said. I still think they can close this series out in six, but they’ll have to show a lot more than what we’ve seen the last couple of weeks.
I’m live-blogging the game over at the FanHouse, so feel free to leave your thoughts over there or right here in these comments.
Late in Game 4, the Cavs put LeBron James on Chauncey Billups. It was an odd matchup, and one I intended to discuss but forgot to mention. Fortunately, Brian from MGoBlog picked up the slack:
Freed of the presence of Larry Hughes’ stifling defense, Billups dominated the first half against a gimpy Hughes, undersized Daniel Gibson, and, well, Damon Jones. But in the second half — and this is something that went completely unremarked on by the announcers in an uncharacteristic oversight by a normally crack TNT crew (with the notable exception of horrible Doug Collins; see below) — the Cavs switched Lebron James on Billups and Billups disappeared. What’s worse, he didn’t even probe a matchup against a six-eight small forward. The one time he did he got the defense to collapse and got a teammate an open look. The rest of the game, though, he avoided making even the slightest move towards the basket. The aggression of the first half drained.
The thing that makes Cleveland a dangerous team now and in the future is that ability. As James was confusing Billups into thinking “there is a 6′8″ guy on me, there must be a mismatch somewhere on the floor,” similarly 6′8″ Sasha Pavlovic was on Prince, the posts were handling posts, and whoever the point guard was at the moment, probably Gibson, was running around with Rip Hamilton. When Hughes is healthy, the team Cleveland fields is freaking huge. They’re a defensive nightmare, as both this series and last year’s seven game adventure demonstrate ably
I couldn’t agree more. For all the talk about the Pistons just needing to regain their focus and play harder, there is absolutely something to be said about Cleveland posing a huge — and unique — matchup problem. This wasn’t an issue at all earlier in the playoffs: Chauncey Billups dominated the Smurf-ish Jameer Nelson in the first round, and neither Kirk Hinrich or Ben Gordon are taller than 6-3.
I doubt the Cavs will put LeBron on Chauncey for very long in Game 5 — I’m guessing that was just Mike Brown throwing a curveball to disrupt the Pistons’ rhythm — but if it happens Chauncey needs to figure out how to take advantage.
Update: Although they don’t address the “LeBron on Chauncey” matchup, the guys at The Ghosts of Wayne Fontes hit the nail on the head for some other keys to turning things around.
Pistons rookie Will Blalock didn’t need this kind of exposure. TNT and ESPN viewers across the country saw Blalock get hit in the face with Wallace’s sweaty jersey in the aftermath of Game 4. “That was bad, man,” Blalock said. “He’s going to give me some money for putting me on TV.”
Mini “Let’s talk about something else” Edition:
And what about Flip Saunders? He’s near the end of that magical two-year timeframe of a Pistons head coach, a time after which both his predecessors, Rick Carlisle and Larry Brown, were shown the door despite differing levels of success. If–and it’s still a HUGE if–the Pistons were to lose this series to Cleveland, some of the blame is bound to fall at his feet and could result in his dismissal. It’s no secret that anything short of an appearance in the NBA Finals would be considered failure in the eyes of the Detroit front office and ownership.
Hey, the Pistons have already bolted their first starting center, Nazr Mohammed, to the end of the bench. Hey, look at the upside: They could become the first team ever to take two starting centers totally out of the rotation and still make the Finals! I know how they liked to be trendsetters.
Webber did not play the final 17:40 of the game. The Pistons are now staring at two ugly scenarios.
One is that Tim Duncan chews up Webber in the Finals.
The other is that Duncan chews up Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
I’d never condone a fan throwing something on to the court, but Monday night in San Antonio, as foreign objects rained down on the Spurs, I’ve got to confess that I wouldn’t have been terribly upset if a rusty tire iron flew down from the upper deck directly into Manu Ginobili’s face.
Insert blatant product placement here: our No Ginobili T-shirt, which debuted back in February, is relevant now more than ever.
I’m not trying to pin the loss on Chauncey — mistakes were made by everyone the entire game, and the fact the Pistons came out ahead in just one of four quarters suggests this wasn’t a game they really deserved to win in the first place. But still, they had multiple chances to steal this one, but it was Chauncey’s bad decisions (a horrible bad pass here, a rushed three-point attempt in transition there) in the final minutes that prevented Detroit from having a shot.
(And of course, lest any Cavs fans be tempted to play the “disrespect card,” I’m not denying that Cleveland came through by doing exactly what they had to do — namely, playing defense and gobbling up rebounds. Against a lesser opponent perhaps Detroit could have prevailed, but the Cavs clearly had the Pistons rattled.)
Chauncey finished with 23 points but was held to just five points and not a single made field goal after halftime. He also recorded just two assists with five turnovers, including three in the final quarter. Rip Hamilton also regained some of his touch with 19 points, albeit on 9-21 shooting. Surprisingly, Chauncey and Rip were also the team’s leading rebounders with nine and eight boards, respectively.
The Cavs unexpectedly started Larry Hughes despite his ailing foot, and it’s a damn shame he couldn’t have stayed in the game longer as he scored just two points in 16 minutes. Rookie Daniel Gibson was the real story for Cleveland, coming off the bench to score 21 points on just seven official shots. How did he manage that? By going 12-12 from the line, taking a legitimate foul here and there while faking out the ref the rest of the time with an assortment of flops that likely caused a proud, single tear to drip down Manu Ginobili’s cheek.
But you know what? More power to him — as ugly and cheap as it looks at home, it’s working. I hate to say it because he’s a member of the Cavs … but on some level I actually enjoy watching Gibson play. Why? Because he’s having a good time and it shows. Maybe it’s because he’s a rookie, maybe it’s because he’s going up against his childhood idol Chauncey Billups (and, um, coming out on top) or maybe it’s because he’s just an authentic nice guy — but whatever it is, he’s having fun. It’s nice to see a guy celebrate a basket with a smile instead of a stone face, or worse yet, a scowl. (Not that I’m a fan of seeing anyone wearing wine and gold celebrate, but if they’re going to do it, at least they can do it in a manner which doesn’t make me want to put a foot through my television.)
There was a lot of other stuff probably worth mentioning or discussing (just to name a few, there was Drew Gooden’s attempted take-down on Rasheed Wallace, Rip’s attempted free-throw jinx on LeBron, Rasheed’s tech for throwing his headband, LeBron accidentally tipping in a shot for the Pistons late in the game and the announcers completely ignoring it, Chris Webber’s disappearance), so go at it in the comments.
I’m sure a lot of Pistons fans are down right now. Honestly, I am, too. It’s true the Pistons are just two wins away from the NBA Finals, but it’s also true that they’ve won just three of their last seven games. These aren’t the same Pistons that we saw sweep the Magic in the first round and blow out the Bulls in the first two games of the second round. I can’t say I’m surprised, though.
Detroit may be in the Conference Finals for the fifth straight year, but every single one of those playoff runs has been marked by far too many games with long scoring droughts. It’s been the bane of three different head coaches, so even though Flip Saunders will always confuse me with his substitution patterns and play-calling, it’s impossible pinning the blame solely on the coaching staff. For whatever reason, I don’t think the core of this team is actually capable of playing consistent basketball for too many games in a row, and when they get out of rhythm it always seems to take them a few games to adjust. We can only hope things snap back into place at the Palace on Thursday.
Cavs 91, Pistons 87 box score [ESPN.com]
GameFlow [PopcornMachine.net]
What do the Cavs plaster on the outside of their arena? Not “Go Cavs” or “Let’s Go Cleveland” or even “OMG, LeBron! We luv you!!!” Nope. Just “Beat Detroit.” Yeah, I think the Pistons were in their head before this series even began.
With Larry Hughes out, rookie Daniel Gibson should be Cleveland’s starting point guard tonight. “Bold” prediction of the night: forget what you’ve seen from Gibson in spot duty so far this series, Chauncey Billups can and will exploit the rookie to make everyone forget about his first three games.
If Detroit wins, they’re up 3-1 on the verge of the NBA Finals. If the Cavs win, they even the series and keep the media talking about King James’ destiny. Like you needed me to tell you that. Here’s to hoping the Boys in Blue take care of business. Leave your thoughts in the comments.
After a long weekend out of town, I’m back facing the prospects of writing something about Game 3 (box score). Although I watched it and enjoyed a few moments here and there (that video above was not one of those moments), I’m taking the easy way out. It’s not fun for me or useful to you to invest too much time covering old (and depressing) news.
If you’re desperate to supplement your mainstream coverage, you’ll be happy to see that Need4Sheed and Mind of Boney did a bang-up covering the game.
To catch up with some news — some old, some new, some in between — here’s a handful of links for you to digest while pretending to work:
Taken alone, it’s probably the right call … but taken after a regular season in which Kobe Bryant was suspended twice for a similar infraction, and then after a playoff series in which the Suns lost two players to non-violent infraction and the whole thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth (and no, I’m not tasting sour grapes). Besides, the whole “announce the thing on a Friday and not issue an official statement” reeks of a cover-up.
I also think … wait, Tay has an ankle injury? Here’s to hoping it’s so minor we never hear of it again.
While it’s unfortunate that Cleveland is losing a key guy this late in the playoffs, is anyone actually surprised that it’s Hughes who has an injury? Being available only 80% of the time (if that) has been his m.o. since coming into the league.
Yesterday, Mike Brown told a story about seeing teenagers around town and, after raving about LeBron, always want him to say hello to Andy. Mike surmised that Andy is pretty popular with the teeny-boppers. Well, let me just say this, over the last three years I’ve gotten e-mails from members of the gay community who have professed their infatuation with the mop-topped Brazilian as well. Meanwhile, the female members of the media covering this series are all jealous of Andy’s hair and have asked him about what products he uses. So I guess the only thing I can say about Varejao is, men want him and women want to be him.”
Please excuse the lack of posts — like many of you, I’m out of town this weekend — but feel free to leave your thoughts on the game in the comments.
That, my friends, is why people around these parts say “Jason Maxiell eats babies.”
For the second game in a row, Maxiell was an absolute difference maker. In Game 1, it happened down the stretch in the fourth quarter, doing all of the little things that aren’t always reflected in a box score. In Game 2, though, he entered the game early, taking over for an injured Antonio McDyess midway through the first quarter and announcing his presence with a flurry of vicious dunks. He’s a baaaad man, making King James look all silly and whatnot in that poster-worthy shot above.
During his first 12-minute stint, Maxiell had four dunks among five shots, including one coming on an alley-oop and another on a fast break (which he triggered, by the way, picking LeBron James’ pocket on the other end). All in all, it was a good day to be Jason Maxiell and a bad day to be an infant hailing from Cleveland: he finished the game with 15 points, six boards and two blocks (a would-be third rejection was called goaltending) in just 22 minutes. The only mark on his game was his 1-6 performance at the free-throw line, but seriously, you can live with that on days you get all of the other stuff.
The funny thing is that Maxiell wasn’t even supposed to be in the game: after Rasheed Wallace was tagged with two quick fouls, McDyess entered the game, but he lasted just 90 seconds before taking a Zydrunas Ilgauskas elbow to the jaw, which left him shaken and (if I saw things correctly) bloodied. But even if he wasn’t the first or second option, he ended up being the best one. The Pistons missed his energy after he left the game four minutes into the second quarter, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that his absence coincided with Cleveland’s storming out to a 12-point lead heading into halftime.
Fortunately, the Pistons dominated the third quarter (yet again), erasing most of Cleveland’s lead while setting the stage to take over the game for good in the fourth. And while much of the post-game conversation will center on whether or not LeBron James was fouled on the final shot of the game, the non-call was consistent with how much of the game was officiated.
Oh sure, there were a couple of bad calls here and there (blocking on Rip? really?), but for the most part the referees were letting the players play — much to the dismay of Anderson Varejao, who marred an otherwise praise-worth performance (14 points, 14 boards) by flopping at the slightest contact. In fact, I’d argue that Varejao’s love affair with gravity may have cost the Cavs down the stretch — it has to be hard for the refs to feel sympathetic to a team that spends much of the time trying to fool them. Rasheed, for one, was not amused:
“All that flopping, they need to make that a technical foul for next year. That’s not defense in the fourth quarter and I’m glad we have veteran officials to see that.”
(Quick side note: is anyone really surprised that Chris Sheridan wasn’t happy with the non-call? I have to wonder how much his past run-ins with the Pistons influenced his over-the-top enthusiasm.)
In any case, at least LeBron took the shot this time. He was more aggressive on the whole than in Game 1, but for a superstar I’m still surprised at how passive he can be for long periods of time. Where was in the third quarter when the Pistons fought their way back into the game? He attempted just a single field goal in that period, and finished the game with just 19 points. More aggression probably could have kept the Pistons at bay, but for whatever reason it’s just not clicking with him this year.
To be fair, we should probably give Tayshaun Prince some of the credit for James’ struggles. Though Prince is struggling hard-core with his offensive game (seriously, even Antonio McDyess is laughing at him right now) (OK, now I feel bad — McDyess is the nicest guy in the world, he probably cries himself to sleep feeling bad for Prince), his defense has been crucial. Despite scoring just one point and going 0-8 from the field, Prince actually led the Pistons with a +14 in the plus/minus column. To be honest, that surprised me, but it’s a testament to him doing more than the box score reveals.
If you saw the game, you already know that the Pistons couldn’t have come close to winning the game without Rasheed, who finished with 16 points, 11 boards, two blocks and two steals. (Quick question: DBB reader Erin pointed out that Rasheed has been wearing a knee brace lately: has anyone heard anything about that? Those aren’t always the result of a specific injury but sometimes used just for support, but maybe I missed something …)
That’s about the gist of it. I’m kind of glossing over some recurring themes (namely, Chauncey’s continued struggles, some uncharacteristic sloppiness from the team as a whole) that were also present in Game 1, but that’s just because I think in time those problems will right themselves. The Cavs have a legitimate defense, but I’m guessing sooner or later everything is going to start clicking for four straight quarters and the Pistons will blow this team out.
Last but not least … did anyone else get sucked into watching Torque on TNT after the game? What an awesomely bad movie — it sucked me right in after the NBA coverage ended, and made for some good conversation with FanHouse colleague PostmanE. We also chatted a bit about the game and the series as a whole, so be sure to check that out when you’re done here, which (I promise) will be soon. How soon? Like now. I’m done.
Pistons 79, Cavs 76 box score [ESPN]
GameFlow [PopcornMachine.net]
Fine-worth rebuke is in order [ESPN]
DBB Preview: Forget “the pass,” now we have “the elbow”
With all the talk about LeBron’s pass at the end of the game, everyone apparently missed the fact he almost KO’ed Chris Webber earlier in the game. Should he be suspended? Because Kobe was twice this season.
The replay looks bad … but I don’t even remember seeing this in the game. The fact no one even talked about this until it showed up on True Hoop today suggests no one the court or the stands really thought this was a big deal. In that respect, it’s kind of like Kirk Hinrich’s nutshot in the last series … although Webber looks like he felt this one more than Murray admitted feeling that one.
In any case, Game 2 tips off in a few minutes — leave your thoughts in the comments.
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