Tag Archive for 'LeBron James'

Two takes on Detroit’s situation

Published by Matt Watson on November 4, 2008 in Around the Internets. 11 Comments

Someone had to be “that guy,” offering a slightly different take for the sake of being different, and fortunately for ESPN, J.A. Adande stepped up:

Now that Chauncey Billups’ departure brings an end to an era in Detroit, we have to look at these Pistons’ lone championship as an aberration, and their attempt to become a sans-superstar dynasty a failure. They shocked the world, but they didn’t change the game.

… And so on and so forth, skipping ahead …

We’d like to think that an outside-the-box approach such as Dumars’ could flourish, that a savvy GM could concoct a way to build a better rocket ship with only spare parts.

Sorry. This will drive all the quantum theory stats analysts and Trader Bob armchair GMs crazy, but it really does come down to luck. The difference can be as small as the coin flip that brought Magic Johnson to the Lakers or the bouncing pingpong balls that brought Tim Duncan to the Spurs. As great as the front offices of those two franchises have been, the Lakers’ five championships in the ’80s and the Spurs’ four since 1999 simply don’t happen without those random, fortunate events.

Luck? As in, the bad luck that happens when Rasheed Wallace has a brain-freeze and leaves Robert Horry open? If one play goes differently, the Pistons have two titles in five years and Adande’s entire thesis goes out the window. Just saying. Continue reading ‘Two takes on Detroit’s situation’

Players and coaches collaborate on LBJ Rules

Published by Matt Watson on April 1, 2008 in From the news. 18 Comments

From A. Sherrod Blakely:

Detroit’s defense did an exceptional job against Cleveland, in part because of some suggestions made by some of the players. Prince said that he and some of his teammates went to Saunders with some ideas on how to mix things up a little bit more defensively.

“We presented it to him. We (players) just had to go out there and execute it,” Prince said. “Once you come to coach with something, you have to really put your stamp on it and make it work. That was the case.”

This wouldn’t be nearly as notable to me if I still didn’t remember how Rasheed Wallace changed defensive calls in the playoffs last year. But in any case, whatever the team cooked up for LBJ last week obviously worked — I’m cool with more of the same should these teams cross paths again in the playoffs.

(Yes, I’m aware they play in the regular season finale, but for all intents and purposes that game should be treated like an exhibition.)