Against The Ropes
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At first glance, the final score of last night's game between the Pistons and the Heat doesn't seem out of the ordinary. The smallest margin of victory so far in this series has been six points. Games always have been close towards the end of the game, and in the last few minutes a team pulls away, winning by an average of 8.5 points. However, the story was different in Game 5. With the series tied at 2-2, the Pistons really, REALLY blew it. The technical definition of a "must win" is when a team faces elimination if they lose the game. Aside from that, this game was a must win, because if the Pistons were to lose, they'd have to win two straight games, the final one being in Miami. They wound up choking, and now have to win back-to-back games against the team with the best record in the East.
Ben's thoughts on the Pistons' Game 5 loss to the Heat: "Ah shit, we're fucked now."
I admit, I was working out until about 9 (my body felt broken earlier in the day), and sped to get home so I could catch the game. Much to my dismay, the score was 47 - 27. I had to do a double take because a 20 point lead is pretty ridiculous, not to mention damn near insurmountable. The chronic problem the Detroit Pistons have had since the Rick Carlisle era began can be summed up in one word: inconsistency. The Pistons lose by 15 to terrible teams like the Golden State Warriors and Atlanta Hawks, and beat the select few better than them by 20. Detroit is streaky, and many of their games are nailbiters. The games are exciting, don't get me wrong, but I'd rather we beat every team by a lot. Remember a couple of years ago when Chauncey Billups had 3 or 4 buzzer beating game winning 3 pointers? That was only a handful of close games we had that season. We don't know how to close teams out. We get up by 13, 15, 18, then the other team slowly climbs their way back. Fortunately the opposite is also true. We somehow get down by 17 points, then make our way back up to take the lead. Unfortunately in those situations, Rasheed Wallace tends to shoot 3 pointers to try to be the hero instead of going inside with his 6'11" frame.
More on that. Rasheed Wallace was the catalyst last year that helped us to the NBA title, the X-Factor if you will. The problem with Rasheed is is that he loves the 3 point line. It's DAMN good that he has that range, and it's a very, very important weapon in our arsenal, but late in games he seems to drift out rather than try to pound inside to get a foul. Against Miami, whenever he's gone inside he usually gets fouled (last night the exception because of bullshit dickref calls), but whenever we're up by 2 or 3 and need points late in the game, he launches unneccesary 3s when he knows damn well he would probably get a foul if he went inside. He has some hero complex where he has to be the one to make the big shot, when that job is already assigned to Mr. Big Shot Chauncey Billups. If you recall Rasheed's very first game with Detroit, he tried to be the hero then with a last second 3 pointer, but he choked. Sheed has had a few big late shots, but the costs outweigh the benefits. In the playoffs this year, he's been fairly consistent, but he really plays a bigger factor than I think people realize. After doing some research, I've calculated that for Detroit to win a game, Rasheed needs at least 20 points and 5 rebounds. Early in the playoffs he had some REAL shitty games, and it seemed like he was high (or perhaps it was the lack of) when he was playing defense. He missed so many assignments and oftentimes left his man open for an easy dunk. The reason Reggie Miller played so well against us was because Rasheed wasn't switching correcly on pick and rolls; he was backing off and giving Reggie a free shot. He's tightened down his game some though, and he usually steps up after he guarantees a game. He's guaranteed Game 6, and if I were a betting man (and I am, but I have no money) I would take Detroit. Game 6 is basically a lock, and the Pistons are already favored by 6. We're at home, it's a must win, and Dwayne Wade will probably sit out to wait until Game 7 with his injured rib muscle. The only concern is Game 7 in Miami.
+
=
Sheed needs his weeeeeeeeed
The Larry Brown issue I will cover in a differnt article, but as Rip Hamilton said, they're not going to really play for Larry Brown, they're going to play for themselves. This isn't high school or college basketball you morons, this is the NBA. Most of the players are grown adults (not Darko) and are self indulgent and selfish. All the coach does for them is call plays and find weaknesses in the opponents' game. Yeah, Larry Brown is special to the players because he brought them a ring and is a great teacher, but don't think they're going to try and win a championship for him. They look out for number one, themselves, because of the ring THEY will get and the publicity THEY will get, not what Larry Brown gets. Not to mention this whole Larry Brown thing probably distanced the players from LB, not made them closer.
You can forget about three, it's two and out for LB
Regardless of what happens with Detroit, Larry Brown is going to retire and will become the president of the Cleveland Cavaliers. It's basically set in stone and it's easy to see through LB's bullshit. The only reason all the information was leaked was because the Cavs pushed LB to make a decision because they were looking at other candidates. With LB's health, it's obvious to see he'd take the job in a second. Being the president of a team has a significant less amount of stress than being a coach does. If the Pistons manage to get out of this hole and win the title, then two things will happen. The Pistons will either all break up or they'll keep playing under a new coach, hopefully either Phil Jackson or Flip Saunders, although Flip Saunders is way overrated. Again, in either case, Larry Brown is gone. If the Pistons lose, our starters are all going to stay, and on our bench, Elden will probably retire, McDyess might look elsewhere, Dupree sucks so he's probably gone (admit it, he's NOT that good, tell me what he's done lately), the management will finally realize Darvin Ham is good for nothing and drop him. Carlos and Carlos will stay, and Darko will finally get a chance to shine. Believe me, he's going to be something special, don't be a dumbass fool and say he won't be. Joe Dumars hasn't failed yet and I doubt he will with Darko. If you've played NBA Live in Dynasty Mode and simulated into the future, you'd see that Darko will be great; in fact, he was MVP of the league for 5 years in both NBA Live 2004 AND 2005.
HAHAHAHALOLLMAOROFLBWHAHAHA... but seriously, Darko will be sweet... not in the near future, but sometime
THE BOTTOM LINE IS is that we've got an uphill battle; we're against the ropes, and we're down. BUT... we're NOT out, we just have to take things one game at a time. Now is the time to pull everything out of our asses, from Darko scoring 20 and getting 10 rebounds to Ben Wallace shooting 3s (he does in practice; Detroit Pistons practice doesn't start until Ben makes two 3s). Now is the time for miracles to happen, fuck Christmas. Now is the time for the Detroit Pistons to play their usual role as the underdog, and as usual, shock the world.
Two-peat
At first glance, the final score of last night's game between the Pistons and the Heat doesn't seem out of the ordinary. The smallest margin of victory so far in this series has been six points. Games always have been close towards the end of the game, and in the last few minutes a team pulls away, winning by an average of 8.5 points. However, the story was different in Game 5. With the series tied at 2-2, the Pistons really, REALLY blew it. The technical definition of a "must win" is when a team faces elimination if they lose the game. Aside from that, this game was a must win, because if the Pistons were to lose, they'd have to win two straight games, the final one being in Miami. They wound up choking, and now have to win back-to-back games against the team with the best record in the East.
Ben's thoughts on the Pistons' Game 5 loss to the Heat: "Ah shit, we're fucked now."
I admit, I was working out until about 9 (my body felt broken earlier in the day), and sped to get home so I could catch the game. Much to my dismay, the score was 47 - 27. I had to do a double take because a 20 point lead is pretty ridiculous, not to mention damn near insurmountable. The chronic problem the Detroit Pistons have had since the Rick Carlisle era began can be summed up in one word: inconsistency. The Pistons lose by 15 to terrible teams like the Golden State Warriors and Atlanta Hawks, and beat the select few better than them by 20. Detroit is streaky, and many of their games are nailbiters. The games are exciting, don't get me wrong, but I'd rather we beat every team by a lot. Remember a couple of years ago when Chauncey Billups had 3 or 4 buzzer beating game winning 3 pointers? That was only a handful of close games we had that season. We don't know how to close teams out. We get up by 13, 15, 18, then the other team slowly climbs their way back. Fortunately the opposite is also true. We somehow get down by 17 points, then make our way back up to take the lead. Unfortunately in those situations, Rasheed Wallace tends to shoot 3 pointers to try to be the hero instead of going inside with his 6'11" frame.
More on that. Rasheed Wallace was the catalyst last year that helped us to the NBA title, the X-Factor if you will. The problem with Rasheed is is that he loves the 3 point line. It's DAMN good that he has that range, and it's a very, very important weapon in our arsenal, but late in games he seems to drift out rather than try to pound inside to get a foul. Against Miami, whenever he's gone inside he usually gets fouled (last night the exception because of bullshit dickref calls), but whenever we're up by 2 or 3 and need points late in the game, he launches unneccesary 3s when he knows damn well he would probably get a foul if he went inside. He has some hero complex where he has to be the one to make the big shot, when that job is already assigned to Mr. Big Shot Chauncey Billups. If you recall Rasheed's very first game with Detroit, he tried to be the hero then with a last second 3 pointer, but he choked. Sheed has had a few big late shots, but the costs outweigh the benefits. In the playoffs this year, he's been fairly consistent, but he really plays a bigger factor than I think people realize. After doing some research, I've calculated that for Detroit to win a game, Rasheed needs at least 20 points and 5 rebounds. Early in the playoffs he had some REAL shitty games, and it seemed like he was high (or perhaps it was the lack of) when he was playing defense. He missed so many assignments and oftentimes left his man open for an easy dunk. The reason Reggie Miller played so well against us was because Rasheed wasn't switching correcly on pick and rolls; he was backing off and giving Reggie a free shot. He's tightened down his game some though, and he usually steps up after he guarantees a game. He's guaranteed Game 6, and if I were a betting man (and I am, but I have no money) I would take Detroit. Game 6 is basically a lock, and the Pistons are already favored by 6. We're at home, it's a must win, and Dwayne Wade will probably sit out to wait until Game 7 with his injured rib muscle. The only concern is Game 7 in Miami.
+
=
Sheed needs his weeeeeeeeed
The Larry Brown issue I will cover in a differnt article, but as Rip Hamilton said, they're not going to really play for Larry Brown, they're going to play for themselves. This isn't high school or college basketball you morons, this is the NBA. Most of the players are grown adults (not Darko) and are self indulgent and selfish. All the coach does for them is call plays and find weaknesses in the opponents' game. Yeah, Larry Brown is special to the players because he brought them a ring and is a great teacher, but don't think they're going to try and win a championship for him. They look out for number one, themselves, because of the ring THEY will get and the publicity THEY will get, not what Larry Brown gets. Not to mention this whole Larry Brown thing probably distanced the players from LB, not made them closer.
You can forget about three, it's two and out for LB
Regardless of what happens with Detroit, Larry Brown is going to retire and will become the president of the Cleveland Cavaliers. It's basically set in stone and it's easy to see through LB's bullshit. The only reason all the information was leaked was because the Cavs pushed LB to make a decision because they were looking at other candidates. With LB's health, it's obvious to see he'd take the job in a second. Being the president of a team has a significant less amount of stress than being a coach does. If the Pistons manage to get out of this hole and win the title, then two things will happen. The Pistons will either all break up or they'll keep playing under a new coach, hopefully either Phil Jackson or Flip Saunders, although Flip Saunders is way overrated. Again, in either case, Larry Brown is gone. If the Pistons lose, our starters are all going to stay, and on our bench, Elden will probably retire, McDyess might look elsewhere, Dupree sucks so he's probably gone (admit it, he's NOT that good, tell me what he's done lately), the management will finally realize Darvin Ham is good for nothing and drop him. Carlos and Carlos will stay, and Darko will finally get a chance to shine. Believe me, he's going to be something special, don't be a dumbass fool and say he won't be. Joe Dumars hasn't failed yet and I doubt he will with Darko. If you've played NBA Live in Dynasty Mode and simulated into the future, you'd see that Darko will be great; in fact, he was MVP of the league for 5 years in both NBA Live 2004 AND 2005.
HAHAHAHALOLLMAOROFLBWHAHAHA... but seriously, Darko will be sweet... not in the near future, but sometime
THE BOTTOM LINE IS is that we've got an uphill battle; we're against the ropes, and we're down. BUT... we're NOT out, we just have to take things one game at a time. Now is the time to pull everything out of our asses, from Darko scoring 20 and getting 10 rebounds to Ben Wallace shooting 3s (he does in practice; Detroit Pistons practice doesn't start until Ben makes two 3s). Now is the time for miracles to happen, fuck Christmas. Now is the time for the Detroit Pistons to play their usual role as the underdog, and as usual, shock the world.
Two-peat
posted by KTrain at 2:16 PM
3 Comments:
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