Detroit Pistons (and NBA) Playoff Thread

[eva unit zero 271]

The All-Defensive team has been announced...

First team:

C Ben Wallace

PF Kevin Garnett

PF Tim Duncan

SF Bruce Bowen

SG Larry Hughes

Second Team:

SF Tayshaun Prince

PG Chauncey Billups

C Marcus Camby

PF Andrei Kirilenko

PG Jason Kidd (tie)

SG Dwyane Wade (tie)

As expected...Detroit is well represented. Best center, second best small forward, best point guard.

[Naslund19 0]

Well, it looks as if 'Sheeds "guarantee" came through again. Last year he guaranteed a victory, as well he did this year. The Pistons now cannot go back to Detroit thinking because they are back at the Palace, they can win this series, however, they do have the momentum, IMO.

Way to go, Pistons!

It looks like my prediction was wrong, I thought they would take 'em in 5...oh well. Go Pistons!

Edited May 16, 2005 by Naslund19

[eva unit zero 271]

The Pistons need more points from Ben. He has scored like 16 in the last three games after averaging almost that much.

[Heaton 1]

The Pistons need more points from Ben. He has scored like 16 in the last three games after averaging almost that much.

He's getting double teamed in the paint and lord knows he's not going to settle for a jump shot.

[dallas27 7]

Was reading the ESPN Pistons board for my daily humor and I found this interesting: Indiana got the victory despite blowing a 17-point lead and losing its starting center to fouls with more than six minutes left. Most impressively, they overcame an inspired performance from a Knicks team that was undeterred by all the adversity that came its way -- everything from the referees' whistles to the Pacers' fans throwing beer and coins at them.

And Pacers fan sit there and call Detroit Pistons fans thugs and all that crap, oh this irony is killing me...If anything this article proves that it was Artests fault for what he did, not Ben or the cup...

[eva unit zero 271]

Was reading the ESPN Pistons board for my daily humor and I found this interesting: Indiana got the victory despite blowing a 17-point lead and losing its starting center to fouls with more than six minutes left. Most impressively, they overcame an inspired performance from a Knicks team that was undeterred by all the adversity that came its way -- everything from the referees' whistles to the Pacers' fans throwing beer and coins at them.

And Pacers fan sit there and call Detroit Pistons fans thugs and all that crap, oh this irony is killing me...If anything this article proves that it was Artests fault for what he did, not Ben or the cup...

That's priceless.

[Heaton 1]

ballgame, time for the pistons to take on the heat!

[whitneydatsyukrox 0]

Eastern Conference Finals here we come!!!!!!

But on a side note, it'll be strange not seeing Reggie anymore. It's a shame that he never won the championship, but oh well. Detroit's advancing is more important to me.

[Naslund19 0]

Well, congrats to the Pistons on advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals!! I thought the Pistons were actually going to lose last night, but I'm glad they just got the job done in Indiana. Now, they need to be ready for their next challange; the Miami Heat. IMO, it's going to go to 7 games and honestly, I feel the Heat can take the Pistons. I sure hope I'm wrong, that's just my feeling right now, though.

You know the Heat have had quite a few days off waiting to see who they are going to play, so they are going to be well-rested and ready to go. I believe that Shaq will also be more rested, which will be tough on the Pistons.

I am still hoping the Pistons can go to the Finals, there's plenty of basketball to still be played. LET'S GO PISTONS!!!!

[johnogrodnickfanclub 0]

According to yesterday's Miami Herald:

O'Neal's thigh contusion has not seen much improvement over the last few days and the Heat center is noncommittal about his status for Game 1, which could be played as early as Monday, the Miami Herald reports.

But even if Shaq's healthy, I'm still scared of the Heat. They've been really rolling through the playoffs with ease...and Wade is a playoff monster going all the way back to last years playoffs.

Wade is really though matchup for us...he's 6'4" and a very muscular, very quick/agile 212 lbs. He's got a decent midrange perimeter shot, he can drive, and he can get very very physical down low against smaller weaker players. And he's willing to play with the reckless abandon for his own body...much like Allen Iverson.

I honestly don't think we can take Wade one-on-one...we have to bring help. And we have to hope Shaq is really banged up...cuz we can't take a healthy Shaq one-on-one either.

Should be a GREAT series...

[dallas27 7]

Well they, the Heat, have been rolling through these playoffs with ease becuase they haven't been playing the best of quality of teams and it's becuase of that same fact that Wade has been a scoring machine. Chauncey or Rip could very well have the same stats if they played those same teams, but I'm not trying to take anything away from Wade, the kid knows how to ball. The Pistons in the regular season held him to 5 points one game, 17 another game, but 31 one game. I wouldn't call it a tough match-up, Tayshaun will most likely be guarding Wade and he has had no problem guarding the likes of the best players in the NBA, those of who are a ton better than Wade.

I echo Chauncey's beliefs on rest: I'd rather be playing every other day than have to sit out of gametime for 2 weeks or however long the Heat sat out. Right now the Pistons have the momentum going into game 1 becuase of that. I mean, would you want to take 2 weeks off before the Masters for rest? Hell no, you'd be out on the golf course everyday practicing and playing in those two tournaments before. Same could be said about other sports as well.

Shaq has to be a force in order for them to win this series and I also think he has to be 100% in order to be a force. 75% Shaq is still scary but don't forget the Pistons have Elden to slow him down a little. Dwane Wade isn't going to win the series for the Heat by himself...

The Pistons have been following in their footsteps from last year if you think about it. They have been up and down for the first half of the season, started stepping it up the second half, played awesome the last 2 months, finished with the same record, hasn't had an easy series yet, and people are still picking Miami and San Antonio over them...

*EDIT* Shaq did not practice yesterday either.

Edited May 20, 2005 by dallas27

[gowingsgo 3]

Shaq will be back and he will be fine. The series probably wont be the most entertaining to watch from a basketball fan point of view.

I'm much more pumped about a potential Phoenix-San Antonio series out west.

I dont think you can pick against the Champs though. Someone has to beat the champs, they arent going to beat themselves. I like Shaq and the Heat but LB has the Pistons rock'n and roll'n right now.

[mattcorpolongo 0]

Shaq is no match for the Pistons...We've got Ben, Rasheed, Cambell, Darko if you will, he's pretty much locked...Dwyane Wade is their only obstacle....What I think; stick Tayshaun on him....Just like Kobe.

[Cruiser008 37]

Finally, after two rounds mostly void of unpredictability (IMO 0 upsets so far, since the only lower seeded to win a series has been Indiana, and many felt they were better than Boston anyways). The 4 teams who were the CLASS of the NBA this year have advanced without even playing there best ball. Now the fun begins!

As for Detroit-Miami, most ppl here saw this coming back in December/January. Wade, Zo and the 2-Jones have REALLY stepped up their game in the post-season, and that worries me a bit. Before I would've said Detroit, but our scorers, while generally dependable have gone through a few cold streaks. I still hope Detroit wins but from here on in the 3 remaining series are all pretty much toss-ups.

Go Pistons!!

[LondonWing 0]

As a non Pistons fan I think I can say with some neutrality that they need not be too concerned if Shaq is healthy, you had no trouble beating him in the playoffs last year with a better supporting cast than what Miami has this year.

[BlueMonk 102]

The Phoenix-San Antonio game was pretty exciting yesterday. The Suns had to play an emotional OT game to close out their series with Dallas on Friday night, then had to play a matinee game on Sunday? Brutal. Unfortunately for them, losing game one could be decisive. The Spurs don't f**k around. With home court advantage, it will be hard to beat them on their own court. Phoenix has made a habit all season of keeping the game close until the fourth quarter, then blowing the other team out by just running them into the ground. Yesterday, the Suns were the ones who lost it late in the game, whether by fatigue or what, I don't know.

Pistons-Heat should be a competitive series. No idea what to say about the final outcome. The Heat look pretty solid and they're playing together as a team, making sacrifices to get wins. I do think Wade will be slowed down by the Pistons. If Shaq is effective, they have a good chance to advance. My biggest concern is the Pistons playing below their peak during this series. They did it during both of their other series and got away with it, but against Miami it will cost them.

[DatsyukownzU13 1]

Pistons get game 1, keep on rolling. Sheed played really well and once again Chauncey was pretty clutch. I like the Tayshaun-Dwayne matchup a lot. Good Stuff.

[Cruiser008 37]

Good win tonight by the 'stons. It was only one game, but D Wade sure tried to do his best impression of Kobe in last years finals... rushing shots and trying to do everything himself . Still very early though. Let's see what the rest of the series brings.

[johnogrodnickfanclub 0]

Good win tonight by the 'stons. It was only one game, but D Wade sure tried to do his best impression of Kobe in last years finals... rushing shots and trying to do everything himself . Still very early though. Let's see what the rest of the series brings.

Not really...

He missed several buckets he normally makes. Was he just off? Was it because we contested the shot that well? Not sure. But it's not like Kobe...he wasn't taking dumbass shots no one should ever take...he was just missing buckets he typically makes.

Great start for the Pistons though! We gotta keep on Wade and contest all his shots! Shaq is clearly not 100% so we gotta take advantage of that as well!

[betterREDthandead 58]

This should be fun. The Heat can't match up at all with the Pistons while the Pistons have the ball. Their best defender is Shaq, and what do we care, because he's stuck on Ben, who won't have the ball. Shaq can't guard Sheed because Sheed will just fire away from 3. As Sheed displayed, they can't really guard him. Dwyane Wade has to guard Tayshaun, and he can't - Tayshaun abused him. But he'd do even better if guarded by someone else. And Chauncey can torch Damon Jones, as can Rip. The Pistons will win because the Heat can't match up - somebody on the Pistons is going to have a huge game every night. And great defense beats great offense anytime, anywhere, so Wade might get his looks, but not often enough. ESPN put it this way: Maybe Wade made it look so easy against New Jersey and Washington because it was so easy; the Pistons are the defending champs for a reason.

[dallas27 7]

Not really...

He missed several buckets he normally makes. Was he just off? Was it because we contested the shot that well? Not sure. But it's not like Kobe...he wasn't taking dumbass shots no one should ever take...he was just missing buckets he typically makes.

Great start for the Pistons though! We gotta keep on Wade and contest all his shots! Shaq is clearly not 100% so we gotta take advantage of that as well!

Sorta...

He wasn't driving to the basket at all that much and even when he did he got stuffed by someone. And he only got to the foul line I think twice. He missed some shots that he normally makes but the majority of them were HIGHLY contested not only by Tayshaun but the whole Pistons defense.

I hope this is a reality check to all the bandwaggon "analysts." The only ones worth listening to are Stephen A. and Greg Anthony and they have the Pistons winning it all, which they should.

[BlueMonk 102]

Oh, I think the Kobe-Wade comparisons are on the money. I'm not saying that Wade is a ball hog with selfish ambitions. Far from it. But they played essentially the same way, at least in this one game. Wade is accustomed to having an open teammate, so he makes his move and gets ready to pass when he doesn't have a shot, but... there's no open teammate. The Pistons aren't double teaming anyone. It's an adjustment. Wade will probably improve in game two. But I think we also have to cut Kobe some slack and start crediting Detroit for a lot more of the problems the Lakers had. Everyone wanted to make the excuse that they imploded because Kobe wouldn't give the ball up. Well, when everyone's got a man draped on him, who do you want taking the difficult shot? Kobe Bryant, or Slava Medvedenko? Same thing with Wade. He was taking tough shots, but better him than Damon Jones, I guess.

Anyway, I expect the Heat to bounce back. Rasheed won't play like that two games in a row. The way he stepped out worked well, but ultimately I'd like to see him try to post up a little bit, too. Regardless, this was a huge win for the Pistons. Game one winners at this level go on to win the series at a really high clip.

[betterREDthandead 58]

Anyway, I expect the Heat to bounce back. Rasheed won't play like that two games in a row. The way he stepped out worked well, but ultimately I'd like to see him try to post up a little bit, too. Regardless, this was a huge win for the Pistons. Game one winners at this level go on to win the series at a really high clip.

Sheed may not, but against the Heat, someone will always have a big game. The Heat can't matchup on defense. Keyon Dooling should get more minutes replacing Damon Jones, but neither one can defend Chauncey. Wade is a sensational player when he gets the chance (and one day, he will make his own chances), so when he goes off, the Heat will win. But he won't do it four times.

[Rice 42]

Pistons lose. This is why I hate basketball, most of the game is decided by the refs.

On a better note, the pistons came close and they played AWFUL.

Oh, and Stan VanGundy looks like Ron Jeremy.

[johnogrodnickfanclub 0]

We stop Wade? We win. We don't stop Wade? We lose.

STOP WADE!!!!!!!!