Detroit News articles for Wednesday

[Kori Ellis]

Popovich, Brown to collide
Spurs coach admits he wouldn't be in the Finals without help from Pistons coach.

By Joanne C. Gerstner / The Detroit News

http://www.detnews.com/2005/pistons/0506/08/E08-208495.htm


SAN ANTONIO -- They're close friends, to the point where they talk nearly every day.

So fate and the NBA Finals won't interfere with the relationship between Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and Pistons coach Larry Brown.

Popovich mused on how odd it was, wondering about the weird twists in sports that can put best friends at odds.

"It will be a strange situation, trying to beat somebody up and hope they do well at the same time," Popovich said. "Sort of a schizophrenic approach. All in all, it's a real thrill to be able to be in the Finals and see the guy who brought you into the league in the first place.

"Without him I wouldn't be here, so it's kind of cool."

Popovich said he called Brown after the Pistons won the Eastern Conference finals in Miami on Monday night. He said the two are likely to have dinner or some social contact during the Finals.

But friends or no friends, this is still a competition to see who will emerge as NBA champion. Popovich said he doesn't think the Pistons and Spurs will fool one another much.

"That's probably the toughest part of the whole thing," Popovich said. "We're going to approach different aspects of the game the same way. So it's like beating your head against the wall. You know he knows what we're going to do, and I think we pretty much know what they're going to do.

"It's going to come down to players that execute, players that step up and play well individually, and teams that take care of the ball that night. We're going to pretty much cancel each other out in some ways, I think."


Champ vs. champ

Spurs guard Manu Ginobili sees the Finals as the ultimate matchup -- NBA champ vs. NBA champ. The Pistons are the defending champions, and the Spurs won the title in 2003.

'We both have been there, the last two years, so we feel a little like we're champions too," Ginobili said. "It wasn't that much time ago (that the Spurs won)."


They said it ...

Spurs assistant coach P.J. Carlesimo, joking about the differences between Brown and Popovich: "It's a cheap shot, but it's easier to remember Pop's address than Larry's."

Carlesimo has worked with both men and considers them friends.

They said it, part II

Popovich, after being asked if he felt guilty for a while when he had two NBA championship rings and Brown had none: "I feel guilty all the time, for just being here. What the hell am I doing here? (Popovich laughs.) I didn't need a championship to feel like that."

Quick shots

The NBA Finals are not the biggest thing in San Antonio. The city held a mayoral runoff Tuesday, and a huge convention of bioscientists has taken over hotels and the convention center.

... Hottest T-shirt spotted around town: "Got Manu?" The shirt is a take on the "Got Milk?" ad campaign.

[Kori Ellis]

Spurs are still mighty
They load up on teams with Duncan at forward and Parker and Ginobili manning the backcourt.

By Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

http://www.detnews.com/2005/pistons/0506/08/E01-208526.htm

AUBURN HILLS -- You wouldn't blame the Pistons if they didn't want to let go immediately of their noble victory over the Heat in Game 7 on Monday night.

It was, with all its drama, plot twists and praiseworthy performances, what the networks call an instant classic. The sporting public will be hashing and rehashing not just Game 7, but also the entire seven-game series, for years to come.

"That was what you play the game for," Richard Hamilton said. "As a basketball player, that's what you live for."

Said Chauncey Billups: "That was the best series I've ever played in."

But the Pistons don't have time to bask. As they know, nobody passes out rings and organizes parades for winning a conference title.

The Pistons had about half a day Tuesday to enjoy the sweetness of that hard-earned victory -- that historic victory, actually, as it was the franchise's first Game 7 win on the road -- before boarding a plane bound for San Antonio and getting back to business in the NBA Finals.

Believe this, as tough as the Heat were, the Spurs will be tougher.

"I don't think there's much that you can really say about the Spurs," Billups said. "They are an unbelievable team and are very well coached. They have some great players; Tim Duncan is one of the best probably to ever play the game. So, you know, I think you are going to see another great series."

This is the first time since 1987 that the two previous NBA champions will meet in the Finals. The Spurs won it in 2003, and the Pistons won it last year.

The Spurs and Pistons are the league's two stingiest defensive teams. Each is driven by an elite set of guards -- Billups and Hamilton for the Pistons, and Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili for the Spurs. Each has elite forwards -- Duncan for the Spurs, and Ben and Rasheed Wallace for the Pistons.

Each team has a capable supporting cast -- Tayshaun Prince, Antonio McDyess and Lindsey Hunter for the Pistons, and Bruce Bowen, Brent Barry and Robert Horry for the Spurs.

The two coaches -- Larry Brown and Gregg Popovich -- are the best of friends (Popovich was the best man at Brown's wedding), and the teams use similar basketball systems.

There are plenty of story lines, but one will be all too familiar to the Pistons. They again will be cast in the role of underdogs.

"We played San Antonio twice and split with them, and the game we lost down there was a pretty good game," Billups said. "It's going to be a tough series. They are one of the best home teams in the game, if not the best. But we are looking forward to it. I just can't wait, man, I can't wait."

The Spurs can't, either. They haven't played since June 1. That's plenty of time to heal their bumps and bruises (namely Duncan's sore right ankle) and plenty of time to grow rust.

"I thought the four best teams were in the conference finals this year," Brown said. "But I still think the Spurs are special.

"We have great respect for them. They have won two championships with Gregg and not too many people talk about it. We are the defending champs and not very many people talk about that."

Brown doesn't want to hear about how these teams aren't exactly big draws outside of their markets.

"I think our teams play the game the right way," Brown said. "We both try to defend. We both share the ball. We both can score. We both have great players. I think we help the game the way we play."

The Pistons are no longer worried about what outsiders say about them. Their accomplishments, last year and in getting to the Finals again, say it all.

"It's been a crazy season, man," Billups said. "This season has presented a different challenge for us because this season we were the hunted. We won a championship hunting people down, and now people were hunting us. We lost a lot of games early because we didn't realize how hard people were coming at us. We got everybody's best game, everybody's A-game every night, and it was tough.

"That was tough early in the season, then everything else that went on (the brawl against the Pacers, Brown's health), all of that took a toll on our team. But to come through and win a series like this is validation that, you now, we have some tough players on our team."


Briefly


The Pistons lost 15 spots in the second round of the 2005 draft Tuesday. The 76ers acquired Utah's second-round pick (60th overall) and sent it to the Pistons to complete the 1997 Jerry Stackhouse trade. The move enables the 76ers to keep their second-round pick (45th overall). The Pistons will have three picks in the June 28 draft -- their first-round pick (No. 26), their second-round (No. 56), and the Jazz's second-round (No. 60).

[Kori Ellis]

Pistons' energy becomes issue
Seven-game marathon against the Heat was a more difficult road than the Spurs traveled.

http://www.detnews.com/2005/pistons/0506/08/E08-208494.htm

By Ted Kulfan / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- The Pistons overcame rampant speculation concerning coach Larry Brown's future with the organization and the rugged Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals.

But in the San Antonio Spurs, the Pistons have a different obstacle to overcome as they try to defend their NBA championship.

Some analysts say the Pistons' energy level is a huge question heading into the Finals.

"Have the Pistons fully recovered from a tough, tough series with Miami?" asked Magic Johnson, a TNT analyst, on a national teleconference Tuesday.

Whether or not the Pistons do, Johnson said, is likely to be seen in the first two games of the Finals, beginning Thursday in San Antonio.

The Pistons will need plenty of the perseverance and determination they showed against the Heat to defeat a rested and equally talented Spurs team seeking a third title in seven years.

"They (the Spurs) are tremendous," Johnson said.

Hubie Brown, ABC's lead analyst for the Finals (Al Michaels will handle the play-by-play), said the Spurs have three outstanding offensive options in forward Tim Duncan and guards Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.

Parker is a significant upgrade over the Heat's Damon Jones at point guard, Brown said. He noted that Parker has the ability to create offense for himself but does a fine job of running the offense overall, something Jones wasn't always able to do.

It will be up to two quality defenders, Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton, to contain Parker and Ginobili, Brown said.

Analysts generally agreed the Pistons have done well to overcome the rumors surrounding Brown's possibly leaving Detroit and taking a front-office job in Cleveland.

But they'll need to maintain that focus in the most important series.

Hall of Famer Julius Erving said he noticed that the Pistons occasionally tuned out Brown at some points in the playoffs, so they will need sharper focus against the Spurs.

The Pistons have closed ranks, Johnson said, and concentrated on winning another title.

"They want to win a championship," he said, "and whatever Larry does is up to him."

The Spurs and Pistons have won the last two NBA championships and possess some of the game's leading lights in Duncan, Ben and Rasheed Wallace, and their respective guards.

Then there's the friendship between Brown and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.

"There's no shortage of stories," Michaels said.

[Kori Ellis]

Pistons will take no excuses into series vs. Spurs
By Rob Parker / The Detroit News

http://www.detnews.com/2005/pistons/0506/08/E01-208525.htm

A championship team would never say it has accomplished anything, short of winning a championship again.

That's why the Pistons aren't ready to celebrate -- yet. Although extremely happy they knocked off the Miami Heat -- winning a seven-game series with an 88-82 victory at Miami on Monday night -- they won't be satisfied until they can do the same against the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals.

From day one this season, the goal was to repeat as champions, not just get back to the championship round.

Still, the Pistons have accomplished plenty en route to this point, proving they are true champions, not flukes.

Sure, some still will count out the Pistons against the Spurs. But there won't be as many. There can't be.

The Pistons' gut-testing, dig-down-deep victory over the hyped Heat showed what this team is made of, what odds it had to overcome to keep playing into June. This isn't about how many superstars you have, but whether you can come through when the game is on the line.

"I believe in these guys," Pistons president Joe Dumars said. "Others don't believe in us because we don't have sex appeal, we don't have star power that makes it easy for people to write and report on. So it's hard for them to figure out why we win.

"You have to understand the game to know why we win. If you don't know the game, you miss it."

The Pistons refused to miss a second opportunity at greatness, even though they were no longer surprising to anyone. Every night, teams wanted to take their best shot at the champs. For many it was their postseason, their chance to touch the NBA Finals. They couldn't get there the real way.

"This season presented a different challenge for us because now this season, we come in and we're the hunted," Chauncey Billups said. "We won the championship hunting down people and we were the ones hunting people and now people are hunting us.

"It's been tough, man, but to win the series like this is validation that, you know, we have some tough players on our team and we just always persevere."

The Pistons usually have had an out. They could have said they couldn't beat the powerful Los Angeles Lakers with superstars Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant last June. They could have given into all the talk that they couldn't beat Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade. If they had really wanted a built-in excuse, they could have said all the talk about coach Larry Brown's going to Cleveland after the season was a distraction.

"We have a great group of guys in our locker room, we have a great coaching staff and you really can't believe what people say outside of that," said Rip Hamilton, who had a game-high 22 points in Game 7. "We're the same group of guys that won the championship last year."

These Pistons might not be the Bad Boy Pistons or the 1984 Tigers, but they have cemented a place in the hearts of Detroit fans.

The playoff conquest of the Heat might go down as the greatest postseason victory this town has seen.

That's an accomplishment. That's a reason for people to take notice.

[Kori Ellis]

Detroit News has a sold group of writers that I read all season. I just thought it would be easier to read to post all their articles in one thread.

[SilverPlayer]

They act like Bruce Bowen has neverfought through a screen before. Funny that! Isn't his ability to get throughg screens one of the main things that makes him so effective?

[milkyway21]

While some would say Duncan has had time to rest, he's really just had time to rust. Once you're rolling in the playoffs, an eight-day layoff like this one can really sap your momentum.



...if I remember correctly,

...they waited nine days before playing -- and winning -- the 1999 title,

...and they overcame a five-day layoff before winning the 2003 title, too!

no problemo.

[milkyway21]

. Imagine how the players felt in that series and ask yourself if a rumor about their coach is going to sway their mental focus.hmmnn, I think this is not the biggest concern over Coach Brown for me. I big problem here is can his health survive the playoffs? it's in the news some days ago that he needs to go back to Minnesota to have his surgery(hips) checked for some complications. How long can he be on the sides?

[milkyway21]

milyway ur a lucky man----i just thought about u(i dont know why) and all of a sudden u make a post....i thought of milk..and then ur name came uphttp://spurstalk.com/forums/images/smilies/smirolleyes.gif


wierd?

ur lucky today
:lol

well, maybe you might need some to get you some :sleep

BTW, i am not milk, I am a galaxy... :angel

[Jimcs50]

I wonder if Pop and Larry will discuss stategies during timeouts in the series.

:)


Is this the first time that Team USA Olympic coaches have gone head to head in the Finals the next year?

[bonesinaz]

wtf pop grow some balls for 2 weeks...just two weeks

he is ur ENEMY for 2 weeks

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

[SPARKY]

If Pop really believes what he is saying he might as well bring a tube of KY Jelly to the SBC on Thursday night...

[2centsworth]

I like the sig sparky!