Kori Ellis
06-21-2005, 01:00 AM
Pistons ponder late freeze-up
Web Posted: 06/21/2005 12:00 AM CDT
Mike Finger
Express-News Staff Writer
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA062105.4S.BKNpistons.brown.2cb601cc.html
On the morning after they left Robert Horry inexplicably open and the Palace of Auburn Hills eerily quiet, the Detroit Pistons woke up somewhere between resolve and regret.
A bleary-eyed Larry Brown vowed not to have his team's season end without another fight, even while admitting he hadn't slept much while tossing and turning in the aftermath of the tussle that had gotten away.
Game 6 of the NBA Finals looms tonight for the Pistons in a building where they have never won, against a Spurs team that loses less frequently at home than any team in the league.
But the key to whether or not the Pistons can extend their season isn't about what they bring with them to the SBC Center from Detroit. It's about how much of the Horry hangover — the "coulda, woulda, shoulda," as Rasheed Wallace called it — they can leave behind.
"We did let it slip through our fingers," Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince said of Sunday's 96-95 overtime loss, one that put Detroit in a 3-2 series deficit. "But we have to move on."
On Monday, though, the rest of Michigan wasn't quite ready to let them. Brown and Wallace were roasted in print and over the airwaves for allowing Horry to hit his game-winning 3-pointer, which was uncontested despite his torrid shooting spurt in the fourth quarter and OT.
Wallace, clearly, was the man who should have had a hand in Horry's face. When Horry inbounded the ball from the sideline with 9.4 seconds left, Wallace was guarding him, but left Horry to trap Manu Ginobili in the corner. When Ginobili passed the ball back to Horry outside the 3-point line, no Pistons player was close enough to challenge the shot that changed the entire series.
Brown took responsibility for the defensive lapse and said Wallace was "a great player trying to make a great play." But it was clear from his comments that Brown was frustrated about Wallace's inability to carry out the plan the Pistons had devised during the timeout.
"When you leave the huddle, you can say things 25 times," Brown said, "but sometimes you need to say it 26 times. You can go over things over and over again, but you have to be relentless in making people understand. I think (Wallace was) trying to make the right play. It just happened."
As disheartening as the loss was for the Pistons, players sounded optimistic about their ability to overcome the disappointment in time for tonight's game. Four times already this postseason, Detroit has come back to tie or win a series after trailing by at least a game.
"It's no big deal," guard Lindsey Hunter said. "We just need to go down there and win two."
The trouble is, the Pistons haven't even won once in San Antonio since the 1996-97 season, a span of 10 games. And now they face the pressure of ending that skid knowing that if they don't, their season — and hopes of back-to-back NBA championships — is over.
Detroit center Ben Wallace said his team simply needs to play with the same focus the Spurs had in Game 5.
"We've still got a lot of fight in us," Ben Wallace said. "We've got to do what they did."
Said Prince: "We've had our backs against the wall many times. We just have to battle like we've been doing all season. We're up for it."
Web Posted: 06/21/2005 12:00 AM CDT
Mike Finger
Express-News Staff Writer
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA062105.4S.BKNpistons.brown.2cb601cc.html
On the morning after they left Robert Horry inexplicably open and the Palace of Auburn Hills eerily quiet, the Detroit Pistons woke up somewhere between resolve and regret.
A bleary-eyed Larry Brown vowed not to have his team's season end without another fight, even while admitting he hadn't slept much while tossing and turning in the aftermath of the tussle that had gotten away.
Game 6 of the NBA Finals looms tonight for the Pistons in a building where they have never won, against a Spurs team that loses less frequently at home than any team in the league.
But the key to whether or not the Pistons can extend their season isn't about what they bring with them to the SBC Center from Detroit. It's about how much of the Horry hangover — the "coulda, woulda, shoulda," as Rasheed Wallace called it — they can leave behind.
"We did let it slip through our fingers," Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince said of Sunday's 96-95 overtime loss, one that put Detroit in a 3-2 series deficit. "But we have to move on."
On Monday, though, the rest of Michigan wasn't quite ready to let them. Brown and Wallace were roasted in print and over the airwaves for allowing Horry to hit his game-winning 3-pointer, which was uncontested despite his torrid shooting spurt in the fourth quarter and OT.
Wallace, clearly, was the man who should have had a hand in Horry's face. When Horry inbounded the ball from the sideline with 9.4 seconds left, Wallace was guarding him, but left Horry to trap Manu Ginobili in the corner. When Ginobili passed the ball back to Horry outside the 3-point line, no Pistons player was close enough to challenge the shot that changed the entire series.
Brown took responsibility for the defensive lapse and said Wallace was "a great player trying to make a great play." But it was clear from his comments that Brown was frustrated about Wallace's inability to carry out the plan the Pistons had devised during the timeout.
"When you leave the huddle, you can say things 25 times," Brown said, "but sometimes you need to say it 26 times. You can go over things over and over again, but you have to be relentless in making people understand. I think (Wallace was) trying to make the right play. It just happened."
As disheartening as the loss was for the Pistons, players sounded optimistic about their ability to overcome the disappointment in time for tonight's game. Four times already this postseason, Detroit has come back to tie or win a series after trailing by at least a game.
"It's no big deal," guard Lindsey Hunter said. "We just need to go down there and win two."
The trouble is, the Pistons haven't even won once in San Antonio since the 1996-97 season, a span of 10 games. And now they face the pressure of ending that skid knowing that if they don't, their season — and hopes of back-to-back NBA championships — is over.
Detroit center Ben Wallace said his team simply needs to play with the same focus the Spurs had in Game 5.
"We've still got a lot of fight in us," Ben Wallace said. "We've got to do what they did."
Said Prince: "We've had our backs against the wall many times. We just have to battle like we've been doing all season. We're up for it."