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01-11-2008, 03:04 AM
Buck Harvey: Another MVP? If Pistons had been here instead
Web Posted: 01/11/2008 12:37 AM CST
Buck Harvey
Express-News Staff Writer
Chauncey Billups watched some of the Finals last June. So did Lindsey Hunter.
Rasheed Wallace?
“Nah, I'm a football fan,” he said.
But 'Sheed sure knows what he missed. He also knows what happened in his place. The Pistons' sudden and confusing collapse to an inferior team last spring changed careers, and Detroit feels that even after pushing around the Spurs on Thursday.
But so does a Spur.
Tony Parker.
The Pistons have only themselves to blame, and this is adding up for them. They lost the 2005 Finals to the Spurs in seven games, and that still haunts some of them.
Antonio McDyess, for example, said “just walking” into the AT&T Center last year “made me sick to my stomach.”
The nausea adds up. In 2006, with the league's best record, the Pistons fell to Miami. And last season they should have beaten a team the Spurs eventually swept.
The Spurs thought the same as they watched the Eastern Conference finals from a thousand miles away. They weren't sure if the Pistons had quit trying on defense, or they simply didn't know what to do.
After being eliminated, Billups at least knew what was next. Billups praises Cleveland, and he also says, “Yeah, I saw a sweep coming.”
And had the Pistons met the Spurs instead? “Oh, it would have been another great series,” he said. “Everybody wanted to see it.”
The term “everybody” is strong. TV ratings were low enough with LeBron James on the stage. Still, a lot of people in San Antonio and Detroit would have been curious to see two balanced, similarly paced teams in a rematch.
It wouldn't have been a sweep. There also would have been a night that looked like Thursday.
Then the Pistons slapped the Spurs with elbows, and they contested shots, and they turned everything back to 2005. Then, after the Spurs won that title, Gregg Popovich said, “I don't know how we did it.”
Others weren't sure, either. In four of the games, including the Robert Horry Classic, it appeared the Pistons were the better team.
Thursday had the same look, and Popovich had a look of his own. When the Pistons went on a 22-2 run to end the first quarter, Popovich never called a timeout. He chose, instead, to sip from a cup.
If this was a message for his players, it was this: You have to decide to play. Afterward he praised Tim Duncan and Jacque Vaughn and, when asked to critique others, he praised Duncan and Vaughn some more.
Vaughn's inclusion comes with a twist. He was the tough point guard on this night, and a moment in the fourth quarter defined that. Then Hunter pressured Parker, sticking a hand inside his arms. When Hunter yanked, the ball popped 15 feet into the air.
Those who squinted thought this was 2005, and Parker looked a lot like Beno Udrih.
Another twist: Udrih has already helped Sacramento beat Detroit this season.
Parker made some plays in 2005 to help the Spurs win the title, but he was doing everything he could then to hang on. Billups and Hunter are tough matches for him.
Billups muscles Parker with the ball, and Hunter is among the best on-the-ball defenders. Asked if Parker would have been the MVP in a series against the Pistons, Billups didn't hesitate.
“No,” he said. “Because we would have won.”
Billups was being playful. He respects the Spurs, which is why he made sure to walk down the sideline to shake Popovich's hand before the game. “They are THE team,” Billups said.
But MVPs sometimes change depending upon circumstance, and, in Cleveland, Parker found his easiest opponents of the playoffs. Daniel Gibson was too young, Eric Snow too old and Larry Hughes too injured.
Parker then played as well as he ever has, and he deserved his MVP trophy. He's also better now than he was in 2005. Given another chance to respond to Billups and Hunter, just as the Pistons regrouped after losing to the Mavericks, Parker would find himself.
But over a series?
If the Spurs had beaten another opponent last June, they would have had another MVP.
[email protected]
LINK: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA011108_BuckHarvey.en.e7a8d14.html
Web Posted: 01/11/2008 12:37 AM CST
Buck Harvey
Express-News Staff Writer
Chauncey Billups watched some of the Finals last June. So did Lindsey Hunter.
Rasheed Wallace?
“Nah, I'm a football fan,” he said.
But 'Sheed sure knows what he missed. He also knows what happened in his place. The Pistons' sudden and confusing collapse to an inferior team last spring changed careers, and Detroit feels that even after pushing around the Spurs on Thursday.
But so does a Spur.
Tony Parker.
The Pistons have only themselves to blame, and this is adding up for them. They lost the 2005 Finals to the Spurs in seven games, and that still haunts some of them.
Antonio McDyess, for example, said “just walking” into the AT&T Center last year “made me sick to my stomach.”
The nausea adds up. In 2006, with the league's best record, the Pistons fell to Miami. And last season they should have beaten a team the Spurs eventually swept.
The Spurs thought the same as they watched the Eastern Conference finals from a thousand miles away. They weren't sure if the Pistons had quit trying on defense, or they simply didn't know what to do.
After being eliminated, Billups at least knew what was next. Billups praises Cleveland, and he also says, “Yeah, I saw a sweep coming.”
And had the Pistons met the Spurs instead? “Oh, it would have been another great series,” he said. “Everybody wanted to see it.”
The term “everybody” is strong. TV ratings were low enough with LeBron James on the stage. Still, a lot of people in San Antonio and Detroit would have been curious to see two balanced, similarly paced teams in a rematch.
It wouldn't have been a sweep. There also would have been a night that looked like Thursday.
Then the Pistons slapped the Spurs with elbows, and they contested shots, and they turned everything back to 2005. Then, after the Spurs won that title, Gregg Popovich said, “I don't know how we did it.”
Others weren't sure, either. In four of the games, including the Robert Horry Classic, it appeared the Pistons were the better team.
Thursday had the same look, and Popovich had a look of his own. When the Pistons went on a 22-2 run to end the first quarter, Popovich never called a timeout. He chose, instead, to sip from a cup.
If this was a message for his players, it was this: You have to decide to play. Afterward he praised Tim Duncan and Jacque Vaughn and, when asked to critique others, he praised Duncan and Vaughn some more.
Vaughn's inclusion comes with a twist. He was the tough point guard on this night, and a moment in the fourth quarter defined that. Then Hunter pressured Parker, sticking a hand inside his arms. When Hunter yanked, the ball popped 15 feet into the air.
Those who squinted thought this was 2005, and Parker looked a lot like Beno Udrih.
Another twist: Udrih has already helped Sacramento beat Detroit this season.
Parker made some plays in 2005 to help the Spurs win the title, but he was doing everything he could then to hang on. Billups and Hunter are tough matches for him.
Billups muscles Parker with the ball, and Hunter is among the best on-the-ball defenders. Asked if Parker would have been the MVP in a series against the Pistons, Billups didn't hesitate.
“No,” he said. “Because we would have won.”
Billups was being playful. He respects the Spurs, which is why he made sure to walk down the sideline to shake Popovich's hand before the game. “They are THE team,” Billups said.
But MVPs sometimes change depending upon circumstance, and, in Cleveland, Parker found his easiest opponents of the playoffs. Daniel Gibson was too young, Eric Snow too old and Larry Hughes too injured.
Parker then played as well as he ever has, and he deserved his MVP trophy. He's also better now than he was in 2005. Given another chance to respond to Billups and Hunter, just as the Pistons regrouped after losing to the Mavericks, Parker would find himself.
But over a series?
If the Spurs had beaten another opponent last June, they would have had another MVP.
[email protected]
LINK: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA011108_BuckHarvey.en.e7a8d14.html