Reply With Quote
No.
Say AI thrives as a 6th man, you are going to sit here and tell me the Pistons wont be elite and have a great shot at eliminating the Lakers/Cavs/Celts in a 7 game series???
No.
No. And there are 4 elite teams in the NBA right now: Spurs, Cavs, Lakers, and Celtics. The only way the Pistons would beat the Celtics in the playoffs would be if Allen, Pierce, and KG were all injured and unable to play the entire series.
They're playing much better thanks to Iverson being out, but they won't be elite with that dumbass as the coach.
I see it like this:
The Spurs have a matchup problem against the Lakers.
But if somehow they can survive the Lakers, I like their chances in any other series (including finals against top East team).
No.
Elite? not quite but the Pistons are the Pistons and they can give any team some troubles if they keep focused throughout a series. It might not go down their way but I can see them taking any team a game seven if focused - but only time will tell.
That's a huge "if." Iverson doesn't want to come off the bench. Expecting him to "thrive" as the 6th man is a huge leap of faith. And, even if that happens, that guarantees nothing. The Pistons are not an elite team. They have some pieces that can give some teams trouble, but no, I don't think they could beat the Lakers/Celtics/Cavs in a 7 game series even if Iverson does well in a bench role.
Well, we'll just have to disagree then. It's opinion either way. The Spurs are a very good team. I just don't believe they beat the other three teams in a 7 game series because of the front court power of those other three teams. Period. The Lakers are better than last year and they beat the Spurs in 5 last year. I think the Celtics beat the Spurs rather easily too. The Cavs might struggle some against the Spurs in a series, but I think they are a much better team than in 2007 and the Spurs aren't as strong as 2007. The Spurs are right up there among NBA teams AFTER the top three teams.Of course, I will disagree with that!
I believe both the Spurs and Lakers would beat the Magic in a 7 game playoff series and even if Nelson was healthy.
The second Spurs-Magic game was when Orlando was making a lot of 3 pt. shots because two nights later they shot 23 3-pts in Sacramento for a NBA record. They made 14 3-pointers in that game with the Spurs.
3 pt. shots come and go.
Also, until the Magic make it all way to at least the ECF I won't consider them an elite team. The Spurs made to WCF last year and with a healthy Manu would have a shot to defend their championship.
And, the Cavs beat the Spurs twice in the regular season in 2007 and got swept in the finals. So I don't think that regular season successs can always translate into post season success.
Lastly, I do think a regular season record is important when you are still able to play well without a major part of your lineup.
Could look at the Spurs and Manu Ginobili the same way. Ginobili may or may not be completely healthy when the playoffs come around. But who knows?
The spurs do have plenty of good players on the frontcourt, at least Duncan can make all those interiorly scrub players look good.
Tim can't guard one more player but the player he guards is always the paint cornerstone on the opponent team. and it's really hard to imagine how Kobe guards two players at the same time.
Manu's injury is just a fuse to his absence, he made the bomb himself in order to have more rest in the regular season.
If the Pistons had been playing like this for the whole season, then they would be serious contenders, yes.
I think it's safe to say the Iverson experiment has failed, but people fail to recognise that the Pistons look to have a very bright future, to the best of my knowledge I think they are the team with them most money to spend in the off season, and they also have a very talented young point guard in Stuckey who can be a major threat in the upcoming years.
Jamstone normally agree with you but Spurs are better than the cavs and are elite ...i know it was 3 years ago and the Cavs are better especially LBJ and having Mo williams instead of ...Esnow ...BUT Spurs swept them in a 7 game series ...i think they beat tem in 6 this time ...
provided manu is healthy ...they still have no match for Parker, They will funnel their defense to keep LBj out of the paint and duncan will destroy Verajao and or Z ...if they double Pop goes to the shooter lineup and kill them with mason and bonner ...
Only way to beat spurs is with minimal doubles ...because they lead to open 3's and driving lanes on missed rotations for parker and manu ...
to beat spurs ...
1. You need an athletic big (actually a couple in case of foul trouble)
2. patience on offense
3. a scorer whol will not get frustrated by Bowen's defense
4. knock down open 3's
5. keep parker out of paint
6. Don't let manu get hot ...
7. play some defense with minimal doubling ...
Lakers have done this better than most over the years that is why we always play them tough ...even when we lost to them under phil
Cavs only have #'s 3, 7 and 4 ... cant beat spurs book it ...
While you mention it, I don't think you give Cleveland's team defense enough credit in your analysis. The Cavs are a top 3, maybe top 2 team defensively. They have great rotations this year. They don't double for the most part. And, they have size, strength, speed, athleticism, and maybe most importantly depth at every position. They have a lot of flexibility with their personnel to go big, go small, or go with all shooters.
With Duncan, they won't be able to stop him, but they are in as good a position as any team other than the Lakers to frustrate Duncan a lot. If Ben Wallace returns by the playoffs, they'll have five different looks for Duncan with Wallace, Varejao, Ilgauskas, Joe Smith, and JJ Hickson. None of those five need to play 30+ minutes in a game, so they'll have sufficient rest and 30 fouls to work with against Duncan. Ben Wallace brings upper body strength and long arms and experience; Zydrunas brings size and length and perimeter shooting; Varejao brings dirty play, sharp elbows, flopping, and irritation; Joe Smith brings some savvy and midrange jump shooting, and Hickson brings young, fresh legs and athleticism. Again, they won't be able to stop Duncan, but they have a good, big, flexibile crew of big man to throw at Duncan.
As for stopping Tony Parker, it isn't mandatory to beat the Spurs if a team can counter his production at the point guard position. The Cavs have that in Mo Williams. He might not be better than Tony Parker, but he's more than capable and actually likely to match if not exceed his production in any given game. That relieves some pressure of stopping Parker and forces Parker work on defense as well.
I think the Cavs would beat the Spurs in a seven game series this year.
LOL
owned ....
No they have not. Too bad because Detroit was always an OK team in my book.
Jamstone,
You forgot Manu. If he's healthy and playing well.....it makes the Spurs that much better than the Cavs.
I will agree the Cavs this year are better now than 2007. But the Spurs are better offensively this year than last year.
I still think they will beat the Cavs in a 7 game series.
I didn't forget Manu. How could I? He's one of my favorite players in the league.
But, his counterpart as the main wing option on the Cavs is LeBron James. Nuff said.
This wasn't a very good thread. I just made one statement saying the Pistons would be the 3rd best team in the East and now it got blown out of proportion.
First, I don't think this thread was made because of your comment.
And even if it was, your comment didn't get blown out of proportion (except maybe the OP) since virtually everybody in this thread said that the Pistons were NOT contenders.
when they get AI back they will go back to normal
How peculiar - Iverson does not play and the Pistons are back to winning.....
A little biased there buddy?
Idiot statement of the day award.
The Pistons had their 6 or 7 game win streak when Hamilton was out. Iverson is not the entire reason to blame for this subpar season, much of it relies on Currys ty coaching and subs utions.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
NO