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I think Brent on Prince will be fine. I would guess that the Spurs strategy will be to shut down Hamilton. Hold Hamilton to under 10, limit offensive rebounds, and let's see how much offense the rest of the Pistons can put up.
I think Brent can find a place in all this. Pistons aren't the most potent offensive team so any defensive liability he brings along hardly allows for it to be maximized.
If he is spacing the floor with well timed jumpers and even penetrating/dishing a little I think the pros far outweigh the cons. If he forces the defence to play him then there is no reason he can't outplay his man if it its one of the pistons bench players.
I think Brent on Prince will be fine. I would guess that the Spurs strategy will be to shut down Hamilton. Hold Hamilton to under 10, limit offensive rebounds, and let's see how much offense the rest of the Pistons can put up.
Grob Grob Grob Grob Grob Grob Grob Grob
Indeed. As much as people seem to think this series will be decided between the Spurs' O and the Pistons' D, I think the Pistons' O v. Spurs' D matchup will be what decides the series. I guess it's always assumed that Detroit is facing a team with a much weaker defense so their lackluster offense is not as much of an issue.
Not this time.
I think Brent will likely see less minutes than he did in Phoenix, but I doubt that it will be because Prince is torching him. Remember how Rashard Lewis was going to abuse him in the post? And Lewis was bigger and just as athletic as Prince. With that said, I don't think he's going to get a lot of open looks, and given how well Beno played both in the last series as well as against the Pistons in the regular season Barry's minutes are going to take a hit. And if Glen Robinson is going to get into the mix Brent is probably going to be the guy whose minutes suffer the most for it as well. Still it'll be nice to have him around for FT shooting if nothing else.
Where's Master Yoda to respond to this one when you need him!? LJ, let's just hope the force is with Barry and the Spurs' team D.
This may be a physical series, possibly even w/ perimeter guys with foul issues. Brent is going to have to be a professional, dig deep find something to contribute to the team if that's the case. If he does get in the game, I would expect him to use some hustle if he's not shooting well, such as chasing down long rebounds.
We dont have to bring him in to gaurd billups or rip, when those 2 are bench we bring in barry and udrih to light them up
Detroit is capable of defending TD, Manu, and TP at the same time. The problem for Detroit is that the Spurs can put 4th and 5th guys on the court (GRob, Horry, Nazr) who can make them pay. Barry can be in that group if he nuts up...
I agree with Whottt on this one. Pop has been known to pucker up and crawl into his s of grind-it-out offense when the chips are down. Our defense is generally as good as the Pistons but not as consistent. However, our offense and athleticism is far superior to the Pistons. If we defend moderately but really push the tempo on offense, I don't think the Pistons can hang with us.
It's up to Pop to make sure we don't fall into the trap of solely playing a grind-it-out halfcourt game against the Pistons and squandering our advantage. It's encouraging that he's been hinting at this in the press but I hope it's not just lip service and that he really does stick to it - even when the pressure is on.
The defenses are equal, if not with a slight edge to the Spurs. I think the Spurs' transition D is a tad bit better. Detroit is going to have a much tougher time scoring on the Spurs than the Spurs will have in scoring on them.
While both team's defensive strategies dictate their offensive pace, the Spurs can handle an uptempo game defensively much more proficiently than Detroit.
Pop's going to try to keep the pace up and play Barry his regular 26 minutes in the first game and see how it goes.
We'll need Rasho big time. Barry can be the waterboy.
You make some good points--but I read several items out of the Spurs practices this week that indicated Pop was preparing them to run more against the Pistons after seeing how well the team did in the West playoffs.
I think the Spurs defense if better if for no other reason than they play the majority of their games against tougher teams in the West all season. It's a little easier to play defense--and build your stats--against Atlanta than even the Clippers, no?
I'd argue that Brent would lose most if not all of his minutes in this series were Devin Brown healthy.
That said, I agree with whottt's take that Pop tends to shut off the offensive valves in situations like this unless/until he is forced to find some offensive skill (Steve Kerr, Game 6, 2003 WCF; Steve Kerr, Game 5, 2003 Finals, for examples). It's a dilemma, because points should be at a premium in this series and giving up points with defensive inadequacy will put you in a hole that you may never climb out of.
With that said, Barry was very effective, for example, in the last regular season game against Houston (the Rockets are kind of "Pistons Light" IMO) and perhaps Pop will reflect upon that and use Barry along with Manu as initiators if Tony turns passive.
When practise finished last night, Pop talked to Brent to show him his designed spot in different plays.
This series doesn't suit Rasho well. He isn't needed on defense against Ben and he is not good on offense.
Call me crazy, but what about Barry seeing minutes at the point, when Billups is resting and/or Tony not having a good game? Barry makes pretty good decisions usually and hardly makes that many boneheaded plays anyways.
Actually, if Barry comes in and hits some 3's, that would force Detroit to respect him and put a defender out on the perimeter, making the lane easier for Manu and/or Tony.
Just a thought. Probably won't happen anyway.
Horry should get alot of minutes at PF and Duncan at center in this series.
Glenn Robinson better be in shape by now because he will get his number called more often in this series.
its time for barry to show up.
spurs didnt bring him in just to do well against the suns right?
What if we run Barry at the point and have him post Billups up? I know Barry isn't a big post up kinda guy, but hey it might work!
I think Barry has the potential to be HUGE in this series. I feel like Pop should run soem plays for him(yes I said it), to free him up for the three. Barry hits those and it opens the lane even more.
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