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The refs are actually going to let Shaq play in this series...
Pistons in 7...
I do think the Pistons have come back to the field, sorta speak. During December/January, I thought no team (even the Spurs) could touch the Pistons in a 7-game series.
Now, they're fading a little bit and don't look as dominant as they once were in the regular season.
That said....Pistons in an epic 7 gamer.
The refs are actually going to let Shaq play in this series...
Pistons in 7...
To whoever said Maurice Evans was the Pistons reserve lockdown defender, I hope you're kidding. Evans isn't a horrible defender, but he certainly isn't a lockdown defender. And, many Pistons fans probably view him as a below-average defender. He's athletic, but he's not very quick and not very smart. Dwyane Wade would eat him up.
Rip Hamilton mostly likely will start on Dwyane Wade, but I suspect Chauncey Billups and Tayshaun will periodically mix it up and guard him to give him different looks. Lindsey Hunter will also have stretches of defending Wade when Lindsey is in the game. In cruncthtime in the fourth quarter, depending on who the Heat have on the court, Tayshaun Prince will probably spend a lot more time manning up on Wade, however if Rip does not have foul trouble and has had success against Wade during the game, he may be the first option.
Ben Wallace likely starts off defending Shaq, but Rasheed will switch on him as well to give Ben some rest and also to prevent either from getting into foul trouble. If Udonis Haslem starts making his midrange jumpshot, Rasheed might spend more time on Shaq because Sheed may have problems rotating and recovering on his badly sprained ankle.
I think some keys to this series are:
1. How the Miami big men defend Detroit's pick-and-roll. Cleveland was successful against Detroit in large part because Drew Gooden and Anderson Varejao defended the pick-and-roll so well. Miami does not have the quick, agile, mobile, and athletic big men that Cleveland has. Shaq and Alonzo must do a good job on hedging high on the pick and recovering back to their man especially if it's Sheed or Dice, because they will get a lot of open pick-and-pop opportunities if they don't.
2. Detroit's defensive rebounding. Zydrunas, Drew Gooden, and Varejao did a good job getting second opportunity baskets on tip-ins. the Pistons collectively as a team must help rebound on the defensive glass because when Ben is on Shaq, he'll have a hard time getting rebounds while he tries to box Shaq out.
3. Detroit's 3PT shooting. The Cavs pick-and-roll defense also prevented both Chauncey Billups and Rasheed Wallace from getting too many wide open 3PT shots. Miami's pick-and-roll defense won't be nearly as good. And, Miami's perimeter defense as a whole is not that great. Detroit must hit their open 3-pointers in order to open up the offense.
4. Fourth quarter execution. Detroit was pretty bad in the fourth quarter for much of the series against Cleveland. Miami has been pretty good in the fourth quarter in the playoffs. If the game is close, both teams must be wary of executing down the stretch, hitting free throws, and not getting sloppy with the ball and committing too many turnovers.
5. Adjustments. Pat Riley has been here before. Does he still have what it takes to make adjustments on the fly and counter what the Pistons do? Flip Saunders on the other hand coaches scared against the Cavaliers and waited until game 6 to make any decided adjustments. The coaching staff that can draw up the best strategies and schemes to counter the other will likely have more success.
Reason why so many predicted Pistons is because we are flooded with piston fans in here and they do not speak in reality. Too many crack smokers from michigan. Most spurs fans know Miami can win this series and is very dangerous. Detroit is only a slight favorite because they have the home court advantage.
i will add u to the people on this forum that i respect...i kno the heat are not favorites and i dont think they should be, but this series can go either way easily
Yes many people here seem to forget how close last years series was and how injured Wade was. Miami plays at least 9 players many times while Pistons usually play 7 people.
Why are Piston fans confident? Because our team has been to four straight conference finals. Because we've been to the Finals the last two years. Because we've owned the Heat the last couple years. I don't think any serious Piston fans expect this to be an easy series, but of course we expect the Pistons to beat the Heat as they have been doing since Shaq came to town. My prediction is the same as it was before the playoffs started, and that's Pistons in 6, if for no other reason than the Pistons' near-fatal flaw was to take the Cavs lightly. The Pistons don't take the Heat lightly. Not yet at least.
o yea i forgot you're correct....the pistons own the heat...the heat were a wade injury from the finals last year(this is not an excuse, this is reality)...and have all the confidence now seeing that the CAVS!!!!!!took you to 7 games.......yall fail to realize that this is a cavs team that has no other threat for except lebron...miami has a defensive specialist(ZO) and 2 superstars(shaq and wade)as well as other role players like walker(sometimes), posey,williams,and GP....o yea and a above average rebounder in Udonis Haslem....i dont understand all the overconfidence
I explained the "over" confidence to you. And what about the regular season games this year between the Pistons and Heat? Yeah yeah, they were regular season games, but the Pistons clearly played like they didn't give a (not a good thing, of course) in the game in Miami that the Heat won, and it took a superhuman performance and a total meltdown from the Pistons for the Heat to win at home. And from the celebration at the end of that game, it looked like they won the ing championship. Tell me the Pistons aren't in their heads. Anyway, the Cavs series is a non-factor regarding this series. And I know who the Heat have on their roster, lol. You're certainly en led to be confident yourself. Although I gotta say, after the miserable series Chauncey just had, I'm really looking forward to watching him get it rolling against Jason Williams, lol.
That is an excuse, not reality.
Should be another knockdown, dragout series like last year...
yea i think it will be a good series too....and i think its not an ecuse but w/e u say
Agreed. Been looking forward to this one big time.
Detroit in 7
In my view, Pistons will definitely win this series. The question is whether this is an over easy series or hardboiled.
I lean towards the over easy.
The keys for Miami to be compe ive in the series are
(1) they must keep their heads on straight. Too often, at the end of this regular season, Miami mentally started to fall apart. Team disunity, Wade arguing with the officials and not getting back on defense.... If they do this against Detroit, this will not be compe ive.
(2) they must shoot well from outside. I don't consider Jason Williams or Antoine Walker good outside shooters. Gary Payton is not a good outside shooter either. Miami is very vulnerable because they can not hit the perimeter j or the 3 point shot consistently. If the series is to be compe ive, Miami must find a way to hit it.
(3) the refs must realize that now is not the time to begin to change the way that Shaq is refereed. I am pulling for Detroit. However, I will say that the calls that have been going against Shaq are horrible, horrible calls which are completely different than how he has been refereed for his entire career. It was about 2 weeks ago when for some unknown reason they decided to change this. I despise this change. If they call Shaq in the new way, then he can't be effective enough for Miami to be compe ive.
For Detroit, we must simply not let them into the series. Run pick and roll and pick and pop against Shaq all day long. Good defense leading to easy transition. Ben needs to draw some offensive fouls against Shaq (they are bad calls but that's how the refs are calling it). Force Miami to shoot from the perimeter. They will miss a very high percentage of them. Also, we must not rely solely on scoring from the perimeter. Rasheed must score on the block. Detroit must maintain its focus and concentration.
I must in all honesty admit that if Wade (and Shaq) had not been injured during the series, Miami would have won that series in my view.
However, the offseason moves Pat Riley made in my opinion were horrible mistakes. First and foremost, he got rid of the main 3 point shooters on Miami's roster who helped spread the floor for Shaq. That was a terrible mistake. Posey can make the 3 (their only consistent threat from distance) , but this move allowed opponents to pack the paint.
Second, Pat added people who did nothing for the chemistry of the team. Antoine Walker didn't help matters any. He doesn't like to share the ball.
It would have been a much better matchup if Miami stood pat, recognizing that it was just injuries that hurt them last year. In that case, it would definitely be more compe ive.
Pistons in 5 or 6.
Go Pistons!!!
Flip? Is that you?
Did I say "when necessary"? I meant "when at all possible".
In fact, I anticipate seeing Evans on O'Neal or Mourning a minimum of three possessions in this series.
PHX vs HEat in finals might happen.
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