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53-29 and get as far as Eastern semi-finals.
with Flip at the helm.
I don't personally think Flip is the right fit for the Detroit Pistons, but he was probably the best coach available. Larry Brown was constantly in the pistons' faces preaching defense and in turn Detroit was 2nd best in the league (behind you know who). With Flip coming in, I don't think they will be nearly as affective. Yeah, people keep saying the pistons have learned from Brown and can maintain their defensive tenacity. I am not buying it. Defense takes a lot of hard work. When a minute error occured on defense, Larry was quickly making the necessary changes to change that. Flip will not provide that.
Flip is not the type of coach that will constantly get on his team like Larry did. Larry was also well respected because he is a hall of fame coach. I wonder if the reaction of the pistons will be different towards Flip than it was for Brown (as far as getting the job done: hustle, defense etc). The lack of constant preching of defense is probably why Flip has the worst playoff record in NBA HISTORY. Yikes.
Brown was able to somewhat control Rasheed. Wonder how Flip will be able to Rasheed temper so it doesn't take away from his game.
Also, remember that there's is going to be tremedous pressure on Flip. He will be grilled by the media one way or another about how Larry did this or that better. Two Nba appearances in a row. How do you top that?
I applaud Flip for taking that job, but he's going to have his work cut out for him. There are probably even more problems he is going to have to deal with that I haven't mentioned.
With the east teams improving, I am going to go on a limb and predict that the pistons, at most, reach the Eastern Semi-Finals.
53-29 and get as far as Eastern semi-finals.
2-80 the two wins coming from beating lakers
Who gives a forum.
54-28 and they make it to the finals, again.
They lose in the ECF to Miami
In my unbiased opinionI think they'll finish at 60 - 22 and will be in the Finals again. One more year of the same starting 5 and Mcdyess plus add solid contributions from Delfino and newcomer Maxiell (played like a beast in the summer league). Pllus it always helps to have continuity at the helm, LB missed 17 games last year and proved to be a major distraction to the team.
56 Wins...And in the Finals again.
flip gets past the second round ?
can flip control rasheed???
50-32 and lose to the Pacers in the eastern conference finals.
Lose in the ECF to the Heat.
53-19 with a five-game series loss to the Spurs in the NBA Finals.
Oops, 53-29. Sorry.
i think the Central Div has a lot of teams emerging as a playoff contenders
Indiana-Artest is back. Indiana made it to the 2nd round despite missing their best defensive player and another scorer in Artest in 2004-05. There are rumors that they are going to experiment moving Artest to power forward and J.O'Neal take the center spot..hmmn. I don't know if this will be a good move for the team. But as long as O'Neal, Artest, SJax is around, this team is always be a threat to Detroit.
then, there's an updated "New" Jersey Nets. Jason Kidd, VC & Rahim could be one of the biggest threat in the East and Div.
Another is the very well upgraded Cleveland. LeBron, Z, Hughes.
Then, Miami with Wade & ShaQ(sorry no Horry Shaq).
as for the Pistons they will always be a playoff contender whoever is the coach.
BTW, is Darko going to play minutes this season?
The Pistons say he'll be their fourth big man this season.
my guess is:
East Semi-Finals.
East Finals: Miami or Indiana
pretenders: Cleveland or Nets or Detroit
I can almost guarantee they will never will a series that goes 7 games, cause Flip won't lead with enough heart to get them win a hard series like that
The only person leaving the Pistons is Larry Brown. Do you think Dumars really believed that Larry was going to stay there for the rest of his career? The man's been coaching for 30 years or so and it's not like he was going to change just because he won a le there. , he came to SA right after winning the NCAA championship in '88. There's people posting in here that weren't even born yet when he left Kansas.
It would be a bigger deal if a player in the rotation was leaving than LB. He was the least important person on that team. Billups, Rip, Big Ben, Sheed, and Tayshaun are still there. So's McDyess and Lindsey Hunter.
Yeah, they'll win 50+. And they'll beat Miami, or Indiana, or Chicago, or whoever else they might play in the ECF's. Remember, people here are picking the Spurs to win 65+ games, and these guys survived the Palace brawl to win their division last year, secure a 2 seed, and took the Spurs to seven games. Thinking they'll win eighteen or so less than the Spurs when they play in what is considered the weaker conference and they're only losing their coach is foolish.
52 Wins second round exit.
55-27
They will lose in Semis..
52 wins and second round exit. I have serious doubts as to if Flip can motivate this team to perform as Larry did.
Everyone has the wrong impression about Sheed. All of the players and coaches on his team really love him because of his heart. His heart is the only thing that gets him in trouble as well. Larry didn't control Sheed because he was still in the top of the league in techs. That is just Sheeds character and whoever the coach is, will have to deal with it.
Darko 5-10 min/game; that's my only prediction
I'm calling it now......it's going to be a Spurs vs. Nets rematch in the Finals.
I don't doubt that the Pistons are still going to have a 50+ win season without Larry Brown. They have a great starting 5. Their problem isn't the coaching.......it's the offense. They tend to go on too many offensive droughts which allows other teams to get ahead.
Pistons to be in the NBA Finals again.
Too bad Sheed always disappears in big games. Where was he in game 7 of these past finals? Where was he during the last 10 minutes of game 7 WCF in 2000? He always lets the refs get him out of his game, if he could just ignore the calls and play on he could be a great player.
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