The Pistons won the division against them and they also took 3 out of the four games in the season series. Both teams have looked great and bad in the playoffs so far but the Pistons have played better overall.let us matchem up...Guards- The Pistons have the best backcourt in the league in Rip and Chauncey but the Cavs have been playing very well with Sasha Pavlovic and Larry Hughes running it. But I think that Larry Hughes will come up flat in this series although they do have a size advantage.advantage Pistons Forwards- the main matchup in this series isnt between the guards its the forwards with Tayshaun v LeBron and Drew Gooden v. Sheed. Both groups have been playing very well and LeBron will either take Tayshaun over or Struggle....but theres no real advantage.advantage PushCenter- Webber v. Ilgauskus and both guys have not played great thus far in the postseason, but I think the will of Webber will come into play and he will take over big Z in the series with his fading athleticism(which is still more than Z's)advantage PistonsBench- Dyess v. Donyell, Delfino v. Gibson, Maxiell v. Vareajao, Hunter v. Snow. It doesn't get anymore even than that.advantage PushCoaching- Both coaches have struggled but I think that its Flips series to lose so I think hes going to win it.-if that makes any sense.advantage PistonsGame-by-game1: DET2: DET3: CLE4: DET5: DETDetroit wins in 5, they wont make the same mistake at home in game 5 as they did with Chicago.If Cleveland takes it to 6, theyll win that game but lose in game 7.. But my prediction is 5..crazy? maybe, but if the Pistons want to win a title they need to shut down the Cavs first.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MrBigShot_23 @ May 21 2007, 04:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Should be a competitive serious.I mean it is the Pistons vs LeBron after all. </div>Yes it shall be a very competitive serious.On another noteeople forget that the Cavs are one of the best halfcourt teams in the league. They almost never run, who anyone besides Lebron cant more than a mediocre fast break. Sure they're matched up real bad one on one, but I gauarantee that they will at least throw a couple zones at the Pistons. This series is going to 7 games. Depending on when Lebron decides to turn it on. Pistons will come out victorous though.
Expect a much tighter series this year. Pistons have learned from their mistakes by underestimating the Cavs last year, they're focused this year. All they need to is focus on LeBron collectively on defense because however the Cavs' offense goes, all of it is going to be dictated by LeBron. Pistons in 5. Game 1CLE 86DET 94
Detroit is settling for way too many jumpers, and Cleveland is just out-working them on the glass, and that's why they're in the lead. Hamilton is the only one that has it going for Detroit.
Not liking what I'm seeing so far...but that's the Pistons for you. I'm not worried about that quarter.
Im picking Detroit in 6 for this series....Although they are clearly the better team, Lebron will explode in a couple games to get this team a couple victories. Dont forget, Lebron almost single handedly beat the Pistons last year, so you know that he can at least get close to doing it again this year.
The Pistons have been ice cold, and no one is really scoring the ball consistently.On the other net, nothing much going on for the Cavs too. I guess Z and Larry Hughes are making a few shots here and there, but no one's dominating. Lebron was held to a ton of tough shots. He's just being contained really well. The Cavs have also done a great job on the boards. Anderson is being a little pest, taking charges, going after loose balls with a full head of steam, etc...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CB4AllStar @ May 21 2007, 09:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>The Pistons have been ice cold, and no one is really scoring the ball consistently.</div>Actually, Rip Hamilton has 15 points on 7-11 FG, and he's pretty much keeping the Pistons alive in this 1st half.
Lebron James is having it hard right now, great defense by the Pistons on Lebron. Every time he goes to his right hand, a second person shadows over there to step up on him in case he goes right. When he goes left, they meet him just before the basket, like that straight up block by Rasheed just a bit ago. Every pick he comes around, they trap him. They are playing outstanding defense on him. They need to get Z into that pick and pop though, when they trap him, Z will be able to hit that shot from 15-19 feet out and has been doing a decent job of it. Larry Hughes needs to get to the rim though, in the first few minutes of the game he was doing it with relative ease. Got to the line a couple fo times, did a good job. Now he has gone back to settling for jumpers. They need him to start attacking, with Lebron being cut off right now.
With about 18 seconds left or so, why did LeBron not make his move on the block? He had an iso, he could have bulled his way to the basket and either gotten a shot off and/or gotten fouled. I know he's not exactly Ray Allen at the free throw line, but you have to take that opportunity. Then he passed it off the Marshall for 3 when he had a clear shot at a layup/dunk. He could have tied the game up, but instead he makes the pass for the risky 3. Bad decision, IMO, I don't agree with Steve Kerr saying "you're on the road" blah blah blah. LeBron could have tied it, but because he passed it off, they are going to lose this game.
Where was LeBron?1-3 in 4th quarter, made some bad decisions when teammates went cold and with game in balance (he had a layup oppertunity, or at least oppertunity to get to free throw line, but passed it for a 3 in which the Cavs were 1-9). LeBron will need to find ways to score to win this series. There is no way the Pistons will play that bad, and Cavs will start off so hot again.
Oh man that was such an ugly 1st game to start the conference finals. I mean I am satisfied w/ the 79-76 grinded out win, but the Pistons better not take the Cavs lightly as they almost stole game 1. Chauncey had way too many turnovers and Prince never got his shot going but did have 8 assists I believe.Rip and Sheed played a good game on the offensive end, while Prince and the rest did a good job on Lebron on the defensive end. For game 2 I would like to see Sheed switch to guarding Ilgauskas and for the Pistons to come out the gate and try to put the game away asap. HoLLa baCk
Detroit did an awesome job on LeBron the whole game, Jame still found a way to hurt them by getting 9 assist and 11 rebounds. It sucks, Mike Brown is a horrible coach and putting in Donyell Marshall for the win is an even horrible move. Marshall has had one good game in about 3 months, so why not? Pretty poor job coaching IMO. I'd throw in Damon Jones, hey, ask the Washington fans how well he did against them. FG% wise, this game was horrible. But in the end it was a pretty good one. Nice win Detroit, looking forward towards game 2.
79-76 is very ugly, but its a Pistons win and the way that Cleveland wasnt able to execute when they had to took the chance of them getting momentum and now the Pistons get to keep it going into game 2.PISTONSRip had a great game. he kept us in it the whole way with 24.Chauncey was the real hero with that three to put us up two. finished with 13-5-5Sheed was solid on O with 15 and 1oreb, but he was a monster on D with 7 blocks and 11reb.Webber was in foul trouble but he contributed 10 in less than 20 minutes.Tayshaun was the regulator for us. He played a huge role in shutting down LeBron and had 9 dimes, and 6 boards, but was 1-11 with 8.The Bench played well, Maxiell did what he always does-without the thunder dunk, Dale Davis got in early and scored 5, Lindsey played well on D against Larry Hughes(needed to be shut down) and Eric Snow(not to much to be glad about shutting down.), and Dyess did well without scoring.It was tough early but we just played our style of ball and got the job done the way we wanted too.CavsBig Z did exactly what I thought he wouldnt do and thats effectively contribute. he kept the Cavs in it the whole way with 22 and 13 with some big buckets towards the end.The Pistons didnt execute against LeBron when it came to fouling him-which was good, didnt get to the line once-but they shut him down because I think all of the hype about the Bron Rules got to his head. He was the regulator like Prince, but his offense is needed a lot more than Tays for his team and they didnt get that.5-15 is not what you want from him.Larry Hughes, Pavlovic, and Eric Snow did what they always do.Donyell Marshall was just having a good birthday the other night and couldnt hit the big one tonight, and Drew Gooden was a non-factor.Daniel Gibson shot the ball way too much, and the only solid player off the bench tonight was Vareajao with 13-8-and a couple steals.If that shot were to go, this breakdown would have sounded a lot different, but it didnt and the Pistons have a 1-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals over the Cavaliers-as expected.GO PISTONS!!! :dribble:
Good game for the Pistons. They didnt score much but anytime its a low scoring game, most of the time Detroit is going to win. Holding LeBron to 10 was huge and it shows that Cleveland cant really win games with him doing bad. Part of it was him not taking not much shots, but that was because we held him tight. I think we will see a different, more aggressive Bron in Game 2. Game 1 was just to prove that he isnt the whole team.I dont blame him for passing the ball like others are. Marshall is the best 3 point shooter on the team and was wide open. LeBron made a great decision and I applaud for it. Kobe wouldnt of done that.Go Detroit! Keep on rolling!
Marshall was open for three but he couldnt hit it and I dont blame LeBron for the pass, but I think that he very much so could have drawn a foul or hit a two to tie it up if he went to the basket barring his struggles that night.
