<font color="Navy"><font face="Century Gothic">No one is giving detroit a chance but look how they match up. They go 12 deep (I had to throw darko in there) Lakers go 7 (sorry slava) The pistons have 6 players over 6'10 that they throw at shaq. I know sheed weighs 100 pounds lighter than shaq but I didn't see Oliver Miller containing shaq. Chauncy Billups lead all scorers in their regular season split. Couple the lakers inability to stop Billups and Rip at his peak right now. I see the pistons taking in 7 if they don't win the series it will be a hard struggle for the Lakers not the cake walk most people think.</font></font> "It finally feels good to get out of the first round" -Tracy McGrady After the magic went up 3-1 on the pistons in the first round in 2003
"It finally feels good to get out of the first round" -Tracy McGrady After the magic went up 3-1 on the pistons in the first round in 2003
It's very true that the Pistons in this series are very underrated. And yes, people do think that the Lakers have bigger people because of Shaq, but they don't. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> "It finally feels good to get out of the first round" -Tracy McGrady After the magic went up 3-1 on the pistons in the first round in 2003 </div> That quote was hilarious as Tracy McGrady for got that the Magic had to win 4 games (first round change), and still lost the series.
Everybody expect that the Lakers will win this but you dont hear any of the LA players already saying its in the bag. They all know it will be tough series but trust me Malone wants the ring that bad. He and GP will do anything to win this. Nobody said it will be easy but the Lakers will come out as champions out of this series.
There is no way that the Pistons will win. The Lakers are focused, and playing as a team more than ever. Shaq holds the second best finals scoring average ever, and the Pistons can throw all 5 guys at him, and still wont stop him. These Lakers don't need depth. They have 4 hall of famers, plus a HOF coach. Who is going to the Hall of Fame on the Piston's squad? Nobody.
so if your a HOF that means your automatically the best there is...... is that what your tryin to say?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Basketball_Guy:</div><div class="quote_post">There is no way that the Pistons will win. The Lakers are focused, and playing as a team more than ever. Shaq holds the second best finals scoring average ever, and the Pistons can throw all 5 guys at him, and still wont stop him. These Lakers don't need depth. They have 4 hall of famers, plus a HOF coach. Who is going to the Hall of Fame on the Piston's squad? Nobody.</div> Sorry, but nobody said anything about stopping Shaq, just merely containing him, which is very possible for them and the rotation of their several big men. Saying a team doesn't need depth? Their lack of depth versus Detroit will hurt them in the streches in which their primary players aren't in. Detroit's bench can take advantage of that and make a small run, which will force Jackson to put the starters in, possibly wearing them out. Also, you talk as if your 4 HOF are still in their prime. Payton isn't going to match-up with Billups well, Billups is much better at this point in their careers. Kobe is in his prime, though, but i do believe Rip can hold his own, and the way he plays he can wear out Kobe. At SF, Tayshaun Prince vs. Devean George, and IMO Prince is the Pistons' X-Factor, he will have to step it up because he hasn't been playing well the last 2 series. At PF, 'Sheed vs Malone, and I think 'Sheed wins this matchup, but Malone knows how to get under your skin and frustrate him. He may do that, but I think 'Sheed will also step up and play better because he seems more focused later in the season to the playoffs. Ben Wallace can make Shaq work harder on defense, because he's been hitting that short jumper consistently lately, and the only other option they would have is Malone to guard him, but I doubt they do that because then Rasheed would get too many open looks. It will be a great series, :thumbsup:
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Basketball_Guy:</div><div class="quote_post">There is no way that the Pistons will win. The Lakers are focused, and playing as a team more than ever. Shaq holds the second best finals scoring average ever, and the Pistons can throw all 5 guys at him, and still wont stop him. These Lakers don't need depth. They have 4 hall of famers, plus a HOF coach. Who is going to the Hall of Fame on the Piston's squad? Nobody.</div> thats like sayin there is no way i can loose a drag race with someone because im driving a mustang and he is driving a pacer....so much that can go wrong that has nothing to do with the car... and what if the pacer is modified and has a tweaked out V8? point is looks can be decieving... even the showtime lakers of the 80's and the MJ led bulls didnt win the the championship every singe year either and if the current lakers lineup takes the same attitude you are, they are garunteed to loose in 5 (however, i doubt they would fall into that trap)
Can you Piston fans please stop making threads about the same thing? I've seen a couple other threads starting on the same exact topic already. Yes Hamilton has been on a hot streak and the Lakers are horrible at guarding the PGs, but there is no way the Pistons will be winning games without consistent help from Rasheed and their bench. They won't be able to rely only on their defense in this series, and they can't expect Rip to have the same kind of series as his last & score 33% of their points, because he'll probably need to put up close to 30 every night for that. Oh by the way the Pistons have 4 seven-footers, who was the 5th you were talking about? Wallace and Okur are 6'11 and Campbell & Darko are barely 7'0. Darko will probably be lucky to get more than 3 minutes in one game, and Campbell probably won't be playing more than 15mpg. The only tall good defender Detroit really has is Rasheed Wallace, and as we've seen in the past he can't do anything to stop Shaq. So much for the Pistons having size
You think Darko is 'deep' off the bench but Slava Medvadenko isnt? I think that puts the whole post into prospective. IMO, Payton, Malone, Kobe, and Shaq are all coming to play, and play hard. Im not saying the Pistons arent going to be going all out, because they will, and I think they'll take a couple games, but when it comes to the end of the day, the Lakers are just too good. Payton and Malone want this so bad, Kobe and Shaq want it for them, and for themself. Guys like Rick Fox, Devean George, Derek Fisher, and Slava Medavadenko will all pitch in with their games. Neither Wallace will be able to contain Shaq, Rip cant guard Kobe, Payton is a better player than Billups when hes on his game, and Karl Malone is a X-Factor. If the Pistons win the series, ill be shocked, but I hope they do, because I hate the Lakers. Shame though, I hate the Pistons almost as much.
Man I can see most of u are buying into all the hype the media is giving the Lakers.This Laker team aint nothing special , they can be beat...they were a correct ruling away from not even making it past the semis.The Pistons can and will beat Stern's team , barring any extra help from Stern himself...like what happened against the Spurs. To contain Shaq , all they have to do is just give him the tough shots and foul him when he has easy looks...the best he'll do at the line is hit one out of two.They have a whole bunch of big men to give fouls , they should take advantage of that.They should also give Okur lots of minutes so he can pull shaq away from the basket at the other end of the court because of Mehmet's ability to hit the jumpshot. As for Kobe , put the Prince on him...I think he can do a good job on Kobe if given the oppurtunity.His long arms and athleticism can really give Kobe some problems , putting Rip or someone else on Kobe would not cut it IMO...he could just post up on Rip and would probably be too fast for anyone else.And all of u who think Kobe will be guarding Rip and will shut him down are wrong , the Pistons should pray that Phil does put Kobe on Rip but he wont...following Rip all over the court would tire Kobe and would affect him on the offensive end.I see Kobe taking Tayshaun or maybe Billups if he's giving GP some problems. Those two are the key , the rest of the Laker's players will just do what they normally do...if they can contain Kobe and Shaq , I think Rip and Co. will score just enough to beat the hated Lakers.I'm pretty confident the Pistons will shock the world and beat those supposedly unbeatable Lakers. LET'S GO BAD BOYS , BEAT THEM L.A. STERNS!!!!!!!!!
It doesn't matter how they match up. All that matters is who's more poised and determined for the championship.
Pistons do not have a chance unless the win game 1 That is all there is to it..... Phil Jackson has never lost a 7 game series when winning game 1. That is a very strong stat.... And...blah blah they have shaq, kobe, payton, and malone.....too strong...too much.
Shaq>Wallace Malone=Sheed DGeo=Prince Kobe>Rip Gary/DFish>Billips Pistons have a great chance here. But this year is destined for LA. Something about playoff time gets these players into gear.
well I believe the Pistons have a great chance to win this year because aof all the guys they got to throw at shaq and their defense minded coach. As the qoute says offense wins games but defense wins championships. I dont think this series will be won by stars like Kobe and shaq if the lakers win. I think it will be there role players that shoot all those threes that will have to step up. btw has anyone else noticed all the threes that there role players shoot? I think those are back breakers when teams face the lakers with Kobe reaking havoc and Shaq in the post. Two factors for the pistons to look at are how they are going to contain kobe with shaq. and those role players. All in all i think this is going to be one of the funnest championship series to watch. Instead of the west just dominating the east as usual.
The Lakers role players were clearly exposed in Game 1. Its a lot harder to knock down shots when you are not wide open all night. Kareem Rush found out it is a lot harder to shoot when there is a hand in your face.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Basketball_Guy:</div><div class="quote_post">These Lakers don't need depth. They have 4 hall of famers, plus a HOF coach. Who is going to the Hall of Fame on the Piston's squad? Nobody.</div> Really? They Don't? Ill Give you Some Stats... LA's Bench: 4 Points, Medvedenko and Fisher each with 2. Detroits Bench: 18 Points. Williamson, Campbell, And Hunter combined. LA's Bench: 4 Players Used, Combined 46 Minutes. Detroits Bench: 5 Players Used, Combined 53 Minutes.1 Kareem Rush: Played 16 Minutes, Out of all of it. He turned the ball over Twice, and pulled down 2 Rebounds. In real terms. 16 Minutes of nothing. You can have 5 HOF's on your team. If you have no chemistry, or no Role Players. You are not going to win against a good defensive team that can confuse you. Shaq can't be stopped. But the rest of the team can be. Kobe took so many shots to get the 25 points that he did get. Not to mention at this point in their careers. Chauncy Billups and Rasheed Wallace are better than two of your Hall of Famers, and Prince has a good edge over George.
No chemistry? What are you talking about? Have you seen the Lakers play any other game besides this one? They have more chemistry than the peridiodic table of elements!! You are tripping! Also, are you planning on changing your name? Shoot, the mods shouoldn't let you change it... They probably wont, cuz you're going to want to change it after every game...
Gary Payton obviously is just in it for the ring.. Do you actually think he wants to play for that team? Hes said it himself when he said what he said about the Triangle Offense.. Making my point even more.. You can't throw a bunch of people like Gary Payton and Karl Malone into a Kobe and Shaq Offense and make it work... My name? What do you care about my name? What does it matter anyway?
I agree with zero, lakers were expected to get 70 games this season but u cant expect them to play together when kobe and shaq are so use to running that team. But I do think lakers will come out on top in 6. I would bet anything. Karl malone had an off night the other night and gary payton is just not consistant anymore. But watch next game, Kobe is gonna step it up and i think they know that pistons are for real this time.
