Preview: 2004 NBA Finals Pistons @ Lakers 6/8/04 <div align="center"> <font size="7"><font color="red">Detroit leads 1-0</font></font> <font color="Red">The Detroit Pistons</font>@<font color="purple">The Los Angeles Lakers</font> Time: 5:30 Pacific, 8:30 Eastern Place: The Staples Center TV: ABC</div> Game 2 Head Choaches Larry Brown/Phil Jackson NBA Finals Game 2 Starting Lineups Chauncey Billups/Gary Payton Rip Hamilton/Kobe Bryant Tayshaun Prince/Devean George Rasheed Wallace/Karl Malone Ben Wallace/Shaq Sixth Man Mehmet Okur/Derek Fisher <u>Injury Report</u> No injuries reported No injuries reported <u>Game 2 Matchup Breakdown</u> PG: Chauncey Billups V. Gary Payton Gary Payton needs to play like he wants to win a title, he needs to contribute, not be there for the ride. He continued riding his teammates coattails in game 1. He had a horrendous game going 1-4 from the field, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, and 5 fouls. He gave Billups wide open shots all night, and Billups sank them, leading the Pistons in scoring again. GP must step up his play or Billups will go on a scoring frenzy. I expect Payton to be somewhat fired up for game 1, seeing as how Billups made him look like a punk, outdoing him in everything. GP needs to understand one thing, if he wants a ring, he has to help the Lakers win, not sit back and let the other plays win it, I would much rather have Derek Fisher as the starting PG right now. Advantage: Pistons SG: Rip Hamilton V. Kobe Bryant Kobe did an excellent job defensively on Rip, causing him to shoot 5-16 from the field, and holding him to 12 points. If Kobe can better his offensive performance, 10-27 with 25 points, and continue to make Hamilton struggle the Lakers will win game 2. What Rip needs to do is not let this game affect him, he is going up against one of the best defenders in the league, and is making him work. Rip just needs to continue to shoot the ball from where he is comfortable because they will eventually start dropping. Advantage: Lakers SF: Tayshaun Prince V. Devean George: Tayshaun hit some big shots in the 4th quarter. He hit a clutch three that really, IMO, killed any momentum the Lakers were mounting. He did a great job on Kobe defensively, and had a quiet 11 points on offense. If he can do the same thing to Kobe again, expect another win for the Pistons. Devean George and the rest of the role players for the Lakers looked like they should be playing in the YMCA shooting 6/30 from the field. Devean George is going to have to do something to get his game going, he looked promising at the beginning of the year, but fell of hard. Now would not be a bad time for him to have a good game. Advantage: Pistons PF: Rasheed Wallace V. Karl Malone Does Karl Malone know this is most likely his last chance to win a championship? He sure didnt play like it going, 2-9 from the field, and letting Sheed have a field day on the offensive end. Malone and Payton played like they basically didnt care, that wont wint he Lakers squat. Rasheed just needs to continue to play his game, he hit two 3's, and was 6-6 from the FT line. If he can make it back to the FT line, I expect him to have a big series. Malone must stop him, Malone needs to play mind games with Sheed...cause him to loose his cool. Until he can do that, I look for Sheed to be the difference maker in this series. Advantage: Pistons C: Ben Wallace V. Shaq Statistically Shaq had the better game. If you look at it though, Ben Wallace hit some big jumpers for his team, he stayed out of foul trouble with only 1 foul in 41 minutes. Shaq needs to attack him more, I dont care how many points Shaq scores, we need to get Ben Wallace in foul trouble. One promising thing was Shaq shot over 50% from the FT line, going 8-12, if he can continue to carry a consistent stroke from the line, expect him to dominate every damn minute that he plays. He shot a beautiful percentage, only missing three shots...going 13/16 from the field. He needs to demand the ball more when the Lakers look like they are about to fall apart, he will be the one who carries this team to victory. Advantage: Lakers <div align="center">Key Players Game 1 Stats Wallace: 3/4 Fgs, 14 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 blocked shot Shaq: 13/16, 34 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 blocked shot, and 8-12 from the FT line.</div> Keys to the Game The Pistons need to continue what the did in game 1, let Shaq get his, but make the rest of the Lakers beat them. You can't changed what work, and that formula worked causing the rest of the Lakers to go 16/57 from the field. Billups need to continue to look for the open shot, Sheed needs to continue to hit his shots, Big Ben needs to contribute solidly on offense again, and the other players need to do what they do best, hit shots and play d. If the Pistons can do that, they will leave L.A. with a 2 games to none advantage, and have the luxury of playing 3 games in Detroit. Their big men need to stay out of foul trouble, Sheed hit some, but Big Ben only had 1 foul in 41 minutes. Right now they have all the momentum going into game 2, and if they carry it, like I said they will be heading to Detroit for 3 games with a 2-0 series lead. Where to start? How about the fact that their role players shot a horrendous average from the field, going 6/30, or do we start at all the open looks the Pistons had? There were so many flaws L.A. displayed in game 1, I just hope one day of practice is enough to fix them all. L.A.'s 1st FT attempts in the 2nd half came with 4.37 left in the 4th quarter!!!, they need to draw more fouls and get to the line more. Fisher and Rush were brick cold, Fisher even missed a simple layup, he shot the ball too many times when he had a teammate open, he basically looked like he wanted to be the star of the game, he didnt play team ball. Also, too many times in the game the Lakers had to force up a shot with the shot clocking around 5, they need to move the ball around and get better shots, the Pistons are the best defensive team in the NBA, having one player try to beat them is not going to happen. Payton and Malone need to play like they want a championship, not like they are here to ride Kobe and Shaq to one, they need to help win it. They combined for a bismal 3/13 shooting, and a total of 7 assists, Payton please...move the ball more. I am absolutely disgusted with their play and I expect atleast Malone to come out fired up, Payton has just been horrible this playoffs, I would much rather have Brevin Knight running my team right now. One bright spot was KB8's D. He bothered Rip all night with his ability to elevate quick and hamper with Rip's shots, I expect him to stick on Rip all series to keep him quiet, now if he can just get to the FT line and get in the lane, the Lakers will win. Kobe 8 Ball's Prediction With the way L.A. played, they deserve to lose the whole series, but I think atleast 3 of the starting 5 will come out fired up, and I expect L.A. to take this game by atleast 5.
The Lakers have to play better defense. The team needs more players to help on the offensive end. Kobe and Shaq needs help. Guys like Malone and Payton needs to play better. This is what they are playing for, a championship. The role players needs to step up. Guys like Rush and Derek, even with his injury problem, has to play better and help the team. The guys just have to be aggresive. They can't let the Pistons win this game. The next 3 games are on the road. For the Pistons to win, they just have to keep playing like they have and they can probably win this game. The Pistons playing great defense is expected but they just have to keep scoring. They will get some open shots, they just have to make them. Wallace can't get into foul trouble like in game 1. He is a very important part of the Pistons and can't get into early foul trouble. They just have to keep playing like this and they might win this series. I predict the Lakers win by 5.
The Lakers probably will be upset and just try to come out hard, and its hard to play when you are frustrated. Pistons by 1
I think the Lakers will take this one but it will be a close game and could go either way. If the Pistons come out with the same defensive intensity they will make life a living hell for the Lakers. The Lakers role players need to step it up, that is a huge question mark in this series. Looking foward to game 2.
Must win for the Lakers. They can not go to Detroit down 0-2. They aren't good enough on the road to comeback.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting iamme:</div><div class="quote_post">Must win for the Lakers. They can not go to Detroit down 0-2. They aren't good enough on the road to comeback.</div>I think this is one of those series where home court advantage won't mean that much, especially in the first 4 games of the series. The Pistons proved that they are not intimidated or fazed playing in the Staples Center and the Lakers have proved time and time again that they can win on the road. It will just come down to execution.
I think Los Angele's whole bench has to come to play.They have to score points in the double digits if the team is going to take this game. Detroit's Bench is obviously playing better right now, and it is obviously more deep. Everyone has to play well on that bench because when the Lakers brought in Gary Payton and Karl Malone, they had to lose some guys. Three guys did not play last night, compared to Detroits One.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Rudeezy:</div><div class="quote_post">I think this is one of those series where home court advantage won't mean that much, especially in the first 4 games of the series. The Pistons proved that they are not intimidated or fazed playing in the Staples Center and the Lakers have proved time and time again that they can win on the road. It will just come down to execution.</div> Lakers playoff road record: 3-5 Lakers regular season road record: 22-19 Pistons playoff road record: 6-3 Before the season started, I thought homecourt wouldn't matter too much until I saw the Laker's road record. They just aren't a good road team.
^ you really can't judge a team by stats, because both teams' home and road record wont mean anything in this series. Same goes for the Lakers' home record in the playoffs, they were 9-0 coming into last night, but that meant nothing and the Pistons came out to win. I think we'll continue to see the same, and as Rudeezy said home court probably won't mean anything until the last couple of games.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Phreeze:</div><div class="quote_post">^ you really can't judge a team by stats, because both teams' home and road record wont mean anything in this series. Same goes for the Lakers' home record in the playoffs, they were 9-0 coming into last night, but that meant nothing and the Pistons came out to win. I think we'll continue to see the same, and as Rudeezy said home court probably won't mean anything until the last couple of games.</div> well, of course anything can happen, but i'm just point out trends. the pistons were 5-3 on the road before game 1. they beat NJ and Indiana who were very dominant at home as well. it wasn't a far off prediction to say the Pistons could beat the Lakers at home. now, the Lakers are 3-5 on the road. combined with the fact that the Pistons are 7-3 at home, and the Laker's marginal regular season record, it's not a far off prediction that the Lakers will not be effective in Detroit. just pointing out the numbers.
You could also say that the numbers don't mean much though. The Lakers have seen the best teams in the west to get to the finals, whereas the Pistons have only had to deal with one elite team(Indiana). The Lakers were battling San Antonio on the road, whereas Detroit was playing an injury-hobbled New Jersey at home. I can see why you point out the numbers, I just don't think they mean anything.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Phreeze:</div><div class="quote_post">You could also say that the numbers don't mean much though. The Lakers have seen the best teams in the west to get to the finals, whereas the Pistons have only had to deal with one elite team(Indiana). The Lakers were battling San Antonio on the road, whereas Detroit was playing an injury-hobbled New Jersey at home. I can see why you point out the numbers, I just don't think they mean anything.</div> i understand what you're saying. until it happens, all we can do is guess. the only way to guess is to look at past performance. so, my guesses are as good as yours i'm just a stat junkie
No doubt the Lakers have to take this game. And the keys to hopefully a Laker victory is feeding the big man in the low post. Shaq was unstoppable both from the field and was respectably decent from the free throw line. We still have a heavy dosage of the Diesel, and in Game 1 it didn't matter who was being thrown at him, Shaq dominated. Secondly, Kobe Bryant must find a way to penetrate more to the basket. Kobe really had to work for his 25 Sunday night, and Larry liked the fact that Kobe was shooting jumpshots instead of beating his guys to the basket. So memo to KB: Keep driving to the hole and draw contact at all times. Lastly, Gary Payton and Karl Malone need to come out with their A games. Payton has to get his offensive game going, and he really has to stop getting burnt off the screen and rolls. That's where he tends to struggle the most. Malone needs to stay physical at all times, he really has to hit his 18 footer with confidence and cannot pass up any wide open field goal opportunities. With all this said and done, the Lakers will be A-OK, and we'll head into Detroit with a 1-1 spilt. GO LAKERS!!!
Even thought the Pistons won Game 1, there is still room for improvement. The Pistons haven't played their best game, which is good news for us. 1. Turnovers. Rip had 6 by himself. I'm sure that all the talk of him emerging as a star has got be pressure on him. He just needs to relax and keep doing the other things he was doing to contribute (7 rebounds, 5 assists). 2. Rebounds. Even in our win, we were out-rebounded. I attribute that to Sheed's playing only 29 minutes. Also, Ben had a mediocre 8 rebounds. Although, we did have more offensive rebounds than the Lakers. That was key to 2nd chance points. If we can do a better job on the boards, we'll put even more pressure on the Lakers. 3. Rip. As I eluded to in point #1, Rip needs to get things going. If his shots aren't falling, he needs to focus on tiring out Kobe, getting rebounds, and making plays for others. Also, he needs to limit his turnovers. He's been turnover prone in the playoffs. 4. Jitters and nerves. We played with jitters in the first half and it showed. We missed layups and free throws. Given it was our first Finals appearance in 14 years, it was expected. If we converted on our layups and free throws, it could have easily been a 20 point blow out. Now we put that behind us, and go for the kill. We need to expect the Lakers to throw the first punch on Tuesday. Brace ourselves for the initial surge and then do all the little things that won game 1. Other than that, I fully believe we can win Game 2. We've won 7 games on the road thus far in the playoffs. Most important is our effort. If the Lakers throw their hardest punch, we need to show we can fight back. The Pistons are already a confident and mentally tough team. All we need is a strong showing in Game 2.
Lakers will have a game plan and obviously have learned a valuable lesson last night. I really doubt that they took the Pistons seriously and really need to up their game alot. If LA played like they did yesterday then they will not win this series. Lakers by 6 in free throw mahem.
Still no respect I hear the laker fans using words like "fluke" and "upset". The pistons are a good team and it will take a game 2 victory for the pistons to quell the nay sayers. The stats during the regular season don't mean shit when we lose it's always a grind out low scoring game. When we win it's always a grind-out low scoring game not because of bad offense it's just that Pistons tend to play down to their opponent. I'm not saying the Lakers are bad team they are a great team(ok they aren't a good "team" but they got shaq and kobe who are the best two players in the game) My point is when we hold a team to 60 or seventy we win by 10 or so points not by 25 or 30. SO people say oh yeah they suck but somehow their bad offense scores more than the other team.
^ I don't care what team the Lakers were playing, they were out of the tough west and Champions 3 of the last 4 years on their home floor. Plus everyone has been favoring the Lakers to take this series. We all know the Pistons are a good team, they're in the Finals.. (duh?) It's a surprise because everyone though they would defend their home floor, atleast for game one. Especially considering they were 9-0 at home in the playoffs going into last night. That's why you can call it an "upset", and the Pistons the "underdogs," get it?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting navyballer18:</div><div class="quote_post">I hear the laker fans using words like "fluke" and "upset". The pistons are a good team and it will take a game 2 victory for the pistons to quell the nay sayers. The stats during the regular season don't mean shit when we lose it's always a grind out low scoring game. When we win it's always a grind-out low scoring game not because of bad offense it's just that Pistons tend to play down to their opponent. I'm not saying the Lakers are bad team they are a great team(ok they aren't a good "team" but they got shaq and kobe who are the best two players in the game) My point is when we hold a team to 60 or seventy we win by 10 or so points not by 25 or 30. SO people say oh yeah they suck but somehow their bad offense scores more than the other team.</div> Try to bet the Pistons to win it all in a casino, $100 and how much will you get? $600... try to bet the Lakers to win it all $100, you'll probably get $60... when things get tough, don't worry... search for the answers from the experts: casino people. They know it all. Lakers will win this game by 12.
Anyone to Stuart Scott interview Ben Wallace the other day? Pretty funny interview, he asked Wallace about the air balled 15 footer he shot and Wallace replied " the 1st one doesn't count because it's a pratice shot ". And then he asked him how come rows and not the fro, then Wallace responded by saying that sometimes the road crowd can sometimes get to him w/ the name calling and what not. He said they always call him buckwheat and that he'll save the fro for home games because the homefans love it. Pretty Good.
ok. If the pistons want to win game 2 and take a 2-0 lead over the lakers, they have to make sure the supporting cast of the lakers scores less than 18 points combined. Even though the pistons won game 1, i stil want them to score 90+ points. if Rip Hamilton can shut kobe down like he did in game 1, then the pistons can have the 2-0 lead maybe. For the lakers to tie the series, the Lakers supporting cast must help out Kobe and shaq, because they cant do it all alone. Kobe must score at least 27-34 points and shaq score about the same. and Kareem Rush must hit the open 3's Unless the pistons defense decides to smother him. hahaha. also, Payton and malone must score a combined 20 points to make this a great game and a possible lakers win.
