11/05/24
June 07, 2005
Whos it gunna be?: A repeat for Mo-town?A third time for S.A.?
posted by HOE.O.K. to basketball at 10:59 AM - 24 comments
I've been saying Pistons will repeat, but they didn't impress me in the eastern conference finals. Maybe my perspective was warped in that I was cheering for "my team", but the quality of play in last years conference finals seemed much more inspired. Lots of interesting matchups here involving Hamilton, Ginobli, Prince, Bowen, etc. Hamilton's success in particular really seems to key the Pistons this year. I gotta favor Chauncey Billups over Tony Parker, that'll probably be one of televisions "hidden" matchups of the series. I'm sticking with Pistons in 6, but I have a nagging suspicion that I'm gonna be wrong.
posted by chmurray at 12:09 PM on June 07, 2005
it will be a good series!
posted by daddisamm at 12:11 PM on June 07, 2005
"A Bias will always distort perception.Suspicions tend to tell truth.But assuming only creates more confussion.Time holds the answers".--THADDEUS4TH1
posted by HOE.O.K. at 12:55 PM on June 07, 2005
I read somewhere that the Spurs are going to try to push the ball like they did in the Phoenix series. If they play solid defense (as always) and push the ball up the floor, this could be Spurs in 5 just like against the Suns. But I bet that Pop will get nervous and make them play conservative. I really like the way Detroit plays as a team, maybe they will win in 7... Or not.
posted by sic at 01:14 PM on June 07, 2005
Hmmm... I was disappointed by the Eastern Conference Finals a bit, but I also think it would have been easy for the Pistons to let the Shaq mystique and the next Jordaning of Wade overwhelm the them. I think the Pistons have three advantages and the Spurs have three advantages. Pistons 1 better defense (the ability to play all-time defense) 2 five different players capable of going for thirty (Billups, Hamilton, Prince, RWallace, McDyess) 3 they haven't blinked twice now against Shaq (and Duncan and the Spurs have) Spurs 1 quick, slashing guards (I've been watching the Pistons all year here in Detroit and this seems to be a weakness) 2 Tim Duncan 3 easier path to the Finals
posted by BobbyC at 04:41 PM on June 07, 2005
This is my nightmare finals matchup. If the Spurs run, it might get interesting, but I doubt they will. It's likely going to be a grind-it-out low-scoring defense-fest. (Can I get a few more dashes in there?) I hope I'm wrong and the score breaks 100 at least once.
posted by dusted at 07:11 PM on June 07, 2005
For the record, I'm not a big fan of the NBA, largely because of the one-on-one look-at-me-look-at-me playground crap that most games devolve into. But. A finals between two teams that won through actual team play? A series where all ten players on the court might actually make a difference at any point in the game? Six-plus games where passing and strategy are the keys to victory instead of who throws down the sickest dunk? Hell, I might watch this.
posted by chicobangs at 07:30 PM on June 07, 2005
Oh yeah. Tony Parker makes a 17-footer at the buzzer to break a tie, and the Spurs take it in 7.
posted by chicobangs at 07:34 PM on June 07, 2005
A finals between two teams that won through actual team play? A series where all ten players on the court might actually make a difference at any point in the game? Six-plus games where passing and strategy are the keys to victory instead of who throws down the sickest dunk? All of this, I agree with. For basketball scholars (or anybody who doesn't just look at the player with the ball), this should be a dream. Look for crisp rotations that will force the ballhandlers to make good decisions, smart defenders who will steal in the passing lanes, and anticipate the shooter with the hot touch that will get a wide-open three due to unselfish players that know it's better to get an assist (or an assist once-removed) than to commit an offensive foul. Prolly what you will also see will be two teams constantly changing offensive speeds in order to try to catch the other off guard. These teams are too smart to depend on grinding it out all game long. Spurs in seven, with Manu faking the drive for the tie and draining the three.
posted by avogadro at 08:04 PM on June 07, 2005
Who will win? Simple- whichever team has fewer injuries. Healthy Shaq and Wade? the Pistons aren't in the Finals. Hell, if the Sonics hadn't lost 2 key players in the series, they could have beaten the Spurs outright... neither Finals team impressed me at all, they just got some lucky breaks. If the Pistons or Spurs lose a player, that's the team that loses the Finals. Also, I hate Manu Ginobli. Just want to go on the record yet again. :)Flop artist bastard... it's one thing to be a wiry penetrating dribbler, it's another to act like a gust of wind just fouled you. There's something so sleazy about drawing a foul through flopping: it's as close as you can get to cheating without actually cheating: rely on the poor judgment of the ref to decide the game.
posted by hincandenza at 09:36 PM on June 07, 2005
There's something so sleazy about drawing a foul through flopping: it's as close as you can get to cheating without actually cheating: rely on the poor judgment of the ref to decide the game. When the hell did this turn into a soccer/football discussion? Oh wait...my bad.
posted by grum@work at 10:06 PM on June 07, 2005
Hal, you don't happen to favor the Sonics, do you? :) I would think that after all the attention paid to Manu (really only during the Seattle series and Allen's whinging helpful commentary) that the refs would be more critical of his act (which, he admits, exists to make sure that a call is made), no? Also, if Duncan and Nesterovic were not injured late in the season/early in the playoffs, the Spurs might have cut through the West like a hot knife through butter. You compete with the players you have, and save the suppositions for fiction.
posted by avogadro at 11:02 PM on June 07, 2005
San antonio's offense will be stifled by Detroits smothering defense and Parker will cry like a baby and Ginobli will get a whack or 2 from B. Wallce and he won't be so anxious to drive to the bucket. Detoit in 6.
posted by bluekarma at 12:14 AM on June 08, 2005
oh, and Duncan and the whole team are a bunch of babies. I can't wait to see Timmmy get upset and throw a tantrum! And Parker will get smacked down like he did against Phoenix! I love it.
posted by bluekarma at 12:16 AM on June 08, 2005
The Spurs are babies. Hm. Okay, bluekarma. If you don't think both teams belong in the finals (a rarity lately, admittedly), I have some semi-rhetorical questions. * How many championships do you think a player has to win before they're not a baby anymore? Two? Three? Six? * How many tantrums has Tim "Timmmy" Duncan thrown? How about, oh, just for comparison, Tayshaun? Or Chauncey? Or Rasheed, fergodsake? * How often is Tony Parker going to get double teamed, compared to the other Spurs starters? (It'll happen, but really, you think it'll be a regular thing unless he somehow drops 40 in both Games 1 and 2?) Are the Spurs expecting him to do more than his share? You really think so? * And finally, what sport are the Suns playing right now? (Hint: it involves clubs and tees.)
posted by chicobangs at 10:38 AM on June 08, 2005
when are fans and the media going to realize that shaq is over rated mainly because he gets away with fouling grossly on offense and defense by backing into the man garding him and the refs let him get away with it. he's not a great player since he can't shoot foul shots or shots farther than ten shots from the basket. he also is a bad sport because he bad mouths anybody that dares to deny him getting his way - lakers owner vs miami's, just compare the rings-come on! he's just a spoiled brat and he would still be with the lakers if he hadn't been so greedy and gone on a verbal rampage at the end of last season. just compare shaq's and kobe's behavior at the end of the '54 season.
posted by honest at 10:42 AM on June 08, 2005
bluekarma is a complete idiot.check out his drool on the story about Pele's son.Hes a classic.
posted by HOE.O.K. at 12:13 PM on June 08, 2005
I hope we have 7 games of this matchup. It's such a toss up. Both teams are evenly matched and neither has a major advantage over the other. Here are some other previews: Dime Magazine Side by side arguments for each team An expert's take on the matchups - this last one is really good...
posted by djKianoosh at 01:58 PM on June 08, 2005
Good analyses, djK. ...if he can't unloose his floaters before Detroit's bigs arrive on the scene, T.P.'s standard duck-under moves will get him nowhere. "Unloose his floaters." "T.P." Heh heh mheh heh hmheh.
posted by chicobangs at 02:21 PM on June 08, 2005
chicobangs, thanks, but I'm definitely not taking credit. Dime Magazine is a really good hoops magazine out here in the east coast.. You can get it almost anywhere now though. their daily "Smack" at their website dimemag.com is always entertaining. I agree with most of the analysis though. I just think people overhype the distractions around Larry Brown, so they can't use that as an excuse for the players not playing well.
posted by djKianoosh at 04:02 PM on June 08, 2005
For basketball scholars (or anybody who doesn't just look at the player with the ball), this should be a dream. 69 points. Need I say more? This is not a "game for the purists," it's just fucking ugly.
posted by dusted at 12:55 AM on June 10, 2005
For basketball scholars (or anybody who doesn't just look at the player with the ball), this should be a dream. 69 points. Need I say more? This is not a "game for the purists," it's just fucking ugly. No, it would be ugly if both teams were making bad, wide-upon shots. Were you watching the same game that I was? What I saw were two teams just scrapping on the defensive end. Early on, Detroit was closing off every single passing lane and making crazy-fast rotations to the ball, which required San Antonio to begin those kamikaze drives into the paint. San Antonio likewise guarded the perimeter and kept the clams on Billups and Hamilton, who were running mad circles through the low-post. Both frontcourts made crazy numbers of blocks. Now, maybe you would prefer the Suns-style "Ole" defense, or teams that live on the transition (speaking of which, transition defense for both sides were so good that they had to run faster and faster to contest). I counted five times where the Spurs dumped the ball into Duncan in the low post to run a two-man game, because the Detroit defense was challenging Duncan with weak-side double teams. This is what good defense on both sides does; it forces the opposing offense to get more creative. The Spurs were able to do this in the fourth quarter, and the Pistons were not. This is a series were a long-layoff between games is also a good thing, because you know that Brown is going to come back with a new offensive scheme, and you can't wait to see what it is and how the Spurs will try to counter, and vice versa. I take it that you don't watch soccer or hockey for the same reasons, though, dusted. That's okay, but don't just look at the score and yawn.
posted by avogadro at 10:37 AM on June 10, 2005
We'll have to agree to disagree. You're obviously a great fan of slow, defensive grinding, and that's cool... but I'm yawning. I'm a fan of assists and running - the ball never touching the floor kind of basketball. For me the game last night was like watching paint dry.
posted by dusted at 11:59 AM on June 10, 2005
Spurs seem to be favored,but its always up in the air come Finals time.Two grinders in the finals,could be boring to some,but b-ball purists will be salivating for at least 4 games.Spurs in 6.