Pistons play the Celtics tomorrow for the crown of the Eastern Conference. Who do I think will win? Total Toss up, both are very good teams. But, one thing I do know is that the NBA playoffs is all about matchups, so lets look at the matchups.
PG: Chauncey Billups/Rodney Stuckey v. Rajon Rondo/Sam Cassell. Cassell is old, and hasnt made a shot since game 2 of the Eastern Conference semis. I imagine that Cassell will get one more change, but if he continues to show his age and struggle, Eddie House will be backing up Rondo. Billups has an enormous size advantage over Rondo. Rondo may be quicker than the gimpy Billups, but if they can exploit the size advantage here to create opportunites for players like Rasheed, Rip and Tay the Pistons have a great change. I think this series starts and ends with exploiting this matchup on the offensive end. Have Billups post up Rondo and have other players cutting towards the basket when Garnett or Pierce attempts to help Rondo; this should create easy layups and points.
SG: Rip v. Ray Allen. Allen looks lost out there. He hasn't hit a three in a while, which is his bread and butter. However, a great shooter like Allen could "wake up" at anytime or get hot. The Pistons are generally very good perimeter defenders and hopefully have learned their lesson of the importance of defending the three from losing 1 game big to Orlando. On the other side, Ray Allen cannot keep up with Rip. He is not a good defender around screens. I expect Rip to see a lot of open shots and hopefully continue his great play from the Orlando series.
SF: Tay v. Paul Pierce. Quite possibly the most important and worst matchup for the Pistons. Pierce is an underrated defender. He may cause Tay a few problems. However, on offense I think his length will annoy and cause problems for Pierce to defend. On the other end, Pierce is a tough matchup for Tay. Prince is a great defender, but Pierce is quick off the dribble and can shoot from anywhere on the court. He has been inconsistent, especially on the road, and if he can be contained, Boston is in trouble.
PF/C - Rasheed, McDyess v. Perkins, Garnett. Garnett is one of the best rebounders in the game. Rasheed, McDyess and Maxiel are all great rebounders. This battle of the boards is really all that matters to me. Garnett is going to get 20 points somehow. And the Pistons big men will get their shots. The key here is to win the battle on the boards, limit the offensive rebounds and create second opportunities for us.
I really can't pick a winner here. If the Pistons had home court, it would be a different story. Also, the NBA will likely try to "fix" the finals to be Boston-LA. Boston is just really tough to beat at home. I am very excited about this series as it may be the best so far in the playoffs. Sorry for my indecision, leave your predictions in the comments
Celtics - Pistons: Matchup by Matchup
Lebron, Chauncey and the Rest
I am very impressed with the Celtics ability to stop Lebron James, but I am not very impressed with the Celtics.
The C's did something that we were unable to do last year (pathetically). I realize that this is only 2 games, but still you gotta give a hand to how they have almost completely shut him down.
But, seriously. The Cavs are a one dimensional team. If Lebron does not beat you himself (with a little help here and there) you should win. But Boston almost lost game one, and came no where near destroying them in game two. Just imagine what the score could have been if Cleveland actually had a decent second option. I mean who is it? Z? Please.
This is the same Celtics team who had no energy, emotion or desire to win on the road against a far inferior team in Atlanta. This team is beatable.
A few months ago I wrote about how I thought the Celtics were better than any team in the West. Now, I'm not even sure they are better than any of the four remaining teams in the west.
And I think that the Lakers have surpassed them in my "power rankings."
So, if the Pistons advance against the Magic and have to play the Celtics, they should certainly win and advance to the finals.
Except...
Chauncey is the most important piece of the Pistons puzzle. I have been trying to read everything I can about his injury and how he feels. From the sound of his trainer, we have reason to be optimistic.
Without Chauncey, it will be hard, but I think they can still beat the Magic. Without him, they stand no chance against Boston.
We will see what happens on Saturday. I am no doctor, but I think he should stay out. Rest up and be ready for game 5. And Stuckey had a decent game on Wednesday. If he could just limit some of the rookie mistakes he could have a real nice floor presence. The Stones almost clawed back and made it a game. Unfortunately they went ice cold in the fourth. And Sheed needs to step up for us to win without Chancey.
But until then, we will just have to wait.
Gary Sheffield Needs to Be Booed
I'm sick of cheering Gary on, hoping he gets a hit. At this point Id rather boo him and scream for a pinch hitter
Today was the cumulation of the frustration with Gary. Bottom of the 8th, down by one run, full count, men on first and second. Jim Leyland calls for the hit and run. The pitch by the left hander Okajima was a fast ball, belt high and right down the center of the plate. Gary Swings!... and misses. Maggs is thrown out at third by a mile because Gary couldn't even make contact with a fastball right down the middle. That cost us a scoring chance and almost the game (thank you Polanco).
It doesn't seem to matter where you stick Gary in the lineup or the field, he is becoming a liability on offense. I don't know if i can excuse it for injury or what, but his bat does not seem to be feared by anyone anymore. He seems to pop out or strike out every other at bat. The only reason his batting average isn't under .100 is because he has so many "non at bats" because of walks.
The problem is, what do you do with him. He is getting paid a ton of money to do one thing, hit. Jim Leyland seems to have the ultimate trust in him, but a two month slump is past a slump. I am sure the Tigers do not want to eat his salary by designating him. So really the only alternatives are DL, bench, or continue to play him and hope.
The first option leaves us without Gary for at least 15 days. Thames could easily fit in Left or i suppose you could use Brandon as well. But this option would likely bring out the headcase that is Gary Sheffield. Benching also has the same problems of him not seeing live pitching for a certain amount of time, probably not real helpful to get his swing straight.
Playing him is like batting a pitcher right now.
My solution? None of those options. Gary is one of the strangest, craziest individuals in the world. He is probably completely backwards of any of us. Gary once said last year during his April slump that he wanted the Detroit fans to boo him for his poor performance. So my solution is boo the crap out of him until he starts hitting. During the games I watch and the games i have been to, the urging chant "GARY! GARY!" is predominant during any clutch situation he comes into. Gary hates being rooted for. Do the opposite! Boo him until we can cheer for him.
His "best" series thus far has been the New York series. The New York fans hate Gary, for all kinds of reasons. They booed him every time he went up to bat. He even managed to get a HR during that series.
I know this is completely opposite of how us Detroit fans normally act. We are very forgiving and optimistic about our athletes. We like to cheer for them. The best example is the fact that Detroit fans root for athletes everyone else hates, like Rasheed and Chelios. But we have to act more like New York fans wheneven A-rod goes 0-4.
BOOOOOOO!!!!!! BOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!