Man, I never see San Antonio outmatched on their home court like this. Pistons is just man-handling them on defense and rebounding. Their defense is still incredible and now their O are so much smoother. Their starting five are all playing like an all-star! I am very very impressed!
They have the best starting 5 in the league... their starting 5 could beat an all-star team. TEAM basketball... they win with defense, and they win with half-court execution... kinda like the type of ball we're trying to instill over here.
It's all about Rasheed Wallace, the most underappreciated player in the history of the world and probably the whole universe.
Spurs will be back ... but now everyone can see what Pop was complaining about after the NJ win. They simply got totally outhustled and outplayed in this game. Detroit has one thing going for them though that I don't hear people talking much about: size. This team is just huge all around...Rip Hamilton is like the smallest starter on this team. And he's 6' 7" and insanely fast. Billups is stocky and strong...overmatches most guards in the league by his sheer size. And don't get me started on the Wallaces...when you have a big team like this outrunning and outgunning the opposition, just how do you beat them?
Im willing to say that barring major injuries, the pistons will have a cakewalk to the finals. Miami is their best competition and i dont think they can cut it. they changed way too much in the offseason and shaq just isnt the force that he used to be. I would really like to see a solid cavaliers squad go up against the pistons and have some kind of epic battle with lebron vs. the pistons. also, i guess my statement depends on who the pacers end up getting for artest. if they get a good deal, they might be able to put up a fight against the pistons. doug collins or whoever tonight said it best. he said that the team might not have a single all star on it, but they dont even care! its not chauncey's team or rips team or rasheed's team. its just the pistons. thats probly why they will win it all.
The thing that popped out during this game was the assist totals. Both teams weren't exactly lighting it up. It still was the slow defensive game that us rockets fans are used to (except these two teams actually win while playing that style). If you compare assists, San Antonio had a total of 9 assists compared to Detroit's 25 (14 of which came from Billups). That's just good fundamental team basketball and really demonstrates how cohesive and team-oriented the pistons are. Also, Detroit outrebounded San Antonio 56 to 32 and shot the ball 14 more times than San Antonio. If Detroit is manhandling San Antonio like this, then they should be free to run right through the Eastern Conference.
Pistons are running on all cylinders right now and 'Sheed continues to contain Duncan like no other. This is a Piston I have no problem rooting for..maybe it's because Larry Brown is gone.
Don't anoint the Pistons yet because it's way too early. If the playoffs started now, they would roll. But they could be peaking at the wrong time of the year. 50 games from now, let's see how good they are playing and who emerges as viable contenders from the East (if anyone). Rasheed Wallace is not underappreciated. He has Hall of Fame talent but throughout his career he has refused to play up to his abilities game in / game out. His career averages are only 16/7. If Rasheed had Tim Duncan's (22/12) attitude and dedication, he would be a lock for the Hall of Fame. Instead, he's never tasted anything close to an MVP season. His legacy is one of technical fouls and out of control behavior until he finally screwed his head on straight for a few years in Detroit. Rasheed Wallace = Career Underacheiver. When he brings his "A" game opposing teams are at his mercy. Problem is, he only unpacks his "A" game a few times a year. Too bad he left his bags packed for Game 7 last June: 11 pts, 1 reb, 5 PFs vs Duncan: 25 pts, 11 rebs. I certainly "appreciated" that performance because I wanted the Pistons to lose.
I usually love Doug Collins, and he made some brilliant points tonight (love the bits about Saunders' offense, both in referencing the assist/turnover, FT attempts, and the actual plays), but he was off on a few things tonight: The Pistons don't run. Yes, they can be a good fast break team when they want to be, but they are actually the second-slowest team in the NBA. Check the possession count, they're above the Grizzlies, but that's it. They haven't just added adequate offense to a brilliant defense. They've actually created a brilliant offense, and watched as their defense became adequate. Because they dominated the Spurs twice on national TV by playing awesome defense, people think they're still the lock-down team they've been since 2001-02. Not true. Look at this: http://www.knickerblogger.net/stats/2006/d_de.htm 15th-best. Mediocre. For every hundred possessions, they give up 106 points. Now, this doesn't mean that they'll lop about 8 points off that mark during the playoffs (I think they will, while maintaining that pace). But the offense is amazing. For the second-slowest team, they still average 99.2 points per game, which is 9th in the NBA. And they are the most efficient offensive team in the NBA: http://www.knickerblogger.net/stats/2006/o_oe.htm Most by a wide margin, too. 114.8 points for every 100 possessions, and they only average 86.3 possessions a game. Amazing stuff. Last year, they were 16th out of 30 teams, while playing as the slowest team in the NBA: http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/DET/2005.html The year they won it, they were 18th out of 29 teams: http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/DET/2005.html If this team gets back into the top 10 in defense, look out.
if this team is making a run for the bull's record of 10 losses < then uh...they maybe the best. not all a bunch of badasses, but just have great chemistry. id like to see them win it all and put on those championship belts they wear before games. so when houston steps up and takes it the year after, we can wear our own belts. haha
I agree. This guy could be a little less humble and step up against Duncan last year. Brown should utilize him much more back then. He has such great ofense, one on one and team-wise. I think that his sacrifice to the team is one rare difference to Duncan.
I feel Spurs has to make a trade or two to compete with Pistons again. This group looks like a little bit old. Brent Barry, Michael Finley, Robert Horry and Nick Van Exel are all near the end of their career. Believe or not, even Tim Duncan looks like on his way down. And like Chunk pointed out, why didn't they use Nazr Mohammed more offen. He was the X-factor in last season's playoff.
Billups is playing the best ball of his career. a lot of people were saying Wallace was underachieving in the underachievers thread but he gives them exactly what they need. and he's reliable, when they need to go to the post he's consistent.
It is way too early, a few weeks ago I said their defense is not what it used to be, then everyone brought up stats that showed that it was, I was still doubtful but stats are facts. Now R Kelly brings up deeper stats that show they aren't nearly as good as they were before, that's exactly what I saw, I liked their old team better, they played championship defense, if they want to go offense vs offense against the Heat they'll lose. He's had a Hall of Fame career regardless of stats, when it's over those who really know the game will recognize that Rasheed was an outstanding all around basketball player. If you ask me his legacy will be one of a winner, a great teammate, one of the best team players of all time, there's nothing missing from his game except the desire to be the man, fine with me, too many players have that desire, but are missing the game. The Pistons are 28-5 this season, Rasheed is having one of his better seasons, and when he needs his A game it's there, it might just be to stop a run or to break a cold streak, but it's always there when called upon. The refs screwed him over in that game, they knew he was the key to shutting Duncan down, when he was in the Pistons looked like they were on their way to back to back titles. Why would you want the Spurs to win anyway?
R Wallace is the key to that team, he allows Ben Wallace to be an offensive liability and he's a better on ball defender than Ben. Jumpman is right, he has an all around game that's probably the best of All Big men. He has post moves just as good as Duncan's and he can take you out on the perimeter like Dirk.
