The OFFICIAL DET VS SAN Thread-Spurs 2005 NBA Champions

[air gordon]

where's rasheed? detroit better make the most of the home cookin'. i don't want this week to be the last week of basketball until november

[Indy]

hahahahahaha Detroit is in deep shit.

This series is done. Detroit is cooked. They will lose in 5. If they get lucky 6.

I was wrong about picking it to go 7, Detroit is OVERRATED!!!

[galvatron3000]

great game

[Andrew]

It got a bit sloppy in places, but overall it was a good game to watch even with the lopsided conclusion. I wouldn't expect Pistons fans to feel the same way though.

A couple of things surprised me looking at the boxscore afterwards though. Antonio McDyess' 15 points (7/14 FG) and 7 rebounds came pretty quietly, I really don't remember him scoring that much. I didn't expect Detroit to have shot 40% from the field either, it felt like it should have been lower than that even after those runs in the second half.

Nice game from Horry, he was really energetic in coming up with those steals. I'm guessing he'll move ahead of Michael Jordan for most career threes in the NBA Finals early in Game 3, it wouldn't surprise me if he extends the record to around 50 if the series goes six games.

Even with three games at home, Detroit's in trouble. San Antonio can afford to go 1-2 in the Palace, I don't think the Pistons will be able to topple the Spurs in San Antonio. They might have the momentum if they win three straight at home to go back to Texas up 3-2, but I don't see the Spurs giving up all three games in Detroit.

[galvatron3000]

Team Stat Comparison
DETROIT
Points 76
FG Made-Attempted 33-82 (.402)
3P Made-Attempted 0-6 (.000)
FT Made-Attempted 10-16 (.625)
Rebounds (Offensive-Total) 18-45
Assists 17
Turnovers 12
Steals 5
Blocks 2
Fast Break Points 6
Fouls (Tech/Flagrant) 25 (2/0)
Largest Lead 0




SAN ANTONIO
Points 97
FG Made-Attempted 29-62 (.468)
3P Made-Attempted 11-24 (.458)
FT Made-Attempted 28-34 (.824)
Rebounds (Offensive-Total) 9-36
Assists 23
Turnovers 14
Steals 11
Blocks 7
Fast Break Points 8
Fouls (Tech/Flagrant) 19 (0/0)
Largest Lead 23

[beau_boy04]

I don't see Detroit coming back from this hole.

The San Antonio Spurs has all the arsenal to get this done in 4 games.

Tim Duncan - Mr. Fundamental
Ginobili - he's everywhere, always hustling plays and doing whatever it takes to win
Parker - one of the quickiest guy on the court
Horry - he's like a legend on the 3 point field
Barry - mister 3 pointers
Bowen - shut down perimeter defensive player
So on and so forth.

They are just too much for the Pistons.

[MaD_hAND1e]

Ginobili had 27 points from 8 shots And he made every single shot (FG, 3PT, FT) in the first half.
The problem is, the Spurs are playing like a team, the Pistons are trying to play individually. The early run near the end of the 1st and early 2nd quarter was mainly McDyess, and the run in the 4th was just Billups and a bit of Hamilton.
I think its safe to say the Pistons are very very very close to losing this series, the Spurs are too good to lose a 2-0 lead in a best of 7 series.

[Matt]

oh man the Pistons really are up shits creek now. Although i do recall seattle falling 3-0 to Bulls before pulling back 2.

Anyways, the next 3 are home games and needless to say wins are a must. The Pistons hopes lay in forcing a Game 7. I have a feeling that they'll win 2 of 3 @home....then they must win Game 6 to force Game 7.

Well, they've played best when down, nows the time to start playing.

the Spurs are too good to lose a 2-0 lead in a best of 7 series.

you mean like last year to the Lakers?

[baller status]

Robert Horry came up with some sneaky steals... hes done that a couple of times in the playoffs already. Ginobilis stock has really went through the roof this year... and people are just now realizing his greatness. Beno Udrih had a pretty good game... he stepped up when Parker went down with 5. After the game when Popavich was talked to by media he said that he let Udrih play through the detroit run and thought that Udrih handled it well.

As a spurs fan, my prediction was right-Spurs have another ring.

[Strike Freedom]

well... Pistons bench McDyess was the only one who stepped up, that was like asking alot from the bench already. However, the starting five didn't do much.
Remember Manu won the trophy 2 years ago when he was a rookie, it was also because of him that the Spurs won.

[galvatron3000]

It's never been more evident than this season how badly Detroit needs a real point guard. I understand he won theMVP award a year ago but he's not a point guard and they need someone who is more capable of running the team, all the one on one play is killing them. Sheed took 11 shots and Duncan took 10 but Duncan's quiet perfomance was better because he does more, not just scoring but rebounding, intimidating shots and just being where he should be on both ends of the floor. A point guard that runs the offense would help Detroit but I still believe S.A. is just a better version in this match up of the 2005 Spurs versus the 1999 version of the Spurs.

[Matt]

^^i dont quite agree with that....parting with Billups wouldnt bring in anyone better. Plus that chemistry he has with Hamilton.

Arroyo gets guys going but he's chained to the bench, i hoped Brown quits after the season because he's hindering the bench guys. Detroit has a good bench, it's just not evident because they dont get to play and what time they have isnt enough to get established.

[Jackal]

Let's put it this way, SA isn't bad enough to lose 4 out of 5 games to Detroit. That's not a knock on Detroit, they play well but SA is just playing better.

If Detroit wants to win, they need Sheed to be more aggressive. He needs to demand the ball, he needs to command the help defense from SA. If he gets doubled, the others get a chance to get an open shot. Rip needs to keep going to the basket, rolling off the screen and hitting an open shot isn't going to work because A) Bowen just stays without despite hard screens & B) if Bowen is stopped on some screen, someone will always be on Rip. Even if that someone has to be Duncan, they're trying very very hard to have a hand in Rip's face at all times. During the occasional switch on defense, Detroit has to capitalise on the mismatches. San Antonio does it very well, Detroit doesn't. Ben Wallace has got to wake up, he's the emotional leader of this team and if his fire isn't there, Detroit is doomed for sure. (Not that they aren't right now...) He's got to get better positioning, then again, SA is doing a great job keeping him away from the boards and he's just in position to tap the ball.

Overall, SA is killing them from all sides. Duncan is his usual self getting his double double but SA's supporting cast is killing Detroit's starting 5 and making their bench look like a joke. Horry has come up huge & he seems interested again. (He seemed to lose interest while he was in LA.) He's doing little stuff like tapping the ball, grabbing steals and just his presence makes it tougher for Detroit. SA has clogged up the lane nicely. He's also going to the basket which is a nice thing to see, some of the layups he made seemed so effortless. Mohamed is doing great, contributing with a few points, his presence too makes a difference and he also keeps grabbing boards. Bowen is hitting the few three's he's getting and I've already praised him for his wonderful defense on Rip. Ginobili is full of energy, this kid is doing like everything, I still like to call him the white Bryant. He's just that talented. He can do pretty much anything, as erratic as he is, it's a pleasure to watch this guy play. Parker is using his best talent to get his points, his speed. Billups just can't keep up with him once Parker goes shifts into his next gear. The transition from normal fast to super fast just goes so fast I doubt any of Detroit's players even realise what the hell's going on. Hell, on one of the plays I was also like, wtf, how'd he manage that.

Detroit has got to get into the passing lanes, they've got to clamp down on defense for longer stretches. SA has to keep doing whatever it is they are doing, diving for loose balls, taking charges (albeit Ginobili acts alot) and just grabbing boards and keeping Detroit off of them.

In this series, I think Pops is the better coach, Brown needs to realise his bench has potential. If Billups isn't doing stuff he drew up, take him out. If Rip is going too much one on one and forcing it, take him out. Hunter's been doing great off the bench as it is, he keeps going to the basket.
Pops manages to stay on SA, no matter how far up they are, he keeps screaming at them if they do stupidity. You gotta love it.

I don't know about the rest, so far, I'm loving the Finals.

[AlwaysWhat,NeverWhy]

Nice analysis Jackal... you're definitely not 30, or you wouldn't be patient to type all of it... Props man...

[galvatron3000]

^^i dont quite agree with that....parting with Billups wouldnt bring in anyone better. Plus that chemistry he has with Hamilton.

Arroyo gets guys going but he's chained to the bench, i hoped Brown quits after the season because he's hindering the bench guys. Detroit has a good bench, it's just not evident because they dont get to play and what time they have isnt enough to get established.

Arroyo, man that guy is really killing the Pistons. I thought people were hard on him after game 1 but after game 2 I was like, this guys needs to get out of the rotation for real. Gets guys going? How? He can't get people the ball with all the dribbling, how's that getting the team going? I don't agree or disagree with your statement because I personally don't understand it. A point guard would be getting Sheed the ball in the post whether he wants it there or not. A point guard would run the offense based on what he sees going on floor. A point guard would really help them offensively. That's my stance.

[galvatron3000]

Pistons don't have a bench they have Hunter and McDyess, isn't that the equivilent of a sixth man and a bench player. S A has a bench.

Also, I noticed that when the Pistons go with the Rasheed and McDyess lineup in the frontcourt, the suffer tremendously. Keep an eye on that in the next game. Spurs guard really attack the basket when that shotblockless lineup is in the game.

[Lenkbron]

it´s just that sweet seeing detroit getting f***** by the spurs, i would love to see them getting sweeped detroit is soooo overrated...

[Jackal]

Over-rated? I wouldn't say that, they've proven they can play with the big boys, on what grounds do you call them over-rated?

[cyanide]

it´s just that sweet seeing detroit getting f***** by the spurs, i would love to see them getting sweeped detroit is soooo overrated...

Just because Detroit lost twice doesn't mean they're overrated, especially since they're the underdogs. I'm sure there's a lot of overrated teams in history that made it to the NBA Finals

[Alcoholic]

Detroit played bad, then their frustration finished them off. Technical fouls, and after that basically pissing off the refs, like when Rasheed didn't take the ball to inbound, so the ref set it down (so Sheed had to pick it up) and started counting. So that itself pretty much biased the refs toward the Spurs.

[maes]

Detroit is just too overmatched on the backcourt...although that's not a knock on Detroit..that's true for just about every team except the Sonics or NJN.

A lot of media called out the Prince on Ginobli matchup the X factor and had Prince winning, which didn't make any sense based on pure #s, he's just as dangerous as Nash & Wade statistically.

Ginobli has lit a team up for 48 this year, Parker has gone for 35 and did 33 just recently vs a decent duo of Ridnour/Antonio Daniels. Spurs are just waiting for Detroit to mess up and punish them.

Detroit has to play a perfect ball game to win.

[Matt]

Arroyo, man that guy is really killing the Pistons. I thought people were hard on him after game 1 but after game 2 I was like, this guys needs to get out of the rotation for real. Gets guys going? How? He can't get people the ball with all the dribbling, how's that getting the team going? I don't agree or disagree with your statement because I personally don't understand it. A point guard would be getting Sheed the ball in the post whether he wants it there or not. A point guard would run the offense based on what he sees going on floor. A point guard would really help them offensively. That's my stance.

your basing this on 2 games.....if you take a look back on some previous games you see that he's done well will his passing, and most of his assists go to Rasheed, Ben or Dice. His offensive game is shit but i cant blame him for that, he just doesnt get enough time on the court to get into any sort of a rhythm. Take a look at Mike James last year, he was shooting shit, this year he was shooting well....difference is playing time, it's hard to get into a rhythm when your on the bench for an entire series (against Miami he barely played)

McDyess should get more PT at the expense of Sheed because his offense is consistent, unless Sheed steps up big time.

Hunter is his usual self, chasing everyone around, playing tight defense etc.

You say the bench is Hunter & McDyess, and i agree because they produce. Look down the Pistons bench and it's not as bed as people think. Problem is Brown doesnt let them play, instead he opts to burn the starters out and now Ben Wallace doesn't look himself anymore, Prince is a step behind and Hamilton slows down by the 2nd half. That's why i want Brown out...he talks too much BS, he says he'll use the bench and then he doesn't. And whenever they do check in it's their first minutes in a month and they look dazed and confused.

[maes]

I agree on that 100%, i'm not sure why Brown doesn't use his very good bench more often. Dumars put together a nice team, and it goes beyond McDyess. Now that they're deep into the playoffs, they can't change the rotation in any way without major fubaring things up. A waste of good players.

Anyway, check out the Seattle love from Marc Stein:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2 ... ime-050613

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – It really doesn't matter if he's a real or an imagined candidate to be the next Pistons coach.

Detroit needs to call Nate McMillan.

Now.

There isn't a coach on Earth who can better explain how to beat San Antonio than McMillan, who has been mentioned as a possible successor to Larry Brown, should he go through with plans to become a Cleveland Brown. McMillan's Seattle SuperSonics, remember, toppled San Antonio twice early in the regular season and then did what Brown's Pistons are trying to do now in the NBA Finals.

Rally from 2-0 down.

The Sonics know how to erase a 2-0 playoff deficit after San Antonio opens a series with two cushy home wins … even though without the team's second-best player (Rashard Lewis) and the best scorer off the bench (Vladimir Radmanovic).

[Strike Freedom]

Have to admit Spurs is a good team that can adjust to fast and slow-flow basketball. Suns as a fast offensive team had been beaten and meanwhile so does Detroit that plays slower offense.

[galvatron3000]

Spurs up 1 at the half but I just don't think Detroit can manufacture enough point in this second half to win, unless of course Manu is severely hindered. I also think Detroit played slightly better in the first half than S.A. despite the score. We'll see as the game continues. I expect, fully to see S.A. win this game 3.