Eastern Conference Finals: Cavs vs Pistons - Lebron's time?

[1CenT]

So after 4 full seasons under his belt and having experienced the playoffs for the first time taking the pistons to game 7 last year...

Lebron seems to have quickly figured it out,
he was a strong candidate for the MVP last season, and had huge success against a Pistons team that did tremendous in the regular season...

Seems like James knew he had to "cruise" past the regular season and start playing in the playoffs ( it didn't REALLY start until 2nd round )

Is King James gonna pull something out from his sleeves and do everything for the Cavs to pull a series victory over the Pistons?

Pistons are amazing right now, i don't see any team beating them.. But Cavs are matched up well against them.. They have inside scoring and hustle rebounders in Big Z, Gooden and Varejao... They have Hughes and Pavlovic who isn't out size and more athletic than Piston's backcourt.. They also have James..

Do you guys think James will have a mediocre series b/c of Pistons def ( which is weaker than last year without Ben ) or will he breakout? I think he will really really try hard and go crazy like avg 35points 8 assists and 11 rebounds or something and take the pistons down to the wire....


ps. yes i notice the nets are not done yet...

[Matt]

They have inside scoring and hustle rebounders in Big Z, Gooden and Varejao...

rebounders yes, but not scoring. Not one of those can be depended on to score consistently from game to game.

Pistons def ( which is weaker than last year without Ben ) or will he breakout?

actually, it's the same.....granted it's a little easier to score inside with Webber but he gets the points back on offense and everyone else has stepped up.

Given Rasheed's "im on a mission" play, Cavs are in trouble. Everyone else has been playing well too! Flips coaching has been excellent too, especially his zones! I don't see anyone stopping Detroit from the NBA Finals! [also we should note that Rasheed won't be playing on a twisted knee this time around]

[NBAFanatic23]

It'll be a series down to the wire, but Cleveland needs a TRUE second scorer. Hughes cannot shoot, and both Z & Gooden will have a hard time against Webber and 'Sheed. Plus, don't count the Nets out so early. They took the first two games in Cleveland down to the wire, and they can probably win their next two home games.

[Sacke12]

As much I as would love to see Cavs in the Finals, I think Detroit will win the Conference Finals against them (if they get so far ). The've been man-handling Chicago Bulls right now, and seems poised to make the Finals.

[Laxation]

The refs will do anything in their power to give the series to Cleveland.

LeBron in the finals = $$$


That said, Pistons in 5. What Matt said is too true. Sheed is on a mission, and our assistant coaches are minimising Flips disabilities

[scrub]

Pistons will have a shout with LeBron on his game. If Varejao, Ilgauskas and Gooden rebound well and play adequate defense and Larry Hughes can up his game and hopefully shut down Billups I think the Cavs will win.

[Anthony15]

Well Bulls-Pistons series are settled, but I wouldn't be counting out NJ just yet, they stayed close in both away games, and might tie it at home.

[cheater1034]

Count out NJ, because if cleveland wins game 3 or 4 (which they will) it's done because NJ can't win in cleveland.

And those games really weren't close, cleveland got 19-3 offensive rebounds in game 2, even if you're shooting 30%, you will beat any team in the league if you do that.

But NJ's "big 3" all had good games against us in game 2, and it still wasn't enough.

I have no opinion on the cavs-detroit, i hope the cavs win of course, but whoever has more heart and dedication will win.

The cavs will get their rebounds, Z will get his points on webber as long as he's making his hooks and jump shots. Drew will get atleast a double double every game (I'll estimate 10-15 points per game, with about 15 rebounds)

LeBron will play to win and detroit knows that. Detroit will double/triple team LeBron which isn't a bad strategy, but the way everybody steps up in the playoffs for the cavs (last year hughes did great and so did snow which was a surprise)

LeBron will get double teamed, if that's the case he'll end up with 15 assists per night making them unable to double team him.

The cavs of the postseason are different than the cavs of the regular season, if lebron feeds it off to a wide open shooter, he will make it 80% of the time, even if it's hughes or one of those guys who sucked this year.

Detroit is a huge talent, and rasheed's mouth will only motivate the cavs to play better (like it did last year)

[ixcuincle]

Pistons are red-hot right now , and LeBron will probably miss free throws and three pointers down the stretch to cost them a game or two.

Pistons in 5.

[beau_boy04]

yeah apparently Lebron is gonna be in the ECF but he ain't gonna beat the Pistons because he ain't MJ yet.

Thanks.

[scrub]

Pistons are red-hot right now , and LeBron will probably miss free throws and three pointers down the stretch to cost them a game or two.

Pistons in 5.

LeBron has been shooting his free throws quite well in the playoffs. But down the stretch he could miss them.

[nylia]

no. cavs will lose this year. his team mates suck. if lebron plays a bad game... they lose.


i hate his teammates... they really suck...
hughes suck,
gooden suck!

[nylia]

sorry, but he will never be MJ. he doesn't have that killer instinct. i don't know if he will ever get that. (if it's not in you, it will never be in you)

yeah apparently Lebron is gonna be in the ECF but he ain't gonna beat the Pistons because he ain't MJ yet.

Thanks.

[maes]

Cavs will be difficult for the Pistons because they have a player who demands a double team every time, something neither the Bulls or the Wizards had this year. They just played tight D and didn't need to adjust any further.

Not to diminish how well the Pistons are playing, but let's face it:
Pistons have not faced an All-Star in the playoffs yet.

[Slizz]

U mixed things up there
1. Pistons have not played against Washington in the Playoffs
2. They faced a certain player called Dwight Howard also known as D12 who happened to participate in an even on sunday during the All-Star Weekend wich would be the actual All-Star Game. So they faced an All-Star

[maes]

Ah my bad Slizz...i mixed up the two sweeps.

Still, my point is that the EC is weak this year, and the EC low seeds are a different game than facing the low seeds in WC: Kobe, Iverson + Melo, Yao + McGrady, Golden State; i'm only slightly surprised Detroit hasn't lost yet.

LeBron will be the first player they run into that may give them trouble.

[ixcuincle]

Ah my bad Slizz...i mixed up the two sweeps.

Still, my point is that the EC is weak this year, and the EC low seeds are a different game than facing the low seeds in WC: Kobe, Iverson + Melo, Yao + McGrady, Golden State; i'm only slightly surprised Detroit hasn't lost yet.

LeBron will be the first player they run into that may give them trouble.

yeah...i doubt the Pistons will go undefeated throughout the postseason...so the Cavs might win one or two games. The Pistons are still the better team however , and they will likely go on to the NBA Finals , whether it be against the Cavs or the Nets (the series isn't over yet , go nets )

[cheater1034]

Anything can happen boys

LBJ is over 80% Freethrows this post-season, even though he laid a big fat egg last night.

The pistons are the all-around better team with the better coach though, but #8 GS beat #1 DAL, so why can't #2 CLE beat #1 DET :-p

[NBAFanatic23]

Count out NJ, because if cleveland wins game 3 or 4 (which they will) it's done because NJ can't win in cleveland.

And those games really weren't close, cleveland got 19-3 offensive rebounds in game 2, even if you're shooting 30%, you will beat any team in the league if you do that.

New Jersey can't win in Cleveland? They could've won both games 1 & 2, which both were tight after 3 quarters, but they didn't pull through in the fourth. Plus, I doubt the Nets are going to lose Game 4 at home. They've won 10 straight home games dating back to the regular season. They also know how to rebound the ball more, not giving up many offensive rebounds in Game 3. Whoever wins though, they'll get beat by the Pistons.

[scrub]

Anything can happen. Look at what happened last year. If anything, thier team is better this year. And why do people insist on comparing LeBron to MJ? Who fucking cares?

[nylia]

Anything can happen. Look at what happened last year. If anything, thier team is better this year. And why do people insist on comparing LeBron to MJ? Who fucking cares?

i second this. stop comparing anyone to mj. i like lbj. im starting to like kobe.... stop comparing them. they're not even close and they're not the same type of player

[Indy]

Next thing you know we'll have the finals preview for next season in the offseason. I'll unlock this thread if these two teams actually end up meeting up in the conference finals.