Orlando is not going to beat "us" 3 games in a row, so let's move on to this discussion.

Similar thread from last year (http://www.wtfdetroit.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9357).

What say you?

Boston, not even close for me.

Boston... mainly because I feel we may have equal difficulty with either team, and IF we lose (I know, poor attitude), I do NOT want to lose to the Cleveland Cuntfarts again.

Plus I feel we may get up and play a little harder against Boston.

O and I don't want to watch Varejao flop around like a soccer diver.

No preference. We can only beat ourselves at this point. And also we haven't beat orlando yet.

No preference. It's a dangerous game to pick your poison, that's why they call it picking your poison.

Boston has been figured out. They are fraudulent. Bring them on.

Boston. No pressure in the first two games, and all the Pistons have to do is take one at home from them.

I never want to see the Cavs, with their ugly ass jerseys, Lebron shredding our defense, their slow and boring style of play (is this what the LB/Carlisle Pistons were to other teams? I finally understand), again. I'm sick of mike brown, 'boobie', sideshow bob's flopping, Lebron calls, ugh, please no.

Bring on the Celtics.

Right now this is the only time in any of our lives that you're going to find me rooting for the Celtics. I hope that we can get past this little incident when it's all over.

Boston. I can't fear a team that can't win on the road.

I dont want to play Boston. I want no part of the Boston/Lakers help that will be given to each team in the Conference finals to make sure they play each other in the finals.

Everyone knows its gonna happen...

We definately matchup better against the Cavs.

No preference. We can only beat ourselves at this point. And also we haven't beat orlando yet.

fiqused!

K...

Who do you think we'll play?

Who do you want to play?

I dont want to play Boston. I want no part of the Boston/Lakers help that will be given to each team in the Conference finals to make sure they play each other in the finals.

Everyone knows its gonna happen...

i was thinking the same. you know kg shouldve been suspended for the ref incident in game 4? vs the Hawks. stern was at the fucking game and he didnit even fine the fucking guy, nor suspend marvin williams or perkins.

i don't think lebrons gonna get as many calls and he is prolly all worn out from boston.

Either the refs help out the Boston/LA scenario or the help the superstar who can't hit anything away from the line right now. Either way, Stern hates us.

Both matchups are difficult and both have things that make me sick about them.

I'm just happy Chauncey can rest and hopefully be back in great shape. He'll have at least 4-5 more days before we have to play again.

I want Boston. It has been the hyped matchup all year. Also, we sound a bit whinerish complaining about the refs already. Let it happen, then complain.

AndIdon'twantnopartofBron

I dont want to play Boston. I want no part of the Boston/Lakers help that will be given to each team in the Conference finals to make sure they play each other in the finals.

Everyone knows its gonna happen...
yea it can. On the Lebron dunk espn is in love with, kg forearmed him in the stomach. I remember that touching him was a no no last year. So are the refs letting the celtics manhandle him, or is it how they are calling series now that they've seen how boring the cavs are in the finals(weren't the rating some of the lowest ever?).

I think we'll play Boston, but I'd prefer to play the Cavs.

Give me Boston as well.

To go all WWE on you guys, "In order to be the man, you have to beat the man".

Boston has been the media darling "team of the century" all year.

Let's take them on and may the best team win.



AlsoIhatewatchingtheCavsplay

Cavs. I want to punish them for last year. Plus with Prince playing on the offensive end he'll make Lebron work more. And since they have Wally, RIP should be able to have a field day.

and billups will be on delonte for a big chunk of the game, not boobie..

I'm flip flopping between the two. Basically I agree with Glenn about wanting to beat the best and go toe to toe with the media darlings and at the same time I feel like Chris that I really want to make Cleveland fucking pay for last year.

The Cavs are a logical choice if you think about it.

If Boston advances, they'll be looked at as a fraudulent favorite that can't win on the road. Most people will probably favor us.

If the Cavs advance, they're a team peaking that just knocked off the #1 seed in the playoffs. They'd be favored over us, and you won't be able to watch ESPN for 5 minutes without someone bringing up last year's game 5.

If you want the Pistons at their most focused, you want the Cavs.

That seems objective. What say you Glenn?

I think the Pistons "know" they can beat the Cavs and feel that last year was a fluke.

I think the Celtics would drum up a bit more "fear" and might actually keep them focused/motivated more and have them come into the series with less of a chip. It would allow them to slip back into that familiar "underdog" role that they are much more successful in.

Good enough?

Boston has homecourt, Cleveland doesn't.

But either way we raining radioactive death plague on these mother fuckers.

I couldn't imagine a matchup that would get the pistons more motivated than cleveland. These guys have been dying to redeem themselves after last year and wouldn't lose focus for a quarter, much less a game. Combined with home court, that seems like a win for the pistons.

ps- Yes, this is a complete flip-flop from my first post in this thread.

I have to say, I can't watch LeBron dunk and search for a camera to scowl in for another whole series. I can't. I nearly lost my faith in basketball after witnessing that last year.

I kind of do want to beat those Cleveland punks ourselves this year...

Can we retract votes?

Devil's advocate response:

Does it matter? We're going to get beat in the ECF anyways with Flip as our coach.

^except that the other two coaches left are even dumber than Flip.

I kinda agree. But not that much dumber.

And the refs shall appear to hate on us because they will love the other teams more.

Saying they love them MORE implies that they love us on some level, and that's just not true.

Boston, I just don't like Cleveland and Lebron.

I voted no preference. Each team poses different problems.

i fear the nba would prefer either team to advance ahead of us, so we could be fighting an uphill battle when it comes to the officiating.

anyway, i go back and forth on this one.....at times i'd prefer cleveland so we could get revenge from last year.

but then it would be nice to take out boston the new 'sweethearts' of david stern. we could take out 'the big 3' and shut up a lot of frontrunning media types who have already annointed them champs of the east, if not the nba.

but when it comes right down to it, the way i feel at this point is that boston has a great trio and a lot better supporting cast than many give them credit for. but i STILL would prefer to play them, even without homecourt advantage.

they have 3 great players but nobody who is 'unguardable' or unstoppable like lebron. james can make all those other cavalier punks into much better players if all they have to do is camp out at the 3 line and knock down jumpers. (see: gibson from 2007!)

he can take over a game himself and score or get to the line at will. boston presents its own problems but they don't have a player who does that.

no matter how much our D focuses on lebron, i don't think we can stop him if he's determined. after prince, who could even attempt to guard him? rip? afflalo?

i'd hate to see rip and prince getting in foul trouble TRYING to stop lebron. i think boston is a better matchup believe it or not, and i like our chances against them more than against the cavs. and i think we're definitely a superior team to cleveland but lebron in a playoff setting changes things completely IMO.

Honestly, after what happened last year, I bet the NBA would prefer us over Cleveland. A Detroit-LA series has history written all over it. Kobe-LeBron doesn't have very much emotional resonance. They don't hate each other, or kiss each other before every game.

yeah but you know they would play the whole 'the future of the nba' versus the present. kobe versus lebron would make many a media person thrilled.

Honestly, after what happened last year, I bet the NBA would prefer us over Cleveland. A Detroit-LA series has history written all over it. Kobe-LeBron doesn't have very much emotional resonance. They don't hate each other, or kiss each other before every game.

Yeah, they know the Cavs would get swept or close to it. If they want a real series than Detroit or Boston has to be in the finals.

i think whoever wins the east out of boston/detroit wins the title. probably in 7 games though. true the west is the stronger conference overall, but IMO both boston and detroit will beat the winner of the west.

however if the cavs get there.......i think they'll at least make a series of it and avoid a sweep.

Unless of course, the Jazz make the Finals. Then they would destroy the Pistons, probably in 4 games.

The Jazz wont make it out of this series, better yet past the hornets or the spurs if they do get past kobe and pao. As far as the east, if the cavs-celtics series goes 7 games, they are going to be wore out. Lebron has never been so beat up in this kind of stretch of games and his team is no help against the pistons. Sam Cassell was supposed to be the answer for the celtics but as seen in game 5, his place is on the bench. I dont care who we play, but in the end I want to play the celtics to answer all the hype that have been put into them. There isnt anyone on the celtics team will go off for 48 points or score the last 30 points for their team in the 4th quarter like lebron did to us last year. Either way, look for the pistons to be in the Finals and im thinking against the Hornets, I feel like CP3 is going to pull a cinderella story in the west with how dominant hes playing right now.

i love paul. IMO he should've been MVP. but we own the hornets. i'd love to play them in the finals as we match up really well with them.

The way I see it, if Cleveland gets to the ECF, that means they (LBJ) must've done something special in those last 2 games...

Thus making Cleveland pretty scary.

At least if we play Boston, it'd be expected. Plus I think we can steal one of those first 2 games at the Garden.

Got this bit off of SI (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/basketball/nba/specials/playoffs/2008/05/13/fast.breaks.magic.pistons/index.html).


No one benefits more from the freedom allotted by referees in the postseason than Detroit. For the second consecutive series the Pistons bullied their opponent. Dwight Howard -- arguably the most imposing inside presence in the league -- was banged, bumped and bruised by a wave of Pistons that include Rasheed Wallace, Jason Maxiell, Antonio McDyess and Theo Ratliff. If Detroit is allowed to continue to play an "overly" physical style, it doesn't matter who it plays in the next round: the Pistons will breeze to the Finals.


Now, maybe I'm being bias, but to say we were "overly" physical is a bit laughable. Todays definition of "physical" in the NBA has become a total joke.

washington played physical and though it helped them, the nba stepped in and hurt them with sognalia getting suspended. The celtics are clobbering lebron even more and not one suspension has been handed out. I would have to think that we'll be allowed to be extra physical with the celtics because they'll be that way with us to keep the refs from protecting them. But I have a feeling that they may still penalize us hard if we manhandle lebron like the celts have.

Yeah, haha at "overly physical." If the game was overly physical, a mammoth beast like Dwight Howard should have that to his advantage.

well, we're not the team thats going to get a flagrant foul or anything, but i sure hope we don't allow a little fag like rajon rondo to attack the basket for a layup...

make him pay if he's going to drive inside, he's way too little to be doing that without earning it

I still remember that dunk Rondo had on us back in Boston like 3 months ago.

'breeze to the finals'.....? i wish. in reality it will take at least 6 really tough games to get through the ECF.

Following the injury to the BOOB, I actually want the stones to play the cavs. Delonte West would get eaten alive by Chauncey and Stuck, then who comes in to back him up? The great Damon Jones!!!!!!!

I have a hard time believing the Cavs can pull it off now. To win in Boston they need a monster game from Lebron, or some timely 3 point shooting. Wally and Boobie are their only good shooters (unless Sasha and Donkey Jones can pick up the slack).

while he did have a big closing game in last year's series, gibson is not who concerns me when we play the cavs!

I have a hard time believing the Cavs can pull it off now. To win in Boston they need a monster game from Lebron, or some timely 3 point shooting. Wally and Boobie are their only good shooters (unless Sasha and Donkey Jones can pick up the slack).

So, you've already penciled down Cleveland winning tonight?

The Celtics have yet to win a road game.
Give Detroit 4 chances to win on the road against a team that can't. I'll take it. Haven't we beat them in Beantown this year?

Well, as you'll see on page one I predicted this thing to go 7 with the Cavs having a good shot of pulling the upset. I think only Wil and myself did, with most thinking Boston in 5.

Well, as you'll see on page one I predicted this thing to go 7 with the Cavs having a good shot of pulling the upset. I think only Wil and myself did, with most thinking Boston in 5.


Boston hasn't won a road game in over a month now.

i want the Celtics.

The Cavs are the less talented team but they have more grit, and Lebron is nigh unstoppable at times, and they slow the game down to a crawl and rebound. that's a dangerous combination, as we've learned the past 2 years.

The Celtics are like the 06 Pistons... soft, mentally weak, dumbass coach who hasn't had a chance to learn from his mistakes. They can't win on the road at all, thats hilariously pathetic. Give me the Celtics.

^ pretty much how i feel too. well game 7 is sunday which means we won't play the winner until at least tuesday. if we're lucky enough to make it to the finals, we have fresh enough legs that we could go 7 games in both the ECF and the NBA finals, and still be fine.

in fact, we will be the freshest team in the playoffs, BY FAR too. everything is lined up PERFECTLY in our favor. now it's up to us to take advantage of it and win 8 more games to get the title. it's no picnic but i believe we are capable of doing it and in fact we SHOULD do it, IF we focus and play up to our ability.

I gotta tell ya, if in fact the stones win the east and advance to the finals I really have a hard time seeing the winner of the west being able to outlast the pistons in a 7 game series. The way the West is being played, its almost a guarantee that the WCF is going 7 games. Looking at all the rest the stones are getting right now and the beating the cavs and celts are taking, there should be ZERO excuses coming out of the pistons locker room.

Like everyone before me has said, the stars are aligned, now its up to the players to execute and play with the heart they displayed in the past couple of games. If only Mcdyess and Maxiell's energy and passion could be bottled up and force fed into the rest of the guys...

It's put up or shutup time for Flip "Quagmire" Saunders

Yeah, if we lose in the ECF again, I don't see any way Saunders can stay around... I suppose if we shake up the lineup first he could.

Boston, depleted from two 7-game series and carrying zero confidence forward on the road would be perfect.

Yeah, I flip flopped again.

We know who espn prefers.


For fans who'd love to see a Kobe vs. LeBron Finals, the dream stayed alive in Friday's Game 6s.

I have to go with Cleveland purely for the revenge factor. However I think Boston is soft and do not fear them as it stands now. Unless Pierce and Allen wake up they are good not great. We have home court against Cleveland, and the Piston strategy in the last meeting this season was great - just don't let them get the ball to TheBron.

Pierce is as good as he is going to get right now.

People often overlook this POS has never been good in the postseason. He is a .400 shooter and he becomes a volume jumpshooter.
He is old, looks fatish, and isn't finishing very well. He occasionally has nights were his jumper falls, but he can Antonie Walker you out of the game pretty fast too.

but he can Antonie Walker you out of the game pretty fast too.

Ooooh, I like that. :cogent:

Jinx much? Much too Much.....

I picked Boston to play, but that extra home gain might be huge to have vs Zeks team. Home games have been huge so far this year anyway.

Boston fans must be having orgasmic fury over the "league" calls Lebron is getting.

I think I want Boston to win.....

Pack you bags Pistons. Even after the 3 by Pavlovich.

we play every other day. hopefully that works in our favor as the celtics are physically and mentally drained. however i'm sure they'll regroup and re-energize to play us.

but if we come out with 100% intensity for 48 minutes a night, i feel confident we'll have the upper hand.

looking for us to steal game 1....

When have we ever come out with 100% intensity for 48 minutes?

When have we ever come out with 100% intensity for 48 minutes?
http://homepages.wmich.edu/~r4ozdych/a.jpg

^^^

Agree 100%, this is the best opportunity for the pistons to steal game one at boston. I don't want to jinx the stones, but, if this is the best the Celts have, then there is no excuse to lose to this archaic team. In my opinion, and what has scared me in the past has been the role players who seem to step up and have "out of there mind" games against Detroit in the playoffs. For instance, Scalabrine, rodney rodgers, Boobie gibson, Eric Williams, Thadeus Young, reggie evans, Tony Kukoc, and from the celtics guys like Powe and Big Baby (who's stepped up the last time these teams played). I look for Max and Dyess to neutralize these two, if not completely dominate them.

Should be a fun series, and if the pistons want the world against them type games, they got it. The whole world wants to see Celts/Lakers, lets make sure this doesn't happen...Now, if we could only do something about the refs...

I was being sarcastic, i expect us to be inconsistent as usual. Hard to say what we'll win with the refs hometown calls. Stuckey has to stay out of foul trouble and Flip has to keep his rotation solid enough to overwhelm the celtics reserves and starters.

i meant actual time, not game time. 48 minutes is from about the middle of the 3rd quarter on. [smilie=happy.gif]


When have we ever come out with 100% intensity for 48 minutes?

Stuckey shouldn't hit foul trouble with Chauncey playing...

of course that doesn't mean he won't.

^ I was kind of thinking about that too. I hope our 2nd team uses ALL of their fouls on Boston.

Can anyone help me with the originator of this theory on Boston?

Boston's problem is they have three Robins and no Batman.
Cleveland has a Batman and no Robin, just a team full of Jokers.

I love this idea (just can't remember the quotee), it is a great analogy unless it is made on the night Pierce puts up 40. The main thing is that they are all primarily jump shooters. Pierce will finish occasionally, and Garnett will post up but normally fade away.

Ironically I think we can weather a big game from one of these guys as long as Rondo doesn't hurt us the same night.

KG is a "batman" if you mean superstar. In fact MVP level in spite of me hating the celtics and his whiny ass mouth. IMO he isn't being used properly by the Celts. Nevertheless he is a big reason they are able to execute their defensive sets very well and is still a top 5 player in this league and top 3 PF.

KG has shown that he's not the guy who's taking the ball at the end of the game. Very Chris Webber.

Wasn't it Smith on ESPN that did that whole Batman/Robin rant?

I'm with Fool, in this analogy there's no way KG can be Batman. Has he ever won a series deciding game by himself in the 4th quarter (honest question)?

Yeah, he maybe MAYBE used to be Batman, but he is not what he once was, and is much more inconsistent...