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Thread: Game 2: Pistons v. Heat (Thu 5/25, 8p ET, ESPN, Chat)

  1. #61
    Glenn's Avatar
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    http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...plate=printart

    DREW SHARP: Ben's Pistons smack 'em back

    Game 2 energy, even some offense, comes from Wallace

    BY DREW SHARP
    FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

    May 26, 2006

    If there ever was a doubt regarding the true identity of the Pistons' soul, it was the guy constantly rubbing his jaw, massaging away the pain from the tattoos of Shaquille O'Neal's elbow on his face.

    Spiritually, this remains Ben Wallace's team and this was its biggest testament. The choice was simple for the Pistons in Game 2 against Miami on Thursday night.

    When you get popped in the mouth, you either smack 'em back or get smacked down for the count.

    This was Ben's time to chime. And it was never more important than with the Pistons staring at a potential 0-2 series deficit with consecutive Palace setbacks.

    He was everywhere, including this peculiar place -- the Pistons' half-court offense. When Shaq bumped him, he bumped him back and when they left him alone offensively, his teammates finally rewarded him with a few opportunities to flex his limited offensive muscle.

    And that's all he's ever asked. Don't ignore him.

    That was impossible as the Pistons drew even in the Eastern Conference finals with a 92-88 victory.

    When Ben steps on the gas, this team accelerates. Never was that more evident than during one sequence when he grabbed two offensive rebounds, found Antonio McDyess for a dunk and raced down the court, stood his ground and drew a charging foul on Dwyane Wade.

    The fatigue argument was a lame justification for the Pistons' Game 1 difficulties. It's not like a year ago in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, when just 72 hours earlier they were in Miami for Game 7 and had a three-hour flight back home before quickly turning around and heading for San Antonio.

    They didn't have to leave home between Game 7 against Cleveland and the beginning of this series.

    What? Were they too exhausted to read the scouting reports on Shaq's inability to come out and defend the pick-and-roll? Were they too weepy-eyed to see defensive matador Jason Williams defending Chauncey Billups? Were they too sleep-deprived to recognize that defensive energy improves the offensive flow?

    This isn't brain surgery.

    If one attacks, the other must react.

    One of the more telling observations from Game 1 was how the Pistons abandoned running Rip Hamilton through those catch-and-shoot curls inside the lane. But the Heat took it away with O'Neal and Alonzo Mourning cheating defensively on Wallace, laying back, daring the Pistons to employ him as something other than corn-rowed mannequin in their half-court offensive sets.

    Wallace's improved offensive aggressiveness warranted enough defensive attention that it provided Hamilton a touch more breathing room. And sometimes, that's all you need to get out of a shooting funk.

    Panic isn't a word within the Pistons' vocabulary, but frustration certainly is.

    The ease with which they jumped to a lead against the Heat on Thursday suggests the Pistons have a pretty good grip on their "if it isn't rough, it isn't right" battle cry. But the continued lapses only serve as an indictment against this team's desire to distinguish themselves as the defining team of this era.

    They're good, but they clearly aren't as good as they think they are. They want to win, but they're not sure what they want to be.

    What's the mystery? They must take their cue from Big Ben and work through his offensive liabilities as they did in Game 2.

    It's much easier scoring when your transition game comes to life, but that requires making defensive stops and feeding off that energy. That's Ben's forte.

    Mourning delivered an elbow under Ben's chin that readjusted a few teeth, but there was no retaliation. Tayshaun Prince tossed a little colorful language in Mourning's direction, but Mourning laughed it off, suggesting he doesn't fear any physical payback.

    It had to have turned former Bad Boy Rick Mahorn's stomach, watching from his sideline seat on the Pistons' radio broadcast.

    This was the challenge to the Pistons in Game 2.

    Smack 'em back or get smacked down.

    The NBA has zero tolerance for dark alley muggings masquerading as basketball, but the heart of playoff basketball remains the hard foul. Why wasn't someone (hello, Flip, maybe Dale Davis?) depositing Wade on his back pocket during one of strong runs at the rack?

    So what if it results in a flagrant foul? So what if it results in a little lighter wallet, courtesy of the NBA brutality cops?

    The Pistons took a punch in the series' first game, but they took a stand Thursday with the threat of the wall against their backs crumbling from the weight of excessive overuse.
    Find a new slant.

  2. #62
    That end of the game stretch wasn't cool but I wasn't worried about the Heat actually winning. The Pistons were at fault for letting a lot of it happen and that 5 second call was crap but the Pistons don't lose games like that. Even playing as bad as they did in that stretch they weren't about to lose it. They've got too many guys with too much will to let that happen.
    STEW BEEF!

  3. #63
    Syndicate Emeritus, Site Co-Founder Taymelo's Avatar
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    My thoughts:

    For the 1st 3 3/4 quarters, the only poor officiating was centered around Dwyane Wade.

    It is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 1,000,000% obvious that the NBA reminded the refs before the game that superstar Wade got into real BIG early foul trouble in game 1, and they better NOT let it happen again, or they'd no longer be NBA officials.

    I think Shaq was officiated fairly, Walker, Posey, Mourning - all of them - except Wade - until the 4th quarter.

    He could do ANYTHING he wanted on either end of the floor, and no matter how hard he HIT you or KNOCKED YOU DOWN, or SHOVED you, there would be no foul. And if you BREATHED on him, he'd go to the line.

    In fact, he went to the line more than anyone on either team, had no fouls all game, and still found time to bitch about the officiating after the game (talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth. If I were Bavetta, I'd demand a bigger payoff).

    I've never seen officials try so hard to have a guy finish a game without committing a SINGLE foul. I've heard of makeup calls - but makeup GAMES?!?!?!? And exactly what did he deserve a makeup for? He was guilty of ALL the charges he was called for in game 1!

    Of course, by the end of the game, the officials went all "lets see if we can win the game for the Heat since they clearly can't come CLOSE to doing it by themselves" - as per usual when we play a team with a superstar (or two) that the NBA really, really, really, really, really, really wants to advance to the next round.

    But until that point near the end of the game, the only blatant cheating and conspiratorial conduct by the officials was centered on Wade. They deserve a reward, they did exactly what the NBA told them to do - keep Wade out of foul trouble so he can help them sell jerseys, Sprite, and gym shoes.

    PS: That game was a BLOWOUT - yes, a 4 point BLOWOUT, kinda like a 5 game sweep against the Lakers.

    I don't care about the final score.

    If I were a player, I'd take from that game that in game 1, they were EXHAUSTED and still hung with Miami and had a chance.

    In game 2, all things were equal for both teams (although Detroit is far more injured), and Detroit SMOKED them from START to (pretty much) FINISH.

    That was a 12 point win, IMO, if you overlook the garbage officiating at the end and the Pistons' sloppy play for a couple MEASLY possessions when the game was already OVER. Yes. The game was never in doubt. Ask my friend. I sat there for the last 15 minutes of the officials cheating to get the Heat back into the game, and every time my friend said "uh, oh", I said "the game's over, forget it. We won." He'd say "its a two point game", and I'd say "the Pistons already won. Its over. Its a formality. They're just making a blowout look interesting".

    I was right.

    Everyone here should stop bitching and be happy that our team DESTROYED the Heat last night. Embarrassed them. Humiliated them. Blew them out. But officially only won by 4. So, what. We killed the fuckers - and they HAVE to know it.

    Game 1: We're DEAD tired, you're totally rested, but you barely beat us in anybody's game? You want a cookie?

    Game 2: We're equal in terms of energy, and we're more injured than you are, yet we build as much as a 12-14 point lead, hold it ALL GAME, DESTROY YOU (but only win by 4).

    I know which team should be confident right now and which shouldn't.

    Hint: The team that should not be confident has a guy that got BETTER THAN LeBron treatment last night.
    Quote Originally Posted by WH Press Sec. Tony Snow
    The President is opposed to (actually testing embryos before simply throwing them out), because the president is opposed to murder.
    Quote Originally Posted by Taymelo
    Wait. Throwing them out is not murder, but testing them before throwing them out is murder? WTF, George?

  4. #64

  5. #65
    Glenn's Avatar
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    That was Zeebneebesque.

    Also, it's good to know Taymelo has a friend, but I'm not sure how we would go about asking him anything for verification purposes.
    Find a new slant.

  6. #66
    Syndicate Emeritus, Site Co-Founder Taymelo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Glenn
    That was Zeebneebesque.

    Also, it's good to know Taymelo has a friend, but I'm not sure how we would go about asking him anything for verification purposes.
    Oh, I've got a friend.

    Whether he's imaginary or not is of no consequence.

    The important thing is he's my friend.
    Quote Originally Posted by WH Press Sec. Tony Snow
    The President is opposed to (actually testing embryos before simply throwing them out), because the president is opposed to murder.
    Quote Originally Posted by Taymelo
    Wait. Throwing them out is not murder, but testing them before throwing them out is murder? WTF, George?

  7. #67
    My man Taymelo speaks the truth!

  8. #68
    Quote Originally Posted by Taymelo
    Game 1: We're DEAD tired, you're totally rested, but you barely beat us in anybody's game? You want a cookie?

    Game 2: We're equal in terms of energy, and we're more injured than you are, yet we build as much as a 12-14 point lead, hold it ALL GAME, DESTROY YOU (but only win by 4).
    I don't think Miami was equal in terms of energy. To me, Miami looked exactly like a team that knew it had reclaimed home court--they were lazy, complacent, and they settled for jumpshots. They were satisfied.

    Game 3 will be the test. In Miami they'll turn up the energy--they have to--and we'll see who emerges the victor. Then we'll have answers.

  9. #69
    Syndicate Emeritus, Site Co-Founder Taymelo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by realistic
    Quote Originally Posted by Taymelo
    Game 1: We're DEAD tired, you're totally rested, but you barely beat us in anybody's game? You want a cookie?

    Game 2: We're equal in terms of energy, and we're more injured than you are, yet we build as much as a 12-14 point lead, hold it ALL GAME, DESTROY YOU (but only win by 4).
    [b]I don't think Miami was equal in terms of energy. To me, Miami looked exactly like a team that knew it had reclaimed home court--they were lazy, complacent, and they settled for jumpshots. They were satisfied.[b]

    Game 3 will be the test. In Miami they'll turn up the energy--they have to--and we'll see who emerges the victor. Then we'll have answers.
    I didn't say energized.

    I said rested.

    I actually agree with everything you posted, and everything I posted.

    They didn't have energy, but it wasn't because of fatigue, like it was for the Pistons in game 1. It was because of complacency (and frustration b/c the Pistons stole their hearts early in the game).

    What I'm saying is that you can't mentally fight fatigue. If you are tired, your jump shot will be short. So, the Pistons have a legitimate excuse for losing game 1. The Heat, on the other hand, don't have a legitimate excuse that they couldn't have avoided with the right attitude.
    Quote Originally Posted by WH Press Sec. Tony Snow
    The President is opposed to (actually testing embryos before simply throwing them out), because the president is opposed to murder.
    Quote Originally Posted by Taymelo
    Wait. Throwing them out is not murder, but testing them before throwing them out is murder? WTF, George?

  10. #70
    NOT TO BE FUCKED WITH Uncle Mxy's Avatar
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    The one thing that bugs me about the fatigue diagnosis is that it usually results in more missed FTs, but that wasn't the case in Game 1.

    Oh well, we're 1-1 after two -- time to take a couple in Miami...

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