Molto Posted June 2, 2004 Share Posted June 2, 2004 http://www.chicagosportsreview.com/news/ne...ew.asp?c=109963 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerhead johnson Posted June 2, 2004 Share Posted June 2, 2004 I've about had it with all of these basketball guys talking about lack of offense in that series. The Pistons and Pacers are two of the three best defensive teams in the league (the Spurs being the other). Am I the only one who was expecting 35-30 type scores at the end of every first half? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiff Posted June 2, 2004 Share Posted June 2, 2004 No there was plenty of bad offense. Airballs on three pointers, turnovers, did you see how many missed layups there were? It was good defense, but against terrible offense. The Lakers managed to score points against maybe the best defense in the league, San Antonio. The difference is, neither Indiana nor Detroit has a pure scorer that can create his own shot. Everyone needs back-screens, hi-low, pick-and-roll set plays to even get open. And then when they take the 14 second to run these plays, they can't even hit the shot. The most points the Pacers scored in a game during this series was 85 in Game 3, when they went small and played more of the transition game. Transition works better when you don't have a scorer, which is why the Nets have been so successful the past few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greasywheels121 Posted June 2, 2004 Share Posted June 2, 2004 I was pulling for the homestate Pacers. Unfortunately that didn't go as planned. I feel they can be back next year though. They were one of the youngest teams in the league, and they still won an NBA best 61 games. Though they just beat my team, I'll be pulling for the Pistons. I can't stand the Lakers, and I want that talk of the East being inferior to the West to end. Also the Pistons have a bit of locality about them; the franchise began in Fort Wayne. 1941-48: The Zollner Pistons Automobile-piston magnate Fred Zollner launched the club in 1941 and christened it the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons. The Pistons joined the National Basketball League, a circuit that consisted primarily of teams fielded by Midwest corporations. Fort Wayne posted a 15-9 record in that inaugural season and reached the NBL Finals before losing to the Oshkosh All-Stars. From 1943 to 1946 Fort Wayne posted the NBL's best record, and the Pistons survived the playoffs to claim the championship in 1944 and 1945. The team's star was 5-11 Bobby McDermott, the league's perennial Most Valuable Player. In 1947 and 1948 the Pistons put together strong regular-season records before falling in the early rounds of the playoffs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palehosefan Posted June 2, 2004 Share Posted June 2, 2004 As much as nobody wants to give the Pistons a chance. I have to disagree. Sure the Pistons aren't going to average 95 ppg in the Finals, but if they can hold the Lakers to low 80's scoring then they can make a series of it. Who is going to be chasing Hamilton around every play for the Lakers? You know its not going to be Kobe because it would tire him out for the offensive end. The Pistons also create matchup problems at SF and can throw several 7 footers at Shaq for 20 fouls or so with Okur, Campbell, Wallace, and even Darko can contribute some harm. The fun matchup to watch will be Ben Wallace vs. Karl Malone. Should be interesting to see if any squabbles break out with those two. Richard Hamilton vs. Kobe will be another interesting matchup, especially to see if they actually guard each other. With all this said, I still think the Evil ones will win in 6, Lakers in 6 :-(. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerhead johnson Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 No there was plenty of bad offense. Airballs on three pointers, turnovers, did you see how many missed layups there were? It was good defense, but against terrible offense. The Lakers managed to score points against maybe the best defense in the league, San Antonio. The difference is, neither Indiana nor Detroit has a pure scorer that can create his own shot. Everyone needs back-screens, hi-low, pick-and-roll set plays to even get open. And then when they take the 14 second to run these plays, they can't even hit the shot. The most points the Pacers scored in a game during this series was 85 in Game 3, when they went small and played more of the transition game. Transition works better when you don't have a scorer, which is why the Nets have been so successful the past few years. Well, I'd say it was more along the lines of terrific defense, first and foremost. Detroit took Jermaine O'Neal and Reggie Miller out of the picture, for the most part. There's a reason why guys like Bender and Johnson were left wide open. And you could live with Ron Artest taking outside shots, if that's what he wants to do. But you have to keep Jermaine out of the picture, and that's precisely what they did. We're witnessing one of the greatest defensive units of all time right now (regardless of expansion). The Spurs are almost at their level, but not quite. You can make an argument that they are just as good, but certainly not better. Guys like Nesterovic and Parker are weak defensive players. While Nesterovich is a presence, his feet are slower than Paul Konerko's. Not a good defensive player by any means. But he does match up well against Shaq. I'll give him that. You have to like the Wallace combo on Shaq down low. Malone will get plenty of open shots, and he'll be laying some bricks. I hate the Lakers. They're like the Yankees of basketball as far as I'm concerned. All of the free agents who go there are attracted by the glamour and glitz. They're just a bunch of attention whores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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