Guy Berger Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 I think at this time it is appropriate for us to revisit some of my excellent playoff predictions and pronouncements: April 23rd: I can't see the Pistons (or Pacers) winning a playoff series against any of the top 4 West teams. They are totally outmatched in terms of talent. April 24th: Hey, all due respect for [the Pistons] beating the Lakers and Spurs (how did they do against Sac and Min?) but I can't see them winning 4 in a playoff series. Maybe against the Mavs. May 2nd: If you had asked me at the beginning of the season whether a Shaq/Kobe/Karl/Gary team would lose to the Spurs in a playoff series, I would have said no way. But at this point, I have a hard time imagining the Spurs doing worse than winning the series in 7. 6 sounds about right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 And even I watched the game! Uh...don't tell anyone, but so did I, and I never watch sports. I don't care about sports. I have absolutely no interest in sports. I couldn't care less They're really going to pull it off, aren't they??? Ahem. Excuse me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe G Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrome Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edward Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Believe in the "D" my friend. BTW, what was up with Tolbert's suit last night? Good Lord! It would be sweet if the Pistons close it out on Tuesday. I think that I am more impressed with the Piston's calculated offense. The Lakers are not playing well offensively, and part of that does have to do with Detroit's defense, but there is much more to it than that. The Lakers really miss a healthy Karl Malone out on the floor (I am not making any excuses here. As b3-er rightly pointed out, injuries are part of the playoffs - it is just tough luck), and I think that Payton in particular plays better with Malone out there. If the Pistons win game 5, it will be Detroit's first NBA championship clinched at home. I do hope that the Detroit police are out in force - look what happened in L.A. in 2000 when the Lakers won their first championship in 12 years. I don't know what to say about Tolbert's suit. He is certainly not hip enough to wear something like that. I like Michael's commentating for Monday Night Football, but I cannot stand listening to him and Doc Rivers (at least I do not have to worry about Doc next year) during this series. I don't find either of their comments particularly insightful or honest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Call me a hopeless victim of Laker's mystique, but if I'm Detroit, I make DAMN sure to win Game 5. Just because nobody's come back from a 3-1 deficit doesn't meant it can't be done, and if anybody can do it, it's the Lakers (or as my buddies and I have taken to calling them in disgust - Those FUCKING Lakers). God knows I hope it doesn't happen, but if Detroit lets up in Game 5 and gives Those FUCKING Lakers a bit of momentum going back to L.A., we could all be wondering just what the hell happened. C'mon Pistons, get it done! FINISH THEM! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Oh yeah, little known fact - Tolbert buys his clothes from Mr. Haney's of Hooterville. True story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tjazz Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Is Kobe going to retire too? The way he's been playing, he should Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted June 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Kobe shouldn't retire... he's too young. I'm sure the trial is weighing heavily on his mind. If he makes it out of that, maybe he should join the Pistons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Laker problems: Shaq is killing the Pistons, yet they do not continually try to get him the ball, opting to force up outside shots. Kobe is forcing, and not waiting for the game to come to him, because everyone else is missing. Kobe is hounded by the long arms of Prince, and should drive to the rim instead of shooting outside where he has been missing. The biggest problem is a failure to get the ball to Shaq consistently and early in the clock to have him draw the double teams to set the rest of the offense. The other problem is not having a quick enough point guard to break the constant press, so the Lakers end up running their offense with 17 seconds on the clock. Billups stumbles into Kobe and it's a foul on Kobe plus a technical--series officiating in a nutshell. What's that free throw disparity at? Pistons +50? No bias there. I'll never say die. Fuck history. Go Lakers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edward Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 (edited) Laker problems: Shaq is killing the Pistons, yet they do not continually try to get him the ball, opting to force up outside shots. Kobe is forcing, and not waiting for the game to come to him, because everyone else is missing. Kobe is hounded by the long arms of Prince, and should drive to the rim instead of shooting outside where he has been missing. The biggest problem is a failure to get the ball to Shaq consistently and early in the clock to have him draw the double teams to set the rest of the offense. The other problem is not having a quick enough point guard to break the constant press, so the Lakers end up running their offense with 17 seconds on the clock. Billups stumbles into Kobe and it's a foul on Kobe plus a technical--series officiating in a nutshell. What's that free throw disparity at? Pistons +50? No bias there.  I'll never say die. Fuck history. Go Lakers! I agree with you 100%. As for the officiating in this series, I have been watching playoff basketball for over 20 years now, and I think that it has left a lot to be desired. I don't like it, but I expect there to be some sort of bias in favor of both star players and the home team, especially during the playoffs. This is the first time, however, that I have seen a team receive preferential treatment because of its reputation as a great defensive team - something similar to what Duke enjoys whereever it plays because Krzyzewski is the best college coach around. Too often have I seen Lakers getting called for fouls that are being ignored when committed on the other end of the hardwood. Of course, the lousy commentating for this series only adds insult to injury. I have seen several replays of Pistons players getting away with fouls without comment from either Michaels or Rivers. Last night this dynamic duo even went so far as to say that the only reason that Detroit is getting to the line more often is because they are being more aggressive than the Lakers - BULLSHIT!!! Then they proceed to criticize Lakers players for complaining about missed calls without showing replays of ANY of the plays in question. If the Lakers complaining is so unjustified, then why not show a replay or two as proof? Or is ABC fearful of treading on the NBA's (and Stern's) toes? Hey, I realize that there a lot of other reasons why the Lakers are trailing this series 3 games to 1. It just would be nice to see the rest of this series (whether 1 more game or 3) officiated more evenly and objectively. Edited June 14, 2004 by Edward Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Michael Thompson was on ESPN radio this morning claiming that it's all a David Stern conspiracy. Really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Lakers complaining about officiating? Yeah, it must be a shock after all these years of Shaq'a elbow being on the "protect at all costs" list.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Kinda interesting how the Pistons "bookend" Phil's career. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Fact of life - more fouls get called when you're driving to the hoop than when you're shooting jump shots. Proceed accordingly and cut the whining. Did Michael Jordon ever whine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe G Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 I'll never say die. Fuck history. Go Lakers! And I say: Fuck the Lakers! Go history! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edward Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 (edited) Fact of life - more fouls get called when you're driving to the hoop than when you're shooting jump shots. Proceed accordingly and cut the whining. Did Michael Jordon ever whine? Fact of life - when you get fouled when you drive to the basket and nothing is called, you tend to resort to taking jump shots. If you haven't noticed, though, most of the foul calls against the Lakers have NOT been made when a Pistons player was driving to the basket. All the bumps and grabbing that are permissible when the Pistons are playing "D" are not afforded to defending Lakers players. Hmmm.... seems to me that Pistons players were griping openly about the relatively few calls that WERE made against them. Yes, if you do not remember, when Michael Jordan did not get the calls, he whined big time. As for Shaq, he is an incredibly difficult person to referee. If Shaq's detractors had their way, though, he would be called for an offensive foul every time he tried to make a move AND defending players would still be allowed to lean up against him and push him as much as they desired Edited June 14, 2004 by Edward Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted June 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Fact of life - when you get fouled when you drive to the basket and nothing is called, you tend to resort to taking jump shots. So you're saying that every time the Lakers drive to the basket they are getting fouled but no call? Yeah... that's why Detroit got to the Finals. Because their defense is a myth and the refs are turning a blind eye. That's why Rasheed played his first full second quarter of the series last night. Those two fouls that the refs have hit him with in the previous three games were... uh, what? I've been reading and hearing so much whining from Laker fans about the refs. It's all the refs fault. I mean, how else can you explain why the Lakers haven't swept the Pistons, like everyone thought? Maybe because the Lakers are old, tired, slow, and do not play as a team. Shaq does great in the first half but all the running the Pistons make him do tire him out. Throw him the ball all you want in the second half. He will not be as effective because he's tired. Payton vs. Billups is a joke. Billups mops the floor with Payton. Same for 'Sheed vs. Malone. Prince has been doing a tremendous job on Kobe, contesting every shot and forcing him to take wild shots from odd angles as the clock runs down. Besides, I though officials gave preferrential treatment to superstars... who are the superstars on the Pistons roster? Face the facts... the Lakers are lucky to be in the Finals in the first place (thanks to Fischer's lucky, but should've been discounted shot against the Spurs) and they completely under-estimated the Pistons. They have been completely unpredictable the entire season... swinging from terrible to amazing back to terrible again due to the massive egos floating around on that team. They are frustrated and thus fouling more and have absolutely no answer for the Pistons. And no team has ever come back from 3-1. You can blame the refs all you want but the simple fact is that the Lakers have been outplayed. Even Magic thinks so. The passion just isn't there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheldonm Posted June 15, 2004 Report Share Posted June 15, 2004 Prince has been doing a tremendous job on Kobe, contesting every shot and forcing him to take wild shots from odd angles as the clock runs down. That's his normal shot ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted June 15, 2004 Report Share Posted June 15, 2004 I mean, how else can you explain why the Lakers haven't swept the Pistons, like everyone thought? Maybe because the Lakers are old, tired, slow, and do not play as a team. Face the facts... the Lakers...completely under-estimated the Pistons. They have been completely unpredictable the entire season... swinging from terrible to amazing back to terrible again due to the massive egos floating around on that team. They are frustrated and thus fouling more and have absolutely no answer for the Pistons....The passion just isn't there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soulstation1 Posted June 15, 2004 Report Share Posted June 15, 2004 (edited) i got the jack, anyone got any coke? Edited June 15, 2004 by Soulstation1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soulstation1 Posted June 15, 2004 Report Share Posted June 15, 2004 the bank of ss1 has closed. i will not put any more $$$$ on my boyzzzz the pistons DO NOT wanta go back to la ss1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted June 15, 2004 Report Share Posted June 15, 2004 Besides, I though officials gave preferrential treatment to superstars... who are the superstars on the Pistons roster? The superstar for today's sports fan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soulstation1 Posted June 15, 2004 Report Share Posted June 15, 2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted June 15, 2004 Report Share Posted June 15, 2004 Billups stumbles into Kobe and it's a foul on Kobe plus a technical--series officiating in a nutshell. What's that free throw disparity at? Pistons +50? No bias there. I stand by this statement. Perfect example of how the refs' bias has worked: Kobe got a technical foul after that call bailed out Billups on his stumble--what did three time champion Kobe say? Four words, under his breath, aside to the official? Immediate technical, no hesitation. A short while later Rasheed was whistled for a foul call and screamed "that's bullshit" at the top of his lungs numerous times at the ref, looking like he was going to cry, yet not so much as a warning was given to the known hothead for his tantrum. How many times have the Pistons been in the bonus with 7+ minutes left in the quarter? They shoot free throws for more than half their possessions because of all the cheap touch fouls. How often do questionable out of bounds calls go the Pistons' way? I've been watching and playing basketball too many years to have anyone tell me different. I know when my team is getting hosed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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