Brian

As we get closer to the end of the regular season it has becoming clear to me that the pistons will be this year eastern conference champion. Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton is why this team will make to the finals they are huge upgrade over the back court of Atkins and Stackhouse whiched bowed out in the second round of last years playoffs. Chauncey is a big guard that is pretty good defensively but he does his best work on the offensive end where he can back down smaller point guards and score on them easily. With Rip we have a clutch jump shooter and a guy who can get to the free throw line. Certainly the pistons biggest challenge will either come from Indiana or NJ. As I have stated before the mental edge the pistons have over the pacers will be too much for the pacers to overcome in a 7 game series and on top of the fact that they still are young and artest is too much of a ticking time bomb. The team I was most worried about was the Nets but the recent fighting between Kidd and Scott is good for the pistons it poses a lot of questions for the nets first and foremost can Kidd and Scott coexist and get on the same page come playoff time. As of recently Philly has been making some noise but outside of AI they will have trouble scoring against the pistons. In fact the toughest opponent for Detroit might come in the first round if they draw a team like the hornets or the bucks.

Vintage

The Pistons play tough D. And in the playoffs, that is a must have. The only thing Id worry about is production at the SF spot. Come playoff time, you need 5 guys playing well. Wallace will give you that every night. Hamilton does as well. Billups for the most part. The SF spot, which Curry still starts (?) is the weak link.

Prince, Williamson, and co. need to step up big time for the Pistons to advance. Indiana and NJ seem to be the biggest threats to Detroit IMO. Indiana has good depth and star power. NJ is the same way. It should be an interesting Eastern conference showdown.

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w00t

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While I dont doubt that Pistons will be there in the end. I really dont think that any team has a distinct advantage in the east. You did mention Philly as of late, and the thing that has helped Philly is their defense, I think if the Pistons played the Sixers, in the playoffs we would see a defnesive matchup with many low scoring games (basically not appealing to most fans).

I think that Indiana is a definite favorite because of O'neal, but you matchuo well with Ben. I think Orlando because of TMAC, who could just take over. The Hornets will most likely be the wildcard, I picked them to win the east, and I still think they could be the on to come out.

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Sometimes, theres just not enough rocks.

Vintage

TMac can't do it alone. The Magic will need to rely heavily on rookies for production(in Giricek and Gooden). True, they have done great since the trade, but playoffs is a whole new atmosphere. They wont get any calls. They will be going against better talent playing for extended periods of time.

Overall, I can't see Orlando making very far into the playoffs. TMac is going to have to play sensational, which he is more than capable of. But its going to come down to how the rookies perform. Gooden will be faced up against Wallace, O'Neal, Walker, Martin, and the other PF's. But he will be doing it night after night. Those PFs will figure out how to beat Gooden, especially in a series when they play each other game after game. Overall, playoffs are very hard for rookies.

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w00t

kingofkings

In a tough playoff series, I have my doubts about the Pistons. I still do not think that they have overcome their perceived offensive weaknsesses that plagued them in their playoff losses last season.

One of their main weaknesses, is their overuse of the jumpshot. Especially from their backcourt, in Billups and Hamilton. These guys are streaky and in a tough playoff series, can they come through in the big time and hit clutch shots?? Hamilton has not been to the post season before, so it will be interesting to see how he goes.

At then end of the day, the weakness will be Ben Wallace. Hear me out.

One, no plays are run for him. Secondly, he is not going to get the ball out of set plays. So, other teams are going to use his defender to clog up space, so that the Pistons offensive weapons are limited. It is the same situation that the Raptors used last season in that playoff series against the Pistons, whereby they had some success.

Antonio Davis left Wallace unguarded and was instructed to clog up space in the lanes, so Stackhouse will not drive and force him to hit jump shots. You know the rest of the story. He shot terribly, in that series and in the loss against the Celtics.

Same with Cliff Robinson, a jump shooter. They are not going to get any easy points in the playoffs. The defensive intensity is going to be extreme and you need to get as many cheap easy points as you can. I cannot see the Pistons getting these.

So, I would use Wallace's man and have him just down low, blocking the lanes, to stop penetration. Forcing the Pistons hit jumpshots.

I would think that a team like the Hornets will give the Pistons a lot of trouble. Guys like Mashburn, Davis and Wesley can get hot at regular intervals. Do the Pistons have 3 back court defenders at the same time, to stop these guys and score enough points to win??

Wallace is going to need some help on the boards, as well.You can bet that other teams are going to try and reduce his effectiveness on the boards. Such as playing a guy on him that can shoot the rock, forcing him outside, drawing him out of rebounding position and forcing him to guard that player outside his comfort zone. This will help to expose the Pistons lack of overall rebounders.

C'mon Grizzlies keep winning!!

jvanbusk

I think this was a great post, and I think you nailed it on the head when you predicted that the Pistons would be the Eastern Conference Champions. When the Pistons traded Stackhouse for Hamilton, at first I was not happy. But, as the season went on I realized how good of a trade it really was. kingofkings mentioned the Pistons inability to hit jump shots in the playoffs last year. But, the Pistons went out in the offseason and acquired more spot up shooters. Jerry Stackhouse was not a spot up shooter as evidence from his numbers in last years playoffs run. He can slash to the hole and finish with the best of them, but shooting is not his strong suit. So, as kok stated, when Antonio Davis and the other players that guarded Ben Wallace played sagged into the lane this forced our main scorer, Jerry Stackhouse, to shoot jump shots instead of getting all the way to the rack. With a bigger assortment of jump shooters, for example Rip Hamilton who is one of the better mid range shooters in the league, the Pistons should be able to hit that open shot. The emphasis on getting to the hole like last year will not be as big. I really like the Pistons chances this year, as I think they will be much better than last years. 2003 Eastern Champions?

kingofkings

If I was Ben Wallace in the offseason I would just work and work on my offensive game and low post moves. One, because his inability to be active on offense is costing the Pistons one extra scorer. In the playoffs you can never have enough guys that can put the ball in the hole, when required.

Not only that, but he is going to get the worst big man defender as well. He needs to capitalise on this fact. Teams are not going to target him on offense and will leave him alone at times, because they know that he is not going to get the ball. If he developed his game and gets confident in his shot, then he could very well score at least 10 points per game. That would go a long way to helping the Pistons in the long run. Not to mention, he needs to work on his free throw shooting, as well.

It is definitely a weakness. Because, if he is not scoring, then he needs to help out on offense, in other ways. One, is he needs to free up the lanes for Rip and Billups to drive to the hole. When Wallace is able to drag his defender out of the keys, he frees up space for Rip and Chauncey to get to the hole, with room to operate, into space.

Overall, he just needs to be a factor on offense. as good as he is on the boards and on defense, he still robs the Pistons of a guy that could give them that extra 10-12 points, that they will really need in the playoffs.

jvanbusk

With Ben Wallace, I think it's more of a confidence situation. I think he feels as if he hurts the team by shooting the basketball, which may or may not be the case. In the past, Pistons fans have seen Ben Wallace use different low post moves and also hit the open jumper. It's not something that happens very often, and I do think it's because Ben has it in his head that he's a defensive player and should defer to the offensive players when they are on the offensive end of the court. I do agree with you kok, if Ben could knock in 10-15 points it would really help the team. If he were able to do this, Detroit would have less of a problem getting to the hole for the easy two, or possibly the defense collapse for an open 3 opportunity. Ben's got some offensive game, and he will shock Bill Laimbeer, George Blaha, the fans at the Palace, and the people watching on TV when he hits an open 'j'. It makes people wonder why he can't do that all the time. But, for the time being as poor as his offensive game is he is way, way too good of a defender to even consider looking down open.