It all comes down to the Lakers and the Pistons.
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Head Coach:Phil Jackson
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Notes
The Lakers eliminated the depleted Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals to move on to the NBA Finals in their quest to win their 15th World Championship. The Lakers have had a roller coaster year full of soap operas and injuries but have pulled it all together in the postseason. Shaquille O'Neal has led the Lakes recent charge, averaging 20 ppg and nearly 14 rebounds per contest. Kobe Bryant, with no more court appearances on the horizon, leads LA in scoring with 25.1 ppg. Tagalongs Karl Malone and Gary Payton, going with the "can't beat 'em, join 'em" mantra this year, have also been productive, especially when allowed to play outside the triangle.
Keys to Success
Although he may win his record 10th NBA coaching title with this series, Phil Jackson and his Triangle offense has seemed to hinder the Lakers rather than help them this offseason. They only began to dominate the Spurs once Gary Payton was able to push the ball up the court and post-up Tony Parker. Kicking the ball down to Shaq has been fairly effective in the last few series, and it shouldn't be any different now, despite Detroit's militia of physical big men. Kobe Bryant will have to chase Detroit SG Rip Hamilton all over the court, meaning his offense may suffer, so the role players will need to step up. Derek Fisher, Kareem Rush, Slava Medvedenko and even Devean George have knocked down big, crushing shots in crucial situations this postseason, and they'll need to do so in this series for the Lakers to be successful. The Lakeshow shot an impressive 45% against tough defensive teams like the Rockets, Spurs and Wolves. If they continue to take high-percentage shots, they'll be hard for Detroit to stop.
Head Coach:Larry Brown
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Notes
Detroit ran Indiana into the ground in six games to advance to their third NBA Finals. They have won both of their previous trips by employing virtually the same strategy as this current incarnation does - hard-nosed, physical basketball. On a team that normally spreads the offense around, the untirable Rip Hamilton has averaged 21.5 ppg in the postseason by running through and around screens to get easy jumpers. If the Pistons have a go-to guy, it has been unquestionably Hamilton in the past month. Chauncey Billups, expected to rise to the occasion in the playoffs, has quietly averaged 15.5 ppg, but has historically had big games against the Lakers. The biggest story for Detroit this season may have been the midseason acquisition Rasheed Wallace, who the Pistons are hoping will put them over the top. Along with rebound machine Ben Wallace, the Pistons have the most intimidating defensive frontcourt in the Eastern Conference. And coincidentally, they'll be trying to stop the most dominant Western Conference frontcourt, proving that in a league being overrun with athletic swingman, to be successful, a franchise needs a great frontline.
Keys to Success
The same as it's been all year. Defense, defense, defense. Drag the games down to 140 total point affairs. The Pistons don't have the offensive firepower that LA does, so they'll need to work as hard as they can on the other end to even things out. While Ben Wallace will likely start out against Shaq, expect Rasheed Wallace to man up on O'Neal quite a bit this series. If that doesn't work, there's Mehmet Okur, Corliss Williamson, Elden Campbell and Darko Milicic all waiting on the bench. That's 36 total fouls to use, and it may not be a bad idea to use them all on Shaq, whose free throw shooting has been laughable in the postseason. On offense, it's Rip Hamilton's job to wear out Kobe Bryant. Kobe may be All-Defensive First Team, but most everyone thinks that it's in name only. Hamilton must make Bryant chase him through screens and have his jumper up to speed to make things much easier on Detroit, which probably won't get reliable offense from anyone else. If worse comes to worse, Larry Brown, known for being stubborn, must make adjustments and even play guys like Milicic to find something that will work.
I noticed that neither Brian34Cook or ArtestFan or DetBNyce put up a finals game thread. Maybe they have something worked out that I don't know about, but here's a game thread anyway, if that's okay.
I'll be adding to and changing and updating all throughout the week.
I picked the Lakers in 5 over the Pistons before the playoffs and will be sticking to that prediction here. Essentially, it will come down to the inability of an injured Sheed to guard Shaq. Ben Wallace may give Shaq trouble weak side, but I doubt it. He won't be blocking Shaq dunks, anyway.
Some kinks Phil may throw in:
- Payton/Kobe fast breaking.
- 2-man Malone/Kobe sporadically.
- Payton in the box.
- Heavy 4th quarter minutes for Rush and Fisher small ball. Depends on matchup issues with Detroit.
Phil will still pound the ball into Shaq, but will likely use a combination of these 4 things over the course of the series, like he has been doing most of the playoffs and quietly during the regular season.
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Since you created the first game thread (and a perfectly competent one, too, I might add), it's the official game thread.
Any others will be mere imitators, doomed to be merged rather embarrassingly.
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I'm going to fly in the face of reason (that mostly being 'Sheed's injury) and say Lakers in seven games. Everything says Lakers in five or six, but I'm going to gamble that the Pistons' defense rises to the occasion and Rip Hamilton and Chauncy Billups have some real "on" games (Rip Hamilton is looking for all the world like a young Reggie Miller...did you see them hug at the end of Game Six? It was like two bundles of sticks entangled).
But I can't see the Pistons winning a Game Seven in LA.
__________________ You'll never live like common people
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You'll never fail like common people
You'll never watch your life slide out of view
And dance and drink and screw
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why is the finals format 1-2 at home, 3-5 away then 6-7 home? stern must be trying to stretch the series out.
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Originally posted by <b>Minstrel</b>!
I'm going to fly in the face of reason (that mostly being 'Sheed's injury) and say Lakers in seven games.
I'm going to go more against reason than you, and say Pistons in six. Beat that without looking dumb.
Anyways, I'm interested in this series. It could be as simple as a sweep, but I could see the Pistons taking it as well. People are sleeping on the Pistons, they are a very good and well rounded team that may be able to steal it.
Honestly, I may end up taking flack for this, but I'm going to say Pistons in 6.
Last edited by Johnny Mac : 06-02-2004 at 01:40 AM.
I was thinking Lakers, until I noticed something.. Philadelphia has the worst luck. Larry Brown left us hanging by leaving for no compensation (thanks Ed Snider!) and landed in Detroit to coach the Pistons, it only fits into the Philly curse for Larry Brown and the Pistons to win the NBA Championship.
The more I look at this, the more evenly matched these teams appear, there's Shaq and there's Kobe who can't be stopped one on one, but outside of that the Pistons have the advantage in a lot of places.. especially the bench.
The one thing I'm excited to see about this is all the Rip Vs Kobe articles that will pop up in the area. Last time these two guys played in a tournament it was 1996 in the PIAA State Championships, and Lower Merion beat Coatesville. To say both guys are a ton better now than they were then is an understatement, it should be really really fun to watch. I'd love to see it go seven games, I really want to be entertained.
So yeah, the Philly curse tips the scales to the Pistons fans, because God loves to make us suffer.
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