Its going to be a defensive series. But if Allen can't get going and Pierce has sub-par games Celtics have no chance.
Its going to be a game decided by the players again. The coaches on both teams are mediocre at best, even though Saunders does have the edge. Either team that makes it will get ate alive by Phil Jackson, or Pop, maybe even Scott. Byron Scott and Rivers would be an interesting chess match. Also another key to the Pistons, Celtics matchup is Saunders knowing KG and his game.
Everyone knows KG's game, its a baseline fadeaway jumper, the problem is KG is so long that its hard to guard him, KG was missing it today because he never got into it. Rasheed can't guard KG, he can apply pressure but KG is more athletic. The Key is Rondo vs Billups.
KG will have his handsfull with him on the perimeter though. Again I can see Posey getting good minutes in this series as well. Him against Billups would be an interesting battle. IMO Posey is one of the if not the most underrated defensive player in the league.
Poseys problem is he plays loose. Lebron had so much cushion at the 3 that Poseys hand wouldn't even reach Brons face.
I think Rasheed can guard KG if he gives all out effort. I want to see how KG guards Rasheed. Rasheed has that same fadeaway jumper that you mentioned of KG and Rasheed has long range shooting too. I think it will be a good battle between the two. In the end, i think Detroit wins this series.
I do want to point out sense KG didn't have a huge offensive game he did dish teh ball out and created points that way. In the regular season in game 1 Sheed was 3-10 for shooting with 9 points (all 3's) 13 Rebounds 5 TO's KG had 26 points 12 boards 5 TO's He was 9-15 Game 2 in the regular season Sheed-16 points 7-16 shooting, 8 rebounds, 4 blocked shots, 1 TO KG-15 points on 4-11 shooting, 5 boards, 2 TOs Game 3 Sheed-23 points 10-24 shooting KG-31 points 13-22 shooting. Pistons took game 1 by 2 points while Boston won game 2 by 7, and game 3 by 20. Now for those comparisons aren't gread indicaters seeing how I'm not sure if KG guarded Sheed all game or the other way around, or if they came off the bench and score I have no idea.
It's cool. Yeah, they need Allen to perform. They got by the Cavs with him doing nothing, but if he's not hitting shots, Detroit will roll them. One real problem for the Celtics is that Allen's defense has really, really gotten atrocious. If Rip Hamilton's able to go off for 30 a night against him, Allen's going to have to be white-hot at the offensive end. And if Hamilton's running him ragged, putting him through screens all over the place, Allen's going to be short on energy on offense, meaning a lot of those threes are going to front-rim. It's a matchup that poses a LOT of problems for the Celtics. Before watching PJ Brown turn back the clock yesterday, I would have said Detroit has a huge edge in bench depth, but now, it's just a minor edge. Brown, House, Posey and Powe/Davis vs. Maxiell, Stuckey, Ratliff and Hunter. Slight edge to Detroit, but not huge if Brown keeps playing like that.
Yeah, very true. You're probably not going to hear the announcers say "Flip Saunders (or Doc Rivers) really made a great adjustment at halftime, and that's been all the difference." His COY trophy or no, I don't think Scott's exactly hot stuff as a coach. For that reason, I probably should cheer for New Orleans to come out of the West. Saunders knowing KG as well as anyone counts for something. I don't know how much, but if he has some inside info on him, this would be the time to impart that wisdom to Rasheed Wallace. Something like "KG hates, HATES contact when he's trying to unleash his 10 foot turnaround jumper from the right block."
That's not the same Posey I remember. You can't do that to Lebron anyway...if he puts you on his hip..it's over.
As a Lakers fan, a Celtics-Lakers finals sounds awesome. However, there is a TON of history, both presently and in the past between the Pistons and L.A. as well, so I am not sure who to root for. I think L.A. matches up better against the Pistons, but either team gave L.A. fits in the regular season. And yes, I am counting the chickens before they hatch when it comes to L.A. in the finals.
I keep hearing about how Celtics-Lakers dominated the 80s...but the Pistons and Lakers have met three times since the last Celtics-Lakers final (1987). In fact, the Celtics and Lakers met 3 times in the 80s (84 and 85 were the others)....the same number of times the Lakers met the Sixers in that decade. Amazingly, the Lakers made it to EIGHT of the ten NBA Finals in the 1980s. Houston made it in 81 and 86...and both times the Lakers had a much better team. That 81 Rockets team was one of the worst Finals teams of all time. Moses Malone carried that bunch; they would have been a contender for the #1 overall pick without him, and the Lakers just fell apart in 86. All in all, Celtics-Lakers didn't dominate that decade; the Lakers dominated that decade. BTW, I may be biased, but I think the Lakers would be better off playing Boston in the finals than Detroit. Rip Hamilton has always given Kobe Bryant problems at both ends, and Chauncey Billups would absolutely destroy whoever they put on him at PG. Granted, the Lakers would have a harder time matching up with Kevin Garnett than anyone in the Detroit frontcourt, but Garnett's just not going to take over the game. It should happen. Real basketball fans WANT it to happen. And it won't. Kevin Garnett should destroy Pau Gasol and take over the game if the Lakers get to the Finals, but he won't. Paul Pierce certainly isn't going to abuse Kobe Bryant on defense the way he beat LeBron James.
Haha, don't count your chickens so soon. Just ask Cool Calm Mike about his Game 6 guarantee. I think either will give us fits. We'll have problems with Detroit's guard duo unless Billups gets himself injured again. And with Boston, we could have issues rebounding against Garnett and Co. I'd prefer Boston since it has that nostalgic feel to it and brings back memories of Magic-Bird. The storied battles include not just the Finals meetings of the 80's, but overall. They were bitter rivals in a lot of the Finals in the 60's as well. And it always seemed like every regular season meeting between the two had a Finals-esque atmosphere in the 80's up until Boston fell off the NBA map for a while. Funny thing is we've done better against the Pistons than we have against the Celts, though it is just regular season. One W (with Brian Cook starting at PF) and a 1 point loss (with Kwame Brown at C).
I would be happy with either to be honest. Detroit has always been a place of horrors for Kobe. And something tells me he would love to amend the one finals he did not win. I also think that Chauncey doesn't pose anymore of a problem on the offensive side than the PG's L.A. has had to (and will )face in these playoffs. A.I. who was paired off with Fisher and Deron Williams are both quick guards who can penetrate, same with Tony Parker/Chris Paul. I also would like to see how Detroit fares against both Kobe and Pau, seeing as how they have yet to face L.A. with both on the court. In fact, the last time those two teams met, Kobe was sans Pau and still almost beat them, so it would be a fun matchup. Either way is ok with me. Both teams are historic franchises and would bring ratings along with the Lakers in the finals.
I want the Celtics to make the NBA Finals and lose in five to the Hornets. Won't happen, since the NBA Finals will probably be Lakers/Pistons, but hey.
For the love of....someone PLEASE beat the Spurs!! I cannot stand that team. They are the kind of team you love to hate. They are so boring to watch, If they make the finals, I may not watch.
I actually think that Odom is probably going to be the x-factor in this series. He has really become comfortable inhis role and is driving to the hoop more often. If Pau can somehow keep Duncan out on the perimeter and off the offensive boards, I think Lamar has a field series with putbacks and easy dunks.
Same here I know earlier in the thread I said i was back to hating the Lakers, but they just so happened to be matchup up against a team I find literally impossible to root for. Hopefully we can get a Lakers sweep so I can get back to rooting against them as quickly as possible
You know if Boston has trouble with guys who attack the basket there is no way they stop Manu or Parker.
Off topic but your new avatar throws me off. I got used to seeing Bond and associated that with you. Now, I see Indy and wonder who the new guy is.
In my high school yearbook, I got voted "Most Likely to be the Turd in the Punchbowl." Actually, and no offense to those who hold this viewpoint, but it legitimately upsets me when people run down teams like the Pistons and Spurs as "boring". Good basketball is exciting basketball. And I'd rather watch those two teams going at it, running the pick and roll to perfection, playing aggressive defense and watching Rip Hamilton and Manu Ginobili sink open 15 foot shots by perfect execution of multiple screens than I would, say, the All-Star Game, which is about half a step above the And1 Mix Tape competition. "Oh look, Allen Iverson just connected on a sweet half court alley oop with Tracy McGrady! It almost makes me forget that of his seven previous attempts at the half court alley oop, 2 hit the basket support, one banked off the shot clock, two were intercepted, one seriously injured a fan sitting at courtside, and one accidentally went in the basket and AI apologized to T-Mac for it." If you want to truly appreciate basketball, the thing to do is stop following the bouncing ball, and watch the movement WITHOUT the ball and see how it leads to good/bad shots, or good/bad defense. If you do so, I promise you'll be the better for it. A little change is good now and again. I'll probably go back to Bond eventually, but it feels good to have Indiana Jones back in our lives.
For me its more that I'm just sick of seeing them win. I am an official Spurs hater. They are a bunch of complaining babies, and I hate the way they play.
Well, I certainly won't argue that I hate seeing the Spurs dive and flop like they're Team Man U, instead of Team Manu.
I'm biting my nails all day today, and I'm no Celtics or Pistons fan. 8 PM Eastern, ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!
