I thought Lebron got a few ticky tack fouls called his way once the score got close, but I'll give him credit for turning it up with 2 minutes left in the 3rd and bringing his team back to life.

Anyhow, what about the Hack-a-Ben?



"Cavs coach Mike Brown was so desperate late in the first half that he resorted to a hack-a-Ben strategy, having his players intentionally foul Ben Wallace late in the first half. The tactic backfired, perhaps because Brown might've sent his players a message that they couldn't slow the Pistons down any other way".

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap;_y...gid=2006050908

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Yep, it's bad to be a fan with some confidence. Chalk up homerism to folks who don't know what they are watching, but please exclude me from that group.

It's been 2 years of big head ball. These guys give up leads. Heck, they made it an art form during the season. It's what they do.

On the other hand, most folks would have seen this series going 6 games at the start. That implies a Pistons letdown or some stellar performances from the Cavs.

The way I/roscoe/we saw it was a cold shooting night (as probable as the Game 1 lights out performance) and a series of "even up" calls by the refs that stalled out the game and gave the Cavs a chance. Not to mention that the bench players were completely ineffective and forced Flip to overplay the starters.

Pistons won, held serve, played good D in the last 2 minutes and closed out. The Cavs have to win 4 out of 5 to get this series. Does anyone think that is possible?

Gazoo. My brother. Please enjoy this season. It's really going well. There is no shame in winning by only 6.

Good news; Hallway Coach said that next game the Pistons are rolling out new looks on O and D. Flip was already scheming improvements for the next game while this one was on. Some folks probably won't give him credit for that, but I will.

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They are the archetype for dominance. They are the gatekeepers of the conference. They are the Detroit Pistons.

One adjutment hopefully will be to man the boards a little better. Other than that it was a nice game. Pistons were really taking it inside drawing a lot of fouls. I thought for a while there Prince would out-score Lebran again.

Cavs are definetly showing their inexperience. I called this one in 5 but it could be a sweep. Comparing the Bucks to the Cavs I believe the Bucks would have beaten them.

Something has to be done about Verajio on the offensive glass. Pistons sometimes have trouble against these 7' hacks with nothing better to do than camp out under the baskett looking for the board. Have to box him out. Bears a striking resemblence to the problems we used to have with Foster in the Indy series.

So the Cavs came back. Did it help their confidence going into game 3? The long wait should help the Pistons.

Well, I don't know if it was a rout or a close game.

At any rate, I think the extra days off will be a good thing for the Pistons. They'll win at least one in Cleveland and should end this in no more than 5.

10 more to go folks. Enjoy and appreciate it everyone! What a year.

Disappointing that the bad 4th quarter allowed the Cavs to avoid the beat down that I had expected, and that they were experiencing for most of the first 3 quarters, but I'm not exactly concerned about it. The Cavs were totally lost on offense until late in the game, so we'll see if they can put it together once they get back home.

pistons got bored, we won, sheed is fantastic and tay started off great. they got some nice whistles late to keep it closer but we got our share of decent calls. they had a few key calls though that really kept them in the game which was upsetting.

bleh either way we'll either take both in cleveland or take 1 and come back home for game 5 and end the series while NJ and Miami are beating each other up.

I exclude you from the group. Hate the "sweep" talk though. Gotta respect your opponent. If you do, you won't let your guard down. The Pistons are only head and shoulders above their opponents when they "feel like" playing. I put that on the players this time, not the coach. I liken Flip to Sparky Anderson. They both got outta the way and let the guys play. That might be Flip's best asset.

One other thing: I hate all this hugging crap before the tipoff. Puullleeeze. I'm all for good sportsmanship, but you gotta loathe your opponent just a little.

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"I don't believe there's any problem in this country, no matter how tough it is, that Americans, when they roll up their sleeves, can't completely ignore. - George Carlin

I agree with all of this.

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They are the archetype for dominance. They are the gatekeepers of the conference. They are the Detroit Pistons.

Postgame interviews.

Fragments of Sheed's interview
Chauncey Billups
LeBron James
Coach Flip Saunders
Coach Mike Brown

It's a big MP3. I didn't feel like splitting it up.

Attached Files

postgame-presser_050906.mp3 (9.94 MB, 12 views)

What can I say Micro? I just recently graduated from The Low's School of Playing the Devil's Advocate. Not a Catholic school, either. I know that this team is "special" and when things don't go right, I get pissed. I guess you're right. I need to enjoy it a little more. If I wasn't such a nervous wreck, I probably would. 'Cause if they don't win it this season, I'm gonna be pissed beyond belief. I wasn't even that mad last season when the Spurs got 'em. Despite being the defending champs, I didn't see them winning it all. This season is different. So when I see them slacking off, I get the red azz real quick.

Thanks for the postgame stuff. Much appreciated for us out-of-towners.

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"I don't believe there's any problem in this country, no matter how tough it is, that Americans, when they roll up their sleeves, can't completely ignore. - George Carlin