Himat,

Yes, Saunders is not a sharp playoff coach. But the real problem has been mangagements lack of help for this team. We lost players after the ship and only got one replacement in Dyss. We ran the same team for 3 years--an eternity in the NBA. Whose fault is that? Owner and Joe.

I mean we needed so little to get to the finals. How about a penetrator off the bench for a few million? How about a perimeter defender for even less? We ran 36 year old Hunter. Whose fault is that? Then lets get onto the coach who is always on the wrong side of an adjustment.

I seen it happen with the Lakers. No additions, no additions, old additions--boom--buried by a then young Piston team.

We have Amir, Delfino, and Maxiell sitting on the bench. Although Joe has not signed a big FA deal since the ship except Dice those guys can play.

Gibson owned us tonight. Amir should get playing time. Maxiell provides energy. He played great in Game 2 why didn't he play? Delfino is a great backup. Tay was so worn out.

Joe has had good teams. We fell short to a team just as good in 05. In ECF the last 2 years we have lost because of Flip S. not making adjustments.

Himat,

Flip can't make the adjustments. But we did not add the little pieces that would have avoided what we just saw.

For two years, we have needed a perimeter defender. Nothing. Meanwhile the rules got even looser for penetrators.

We lose Ben and add no perimeter defender.

We do not add a scorer off the bench to deal with scoring droughts.

We do not add or develop a young big. Yes, Maxiel, I like him, but he wasn't ready. The shot is not there yet. He lacks for experience. Amir is only a potentiality at this stage. Delfino has yet to prove himself. But he is not quick enough to do what we need.

It would only have taken a few millions dollars. Now the entire future of the team is at stake: Billips, Sheed, Dyss, etc. We are not too old to contend but too old as the team is currently constructed. This also happened to the Lakers.

Did you just see Gibson light us up? He is a rookie. Amir would be a top 10 pick in this years draft. He can be a starter. He could potentially be an all star or possibly a superstar.

"I feel comfortable, I think the players do, too, we've got to go and get better. That's basically what you do," Saunders said. "Every year there is only one team that's happy and all the other teams are doing things to try to get better."

Please tell me that Flip is the only one that is fine. What happened to being ticked after your season is over??

I'm so depressed.

In the regular season, I thought the Bulls were better than the Cavs.
It's ok for Flip to be outcoached by Riley, but Mike Brown? I don't know. If he can keep up with Pop then he will earn my respect.
The Pistons were supposed to be the poised, dominant, veteran team. It sucked to have a rookie torch us.
The Pistons did not have one decent offensive game in this series.
What happened to all the offensive sets? CB looked stagnant.
How can Tay go from being magnificent in one series to being insignificant in the next?

Sigh....

I hate so say this, but this is my opinion. They got some help by the refs in most games of this series with Lebron getting all this superstar calls and with whistling almost everytime Sheed or Dyess tried to block- but that wasn't the reason the Pistons lost.
The reason was, that they are better. Not by far, but a little bit.
They have a solid guard rotation in Hughes, Pavlovic, Gibson and, just in case, Damon Jones or Eric Snow.
The Pistons don't- when RIP or CB leave the court, it's because they're fatigued. When the Cavs substitute, it's because they try to set another tone.
They have Big Z. And that guy is big. And he killed us on the offensive glass. All of our bigs where unable to keep him out of the zone which lead to many putbacks. And, of corse, they got Lebron. The superstar factor. At first, I wanted to say that you need a superstar to win in this league- but I still hope that you don't, even with that foolish rules that allow every player who can penetrate just a little bit to do whatever he wants because he knows he'd either get fouled or make the basket. I wonder how many ppg Jordan would have scored under this stupid rules.
But the Pistons ain't got no excuse because San Antonio lacks a superstar too and they win.
What the Pistons didn't have was a player capable of creating his own shot- RIP tried, but he's extremely weak at doing so. CB can at times, but he seems to be too slow to keep up with most guards.
Tay is inconstant on the offensive end since all he has is that left hook.
The Pistons simply ain't got nothing even close to a slasher.

__________________
I'm a wannabe- GM, but I stand to it.

From JWill and DWade to the King and Boobie - even the goofy nicknames can beat the Pistons. I don't know if there is a conference finals MVP, but Gibson sure won this series for the Cavs. Without him it's 4-1 Detroit. Unfortunately for him Tony Parker is just as quick as he is and a lot more experienced.

I'm still stunned by this year's collapse but...

Sheed, Rip, Dice, and Hunter played like they cared. I didn't see it from anyone else. Hunter is gone, but it's fine with me if everyone other than these three become trade bait. It was over by the time Sheed got tossed anyway.

CB - Way too full of himself to ever win another championship. 0-1 in the fourth quarter when it counted with zero defensive presence. If the Pistons organization is serious about winning at this level, it's time for CB to go.

TP - Just stunk it up all series. Couldn't score over anyone. He needs to go back to playing under the radar. He's never going to be the man and should never average more than 30-32 minutes.

CW - Last hurrah, done and gone, see ya. Still has no clue what to do when in the crunch and is way too much of a defensive liability to play at this level.

The Rest - Deer in the headlights. Except for DD who just didn't play enough to matter.

Ah, the coaching. I've been a voice for letting Flip have his shot. I think a lot of the criticism has been unthinking and unfair. Evidently it has also happened to be correct. No leadership from the coaching staff, no ability to force a style of play, nada. The revolving door must continue to spin at least one more turn.


The other guys?

Hughes, Pavlovic, and Gooden are still average players. For the Cavs to thrive in the playoffs for years to come, at least two of them need to come off the bench, or two of them play for someone else.

Maybe Gibson is Iverson and Parker all rolled into one. Or, maybe he never scores again in an NBA game. Let Bowen knock him around a little and we'll see.

Z is big, strong, and smart, but also old and fading. This could be his last semi-effective year.

Vercingetorix, should he ever develop a consistent fifteen foot jumper and get a lot smarter about how the game is played, becomes the reincarnation of Bill Laimbeer. If he doesn't get a jump shot, he's become the poster child for a new league rule against flopping.

And Jimmy? Needs to play the point. Put two jump shooters on the wings, a strong finishing big man to trail, and a center who can board and throw outlet passes and the Cavs become the Suns with muscle.

__________________
"But first, are you experienced? Or have you you ever been experienced? Well, I have."
Jimi

I also saw him commit a stupid charging foul, get his jumper blocked, and generally play out of position on offense. The one assist was nice, but do you really think he can provide consistent drive-and-dish ability with more minutes? I sure don't.

During the '06 regular season, I liked what I saw from him when he got a chance to play, particularly the lockdown D he played on Pierce in one game against Boston. But he didn't improve this year, his jump shot got even worse, and he made bonehead plays in the clutch in at least a couple of different games.

I think putting in rusty Nazr Mohammad into the game took everybody out of their game for some time while he was on the floor. What the hell was that. Flip panicked again. J Max had a great Game 2. Here is a thought...PUT HIM IN THE GAME!