i know that some people would have wanted to play the Wiz to demonstrate that their 3 regular season victories over us were flukes. and i partly wanted that too.

but the matchup we got is much bigger than any post-season payback for regular season uppity-ness. this is the best team against the best player (and NBA and media darling). the nba and the media are like a teenage boy his first time they are so eager to crown lebron the next mj and set him off on his string of championships. so i for one am glad that the pistons are here to remind the boy (and his slobbering suitors) that it's not time yet, that he's gotta go cry in the lockerroom a few more years before hoisting the hardware. this year, second round, nice job young fella. keep working hard over the summer. next year, who knows, maybe we'll let you play heroically into the conference finals before we send you home.

as for the actual hoops, i think one of the keys, in addition to things others have already said, is 1) no second opportunity maniac hustle points from the undertalented overenergetic gooden and varejao (they must be non factors on the offensive boards) and 2) keep a lock on their more perimeter oriented scorers. If they take care of those two things, the pistons should win easily. Of course, they'll have their let downs and they might let a game or even two slip away.

all that said, i now return to my playoff stillness: it's a good game when we score more than they do and only that game matters.