Pistons Bench vs. Cleveland Bench


mikhail1973

Dyess needs to get his shot falling or he is not going to be of much help. He will get his rebounds, but we need him to be able to score. JMax might get a few minutes but he may struggle against defense oriented Cavs. Lindsey had more downs than ups in the playoffs and Murray has been streaky. I think Delphino might play a bigger role in this one trying to contain LBJ and giving Tay some rest. On Cavs bench we have a defensive specialist Snow with propensity to hit a jumper here and there, an enigmatic Marshall and a young Varejao who can be a pest. Need to keep Marshall off that 3-point line because he can hurt the Pistons from there.

Advantage: Push


adpreston1988

I don't know much about the Cleveland bench besides Varejao. Varejao is an excellent rebounder, but the Pistons have lots of offensive weapons and energetic players they can bring off the bench like Hunter, McDyess, Delfino, Maxiell, and Murray. The advantage definitely goes to the Pistons bench since the Pistons might have their best bench since the 2004 championship this year.

Advantage: Detroit


Dumars4Ever

The Cavs' two main players off the bench are Anderson "Sideshow Bob" Varejao and Eric "better than Shawn Respert" Snow. I doubt that Snow is going to outplay Lindsey or Flip Jr. by very much, if at all, but the flop-tastic Varejao can be an effective irritant on the boards and in drawing fouls. Dice's shooting woes are a continuing cause for concern, but if he can keep up his consistency on the boards, that should give the Pistons enough to blunt the fearsome power of Sideshow Bob.

Rookie guard Daniel Gibson hit some big shots in a couple of their wins over the Nets in the last round, but Delfino can hopefully match his production. The height of the Cavs big men might limit J-Max's effectiveness in this series, but maybe Dale can bust some heads and help keep things under control around the hoop. Donyell Marshall suddenly hit some big shots for Cleveland in their close-out win over New Jersey, but I'm not sure how much gas he has left in the tank. Damon Jones' wardrobe choices might present some matchup difficulties for Super Dupes.

Advantage: Push


linwood

Eric Snow and David Wesely make Lindsey look young. Eric may even give Hunter a little competition for that "worst shooter ever" title.

Sideshow Varejao vs. Dice or Maxie: Can't wait to see it. I'm going with Dice or Maxiell.

Damon Jones vs. Flip Murray: Ronald's shot selection has improved. Has Damon's?

Advantage, Pistons

Advantage: Detroit


bezeach

The Pistons have McDyess, Delfino, Davis, Murray, Hunter and Maxiell who contribute during a game. The Cavs have Damon Jones, Anderson Varejao, Daniel Gibson, Donyell Marshall and Eric Snow. Detroit's cast of players should overpower the Cavs cast of inconsistent players. Donyell Marshall isn't going to make 6 threes every game he plays. Detroit's bench will also play a role in trying to stop LeBron James.

Advantage: Detroit


st8ofmind

Lindsey Hunter
Flip Murray
Carlos Delfino
Antonio McDyess
Dale Davis
Jason Maxiell

Max had a couple monster games against Cleveland that I can recall including the last reg season game in Cleveland.

Delfino has shown the ability to be a competent defender against LBJ before, we'll need that and some hustle points and some knockdown/knockout 3's from him.

Dyess is by far the best player off the bench for either team and if he gets hot (please God???) this could be over real quick.

vs.

Daniel Gibson
D. Marshall
A. Varejao
Eric Snow
Uh????

Gibson is a nice young player and although he is fast he doesn't really seem to know how to use that yet and seems to be nothing but a 3 point shooter at this stage of his career. Please GUARD HIM INSIDE OF 25', THANKS.

Marshall is worthless and a huge D liability when his 3 isn't going, but when his 3 is going he gives the Cavs exactly what they need to win. Please GUARD HIM INSIDE OF 25', THANKS.

I can see Snow's D being a key as I noted earlier, and I hope to God Flip Jr. can play well against his old teammates as he might know some tendencies.

This is a raging wild card. Only 2 guys off each bench are going to give you what you expect every night (Dyess, Hunter *.5, Delfino*.5 for Detroit and Varejao and Snow for Cleveland)

If I had to pick a side I'd go with slight advantage Detroit, but I'm calling this a push.

Advantage: Push


Dlev59

Mcdyess alone makes the Piston bench better than the Cavs bench. Cleveland has serious scoring droughts when their King is on the bench or is having a not so royal game.

Daniel Gibson, Eric Snow, Varejo and co. do provide energy, however who is going to score?

The Piston bench somewhat inconsistent, is far superior to the Cavs, not to mention it`s more versatile and deeper. McDyess for rebounding and scoring. Hunter for defense. Delfino for defense rebounding. Flip Murray for steals, scoring and in this series, perhaps, REVENGE!

And if need be, Maxiel and Dale Davis to smack some people around!!!!

Advantage: Detroit


Maverick

Depending on Flip's use of them I see this as a big advantage in this series. The Pistons bench is much more versatile then Cleveland. I think this is a series where Delfino has a few good games in. Lindsey won't be able to hurt us as much since the Cavs have little defense. They don't have an answer for Jmax.. I say bring out the Goon squad.. We've only got 2 series left and I don't think they'll be as effective against the west (unless the Jazz win) so use them now.

Advantage: Detroit


dba

Marshall got scary there in the last game against the Nets, and can still hit the threes if no one bothers to guard him. Varejao has only played 20 minutes a night so far, but is a rebounding machine. Snow is Snow, getting older every minute, but capable of holding his own against the Pistons guards for short stints. For the Pistons, Dice has to start to shoot the ball better. He's been active on the boards and for him, decent on defense, but unless he can score... 32% shooting just isn't good enough. With the Pistons backcourt advantages, and the need to keep Prince on LBJ for 40+, I suspect we won't see many more bench minutes.

Advantage: Cleveland


BillLaimbeer

If you look at the minutes and the production of both benches in the first 2 series, nothing stands out at you. This series won't be decided by the benches. Any bench players that can give you some production is icing on the cake.

Advantage: Push

Watch for the Pistons to trap LBJ when Eric Snow comes in, and leave him open to create his own shot. I like Hunter vs. Snow as this is a matchup Lindey usually gets the better of.

Will Flip Murray get a chance to show the Cavs that they should have re-signed him last summer?

Can we predict anything at all that Flip Sr. is going to do with the bench? It is probably the greatest unknown on the Pistons.

Apparently Dice was ill last night during the game and ready to puke on Rasheed Wallace.

KRISTA JAHNKE'S BLOG: Pistons' McDyess fights stomach bug

Looks like JMax spent lots of time with Big Ben and managed to learn as well.

By Eric Lacy (DetNews)

From Krista Jahnke's blog...

"Speaking of rebounding, that’s one area the Pistons must improve before Game 2. The Cavaliers out-rebounded the Pistons, 49-41.

That doesn’t sound too bad on its own, but throw in that they had 18 offensive rebounds to Detroit’s 11, and you see the problem. That’s the Cavaliers’ game. If they’re winning the rebounding battle, it shows they were able to exert their will over the Pistons, and that’s something the Pistons do not want to let happen again.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Anderson Varejao killed the Pistons in this area. They had seven and five offensive boards, while no one on the Pistons had more than two."

I wonder if this is really as bad as it sounds. Z had something like four of those boards on the first or second possession of the game, all on tips. Virahoex often gets multiples on the same possession from tips. Makes you ask the question - are the Cavs great offensive rebounders or just incompetent ones?

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

Looks like it is a bit of both and also look at their shooting percentage. For example: Utah outrebounded Spurs on offensive glass 13-9. However, they shot 44% from the field and Spurs 56%. I think it is realistic to expect team shooting much lower percentage to get more offensive boards. In the game Cavs shot 37% to Pistons 43%.

One can analyze and over-analyze the stats and numbers from the game. How about this:
In just over 180 player minutes Pistons starters outscored Cavs starters 70-60 while shooting 45% and allowing 38%. Does this tell us that our bench almost lost us a game?

I think statistics can be a bit misleading.

Rebounding? You want rebounding?

Sit Webber.
Start McDyess.
Unleash the Goon Squad.