[Booth Newspapers]

Rasheed Wallace proves tough to stop
As much as Cleveland's LeBron James is the star going into this series, all eyes are likely to shift Wallace's way before the series is over.

He averaged a team-high 19 points against a Cleveland team that Detroit beat in three out of four meetings this season. He also led the way by picking up the first of seven technical fouls called against Detroit in their four games against Cleveland.

Wallace's greatest impact, however, might have been his ability to rattle some of Cleveland's top players.

LeBron puts Pistons in national spotlight
"Hey, that's what you get when you play against King James," Prince said. "ABC, TNT during the week and then back on ABC during the weekend."

Pistons-Cavaliers matchup
Forwards: Cleveland never figured out how to defend Rasheed Wallace, who led the Pistons in scoring (19 points per game) against Cleveland this season. Tayshaun Prince doesn't score much against Cleveland, in part because he expends so much energy guarding LeBron James, who leads all postseason scorers with a 35.7 points per game average. For Cleveland to have some frontcourt success, they'll also need a solid performance from Drew Gooden.

JUSTIN ROGERS: Full-Court Press
May 6, Oakland Press: Evans believes Cleveland is easier to defend because it is so reliant on LeBron James. Washington, which swept the season series with Detroit, has three major scoring threats in Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison.

"In my opinion, I'd rather play a team like the Cavaliers, who have one dominant scorer," he said. "Our team is so good defensively, we can make it even more difficult for one scorer as opposed to three or four scorers."

Pistons - Cavaliers Round Two Preview

Fellow Sheedologist Dominique Wilford gives you his Head to Head matchups against the Cavaliers, for the Second Round of the Playoffs.




But David Hall is still a Pistons fan, right?

The Akron Beacon Journal on Cavs owner Dan Gilbert's split loyalties: Suite series ahead for Cavaliers' Gilbert

YAYsecond-round!

The Cavalier from YAYsports! (who, ahem, is a fan of the Cavs) has his first thoughts up on the Detroit-Cleveland series that's about to kick off in roughly 14 hours, including a personal note written to Joe Dumars.




Motown Soundtrack: Get it together
by Adriano Albuquerque

First round is in the books, and the Detroit Pistons start their Eastern Conference Semifinal series this Sunday against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Looking around the headlines, previews and analysis around the internet, everyone is expecting the defending East champions to throw two or three men at LeBron James to stop him and make that the focal point of their defense. While they certainly will be paying close attention to the phenom kid, they won’t waste all their energy there. And it’s not hard to figure that out. Just look at their history.

[PISTONS BULLETIN]

Ben Wallace ...

is the defensive player of the year. Not a surprise here, folks. It should become official later this week. It'll...




[Detroit Bad Boys] What goes around comes around?

You know how YAYsports! provided that blueprint for a Cleveland upset to us below? Well, we did the same thing for them, outlining Detroit's five keys to winning the series against the Cavs: "Welcome to the LeBron Show!" (Also featuring the two-time defending Eastern Conference Champion Detroit Pistons)


Pistons take control of the headlines, mercilessly pound the Cavs

1st Quarter
11:44 — Game starts with a steal by Ben. That's a nice sign, since we've been calling for greater intensity for him throughtout the playoffs.
11:33 — Sheed with the baby hook on the other end for the first Piston bucket, game on.
10:30 — Gooden with the O-board and putback over Ben; the Pistons [...]




Pistons 113, Cavaliers 86
by LARRY LAGE
The Associated Press

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) — When LeBron James had the ball, he saw Detroit Pistons defenders to his left, to his right, and straight ahead.

The Pistons also had James seeing triple at the other end of the court.

Detroit made 10 3-pointers in the first half — one shy of an NBA playoff record — to open up a 21-point lead at halftime before cruising to a 113-86 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday in Game 1 of their second-round series.

[Cavalier Attitude]

Pistons Rout Cavaliers Quickly

It didn’t take long for the Detroit Pistons to show why they are a number one seed as they dominated the Cleveland Cavaliers 113-86 to take a 1-0 series lead. The Cleveland Cavaliers started out quickly, but it didn’t last very long as the Pistons were outstanding in shooting the ball. The Pistons hit a team record 15 out of 22 from three point land.

[Deadspin]

For Cleveland, A Slight Departure From The 1st Round

After sweating it out in six thrilling games against the Wizards, the Cleveland LeBrons, after the first few minutes, were never in this one today. They dropped a squeaker in Game One against the Pistons, 113-86. Here’s a short list of things that the Cavaliers game against the Pistons did not have in common with the games they played against Washington:

• It was not close
• It was not particularly exciting
• It was not completely devoid of defense

[Detroit Free Press]

Game 1: Detroit 113, Cleveland 86
No late-game heroics, no friendly whistles from the referee, and no clever ad campaign could pull LeBron James out of his team's mess on Sunday.

MITCH ALBOM: Piston prevents King James from staging a Palace coup [via Ohio.com]
"He never saw me coming," Prince, 26, would later say, matter of factly, of the block that sent a jolt through the Palace. "It was kind of a bad pass. ... It gave me time to get back to him ... It was a perfect situation for me. ..."

This, remember, is Prince talking, not LeBron's coach.

But that is typical of this humble, laconic forward with the long arms that seem to sway like a wooden puppet's from his thin, high shoulders. He led Detroit in scoring Sunday, and yet you easily could have overlooked it. In fact, when that time-out was called after his dagger three-pointer, you saw everything you needed to see about No. 22.

MICHAEL ROSENBERG: Big Ben's many contributions are key [via Ohio.com]
Look at what Wallace did in one stretch: He helped out on a James slash to the basket, stopping a potential layup; grabbed a defensive rebound; blocked a Drew Gooden shot; grabbed another defensive rebound; set a pick that opened up Prince for an easy score; drew a charge that the officials didn't call; grabbed an offensive rebound and passed out to Rip Hamilton for a wide-open shot; and then stepped into the lane to stop Donyell Marshall, who was forced to pass out to LeBron ... at which time Ben ran out to the three-point line and got a hand in James' face, which may have caused James to miss the shot.

Time elapsed: less than five minutes.

[Akron Beacon Journal]

Pistons embarass Cavs in series opener
When tip-off came, it had been roughly 36 hours since the Cavs touched down at Hopkins International Airport after their playoff victory over the Washington Wizards.

They breathed a heavy sigh and started to prepare for the ol' Dee-troit Basketball, as they refer to it in these parts, grinding physical half-court defense making for ugly, low-scoring affairs.

Instead they got the nuevo style, the sharp-shooting, high-scoring and gassing version. The Pistons averaged 107 points in their first-round series with the Milwaukee Bucks, hinting at the offensive flair that they developed during the season. Sunday, they played one of their best offensive games in their extensive playoff history, and it meant curtains for the wine and gold.

TERRY PLUTO: Brown must restore Cavs' confidence
James says he's the leader, and he wants to lead. Staring at Tayshaun Prince taking jumpers from the corner is not leading. Nor is refusing to help crash the boards. It's very possible James was just plain tired after playing 53 minutes in Friday's overtime victory in Washington. He could have been exhausted - even at age 21. But his teammates look to James, and Brown needs to get that message across that James can be the key to the defense. After the game, James said, "You play defense for 22 or 23 seconds and a guy hits a 3 at the end of the shot clock." Brown needs to break out the tape and show James that wasn't what happened. The defense broke down early and often.

[Yahoo! Sports]

Easy as ABC?
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – With each Detroit Pistons three-point bomb, each blocked Cleveland Cavaliers shot, the number of witnesses dwindled, televisions across America clicking off in favor of lawn mowing, light bulb changing or sock drawer sorting – heck, anything. It was exactly what ABC and the NBA deserved.

[MLive.com]

Detroit Shock City: Cavs rocked in opener
In less than 48 hours, the Cleveland Cavaliers went from rolling around the floor in joy to walking off the court in disbelief.

The Detroit Pistons welcomed the Cavs to the second round of the NBA playoffs — with a collective punch in the mouth.

JUSTIN ROGERS: Full-Court Press
Here is how Rasheed responded when he was asked his opinion on Ben Wallace winning Defensive Player of the Year again. Note, for those who can't figure it out immediately, he was joking, listen to the audio.

Rasheed Wallace: “Aww they gave that sh*t to him again. Aw God, that’s felonious, FE-LON-IOUS. He was not even in my top three. Honestly, they only gave it to him because we the Pistons…”

On ESPN News' postgame coverage of the Pistons' blowout of the Cavaliers in Game 1, Ric Bucher of ESPN.com is flabbergasted at having to answer how Cleveland can actually win this series.

Host: In light of what you saw today, in light of what the Cavs saw today, what hope can they hang their hat on that they're still in this series realistically -- and that they can put a scare into the Pistons and make this series eventually close?

Bucher: You've got to be kidding me. I... I... Am I supposed to make something up?

AP NEWSBREAK: Wallace wins NBA's top defensive award
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) — Detroit center Ben Wallace won the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award for the fourth time in five years, a person within the Pistons organization told The Associated Press on Sunday.

The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the award has not been announced, said Wallace will be presented with the award Tuesday night before Game 2 of the second-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

[Fox Sports]

CHARLEY ROSEN: LBJ will be challenged by Pistons' big men
The Pistons are not the Wizards. There will be precious few blown defensive assignments, no botched free throws in the clutch, and nary a choke to give the Cavs aid and comfort in the clutch.

Here's how the teams line up.

[SI.com]

MARTY BURNS: Pistons-Cavs breakdown
Slow down LeBron. That's the key for any team that faces the Cavs. With their team defense and vast experience, the Pistons should be able to do the trick. Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince give Detroit three long-armed defenders who know how to cover the floor and work with each other to take away LeBron's drives to the basket. Otherwise, the Pistons have little to fear defensively.

[Detroit News]

Lights out
The Cavaliers, coming off a tough six-game series against Washington, won't be as emotionally spent. They won't be as leg-weary. And if the Pistons shoot this good again, well, it's going to be a major story.

But in terms of establishing yourself in a series and setting the bar in terms of what level of play the opponent much reach in order to compete, it doesn't get any more emphatic than the Pistons' 113-86 romp Sunday in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference semifinal.

James poses threat for half
AUBURN HILLS -- The Pistons know a little secret about how to deal with star scorers such as LeBron James.

Playing strong team defense seems to work pretty darned well, both in containing James and his Cavaliers teammates.

Game report
The Pistons' slogan, "Goin' to work," flashed on the scoreboard before the game. It has become their symbol -- and in stark contrast to the Lions, who filed a grievance against the coaching staff for making them work too hard in their offseason workouts.

Notebook: Pistons on fire
The Pistons hit 10 of 11 three-point attempts in the first half. They made a franchise playoff-record 15 for the game, hitting 68.2 percent of them.

"At one point in time, we were 14-for-16. That's like unbelievable," Richard Hamilton said. "We looked at our free-throw percentage and were 14-for-16 from the free-throw line, too. I mean, we just took what they gave us. We swung the ball, got wide-open shots."

Bob Wojnowski: Cleveland LeBrons given education by devastation
AUBURN HILLS -- Near as we could tell, there was one LeBron James on the floor Sunday. Unless something radically changes, that leaves Cleveland approximately three or four LeBrons short.

ROB PARKER: If Cavs don't play defense, this series will be over quickly
"We're going to have to do a better job digging down and contesting those shots," Cavs coach Mike Brown said after the debacle.

That has to start with James, the man everybody wants to be the next Michael Jordan without earning it. By the way, Jordan played both ends of the floor. If he really wants to win, James will have to learn to play defense. Defense isn't about God-given talent. It's about desire. Just ask Ben Wallace, who won his fourth defensive player of the year award.

Sadly, James actually thought his team played good defense.

Ben gets fourth award
For the fourth time in five years, Wallace, the Pistons' defensive specialist, has earned the honor. He will be presented with the award before Tuesday night's game against Cleveland at The Palace.

LeBron watch
Grades
Three stars

Pistons steal the headlines, mercilessly pound the Cavs

After 36 hours straight of Lebron-praise, it is time for Game 1 of the Pistons v. Cavs series. Rumor has it this one is going to be played on actual television, rather than the local cable access channel. That's what happens when you have an intriguing opponent. (Come on, admit it — [...]

The Cavs had a bad day

If you're feeling particularly cruel, head over to Cleveland.com and gloat while watching a "sad" musical photo montage of today's game from a Cavs' perspective. (Watch it now, though, because judging from the generic URL, I won't be surprised if there will be a brand new video after Game 2.) (Link via YAYsports!)


Pictures from a well-traveled Cavs fan

Alan Dail of Cavsworld came up for Sunday's game between the Pistons and Cavs. From 17 rows above the court, he was in prime position to take over 100 really great pictures, which he was gracious enough to send me a heads up about. He has some great shots in and around the Palace, [...]



Game One BA BA BA Blowout! Piston 113 - 86

The Pistons were totally on their game Sunday at the Palace. Everything was working for the boys in Red White and Blue. Tayshaun was phenomenal on the offensive end, scoring a Pistons high 24 points and he was just as good defensively making it difficult for Lebron to get his shot off cleanly. Rip added 20, Chauncey had 14, Sheed had 10 and Ben was The Defensive Player of The Year, and it showed, blocking 4 shots with 11 rebounds.


Pistons Talk - Need4Sheed On AOL's Sports Bloggers Live

I was lucky enough to be invited as a guest on Tonight's AOL's Sports Bloggers Live to talk about The Pistons - Cavs series. It's live tonight at 7, and I'm talking up our Pistons.




NBA Playoffs - Day 16

You got to give it to Detroit for air of arrogance in their newspapers when it comes to their basketball team. Look at the headlines today :

* Piston' Shooting Chew up Cavaliers
* James Discovers Who's Really King Of The Palace
* LeBron Given Education By Devastation




Pistons Embarrass Cavaliers

After winning game 6 against the Wizards friday night, LeBron James told reporters that Cleveland was not ready for the pistons because they were focused exclusively on beating the wizards, but that they had a day to get ready. Clearly 1 day to prepare wasn't enough time as the Pistons won by 27 points, 113-86, in a game that wasn't as close as it's final score.

Tayshaun Prince said "It was up to us to jump out early after the first round they had. I think they had some tired legs."




Tiptoeing Into Round Two…

The Cavs just ran into a barrage yesterday. It was like someone sent a blind kid walking into another kid who was doing the windmill of fists. Detroit got any shot they wanted, and then they made damn near every one of them.

I actually didn’t feel like the Pistons were that good defensively. They gave up some easy baskets, and Cleveland was able to shoot an okay percentage. But their easy buckets were way fewer and far between than the Pistons easy buckets.

The Optimist

I almost respect Pistons fans, bandwagon jumpers though they are. They are some of the most passionate in sport. The organization is solid. Joe Dumars is a class act and Flip Saunders is from Cuyahoga Heights.

But it’s the downright insanity that separates the Pistonistas from other NBA fans. Pistons win the Championship, they riot and burn down the city. Tigers lose the Championship, they riot and burn down the city. They go ape every time the Lions win on Thanksgiving and every time the Red Wings score a goal, the throw squids on the ice.

He wasn't even in my top three

Rasheed Wallace's reaction after learning that Ben Wallace would be named the Defensive Player of the Year for the fourth time:
"They gave that to him again?" Rasheed Wallace said, loud enough so that Ben Wallace could hear as he exited the locker room. "Ah, dog, that's felonious. It's felonious. Fe-lone-e-us. He was not even in [...]

Can't tell the difference?

We admit, sometimes it gets confusing telling the difference between the real Ben Wallace and the Inflatable Ben Wallace. Luckily, Farlane put together a handy guide to help you out: Official Ben Wallace ID Chart

Why the rest of the series will be competitive

Was the Pistons' blow-out win over the Cavs on Sunday really an indication of how easy this series is going to be? Maybe, maybe not. The Pistons did win three out of four games against the Cavs in the regular season, holding Cleveland under 80 points in each win. But Sunday's game was a bit [...]




Zydrunas Ilgauskas Retirement Options

Have you ever notice that Cleveland Cavalier's center Zydrunas Ilgauskas doesn't really look like he belongs in the NBA. I mean if saw him on the street and didn't know who he was, would you actually think he was making millions in the NBA?