Re: Conf Finals Game 1 Cleveland May 21 8PM The game was much too close. I thought we were going to have a "Premature Evacuation" of this series. Ilgauskas really played hard out there. Going with rebounding and defense really works for the Cavs. Glad they didn't score much. Glad to see that Flip used his bench. JMax was certainly a good option.
Re: Conf Finals Game 1 Cleveland May 21 8PM Wha...Wha...Wha...What? I'm looking for it. Nice to see Max step way up, is Dyess healthy? He seems way out of whack with his confidence/flow/everything right now. Re: Sheed on Marshall, that was not a good sign with Expletiv'ing Robert Expletive Horry the Expletive likely awaiting the Stones.
Re: Conf Finals Game 1 Cleveland May 21 8PM I agree, Sheed needed 2 wheelbarrows for his huevos grandes. He was the only guy "fully competing" for some long stretches in both halves. Let's put 'the switch' to rest for him at least.
Re: Conf Finals Game 1 Cleveland May 21 8PM http://pistons.realgm.com/articles/174/20070521/off_and_on_and_now_theyre_on/ Whats with the arbitrary Sheed dig?
Re: Conf Finals Game 1 Cleveland May 21 8PM 7. Stone's MVP in the 1st half - RIP. Without his scoring to keep us within distance we would have lost the game Stone's MVP in the 2nd half - Sheed and CB. Strong 3rd quarter from CWebb and Rip. Tay only 1-11 from the field. Hey, I'll take this stat line the entire series if he can keep Bron with the 5-15 stat line and no FT attempts. Tay has 9 asst which is a minimum 18 pts in the bag. DD and JMax is the unsung heroes. Dice need to start making shots. At least 45% will help a lot. Did Dice peak too soon (was like 60% from the field towards end of season). Need to draw more fouls on Big Z and Sideshow Bob the next game.
Re: Conf Finals Game 1 Cleveland May 21 8PM I know what the call was, I'm just wondering if they screwed it up. Why was it not a clear path foul? Because he didn't have possession, right? So why were they able to foul a player without possession with < 2 minutes to go in the game? Javie.
Re: Conf Finals Game 1 Cleveland May 21 8PM I can't believe I am defending LBJ here. If Marshall made that shot then the Cavs would have won and LBJ would have gotten a triple-double 10-10-10. TaShawn - The only explanation I can think of was that the Cavs were not in the penalty yet. Roscoe - Agree about Webber. Maybe he has hit the wall? Did not play much before comming here and he was thrown in for a lot of minutes.
Re: Conf Finals Game 1 Cleveland May 21 8PM Loose ball foul? Doesn't one team have to have clear possession for the anti Hack a Shaq/Ben rule to kick in?
Re: Conf Finals Game 1 Cleveland May 21 8PM Not so fast... Detroit could have advanced the ball with nearly 3 seconds left.
Re: Conf Finals Game 1 Cleveland May 21 8PM I concede that they were not in the bonus. But you can't foul Shaq off the ball with < 2 minutes and not give the other team free throws... even if you still have a foul to give. I'm just going to assume they botched the call. However, the 0 free throws for LeBron + the sweep of the Heat + the suspensions of the Suns players is making me reconsider all the conspiracy theory stuff. Maybe they are taking a break from the rigging. It must be exhausting trying to control everything.
Re: Conf Finals Game 1 Cleveland May 21 8PM Like Simmons said last year though (something to the effect of) Commissioner Stern all you had to do was let the Mavs and your nemesis Cuban win the title, nobody will ever accuse you of fixing anything ever again. And his other Gem, "With the 29th pick in the NBA draft the Mavs select Maurice Ager from Michigan State, Stern shakes his hand and notifies Ager he has just been called for a foul on Dwanye Wade."
Re: Conf Finals Game 1 Cleveland May 21 8PM Right, we are getting very little from Webber and Dyss. No reason why Webber can't manuever against the Cavs. I was disappointed in that the Pistons seemed to be unaware of the strengths and weaknesses of the Cavs other than James. You don't let Z go up and under twice. Stay in front. They will post him from time to time. Varejo can't hit a jumper but they will sneek him in for the quick layup, etc. Pavlovik is agressive but stay with him and he will look wild... They stopped our offense last year. We should have been ready for the assault on Billips. We hit some big shots under pressure but the offense was not in sinc at all. Hard to draw conclusions from the game. Both teams had positives. The Cavs controlled the game and we won. We have to come out the next game with wreckless abandon.
Re: Conf Finals Game 1 Cleveland May 21 8PM lapiston, I disagree. We need to come out with a lot of focus and control. The Cavs are going to come out very aggressive and we need to absorb their blows, push back and topple them. Practice this week should focus on the art of taking charges.
Re: Conf Finals Game 1 Cleveland May 21 8PM Maxiell looked like he took that charge on Z nicely. It's not like Z was hanging in the air and Maxiell got to his spot after takeoff.
Re: Conf Finals Game 1 Cleveland May 21 8PM re: cwebb's heart, or lack thereof. i don't know, it's admittedly a very subjective impression. but when i watch him, esp in the low post, i feel like he's working hard and not giving up despite the fact that at least some of his misses in the last few games could easily have been makes. of course, working hard isn't the same as working smart. i'll keep watching him to see. i might have also been influence by sheed's post-game comment on webb as having the heart of a fierce competitor (or something like that).
Re: Conf Finals Game 1 Cleveland May 21 8PM another piece by Kerr on Yahoo sports Giving Cavs their best shot - NBA Experts Blog - NBA - Yahoo! Sports
Re: Conf Finals Game 1 Cleveland May 21 8PM It's not so much the misses and makes as 1. Blocking out 2. Hitting the offensive glass 3. Establishing and not reliquishing position That Sheed comment bothered me (not very much, this defines nitpicking) because I wish Sheed would have mentioned Dyess when they threw him the softie of asking if he wanted to win a ring for Webber. I think Chris has a lot of desire, and 'want to' but he just seems to psyche himself out in the big moments/games. I guess I don't really question his heart it's more his mental toughness and fortitude, what John Thompson used to call 'shrinkage' late in games.
Re: Conf Finals Game 1 Cleveland May 21 8PM Actually, its a rule. If you foul anyone without the ball in the last two minutes, the other team gets a technical free throw and the ball. Billups did not have the ball.
