The difference between Spurs and Pistons 1)Spurs are tougher inside because of Duncan. Z had trouble. We missed Ben and we should have played Sheed at center. 2)Spurs have Parker who can drive 3) Spurs have a playoff coach and an offense. 4)Spurs are better on rotations The game was remarkably similar to the Piston games. Notice Pop begged Le Bron to shoot in the 1st quarter. The Spurs are not much better than the Pistons. That leaves me wondering about our strategy and system.
Parker 16 of the Spurs 44 points in the paint. None of our guards EVER had double digit poits in the paint. In fact Cwebb was probably the only Piston that had double digit points in the paint. Duncan had 12 of his points is the paint too. They had Genobli coming off the bench...we had an off and on Dice....
Dre, The first game really points out what we lacked--a penetrator and a playoff tested coach. What has our management been thinking???? Cleveland actually played fairly well. The Spurs are not much better than us and we should be there playing them. Let's see if Le Bron can get loose in later games as he did with us.
Barb we don't get too many other fans around here so that does make you a valuable member and I hope you post more. Its hard watching this series and not wondering how the Pistons could have played the Cavs differently. I happen to think that the Spurs did not have much on the Pistons and that the Pistons could have beaten the Cavs - if only. But the Cavs won and they are there. In watching game 1 I did find myself gravitation more to the Spurs. That does not mean that the Cavs cannot make a series of this, if they do I only hope its because they deserved it and not because the zebras helped them out. I still can't believe we lost to a guy called Boobie. That cat needs to serously think about squashing that nick.
We'll see how it goes with free throws as well. Cavs only got 15 in the first game. I bet it only grows from here.
It's so obvious which makes it painful to watch. I really feel like with a different (defensive) tougher coach, we're right there w/ the Spurs. We match up much better against them than the Cavs do. It just sucks it turned out like this.
The post-season started out great. If the Pistons had played as well as they did in the Orlando series Clev would have went down in 5 or 6. Pistons used to get better as the rounds went on and now they are getting worse. This has to be something looked at and if they are intent on keeping Flip then Flip has to find a way to figure it out.
I just woke up this morning and read a great piece of news. Game 1 score is San Antonio 85, Cleveland 76. Points Tony Parker, SA 27 Daniel Gibson, CLE 16 Rebounds Tim Duncan, SA 13 LeBron James, CLE 7 Assists Tony Parker, SA 7 Daniel Gibson, CLE 4 I guess Billups was right when he said the Piston is a far superior team than the Cavs. I hope the Piston is playing this tape over and over during the summer to see what they need to do next season. HAHAHAHAHAHAH......Cleveland lost.
I don't like that he said that. Sounds like the Lakers in 04 when they said that they lost, the Pistons didn't win.
Come on, Chauncey is the team leader. What else was everyone expected him to say? He could have said the team sucks or Flip f'ed up in public but he didn't. The Lakers and the Piston are not at all the same. The Lakers was a one man army because of Kobe and the Piston is a unified unit. The Piston must have blamed each other for the lost but they didn't do it in public. The Piston in my book still have class.
Flip's strategy and system is keep shooting the ball, do not worry about the Defense. You hit all your shots, we will win. Just keep shooting.
If you push Gibson's minutes up to Parker's, he comes out with 22 points and 6 assists. Not too shabby for a fourteen year old. Why do I have the feeling Larry Hughes could be on the block sometime soon? I only got to watch the first half last night after spending about six hours trying to get out of Chicago yesterday, but the Cavs were playing pretty well. They took a big Spurs hit and then came back only to see the Spurs go on another run. Still hard to imagine they can win more than one.
Did not watch the game much cuz I got to work (sucks!). However, looking at the boxscores I was wondering this: - Spurs starting backcourt consist of Parker, Finley and Bowen. Other than Parker, both Finley and Bowen is way past 30 years of age. How can they be faster than our CBill, Rip and Prince when CBill is the only guy who just touch 30 years old? If their backcourt can play DEFENSE and stop both James and Boobie, I see no reason why our backcourt can't do that. In addition, only Bowen played 40 minutes. Yet the Spurs were like toying with the Cavs all game and we struggled to hold a 5 point lead. Could go on and on but I'm too frustrated after watching the Spurs beat the Cavs so easily. In summary, I still think our loss in the ECF 80% coaches (FLIP) and 20% players.
On the other hand, there were only 15 PF called against SA... similar to the first game in the ECF and once again, the Cavs scored 76 points. Let's see how SA fares when 35 fouls are called against them.
Is that a prediction or a prophecy? LOL............ Isn't the picture cute? it is on the NBA mainpage I knew there was something about those two. Why can't Rasheed be a little bit sensitive toward Rip? If he did the Piston would have won it all.
I saw at least two instances of Sheed yelling at Rip after misses on the offensive end. In the OT of game 5 when Rip did a couple of fakes at the basket and missed on a short jumper. On the other end after a time out, I reran my DVR and turned up the sound and Sheed yelled at Rip "stop all that fakin and just shoot the damn ball". Needless to say Sheed wanted to win and was upset at his team mates.. Rip just shrugged it off and walked away...yeah we lost ...
Didn't see the full game, Spurs contained LBJ with a great help side defense. Bowen + Duncan/Umberto. Ben would have been exactly what we needed in the Cavs series as he would not allowed LBJ open looks to pass the ball or drive without being fouled.
