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Finals Matchup: San Antonio Vs. Detroit
- Thread starter calyxman
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I wanted to see Miami vs. my Spurs. I agree that this will be an awesomely boring series. Final scores in the 60s and 70s. Luckily the Spurs play defense just as well but are better scorers.
So, I think they'll win in the opposite fashion they did against the Suns. They'll play the Pistons game but score a few more points to win. Instead of playing the Suns game for 42 minutes, scoring a ton of points, and then defense the final 6 minutes to close out, and win, the game.
GO SPURS GO!
So, I think they'll win in the opposite fashion they did against the Suns. They'll play the Pistons game but score a few more points to win. Instead of playing the Suns game for 42 minutes, scoring a ton of points, and then defense the final 6 minutes to close out, and win, the game.
GO SPURS GO!
woohoo my two least favorite teams in the playoffs made it to the finals. I am a huge NBA fan. I have only missed about 3 playoff games this year, but I will probably skip a few of these finals games. That being said, I hate San Antonio more than I hate Detroit. Gregg Popovich is psychotic. None of the players on that team are heroic. At least 'sheed and billups are cool, even though rip hamilton is the most one dimensional and boring player in the NBA.
The suns would have won it all if not for injuries. the heat woulda beaten detroit in 6 withouth injuries.
Go Knicks!
The suns would have won it all if not for injuries. the heat woulda beaten detroit in 6 withouth injuries.
Go Knicks!
i don't get it. in football, people love to see how the patriots play like a team, and triumph over superstars. but with detroit (and now the spurs), all everyone says is the series is boring.
it doesn't make sense.
that said, i'm from the detroit area and pistons mania is gripping everyone. can't wait until this series gets underway. go pistons!
it doesn't make sense.
that said, i'm from the detroit area and pistons mania is gripping everyone. can't wait until this series gets underway. go pistons!
I don't think we will ever see two high scoring teams in a finals matchup. Everyone knows, defense wins championships. The suns and heat learned this. The colts have learned this the last couple of years in the playoffs in the nfl. The chiefs usually have one of the highest scoring offenses as well, and they can't even make it into the playoffs. 
What people like is to see the hard-working team go against the high-flying team. So SA - Miami would have been fine, or maybe even Phoenix -- Detroit.
Though interestingly, SA has a higher scoring average than Miami, so maybe they're only perceived as a workhorse team....
Though interestingly, SA has a higher scoring average than Miami, so maybe they're only perceived as a workhorse team....
Either way, there is really no doubt that the two best teams in the NBA ended up in the Finals, whether or not their playing styles are preferred by some fans or not. Having said that, I think it'll be a very competitive and tight series, with the Spurs taking it in 7 games.
Lancetx said:
Thank you for that response! I'm sick of people saying that the Spurs are boring and all that nonsense. I know people wanted Nash and the Suns, but they barely got one game in the West Finals, and the Spurs just ran with it, so they definitly deserve to be in the finals. I know the Spurs aren't about trash talking and cocky attitudes that people are now associating with great teams in the NBA, but they are focused on playing good basketball that in turn to some seems boring. Overall its about about winning the best of in every round of the playoffs and the Spurs and Pistons were the only 2 to do it, and definitly deserve to be there.
iPegboy said:
While I think your point is exaggurated, part of the difference is that basketball is far more superstar/personality-driven than football. There are a number of reasons:
fewer players 5/13 vrs 11/45? (that's a bit off, but you know what I mean)
helmets -- you can't see football players' faces and expressions as well.
longer careers -- only the lucky survive more than a few years in football outside of the 'skill' positions.
all players play both ways in basketball
level to which a single player can dominate. Football is far more of a team sport than basketball. Stars matter less. Take a decent running back and put him in a great system, he'll do fine.
And other more intangible marketing and culture decisions.
calyxman said:Who ever said anything about football?
my thoughts exactly
There's no question they deserve to be there. I'm just sad that my teams didn't make it.
I'd have to say that San Antonio has the upper hand, although if they put either of the Wallace's on Duncan, that may force the perimeter players to step up. Rip Hamilton is most certainly going to get coverage from Bruce Bowen, so they're going to going to have to rely on Prince or Billups. Ben and Rasheed don't put up much on the scoreboard; they are important when it comes to rebounds.
Pistons can also play defense, no doubt.
I'd have to say that San Antonio has the upper hand, although if they put either of the Wallace's on Duncan, that may force the perimeter players to step up. Rip Hamilton is most certainly going to get coverage from Bruce Bowen, so they're going to going to have to rely on Prince or Billups. Ben and Rasheed don't put up much on the scoreboard; they are important when it comes to rebounds.
Pistons can also play defense, no doubt.
maxterpiece said:
If you are talking about the Spurs, I think Duncan is about as heroic as one can get. 8 straight 1st Team All-NBA selections, a couple of rings, just gets the job done.
I agree about the style of play being sluggish and difficult to watch/stomach. I like Nash and I like Wade but this is a team game. Look at Iverson in Philly, he's wallowing there.
This series should be tight, at least 6 or 7 games, with the hardware staying in Motown...
I agree with 6 or 7 games, but the hardware will be coming right back to satown. The two teams are equal in D, the Spurs are better offensively and the benches are equal. Slight advantage Spurs. Will be boring a boring, but good, series.
iPegboy said:
Football is more of a team sport. I agree that for a basketball team to be successful there has to be a team first mentality among all of the players and a strong sense of what kind of players your teammates are and how your team fits together as a whole.
That being said, basketball provides a much larger opportunity for individual creativity and heroics in certain situations. Michael Jordan understood when to be heroic and when to be team. The heroic feats he performed and the leadership he provided were what made him the biggest sports icon of our time (and Nike).
As far as detroit and san antonio - the only really creative player on either team is Manu Ginobili. The only player who seems to consistently show up in the clutch is Chauncey Billups. And as far as leadership? It doesn't really even come from the floor - it comes more from the bench in these two teams' coaches. Larry Brown is a great coach and I think his positive "play the game the right way" attitude is the attitude all coaches should have. That being said, I'd just rather see the leader of a team playing in a game (IE steve nash, shaq/wade) than sitting on the bench.
Gregg Popovich on the other hand is a psycho. He turns all his players into tools and forces them into certain grooves. Without an every-nighter like Duncan on his team, the players would all rebel against him because he doesn't let anyone breath or grow. He doesn't let a player even take a tiny step outside of the category that he has put them in. In interviews with Manu you see that it took popovich a full year to realize that #1 manu's real value was in his floor intelligence and creativity and #2 the spurs were to predictable and he needed someone who could "flip the script" on a defense.
The NBA and David Stern know that the Piston/Spurs defense DEFENSE DEFENSE style of play has been the dominant paradigm for creating a dominant team and they know with no superstars on these new teams that the game is really boring. Defense is essential to basketball, but so is penetration, running the floor, etc. That is why the NBA instituted rule changes about contact on the perimeter and the "no charge zone" - they wanted to open up the game so that there were alternatives to the slow drudgery of spurs/pistons basketball.
The Suns and Sonics are two examples of teams who succesfully brought back a style of basketball that had been dead for more than a decade and I think without injuries the suns would have beaten the spurs.
Inspector Lee said:
yeah and he still hasn't even figured out how to smile on the court.
AI has no help... webber is a chronically injured, defensively hampered, average jumpshooter and good passer. Iguodala is good, but too young and not consistent enough. Philly has proven that AI can be built around (they wento the finals), I think AI just needs a few more tools around him.
maxterpiece said:
He has smiled twice. In '99 when they won the title and '03 when they did it again.
maxterpiece said:
I'm not a Pop lover. In fact, I still think he did Bob Hill wrong by firing him the year Robinson missed the entire season and the Spurs won the lottery. But, he's a psycho that forces players into certain grooves? Get real. Manu was in his 1st and 2nd season and hadn't proved himself. I don't know of a coach that's not going to try to control a 1st or 2nd year player. Manu turned the ball over often with his creativity in the first 2 years too. I think Pop wanted him to learn to take care of the ball better, not force him into a groove.
maxterpiece said:
The Suns injuries? You mean Joe Johnson missing games 1 & 2? The Spurs scored 110+ points on several occasions. The Suns scored well over 105+ several times without Joe Johnson too. I think the series wouldv'e gone 6, or even 7, but I don't think the Suns would have won. Collectively the Suns are more talented, even without Joe Johnson, than the Spurs are. Still the only play one side of the ball even with JJ.
calyxman said:ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..............
wake me when the series is over.
The two teams I wanted to see in the finals got eliminated in the conference finals.
I agree...though I have to give both teams credit for making it to the finals. And eventhough I really...do not like the way the Piston plays (ZZzzz...), I have aplaud them for making to the finals again. Guess you don't need $$ or exciting player(s) to get to the finals like the good old days (LA and Boston).
Calyxman, wake me up, too when it's over.
calyxman said:
Actually, the rule applies to offensive players without the ball too. There's also a defensive three-second rule that has slightly different parameters (technical foul instead of just loss of possession), but the spirit of the rule is the same: you basically can't camp out in the free-throw lane without actively guarding someone or participating in a scoring play in some way. The basic goal is to prevent big guys from standing next to the basket to make easy layups and block shots.
And no, it hasn't been done away with, but it is very inconsistently enforced. I figure that it technically happens -- unnoticed by referees -- at least four times in a game for every time it's called. As a lifelong Laker fan, I've seen quite a few of Shaq's games. He violates it all the time, but is only called once or twice a game. This makes me think that the refs intentionally call it only often enough to keep the players semi-honest, kind of like how they call traveling for a player shuffling his feet 20 feet from the basket, but not when he's stepping to the hoop.
I just get the feeling that if you don't already like one of these two teams, you aren't going to care about these finals. You might say "that's always how it is," but I don't think so. The Suns and Heat are exciting to watch even if you don't follow or like them, but with these two... who cares?