NBA Finals Game 4

[kyro]

Someone please bump this when the finals are over. I'm serious.

The Spurs are the better team. They are just toying with the Pistons, and will win the NBA Finals. Thank you.

[Toro]

[ QUOTE ]
yeah, I am a huge NBA fan, but I am having a hard time convincing myself to watch these games. Very boring series, but thats the NBA for you. I would rather watch regular season baseball over this.

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I'll give you an incentive to watch and actually root for a team. Eva Longoria of Desparate Housewives fame is a huge Spurs fan and has bet John Sally that if the Spurs lose she will appear on "The Best Damn Sports Show" in a bikini. GO PISTONS!

[AngryCola]

I have no idea what either of you are talking about.

I'll give you the fact that the games haven't been very close thus far, but a 2-2 series is as close as it gets. I forget the last time it was 2-2 in the Finals, but it's been at least a few years. Right?

[AngryCola]

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They are just toying with the Pistons

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I hate to post in this thread again, but that's the silliest thing I've read today. I hope you were kidding.

I don't know which team is better, but I do know which team is more lame and boring. They play in San Antonio a lot.

P.S. Whoever moved this thread just killed my participation in 2+2 entierely. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Dead]

Pistons fans need to stop dreaming. Spurs will win in 7.

[AngryCola]

[ QUOTE ]
Pistons fans need to stop dreaming. Spurs will win in 7.

[/ QUOTE ]

And people who have no idea what they are talking about need to stop making baseless predictions. I won't even go into your horrible record for basketball predictions.
But it is BAD.

It all comes down to game five.
If the Pistons win that game, they easily win in six.
If the Spurs can somehow find a way to stop this momentum in game five, they will win at home in game six.

(Bold prediction in bold)
This series will not be going seven games.

Also, I remind people that I picked the Spurs in this series.
That was no fun to do, as I am fan of the Pistons.
But if I had to make my pick now, it would be Detroit.
It's not even close.

[Phoenix1010]

Very glad this post has been dug back up.

First off, Detroit played incredibly well. Any time you force that many turnovers, and commit so few yourself (4! Against the Spurs defense!), you're putting yourself in position to win the game. Add that to the offensive rebounding, and solid overall interior defense, and you have a blowout.

That said, I think there is some cause for concern from Detroit's point of view. A few of the major factors that contributed to Detroit's win are simply things that they cannot depend on for the rest of the series, especially since San Antonio has homecourt advantage.

1. They got one of the most incredible fluke performances of all time out of Lindsey Hunter, and it was a big reason for their win. The man hit big shot after big shot, and he's the worst playoff shooter of all time. Chalk it up to the home crowd support. They can hope that his strong play carries over to the rest of the series, but you simply cannot count on him to have another performance like this, especially when the series goes back to SA. This applies to a lesser extent to Antonio McDeyss, who shot horribly in San Antonio, and who carried the offense with Hunter for some stretches in game 4. It's great when you get big performances from your bench, but these guys are not reliable.

2. Big shots in general. They just seemed to make everything when it counted in this game, and it came from a lot of unlikely sources. I'll go out on a limb and say that you shouldn't be counting on Ben Wallace and Lindsey Hunter to hit backbreaking jump shots with the shot clock winding down.

3. They got numerous no calls from the officials when they were slapping at the ball on defense, and this led to an increased number of forced turnovers and fast break points, another big reason for the win. They played great D, forced a lot of turnovers, but they were reaching and slapping throughout the game, especially on the interior, and the refs ate their whistles for a large part of the game. Again, chalk it up to home team advantage, but you can't expect to constantly flail your arms about and not get whistled when the series moves back to San Antonio. Also, expect some adjustments from the Spurs as far as protecting the ball.

4. San Antonio's perimeter shooters were having a brick party . They got plenty of open shots during the course of the game, they just folded under the pressure. They collectively choked, plain and simple. They are better shooters than 5-15 from 3 point range, and you can't expect them to miss forever (and lets not forget that Ginobli and Parker were still getting some points off of penetration, despite improved interior defense from the Pistons). Again, chalk it up to home court advantage.

5. Tim Duncan. He's frustrated by the defense (and no calls), and he's not playing well and those two factors are feeding each other. He will get more aggressive, he will get it going, and he will have an impact on this series.

Rip Hamilton had an absolutely dreadful game (again), and Chauncey didn't shoot much better. Rasheed didn't exert himself down low, and Tayshaun still hasn't found his shot. Big Ben had another great game, but who knows if he's going to stay this way, or revert back to the sissy of the first two games. Those are the guys they should be relying on, and those guys, with the exception of Billups and Ben in the last two games, have been completely unreliable throughout the series. Honestly, I think this is one of the most interesting NBA finals' in quite a while. Game 4 was great to watch.

[holeplug]

[ QUOTE ]
It all comes down to game five.
If the Pistons win that game, they easily win in six.
If the Spurs can somehow find a way to stop this momentum in game five, they will win at home in game six.

(Bold prediction in bold)
This series will not be going seven games.


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I disagree with this. Until I see otherwise, the officials won't allow the road team to win a game in this series.

[teamdonkey]

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4. San Antonio's perimeter shooters were having a brick party . They got plenty of open shots during the course of the game, they just folded under the pressure. They collectively choked, plain and simple. They are better shooters than 5-15 from 3 point range, and you can't expect them to miss forever (and lets not forget that Ginobli and Parker were still getting some points off of penetration, despite improved interior defense from the Pistons). Again, chalk it up to home court advantage.

[/ QUOTE ]

San Antonio was 323/881 (36.7%) on 3s in the regular season, and 69/230 (30.0%) in the post season. They aren't better shooters than the 5/15 they had in game 4... it's what they've been shooting all year.

Larry Brown >> Gregg Popovich, and that will be difference in the series. Pistons in 7.