Conference Finals Recap
The Conference Finals saw me go 1-1 to raise my record to a meager 9-5 for the post season. I’m not very happy with that at all. Thinking back to October, one of the hardest calls I made was Miami over Cleveland to represent the East in the NBA Finals. I was oh so close to hitting both teams, but I’m happy enough with one.
I typed before the start of the East Finals that the Cavaliers were the better defensive club, but I never expected them to dominate Detroit’s offense like they did. This makes two straight playoffs where the Pistons offense has bogged down after Game 2 of the second round. I guarantee Rasheed Wallace blames coach Flip Saunders, just as many others in the media will I’m sure, but I think laying all this on Flip is too easy an out for all involved.
Detroit is an aging, unathletic squad with very little depth. I don’t think I’m going out on a limb here by saying that changes *need* to be made to their roster before the start of next season. Pistons President Joe Dumars has some very tough choices to make this summer because it’s hard to justify keeping a core together that already is getting beat regularly.
Joe D’s first order of business is what to do with Chauncey Billups. $10 million a season for four years seems like an awful lot for a guy whose skills seem to be on the decline already. The next thing I would do is look to trade Sheed. He’s reverted to distraction mode, and I don’t really see his relationship with Flip improving. I might even consider including Tayshaun Prince in a blockbuster if I had to. The main reason I say to move Wallace and possibly Prince is because I like Detroit’s young forward tandem of Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson. After a call is made on the coach, Dumars also needs improve his club’s depth.
Even though I was wrong about the Eastern Finals, I feel validated about something I’ve been saying for the last four years. The Pistons were never that good to begin with, even when they won it all in 2003-04. If you remember that post season run, Detroit ended up beating an injury plagued New Jersey, Indiana and Lakers squad in succession. Hey, I understand it’s better to lucky than good sometimes, but the reality is that the Pistons were a slightly above average team that took advantage of a weak Eastern Conference.
I typed before the start of the East Finals that the Cavaliers were the better defensive club, but I never expected them to dominate Detroit’s offense like they did. This makes two straight playoffs where the Pistons offense has bogged down after Game 2 of the second round. I guarantee Rasheed Wallace blames coach Flip Saunders, just as many others in the media will I’m sure, but I think laying all this on Flip is too easy an out for all involved.
Detroit is an aging, unathletic squad with very little depth. I don’t think I’m going out on a limb here by saying that changes *need* to be made to their roster before the start of next season. Pistons President Joe Dumars has some very tough choices to make this summer because it’s hard to justify keeping a core together that already is getting beat regularly.
Joe D’s first order of business is what to do with Chauncey Billups. $10 million a season for four years seems like an awful lot for a guy whose skills seem to be on the decline already. The next thing I would do is look to trade Sheed. He’s reverted to distraction mode, and I don’t really see his relationship with Flip improving. I might even consider including Tayshaun Prince in a blockbuster if I had to. The main reason I say to move Wallace and possibly Prince is because I like Detroit’s young forward tandem of Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson. After a call is made on the coach, Dumars also needs improve his club’s depth.
Even though I was wrong about the Eastern Finals, I feel validated about something I’ve been saying for the last four years. The Pistons were never that good to begin with, even when they won it all in 2003-04. If you remember that post season run, Detroit ended up beating an injury plagued New Jersey, Indiana and Lakers squad in succession. Hey, I understand it’s better to lucky than good sometimes, but the reality is that the Pistons were a slightly above average team that took advantage of a weak Eastern Conference.
posted by D$ at 11:34 AM
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