So Shaq implied Wallace the Ben wasn't a good defender...

[banjosareunderrated]

and Ben knocked him on his ass at the end. I'm sure Miami fans thought he'd be ok at the line.

:rofl:

[okieinpain]

1. so I gather you're a detroit fan. well you better enjoy it while you

can.

[banjosareunderrated]

2. well, it's been almost a year now...

and, yeah, it's been fun. :evilgrin:

[okieinpain]

5. I do like detroit, but I'm thinking the spurs are on a roll. I pick them

in 5.

[banjosareunderrated]

6. yeah, i agree but I think the stones will get 2 games..

the Spurs would've won the whole thing last year too imho, but it is what is, it was what it was, and, this year, it will be what it will be.

Sorry, I've been hearing those phrases way too much on sports talk radio lately. And what the hell is with every broadcaster calling NBA playoff games "wars of attrition"? Holy cow, that's getting old and misused.

[nolabels]

3. Looked good to me

Maybe Ben can find Duncan sportin some of those glass ankles too :evilgrin:

[banjosareunderrated]

4. Duncan doesn't talk like Shaq does

but i like the way you think. :headbang:

[nolabels]

10. I am so glad that big idiot was traded away

That missed free throw he had near the end knocked about half air out of that last minute push. That was so vintage Shaq

Bye bye Shaq, some won't miss ya :hi:

Detroit seems to have a little edge on the Spurs for one fact they have that kind of gritty edge that carried through Miami. They just wear people down in the end. Looking for a nice long series :-)

[Awsi Dooger]

7. I must have missed something

The Pistons didn't win the series by defensing Shaq. He wasn't close to 100% but got position on them all series long. What was it tonight, 27 points? In a game with 170 total points scored. High scorer in the game. And we've got a thread highlighting defense on Shaq?

The Heat are still too new to this level to understand the benefits of feeding Shaq repeatedly in the 4th quarter. Too many quick pull up jumpers.

As a Heat fan this was the team I feared all year long. I didn't think Miami could win 4 games from Detroit. Frankly, we came much closer than I projected. But I knew we needed a 6 or 8 point cushion down the stretch tonight to hold off Detroit. The Pistons have multiple guys who make clutch plays on both ends when the game is in the balance. I expect them to beat San Antonio.

[banjosareunderrated]

8. yeah, but it doesn't matter how many he got through the game

it's what he got at the end---a face full of floor. That's what Shaq doesn't seem to realize when he talks about Kobe costing them the series last year and why it was so foolish of him to say anything about Ben this series. Shaq could've gotten 60, but if he didn't make his free throws at the end of a close game, they'd still lose. Ben cannot guard Shaq 1 on 1, no one can. That's not basketball though. Is it a coincidence that Ben let Shaq get his points all game, without 1 foul through 45 minutes, just to lure him into a comfort zone at the end and put him on his ass? To put it another way, if Shaq gets 100 and the Pistons get 101, who played better D? It's not the points O'Neal gets, it's arranging the pieces through the game and attacking when the time is right. .02

on edit, that's a big homer two cents. I'm not objective. O8)

[Awsi Dooger]

14. I was probably not 100% objective myself

I had a future ticket on the Heat winning the title at 12/1, purchased on the day they traded for Shaq. The sportsbooks were asleep that day and were in big jeopardy if the Heat took the championship. I hedged (wagered the other way) on game 7 and guaranteed a decent profit, but it would have been much better financially for me if the Heat had won.

[lazarus]

9. Pistons don't have a prayer

they're about to run into a team with a better defense and a smokin' offense.

Tayshaun Prince? Meet Manu Ginobili. :D

[H2O Man]

12. They beat them

by isolating Shaq. He wasn't able to bring his supporting cast into the game. Though he scored "big" in game seven, he missed a heck of a lot. Now Shaq can focus on bad-mouthing Wallace, while Ben concentrates on the championship series.

[LisaM]

11. Good, underestimate the Pistons

we have you right where we want you!

GO PISTONS!

[drdtroit]

13. Yep, Piston's love playing as the under-dogs.

It's going to be a great series and it's going 7!

[erpowers]

15. The Real Issue

The real issue which will be debated for years is that it seems that Shaq was not that important to the team. It seems that it was Wade that was more important to the team. The team was able to win without Shaq and when he was hurt or not at 100%. However, when Wade missed a game they lost and when Wade was not at 100% they lost.

[banjosareunderrated]

16. imho, Wade is the 2nd coming, but

the media never talked about how Rip was less than 100% and Ben was less than 100% for this E.C. finals. Rip's calf was literally ankle-to-knee black and blue at the beginning of the series and Detroit won 2 of the first 4. Two of Ben's very close friends died at the beginning of the series as well and Detroit won 2 of the first 4. I'm not saying that if Wade and Shaq were 100% the series would've ended the same way because no one knows what would've happened. However, not one national medium reported on the setbacks the Pistons had to deal with, only Miami's. Obviously, Detroit has a different dynamic than Miami in that you cannot pick out one player that would doom them should he go down, but without Richard Hamilton, the Pistons are 1/2 the team they are with him. And that 1/2 a team tied the series going into game 5.

Again, I don't discount the fact that a Wade-less Miami isn't the team that won 59 games this year, but the fact that Rip was @ 50% at the beginning doesn't seem to count for much to NBA fans and sportswriters either. For Miami fans that feel like they were slighted because of injuries to their players shows to go ya how new they are to playoff basketball. Guys get hurt. Superstars get hurt. Teams survive.

[erpowers]

17. Neither

I am neither a Pistons or Heat fan, however; I am more to your side on this issue. My post was not meant to be pro-Heat. It was meant to point out that all the Shaq hype was a bit much. The point that I was trying to make was that with all this talk about how great Shaq was and how he turned around this team he was not really all that important to the team. So many people made out like without Shaq this team was nothing. It seemed to me that the team was able to go on and win without Shaq.

I did not know about the problems of the Pistons. You are right on the issue of the media not pointing out the problems of the Pistons. I never heard anyone saying anything about the problems of the Pistons except for when Larry Brown missed a game due to sickness. It is sad that the media made a big deal about the injuries of the Heat, but never mentioned the injuries of the Pistons. In your opinion this more of the pro-Shaq hype? Do you think that the media purposely failed to mention the injuries of the Pistons so that if the Heat lost the media could say "well, if Shaq had been 100%"? That way few people would respond "yea, but the Pistons were hurt also".

[banjosareunderrated]

18. I think it is a lot easier to sell jerseys when a team has 1 or 2 stars

rather than 5 role players as starters. It's also easier for reporters to fall in love with storylines---Shaq's revenge, Wade's coronation. Detroit got their share of gushing last year so I don't begrudge any media outlet for hyping the Heat. I'd do the same thing considering their turnaround.

[1gobluedem]

19. Yes, but...

The gushing came after the Pistons won the championship. Every media outlet in the country (except here in Michigan) was laughing at how the Lakers would make toast of the Pistons and bemoaning the fact that the series would go by so quickly; implying a Lakers sweep. They considered the first game a fluke when the Pistons won, grew complacent after the second and were left scrambling when the Pistons started to dominate.

Personally, I'm sick of superstars. Give me a good team effort anytime.

So...will all the celebrities (except Kid Rock and Jeff Daniels) come out for the Spurs now because of Tim Duncan?

[banjosareunderrated]

20. yep, you're right...except even the 1130 wdfn guys picked LA

it seems only us true believers game them a chance. Not to mention, our starting 5 would be stars on crappy teams. Could you imagine Rip in Golden State or Ben Wallace in Atlanta? I'd bet they'd get better press.