Sometimes We Fall...
BOOM! THWAP! SMACK! KERPLUNK! CRUNCH! BANG! THUD!
That's right, that is the sound of yours truly falling OFF the bandwagon of the Detroit Pistons.
Last nights loss to the Spurs showed me several things that have forced me to change my original prediction of Pistons in 7. What are these things?
1. A championship team, when their foot is placed squarely on the throat of an opponent, crushes them, asphyxiates them and breaks their neck. They show no mercy and they execute, execute, execute. A non-championship team, when their foot is placed squarely on the throat of an opponent, takes their foot off, demonstrates some sort of mercy and allows their opponent to take that glorious gulp of air. This breath gives them the new life to get off their backs, rise up, and fight back and ultimately, terminate/eliminate you (your choice of word). *****A: THIS RULE APPLIES ESPECIALLY ON YOUR OWN HOME COURT/HOME ICE/HOME FIELD. *****B: ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU'VE DOMINATED AND DEMORALIZED YOUR OPPONENT IN THE PREVIOUS TWO GAMES AND HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PROLONG THEIR FUNK. This is what seperates the Detroit Pistons of this year, from the Detroit Pistons of last year. In this overtime, there were, at a minimum, half-a-dozen OPPORTUNITIES for the Pistons to plant their foot down hard on the throats of the Spurs. Instead, despite all of the best efforts of the Spurs to keep the Pistons alive (overtime turnovers, the missed free-throws, the implosion of Tim Duncan under pressure), the Pistons couldn't get a shot to fall, couldn't execute, couldn't squash 'em and in the end, it boils down to MISSED opportunities. In my opinion, Detroit needed to win ALL THREE of their home games to have a CHANCE at beating the Spurs. They have not won in SA in 10 games! They are 0-2 thus far in the finals. This game was their chance to put their foot down, and the Pistons, despite being a team from Detroit, showed mercy. And that, my friends, will be their downfall.
2. Post-game interviews showed the Pistons to be in total shock of this loss and to be, in my opinion, severly affected by the loss. Even Larry Brown said he "has to get over this one first" before trying to figure out where to begin for the next two games.
3. How sad is it that I PREDICTED THE FINISH OF THIS GAME! That's right, move over Miss Cleo, there's a new freak in town. I predicted that Ginobli would get the ball, draw the coverage and dish it off to a perimeter shooter (Horry) for the easy three. Sure enough, with 9 seconds left, I finally wished I was wrong about something. Just kidding! :-)
4. THEE mental mistake. Oh yes, the mental mistakes. The game should have been won late in the overtime, with the Pistons leading 95-93. Instead, a mental mistake happened. One. Uno. Ein. That's all it takes and you lose. Rasheed Wallace made a mental error and missed his assignment of covering Horry at the perimeter. This one error got the ball rolling, and is part of what I was talking about under point #1. A championship team, on their home court, must make their own breaks and put their foot down. Remember, this isn't a case where the Spurs were so dominating in overtime that the Pistons were just plain outmatched. No, this was a case were the Spurs had more mental breakdowns in overtime than Detroit, but Detroit couldn't capitalize on them, whereas all it took was San Antonio to capitalize on ONE of Detroit's mental error. The Spurs GAVE THE PISTONS THE GAME, wrapped up nicely in a bow, and Detroit couldn't figure out how to untie the bow.
Here's the simple truth: The Pistons don't look like the Pistons of last year. Bottom line. I didn't see what I wanted to see. I didn't see the Pistons take advantage of a team the've just demoralized and dominated; I didn't see them have that killer instinct WHEN IT COUNTED at the end; I didn't see them sieze their opportunities to increase their chances of winning it all; I didn't see a team bring their very best game, as if it were the very last game, even though they KNEW without doubt that their opponent would. The Champion Pistons made their breaks, made their shots and got them to drop. The Chump Pistons made ONE too many mistakes and will go down for the count for good because of their loss in Game 5. That's right. I believe this game, Game 5, is the turning point in the series, and big Mo is swingin' in the direction of the Spurs. I honestly believed, after watching the first two games in SA, that if Detroit could win their three, they could still win in 7 (I picked SA to win game 6 and Detroit to win 7). Now, with this ONE loss, I officially chance my prediction to San Antonio in 7.
I will still root for my boys (the Detroit Department of Defense), but it's only a matter of time before San Antonio takes those shiny Championship belts and hoists them abover THEIR heads.
Harsh? Sure. But whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when they come for you...Bad Boys! Maybe that's who we need out there for games 6 and 7! Rodman, Lambeer, Thomas, Dumars, Vinny J!
That's right, that is the sound of yours truly falling OFF the bandwagon of the Detroit Pistons.
Last nights loss to the Spurs showed me several things that have forced me to change my original prediction of Pistons in 7. What are these things?
1. A championship team, when their foot is placed squarely on the throat of an opponent, crushes them, asphyxiates them and breaks their neck. They show no mercy and they execute, execute, execute. A non-championship team, when their foot is placed squarely on the throat of an opponent, takes their foot off, demonstrates some sort of mercy and allows their opponent to take that glorious gulp of air. This breath gives them the new life to get off their backs, rise up, and fight back and ultimately, terminate/eliminate you (your choice of word). *****A: THIS RULE APPLIES ESPECIALLY ON YOUR OWN HOME COURT/HOME ICE/HOME FIELD. *****B: ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU'VE DOMINATED AND DEMORALIZED YOUR OPPONENT IN THE PREVIOUS TWO GAMES AND HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PROLONG THEIR FUNK. This is what seperates the Detroit Pistons of this year, from the Detroit Pistons of last year. In this overtime, there were, at a minimum, half-a-dozen OPPORTUNITIES for the Pistons to plant their foot down hard on the throats of the Spurs. Instead, despite all of the best efforts of the Spurs to keep the Pistons alive (overtime turnovers, the missed free-throws, the implosion of Tim Duncan under pressure), the Pistons couldn't get a shot to fall, couldn't execute, couldn't squash 'em and in the end, it boils down to MISSED opportunities. In my opinion, Detroit needed to win ALL THREE of their home games to have a CHANCE at beating the Spurs. They have not won in SA in 10 games! They are 0-2 thus far in the finals. This game was their chance to put their foot down, and the Pistons, despite being a team from Detroit, showed mercy. And that, my friends, will be their downfall.
2. Post-game interviews showed the Pistons to be in total shock of this loss and to be, in my opinion, severly affected by the loss. Even Larry Brown said he "has to get over this one first" before trying to figure out where to begin for the next two games.
3. How sad is it that I PREDICTED THE FINISH OF THIS GAME! That's right, move over Miss Cleo, there's a new freak in town. I predicted that Ginobli would get the ball, draw the coverage and dish it off to a perimeter shooter (Horry) for the easy three. Sure enough, with 9 seconds left, I finally wished I was wrong about something. Just kidding! :-)
4. THEE mental mistake. Oh yes, the mental mistakes. The game should have been won late in the overtime, with the Pistons leading 95-93. Instead, a mental mistake happened. One. Uno. Ein. That's all it takes and you lose. Rasheed Wallace made a mental error and missed his assignment of covering Horry at the perimeter. This one error got the ball rolling, and is part of what I was talking about under point #1. A championship team, on their home court, must make their own breaks and put their foot down. Remember, this isn't a case where the Spurs were so dominating in overtime that the Pistons were just plain outmatched. No, this was a case were the Spurs had more mental breakdowns in overtime than Detroit, but Detroit couldn't capitalize on them, whereas all it took was San Antonio to capitalize on ONE of Detroit's mental error. The Spurs GAVE THE PISTONS THE GAME, wrapped up nicely in a bow, and Detroit couldn't figure out how to untie the bow.
Here's the simple truth: The Pistons don't look like the Pistons of last year. Bottom line. I didn't see what I wanted to see. I didn't see the Pistons take advantage of a team the've just demoralized and dominated; I didn't see them have that killer instinct WHEN IT COUNTED at the end; I didn't see them sieze their opportunities to increase their chances of winning it all; I didn't see a team bring their very best game, as if it were the very last game, even though they KNEW without doubt that their opponent would. The Champion Pistons made their breaks, made their shots and got them to drop. The Chump Pistons made ONE too many mistakes and will go down for the count for good because of their loss in Game 5. That's right. I believe this game, Game 5, is the turning point in the series, and big Mo is swingin' in the direction of the Spurs. I honestly believed, after watching the first two games in SA, that if Detroit could win their three, they could still win in 7 (I picked SA to win game 6 and Detroit to win 7). Now, with this ONE loss, I officially chance my prediction to San Antonio in 7.
I will still root for my boys (the Detroit Department of Defense), but it's only a matter of time before San Antonio takes those shiny Championship belts and hoists them abover THEIR heads.
Harsh? Sure. But whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when they come for you...Bad Boys! Maybe that's who we need out there for games 6 and 7! Rodman, Lambeer, Thomas, Dumars, Vinny J!