atlfan25
06-13-2005, 04:40 AM
http://www.freep.com/sports/pistons/rosey13e_20050613.htm
From the Detroit Free Press
June 13, 2005
BY MICHAEL ROSENBERG
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
SAN ANTONIO -- No, that wasn't a replay. It was a whole new game, complete with different turnovers, a fresh batch of missed free throws and exciting new looks of frustration.
The San Antonio Spurs chased the Pistons out of Texas, and the way this is going, Detroit might not go back.
The Spurs beat the Pistons, 97-76, in Game 2 of the NBA Finals ... wait, did we say "beat?" No. Not strong enough. The Spurs didn't just beat the Pistons for the second straight game.
They deleted them.
Are these the defending NBA champions? Or a computer file?
The Pistons we knew played such lock-down, pain-inducing defense, their opponents often used the entire shot clock without getting a shot. But in Sunday night's Game 2, the Spurs swung the ball all over the court like the Harlem Globetrotters. The Spurs were playing two games at once: Game 2 against the Pistons and "Who Wants to Score?"
The Pistons we knew, at their finest, were a model of offensive efficiency, no matter what their critics said. But by the time they got rolling in Game 2, the Spurs were already on the team plane.
The Pistons we knew had a favorite muscle: their brain. But before Game 2, these guys apparently checked out of more than just their hotel. They fouled the Spurs on easy lay-ups. They tried lay-ups when dunks were possible -- and missed.
There was no record of the old Pistons at the SBC Center. File Not Found. And now Detroit must start all over, making up all the work in a very short period of time, and we all know how much fun that is.
The Pistons have been down before, but never this far down, and never to a team as talented, versatile and experienced as these Spurs.
"We have to take it one quarter at a time," Chauncey Billups said. "We can't take it one game at a time. We have to play quarters now. If we can do that, we can get this series to wing back in our direction. If we can't, we're gonna be in trouble."
The Pistons must win four of five. They must do it after looking like a traveling show called The L.A. Clippers Experience. And they must win at least once in San Antonio, where they have not won since Joe Dumars was in the starting lineup. That's 10 in a row, for those scoring at home (which would be nice, since nobody from Detroit is scoring on the road).
Yes, we know: the Pistons like having their backs against the wall. But how do they like being locked in a trunk and thrown to the bottom of a river?
There's no stopping Manu
For two days after Game 1, we wondered whether the Pistons' big guys would show up in Game 2. Well, they did. Rasheed Wallace fired up eight shots in the first half, just as the Pistons wanted. Antonio McDyess scored 12 points in the first half, an extremely welcome development, because the Pistons basically played Game 1 sans Antonio.
And that made as much difference as Darko Milicic's postgame shower.
The Pistons we knew always responded to a loss by saying, "it's about what we do, not what they do." But that is now in serious doubt.
It is also, quite clearly, about what San Antonio does. It is about Tim Duncan's unselfish brilliance, and Tony Parker's slippery quickness, and Manu Ginobili's ... um ... Ginoblesse. (Hey, the way this guy is playing -- he scored 27 Sunday -- the Spurs should all chip in and buy him his own adjective.)
The Spurs play defense as well as the Pistons do ... uh, did. And Sunday night, they made shot after shot, a change from Game 1, and a nice treat for people who believed that basketball should include actual baskets.
When Bruce Bowen hit a three-pointer midway through the third quarter, the Spurs had a 23-point lead. Bowen is basically a defensive specialist. If he depended solely on his offensive skills for a career, he would be a backup forward in the Siberian League.
But Bowen finished with 15 points, as many as any Piston.
Then there was the time Ginobili faked one way, then cut back toward the net and scored flamboyantly, like an Argentinean soccer star. I expected him to rip off his jersey and slide down the court in celebration -- and he might as well have, because by the time he got up and put his jersey back on, the Pistons still wouldn't have gotten a shot off.
Technically speaking ...
To be fair, the Pistons made what Rasheed Wallace called "a little comeback."
"We cut it to eight before the B.S. started," he said, and that's true, but there are many definitions of "B.S."
Rasheed was talking about the officiating. The Pistons do that a lot these days. At one point Sunday, Rip Hamilton made a lay-up (finally!), then snapped at a referee, who whistled him for a technical foul, which naturally earned Rip a hug from Rasheed.
Later, Larry Brown and Chauncey Billups joined the fun by picking up technicals of their own. The Pistons must be nearing a playoff record for technicals. Surely they have already set a playoff record for near-technicals -- complaints to a ref, hands thrown up in disgust or some other indication that the world has wronged the mighty champions.
This is an amusing quirk when they are beating Philadelphia and Indiana and Miami. But when they have just scored to cut San Antonio's lead to 14, it's a momentum-killer, and there is no excuse for it.
Will the Pistons we knew make a comeback? Probably, in a sense. The series now shifts to the Palace. The Pistons are desperate and the Spurs might relax, at least for a game.
But can the Pistons come all the way back and swipe the series? The Pistons need at least four starters to play well to beat the Spurs in any game. And even that might not be enough.
You know, the old Pistons also had a slogan: Goin' to Work. It's late in your shift, fellas. Now would be a good time to start.
Contact MICHAEL ROSENBERG at 313-222-6052 or [email protected].
From the Detroit Free Press
June 13, 2005
BY MICHAEL ROSENBERG
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
SAN ANTONIO -- No, that wasn't a replay. It was a whole new game, complete with different turnovers, a fresh batch of missed free throws and exciting new looks of frustration.
The San Antonio Spurs chased the Pistons out of Texas, and the way this is going, Detroit might not go back.
The Spurs beat the Pistons, 97-76, in Game 2 of the NBA Finals ... wait, did we say "beat?" No. Not strong enough. The Spurs didn't just beat the Pistons for the second straight game.
They deleted them.
Are these the defending NBA champions? Or a computer file?
The Pistons we knew played such lock-down, pain-inducing defense, their opponents often used the entire shot clock without getting a shot. But in Sunday night's Game 2, the Spurs swung the ball all over the court like the Harlem Globetrotters. The Spurs were playing two games at once: Game 2 against the Pistons and "Who Wants to Score?"
The Pistons we knew, at their finest, were a model of offensive efficiency, no matter what their critics said. But by the time they got rolling in Game 2, the Spurs were already on the team plane.
The Pistons we knew had a favorite muscle: their brain. But before Game 2, these guys apparently checked out of more than just their hotel. They fouled the Spurs on easy lay-ups. They tried lay-ups when dunks were possible -- and missed.
There was no record of the old Pistons at the SBC Center. File Not Found. And now Detroit must start all over, making up all the work in a very short period of time, and we all know how much fun that is.
The Pistons have been down before, but never this far down, and never to a team as talented, versatile and experienced as these Spurs.
"We have to take it one quarter at a time," Chauncey Billups said. "We can't take it one game at a time. We have to play quarters now. If we can do that, we can get this series to wing back in our direction. If we can't, we're gonna be in trouble."
The Pistons must win four of five. They must do it after looking like a traveling show called The L.A. Clippers Experience. And they must win at least once in San Antonio, where they have not won since Joe Dumars was in the starting lineup. That's 10 in a row, for those scoring at home (which would be nice, since nobody from Detroit is scoring on the road).
Yes, we know: the Pistons like having their backs against the wall. But how do they like being locked in a trunk and thrown to the bottom of a river?
There's no stopping Manu
For two days after Game 1, we wondered whether the Pistons' big guys would show up in Game 2. Well, they did. Rasheed Wallace fired up eight shots in the first half, just as the Pistons wanted. Antonio McDyess scored 12 points in the first half, an extremely welcome development, because the Pistons basically played Game 1 sans Antonio.
And that made as much difference as Darko Milicic's postgame shower.
The Pistons we knew always responded to a loss by saying, "it's about what we do, not what they do." But that is now in serious doubt.
It is also, quite clearly, about what San Antonio does. It is about Tim Duncan's unselfish brilliance, and Tony Parker's slippery quickness, and Manu Ginobili's ... um ... Ginoblesse. (Hey, the way this guy is playing -- he scored 27 Sunday -- the Spurs should all chip in and buy him his own adjective.)
The Spurs play defense as well as the Pistons do ... uh, did. And Sunday night, they made shot after shot, a change from Game 1, and a nice treat for people who believed that basketball should include actual baskets.
When Bruce Bowen hit a three-pointer midway through the third quarter, the Spurs had a 23-point lead. Bowen is basically a defensive specialist. If he depended solely on his offensive skills for a career, he would be a backup forward in the Siberian League.
But Bowen finished with 15 points, as many as any Piston.
Then there was the time Ginobili faked one way, then cut back toward the net and scored flamboyantly, like an Argentinean soccer star. I expected him to rip off his jersey and slide down the court in celebration -- and he might as well have, because by the time he got up and put his jersey back on, the Pistons still wouldn't have gotten a shot off.
Technically speaking ...
To be fair, the Pistons made what Rasheed Wallace called "a little comeback."
"We cut it to eight before the B.S. started," he said, and that's true, but there are many definitions of "B.S."
Rasheed was talking about the officiating. The Pistons do that a lot these days. At one point Sunday, Rip Hamilton made a lay-up (finally!), then snapped at a referee, who whistled him for a technical foul, which naturally earned Rip a hug from Rasheed.
Later, Larry Brown and Chauncey Billups joined the fun by picking up technicals of their own. The Pistons must be nearing a playoff record for technicals. Surely they have already set a playoff record for near-technicals -- complaints to a ref, hands thrown up in disgust or some other indication that the world has wronged the mighty champions.
This is an amusing quirk when they are beating Philadelphia and Indiana and Miami. But when they have just scored to cut San Antonio's lead to 14, it's a momentum-killer, and there is no excuse for it.
Will the Pistons we knew make a comeback? Probably, in a sense. The series now shifts to the Palace. The Pistons are desperate and the Spurs might relax, at least for a game.
But can the Pistons come all the way back and swipe the series? The Pistons need at least four starters to play well to beat the Spurs in any game. And even that might not be enough.
You know, the old Pistons also had a slogan: Goin' to Work. It's late in your shift, fellas. Now would be a good time to start.
Contact MICHAEL ROSENBERG at 313-222-6052 or [email protected].