[NBA] Season 2006-2007 - The Playoffs Deel II !

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Op dinsdag 8 mei 2007 08:48 schreef Colplay het volgende:
Utah wint zonder Fisher van GSW.

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Beat the Bulls? For Pistons, no problem
Charley Rosen / Special to FOXSports.com

Detroit's 108-87 obliterating of the Bulls on Monday was easy. Almost as easy as its runaway win in Game1.

If anything, the Pistons' latest triumph might have been too easy.

How'd they do it? By not doing what Chicago expected them to do.

For example, in Game 1 the Pistons ran several clear-outs that allowed Chauncey Billups to score at will over the under-sized Ben Gordon. The home team's surprise opening gambit in Game 2, however, was to post Rasheed Wallace against P. J. Brown. The result was a pair of easy layups sandwiched around a block by Ben Wallace.

The Pistons also ran more curls off weak-side screens. All of them designed to exploit Luol Deng's inability to recognize what was happening, and his resulting failure to step out and show.

Early on, the Pistons also posted Chris Webber against Big Ben. With Wallace playing on his tippy-toes and aching to block C-Webb's shot, Webber simply took his time until he could let loose a jump-hook. COUNT IT! PLUS ONE!

The second time this tactic was attempted, however, Wallace stymied Webber and forced a turnover. Still, with Big Ben on the bench, Webber once again ventured into the low post — this time against the beefy Michael Sweetney. Webber's fadeaway jump hook tangled the net.

When was the last time Webber assumed a low-post position three times in the same half? Not since his glory days at Michigan.

Easy.

The Pistons waited until the second quarter to go at Gordon. That's when Tayshaun Prince posted BG for a baby hook. But when Billups went one-on-one against Gordon, he misfired on two mid-range jumpers.

The third time Billups attacked Gordon was a charm: A baseline dribble that drew the attention of Ben Wallace, then a pass out to a wide-open Webber, who sank a 15-footer.

A cinch.

Okay, so Scott Skiles then sent his high-flying rookie, Tyrus Thomas, into the fray. On the very first sequence, Thomas gave Rasheed too much room and watched a 3-ball split the net. Thomas then missed a 17-footer; was tooted for a moving screen; hesitated before shooting a 5-footer, and had it tipped.

A snap.

Andres Nocioni was even worse. A fumbled pass, a pair of traveling violations, a turned head that allowed Prince a dunk, a late rotation that allowed Prince to bury still another triple. The charge that Nocioni drew on Rasheed, and the block he created on Webber did little to mitigate his early difficulties.

A walk in the park.

Rip Hamilton had his way with whoever was trying to guard him. Prince shot the lights out. Webber made 10 of 11 shots. Billups moved the ball and shot only when he had to. Even Rasheed had his chops up.

Child's play.

On defense, the Pistons played lots of zone, and thereby succeeded in keeping the Bulls' guards out of the middle. Their zones were so focused on Deng and Gordon that they totally ignored Big Ben. It was the weak-side wing's responsibility to rotate to B. Wallace, but this was a stretch. As a result, Wallace wound up with several (meaningless) dunks and layups that added up to 13 points.

Gordon was thoroughly flummoxed by the attention (3-7 from the field), while Deng was also negated (4-12). With the focus on Gordon and Deng, Hinrich had several open shots, but was 0-7. That's 7-26 from the Bulls' top scorers.

Duck soup!

Clearly, the Pistons have superior talent, better execution on both offense and defense, a higher collective basketball IQ, and are more resourceful. Another surprise, though, was that Detroit also brought more energy to the game than did the Bulls.

This was supposed to be Chicago's biggest advantage.

Gravy!

Did the Bulls do anything right?

Absolutely.

Midway through the third quarter they unleashed a 1-2-2 trapping zone that temporarily set the Pistons back on their heels. For several possessions, Detroit was content to merely pass the ball around the perimeter and try to locate open looks. Only occasionally did someone try to drive the ball into the paint, but there was no cohesion in their attack.

Against the zone, the Pistons were 6-17 with four turnovers — and the Bulls managed to reduce their deficit to a dozen points. But Skiles went with the zone too long without changing up. Eventually the Pistons got comfortable and started finding open spaces in the middle of the foul line and also in the pivot. Once the Pistons made their adjustments, they were 3-3.

The Bulls also tried some backcourt traps designed to at least make Detroit eat up some shot clock. This strategy, though, was totally fruitless.

Even so, look for the Bulls to spring several varieties of traps and zones when they return home. Anything to momentarily confuse the Pistons. As long as they vary their approaches, the Bulls might indeed induce some hesitations in Detroit's precision offense.

Maybe.

Late in the game, when the Pistons just about had the game in the bag, young Thomas put on a show. Dunking, running, leaping and demonstrating his extraordinary athleticism. However, when Rasheed returned to action (he had been down with foul trouble), Thomas was immediately victimized by a post-up dunk, and then proceeded to fire up an air-ball.

Still, the experience has to be beneficial for the young man.

Because the Pistons commanded the boards, the Bulls couldn't get their fast break rolling. They did, though, find some open looks in their early offense.

For a while, the Bulls had some success playing small-ball. Thomas, Deng, Gordon, Chris Duhon and Thabo Sefolosha all combined to occasionally out-quick Detroit's zone defense. But then the Pistons followed suit — with Webber, Carlos Delfino, Prince, Billups and Hamilton — and Chicago's modest surge was history.

All in all, there was precious little for the Bulls to build on. Every tweak was eventually answered by a punch. Every streak cut short by a reactive flurry of big shots.

With the game safely in hand, the Pistons lost their concentration every so often. Making careless passes. Arriving late on defensive rotations. But these lapses only seemed to be functions of their basic disrespect for their opponents.

Easy as pie.

For the Bulls to steal a game, they'll need more frequent and more extended lapses by the Pistons. But anything short of collective amnesia will only provide brief respites for the hard-pressed Bulls.

Chicago's only real hope is that the Pistons will come to believe that closing out the series will also be too easy.

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Op dinsdag 8 mei 2007 13:38 schreef popolon het volgende:
Het is een leuk stukje maar het doet lijken dat 't iets te makkelijk ging, de Pistons gingen natuurlijk als een gek van start en hebben die overwinning te danken voor een groot deel aan Q1.

Ik vond ze af en toe toch weer slordig. De Pistons lijken een wedstrijd maar niet te willen beslissen in een vroege fase.

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With the game safely in hand, the Pistons lost their concentration every so often. Making careless passes. Arriving late on defensive rotations. But these lapses only seemed to be functions of their basic disrespect for their opponents.

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Op dinsdag 8 mei 2007 21:41 schreef popolon het volgende:
Tja ik zou het geen 'disrespect' willen noemen. Zeker niet.

Meer gewoon concentratieverlies en misschien hier en daar wat gemakzuchtigheid. Da's toch net iets anders.

Ik zag ze dat trouwens vorig seizoen veel meer doen, dat onverschillige, de focus lijkt nu beter. Kijken hoe ver ze kunnen komen. Als de Pistons kampioen worden drink ik m'n zwembad leeg.

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Op dinsdag 8 mei 2007 21:41 schreef popolon het volgende:
Tja ik zou het geen 'disrespect' willen noemen. Zeker niet.

Meer gewoon concentratieverlies en misschien hier en daar wat gemakzuchtigheid. Da's toch net iets anders.

Ik zag ze dat trouwens vorig seizoen veel meer doen, dat onverschillige, de focus lijkt nu beter. Kijken hoe ver ze kunnen komen. Als de Pistons kampioen worden drink ik m'n zwembad leeg.

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Op dinsdag 8 mei 2007 21:51 schreef Zwansen het volgende:

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Verkapte kijk mij ownen omdat ik een zwembad heb post...

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Op dinsdag 8 mei 2007 21:48 schreef ScienceFriction het volgende:

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Ik zie de Pistons anders een erg goede kans hebben... Hoeveel liter gaat er in je zwembad?

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Op dinsdag 8 mei 2007 22:07 schreef popolon het volgende:

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_{iets meer dan 60.000 liter water}

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Op dinsdag 8 mei 2007 21:41 schreef popolon het volgende:
Tja ik zou het geen 'disrespect' willen noemen. Zeker niet.

Meer gewoon concentratieverlies en misschien hier en daar wat gemakzuchtigheid. Da's toch net iets anders.

Ik zag ze dat trouwens vorig seizoen veel meer doen, dat onverschillige, de focus lijkt nu beter. Kijken hoe ver ze kunnen komen. Als de Pistons kampioen worden drink ik m'n zwembad leeg.