Pistons/Bulls: We Officially Have a Series
May 16, 2007
The anxiety and disappointment over another sleepwalking effort by the Pistons had sufficiently subsided enough for me to trudge back to TNT for the Warriors/Jazz nightcap. Just because Detroit cheated its fanbase out of one good basketball game Tuesday night, it didn’t mean that Baron Davis’ Cinderella slipper and Carlos Boozer’s low-post domination couldn’t make up for it in spades.
But as I sat there watching the Jazz will themselves to a series-clinching victory at home, it wasn’t Davis or Boozer or Richardson or Williams that impressed me the most. It was the man with three championship rings, Derek Fisher, who wowed the crowd and TV audience (including myself) with one clutch three-pointer after another. With starter and future All-NBA point guard Deron Williams struggling through his worst performance of the postseason, Fisher stepped up in a big, big way, just like he always seems to do this time of the year. And as much as I was applauding his workmanlike effort (yes, I stood up in my living room, at 1:23am, clapping as loud as I can, saying to no one in particular “You go, Derek, you go.”), I couldn’t help but think back to my bewildered Pistons. I wanted nothing more than to put that game out of my mind, but Fisher brought it all back.
When Chauncey Billups took a seat on the bench after being tagged with his fourth personal foul midway through the third quarter, the Pistons were on the precipice of another comeback. The Bulls were just killing it on offense, yet Detroit had hung around long enough to keep it within 8 points. Then, just like that, Chicago goes on an impressive 20-5 run, and that’s it. The turkey was cooked and the Bulls were ripping it apart bone by bone. This core group of Pistons have lost postseason games at home before, but not like this. Not without *ever* holding a lead during any point of the 48-minute contest. Not looking like a bunch of nervous playoff newbies unwilling to step up to the challenge. Not like a team who still doesn’t respect their opponent.
What does this all have to do with Derek Fisher though? The Pistons really, really could have used a Derek Fisher last night. When Billups goes out, there’s no one there to step up and keep the game running smoothly. The Detroit offense stutters, skips, and pulls over on the side of the road. Lindsey Hunter seems like a very likeable guy, but right now he’s not very likeable as a backup PG. Neither is Flip Murray, who’s not a true PG anyway. And that’s what haunted the Pistons last night, and will haunt them again if Billups continues to get in foul trouble.
It was evident that something wasn’t quite right as soon as the ball was thrown up to start the game. The Pistons looked flat, flat, flat, and the Bulls played like they did against Miami. They played reckless, they played loose, and they were nailing every single shot they threw towards the hoop. C’mon, shooting 70% as a team for the first half? Incredible. I have some thoughts about the flopping Heinrich relies on so much, but ya know what? Forget it. That’s a minor footnote to Game 5 of this increasingly intriguing series, and it had nothing to do with the final result. The Bulls came out and put forth the kind of effort professional teams should when their season is on the line. Are they hungrier than the Pistons? No, not at all. Believe me, this Pistons squad wants a return to the NBA Finals very badly, and they want to hoist that trophy again even worse. The question is whether or not they’re ready to work for it.
So now we go back to Chicago tomorrow night for what’s sure to be wall-to-wall madness at the United Center. If the Bulls start to feel a little proud of themselves for what they’ve accomplished the past two games, they’ll be in for a big surprise. This veteran Pistons team can and has won big playoff games on the road before, and they can (and probably should) do it again tomorrow. On the flipside, if the Pistons walk into that arena in denial of getting their asses handed to them on a big, red platter for the better part of the last three games, we might see another blowout, an up-in-the-air Game 7 in Detroit on Monday, and another chance for Nocioni to fulfill his prophecy (never mind that he’s contributed little to his team so far).
Memo to the Pistons: I’d like to enjoy my weekend to the fullest, thank you very much. Take care of business tomorrow night and get this over with.
We had the Pistons winning this series in six, and I’m not about to stray from that prediction… yet. That said, yes, I am a little worried at this point. Since the playoff began, we’ve heard this Detroit team beat the “we learned our lesson last year” drum, insisting that we would not see a repeat of last year’s conference semi-finals when they let the Cavaliers creep back into the series and nearly win the damn thing. We’ve heard Chauncey Billups say that his team is “locked in” and focused on the task at hand. Well, they’ve been anything but locked in since the two series-opening blowouts in their favor, and their body language last night, to me, looked a lot like it did against Cleveland last year.
It’s not time to panic though. No championship team waltzes through the playoffs without facing and ultimately overcoming some adversity. Look at the Spurs and Suns: think they feel bad for the Pistons right now? I’d rather see the Pistons be confronted here, now, with a significant test of will than in the NBA Finals. If Detroit had swept the Bulls, then cleanly bludgeoned their Conference Finals opponent, they’d be at a distinct disadvantage against the Spurs, Suns, or even Jazz because those teams have all had plenty to deal with and overcome already during this postseason.
What do the Pistons need to do to get back on track? Stay out of foul trouble. Stop the high pick-and-roll that’s leaving either the guards (Heinrich and Gordon) or the big man (P.J. Brown) with wide open–and I mean wide open–jump shots. Move the ball around the perimeter and cut down on the one-on-one isolations. Get Chris Webber more involved in the offense, early. Don’t settle for jump shots. Don’t use the zone as much (it’s just not working, Flip). Give Jason Maxiell more minutes than he’s getting. Most of all–just play up to your full potential. It’s really as simple as that.
What They’re Saying:
Then again, making adjustments — whether they’re drastic or small — never has been Flip Saunders’ forte. I’ve never been one to lay too much blame on a coach simply because I honestly don’t feel qualified to determine which mistakes are the result of poor execution and which mistakes are the fault of a bad scheme … but when a team is hitting open jumpers all night long with the nearest defender three steps away? It makes me wonder if the players are really being put in the best position to succeed.
On the way to the Eastern Conference finals for the fifth straight season, the Pistons forgot they actually had to win in order to get there. This, indeed, was supposed to be the end. Everybody and their uncle had to believe they would put the Bulls away finally and get ready for the next round.
No matter how easy it looks, you still have to earn your way there. Your opponent isn’t going to just give it to you. You have to take it. The Pistons didn’t do that and didn’t force the action as they did in the first two games.
The Bulls, left for dog food a few days ago, were not going to go away quietly. In fact, they made big-time noise with their hot shooting. The Pistons had no answer defensively, giving open and easy looks all night.
This was impressive. At the very least it will leave Detroit (and their fans) a little more nervous than they thought they’d be last week, and when down 3-0 that’s more than you usually can ask for.
A. Sherrod Blakely, Pistons Insider:
Forget about getting a few days off before the next series. The Pistons won’t make it to the next round if they don’t solve Chicago’s pick-and-roll offense. The problem Detroit has is its best perimeter defender against the pick-and-roll is Lindsey Hunter. But playing him means keeping at least one of their top scorers, Chauncey Billups or Richard Hamilton, on the bench. The Pistons better figure something out, and soon. Otherwise, a postseason that began with such promise will be remembered as the greatest collapse in NBA playoff history.
Mitch Albom, Detroit Free Press:
This is the NBA. You can’t come out and expect a crown to be put on your head. The Pistons made shots Tuesday night, but not as many as Chicago. They moved the ball, but not as well as Chicago. They were hungry, but not as hungry as Chicago. They were done with Chicago, but Chicago wasn’t done with them.
The Bulls, resurrected, flat-out embarrassed Detroit in its home gym. They could have pulled the Pistons’ pants down and not hurt their pride as much. They shot the lights out, then they shot the sockets and the wiring and the fuse box, too. After three quarters, they were still shooting close to 70%.
Maybe expectations should change. No team has ever come back from a 3-0 NBA deficit. The Pistons know it. And they better forget it. They’ve already twice been on the wrong side of the scoreboard. They don’t want to be on the wrong side of history.
The Pistons actually made a young boy cry last night. There was a boy about 6 years old sitting in front of me who was at his first Pistons game. He was so distraught by the Pistons loss that he went into a full blown hysterical crying breakdown.
What has happened in the past two games is that the Bulls have settled down, stopped turning the ball over and made the numerous open shots that are available against Detroit. Any time the Bulls make two passes—or a Bulls player takes two dribbles in an isolation situation—they can get an open jump shot or a clear path through the lane straight to the hoop.
The Pistons will surely come out with a focused and determined effort on Thursday but the question is whether they can deal with the Bulls if the Bulls remain calm and poised and continue to run their offense efficiently. This Bulls team is very well built to deal with the Pistons.
Posted by Brian Spencer on May. 16, 2007 at 12:08 pm in NBA, ETB Articles
