Official TDMMC Heat vs. Pistons Thread

[gocowboys31]

Detroit Baskettttttttttttttttttball in 6 baby.


Once again a relatively easy series over the soft ass NETS, have lured heat fans into a false sense of security versus the pistons.


The heat will have the two best players on the court in SHAQ and Wade, but the pistons have the better overall team. I see no one on the heat being able to contain Chauncey billups. He should be able to get by his man at will, and if they decide to give him space he can kill miami with his shooting.

Rasheed Wallace at 6'11 should also be able to dominate haslem. Whether it's posting up or taking him beyond the arc haslem is in for a long series.

Tayshaun Prince was the most consistent player in the series versus the cavs, and no one on the heat can guard him.

Those uncontested 3-pt shots miami recieved in the prior series will be a thing of the past. Everything in this series will be contested. As long as the pistons stick to their formula, which is to man- up on SHAQ, and cut off the role players, the pistons will be fine.


Let's see if Antoine walker will be able to create off the bounce. I see walker having a huge problem finishing around the basket due to the pistons great length. Lindsey Hunter should be  key in applying full- court pressure, and making the heat waste time off the shot clock.


And i also expect the pistons to go deeper into their bench with the likes of dale davis, and kelvin cato. If nothing more, to foul SHAQ, and give Ben Wallace a breather.

The heat isnt near the defensive team the pistons are. These games will be grinders, nothing easy. The pistons have proven to many times no matter what the situation, no matter how much adversity, they can overcome. Dont fool yourselves, the pistons didnt take the cavaliers seriously, that wont be the case with miami. The pistons will be motivated, and for the opponent that means trouble.

See ya Miami Cheat!!!!!!!!

[Fau Teixeira]

Heat have a better bench, heat have better coaching .. and cleveland solved the pistons defensive issues .. the formula is out there on how to stop the pistons .. switch on every screen to deny the outside shot and funnel all drives to the middle .. the pistons can't take anyone off the dribble and have to repeatedly rely on a prince post up .. which he can't manage over walker ..  detroit pistons .. dead man walking.

[jtex316]

Until Flip Saunders actually DOES something in the NBA playoffs...the advantage goes to the opposite team.

Call me when a Flip Saunders' coached team actually plays consistenly well in the playoffs and almost doesn't have his team lose to the 1-man band of the Cleveland Cavs.

[jtex316]

And no, if the Pistons lose, you are NOT allowed to jump to the Mavs' bandwagon, Mr. Dallas Cowboys fan. 

[Cdogg]

Antoine Walker will be that third guy we need to step up as he has throughout the playoffs.  Miami has showed us a completely different side of themselves at all angles in these playoffs.  The deciding factor will be our perimeter defense, the pistons are deadly from 3-point range.  But, their tired, sore and.....just need a good ass kickin'.  Sweet Revenge!!  Miami in 6.

[Thundergod]

This heat/nets series is going 7 5 games. I have to give the slight enormous edge to miami because of the homecourt advantage. Trust me heat fans arent overlooking should overlook new jersey, they don't pose numerous macthup problems for the heat. This one is going all 7 5 rounds. Heat in 7 5 though.

Once again a relatively easy series over the soft ass NETS...

I fixed your prediction to match your current statement. 

[gocowboys31]

Until Flip Saunders actually DOES something in the NBA playoffs...the advantage goes to the opposite team.

Call me when a Flip Saunders' coached team actually plays consistenly well in the playoffs and almost doesn't have his team lose to the 1-man band of the Cleveland Cavs.

Until the defending eastern conference champs are dethroned they are the FAVORITES.


What has pat riley accomplished since Magic, Kareem, and Worthy RETIRED? Nothing that's what.

Coaching in the NBA is over-rated. A coach can make a subtle adjustment here& there, but it wont be anything significant to determine the outcome of the series.

If coaching was so important, then why did phil jackson blow a 3-1 lead against the suns? Did jackson suddenly forget how to coach, or did the better team win?

Greg Popovich's 3 championship rings really helped him out last night over Avery johnson. When was the last time a coach scored a basket or stopped someone. It comes down to personnel and macthups. That's what i love about a 7 game series, the better teams usually comes out victorious.


Funny how you blast flip saunders, just 3 weeks ago when the heat were deadlocked at 2-2 with the bulls everyone wanted pat riley fired. Now 2 weeks later he's a genius.

Players win in the NBA, not coaches, ask the NEW YORK KNICKS. 11 milion dollars buys you 23 wins.

[jtex316]

This Just in:

Heat win game 1, rip the home court advantage away from the sluggish-looking Pistons.

The Heat looked fresh, energetic, and ready to take game 1.  And they did.  Pat Riley implements his "Hack a Ben" strategy, and it works flawlessly to close out the game.

[Dave Gray]

I hate Tayshaun Prince.  Every fould that's called he holds his hands out like he's totally shocked.

[Thundergod]

Refs tried to give the game to Detroit.  Someone lost out on a big chunk of change last night,  mob ain't too happy about that.  I feel sorry for the schmuck getting off'ed today.   

[gocowboys31]

We'll i have to hand it to the cheat. They blitzed the pistons from the jump. The pistons missed a golden opportunity to steal this game with Shaq & WADE in foul trouble. Payton's contributions were crucial in this victory.

Billups & hamilton were atrocious last night, and rasheed wallace might as well have stayed home last night. I'm not buying the fatigue factor. They were leading 60-55 with momentum.

The pistons loved to live dangerously, i expect a more energetic, desperate piston team come thursday night. We will be 1-1 going back to the Triple A.

[JVides]

We will be 1-1 going back to the Triple A.

I'm not sure about that, Cowpoke.  Detroit's only getting 1 day of rest between games all series long.  Miami's fresh, its two stars barely played last night and the Heat still won.  The Pistons seem to have dead legs, as evidenced by 37 year old Gary Payton taking Chauncey Billups off the dribble.

I predicted game 1 to the Heat and game 2 to the Pistons; now, I'm not so sure.  Overall, though, Heat in 6 is still my prediction.

[Fau Teixeira]

i watched the post game with riley and when he was asked about the "hack a ben" he said  (i'm paraphrasing) that he's been in that building enough to know the piston's M.O.  .. they like to come out of that time out down single digits and hit a 3 to get the crowd going and cut the lead .. so pat riley took that option out and went for the intentional foul on ben (i suck at free throws more than shaq) wallace .. and in a dumb move, flip saunders called for a foul on shaq in response .. except... OOPS .. the pisons weren't over the limit .. haha ! .. Riley baited them into fouling shaq .. putting themselves over the limit and giving riley an opportunity to sub shaq out and go with 80+ % free throw shooting udonis haslem in his place

flip .. welcome to the big leagues

[TEKGOD]

The role players came up huge in game 1. Heat wins even with their best player Wade sitting out 27 mins. Imagine what it would have been like had he not been in foul trouble. Same for Shaq. He was actually quiet this game - Zo actually had more intensity coming off the bench. I expect the Pistons to bouce back strong in game 2. The Heat need to learn from the Cavs mistakes & not let up. The Pistons are cockroaches, big, smelly, & ugly you stomp on it but it still manages to crawl away I hope they are not willing to settle for the split in game 2 - go for the throat - push them to the limit - the Heat's bench is better, make it count come substitution time.

[TEKGOD]

Coaching in the NBA is over-rated. A coach can make a subtle adjustment here& there, but it wont be anything significant to determine the outcome of the series.

If coaching was so important, then why did phil jackson blow a 3-1 lead against the suns? Did jackson suddenly forget how to coach, or did the better team win?

Greg Popovich's 3 championship rings really helped him out last night over Avery johnson. When was the last time a coach scored a basket or stopped someone. It comes down to personnel and macthups. That's what i love about a 7 game series, the better teams usually comes out victorious.


Funny how you blast flip saunders, just 3 weeks ago when the heat were deadlocked at 2-2 with the bulls everyone wanted pat riley fired. Now 2 weeks later he's a genius.

Players win in the NBA, not coaches, ask the NEW YORK KNICKS. 11 milion dollars buys you 23 wins.

I disagree. If coaching is overrated how do you explain the little general avery johnsons turnaround in Dallas? 3 years ago they were cream puffs led by Don Nelson who put up nice numbers but couldn't play defense if they handcuffed you. In comes Avery Johnson - result: strongest playoff push in franchise history with a defensive philosophy. You bring up Popovich. The Spurs were destined for a let down this year - the injuries to Duncan, a surging Mavs team, the pressure of a repeat, they've won 3 recent titles with a paltry team salary compared to the bigger markets - nets, knicks, etc. Even when they're not winning all the bling they are always in the hunt, never out of contention say what you want but this isnt the 90's bulls or 80's lakers where all a coach had to do was sit back and watch they have consitency & that is not something players do on their own. Where you do have some kind of a point is with Riley. I am a Heat fan but even I admit he is more of a GM/motivational speaker than an X's & O's coach. He has proven success at putting the right pieces in place in NY & now Miami.