ECF Game 1 Thread: Pistons vs. Celtics

[leevii]

Joe Johnson>Sheed and Chauncey as a star taking over games

Helped them win 36 games, who can argue with those kind of results. Lets ignore the 6 straight ECFs Pistons have been on, apparently they don't count cause Pistons don't have star power. Who should the Pistons mail their undeserved championship ring to?

[greenbeans]

celtics

[leevii]

celtics

Antoine Walker has shimmied in more big games than KG and Ray have played in (combined). They don't deserve anything yet.

[greenbeans]

i was being sarcastic. and you dont need to tell me about the exploits of Toine. hes still the man in my book, i dont care what hes done when he isnt with the C's. and hell be back here either this offseason or next

[Flash3]

As good a team the Celtics are, I don't see them getting to the Finals, at least not this year.

Before you see success, you have to see failure. All of the past Eastern Conference Champions have failed in some way or the other before they were in the Finals.

Miami, and their game 7 heart break in 05, only to get over that hump the following season.

Cleveland in 06, and then getting there last year.

Boston has yet to see failure...

[celticfan42487]

What are you talking about, we see failure everytime we play on the road in the playoffs!

We just decided to get it all done in one year instead of two. Ainge is a genius.

[Relentless88]

Celtics in 7.
Lakers in 7.

Celtics-Lakers final...I can't wait...

[Vindicater]

Well, I know the pistons have no answer for KG (Sheed has never been good at guarding him)

But the celtics really have no answer for Billups (if hes healthy) and rip.


Its gonna be interesting. I still say Celtics in 6 due to the fact when a big dominates (KG) its more important then the smalls dominating (Billups/Rip)

[Grey]

The Lakers in 2004 were a dysfunctional mess. Shaq and Kobe could barely look at each other and the Glove was checked out and the Mailman was on one leg.

Seriously. Do you think the Pacers would have beaten them?

Celtics are favored in Vegas and ESPN.

You sure about ESPN? It looks to me like 6 out of 10 analysts picked the Pistons.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2 ... ies=detbos

[BDM22]

Well, I know the pistons have no answer for KG (Sheed has never been good at guarding him)

Sheed has historically played KG well when they face each other, so I'm not sure where you get that from. He plays with much more focus against guys like Duncan and KG. It's Pierce that is the Celtics biggest advantage. He has always given Tayshaun fits.

[meatball sub]

Boston has yet to see failure...

Boston has seen failure for the past fifteen years. KG, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen have all failed to reach the NBA Finals in their careers, they're the only All Stars left in the playoffs who haven't won a championship before. I don't think any team has seen even CLOSE to the amount of failure the Celtics have, maybe not this year, but collectively.

[Rasheeed!!!]

The "experts" have picked Detroit 6-4, the ESPN poll says Boston 59% Detroit 41%, and Sportingbet has Boston as favourites.

I can tell ya that the "experts" poll doesn't even come close to their pre-season picks.

[Dtown84]

At this point in the season everyone should know the experts are talking mostly from their ass. Its nice when they pick your team, but it doesn't mean anything.

[zeebneeb]

Joe Johnson>Sheed and Chauncey as a star taking over games

.

[Man_Up]

-= original quote snipped =-



Sheed has historically played KG well when they face each other, so I'm not sure where you get that from. He plays with much more focus against guys like Duncan and KG. It's Pierce that is the Celtics biggest advantage. He has always given Tayshaun fits.

That's what I thought. People seem to have the idea that Prince can shut down Pierce. I don't know where that idea came from, but i think they're giving Pierce to little credit and Prince too much.

I'm not sure if Pierce ever gave Prince fits, but i'm pretty sure Prince never gave Pierce problems. I'm not gonna check, but i'm pretty sure the numbers will support what i'm saying. Back in the day when Pierce used to carry the C's you could expect 26/6/4 when we played the Pistons.

Actually Pierce once called Prince an over-rated defender. I think it was disrespectful, but Pierce said what he said. I believe Pierce can go against Prince, and I'm pretty sure Pierce does as well.

As for the other match-ups.

Rondo vs. Billups. people say Rondo can't defend Billups, but Billups can't defend Rondo either. He's not quick enough to defend Rondo the same way Rondo's not big enough to defend him.

Ray vs. Hamilton. I think Hamilton has the edge even if Ray does wake up, but If Ray does wake up it won't be much of a difference.

Pierce vs. Prince. I don't believe Prince can shutdown Pierce, but i do believe Pierce can shut down Prince. I think Pierce's defense on Prince might be a bigger factor than Prince's defense on Pierce.

Garnett vs. Wallace. Don't know there history, but I'd say it's a wash. (Even though Garnett won in the regular season.)

Perkins vs. McDyss. McDyss wins this one out just because of he can score Perkins can't.

Bench
Celtics are deceptively deep. Only Pruitt, Scalabrine, and Pollard are non-contributors.
Bench

Detroit Deep nothing deceptive about it.

[wigglestrue]

But if the Pistons punish him for being the under-sized hack that he is, the Celtic will struggle. I don't know how many games he always seems to get easy buckets in the paint.

Rondo is an under-sized hack? WTF?

[mr_sunshine]

But if the Pistons punish him for being the under-sized hack that he is, the Celtic will struggle. I don't know how many games he always seems to get easy buckets in the paint.

Rondo is an under-sized hack? WTF?

Maybe it's because Rondo is fast? I dunno. What the hell does height and weight have to do with scoring? And besides that Rondo, Parker, and Paul are all roughly the same height and weight, and Rondo most likely has a bigger wingspan than the other two.

[nightstarstolen]

Rondo is a defensive pg. He will neutralize Billups to 40%.

KG is a shut down defender, DPOY, and will shut down Wallace.

So you have 1 star, in Hamilton that can step up and get things done.



Prince is not a better defender than LEbron, and wont force Pierce to defend him as much either.

Ray may still be innefective.

KG will score 20/10 consistantly..



Rondo will get 10 pts easy on Billups /game





It comes down to the benches. Last time Big BAby took over and dominated the Pistons.....

[Serpo]

Rondo is a defensive pg. He will neutralize Billups to 40%.

KG is a shut down defender, DPOY, and will shut down Wallace.

So you have 1 star, in Hamilton that can step up and get things done.



Prince is not a better defender than LEbron, and wont force Pierce to defend him as much either.

Ray may still be innefective.

KG will score 20/10 consistantly..



Rondo will get 10 pts easy on Billups /game





It comes down to the benches. Last time Big BAby took over and dominated the Pistons.....

Rondo couldn't control Delonte freaking West how in the world will he do that with Billups ?

KG and Sheed should neutralize themselves quite a bit both are great defenders but have both have unblockable turnaround jumpers .

Hamilton will eat Ray Allen when he's playing like that. I mean Wally Sczerbiak defended Ray and he didn't do anything ....

And Prince is a better defender then Lebron thats not even a quetion.
Pierce struggled because he had to guard Lebron in all of the games besides game 7 and if you guard this guy you won't have much energy left for offense.

[Grey]

The "experts" have picked Detroit 6-4, the ESPN poll says Boston 59% Detroit 41%, and Sportingbet has Boston as favourites.

ESPN's poll currently has the Pistons favored 57% to 43%. I think you were looking at the AccuScore box which applies only to Game 1, and isn't a poll.