SeanB

Wow aren't we a sore loser. First you go on and on about the Pistons only winning because the Lakers aren't giving it their all. Face the facts, the Pistons were the better team and now they have the Larry O'Brien trophy to prove so. Figures about you not wanting to listen to people talk about how great the Pistons are. I wonder who your new favorite team will be when these Lakers are dismantled.

I'm getting tired of the Laker Marks coming up with all of these excuses to as why LA is losing this series. The fact of the matter is Detroit is the better basketball team. And no one said Detroit has the better players, but they play TEAM basketball. I'd just like to know how good you think this Lakers team is? And for you to believe they aren't showing up in the NBA Finals is idiotic. Just face it, Detroit is the much better basketball team and after this season the Lakers will be dismantled. I'm willing to bet that out of Shaq, Kobe, GP, Mailman and Phil that Shaq will be the only remaining Laker next season.

Here we go again. The only game the Lakers didn't "show up" in was Game 3. No one wants to admit that Detroit is shutting the Lakers down on a consistent basis. Well what about Game 4? Shaq scores 36 and grabs 20 rebounds, and he probably would have had 50 if his team would have given him the ball more. Like Stephen A. Smith said on ESPN, it was like his teammates didn't want to see him succeed. Shaq shot 16 for 21, and he only touched the ball once in the final 7 minutes? The only point worth noting is Detroit is the much better basketball team. That right there is why LA is losing. It has nothing to do with showing up, and playing with effort. As I've said Game 3 was the only true game that the Lakers didn't bring it all. Every other game including Game 2(except for 5 and half minutes) they were shut-down.

If that isn't one of the single most crappiest excuses I've heard. How can you tell me a team of professionals cannot play with fire at the biggest stage of their profession? If the Lakers can't get motivated to play for the NBA Championship, then they shouldn't even be here. But they are. They've been here before and they know what it takes to win. Although the Pistons win someone always has to say LA didn't bring it all, just face up to it and admit the Pistons are great. Hell I've done it, and I rooted against the Pistons in all of their previous series. It wasn't until after Game 1 that I realized how good a team this was. I guess it will just take a championship for people to realize this team is great.

See you guys are funny. Yes the Pistons are up 3 games to 1, and everyone is convinced that the Pistons are going to wrap this up. Now I'm sort of one of those who believes Detroit could wrap it up, but I still have this strange belief that LA might just be able to steal Game 5. Especially since no home team has ever swept the 3 games in the 2-3-2 format. But then again the Pistons are a team for the ages, and appear to be ready to complete an unprecedented feet. This is good for basketball.

Are you saying that the original bad boys weren't a better defensive team then the Pistons of 2004? If you are I'd find it hard to believe that you have any knowledge of the original Bad Boys, a team that won back to back championships in 89 and 90. A team that went to 3 consecutive NBA Finals from 88-90.

Well if we are supposed to be giving credit where credit is due, then with an emphatic yes you should be giving the Pistons credit. Everytime LA has lost in the playoffs people say it's because they didn't play well. That saying is bullshit when it comes to the NBA Finals. People need to finally begin giving the Detroit Pistons some credit. Everyone expected the Pistons to roll over and die after the so-called "heartbreaking" loss they suffered in Game 2. Instead what do they do? They come out and shut LA down, Rip scores 31, LA only scores 68, and oh yeah Mr. Hero from Game 2 shoots 4-13, and is held to 11 points. LA's high point scorer only had 14, that being Shaq. Hello I think Detroit deserves a hell of a lot more credit then they are recieving.

It surprises me that the person running their mouth the most a couple of days ago is speechless. All that talk about the Pistons being distraught after that tough loss in Game 2. Now the Pistons come out in Game 3 and erases Game 2 out of everyone's mind, and finally begin getting the respect they deserve. I'm tempted to say Pistons in 5 now, but I know LA is not going to lose 3 straight. This series is going back to LA, but I still think Detroit is gonna pick up their first title in 14 years.

Well I'm not a psychic or anything, it's just through closely following the NBA Playoffs and getting to see every Lakers game, this was inevitable. I actually believed it was LA who played bad, but it's time for the world including myself to realize that the Pistons defense is stellar. They disrupted the Lakers and held them to under 70 points. And yes the Lakers are defintely lucky to not be down in this series 3-0.

Let's all take a peek back at a few comments made by a certain select. This one's from me. 72-52 certainly looks like double digit to me. And wow this is what someone by the name of naiwf had to say. It's amazing how people's opinions change in 2 days. Now what's naiwf saying? People are so fickle these days when it comes to sports. I wonder what the rest of the Lakers Diehard have to say.

Come on you really don't expect Detroit to return home sulking? They are hungry and ready to win an NBA Championship. I can't say the same about the Los Angeles Lakers because if that was the case they would be up 2-0 like everyone expected instead of being deadlocked at 1. The Lakers are sometimes a bad example of what competitiors are supposed to be, because they only pick and choose when they want to compete. The Pistons bring it night in and night out. Detroit knows what happened in OT, they stopped being aggressive. They had post Kobe trauma. That won't be the case come Thursday Night. You'll see and I cannot wait to read what you'll have to say then.

Ok now if it would have been Detroit playing at home for Games 1 and 2, and losing Game 2 like they did you could say they got their hearts ripped out. BUT THEY ARE RETURNING HOME WITH A SPLIT! Do you know what that place is going to be like on Thursday? It's going to be the first NBA Finals Game in Detroit in 14 years. The fans are going to be rocking, Detroit is going to be comfortable, who knows how LA is going to perform. It has the perfect making for a Detroit route.

Ok now that we've got all that out of the way... Who wins Game 3? For some reason I'm expecting LA to give one of those lackluster performances we are used to seeing from them and lose in Double Digits. But then I have this feeling LA might actually show some of that effort they have and play well and take Game 3. My final prediction is Detroit over LA in Game 3.

I sort of see all your thoughts and whatnot on the experience factor but I still see that as sort of a mind game type of thing. I can live with Detroit not fouling Shaq, they should have fouled Kobe with under 10 seconds left and just shot free-throws the rest of the way. That's my beef there. And I really don't see how anyone can say the Pistons are done in this series. All the positives are on the Pistons side. They are returning home with more confidence then ever because they've already beaten LA in LA. Without question they will be much more confident playing in their own arena and I expect Rip Hamilton to finally produce the big scoring game everyone knows he is capable of. You should take Magic's Lakers off that list. Magic Johnson won an NBA Championship in his first season. You being a Lakers fan should know that. I for one have to say the Pistons are indeed a great team. I find myself rooting for them like crazy even though I wanted the Bucks, Nets, and Pacers all to eliminate them.

I just don't get it when people begin to talk about experince in any sport. Like the first time a QB gets to the Super Bowl, oh he doesn't have experience. The first time this Pistons team makes it to the Finals, oh they don't have experience. What the hell does experience have to do with anything? Because once you get down to it, nothing has changed and you still are playing basketball right?

Wow now we're making excuses? Did someone forget what they were saying just a couple of days ago? But now when I want to defend the Pistons it's an excuse? You're right Detroit choked. But you're talking like Detroit is down 2-0 now. I keep reading that Detroit looked dead, big Fucking deal! For those of you who might have forgotten, the series is 1-1! DETROIT didn't have to win Game 2. They got the victory they needed and now return back home.

Why ask Larry Brown? He wasn't on the floor at the time and I'm sure he couldn't yell to his team FOUL Shaq. That's something the players just should have known to do in that type of situation. Oh well you live and learn.

Hopefully Detroit will be able to shake this loss off. It's not like they didn't have a chance to win the game. It wasn't like the Fisher thing. Detroit blew it's chances to get a game winning shot and Detroit blew it in Overtime. I'm sure Coach Brown and playing in front of the Motor City Faithful will have them more then ready for Game 3.

That's a very stupid question. Of course the split is worth it because now you get to go home for 3 consecutive games and play a team that you know you can beat.

There is no way in hell that this series should be tied at 1-1. Pistons are up by 3 with 10 seconds to go, Lakers have the ball. No timeouts left. Why in the hell isn't Larry Brown in the huddle telling his team to foul whoever to send em to the line? Especially seeing as Kobe didn't shoot that 3 pointer until about 3 seconds left in the game. With about 4 seconds left Rip could have fouled Kobe, and sent him to the line. No he decides to play it out and boom Kobe hits the 3. GODDAMNIT! On a side note I'm glad that the Pistons aren't my favorite basketball team, because if they were I'd be somewhere crying. Detroit should be up 2-0. But at least they've got the split.

Wow I was stunned watching Game 1. Before I didn't believe that Detroit had a chance in this series, but unless those were the Bizarro Lakers we were watching then the Pistons do have a good shot at winning the championship. Even with Rip not shooting his best the Pistons were still able to pull out a comfortable victory. Larry Brown has went with the best plan of anyone I've seen against the Lakers, which is Kobe and Shaq can get theirs but these other guys won't. Now if they can contain the rest of LA like that for the rest of the series, we could be seeing the title make another apperance in MoTown. Also the Pistons defense has to be applauded for tonight's effort, holding LA to 75 points on their home floor? That has to indicate something.

Well let's examine this shall we. In the first round of the playoffs the Pistons defeated Michael Redd and the Milwaukee Bucks. Is Redd not someone who can hurt you? In the second round of the playoffs the Pistons defeated Richard Jefferson and the New Jersey Nets. Now Jefferson might not be someone who'd hurt you night in and night out, but he damn sure did it to the Pistons. And of course in the Conference Finals, the Pistons defeated Jermaine O'Neal, Ron Artest and the Indiana Pacers. Now both of those guys are legitmate threats to get 20-25 each night. Detroit's Defense is not overrated and that is going to be proven against the Lakers. They won't win the championship, but this is going to be a good 6 game series. That is unless Kobe and Shaq both decide they want to get this over quickly, and LA sweeps Detroit. But from past experience we've witnessed how LA only plays hard on their home floor, and in desperate situations. I expect them to take the first 2 at home, get 1 in the 3 game set at Detroit and then wrap it up in 6 at home. But people are going to realize that Detroit's D is fantastic no matter who they are playing.

Wow I agree 100 percent with that statement. Tim Duncan is a big reason I say the Spurs lost to the Lakers, he didn't dominate any of the games. He just seemed to disappear in the crunch time, and aside from Game 5 he was virtually invisible. He didn nothing. Yet some say he should have won his 3rd consecutive MVP this year. If you ask me, KG should have won the MVP Last Year along with this year's. But anyways back on topic. There are a bunch of guys out there in the sports world I find overrated, but here's just a few. I find Dirk Novitski(sp?), Warren Sapp, and Brian Urlacher to be 3 of the most overrated athletes.