SeanB

MJ never ever faced a defensive system as good as this, either, give Kobe a break.

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.

Should I say that Detroit played great?

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.

I just want to let everyone know that its not like I went into hiding.

Lakers played like shit, Pistons played great. I got no answers.

I'll be back later.

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.

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.

72-52 certainly looks like double digit to me. And wow this is what someone by the name of naiwf had to say.

LA just ripped the heart out of the Pistons and can bury them mentally in game 3, and you think they'll lose by double digits? There's no arguing logic with you then.

It's amazing how people's opinions change in 2 days. Now what's naiwf saying?

Looks more and more like the Eastern Conference will win its first title since Jordan left in '98.

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.

LA just ripped the heart out of the Pistons and can bury them mentally in game 3, and you think they'll lose by double digits? There's no arguing logic with you 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.

Numerous basketball players will tell you they needed to experience a demoralizing series loss to come back in the future and win the title, see Magic's Lakers, The Bad Boys, Jordan's Bulls, Shaq, etc.

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?

Stop making excuses. Detroit choked and then rolled over.

Wow now we're making excuses? Did someone forget what they were saying just a couple of days ago?

I expected this, I'm not going to run away from it.

Detroit played a nearly perfect game.

Los Angeles, save Shaq, took horrible shots, and they weren't forced by Detroit.

Los Angeles got caught sleeping on Detroit.

Phil Jackson DID NOT get outcoached.

Kobe, even with 25 points, played pretty shitty. Of course, he D'ed up the 'Most Conditioned, Best Jump Shooting Player in the Game Today' pretty fucking well.

Detroit played a great game against an average game by Los Angeles. They caught LA sleeping.

They'll get run out of Staples Center Game 2. By 15 or more.

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.

Ask the better coach, Larry Brown.

I feel like a whore in this thread.

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.

Is a split worth getting your heart ripped out like they did tonight?

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.

Detroit's defense is good, but overrated due to playing mostly bad Eastern Conference teams. Every team in the West has some who can hurt you, even the Clippers with Brand. The same can't be said about the East.

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.

Man I know this had potiental to be a hit, damn that's just too bad it had to end like this.

I was a big fan of this when GYS was first writing it and I'm glad to see that it has returned.

Hewey just so you know this is SlimSoc from the other boards, I just caught up with this diary and I'm liking what I'm seeing. I was surprised to see The Outsiders/Steiner Bros match and Guerrero/Syxx match get such high match ratings.

Oh yeah I'm a Luger mark so you know what to do...

I'm interested already and I must say that the Southwest and Midwest regions really intrigue me.

I'd go so far as to say if you swapped him and KG, Garnett would have the same number of titles and MVP's and Duncan would not have made the playoffs all those years KG was bounced in round one. He's a great regular season player, but he's got no heart when everything's on the line.

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.