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PISTONS LEAD / 1-0
-- Thursday May 24th, 2007
-- The Palace at Auburn Hills [Auburn Hills,Michigan]
-- 8:00 PM / ET
-- TNT - FSN Ohio/NBA TV
-- Cavs Alternate Uniforms
-- Pistons Home Uniforms
Mike Brown / Flip Saunders
Starting Lineups & Bench
Starting Backcourt
Larry Hughes / Chauncey Billups
Analysis: So far in the playoffs Billups has been the glue for the Pistons, holding them together and getting them to where they are now while Hughes has been the complete opposite for the Cavs.
Billups is in his regular playoff form; shooting at a high percentage at the free-throw line, 3PT line and from the field. He is playing solid defense and will always lead his Piston team well.
Hughes has been up-and-down in the playoffs; shooting well one game and shooting terribly the next. He's never going to be a high% shooter but needs to be more selective. Otherwise he's played solid defense.
The Key: Billups' 4th quarter production
Advantage: DETROIT
Sasha Pavlovic / Rip Hamilton
Analysis: Both players have been playing very well and shooting very well throughout the playoffs while playing solid defense.
Hamilton is a player who gets you points, quietly, doesn't complain and will play solid defense.
Sasha totally shut down Carter last series and I'll be curious to see how he handles Hamilton who runs off of screens constantly instead of being iso'ed against Carter. If Sasha can use his length he can be successful.
The Key: Sashas’ shooting
Advantage: DETROIT
Starting Frontcourt
Small Forwards
LeBron James / Tayshaun Prince
LeBron James / Tayshaun Prince
Analysis: LeBron has been taking over most of the games have won while Prince has been quietly solid over the playoffs. Both players act as the perimeter leaders on their respective ends of the floor.
Tayshaun will be a hard guard for LeBron on offense because of his length and shooting ability and I expect the Pistons to go at him like the Nets did with RJ.
LeBron will rise up (no pun intended) for this series. He will take this series personally and really show the NBA world who he is.
The Key: James' attacking
Advantage: CLEVELAND
Drew Gooden / Rash Weed
Analysis: So far Gooden has been on a role in the playoffs while 'Sheed has really been consistent throughout the playoffs.
Sheed has been consistent and given the Pistons consistently over 10 points a game and solid defense, but he's been more perimeter oriented which has really hurt the Pistons offense.
If Gooden can do what the Bulls did to Webber & 'Sheed, we can really have an advantage down-low. We have to make Webber work and run on those poor knees of his.
The Key: Gooden’s rebounding
Advantage: DETROIT
Zydrunas Ilgauskas / Chris Webber
Analysis: Z has been rolling through the playoffs while Webber has been stumbling.
Webber really didn't play well against Chicago because they took advantage of his bum knees and lack of athletic ability.
Z has been spectacular compared to last year's flop and I expect this matchup to be a lot different the 2nd time around.
The Key: Ilgauskas’ production
Advantage: CLEVELAND
Benches
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS
Damon Jones / Eric Snow / Anderson Varejao / Donyell Marshall / Daniel Gibson / Ira Newble / Scot Pollard / Shannon Brown / Dwayne Jones / David Wesley
Analysis: So far the bench got off to a real slow start to the playoffs but as of the last few games, they've started to turn it up and helped win the Nets series.
If we want to have a chance at winning this series, we will need to play solid and have some production out of Gibson and Marshall on offense and Varejao and Snow on defense.
The Key: Scoring
Analysis: The Pistons bench is very deep and everybody on their bench can play on both ends of the court, which could be a challenge for the Cavs. Murray, McDyess and Hunter all provide a offensive spark off the bench while young guys like Delfino and Maxiell will provide a defensive spark.
So far all the players have been solid and will need to play solid defense if they want to have a chance to win. They will also need super-sub McDyess, to produce.
The Key: Production
Advantage: DETROIT
=====>Key Matchup<=====
PG | Chauncey Billups
VS
PG | Larry Hughes
PG | Chauncey Billups
VS
PG | Larry Hughes
--- Same as last game and the same this game... I really feel that this match-up decides the series. Hughes did a good job on Billups, who had a horrible first half, and also produced on the offensive end. But Billups got going in the 4th, where he killed us, and Larry reverted back to his old form of the jump-shooting Larry. Larry needs to bring his A game defensively and continue to attack the rim.
Smooth32's 3 Keys to Get the "V"
1). Free-Throws. This absolutely killed us last night... We were 11-17 from the free-throw line which evens out to around 67% which is unexceptable for the playoffs. We make 1 or 2 more of those free throws and we're right in the game and not forced to take a 3 with the clock winding down. I
2). Attack the rim. - The Cavs did a good job of this in the first half but really shied away from it in the 2nd half and started to jack up jumpers, which isn't their game. When we attacked the rim we were successful on offense and got to the line and opened up shots for our outside shooters. If we continue to do this then we can definitely be successful on offense. *cough*Larry*cough*
3). Attitude. We came out with an attitude that we weren't afraid of the "mighty" Pistons which was great and it carried through the whole game. We need to continue with this attitude and make sure we play the same way in Game 2, not afraid.
- I wanted to add one more key to this game = Get out on the break. We need to get out and run more often where the Pistons can't load up on LeBron and were we have the athletes to be able to do that and the Pistons don't. We have an advantage in that area and when we can't score we need to get some easy buckets in the open-floor where our best players are most effective.
Game Prediction
Cavs - 87
Pistons - 84
GO CAVS!!!!
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Probable stripper response: "Cool...that looks like a wrestling singlet your wearing, eh?" Drink heavily.
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