[alcimedes]

so for those who said that the lakers would walk the Pistons (myself included), what in the hell is going on?

just watched game 4, and damn, the lakers weren't looking too great. the Pisonts, on the other hand, looked amazing.

so any laker's fans want to make some series predictions?

[SKMDC]

the lakers are not only getting beat but beat down.
i think the the pacers with a healthy jermaine o'neal would be beating the lakers too. (they would have had home-court advantage too) and i thought either the pacers or pistons would be champs, but i never expected this.

malone is done, and payton has been pretty nonexistent, and kobe is doing an excellent imitation of a chicken with his head tore off, but shaquille has come up pretty big.

detroit lacks in so many areas, i have never seen a team win while missing so many shots in the paint. but the way they rebound and get lose balls makes up for a lot of sins.

[windowsblowsass]

Originally Posted by superkaratemonkeydeathcar the lakers are not only getting beat but beat down. i think the the pacers with a healthy jermaine o'neal would be beating the lakers too. (they would have had home-court advantage too) and i thought either the pacers or pistons would be champs, but i never expected this. malone is done, and payton has been pretty nonexistent, and kobe is doing an excellent imitation of a chicken with his head tore off, but shaquille has come up pretty big. detroit lacks in so many areas, i have never seen a team win while missing so many shots in the paint. but the way they rebound and get lose balls makes up for a lot of sins.

no why did u have to bring up the pacers

(weeps)

[SKMDC]

cause i think they'd be beating the lakers as well.
pistons and the pacers were the two best nba teams this year.

[MCQ]

The Pistons have been incredibly consistent... Sheed came up big for them tonight which helped quite a bit. Malone and Payton are just out of gas right now... and after them the bench just looks weak.

It'll take one heck of a performance from Shaq/Kobe for the Lakers to win game 5, since Fisher/George don't seem to be producing like they usually would. Also, the Lakers have to find some way to actually play defense against Detroit for the entire game.

[SKMDC]

the lakers big defensive breakdowns have been kobe, (staying back to discuss calls with the officials) and the fact that detroit gets it up the court faster than the lakers can get back. even payton can't keep up.
but i think the lakers big problem is that their rotations are all out of whack, (because of malone's injury) and big chief zen is doing a lousy job of making adjustments on off days.
he knew malone is now useless, he needed to establish a rotation off the bench that has some cohesiveness and he hasn't done it. walton played well in game two but he just got in the way tonight.

the lakers are being out-hustled, and out-coached.

and even if they win tuesday, barring any major detroit injuries are incapable of taking three straight from the pistons.

i think the big question is what will happen to the lakers in he post-season.
the owner seems to love kobe, but i think he's really let the team down this season and especially this series, whereas shaq has come up big.

it's going to be juicy when this is over.

[windowsblowsass]

Originally Posted by superkaratemonkeydeathcar cause i think they'd be beating the lakers as well. pistons and the pacers were the two best nba teams this year.

i still cant believe the pacers blew their lead at detroit

[Moogs]

Originally Posted by superkaratemonkeydeathcar detroit lacks in so many areas, i have never seen a team win while missing so many shots in the paint. but the way they rebound and get lose balls makes up for a lot of sins.

Reminds me of the Detroit teams that used to beat the Bulls every year on their way to the title, although they had some very good perimeter shooting at times... particularly when Vinnie Johnson was switched to "on". When he was off it was anybody's game.

[SKMDC]

yeah, except those games were ugly and brutal.
the pistons/pacers series was ugly. this one, not so much.
it's funny, because detroit shoots 35%, and they're either tied or down by a basket, then they just get a little offensive spurt with a stop and some great rebounding, and boom! they're up by ten.

i hope this team doesn't get lumped in with the bad boy teams from the late eighties, because the bad boys were dirty, bad sports, and changed the game of basketball for the worse. i have no respect for them.

this piston team plays physical, but above board, and clean.