Sorry if it's been a while since I posted here but I was quite busy for the past week and had rarely any time to log on to the web.
As we all know, Luol Deng won the Sportsmanship Award. Congrats to Deng and I hope he continues to put up monster numbers and move well around the floor like a Kurt Cobain on Acid in their 2nd round series against the Pistons.
Pistons vs. Bulls: Head to Head
Guards: Hinrich/Gordon vs. Billups/Hamilton
Capt. Kirk owns both defensively; however, during the regular season, Skiles usually puts him on Rip who likes to run all over the floor like the roadrunner out for a roadkill. Defensively too, if Rip is to guard Kirk, I believe Kirk will have a great offensive game since Hamilton is not that good of a defender compared to Billups.
As for the B Gordon, he's a defensive liability in this series. Billups and Hamilton are considerably taller and stronger. However, both move like cruise ships compared to Gordon. If Ben could find a way to stay in front of his defensive man and squeeze into those screen sequences that the Pistons love so much to give, then I think he'll give his man some trouble. One problem though is if he guards Billups and Chauncy decides to post up on him. Gordon would be creamed down the block against Chauncy since he's shorter and Billups is stronger. Offensively though, if Gordon plays as consistent as he did against the Heat, I believe he'll outscore whoever he is pitted against.
I expect Skiles to throw in Thabo for some help here defensively. As much as I love BG, there's little way he could matchup defensively with the Pistons backcourt.
Edge: Pistons
SF: Deng vs. Prince
People talk about this match up as the crucial match up of the series. And most also believe that Prince is going to come up on top because he could shut down Deng defensively.
Well, I don't think so.
Deng is not a face-up-I'll-take-you-off-the-dribble-or-jumper type of player. He plays more like a Dan Issel that's much more athletic, a better shooter, quicker, faster and covers the floor better. He rarely takes his defenders off the dribble, usually preferring to rotate and grab offensive put backs. But, if he does take it to the floor, he usually limits it to 3 or 4 bounces before he throws off a shot which is usually that sweet-looking running hook that's incredibly hard to stop.
Because of this, Prince will definitely have problems guarding him. Prince is a very good 1-on-1 perimeter defender. He could have been effective guarding a Wade or a Carter but he's going to have a hard time against Deng. Sure, he might disrupt Deng's jumpers due to his long reach but heck, Deng could find other ways to score and still be as effective. Offensively though, Prince isn't as good as a scorer as Billups or Hamilton and Deng could also hold his own on the defensive side so I guess...
Edge: Bulls
PF and Center: BWall/ PJ Brown vs. Webber/Sheed
Offensively, Bulls would get trounced on this one plus, Sheed could extend BWall's defense enough so that he won't be available for help to his teammates. On the other hand, BWall might already know how to play Sheed since he's been his teammate for a considerable number of years.
PJ vs. C-Webb. I'd give C-Webb a slight advantage over this one since he's much more effective offensively than PJ. However, PJ can guard him although, much like Sheed, a slight problem might be that Webber could extend PJ's D if he shoots well enough.
Edge: Pistons
Coaching: Skiles vs. Saunders
Skiles is better than Saunders as an in-game tactician. Skiles is also cooler looking (hahaha!) and a better motivator.
Edge: Bulls
Bench: TT, Thabo, Duhon, Nocioni, Griffin vs. Delfino, McDyess, Hunter
Pistons are stronger physically but Bulls' bench are quicker (a testament is TT constantly being able to slip into the paint during their regular season matches against Detroit) and, reliable perimeter and help defenders which is crucial in helping Hinrich and Gordon against Rip and Chauncey.
Experience goes to Detroit side though but heck, except for the two rookies, Bulls bench knows how it feels like to be in the playoffs too. Experience is not going to be much of a factor here--at least not as much as what most people claim it would be.
Edge: Bulls
This is going to be a long, hard-fought series. Experience edge by the Pistons won't matter as much since the Bulls also have significant playoff experience. They may not have gotten past the 1st round before but, bear in mind that this team have been in the playoffs 3 straight years running now--they also know how it feels like to be in this situation.
This series will come down to who asserts their game and who defends well enough to take those key stops down the stretch because games in this series will go down the wire.
Whoever wins this series, I believe, will win the Eastern Conference title.
My Prediction: Bulls in 6 or 7
2 comments:
Just failed to watch game 1 of the Bulls-Pistons 2nd round playoff action. Will be waiting for the reply tonight. Just read the recap from NBA.com and it seems Pistons just edged Bulls in terms of focus. It seems like the Bulls are still on that dream state from sweeping the Heat. It will be a different ballgame come game2. Am just praying that Jason Maxiell, who puts up impressive numbers in this win, will continue to contribute and put a BIG clamp on BWall. All in all, this is just game1 for crying out loud. My money still on the Pistons on game7.
It was a bummer of a game. When Billups, Hamilton and Prince hit those three consecutive threes, the Bulls knew it was over. Skiles knew it was over. Anyway, it's just the first game. How the Bulls come back on game two would be the key to the series.
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