I posted this at Bucknuts...thought I would post it over here as well.
I'm a sports writer for a small paper in Georgia and here is an article I wrote about the Pistons "upset" over the Lakers, comparing it to
OSU's "upset" over the Hurricanes in the Fiesta Bowl......
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The upset of the century it wasn't. Instead it was a good old-fashioned Midwestern beatdown.
The Lakers came into the 2004 NBA Championship Series with the swagger. They had Shaq, Kobe, Karl, Gary and the "Zenmaster." They had Jack, Denzell and a host of other celebrities on their side. The Pistons, on the other hand, didn't have the stars - on or off the court. They didn't need them. All they needed was a smothering defense to send the Lakers back to Tinsletown with their tails between their legs.
The Pistons domination of the Lakers in the NBA Finals came as a surprise to most people. At the same time, it eerily resembled another Midwestern teams' domination of a more flashy and unbeatable opponent, the Ohio State Buckeyes' victory against the mighty Miami Hurricanes in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl.
In the Fiesta Bowl, Miami's offense was supposed to be too potent. It had the stars - Ken Dorsey, Andre Johnson, Willis McGahee, Kellon Winslow Jr. and "the greatest offensive line in college football history." It was the team from South Beach that was supposed to blow the "Slow-hio State Buckeyes" out of Sun Devil Stadium.
What ended up happening, though, was the Buckeyes defense didn't care about the Hurricane hype. It proved to be faster than anybody gave it credit for and punched Miami in the mouth, forcing five turnovers en route to a 31-24 victory and a national championship.
These Pistons were the same way. They heard the hype. They heard about the "Big 4". They heard the comparisons of Kobe Bryant to Michael Jordan. They heard the Lakers had too much firepower. But they didn't care. They also proved their defense was capable of shutting down anybody who dared to step on the floor in a Lakers uniform, showing the world they were the best team in the NBA.
Defense wasn't the only similarity. The fans helped both the Pistons and the Buckeyes to do the seemingly impossible.
The Lakers, like the Hurricanes, have a fan base largely consisting of vagabond bandwaggoners while the Buckeyes and Pistons have a diehard fanbase.
When the Buckeyes traveled to the desert in January of 2003, they brought more than 50,000 fans with them compared to 25,000 Hurricane fans. Every time the "visiting" Buckeyes made a stand on defense or got a first down, you could hear the crowd roar and the "OH-IO" chants throughout the stadium.
Although the Lakers held the overall home-court advantage, the Pistons had the edge of playing three straight games in the raucous Palace of Auburn Hills. Once the Pistons took a game from the Lakers in Los Angeles, the series was all but over. The Lakers were unable to handle the crowd noise and seemed to be rattled every time they turned the ball over and had to listen to announcer John Mason scream "Deeetroit Baaasketball" over the sound system.
Even Pistons coach Larry Brown and Ohio State coach Jim Tressel's philosophy of winning mirror each other. Both coaches rely on controlling the pace of the game, hard-nosed defense and, most importantly, teamwork.
They are both masters at preparation and breaking down film on how to beat an opponent, and they made Phil Jackson and Larry Coker, respectively, look like lost puppies in an alley full of pit bulls.
In this me-first era of sports, people will consider the Pistons and Buckeyes' championship as a fluke. But in reality it just proves the more things change, the more they say the same and that there is still no "I" in team and defense still wins championships.
Linear Mode
