• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

Cavs-Pistons Second Round Playoff Series

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
crazybuckfan40

crazybuckfan40

Head Coach
Now for my very very optimistic look into the second round, after the great first round.

Let me first start off by saying I do not envision us winning and if we were to do that, I would be suprised, but I think we can give them a fight.

First lets look at the matchups:

PG: Snow vs. Billups - Billups obviously has the edge, but Snow has played well down the stretch and into the playoffs and he is not our guy that we really count on to step up on the offensive end. We look to him for leadership and to get us organized. I think when we are on D this should be a fun matchup to watch and I think that Snow will hold Billups down somewhat. Billups will get his points, but he should be frustrated all season. Also if Snow scores some points and knocks down shots like he did against the Wizards that is just a plus.

SG: Hughes vs. Rip - This should be a great matchup. Hughes played real good D this series against Arenas and I would say that Rip would be the easier matchup on D, b/c he can't do as much off the dribble as Arenas, or just pull up and hit the 3 like Arenas, but Rip runs around and of screens like crazy, so he is going to need to be able to fight through those. Hughes only played in two of the games during the regular season and the first game we won and second time he played, it was last 2 weeks of the season and there wasnt much to play for and if I remember right that was the game LBJ hurt his ankle. Also Hughes had it going in game 5 agains the Wizards, and looks to be getting his game back, so hopefully he can help on the Offensive end with about 15 or so a game, but we are really going to need him on the Defensive end.

SF - LBJ vs Prince - I love it in a way when we play the Pistons, b/c they are one of the only teams that don't double LBJ. They let Tayshaun play him straight up, and while he plays good D on him, no one in the league can play straight up on LBJ. I think that LBJ is going to get his points in this series, he only avg. about 25 against the Pistons on the year, but the two games when they played them back to back was in teh midst of a losing streak and no one was playing good and the last time as I mentioned LBJ hurt his ankle. I see LBJ putting up over 40 in at least one if not two or three of the games in this series. As for Tayshaun on O, LBJ just needs to be solid on him and keep him from open looks and off the boards, b/c he is going to be focused on his D all series, not looked on for his O.

PF - Gooden vs. Sheed - This is the matchup that is going to decide the series. Gooden stuggles against Sheed, and Sheed usually shines agianst us, b/c we find a way to piss him off. We are going to need Drew to step up big on the Defensive end, and in a way I see it, b/c Drew knows that it is for his contract and he is really going to need to step up. The better he plays in this series the more money he gets after the year. I don't care if Drew doesnt score a point all series if he can take Sheed out of his game and not let him just bully him around, like he does at times.

C - Z vs. Wallace - This is a big matchup for us on the offensive end. Z should be able to dominate this based on his height. Z had 18, 18, 15, 10(only 20 minutes, late season) that is good output from him and if we can get 15-20 from him that would be great. As for Big Ben he doesnt do much on O so just keep him down and off the Offensive boards.

Bench - This is where the Pistons can kill ya, with Vetrans that are almost as good as some of the starters. But our bench really stepped up in game 6 and basically won that game for us with Flip, Andy, Donyell, and DJ. I don't think either team should have problems being worn out with a long series as both teams are deep, but we are going to need that production from our bench.

Now to the overall outlook on the series. We didnt play the Pistons at full stregth all season. The first times we played them we were healthy and we took it too them, but we didnt have Flip on our team yet. The second two times we played them, we were without Hughes, and with Billups and Rip that is a tough matchup b/c that meant flip on Rip a majority of the time and that is not a battle we were going to win. Then the fourth game LBJ started the game going off, but then James sat him for like 8 minutes or so and the Pistons went on a huge like 30-0 run or something crazy like that.

I honestly think that we match up really well with the Pistons, but the Pistons are just so mentally tough and play so well together that they will be hard to beat. We are goign to need great series from everyone and need to be hot from the field, especially guys like Hughes, Marshall, and DJ from outside. We are also going to need to get out and run a little bit and get some baskets in transistion.

Now for the wildcard thought so to say. In the seond game we played the Pistons, Sheed gave a hard foul to Z right on the head drawing blood and in the last game Andy took out Sheed with a cheap foul and got tossed, so there is bad blood between the teams, so I expect to see some extra curricular stuff going on. We just need to be headstrong and stay away from some of that stuff and see if we can't bait Sheed into doing something stupid and maybe getting tossed or getting some T's and giving us free shots from the line.

I still think the game will go six and the Pistons will beat us on our own court to end our season. If we can take one in Detroit out of the first two, that would be huge.
 
I also think the cavs can give the pistons all they are asking for here. But you're right, crazybuck, rasheed is a huge matchup problem.

he just KILLS the cavs. Unlike Hamilton (who also really works us), where the cavs have somebody they at least think can be the answer in hughes, nobody on the cavs can guard sheed. Gooden and Varejeo will probably use up every last foul they have in this series trying to keep him under control ... I really want Gooden to prove me wrong and play with some fire and show that he is mentally tough enough to hang with sheed through the series, but I just don't think he'll be able to do it on his own, though. Again, I think Varejeo will be key. If he can provide the same kind of quality minutes off the bench as he has been towards the end of the season, the cavs will be well served. Really though, the aspect of sheed's game that is the hardest for the cavs to deal with is his range. They absolutely CAN NOT let him get good looks at the basket from 3 point land.

The series is going to be alot more physical than the wizards series, and the cavs can't fall into that trap. They need to play tough, but not stupid tough, becuase Donyell isn't going to be able to hang down low with the wallaces the way he did against hte wizards, so foul trouble will be a problem.

On offense, the cavs match up well with the pistons. They'll be able to return to the tried and true inside-out approach. They'll establish Z in the post, he'll go to work on Ben, and if the cavs are going to have any shot, Z's gonna have to play not good, but great. Once Z gets established, Marshall, Hughes and Murray are going to HAVE to be ready to hit some shots. Damon Jones will get alot more minutes in this series and he's going to have to step up as well.

What I'd really like to see is lebron doing some slashing to the basket off the ball when the double team comes to Z. They will keep the defenders on their heals and he won't get as many charges called on him.

When it comes down to it, if the cavs can keep themselves in every game and at least be within striking distance late in the 4th, they'll make the series competetive. Just give lebron the chance to do his thing down the stretch, that's all you can ask for. A split in detroit would be HUGE, and if that were followed by a win at home in game 3, all bets would be off and it would be anybodies series.

Realistically, though, I think the pistons take this series. The more games it lasts, though, the better, because with each game lebron just gets that much better.
 
Upvote 0
Lets face it, we have almost no chance to win this series.

Z has been the most invisible 7'3" player in the history of the game, and Gooden, is just Gooden.

Rasheed Wallace will eat up Drew Gooden. Ben Wallace will eat up Z.

Lebron cant do it all against a great team like the Pistons.
 
Upvote 0
scarletngrey77 said:
Lets face it, we have almost no chance to win this series.

Z has been the most invisible 7'3" player in the history of the game, and Gooden, is just Gooden.

Rasheed Wallace will eat up Drew Gooden. Ben Wallace will eat up Z.

Lebron cant do it all against a great team like the Pistons.
Click to expand...

Easy there ... There's absolutely no reason to be down on Z. He didn't show up on the stat sheet in the wizards series because it was a tough matchup for him, but he still contributed and had a few stretches where the 2 man game with lebron worked well.

Vs. the pistons he's got a much better matchup and should shine. I don't know where you're getting this Ben will eat up Z business ... While Wallace will get some blocks, for the most part, Z gets the better of him. Also, you need to remember that Z hates the pistons and definately won't let any of their bullshit pass.
 
Upvote 0
scarletngrey77 said:
Lets face it, we have almost no chance to win this series.

Z has been the most invisible 7'3" player in the history of the game, and Gooden, is just Gooden.

Rasheed Wallace will eat up Drew Gooden. Ben Wallace will eat up Z.

Lebron cant do it all against a great team like the Pistons.
Click to expand...

I wouldnt say Z has been that bad, he has struggled down the stretch and especially after his minor injury. We are going to need him to step up big in the series and that would be great.

ppl have knocked DJ all year, but he sure came up big for us, when he came in and did his thing. That is why people have roles on bball teams and last series was not a series where Z was going to have a big series, but this one is and he has had solid games against he pistons all year.
 
Upvote 0
crazybuckfan40 said:
Now for the wildcard thought so to say. In the seond game we played the Pistons, Sheed gave a hard foul to Z right on the head drawing blood and in the last game Andy took out Sheed with a cheap foul and got tossed, so there is bad blood between the teams, so I expect to see some extra curricular stuff going on. We just need to be headstrong and stay away from some of that stuff and see if we can't bait Sheed into doing something stupid and maybe getting tossed or getting some T's and giving us free shots from the line.
Click to expand...

Actually, Piston fans are hoping the Cavs poke the dragon. Sheed is very low key (as far as his play goes, not mouth) and plays below his potential most of the time. He is happy playing a secondary role until he gets ticked. Then he plays his best basketball. There is a reason coaches don't lower the boom on him for his antics. They know he plays better when ticked off. The Cavs would be better leaving him alone. He usually doesn't get 2 T's, and he no longer has to worry about the T count. He has 7 before a suspension. Setting him off is not a good idea, especially with the matchup probelms he creates. Leave him alone and he will dissapear on his own.
 
Upvote 0
If the Pistons didn't have Rasheed Wallace, this would be a winnable series. But he is a matchup nightmare for this team.

3 other main reason for why this series is not winnable:

1. The Cavs are just happy to be there. That first-round win was the goal for this year, and the Cavs celebrated like it was.

2. The difference in defense between Washington and Detroit is comparable to the difference between the defenses of Baltimore and Kansas City. The Cavs were getting used to doing what they wanted on offense. I have to expect a very stagnant offense in game 1 and throughout the series.

3. The Lebron hype factor will pump up the Pistons. They know the tv producers and the talking heads love the Chosen One, and they probably resent - and for good reason, because they are by far the best team in the league.
 
Upvote 0
Fuck it. Win or lose, I'm just gonna enjoy the ride. The way LBJ performed vs. The Wizards was nothing short of amazing. I just look back a couple months ago at how much of the media was questioning his ability to come up big and laugh. I don't think we have much of a chance in this series either, but I will never again consider anything out of reach.
 
Upvote 0
scarletngrey77 said:
Lets face it, we have almost no chance to win this series.

Z has been the most invisible 7'3" player in the history of the game, and Gooden, is just Gooden.

Rasheed Wallace will eat up Drew Gooden. Ben Wallace will eat up Z.

Lebron cant do it all against a great team like the Pistons.
Click to expand...


Haha, I don't think the Cavs will win this series. However, you need to give these guys a chance. An example that I can think of, relative to this series, is when the Pistons played the Lakers in the Finals a couple years back, and everyone wrote them off, saying that Shaq and Kobe (Malone and Payton :slappy:) would annihilate the Pistons. We all know how that series turned out. While this Cavs team isn't as good or as team-oriented as the Pistons were, then; I don't see a reason why LeBron and crew, can't put up a good fight against the Pistons.
 
Upvote 0
scarletngrey77 said:
Hard to not get blow out when the Pistons are shooting 6 of 7 from 3.

Z and Gooden are also continuing their shitty play.
Click to expand...

I agree. It might be just me, but I've never been that high on Ilgauskas' play. It seems to me that he barely ever plays in the post, and isn't as much of a force as he could be.

Their defense hasn't looked good at all, though (they can't really help the great three-point shooting), but without LeBron playing as well as he is on offense right now, we could very well be looking at a complete slaughtering.
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top