Wow. I still can't believe they lost. Because I was on the road (believe it or not, I'm not parked by the comp all day), I missed game 6, but I can't imagine it being too different from the running themes of this series:

-Billups being lost at sea; that's two seasons where your no-show has killed the team, Chauncey. I honestly don't know what to make of this guy, who once upon a time was one of the true assassins of the league. He showed flashes of that in game 5, but in every other game, you were more likely to see an errant pass or a bad shot than a "big shot" from this mister. More like big ####!

And yet, the Pistons can't afford for him to just walk in the offseason. I don't know where they go with this guy.

-Flip's follies; aside from Billups, did anyone else look more lost out there than Flop Saunders? How do you let someone score almost 30 pts in a row against you? Without taking repeated hard fouls or trapping at the free throw line? And how do you forget about your leading scorer at crunch time (Rip did not see the ball enough)? I think dem Wallace boys are right - Flip looked in over his head throughout this series. And against Mike Brown, that's hard to do.

-Anyone seen Tayshaun Prince? - I love the guy, but his performance this series was pathetic, perfectly symbolized by his running for cover while Lebron was busy dunking away game 5 and the series. Outmuscled, outquicked, and outwilled , it looked like he lost the fight in him as the games progressed. It's imperative that he find it before next year starts, because of all labels, none is as damning as "soft."

And its that last part that really bothers me about how the eastern conference finals went down. Detroit's calling card during their five year run has been their toughness and ability to step up in the clutch. But in game 5 (and probably game 6 too - how do you lose an elimination game by 20 points? I thought that was a Laker thing.), they did not show any guts. They got out of the way whenever Lebron came down the lane, hung Tayshaun, Rip, or whoever was guarding Lebron out to dry by alowing 'Bron to go one-on-one, and put up contested jumpers (or turning it over) when they should have been moving the basketball. Championship calibur teams don't allow uncontested layups and dunks to beat them at crunch time.

But the Pistons couldn't muster the courage to send Lebron to the line, where he's shaky at best, while he was emasculating and humiliating them. Maybe this is where Ben Wallace would have stepped in to stop the bleeding. Who knows. But the only fight I saw in that team was Rasheed going after the refs, blaming others for his failure to take a shot better than an 18-foot fadeaway.

Give Cleveland credit - they played up to their potential, and Lebron was beyond amazing. And yes, the officiating was atrocious - how many phantom fouls were called when Lebron decided to fall down? But this series was more about the superior team giving in to a less experienced, less talented one. And I never thought I'd see a Detroit team lose like that.