At one point during Cleveland's series-clinching game six vs. Detroit in the Eastern Conference Finals, LeBron James was barking at Daniel Gibson. But it wasn't for a mistake the Texas rookie made. It was because he caught fire in the last quarter and a half of the game on his way to 31 points on nine shots.
Gibson doesn't have to dominate the ball a la Larry Hughes or Lamar Odom. His performance the last three games of the ECF should help keep LeBron in Cleveland for the remainder of his career. Once injured rookie Shannon Brown gets healthy, Cleveland could have the League's scariest perimeter trio.
Either Brown, Gibson or James can handle the ball on a break. Either of the three could spot up anywhere on the floor and drain a shot. And any of the three can finish at the cup.
2. A shakeup is needed in Detroit.
There is a way for the Pistons to rebound from this loss and remain contenders for the next five, six years.
What Detroit needs to do is sign "that guy." That guy is a player who can get a team on the brink over the hump.
The Pistons have been defeated by a "that guy" prototype the past two playoff runs. Dwayne Wade and LeBron James both took over close games vs. Detroit and helped their teams advance to the finals.
Here's what Joe Dumars must do to keep his team on the map and in the title hunt:
Seriously look into a deal that would send Richard Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace to the Lakers for Kobe Bryant. No matter how much ESPN and NBA analysts want to give the League to Wade and James, those in the know recognize Bryant as the League's best player.
Dumars should also draft Texas point guard Acie Law IV and Pitt big man Aaron Gray with the 15th and 27th picks, respectively, in this month's draft. Billups, who did not earn a max deal with his performance in the Cleveland series, could serve as Law's mentor and you can't teach Gray's 7'2" frame.
Pairing Bryant with Tayshaun Prince, a great perimeter defender in his own right, would give Detroit something similar to what the Bulls used to employ with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen: one of the two would be on the floor at all times, to guard the opposing team's best perimeter player, and for the offense to run through either of them. I fully give Prince a pass for shooting under 30 percent during the Cleveland series since he had to put so much of his energy into defending James. But if you could switch Bryant and Prince off of James, and Wade, for example, neither would be so tuckered out on the other end of the floor that they couldn't get their points.
3. Leave Flip alone.
I still don't understand why Jason Maxiell barely saw action in five of the six games this series after scoring 15 points in game two. And I have no idea why Billups and Hamilton were put at the point of the zone Detroit employed. But I do believe that the Pistons' performance this series was not entirely the fault of their head coach.
Saunders could have called for quicker double teams of James at times, where the double could have came before James received the ball, but Saunders wasn't the one on the court looking for foul calls late in games. Neither was he the one pointing the finger at teammates at times.
If this were college, the brunt of the blame would be reserved for Flip. But this is the NBA. "A player's league," where the coach doesn't matter as much. Give Flip "that guy," and a core that doesn't play when it feels up to it, especially in the playoffs, and Saunders already has two finals appearances under his belt.
Ironic choice of words considering that the Pistons were out rebounded 70 to 41 (player rebounds plus team rebounds). That delta is 29 rebounds!
I like your idea of Wallace and Hamilton to the Lakers for Kobe. Detroit may have to give up something else though, to make it fair.
Saunders is like Avery Johnson in that they are fine coaches in the regular season, but don't make sufficient adjustments in 7 games series play in the playoffs.
BTW, the game was under control until the 4th quarter when the OLDER Pistons ran out of gas. Quicker double teams would have hurt the Pistons even worse, because they didn't have the legs to recover to the role players who were definitely stepping up and hitting their shots.
1, however it turns out this year lebron is going to brooklyin as soon as he can opt out why do you think he only re signed for only what was it 3 years ? ..
2. dumars dosnt believe in a " that guy " philosophy and even if he did it ceartinly would not be kobe .. after seeing how kobe has treated his teammates in the last 3 years you really think he would take that gamble .. dumars trades for character players team first players .. sheed being the exception rather then the rule
3. flip has proven to be a bust from day 1 .. some coachs are reg season coach's some coachs make their living in the playoff's .. flip is the latter why do you think minny failed year after year after year det is slowely becoming the t - wolves of the east
4. spurs in 4 .. pop is light years ahead of mike brown and the spurs wont take the cavs lightly .. tim duncan will simply dominate
first let me say... i like the depth of your breakdowns on this i'll just add a couple thoughts...
1. its real trademark of chicago to pick up young guys polish em up and ship em off i.e ron artest... tyson chandler... eddy curry... etc. etc.
if they traded gordon it would #### off a lot of chicago fans but i wouldnt necesarily be surprised... i think its time for some new decision makers in chicago basketball
2.i totally agree about the bay area... and it would be interesting to see amare play there, but i think phoenix would do good to hold on to him
and last you made a couple points about good teams that would be great teams if they had a better scoring guard... i think kobe could be that guard... he's already expressed interest in leaving the lakers i think the right offer would make that a reality
My name is Jason Carmel Davis, and I am a graduate of the Michigan State University School of Journalism. Yes, we do go to class in East Lansing, not just to bars and the liquor store.
I'm almost positive I had an SI with me in the womb, checking out Ralph Wiley. He's the main reason I ever decided to pursue a career in sportswriting .
I even remember the first highlight I ever saw on SportsCenter. I don't remember who was reading it, but it was Michael Jordan's 63-point game against the Celtics in the Garden in the 86 Playoffs. I've been hooked ever since.
