The reasons why the heavily favored Detroit Pistons are currently deadlocked in their second round series with the Cleveland Cavaliers are numerous.  Many of those reasons have nothing to do with game planning or anything else in the coaching realm. 

Over-confidence, playing without a sense of urgency, and underestimating the greatness of LeBron James are just a few contributing factors that fall squarely on the shoulders of this veteran-laden squad.  

The Cavs also deserve a ton of credit for the Pistons' recent woes.

However, assuming that the Pistons' players are able to shake these inadequacies that have at least temporarily derailed their non-stop train ride to the NBA Finals, let us examine some of the adjustments that must be made by the mastermind roaming the sidelines, Pistons' Head Coach Flip Saunders.

1)  Speed up the pace.

Despite what many of the so-called experts claim, Detroit is no longer strictly a slow-down, half-court, defensive-oriented team.  Since Flip's arrival, the Pistons have opened up their offense to the tune of 96.8 ppg (3.5 more than the previous season) and 46 percent shooting, while shooting the third best percentage from the 3-point line (38.4) in the NBA.  The reason is pretty simple - free flowing offense equipped with ball movement and the freedom to shoot the open shot at any time during the shot clock - something they never enjoyed under Larry Brown.

They generated many of their points via the fastbreak.  Throughout the first round and the first two games of the second round, the Pistons were looking for fastbreak opportunities, especially off the opposition's turnovers.  However, in Games 3 and 4 of the Cleveland series, Detroit has been content to play a half-court game and has reverted back to their old ways of milking the shot clock and settling for whatever contested jump shot they can muster.  In this series, that's not going to get it done.

The slow-down tempo plays right into the hands of the upstart Cavaliers.  Detroit's propensity to exploit whatever favorable matchup they feel they have has caused stagnant possessions where the ball stays on one end of the floor and the other four players are simply standing around watching.  This makes it much easier for Cleveland to defend, and subsequently, sets up LeBron James to save the bulk of his energy for the offensive end where he has burned Detroit with both his scoring and his ability to set up teammates for open shots.

The fact is, the Pistons are at their best when they're defending and scoring.  Detroit eclipsed the 100-point barrier 34 times during the regular season (nine more times than the previous season) and five times in the playoffs.  Of those 39 total games, the Pistons have lost just four times.  The numbers don't lie. 

It's time for Flip Saunders to inject some of that offensive magic again.  It's time to start running Richard Hamilton off a bevy of screens.  It's time for Rasheed Wallace to look for Ben Wallace under the basket when his man leaves him for the double team.  It's time for Chauncey Billups to blow by his man and penetrate the lane, freeing up open shots for Hamilton, Wallace and Tayshaun Prince. And it's time to stop playing the isolation game. 

That way, the next time the Pistons find themselves in a dogfight at the end of a game, they'll have a little more of a rhythm offensively.  That, in turn, will create a much better opportunity to knock down the big shot.

2)  Utilize the bench.

One of the main reasons why prognosticators all over the NBA nation (not to be confused with ESPN's "NBA Nation") have predicted the Pistons will waltz to their second championship in three years is because of the re-birth of their bench.  Antonio McDyess and Lindsey Hunter have been mainstays coming off the Pistons' pine over the last two seasons.  But the additions of Tony Delk, Maurice Evans and the improved play of second-year G/F Carlos Delfino have solidified a unit that many critics felt was a disappointment a year ago in their failed quest for back-to-back titles.

Early in the season, those same critics once again questioned the Piston reserves.  They said the starters were logging too many minutes and would eventually wear down at the end of the year.  However, Saunders took advantage of Detroit's fantastic start by giving the bench players some much needed minutes in the season's second half - and boy did they ever respond.

McDyess found his seemingly lost fade away jump shot and overall scoring touch.  Lindsey Hunter returned from an ankle injury to bring his usual brand of relentless on-the-ball defense, as well as a re-discovered offensive arsenal.  Mo Evans and Carlos Delfino brought a youthful energy and aggressiveness that resulted in many of Detroit's famous runs.  And veteran Dale Davis provided some toughness, grit and experience to counteract any opposing inside presence (i.e. Shaquille O'Neal).

Yet despite this newly realized potent bench, Flip stayed with his starters (sans an injured Rasheed Wallace) for much of the second half, including a fourth quarter that saw the Pistons shoot an abysmal 4-of-16.

If his team is going to advance beyond this round, and beyond the Conference Finals, Flip Saunders will have to rely more heavily on his bench.  Antonio McDyess will have to play more than the 14 minutes he played in Game 4, and he'll certainly have to hoist more than two shots.  Lindsey Hunter must log more than six minutes.  And Tony Delk has to be utilized much the way Chuck Daly utilized Vinnie Johnson in the late 80's for the Pistons, as instant offense off the bench.  

If these players don't get more valuable minutes in the postseason going forward, they likely won't be able to come through when needed most (in case of a serious injury or foul trouble).  And that will only further attest to what the aforementioned prognosticators were saying about the Pistons early in the season.

3)  Tell the players to shut their pie-holes!

Yes, the Guaran-sheeds have worked wonders in the past.  Yes, the Pistons do feel that no one can beat them in a seven-game series if they play their brand of basketball.  And yes, they're probably right about that. 

But why give the opposition further fuel to beat you?  Why give them further motivation to prove the critics wrong?  Why bother telling us (and them) what most of us already know?  Why not just go out and show us instead?

From Rasheed Wallace's on-going charade of making guarantees to Chauncey Billups' insistence that the two losses in Cleveland had little to do with how the Cavs played, the Pistons have continually disrespected their opponents in the media - purposely or otherwise.  The result is a scorned, hungry and suddenly confident Cavs' team that is now not only back in the series, but has a collective chip on its shoulder and a burgeoning playoff megastar to spearhead the charge the rest of the way.

Flip Saunders would be wise to hold a team meeting today back in Detroit (if he hasn't already) and advise his team to stick to the tired, yet proven cliches when conversing with the media.  In other words .... NO MORE BULLETIN BOARD MATERIAL!

If his players want to talk, or even boast, let them do it on the court where it belongs.  Stop telling the sports' world how good you are and start showing us!

As a Pistons' fan myself, that's all I ask for.

If Flip and his staff can make these adjustments for Game 5, the Detroit Pistons will back on the path toward the big gold ball.  If not, it may be too late to 'Flip' the switch.