Basketball & NBA 12 Jun 2007 05:08 pm
Chemistry vs. Potential
Now that Cleveland has been dominated in the Finals (at best) by San Antonio, it has forced me to think about what would happen if Detroit was playing instead of the Cavs. Now…I am not taking anything away from the Cavs, but my gut instinct tells me that the Pistons would fare better against the Spurs. On paper, they have one of the deepest teams in the NBA, with a superb starting five and two consistent bench players. Chauncey Billups, one of the premier point guards in the league, along with Richard Hamilton, the best shooter in the league (in my opinion), form a nasty backcourt. Tayshaun Prince, the reliable defender, along with Chris Webber, one of the best low-post passers in the NBA, and Rasheed Wallace, the team’s anchor, combine to make a dominating frontcourt. In addition, you also have Antonio McDyess, a former All-Star, and Jason Maxiell, a high-energy high-flyer to come off the bench. With all these pieces, it should be a Finals-caliber team, but Detroit has one major problem: chemistry.
While watching the Conference Finals against the Cavs, I couldn’t help but notice the Pistons just r
unning isolation plays for one individual player. This is completely different from what they did in 2004 and in 2005 (when they reached the Finals both times), which was play efficient team basketball. This year in the postseason, I rarely saw Rip come off a screen for an his patented mid-range shot, or Webber get the ball down low and give Billups a sweet backdoor pass. Billups and Hamilton looked to be playing two different basketball games, with Mr. Big Shot rarely giving Rip the ball on a set offense. The only Detroit offenses I saw were Chauncey trying to penetrate by himself, Prince get an iso on LeBron, or Wallace attempting to fade away. Also, there was little communication on the defensive end. Detroit played very individualistic defense, with nobody ever stepping over to help on LBJ when he tried to drive (which was completely unlike the Spurs in the Finals thus far). The Pistons simply let James go inside and pick them apart down low (witness his 48-point performance).
I think there are two main reasons why the chemistry was lacking in this postseason. First, I believe that Flip Saunders does not do a good job of keeping his players together. He lets them do whatever they want, with no sort of punishment. Larry Brown, on the other hand, kept Detroit together and brought them to the Finals twice. Even last year (Flip’s first year as Detroit coach), when Detroit was eliminated by Miami, there were team problems which Saunders never even attempted to solve. The second reason is Rasheed Wallace. Although he is a good player on both ends of the floor, he will still go down in the history books as one of the most controversial players ever. When people think of "Sheed", they think of his many technicals and ability to always express his feelings openly. He often loses his cool on and off the court, and does little to mentally lead his teams (Portland or Detroit). Those are the main two causes, in my opinion, of the Motown meltdown this time around.