NBA BeatDown FastBreak 05.02.08: Pistons Finally Eliminated Sixers in Game 6
Posted by BL Anderson on 05.02.2008
Philly certainly proved themselves as a capable team, and did more to impress me than any presidential candidate! Maybe Mo Cheeks should be running for President, instead...
NBA BeatDown FastBreak
Hello everyone I'm BL Anderson and this is the BeatDown FastBreak, where we cover all of the playoff action for the evening of 05.01.08. There was only one game last night, but nevertheless here I am to cover the game for you.
Since the screwed the pooch on my schedule this week, instead of working all night like I normally do when I post these columns at 0200 hrs or some outrageous hour in the morning, they had me working the mid shift due to the Pegasus Parade here in Louisville needing a detail supervisor. With all the police activity they had during this thing, I could've done it over the phone. (As in to say...NONE). We'll see how this works when I'm moved to Daywork, but most likely I will be turning columns in between 7 and 9 in the morning. See how it goes...meanwhile, enough about my stupid ass...you came for the Pistons/Sixers.
BL's Take: Now the Sixers didn't play well at all, but I wouldn't necessarily chalk that up to any type of lapse in focus, of lake of effort. The Sixers did everything that they could in this series to hang with the much more talented, much more experienced Detroit Pistons and won two games when the Pistons believed that they would sweep Philly, and that it was even a big joke that the Pistons had to bother to play them.
And that's the thing that has always bothered me about these Detroit Pistons; they don't get up for every game. They believe that, because they win alot of regular season games, and that they won 1 championship back in 2004, that they are god's gift to pro basketball. Well, they certainly are not. The Pistons come for big time games; most of the time they win, sometimes they lose. Philly lost 9 games this year to non-playoff teams (who didn't even have a chance!), and split the season series with Philadelphia, one of those games when Philly wasn't in playoff contention!
And now the Pistons will go on to face Orlando, a series to which they hold home court advantage, as well. And I would take under advisement if I were the Pistons that Orlando is a MUCH different team than Philly was; Orlando has the best front court in the NBA, and was 4th in the league in 3-pt percentage; Additionally, Orlando was 6th in the league in PPG, both of which are offensive categories that Detroit is middle-of-the-road in. They have to bring everything they've got to beat the Magic.
Philly turned the season around after the all-star break. It was a success. They will need to turn this around, overpay for Andre Iguodala just a little bit, and come back next year with the same fire and momentum, and they could potentially be a 50-win team in the eastern conference, provided they can continue to improve and maybe add another hard-working veteran to the mix. They should definitely try to find a shooter in the off season, as the Sixers were LAST in three point shooting this season.
That's all for me this week. Be back tomorrow morning for all of Friday's Playoff action!
