i've been dying to write this thread all day, but i wanted to gather my thoughts so i didn't miss anything.
first off, let's address the "disappearing" coach saunders argument. does it hold any water for THIS PARTICULAR GAME? YES.
coach saunders and his staff came to the same conclusion as i did for game 6 strategy. on D pack the lane, on O attack the paint. fantastic game plan. it worked for 34 minutes. unfortunately, when some of his players BROKE shot discipline in the last 2:00 of Q3, coach saunders did not recognize or correct it. in fact, coach saunders didn't do anything until the 9:00 mark of Q4. by that time, the damage had already been done, and the cavaliers lead was double digits. sorry coach, you get some blame for that one.
second, let's address one of the more obvious points. tayshaun prince had an AWFUL shooting night. but everybody has a poor shooting night from time to time, and it wasn't tayshaun prince's first. the pistons pride themselves on being able to pick up the slack for each other, and they've done it a million times. you can't hang the L on tayshaun prince, but he does get some blame for not performing up to par.
third, let's address the other obvious point. daniel gibson. sometimes a team benefits from dumb luck. am i referring to daniel gibson's HOT SHOOTING STREAK? NO. credit the young man for hitting several big shots and FTs. so what was INCREDIBLY LUCKY? daniel gibson wouldn't even have been in the game had it not been for euro trash sasha pavlovic charging his way to a 4th PF early in Q3. so in a strange twist of fate, daniel gibson entered the game almost by accident, and made the pistons pay the price.
fourth, the ejection. rasheed wallace is a known quantity. a passionate player TO A FAULT. but was the L his fault? NO. the pistons had already begun to give the game away. could rasheed wallace have changed the outcome? possibly. should rasheed wallace have conducted himself better? YES. but don't blame the L on him.
finally, the minor points that cannot be overlooked. richard hamilton had a good scoring night. unfortunately, he was also equally poor with his ball handling. richard hamilton's consecutive turnorvers in Q1 cost the pistons easy baskets.
i love lindsey hunter's on ball D. but his entry passes into the post were HORRIBLE in game 5 and game 6. he is also one of the players who BROKE shot discipline and strayed from the game plan, which ultimately lead to the cavaliers breaking the game open.
footnote to those who need proof of the authenticity of the "game plan" effectiveness i posted on BGOL:
watch Q1-Q3 again. pistons starters build a lead in Q1 until the bench comes in and breaks shot discipline. cavaliers capitalize and take the lead. pistons starters re-enter the game and erase the cavaliers lead by halftime. pistons starters began the 2nd half playing under the "game plan" and it was a 1 point game until they broke shot discipline again. cavaliers capitalize and take the lead, holding on until GAME OVER.
first off, let's address the "disappearing" coach saunders argument. does it hold any water for THIS PARTICULAR GAME? YES.
coach saunders and his staff came to the same conclusion as i did for game 6 strategy. on D pack the lane, on O attack the paint. fantastic game plan. it worked for 34 minutes. unfortunately, when some of his players BROKE shot discipline in the last 2:00 of Q3, coach saunders did not recognize or correct it. in fact, coach saunders didn't do anything until the 9:00 mark of Q4. by that time, the damage had already been done, and the cavaliers lead was double digits. sorry coach, you get some blame for that one.
second, let's address one of the more obvious points. tayshaun prince had an AWFUL shooting night. but everybody has a poor shooting night from time to time, and it wasn't tayshaun prince's first. the pistons pride themselves on being able to pick up the slack for each other, and they've done it a million times. you can't hang the L on tayshaun prince, but he does get some blame for not performing up to par.
third, let's address the other obvious point. daniel gibson. sometimes a team benefits from dumb luck. am i referring to daniel gibson's HOT SHOOTING STREAK? NO. credit the young man for hitting several big shots and FTs. so what was INCREDIBLY LUCKY? daniel gibson wouldn't even have been in the game had it not been for euro trash sasha pavlovic charging his way to a 4th PF early in Q3. so in a strange twist of fate, daniel gibson entered the game almost by accident, and made the pistons pay the price.
fourth, the ejection. rasheed wallace is a known quantity. a passionate player TO A FAULT. but was the L his fault? NO. the pistons had already begun to give the game away. could rasheed wallace have changed the outcome? possibly. should rasheed wallace have conducted himself better? YES. but don't blame the L on him.
finally, the minor points that cannot be overlooked. richard hamilton had a good scoring night. unfortunately, he was also equally poor with his ball handling. richard hamilton's consecutive turnorvers in Q1 cost the pistons easy baskets.
i love lindsey hunter's on ball D. but his entry passes into the post were HORRIBLE in game 5 and game 6. he is also one of the players who BROKE shot discipline and strayed from the game plan, which ultimately lead to the cavaliers breaking the game open.
footnote to those who need proof of the authenticity of the "game plan" effectiveness i posted on BGOL:
watch Q1-Q3 again. pistons starters build a lead in Q1 until the bench comes in and breaks shot discipline. cavaliers capitalize and take the lead. pistons starters re-enter the game and erase the cavaliers lead by halftime. pistons starters began the 2nd half playing under the "game plan" and it was a 1 point game until they broke shot discipline again. cavaliers capitalize and take the lead, holding on until GAME OVER.
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