Monday, April 30, 2007
The Glorious Guest Post: Pistons and Bulls, Here We Go Now.
'Ello, comrades. Ukraine not weak! In more relevant news, my name is Ted, and I often write here, although if you look hard enough, you can find my writings throughout the cyber world. I like to spread myself pretty thin. Here I am at good ol' WBRS, ruminating on the Bulls and Pistons upcoming series:
1987-1988 NBA Playoffs: Pistons 4, Bulls 1.
1988-1989 NBA Playoffs: Pistons 4, Bulls 2.
1989-1990 NBA Playoffs: Pistons 4, Bulls 3.
1990-1991 NBA Playoffs: Bulls 4, Pistons 0.
Those constitute the last four times - all consecutive, for those of you not skilled at calendar math - the Pistons and Bulls met in the playoffs. If you stare at it long enough, you can almost see Michael Jordan getting more furious each year, rising higher and more vehemently on his dunks, before finally, in 1991, just saying "I've had it up to here with this sh*t" and taking over entirely.
It's been a while - 16 years, again for those of you unskilled with calendar math and addition/subtraction - but the Bulls and Pistons are about to rumble again in the playoffs. This time it will be in the Eastern Semis, after both teams took the broom to their first round opponents (oddly, both teams were from Florida, and looked old and out of it in losing. How ironic). It's the Eastern Semis in name only, though, because this series is, for all intents and purposes, the "De Facto 2007 Eastern Conference Finals."
(Alright, sure - if the real Eastern Finals is Detroit vs. LeBron, that's somewhat deserving of the actual series name).
What can we expect here? Let's take a look:
1) The central storyline will be Ben Wallace, but it shouldn't be.
NBA playoffs love reunions - think Nelly/Avery, Dirk/Steve, even Grant/Detroit - so everyone will blow Ben's playoff rumble with his former running mates out of proportion. This series is really about the emergence of Luol Deng - can you imagine how good Duke would have been this year if he had stayed in college? VCU wouldn't have beaten 'em, that's for sure. Hell, VCU wouldn't even have had the chance to play them - and the continued development of Ben Gordon. Just like Jordan before them, they must slay the mighty Pistons to reach the mountain top.
2) It's a nice mix of styles.
People - including some, you gotta believe, in the league office - are rooting for a Bulls vs. Suns NBA Finals, because that would be downright fun, like a Friday night ho down in Oklahoma, or something thereabouts. See, the Bulls get out and run (whenever you see replays from the camera above the basket, don't they look as fast as Phoenix?). The Pistons are a bit more plodding, which is interesting, because I always remembered Scott Skiles (my first NBA game in person, he was the point guard... for the Magic) as a better half court set passer than a free-wheelin' run and gunner. Yet, he leads a team that dictates tempo; now he's coaching against a team that often re-dictates the tempo. Style clashes are good for basketball. It keeps games close, which makes things interesting.
3) It should go 7, but won't be the best second-round series in the NBA.
If the Warriors can win it (sorry, Mini-Me. Sorry) and the Jazz knock out the Rockets, that second round series is boring as hell ("Gun wielders vs. Mormons!"), and Cavs vs. Nets just feels like a Thursday night game I'd put on mute. The series of the second round will probably be Spurs vs. Suns, unless Carmelo and AI can drop 60 combined in a few more games, and NeNe can start putting a more effective body on Duncan. However, this series is going to be right up there. It should go 7, with a legitimate shot at having 3-4 memorable, even "classic," NBA postseason moments. If Ben Wallace is involved in anything late-game from an offensive standpoint, that will be seen on highlight reels for years to come (here's hoping he doesn't have a Charles Smith moment). If this is an even better series for Deng than Miami was, we got a seminal moment in the development of a star. If the Bulls manage to knock out the last two NBA Champions from the East in succession, we're witness to the coronation of Scott Skiles. If the Pistons reach their fifth consecutive Eastern Conference Finals, we can fire up the debate engine on whether it's one of the greatest dynasties in recent league history, or just the basketball equivalent of the 1990s Atlanta Braves. Regardless, we got a lot on the table here. It's gonna be fun.
4) The Battle of Third Overall Picks
Here's a sidebar element most people won't discuss: Chauncey Billups was No. 3 in 1997, out of Colorado. He had to travel to virtually every NBA city before he found relevance. Ben Gordon was No. 3 in 2004, out of UConn. He's become arguably one of the Top 20 players in the NBA in the same city he began his career, and a mere 2.5 years later. You think Billups resents Gordon at all? Probably not, but it'd be pretty cool if he did, right? Maybe we could have a Raja fouling Kobe style moment here. That would make it more like the 1980s tilts between these guys than anything else.
1 Comments:
In the end it will come down to Rasheed. Who on the Bulls can stop him? The Bulls will only go so far. Without a low post presence they won't win a title. They need to trade for KG or trade for Pau Gasol.
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