| Would The Real Detroit Pistons Please Stand Up? Authored by Tommie De Riemaecker - May 16, 2005 - 12:28 am
When Rasheed Wallace guaranteed the Detroit Pistons would return to the Palace of Auburn Hills Tuesday with their second round series against the Indiana Pacers tied 2-2, people knew Detroit wouldn’t come out with a third straight lackluster effort in Game 4.
The defending world champions, having dropped Games 2 and 3, needed the win to regain homecourt advantage and momentum in the series. They got it.
In Detroit, it’s referred to as a “guaransheed” victory.
"I know the character and the heart of the guys in that locker room," Wallace told ESPN.com. "It's answering the bell. We couldn't afford to go down 3-1 to this team."
Now that the Pistons have regained momentum in the series, it’s time for them (though they’d never admit it publicly) to cast an eye to the future – a potential conference finals matchup with the Miami Heat.
Miami swept the eighth-seeded New Jersey Nets and the fifth-seeded Washington Wizards in the first two rounds, respectively. And although center Shaquille O’Neal is hobbling, the Heat is still a force with which to be reckoned.
Dwyane Wade torched the Wizards for 42 points in Game 4 of their series, sans O’Neal. The Heat has a relatively deep bench -- 11 players on Miami’s playoff roster have playoff experience that totals over 500 games. The Heat also finished five games ahead of the Pistons in the Eastern Conference standings at 59-23, although they only won seven of their final 14 games. They possess home court advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs, however, meaning the Pistons – who have shown they have what it takes to win on the road – will have to overcome the south Florida crowd if they hope to repeat as champions.
If the defending champions are to remain the beasts of the East, they’re going to have to utilize their tremendous depth and size up front more so than Coach Larry Brown has been willing to do thus far in the playoffs. Brown has been insistent on a tight seven-man rotation so far – the five starters plus veterans Antonio McDyess and Lindsey Hunter. (In RealGM’s Detroit community, the bench is referred to as “McBench,” “Dice and the Craps” or “Steve”, depending on whom you ask). When strained, he has allowed spot duty for Ronald Dupree or Carlos Arroyo. The tight bench has the potential to wear down the starters and facing a fresh O’Neal and Heat team, that wouldn’t bode well. On the more positive side, Miami reserve center Alonzo Mourning hasn’t played well in O’Neal’s absence. In comeback terms, he’s been no McDyess.
Although it could be argued that the Heat duo of O’Neal and Wade isn’t as strong as the O’Neal and Kobe Bryant tandem the Pistons defeated a year ago in the Finals, it’s also true that O’Neal is more willing to defer to Wade than Bryant and the roster is younger and more harmonious.
If Detroit can show the mental toughness necessary to dispose of the Pacers in the second round, hopefully the scare will have generated enough to snap them out of their lackadaisical funk and they will take the Heat seriously. It’s likely Miami will pose the biggest threat to their championship hopes this year. |
