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Cleveland Cavaliers (0) @Detroit Pistons (0)
Sunday, May 7, 2006
Time: 3:30pm
TV: UPN 43
Radio: WTAM 1100
Location: Palace of Auburn Hills
Head Coaches
Mike Brown / Flip Saunders
Probable Staters
Eric Snow / Chauncey Billups
Larry Hughes / Richard Hamilton
LeBron James / Tayshaun Prince
Drew Gooden / Rasheed Wallace
Zydrunas Ilgauskas / Ben Wallace
Cleveland Cavaliers Bench
Damon Jones/Flip Murray/Sasha Pavlovic/Donyell Marshall/Anderson Varejao
Detroit Pistons
Lindsey Hunter/Maurice Evans/Carlos Delfino/Antonio McDyess/Dale Davis
2005-06 SERIES: Pistons: 3-1
Keys to the Game:
Try to get the big men involved:
<img src="http://www.nba.com/media/cavaliers/det_051231_24.jpg" align="right">
Zydrunas VS Ben
Zydrunas has a tough assignment offensively against Ben Wallace. While both Wallace's play terrific help defense, they are also good one on one defenders. But with Ben's strength and poise, I look to see alot of one on one post plays involving Zydrunas with no double teaming.
Zydrunas has been in a huge slump on both ends of the floor since the post season has began, and this is a big chance for him to finally break out of it. Detroit plays a much slower pace then the Wizards do, and establishing a good half court game would greatan our chances to keep the game close.
<img src="http://www.nba.com/media/cavaliers/detcle_060227_009.jpg" align="right">
Drew VS Rasheed
Drew Gooden has played well vs the Pistons in the past. It will be interesting to see how he will perform against Rasheed Wallace. Rasheed likes to mope around the perimeter, it's going ot be hard for Drew to read his game. I belive we will see alot of Anderson yet again in this series.
But it would be great if we could get some offensive production out of Drew. He has the capability to score in huge amounts if he feels he is superior to his opponent. Hopefully Rasheed doesn't get on his nerves too much, or it could easily put Drew on the bench for this entire series.
Guard Play
<img src="http://www.nba.com/media/cavaliers/det_051231_15.jpg" align="right">
Practice Eric Practice!
Eric Snow will probably get the same treatment from Detroit that he gets against every other team in the league. Which means he would probably be ignored. I hope Eric is practicing his jump shot, because we are going to need it.
In order for us to be successful it is manditory that Larry Hughes plays an important role in the offense. His driving ability is not to be unused here. Detroit will contest every shot, so we could have an advantage to where we can draw numorous of fouls and get to the line as many times as we want.
The case same goes with Flip Murray.
Bench Production
<img src="http://www.nba.com/media/cavaliers/det_051231_14.jpg" align="right">
Make us Proud
Our rotation is rather small, but in my eyes we are just as deep as Detroit. AV/Donyell/Flip/Damon all have the skills and the tools to be one of the best benches in the league. Hopefully all of them play at least mediocre. Any production out of these guys is a major plus.
The King at the Palace
<img src="http://www.nba.com/media/cavaliers/det_051231_22.jpg" align="right">
Making Another Witness
Do I really need to get into detail about this guy? He has already done everything that he possibly can to win ball games for us. All I pray for is that Series 1 vs the Wizards isn't a fluke. Tashawn is a good defender, but really no one can stop him unless he is triple teamed. One thing LeBron has to do is stop settling for long range jump shots. If he must take a jumper, I would prefer it to be 20 feet in. His spin moves around the corner of the boxes are unstoppable. They will probably play the normal ISO plays with LeBron and let him do his thing. It has worked all season, might as well go with it here.
ALL IN ALL.
The Piston's arent the same defensive team as they were in previous years. Flip Saunder's is running a system that is based more on offense and the Pistons have fell in love with it. In order to win this game, we must stay close the entire 48 minutes. If we slip down to double digets, it would be the point of no return. Detroit has the ability to step up their defense on any given play. They could play lazy D all game, shoot lights out, and if they need an important stop, they will turn up the heat and get it.
I'm not the one to make predictions, but of course we all know who we are rootin for here. I'll let you guys decide.
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