Detroit vs. Philadelphia - Series DET wins (4-2)

[Texas Longhorns]

( 2 ) Detroit Pistons (59-23) vs. ( 7 ) Philadelphia 76ers (40-42)

Link to game thread 1

Game 1 - Sun April 20 - 76ERS 90 @ PISTONS 86 FINAL
Game 2 - Wed April 23 - 76ERS 88 @ PISTONS 105 FINAL
Game 3 - Fri April 25 - PISTONS 75 @ 76ERS 95 FINAL
Game 4 - Sun April 27 - PISTONS 93 @ 76ERS 84 FINAL
Game 5 - Tue April 29 - 76ERS 81 @ PISTONS 98 FINAL
Game 6 - Thu May 1 - PISTONS 100 @ 76ERS 77 FINAL

REGULAR SEASON SERIES
Tied 2-2
Nov. 23: at Pistons 83, 76ers 78
Jan. 23: Pistons 86 at 76ers 78
Mar. 12: 76ers 83 at Pistons 82
Apr. 9: at 76ers 101, Pistons 94

Projected Starting Lineup



PG - Chauncey Billups
SG - Richard "Rip" Hamilton
SF - Tayshaun Prince
PF - Jason Maxiell
C - Rasheed Wallace

Projected Starting Lineup



PG - Andre Miller
SG - Willie Green
SF - Andre Iguodala
PF - Thaddeus Young
C - Samuel Dalembert

*****************************************************

Philly has made this a series by winning 2 games. Detroit took two games from Philly in their homecourt as did Philly in Detroit. Now the series heads back to Detroit tied a 2-2 and Detroit has their serious game going. Can the Sixers continue to play like they did in game 2 and pull off another upset victory?

[tmorgan]

Dammit stop trying to jinx my team.

[Texas Longhorns]

How am I jinxing your team?

By the way, I'm not superstitious.

[tmorgan]

Who will win Game 5 in a poll? You know darn well 90% of non-Sixer fans are going to pick my Pistons. Every time we don't need a win, we play like garbage. Every time we're supposed to dominate, we look like crap.

Disrespect the Pistons: Flip is a moron! Chauncey is done! Dice is a wuss! Pistons have no bench! The series is tied and the Sixers' best player has done nothing!

Stuff like that would make me feel better.

[Texas Longhorns]

lol I made the poll to make the thread more effective and for people's opinions to be seen. I didn't mean to jinx the Pistons. If it helps, I'm going for the Pistons.

[eyeatoma]

Texas, Thad Young has started all 4 games ahead of Reggie evans...

[Texas Longhorns]

Texas, Thad Young has started all 4 games ahead of Reggie evans...

Thank you for that info my man.

[Cmurda$maka]

wow ummm you might want to re-read that series summary you wrote and make a few corrections.

[Hunter]

Well, 3 game series now with 2 of them in Detroit and game 5 usually as the most critical. We'll see.

IMO if the Pistons lose they still have a slim chance. Wouldn't be the first time they came from 2-3 behind, although obviously the odds would be against them. But IF Philly loses I think they are probably finished.

But who knows. I've given up pretending I have any clue what is going to happen in this series or with the Pistons.

[eyeatoma]

-= original quote snipped =-



Thank you for that info my man.

Anytime...

[Liqourish]

Texas, Thad Young has started all 4 games ahead of Reggie evans...

That's nothing!! Rasheed Wallace has been the starting Center the whole season for the Pistons and yet ESPN and Mr. Longhorns over there still have him and Dice switched.

[tk76]

I asked this right before the last series thread was locked, and got some interesting responses:

A question for Pistons fans-

Prince looks dominant on both ends whenever he plays the Sixers. If he was on a team that needed to rely on him more offensively, what kind of numbers do you think he would put up?

Not that I am advocating a trded, but lets say if his role was reversed and he replaced AIG on the Sixers. He would get a lot more touches, but also be the focal point of opposing defenses.

[Hunter]

I asked this right before the last series thread was locked, and got some interesting responses:

A question for Pistons fans-

Prince looks dominant on both ends whenever he plays the Sixers. If he was on a team that needed to rely on him more offensively, what kind of numbers do you think he would put up?

Not that I am advocating a trded, but lets say if his role was reversed and he replaced AIG on the Sixers. He would get a lot more touches, but also be the focal point of opposing defenses.

Prince is capable of being a 20-22 ppg scorer. But it's important to note that like Sheed or Odom he simply doesn't have that sort of demeanor. You can run your offense through him periodically when you have a mismatch or something, but most of the time he's simply more comfortable as a 3rd option than as a go to guy.

If you put him on a faster paced team like Phx I could easily see him average 18 ppg, even as a 3rd option though similar to what Marion was able to do. He's a great finisher, can handle the ball, post it up and has an OK jumper. Very versatile. But not a dominant personality.

[legacyinthemakin89c]

He can put up 20 ppg easy. The guy knows the game as basketball as well as anyone in the league and defers to the other guys because he thinks thats whats best. You just have to look at all of the games he played when Rip was out. We told him to be more aggressive, to make up for missing Rip, and he responded with probably averaging at least 22 ppg without Rip.

If he was on the Sixers, he would give you someone who is just as good on offense as Iggy, but picks his spots better, and is a better lock down defender. I personally think Prince is the key to us winning any series. I think we only have one loss when he accounts for more then 20 percent of our offense.

[Rasheeed!!!]

I love Prince but he ain't no lock-down defender!

I wish I could accurately predict the performance of this team but those days are long gone.

[tk76]

Prince definitely has been able to lock down Iguodala (with good support behind him.)

As a Philly fan its hard to know what to make of Iguodala's poor play. No one expects hime to be a franchise star like a Kobe or Lebron, but he needs to be a #2 or #3 star like a Ginobli or Josh Howard if this team is to grow into at least an EC contender over the next 3-4 years.

After watching Iguodala improve his offensive effeciency this year (decnt fg%, less TO's, 20 ppg) I was optomistic about AIG's future heading into this series.

I don't know how much of his current issues are correctable and limitted to this series as opposed to a sign of someone who just can't properly channel the increased pressure that comes with the playoffs. At very least he can't be relied upon to be the teams leader when being defended by Tay.

[Liqourish]

A question for Pistons fans-

Prince looks dominant on both ends whenever he plays the Sixers. If he was on a team that needed to rely on him more offensively, what kind of numbers do you think he would put up?

Not that I am advocating a trded, but lets say if his role was reversed and he replaced AIG on the Sixers. He would get a lot more touches, but also be the focal point of opposing defenses.

There was a March 10th article on the Pistons wesbite about this very thing. At that point Tayshaun played 11 games with a starter out and there were some statistics used to dissect this issue.

With every starter starting Tayshaun averaged 12.3 pts 4.6 rebs 3.0 asts on 42% fg (11.2 fga) and 76% ft and the team had a winning percentage of .730.

When a starter sat out, Tayshaun averaged 20.5 pts 5.7 rebs 4.4 asts on 54% fg (14.5 fga) and 83% ft and had a winning percentage of .727.

So not only did Tayshaun step up large... but he played more effeciently across the board (on MORE fga's) and the team won at the same rate thanks to Tay's production.

Now obviously Tayshaun has the benefit of playing on a balanced team so no one player is ever the focal point of the defense. It's how Dumars put this team together. No one knows if Tayshaun could do the same on a team where he would be the go-to guy, but Tay is very underrated because he defers when it benefits the team instead of going for his own personal glory.

Let's not forget the man hasn't missed a game in 5 years.

[tk76]

Those numbers don't lie. I guess there is no way of knowing how he would handle th strain of having to be the man for an entire season, but no doubt that Tay knows how to step up when his number is called.

Can't help but worrying thaty AIG isn't able to similarly raise his game when needed, but I'm not gouing to completely throw him under the bridge after one series (hopefully he will not be needed to be the man as this team continues its rebuild.)

I am still really upbeat about Young, Lou and even Carney and their future. Maybe they are too young to know better, but to their credit they haven't backed down to the challenge. As for the Pistons young guys, its hard to say, since only Maxiel and Stuckey have been give a legit chance to impact this series.

[jab]

^^^^
In addition for those who are into stats

The 'Thin Man' also managed to lead the league in the assists to turnover ratio during the regular season against everyone who was classified as a SF according to ESPN.

[jab]

Those numbers don't lie. I guess there is no way of knowing how he would handle th strain of having to be the man for an entire season, but no doubt that Tay knows how to step up when his number is called.

Can't help but worrying thaty AIG isn't able to similarly raise his game when needed, but I'm not gouing to completely throw him under the bridge after one series (hopefully he will not be needed to be the man as this team continues its rebuild.)

I am still really upbeat about Young, Lou and even Carney and their future. Maybe they are too young to know better, but to their credit they haven't backed down to the challenge. As for the Pistons young guys, its hard to say, since only Maxiel and Stuckey have been give a legit chance to impact this series.

Don't throw Iggy under the bridge. He is the best player on your team and is developing his skills nicely but I hope he does not think he is a genuine #1 option during contract talks this summer. It's sad IMO the way your fans are expecting him to put up 25-5-5 against Tay in this series.

Thanks for noticing that our other youngins aren't getting any burn