Back at Zero

So, it's now a best of three series with the Pistons still having home court. On paper, you have to still give them the edge. That having been said, if the Cavs haven't earned their respect at this point, the Cavs will beat them in this series. I never thought I'd sing the praises of Charles Barkley, but he seems to have finally been convinced of this. When asked post-game about what he would take away from the two games in Cleveland, he said something to the effect of: you can't take anything away, because the Cavs should be up 3-1 or should have swept. They have outplayed Detroit in all four games, but just couldn't finish games 1 and 2, but were able to finish at home.

So, what does this mean? Are the Pistons still disinterested and not playing their A-game? I would agree that the Pistons haven't fired on all cylanders (ha!) yet, but some credit has to go to the Cavs' defense for this. Billups was second in the league in the regular season in assist-to-turnover ratio, and now he's got 16 assists and 22 turnovers in four games? He looked positively rattled in the fourth quarter last night, which is uncharactistic of him.

So, using that as a thumbnail sketch for the entire series, is it that the Pistons just aren't playing up to their potential (whether it be for lack of respect or concern for the threat the Cavs pose, or what have you)? Or, could it be that the Cavs are actually frustrating them just a bit? To me, it's not a coincidence that the Cavs have had considerable leads at some point in all 4 games, and the Pistons' biggest lead at any point in the series has only been 5 points. For a team that most claim can just "turn it on whenever they feel like it" against an "inferior" team like Cleveland, they sure seem to be struggling to do so. If the Pistons don't believe they're in a good, close, tight series yet, then they're ripe to get beat. And I, for one, would really enjoy seeing that.

In my head, I still think Pistons probably win in 7, as I truly think both teams hold serve at home the rest of the way. But, if the Cavs can put it together on Thursday night in Detroit, all bets are off. I don't think the Pistons can just put it together and muster wins in both games 6 and 7 like they did last year if the Cavs again can win game 5 on the road. We shall see.

Highlights from Tuesday night for me were:

• Getting inside Rasheed's head. Gooden made a good foul on him (a little rough, but fuck Rasheed if he can't handle it - there's just no way you can let him go up for an and-1 there, so I think Drew did a good job), though at the time I was nervous (as Lars pointed out, it could have been a flagrant with 2 shots and the ball). Somehow it seemed to fire up Drew and fluster Sheed (who later got T'ed up for yelling at Rip and throwing his headband, which was hilarious to me).
  To my reader(s): please tell me you all saw the repeated coverage of Sheed in the tunnel throwing his jersey in disgust and drilling an assistant coach in the face. It was priceless!
  
  Plus, Windhorst says in his blog this morning that he heard from a reliable source that the Pistons are having "chemistry problems in the locker room right now." Could the armor be cracked just a bit?


• James' fade-away/step-back J late in the fourth quarter. How demoralizing to play great defense for an entire possession only to have that shit dropped on you.


• LeBron nailing his free throws in the crunch, AND not letting Rip Hamilton get in his ear. While it wasn't a big push or anything, LeBron shoving Rip out of the way and maintaining his focus--to me, anyway--was huge. After having his clutch abilities and focus questioned ad nauseum after the first two games, it was nice to see both on display again in game 4. You know Gilbert Arenas was watching, too.


• This isn't really a moment, but how can you quantify how good Daniel "Boobie" Gibson was last night?? I don't know if they can have him start or not in game 5 (which will depend on how gimpy Hughes is going forward), but he showed the team's only willingness to drive consistently. I know he's not Hughes on defense (but probably as good or better than Gimpy Hughes, in all honesty, and did take an very important charge on Billups late in the fourth quarter), but he got to the line 12 times.
  If he can consistently make foul shots and get calls on their bigs, he's GOT to play more the rest of the series. I honestly can say that, for a rookie who's 21 and playing in the biggest series in franchise history, he's surprisingly calm. Something the Cavs need when they inevitably gag on their breakfast in the third quarter each night.


• More on Gibson: he looked calm and aggressive. He was driving right at Webber and Wallace and getting them up in the air to get the calls. He showed some touch on mid-range shots (he did a sweet step-and-fade-away shot that looked just like that shit that Billups and Hamilton do, and it was positively beautiful). It was like Gibson saw what was working, and kept doing it until Detroit stopped it (ahem, LeBron). He was making his free throws, so he kept going at them and getting more. He scored like 9 or 10 straight points at one point in the second quarter, and it just kind of snowballed for the team. He really got the crowd into the game, too, which was huge. Like I said above, I don't know if you can start Gibson in game 5 (think Varejao in last years' playoffs... his role off the bench was perfect) and put too many minutes on him, but Boobie played like 30 minutes last night and more than held his own.

This sets up a positively HUGE game 5 on Thursday night. More importantly, these last two games have energized a city and fan base to the point they haven't been since October of 1997 for the Tribe, and more specifically, than they've ever been for this franchise (you could argue the 1992 conference finals, but there was no way they were getting past Jordan in his prime). Cleveland fans CARE, and if this team could somehow get past the Pistons, it would be a huge weight off the shoulders of a fan base that generally collectively sits and waits to inevitably lose in some heart-wrenching fashion (for this team, think game 6 last year when they just *couldn't* get a rebound to save their lives).

I'm not saying they'll win. I'll say again, I still think this series is the Pistons' to lose, since they have home court. But, the Cavs (and their fans, really, as well) have gone from "just happy to have taken the next step this year and to be here in the conference finals" to honestly feeling like they have a shot (I'm reflecting my own feeling back, here, obviously).

I will again defer to Windhorst:

In the fourth quarter [last night], there was 21-year-old Gibson, 22-year-old James, and 23-year-old Sasha Pavlovic out there making plays. While the Pistons have the experience advantage and have been together longer, you can see the Cavs core for years to come developing. Not to mention Drew Gooden is just 26, Anderson Varejao 24 and Larry Hughes 28. It is said in the NBA, you win with men. The Pistons have men, but the Cavs have young guys who are turning into men.

Indeed.