Just 2 seasons ago, as Kobe, Shaq and Phil Jackson defeated their 3rd straight Eastern Conference opponent on their way to their 3rd straight NBA Title, they must have thought how easy winning the NBA Finals was. Not any more.
And by getting so utterly out-played, as the Lakers were, by a team that have had 1 participant in the past 3 All-Star games, has not just affected the players emotionally, it’s already resulted in the breakup of the Laker dynasty. Phil Jackson has resigned, Kobe Bryant claims he’ll opt out of his contract, and Shaq is asking to be traded. Oh yes, it’s going to be a summer of upheaval in Los Angeles.
But winning? There?s nothing like it. Just ask the upstart Detroit Pistons, the 2003/2004 NBA Champions.
Three things will define the Detroit Pistons impressive, professional and, yes, unexpected run to the title in 2004;
1. GM Joe Dumars? decision last summer to dump the eminently successful Rick Carlisle as coach the moment Larry Brown became available.
2. The willingness of Atlanta and Boston to participate in the mid-season trade which added Rasheed Wallace to the Pistons? lineup without the cost of anything more than a late first round draft pick.
3. The mature, balanced and confident way the players performed, on both ends, throughout the Playoffs, and in particular the Finals.
Ever since the Grant Hill era re-ignited basketball success in the Motor City some 10 years ago, the Pistons have been a competent playoff-calibre team. They make trades, they add talent, they change coaches, they win games. But they never actually, legitimately, contend.
But in the space of 12 months, the same team that got swept out of the 2nd round of playoffs last season (and, it should be remembered, deserved to be defeated in the first round by the 8th-seeded Orlando Magic) are now the undisputed NBA Champions.
The Pistons won 54 regular season games this season, most of them by virtue of their overwhelmingly dominant team defense, which was such an obvious strength it had the added benefit of disguising the fact their offense was balanced, competent and reliable. And it wasn?t just opposition scouts and coaches who were fooled – the first (and sometimes only) thing any fan or media ‘expert’ would mention about the Pistons was their defense.
Except. Except here where the following statement opened Desipio?s GameCast of the Pistons 2nd round encounter against the Nets;
That’s the thing about this iteration of the Pistons – they can score, too.
In the first round against the Bucks, they averaged 98.2 points.
If they want to win 99-88, they will. If they want to win 77-66, they can do that, too.
Or here, during Desipio?s 2004 Playoff Preview;
Under Larry Brown’s watchful eye, this season’s Pistons team isn’t that much better defensively than its 2003 counterpart, but they’re now a much more well-rounded unit on the offensive end, capable of out-scoring opponents when they have to, although they obviously prefer 83-71 victories.
Despite the fact the author of both these statements obviously couldn’t agree with himself over which scorelines the Pistons prefer to engineer, it’s clear the offensive talents of this team were on the record. However, this is not to say that Detriot?s 5-game demolition of the Lakers this week wasn?t a surprise. It was. LA came in to the Finals with simultaneous momentum and rest, having a couple of days to re-group after overcoming the Spurs and TWolves in consecutive weeks; plus, they had the overwhelming Super-Star Factor.
But both on-paper and in real life, the Pistons matched up well with their Tinsel-town opponents. LA may have been favourites, but Detroit were deeper, younger and had the perfect one-on-one matchups to just just defend, but to exploit, Shaq and Kobe.
As it would turn out, niether Kobe nor Shaq were disgraced by their individual performances throughout the 2004 NBA Finals, but they weren?t dominant either. Shaq did average 27 points and 11 boards, shooting 63% from the floor and just 49% from the line, whilst Kobe put up 23 points in 46 minutes per game, shooting 38% from the field with 3 rebounds and 4? assists. Both players were significant factors and constant threats, yet it was more the insipid contributions from two players who were expected to be far more energised, certainly not enervated, by their presence in the NBA Finals who cost the Lakers this series.
Gary DeWayne Payton averaged 4 points on 32% shooting, and has less assists per game than Luke Walton. Karl Eugene Malone averaged 5 points and 7 rebounds, shooting 33% from the field and wasn’t even able to suit up for game 5. For all you kids who wondered why one of the game?s greatest ever power forwards had never won a ring, here?s your reason. As dominant as the Mailman has been over his awesome career, he has never stood up when it counted.
Phil Jackson came into his 10th NBA Finals knowing how to win. The 2003/04 Lakers were a team built with old bricks ? he knew that. The team?s mid-season injury struggles confirmed it. And although the Lakers seemed to struggle at times in the early rounds against Houston and the first 2 games against the Spurs, the aura around the team suggested these were mere signs of greatness overcoming advsersity, not of weakness or, ultimately, ineptitude.
But Detroit knew better. Detroit came in with a gameplan designed to attack the Lakers? strengths as well as their weaknesses. Detroit weren?t afraid.
In game 1, the Pistons were so dynamic they made the Lakers and their style of play seem tired and syncopated on their way to a 12-point victory going away. Shaq and Kobe made 23 of the Lakers’ 29 field goals. And 9 of their 15 turnovers. LA?s bench scored just 4 total points. For Detroit, this victory gave them even more confidence than they already had ? they players suddenly found Larry Brown?s continuous exhortations were actually true; the Lakers could indeed be beaten. The Pistons’ D was perfect from the start, and, by the end, the Lakers were showing rare signs of frustration. Chauncey Billups scored 22 points to lead a balanced attack that LA simply couldn?t shut down. Rasheed Wallace had 14 and 8 in 29 minutes, missing just 1 shot from the field, the line and the arc combined.
For game 2, the Lakers hit back, as everyone knew they would. In other circumstances, against other opponents, their extra-ordinary OT win may alone have broken the back of any resistance. Detroit should have won the game. They would have been 2-0 up going back home. They could have been devastated. But they, paradoxically, took more confidence from the loss than LA took from the win. The Pistons had confirmed to themselves they were the better team. Kobe hit his amazing 3 to tie the game, as he and Shaq combined for 62 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, and Walton was a surprise factor off the bench. Yet Detroit, who had lead by 6 with 40 seconds to play, weren?t gutted by the Lakers? astonishing comeback. They had taken Payton and Malone out of the game once again, and Billups and Rip Hamilton had both been nigh unguardable for most of the night. With the next 3 games at home and LA?s blood in the water, hindsight shows it could hardly have been better for them.
Game 3?s are always pivotal, and this one was no different. At 1 and 1, any NBA Finals can go either way, but despite their improbable game 2 victory, the Lakers didn?t play like a team with the swagger they were entitled, and expected, to have. Detroit scored on the first play of the game, lead 8-0 after 3 minutes, and won by 20. There was still a looong way to go in the series, but all of a sudden the Lakers had the look of a team already defeated. Phil Jackson had seen that look before, but just about never on the faces in his own locker-room. That LA weren?t able to come back from this says a lot about not just the mental state of his players, but also the boundless confidence on the Pistons’ side. They refused to doubt, playing loose and simply out-efforting the Lakers. Game 3 was Hamilton?s turn to carry the offense, scoring 31 points on 11-22 shooting, while Shaq and Kobe scored 25. Combined.
At this point, even Larry Brown admitted he was shocked, leading 2 games to 1 and comprehensively outplaying the Lakers in 8 of the 12 quarters so far. But he wasn?t about to let up the Pistons’ attack, which, on both ends, just kept on wresting the initiative away from the Lakers in each of the previous games. Game 4, after 2 full days rest, had a different feel, but the result was the same, an emphatic Detroit win behind a manic 22,000 strong crowd. Sheed exploded for 26 points, and despite dominating Ben Wallace for the first time all series, Shaq was more intent on arguing with his teammates than attacking his opponents by the end of the game.
And so, upon looking back, Detroit?s win in game 5 was a mere formality. The Pistons had stolen the tempo of the series in the first game, held onto it in game 2 and game 4, and now the Lakers were never going to get it back. Down by 10 points at halftime, the Lakers were abject in their normally superior 3rd quarter, giving up a 17-4 run that sealed their fate, and the Pistons? amazing victory. All Detroit?s starters scored in double-figures, and with 2 minutes to play, Hamilton made their 100th point of the night, a testament to the offensive ability of this defensively styled team.
This win, it?s a vindication to Dumars, and to Brown, and to the professionalism, team-work and efforts of their players, who came together from all ends of the NBA spectrum; from the undrafted Ben Wallace to the former 1st overall pick Corliss Williamson, the veteran Elden Campbell to the rookie Darko Milicic. When you?re part of a team like this, you?re part of something special.
And the 2003/2004 NBA Champion Detroit Pistons have been partying ever since, partying like it?s 1989.
Nice work. But can I say I’m not thrilled about using our former statements to prove we were right on things?
That could be because I’m a dope and going back through past columns only proves how wrong I was?
Nah.
Am I alone in wondering if the main reason for the breakup of the Bulls in ’98 and the Lakers this summer is Phil? He’s a gret coach, but…and you knew there’d be a but…when he knows he’s leaving he seems to do what he can to convince the principals that the situation is FUBAR and that they should get out, too.
He got Jordan to say he only wanted to play for Phil (only to come back later to play for Doug), he got Scottie to want out at all costs and Dennis was already nuts. Now he seems to have convinced Shaq that he should demand it’s him or Kobe.
Maybe it’s a coincidence.
Or maybe he’s just an ass. A good coach. But an ass.
This morning/last night on SportsCenter, the talking heads were commenting that perhaps Phil isn’t as good as everyone says. Rather, they were saying, he may just be lucky to get guys to play well without too much coaching ability. Whatever.
There must be a name for the phenomenon that takes place when a person leaves a company and attempts to make other (important) staff leave at the same time.
So often, the exiting employee will bad-mouth the organisation and/or encourage others to leave, in an attempt to (possibly sub-consciously) increase the appearance of their own importance to the successful functioning of the operation.
"The place fell apart after I left", that’s what many people, for reasons reflecting their own worth, want to be able to say. Or at least feel.
And Phil Jackson is quite entitiled to say that about the post-1998 Bulls.
I’m the need to make everyone else as miserable as you are. That’s probably close.
Do coaches become great as a result of being there when superstar players win championships?
Or, do great coaches make the difference when any of the game’s many superstars achieve title success?
First of all, I did a pretty good of spelling schadenfreude from memory. (Pats self on back).
Secondly, everybody says Larry Brown outcoached Phil in the Finals last week. But if you gave Phil the Pistons he’d have beaten the Lakers.
All you have to do to see if Phil could coach is to remember back to the ’93-’94 Bulls who won 55 games without MJ.
Phil’s a jerk, and he’s pompous, but he didn’t win nine titles by accident. He’s one of, if not the best coaches ever.
Pat Riley never won a title without Magic, and that doesn’t make him a moran.
Phil Jackson is the Joe Torre of basketball.
If he ever won a championship when he DIDN’T have the Game’s Greatest Player, like he did with the Bulls, or the Two Best In The Game, like he did in LA, I’d be impressed.
So, forklift, does Rudy T impress you?
He had Hakeem, the best player in the game in 1994 and 1995.
How about Gregg Popovich?
Tim Duncan, 1999, and 2003. Easily the best player in the game.
Do you think much of KC Jones or Pat Riley? Who was better than Bird or Magic back then?
Do you laugh down at your sleeve at Red Auerbach? Or sneer at Bill Russell?
You win with players. Silly me, but I prefer watching the Spurs, Timberwolves, Pistons and Lakers over the teams that don’t have the best players in the game.
And it’s "schadenfreude," by the way.
Fuck all this NBA shit…we’ve been kicking asses and taking names for the last 10 days. Time to go to St. Louis to get back what’s ours…first place.
Now that Larry Brown is off the list, who’s the greatest NBA Coach who hasn’t won a Championship?
Rightly or wrongly, like it is with players, Greatness = Rings, and vice versa.
Oh, and for the record, I wasn’t quoting my former statements to prove I had predicted the Pistons to win. I picked LA, and I lost money on them. But Detroit’s offensive prowess in the Finals wasn’t, and shouldn’t have been, a surprise.
Has Chris Ford ever one a championship as a coach?
He’s gotta be at the top of my list.
Either him or Alvin Gentry.
A guy in my fantasy league won a hundred and fifty bucks betting on the Pistons. I wish I’d laid some money down on the Lakers beating San Antonio, I STILL don’t know how they pulled that one off.
ahem!
ahem, ahem!
What about Bob Weiss?
PJ Carlesimo, perhaps?
Don’t I get any respect?
No.
In my 20 games as San Antonio Spurs head coach, we never won a title.
Man?
In my pants.
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