 Klask |
Last year both of these teams battled for seven games before the Pistons advanced to its second straight NBA Finals. A lot of people thought that if Dwyane Wade had never been injured late in that series that the Heat would have represented the Eastern Conference. Regardless, Pat Riley re-tooled this offseason and is about to find out if his moves can put the Heat over the top with a hungry Pistons team looking to lay claim to its second NBA title in three years.
Tayshaun is more versatile on both sides of the ball. He can guard multiple players. He can score inside and out, make plays for others, and is a little more consistent, mostly because he has better shot selection. As far as Antoine, he has been playing better lately. In Game 5 of the New Jersey series he was matched up against Vince Carter, which was actually easy for him. In this series, he is going against guys like Tayshaun, and if Miami goes small, then he goes against both Wallaces -- Rasheed and Ben. These are tough, imposing defenders, so he isn’t going to have his freedom like he did in the last series.
Edge: Prince
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Hamilton struggles when forced to take more than two dribbles.
Allen Einstein/NBAE/Getty Images |
Rasheed is the most critical player on the Pistons, allowing for so much more floor spacing because of his ability to shoot. Usually the defense would make the rotations maybe three to four feet to a regular power forward, but because of him, they have to extend the rotations to six or seven feet. And Rasheed can do it inside and out, and he can defend the four or five consistently, although he is still feeling the lingering effects of a sprained right ankle. Udonis is a great energy player who plays really hard, but his skill level is not where Rasheed’s is. "UD" basically feeds off other players to be effective, whereas Rasheed can make plays for himself.
Edge: Wallace
If there is any player in the league that defends Shaq better than Ben, I haven’t seen him yet. The biggest thing about Ben is he is willing to take the punishment. He can basically play with head gear on and try to draw as many offensive fouls as he can. He does a great job of staying on Shaq’s left shoulder -- I would say 85 percent of the time Shaq wants to go over his left shoulder for his jump hook. The other good thing about Ben is he does a lot of his work before Shaq even catches it, so Shaq can’t really gain momentum. Once he gets moving, he is like a glacier. There are not many things that are going to stop him. On the flip side of that, Shaq can still dominate when he is motivated and active. As the saying goes, he is “the most impenetrable force in the league.” I’ve seen stretches this year when Miami has played against Detroit where Shaq has been his old self and really dominated. When it comes to Shaq defending Ben, it’s nice because Shaq gets to rest. He can stay home somewhat because Ben isn’t involved with a lot of flip sets. Miami has been off since May 16, which definitely helps because of Shaq’s age. Since Riley took over, their whole game plan has been to go to Shaq a ton early because he is freshest in the first. In their second meeting of the season, Shaq had 12 points in the first quarter.
Edge: Shaq
Wade is unbelievable in what he can do with the ball. He is definitely a top 10 player in the league. He can do it with the ball and without the ball coming off the screen. He is more explosive than Rip offensively, which makes the defense have to react more than when defending Rip. But Rip is also a pretty good and underrated defender who really takes pride in defending Wade. One of the nice things, though, is that Detroit can throw multiple players at Wade and guard him with some life. On the other side of that, Wade doesn’t take too much pride in his defense. He can play it when he wants to, but he is fixated a little more on the offensive end and he can lose his man off screens. Riley made a great adjustment the last time they played by having Wade guard Chauncey. It was just less movement and he didn’t have to do as much. When you defend a guy that has the ball, like Chauncey, you don’t have to worry about your help or who has backdoor or all this other stuff because you are fixed on your man who has the ball. Rip is definitely going to have to step up on the offensive end. He is really good in transition and really good at the catch and shoot. But he is a two-dribble-move guy. Any time he takes more than two dribbles, tries to back a guy down or tries to make something that’s not there, he really struggles.
Edge: Wade
They should put the AC title on Chauncey because he is basically an assistant coach out there. Call him Joe Montana or whatever you want to call him, but he calms everybody. The heart of the Pistons is Ben Wallace, the emotion of the team is Rasheed, but the head is Chauncey. When he wants to, he can hit tough shots with people in his face, he can drive and he can post against almost any guard in this league. The other thing about Chauncey, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him make two consecutive mistakes in a game. If he does something wrong, he is going to correct it. He always plays within himself. You rarely see him do things out of character. And plus he has the experience of clutch, critical moments. He will let everybody else get involved in the first three quarters, but when you need Mr. Chauncey to step up, he usually does. Chauncey and Flip have a really good relationship where Flip will just let him call the plays as he sees fit. Who is better to call it than the people out there and I think Chauncey really enjoys that aside from the Larry Brown thing, where Brown would just call every play to him.
Nothing against the Miami point guards, but Chauncey is at a different level. Jason is good, but he is also sporadic, so you have to live with some of his erratic play. As many plays as he’ll make, he’ll break. I’ve actually been impressed with Gary Payton in the latter half of the season. He really stepped up his intensity on both ends. But I think what happens with him sometimes is he still wants to be that third guy and still get some of the spotlight, which can cause him to try to make plays he probably shouldn’t try to make. The other thing, too, is that Chauncey can struggle in the individual defense. Quicker and more aggressive point guards give him trouble defensively. So, if Jason can start hot and put some pressure on Chauncey, it could change the nature of the game.
Edge: Billups
The Pistons have some specialists off the bench. Lindsey Hunter can come in and really lock down any one or two. He does a really good job on Dwyane Wade, bothering him in the past, and he takes pride in his ability to alter the tempo of the game. When he gets into the game, the Pistons can press, trap, and run some different zones. McDyess can come in and go 5-7 in a series of five minutes, and they run plays for Antonio to get those shots. He is actually another underrated defender and another body they can throw at Shaq. He is agile and athletic enough to get out to the perimeter to guard any smaller fours. Tony Delk is a certified scorer. He can shoot, come off the bench and fill it up. Maurice Evans, early in the year in limited minutes, was another big body to throw at Dwyane Wade. Dwyane can sometimes struggle against bigger players.
The Heat bench has some energy in Alonzo, but a lot of their bench players are older veterans that I don’t think have the athleticism to cope with the Pistons. Michael Doleac is a great role player, Shandon Anderson is another hustle guy, but James Posey has been the biggest disappointment of all the offseason moves. Two years ago with Memphis, he was the critical part of that team, and now he has been relegated to just a defender and spot up shooter. And in the past, he could slash, he could post up, he was defending quality twos and threes and locking people down. I don’t know if he’s injured or what, but it’s not the same Posey.
Edge: Detroit
Riley has been in more big games throughout his career as a player and coach. You can’t take that experience away. Flip is also a great coach who won in the CBA and the NBA. Contrasting their styles, Riley can really motivate guys and it’s almost like having a world renowned professor in your classroom. You’re going to listen. Flip is more of a player’s type coach where he can orchestrate things, but he’s not going to put restraints on you. He is going to let you play, let you feel some things out. As far as special situations, Riley and Flip are very good. X’s and O’s are somewhat even. Miami’s play calling is somewhat simple: The Heat want to give the ball to Shaq early and give him room to operate. If all these other teams had Shaq, they would be running all the stuff that Riley is doing. Flip does have some innovative stuff, but he has versatile components that fit into that. If McDyess is in there, he has five guys that can shoot, post or drive. Flip can do a lot of things that other teams can’t do, and he does it very well.
Edge: Riley
Miami has the experience but they have aging veterans. Detroit is too tough, too athletic and too long. They have the luxury of not having to double team Shaq, allowing them to stay out on all the other players. They don’t have to have so many rotations out of a double team or mismatches or miscommunications. It just lowers the probability of error. And they can throw four bodies at Shaq, which is the key. Plus they have the homecourt advantage.
Prediction: Pistons in seven
Offense:
- Make Chauncey defend.
- Find your consistent third scorer. Walker is better with the first unit to feed off of others and space the floor. Now you're not forcing him to make plays because there are other people on the court more than capable.
- Need a Llad going into the fourth quarter. Detroit -- aside from the Cleveland series -- is great in the fourth.
- Prepare for press & half-court traps -- especially when Hunter comes in.
Defense:
- Must have ball pressure on the QB. Can not allow Billups to pick you apart. Especially vs. a good lob, slip team like Detroit.
- Limit Detroit to single-shot possessions. Can not allow the shot clock to reset
- Guard the arc. Detroit is a Perimeter shooting team. Force Rasheed and Chauncey to drive and finish.
Shaquille O'Neal:
- Can’t get cheap fouls
Offense:
- Can’t settle for outside shots only. They must mix it up and use Billups off the ball.
- Rasheed must mix up his game inside and out.
Defense:
- Five players attend to Wade’s catch. Force Wade to shoot jumpers.
- Can not afford to relax. Must give consistent effort. They do not want to give Miami’s non-core players any confidence.
Miami: Haslem needs to be active and effective. He is always the former, but seldom the latter. He needs to be solid and consistent. Their big three can score but somebody can step up. Plus Haslem must defend Detroit’s "MCP" -- Most Critical Player -- Rasheed. And if Haslem can get Rasheed into foul trouble, he might lose his focus which could lead to a technical foul or an ejection.
Detroit: Hunter. Can he lock down Wade on a consistent basis while giving a little offense on the other end?
Intangibles: Home Court. Detroit has the best fans in the world -- sorry Miami, you can keep the hottest dancers award, but Detroit has a few Larry’s ... O’Brien.
Foul Trouble. Who can play the most aggressive defense without fouling? With 62 percent of Miami’s production coming from Wade and Shaq they must preserve their court time.
Charles Klask is an advance scout for the Orlando Magic, holding the position the last three seasons after spending the previous three as a video scout. Prior to joining the Magic, Klask spent one season with the WNBA's Detroit Shock in the role of video coordinator.
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