It's not too late. Play Drive to the Finals Now!
By Rob Peterson
May 25 - Pardon me for a moment.
Ahem!
Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggg
ggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Again, sorry for my primal scream, but that's how I felt this morning when it came to making a decision for tonight's Game 2 between the Miami Heat and Detroit Pistons (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Seriously, I looked at what we had left (plenty of big guns on both teams), looked at where the series stood (Miami leads 1-0) and where the series is going (Really, who the hell knows?).
And that last thought (where is the series going...) weighed heaviest upon my thoughts.
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May 24 -- So, whom to pick?
Initially, my gut said: Pick Ben Wallace.
Then my brain tried to figure out a way to justify my gut: Yeah, that's a safe pick. He had a 23 PRA in Game 1, complete with 14 boards. He could do that again, 14 boards. He could. Then, I shared said sentiments with another expert, Jon Loomer.
From three floors above me, I heard Loomer do a spit take. I feel bad for his Dell.
After wiping the half-caf, double-vente-latte, whipped mocha frappucino tazo Kenyan blend off his screen he responded:
Loomer: Billups.
Me: Huh?
Loomer: Yeah, Chauncey.
Me: But what if the Pistons go to The Finals? You know Chauncey's gonna have a massive game in The Finals.
Loomer: But what if the Pistons get swept. You would want to use Chauncey before you used Ben.
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"Rip, can you live up to the 'experts'' expectations?"
Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images |
Me: Yeah, if the Pistons go down 2-0, then I'll use Chauncey.
Then, came the coup de grace.
Loomer: We are gambling. If the Pistons win this series, we are outta luck in the Finals. If you pick Ben and the Pistons advance, you'll end up using Billups this series or in the Finals anyway. If you use Billups and the Pistons advance, you'll end up using Ben eventually. If you use Ben and the Heat sweep, you would have made sure to use Billups before the series ended. However, if you use Billups now and the Heat sweep, it is very possible that you'd prefer never to use Ben. The point being, the only way you have a regret is if you pick Ben. If you pick Billups, it's a no lose. But, like I said, that was assuming we still had Prince. Now, if we take a Piston and the Pistons win the series, we are left with very little for the Finals (we won't have anything left out West).
My response to that:
Me: I'm hungry. Meet me in the cafeteria.
It was there in the NBA Entertainment cafeteria that we actually made hay of what Loomer previously IMed me. We talked. We explained. We rationalized. We thought. We talked some more.
And a decision was made: Richard Hamilton.
We could explain how we came to that conclusion (if the Pistons do go to The Finals, Chauncey will go off sometime, if they meet the Suns, Ben Wallace will have a big day some game with all the boards that'll be available, we can't choose Rasheed either because one, he's nuts and two, he could also have a big game), but that would take too long.
Allow me to simplify. We all (another expert, Jeff Dengate also participated) thought we need to take a Piston tonight. We needed someone who needs to have a big game. Rip needs to go off. We're hoping he does it tonight.
It would definitely help.
After the cafeteria conversation, Jeff (who's leading our league with 1031 points, just outside the overall Top 50) said: See, that's why this game is great.
Finally, something on which we could all agree.
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