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Sports Grumblings -
http://www.sportsgrumblings.com/basketball/articles
Eastern Conference Finals Preview
http://www.sportsgrumblings.com/basketball/articles/articles/125/1/Eastern-Conference-Finals-Preview/Page1.html
Bryan DeArdo
 A journalism major at Ohio State University, Bryan is in his first season with Sports Grumblings, bringing his love of sports to SG's basketball, minor league baseball, and, once finals are out of the way, golf coverage. For those in the Ohio State area, Bryan can be heard regularly on OSU radios sport talk show, Bux on Bux. By Bryan DeArdo
Published on 05/21/2007 |
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| The key for both sides here? LeBron, LeBron, LeBron... |
By defeating the scrappy New Jersey Nets in six games in the divisional round of the 2007 Eastern Conference playoffs, the Cleveland Cavaliers earned a place in the conference final for only the third time in franchise history. Their reward? A showdown with the conference's best team since Jordan's Bulls dawned the floor.
Waiting in the wing are the "Bad Boys", the Detroit Pistons, who defeated a feisty Chicago Bulls team in six games to garner their fifth straight conference final appearance. Cleveland (50-32 regular season, 8-2 playoff mark) took the defending two-time conference champion Pistons to the limit in last year’s second round matchup, before Detroit (53-29 regular season, 8-2 playoff mark) overcame a 3-2 series deficit to advance to the conference finals in seven games.
Cleveland has made vast strides this year, as their supporting cast has helped lift the burden off of their star, LeBron James. Two of those "role players" that have stepped up recently are Drew Gooden and Donyell Marshall. In their series-clinching 88-72 win over the Nets Friday night, Gooden shot eight for 11 from the floor, grabbed seven boards, and finished with 16 points. Marshall was unconscious from three point land, nailing six threes to finish off New Jersey. James was up to his old tricks as well, with 23 points, and eight rebounds and assists apiece. The Cavs also displayed a killer instinct Friday, something that many people doubted they could do after Cleveland squandered two of three games to the Nets after taking an early 2-0 series lead. After moving ahead by 15 points heading into the third quarter, the Cavs went cold, enabling New Jersey to go on a 22-8 tear during the period and getting the game to as close as 61-60. Just when it appeared another Cleveland meltdown was eminent, the Cavs woke up and closed out New Jersey, ending the game on a 27-12 fourth quarter run. The win left Cleveland riding high heading into the third round. "It's big for us," Cavs coach Mike Brown told reporters Friday night on the Cavs moving on. "We're confident and we're up to the challenge (of playing Detroit)."
The team with no lack of confidence is the Pistons, who are a mere four games away from their third NBA Finals appearance of the decade. Detroit stunned the star-studded Los Angeles Lakers in five games back in 2004, as Chauncey Billups became the first player in NBA history to win finals MVP honors before earning a spot on an NBA all-star team. Detroit was on its way to back-to-back titles in 2005 before running into the San Antonio Spurs, who knocked them off in a seven game series classic. Last season, the first under coach Flip Saunders, the Pistons were denied a chance for a third-straight finals showing, losing in the conference finals to the eventual champion Miami Heat. This season, the Pistons have overcome the loss of their former rebounding stud Ben Wallace with Detroit native and seasoned veteran Chris Webber. The key to the Pistons engine belongs in the hands of Billups and fellow guard Richard (Rip) Hamilton. The duo dominated action in the four Detroit wins over Chicago, but struggled in the two losses. Throw in the 7.2 rebounds and intensity of forward Rasheed Wallace, the breakout performance of forward Tayshaun Prince against the Bulls, and a strong bench which includes Antonio McDyess, and one can easily see how Detroit is just four games away from adding on to their already impressive dynasty.
Keys for Detroit: Despite age, losing Ben Wallace this year and coach Larry Brown two years back, the boys from Mo-Town are still the beasts of the east. If Billups and Rip play as well as they did during their previous eight playoff wins, the Pistons should be on cruise control to the finals. These two easily are better then their Cleveland counterparts, Larry Hughes and Sasha Pavlovic. Wallace and Webber have their work cut out for them against Gooden and center Zydrunas Ilgauskas on the boards. Detroit must win this rebounding war to avoid giving LeBron second chance scoring opportunities. Speaking of LeBron, Detroit may try the same scheme New Jersey did in the divisional round. The Nets gave LeBron several different looks on defense, making him more of a passer at times, limiting his drives to the basket. Detroit will also need to contain Hughes on the scoring end, and limit Marshall's momentum-changing three point shots.
Keys for Cleveland: LeBron, LeBron, LeBron! "King" James must be on his game, both scoring and passing, for Cleveland to climb that final mountain to reach the finals, a place the franchise has never been. James doesn't need to average 30 plus points a game in the series, but instead needs to have the most complete performance possible. It will also be up to LeBron's teammates to be active early and often in the series, as Hughes can't afford another 3-18 shooting performance that he had in a game five loss to New Jersey in the previous series. The other main man in Cleveland's attack is Gooden. The former Kansas star has matured immensely this season, and must out-rebound any opponent Detroit throws his way. Transition offense and a lethal outside shot are also pivotal to the Cavs success, as Cleveland must attack Detroit from various parts on the floor to do well against the leagues stingiest defense. The most important component in the series for the Cavs is their role players. Detroit is a very proud team, and will not allow LeBron to single-handedly carry Cleveland to the promise land. Instead, the role players must work in sync with LeBron to survive to see another seven game series.
The skinny: Detroit is the better team inside and out. The players left from the 2005 squad are still teed off at letting that finals get away from them, and are foaming at the mouth to possibly get another chance at a rematch with the Spurs in the finals. This doesn't mean, however, that Detroit will overlook Cleveland, which they almost did a year ago. Detroit will give the Cavs everything they have every game after letting the Bulls force a sixth game after streaking to a 3-0 series lead in the pervious round. An improved Cavs team will match them blow for blow, however, and the series will be an entertaining one until the end. Detroit wins the first two games before Cleveland can blink. LeBron and company rebound at home, winning game three going away. Detroit regains control with a come from behind win in game four, only to see the Cavs stun the Mo-Town crowd with a game five victory to send the series back to Cleveland. Here, the best game of the season is played, with a closing scene of Billups hitting a jumper over LeBron to lift Detroit to victory and a date with the Spurs with the NBA title at steak.
Have a question or comment for Bryan? Send it to bryandeardo@sportsgrumblings.com.
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