kumquatq3

Amen

Oooooo! You got that chicken f***er good Eldar! Whos on the ball? Eldars on the ball. Yes, I am making fun of everyone in this thread!

I thought so to......hey....wadda minute.....

One can dream

IGN NBA Finals Predictions Can the Pistons beat the Lakers? June 03, 2004 - Nobody gives them a chance. Forget Rip, Big Ben, Chauncey, and Sheed. Forget the defense, the hustle, The Prince of the Palace, or even the fact that the last time these two teams met in the Finals, it was The Bad Boys who came out victorious. Sure, it's not the same lineup, The Worm is gone, Isiah runs the Knicks, The Microwave has been off for years, and Joe Dumars (the MVP of that series) is now the man upstairs calling the shots, but history (and especially sports history) has a funny way of repeating itself. Now, I'm not saying the Pistons are going to win. What I'm saying is they have a chance. The only chance the East had at even winning a few games. But can they win four? One thing's for sure: I believe this is going to be a lot more competitive of a series than most people think. The key matchups are definitely going to be Rip Hamilton versus Kobe Bryant and the four-headed monster of centers going up against Shaq. If Kobe can out-muscle and post up on Rip, it's going to be hard for Hamilton to stop him, although I think Prince has a good chance at containment. But if Rip can continue to do his best Reggie Miller impersonation, run through screens, and generally run Kobe out of breath, will we see a less effective Bryant in the fourth? At the same time, the Pistons have the big bodies to battle Shaq, from the Wallace brothers to Elden Campbell and Mehmet Okur, but none of them are a true center, the type that will make Shaq work on defense, leaving Diesel open to freelance underneath, and that's bad news for anybody in blue driving toward the basket. Who knows, Darko is a seven-footer with six fouls, so we might even see the kid who's now only known as the man the Pistons took instead of Melo out there trying to make a difference. Could be interesting to see how the youngster handles the pressure, if Brown chooses to use him, that is. But the other key, the matchup that people might not think about is Chauncey Billups versus Gary Payton. Payton has shown in these playoffs that he is far past his prime, and I think this could be an area that enables Chauncey to light it up from beyond the arc. Unfortunately, though, I just don't think it will be enough. The Lakers have four future Hall of Famers, momentum, and home court advantage on their side. Looks like Los Angeles in six. But that's just my opinion. For our true scientific study of Man vs. Machine, we consulted the top basketball simulators to see who they have winning the Finals. Here's what is going to happen according to NBA Live 2004 and ESPN NBA Basketball. Maybe Detroit has a chance after all. ESPN NBA Basketball: The Pistons win in seven games as Chauncey Billups goes nuts, scoring 21 PPG, while Rip nets 15, Ben Wallace goes for 13 PPG and 12 RPG, and Rasheed Wallace eats Karl Malone for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, sinking 18 PPG while holding the Mailman to only 6 PPG. Remember the famous Scottie Pippen line from the Bulls/Jazz Finals: "The Mailman doesn't deliver on Sundays". Looks like the Lakers can expect the same, losing game 1, 4, and 7 (all Sundays), getting upset in the final game 93-90 on their home court. If only the Pistons can score 93 points in real life, the ESPN might be on to something. NBA Live 2004: EA loves L.A., and the series simulation shows just how much as the Lakers take the title in only five games. Shaq and Kobe take charge of the series while Payton and Malone add just enough extra punch (and I'm not talking the kind that knocked Darrick Martin silly) to end the Pistons' run. Rip gets locked-up by Kobe, only hitting 11 PPG, while the team of Wallace and Wallace down low can't stop the man with the Superman logo on his arm. Sounds a lot like the last time Larry Brown took a team to the Finals against the Lakers. Talk about history repeating itself. Find out which prediction is right as the NBA Finals start this Sunday on ABC. Here's a rundown of the schedule: Detroit at L.A.: Sunday 6/6, 9:00PM EST Detroit at L.A.: Tuesday 6/8, 9:00PM EST L.A. at Detroit: Thursday 6/10, 9:00PM EST L.A. at Detroit: Sunday 6/13, 9:00PM EST L.A. at Detroit: Tuesday 6/15, 9:00PM EST (if necessary) Detroit at L.A.: Thursday 6/17, 9:00PM EST (if necessary) Detroit at L.A.: Sunday 6/20, 9:00PM EST (if necessary)

I'd put Mehmet Okur on Shaq alot. He is the second biggest player they have (minus darko), and the guy can shoot. That will, hopefully, take Shaq away from the basket and clear the lane. think how different this might be had Detroit drafted Carmello (sp?)

eh, we would all talk about FO with in 15 minutes anyways

the man tries to help you out with your crayon problem and this is the thanks he gets I'm betting its Herpes

I'd like to meet a whole bunch of people here, at the same time, I'm afraid of a bunch of people here.

Darth Nards innards!

Detroit. If they had another true center, I'd say they had a shot

besides my first fight ever against Malak, it was easy, and malak wasn't hard so much as tedious.

say that after you play 15 hours stright of Golden Eye with a hang nail <_<

Do a smell a Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi mini game???

yea, they also booooed cup-check for congradulating the wolves. Class. Anyways, anyone remember those Johnny Kilroy commercials that Nike aired a lonnnnng time ago? I think the pistons picked him up.

I know Chu's planning something, just get it over with damn you! were is saeger and shaq damn it

Well, go Detroit! I can't wait till the Lakers fans get the score paged to them on their cell phones, their gonna be so happy

wow, trying RUNNING up the floor guys!

seriously, they better buy that guy mcdonalds after the game or something

man, he hasn't missed a 3!

Are you sure he threw him down, or is Madsen another victum of the "many bodies fly away from Shaq from time to time" syndrome? I suppose it wasn't a throw done, so much as jump on his back down anyways, good good game

HE JUST THREW MADSEN DOWN! No call! Even the announcer commented.....o man

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

If they can just get 5 on shaq, sit him down for the rest of the quarter

welcome to the fray Arkan