for the Lakers, GP and Malone are old and not putting up numbers. Lakers were close to an extended series against Houston, needed a miracle shot against the Spurs to avoid a game 7 that they likely would have lost, and got the benefit of playing the Wolves who were missing both point guards yet still needed 6 games and favorable refs to close them out. Without a 5 days to 1 rest advantage for game 1 they again might have been forced to a game 7 on the other team's court. The Lakers have been VERY lucky so far, which their fans keep confusing for "continued dominance". This team has been inconsistent all year, a couple of strong spurts are what made their season, along with Sacramento's late collapse which gave LA a better draw.
In this series Detroit has everyone healthy and Larry Brown is the superior coach. He did what Phil Saunders should have done in the Western Conference finals, played Shaq 1 on 1, conceding his points/rebounds but allowing his defense to work hard on the other players. This is the way to beat L.A. when Shaq is having a dominant night which he did.
Good news for Detroit - Hamilton didn't score, and Shaq hit a lot of free throws and they still won. Don't expect either of these trends to continue. Detroit has a better D and plays their own scheme better.
LA has basically abandoned the triangle due to GP's complaining and the ineffectiveness of their set offense as a result of this is telling. They win when their perimeter shooters get hot and the double-downs on Shaq open them up. But Rush and Fischer can't start canning repeated 3's like they did against San Antonio and Minnesota if there is no double on Shaq, because they will be guarded much more closely.
Larry Brown has brought a much better team to this final than he did with Philadelphia, while LA has brought a team that is not nearly as good as the 2001 team, which ran the triangle and had strong role players. The role players now are a mixed bag at best, though Malone or GP could light it up for a night here and there.
I would take the Pistons to win the series.
In this series Detroit has everyone healthy and Larry Brown is the superior coach. He did what Phil Saunders should have done in the Western Conference finals, played Shaq 1 on 1, conceding his points/rebounds but allowing his defense to work hard on the other players. This is the way to beat L.A. when Shaq is having a dominant night which he did.
Good news for Detroit - Hamilton didn't score, and Shaq hit a lot of free throws and they still won. Don't expect either of these trends to continue. Detroit has a better D and plays their own scheme better.
LA has basically abandoned the triangle due to GP's complaining and the ineffectiveness of their set offense as a result of this is telling. They win when their perimeter shooters get hot and the double-downs on Shaq open them up. But Rush and Fischer can't start canning repeated 3's like they did against San Antonio and Minnesota if there is no double on Shaq, because they will be guarded much more closely.
Larry Brown has brought a much better team to this final than he did with Philadelphia, while LA has brought a team that is not nearly as good as the 2001 team, which ran the triangle and had strong role players. The role players now are a mixed bag at best, though Malone or GP could light it up for a night here and there.
I would take the Pistons to win the series.
