Conf. Finals- Pistons vs Celtics

A couple of quick thoughs on the game 7 victory versus LeBron and those other dudes...

1. Pierce did exactly what Kevin Garnett hasn't-- he realized he needed to get "selfish," create his own shots, and keep firing so long as he wasn't missing. 

2.  Whoever thought the signing of P.J. Brown would have been more beneficial to the Celtics than the signing of Sam Cassell?

Now, onto the Pistons...

I think Rondo is going to be a key to this series.  Doc has to just let the kid play through his ups and downs, and do like he did late in the Cavs series-- use Eddie House as a spark rather than Cassell.  House seems to integrate his shots better into the offense than Cassell does, and defenstively its a wash.  Speaking of Defense... that's the reason Doc needs to keep Rondo on the floor as much as possible.  He's quicker than Billups, and if memory serves me correctly he totally outplayed him in their last regular season meeting.

James Posey.  End of story.   Doc's gotta keep Ray in the flow of the game and give him a chance to shoot his way out of his funk, but that won't be easy against Richard Hamilton, nor will he be able to guard Hamilton.  We need a consistent rotation between Posey and Ray.

Speaking of consistent rotation, Doc needs to settle on a rotation with the rest of the bench, and stick with it.  I'd like to continue to see Eddie House handle the backup duties to Rajon, and I think we need a healthy dose of Leon Powe in the paint (where'd he go against the Cavs?), and both Brown and Big Baby banging down low.

The X-factor in this thing could be Perkins... just a guess.

Any predictions for the series?

I say Celtics in 6... yes, you heard me, SIX.  I think they finally pick up a road win in this series, and the Pistons will steal one in the Garden as well.

As a Piston fan, I can tell you that this is eerily familiar to 2006, when the Pistons were clearly the best regular season team with a 60-some win season......then came the playoffs.  A tough 7-game series with the Cavs in round 2 left the Pistons spent for when the Heat came to town.  Miami took game 1 of the series and the Pistons never regained their regular season form.  Now I'm not saying that is what is going to happen to Boston, the Pistons had been in back to back Finals then so the fire might not have been there like it is for the current Celtics, but it would be a tough hill to climb for Boston if they lose game 1.  I am a little shocked that the NBA is having them play the first 3 games with only one day off in between them (Tue, Thu, Sat).  I have to think that's a huge advantage for Detroit.

It should be one hell of a series. 

pierce went nuts it helped everthing fell but it was asome should have doulpled lebron early would have killed them

Pistons in six!!

Will the Celtics show up on the road? All Detroit has to do is steal game one and the celtics are done!!!!!!!!!

i dont see what the big deal is.  Detriot is not a 1-man team, nor do they run alot, so both teams match up well.  X-factors are bench, Rondo, and Doc.  will the hungry team (Celtics) or experienced team (Detriot) prevail?

it aint your local corner store, so stealing 1 from the garden wont be as easy as u think it is.