LOS ANGELES, 10 June 2005 — The time to overlook the Detroit Pistons is over.
Be it their improbable suffocating of the Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant-led Los Angeles Lakers in last years NBA Finals, or the soulful manner in which they played down the stretch to beat the glamorous Miami Heat in this weeks Eastern Conference finals, the Pistons have proven they are not one-hit wonders from Motown.
So when the 2005 NBA Finals was to begin yesterday against the Spurs in San Antonio, the defending champions won’t even concern themselves with critics who say that to defeat rock solid Tim Duncan, the unpredictable genius of Argentine Manu Ginobili and slippery smooth Frenchman Tony Parker, is an impossible hurdle.
“We’ve been in tough, big games,” said Pistons guard Chauncey, last year’s Finals Most Valuable Player. “We’ve all been in the foxhole together fighting for one another. We are a very confident group, a lot of veteran guys, so I am not worried about us losing our poise or our composure or breaking and cracking under the pressure.”
Actually, that statement could be said about both teams. They’re both battled-hardened former NBA champions, the Pistons winning in 2004 and the Spurs claiming titles in 1999 and 2003. Both clubs pride themselves on defense. The Spurs were best in the league in average points allowed (88.4) while the Pistons were No. 2 (89.5).
The Pistons can turn to Defensive Player of the Year centre Ben Wallace to control the middle, and the Spurs love to watch opponents squirm when swingman Bruce Bowen shuts down opponents. “It’s going to be very tough to score, we all know that,” said Ginobili, who has averaged 21.8 points in the post-season. “It’s not going to be 110-, 115-point games.”
“I don’t really care if it’s 1-0 as long as we have one more point at the end of the night,” said Spurs center Nazr Mohammed.
Whether the games wind up in the 80s, 90s, or triple-digits misses the point, though. Both have proven, again and again, that they can score when big baskets are needed.
The Spurs have guys like Duncan, Ginobili, Parker and Robert Horry to hit jumpers down the stretch of tight games. And the Pistons can rely on Rasheed Wallace, Billups and Richard Hamilton. Both have coaches that come from the same mold. That is, San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich has said he has learned much of what he knows from Detroit’s Larry Brown, and they are very close friends. So close, Popovich was Brown’s best man at his wedding.
Not only that, they were both coaches of the US Olympic men’s basketball team, which only adds to the fact that both know each other’s moves like they know the backs of their hands.
“It will be a strange situation trying to beat somebody up and hoping they do well at the same time,” Popovich said.
Another thing they have in common: Neither team has the star power league executives can expect to draw big television audiences.
That’s a strange thing to say in light of the fact that Duncan is a two-time MVP, and Ginobili is the reigning unofficial world MVP after leading Argentina to the Gold in the Olympic Games. But Duncan has always had a quiet personality, and Ginobili has only begun to catch the kind of fan attention given to other stars.
As for the Pistons, well, lets just say that nobody ever earned high TV ratings because of a hyperactive zone defense.
Whoever watches will be looking closely at Duncan’s ankles, both of which have bothered him throughout the regular-season and playoffs. Earlier in the playoffs, this seemed to be a huge problem. But in the Western Conference finals against the Phoenix Suns, Duncan averaged 27.4 points and almost 14 rebounds.
In Game 1, the Spurs will have had eight days off, while the Pistons, who didn’t even get a chance to catch their breath after their emotional Game 7 triumph at Miami on Sunday, won’t be rested at all.
