Lower Court Coaching Experience

Prior to a lengthy Piston talk, I want to wish Ryno and everyone involved safe travels and lots of fun this weekend.

Okay, so you're playing on the Lower Court against ______ (Fill in with your favorite Ravenna basketball legend). No matter who it is, from a DeJonge to Todd Place to Pierson to even Al Braspenninx, there is a way to defend them 1 on 1 (I'd like to think that I know all of these ways, and I won't be releasing them to the general public until after next year's 20th Anniversary edition of the Ravenna Proud Day 3-on-3 Tourney).

If you can't guard that person, you have the following options:
#1--Switch with someone else.
#2--Foul them hard.
#3--Make them work on defense.
#4--Double team them.
#5--Throw a pine cone at their eyes.

Seems simple enough, right? Well, apparently not to Flip Saunders in defending Bron Bron last nite. Let's analyze previously stated options:
#1--They attempted this. Since no one would rotate over quickly enough to help Tey-Tey when he would be beaten off the dribble by LeBron (and just for the record, that isn't anything to feel badly about, and ANYONE who says it's Tey's fault that LBJ went off is an idiot), Flip attempted to put Rip, Chauncey, Lindsay, and even tried Joe D and Fennis Dembo for a possession.
While this strategy is good, without a legit shot-blocker in the middle (Dice, perhaps) if no one does it quickly enough, then you end up with a 1-man layup line, which is what the 2 OT's looked like at times.

#2--They failed to attempt this, aside from one Rasheed takedown in OT. It's OK to foul someone, and hard, especially in the playoffs, rather than have them continually get the 2-handed hammer. If Dice can hit Sideshow Bob that hard (Which, IMO, did NOT warrant an ejection. It wasn't premeditated, wasn't retaliatory in any way, and was early in the game), then surely 95 year old Dale Davis can take a shot at Lebron.
PS--If Dice is suspended for G6, it's complete BS.

#3--The first half of last nite's game was genuinely enteraining to watch. Kristen even watched the entire half without getting a magazine or painting a nail, which was a first for this series.
For some reason, however, that ball movement, scrambling, trapping zone defense and fast breaking went COMPLETELY out the window during 2nd half and OT's. I very much advocate going after Eric Snow and Damon Jones(Top Ten Hate Lister, to be abbrev. as T10HL from here forth) whenever possible on offense, but at least make it a screen-roll or SOMETHING ELSE besides a simple back-down, everyone stare and watch. The Pistons AREN'T GOOD AT THIS ON OFFENSE!!!!!
Nearly every 2nd OT possession was a post-up or a perimeter clear-out. That's why a mediocre defender like Sideshow Bob can make that block on the last possession of the game--everyone in the building knew 6-3 Billups was going to take the last shot, especially when he dribbled to the point where no offensive rebound was going to occur, so he could rotate over quickly with no fear of a big man behind him getting to the rim.

#4--Here's where I simply must lack the knowledge to grasp the Pistons' intricate defensive schema in the OT's. HOW ABOUT, oh I don't know, TAKE THE BALL OUT OF HIS HANDS??? This was done quite well for short stretches in the 4th Q and 1st OT, when Pavlovic (forced to score on the baseline off the dribble) and Gooden (forced to score back to basket) were given the ball in places that they weren't comfortable in.
There was a possession in the first OT where LBJ passed it to Snow at about 17 feet, and he didn't even LOOK at the rim. Can't you somehow manage to keep LBJ out of the paint when you know that one dude isn't going to shoot the ball EVER? (And if you wanted to ever imagine yourself in an NBA game, put yourself in Eric Snow's shoes--a slow, old, non-shooter who gets PT because he isn't afraid to hack, slap, and do whatever it takes to win).
The Pistons even did this on the next to last possession of the game, when Sideshow Bob got his 19 pushed in at the rim after the Pistons tripled LBJ near the FT line.
I simply don't understand how a veteran team can't do this more. It's not rocket science. The zone trap worked to begin the game because the ball stayed outside the paint--the Cavs had exactly zippo paint points in the first quarter. As the game went along, Pistons got lazier on defense, LBJ got to the lane more without help defense sliding over, and as a result, Cavs win.

As for #5, that might be what the D needs on Saturday night. I'm reasonably confident for no logical reason that they win G6, other than they've done this NUMEROUS times before. But I'm seriously tired of watching people complaining about calls. No one else on the team has the right to talk to a ref other than Tey-Tey, who busts his butt on nearly every play and occassionally is lucky enough to shoot.

I'll shut it down at this time with this--If they lose G6, they are officially the NBA version of the Atlanta Braves. At least the Buffalo Bills got to the Super Bowl every year. The Braves, with a raft of talent, seemed to find a way to lose in every postseason and got just 1 ring. The Pistons are on the precipice of that right now, thanks largely to (at times) unfocused play at both ends of the floor and the Darko pick.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take that pine cone and jam it into my own eye.