Boobie Smooth
When Detroit started off Game 6 by double- and triple-teaming LeBron and leaving Cleveland’s shooters WIDE open, it wasn’t a bad strategy. After watching the Cavs play all year (which was hard at times) and after the disgusting things ‘Bron did to the Pistons defense in Game 5, we would have done the same thing. But the Cavs kept knocking down their shots, staying in the game even though LeBron (20 pts, 13 rebs, 8 asts) wasn’t scoring a lot, and then Detroit’s strategy went all to hell once Daniel Gibson came in and started sticking daggers. Boobie turned a nip-and-tuck game into a piecing, hitting four treys in the fourth (19 points in the quarter) and finishing with 31 points. And is that kid’s form textbook or what? It wasn’t that long ago that Gibson seemed giddy just to be in the game, and now he’s a certified postseason killer. After one of Gibson’s buckets, you saw Dale Davis on the Detroit bench like “I can’t believe this kid is ending our season.” … We won’t even pretend to say we gave the Cavs a chance at making the Finals this year. Going into the season, you knew LeBron wanted it bad after watching D-Wade get his ring in ‘06, but looking at the roster around him, it seemed impossible for Cleveland to get past Detroit, Miami and Chicago. So what happens next? We already wrote off the Cavs a few times this postseason, so you don’t want to flat-out say they can’t beat San Antonio, but you have to give the Spurs the edge even though they went 0-2 against the Cavs in the regular season. Of course, Bruce Bowen has to do a better job on ‘Bron than Tayshaun Prince, who got eviscerated in this series. San Antonio’s backcourt (Parker and Manu) has the edge over Cleveland, but then again, so did Detroit’s backcourt. Can Big Z handle Tim Duncan? That will probably decide the series, unless LeBron just plays out of his mind from wire-to-wire … You gotta give Barkley credit, since he called it before tip: “[Detroit's] gonna get run out of this damn building tonight,” Chuck said. He also said the Pistons were fragile and that they’d turn on Flip Saunders if they lost. (And Barkley dusted off the “tight sphincters” line at halftime.) Rasheed didn’t help with the fragile accusation, moronically getting ejected in the second half after trying to go after the refs. What was he thinking? Probably nothing … Chris Webber was the honorary Mr. Surly before ‘Sheed started with his antics, shoving people around and sporting that C-Webb Sneer all night. The scary part? The only time Webber cracked a smile was after he got kneed in the junk. He was like the bad guy in a horror movie, except he’s not chasing down anybody from behind … TNT broke out the Sad Faces on the Bench montage with almost eight minutes to go in the fourth. That’s always embarrassing … How bad was Tayshaun the last couple of games? Not only was he getting beasted on D — LeBron’s first field goal lat night came when he caught Prince on an island and took him to school while Tayshaun looked like he’d been hit with a Jermain Taylor body shot — he also missed a ton of layups and easy shots … Until Gibson did his thing, it looked the The Shot Clock/Scoreboard was going to go down as the biggest * in recent postseason memory. The long delay in between the first and second quarter had everyone from LeBron (reportedly) to the announcers complaining; Marv Albert even said the Cleveland crowd was taken out of it because the PA announcer had to call out the shot clock instead of pumping the crowd up. We don’t wanna believe the Cavs crowd is so sheep-like that they can’t figure out when to cheer without being told … The Cavs played the Nike “Second Coming” track for the player intros. Very cool … Overlooked aspect of this game that will come into play during the Finals: Rip Hamilton (29 pts) was carving up Sasha Pavlovic. You think Ginobili can’t do the same thing next round? … From Detroit’s standpoint, it’s clearly time to blow it up and look to the future before they get too old. Flip could easily get the axe very soon (maybe for Stan Van Gundy? Or Rick Carlisle Part 2?). Rip is under contract through the 2009-2010 season and Prince is inked through ‘10-11, so those are your building blocks. Rasheed is the highest-paid Piston and has two years left on his deal, and Chauncey Billups has a player-option that could make him a free agent this summer. Detroit could sign-and-trade Billups for some younger talent, try to unload ‘Sheed for something, and let Webber walk as a free agent … We’re out like the Pistons …
June 3rd, 2007 at 2:07 am
Keith says:
I believe at least one of the Pistons will be wearing a Lakers uniform next season. Also, isn’t it slightly annoying that Danny Ferry looks like a genius? He probably is.
June 3rd, 2007 at 2:21 am
Buck says:
Miracle of the DuckTail: Spurs vs. Cavs
June 3rd, 2007 at 2:34 am
Big Rob says:
Hmmm, rebuild detroit…sounds intriguing….respectively c-webb and ’sheed are 34 and 32 (an old 34 and 32) and how many years do they really have left? What can you get for billups if they do a sign and trade, possibly in a deal with LA and a third team to pick up some young talent. Lakers could put a veteran PG with kobe: chauncy is a great passer, dictates the game well, great defender, physically and mentally tough, and gives the lakers a crunch time player.
June 3rd, 2007 at 5:04 am
boris says:
Didn’t Sheed already have 6 fouls when he got tossed? No risk.
Ferry is not a genius for drafting LBJ and a lucky 2nd rounder. Look how much he’s paying Larry Hughes.
I think Detroit are paying the price for having a useless coach who’s having them play a zone defense when that team is a bunch of problematic individuals who are at their best when they have responsibility. I bet they wish they had Larry back, better his drama than their own lol. Also, C-Webb is not exactly locker room glue.
June 3rd, 2007 at 5:34 am
T says:
atleast one smack entry about eating your words would be nice. the disrespect against cleveland (not necessarily lebron) this year was all-time.
June 3rd, 2007 at 5:35 am
Dank says:
Chauncey is a great passer? gives the lakers a crunchtime player? do we forget they call him Mr. Big Shot??? i highly doubt kobe is gunna be comfortable playing with a guy they call mr. big shot. so please, eliminate the chance of chauncey ending up on the lakers. disgusting. they already have to BEST crunchtime player in the game today, why would they need someone else to take up the shot? what the lakers need is a big man, front and center. and some defense. camby would be nice, but no offense. JO is the perfect fit, but who am i kidding, the way things are going around here, our next “best” center will prolly be Pat Burke. i just wish things could be different.
oh by the way congrats to the king and his crew for making it to the finals. tim duncan was watching the game, and you know he had nightmares when he was sleeping. he heard Hubie Brown go “woooaaaaahhh ho oooh my, now duncan rotated to help but there was no way lebron was gunna be denied”
dont write off the cavs baby
June 3rd, 2007 at 8:07 am
hahaha says:
Sheed no risk? Yes he had 6 fouls when he got the boot, but he had to have know that one more T and he’d be automatically suspended for game 7 if there was one. Missing game 7 for being an idiot after already fouling out is a pretty legit risk. I’m done with that guy.
June 3rd, 2007 at 8:10 am
TheJed says:
I’d be pretty surprised if the Lakers didn’t make a very serious run at Chauncey. Ironically the other team I’d be surprised if they didn’t make a strong push for chauncey? The Cavs.
June 3rd, 2007 at 1:07 pm
Steve Wells says:
so disappointed of Detroit…
http://searchwarp.com/swa217026.htm
June 3rd, 2007 at 4:47 pm
Alex says:
The idea that Billups could wind up in LA is interesting. Everyone with a clue knows the rumors about Jermaine, and possibly Camby. Obviously, Jermaine will cost the Lakers Odom, and then some (Possibly Bynum… but who cares) and if there’s anything to the rumours about Camby for Kwame+ (BAHAHA why would the Nuggets be STUPID enough to deal Camby for Kwame other than the expiring contract) that leaves no pieces left to acquire Billups. But, for the sake of dreaming, picture this line-up:
G- Billups
G- Bryant
F- Walton (if they could ever keep him bringing in all the guys listed above)
F- O’Neal
C- Camby
Bench – the D-League, cause that will be all that’s left.
It’s a decent starting line-up at least, and if they can all average 47.5 minutes per game, they’re in good shape…
June 5th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
Rob says:
Danny Ferry didn’t draft Lebron, although the fact that he didn’t trade a first-rounder for Jiri Welsch and drafted Boobie makes him a huge step up from his predecessor. Give him a break, even a kinda healthy Larry Hughes started (to get the cavs into the finals)
June 5th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
Rob says:
Also the Cavs were thinking about drafting Gibson in the first round, I guess he is a genius…
June 7th, 2007 at 10:05 am
Lee says:
You dont have to respect the Cavs if you dont want to…
We dont want you as fans.
Instead we will just win and shut you up for good!!!