by Ricardo Cuevas
Instant Karma got a hold of Rasheed Wallace this past week. In case you missed it, the Detroit Piston forward guaranteed a game four victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers only to fall on his face-literally-and come up lame, twisting his ankle early in the second quarter. Wallace, who’s normally a key player, was used sparingly and never really factored in the outcome of the game. The Pistons never recovered and went on to have a miserable night. But the motor mouth of the Motor City has a hard head. Only moments after losing to the Cavs, Wallace remained defiantly confident; refusing to take a bite of a giant piece of humble pie.
“I ain’t worried about these cats,” he said, “There’s no way in hell they beat us in a series. They played well. I give them credit. We lost. We shot 30 percent and they had to play there best to beat us.”
As arrogant as he sounds, he makes a very astute observation. Piston power forward Antonio McDyess, another key contributor, also played a limited role in Monday night’s loss. Don’t expect that to happen again in this series. The Piston’s poor shooting performance, compounded by their inability to avoid key turnovers along with all the fore mentioned factors gave Cleveland a huge advantage. Or so you’d think. The truth is, even with all the advantages, the Cavs failed to dominate, and put away a team that played mediocre at best, barely getting by the Pistons 74 - 72. If this is any indication of the mettle this team is made of? Wallace is right, and this series is over.
But, there is a flipside to that coin. In professional sports, ignorance and over-confidence can sometimes be a virtue. The fact that the Cavs have taken the much more experienced Pistons to the woodshed now three games in a row, speaks volumes to the level of their confidence. I think the Pistons know exactly what they have to do, but find themselves playing down to the level of their opponents-a big mistake no matter how talented you are. Cleveland is just happy to be there, and is playing a loose, more fluid brand of basketball. Somebody forgot to tell them their playing the best team in the NBA.
PREDICTION: I don’t think even LeBron James will be able to continue to keep the Cavs playing this far above their heads, especially now that the Pistons have something to play for.
DETROIT PISTONS in 7
ariel said,
May 19, 2006 @ 3:54 pmThere is a flip side to that coin. If Bron-Bron is boxed in and he’s gotta put the Pistons down? Cause no matter what, they will not get in his way. They’ve been face to face, yeah. But He will not hesitate. Not for a second.