Gorgolon Lives
The Reverend of CTG
EAST: Pistons vs. Cavs
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Prediction: Pistons in 5
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Detroit simply knows what it takes to keep Lebron James out of the paint. Lebron historically has much trouble against this Pistons defense. There are mismatches all over the court for the Pistons. Larry Hughes cannot guard Billups. Billups will eat this guy alive inside and out. Rip Hamilton should give Pavlovic fits. Pavlovic has been known to commit silly fouls, and Hamilton will have him running all over the floor off screens. I have no idea how Cleveland will guard the Pistons bigs. Mikki Moore had a lot of success in the previous series. Sheed, Webber, and Mcdyess can all knock down outside jumpers. Sheed should take Gooden out beyond the 3 a lot in this series. What the Pistons will do is extend the Cavs bigs away from the hoop to neutralize their rebounding ability. The Cavs is a great rebounding team, but I believe the Pistons will control the glass most of this series.
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The Pistons can throw a lot of bodies on Lebron. Prince will be the primary defender, but Hamilton and Billups can also provide minutes. Ilgauskas’ jump shooting should be negated in this series. The Pistons bigs aren’t immobile, and they should have no trouble getting out and guarding big Z from 15ft.
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[FONT="]The Cavs scoring woes have shown all season and playoffs. Like the Bulls, they get in these scoreless spurts, and the Pistons are too good to let these spurts slide without taking advantage. The Cavs rebounding is very strong, but the Pistons have done a great job on the glass in the playoffs, and their athleticism should win out. The Pistons should be able to score on this team. I expect the Pistons backcourt to dominate the series, and they will be the reason Detroit wins the series fairly easily.
[/FONT] WEST: Spurs vs. Jazz
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Prediction: Spurs in 6
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Many will count out the Jazz in this, but how can you? The Jazz road has been tough. Winning in 7 on Houston’s home floor in a very PHYSICAL series. Then beating the hottest team in the playoffs fairly easily in a series that was played in a totally different style.
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There is no question in my mind that the Jazz will look to speed this series up. I look for them to run a lot this series. I don’t know how much success Utah can have in their half court sets because Spurs D is too physical and too strong. But Jazz does have mismatches. Derron Williams should be able to have success against the smaller Parker. I think D-Will can get to the hoop a lot in this series. He is the catalyst to the offense. If he plays well in all 7 games, the Jazz CAN win. The problem is he is still young and not battle tested, so I see him having an up and down series, but not as bad as the previous series. I think Boozer can have success. If the Spurs uses Duncan on Boozer, he can potentially get Duncan in some foul trouble. Boozer is very quick in the post, and he has a good jumper from 15ft. Duncan will have to be able to move his feet against Booz. I expect the quicker Elson, however, to match-up with Boozer. Okur should also have success from the outside in this series. Duncan/Elson/Oberto haven’t been challenged by a good shooting perimeter big man all playoffs, so Okur is someone who could hurt this team early in the series until the Spurs gets adjusted.
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The Spurs right now is the team to beat for the title. Their close out win in game 6 vs. Phoenix made them the favorites over Detroit in my mind. I did like Detroit to start the playoffs, but I have changed my mind. Duncan simply can’t be defended. Okur will probably start out on Duncan, but he is too immobile. Boozer simply is too small. I see the Jazz showing a lot of doubles on Duncan with the physical Harping and long AK47. That means the wing players should have their fair share of open looks in the series. But Finley, Bowen, Manu, and Barry give a vary of perimeter weapons. And they have simply been on fire all playoffs. Parker should be able to get to the hoop against D-Will, and he can get Williams in foul trouble much like Baron did in the previous series. The Spurs is hitting on all cylinders right now. Beating the Suns has given them supreme confidence, and I see this being the main reason they take this series. The Jazz is on a fairly new stage right now in the conference finals. And one can only imagine how Sloan (A coach who has never been able to take his team deep in the playoffs) will counteract some of Popovich’s brilliant adjustments game by game.
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Prediction: Pistons in 5
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Detroit simply knows what it takes to keep Lebron James out of the paint. Lebron historically has much trouble against this Pistons defense. There are mismatches all over the court for the Pistons. Larry Hughes cannot guard Billups. Billups will eat this guy alive inside and out. Rip Hamilton should give Pavlovic fits. Pavlovic has been known to commit silly fouls, and Hamilton will have him running all over the floor off screens. I have no idea how Cleveland will guard the Pistons bigs. Mikki Moore had a lot of success in the previous series. Sheed, Webber, and Mcdyess can all knock down outside jumpers. Sheed should take Gooden out beyond the 3 a lot in this series. What the Pistons will do is extend the Cavs bigs away from the hoop to neutralize their rebounding ability. The Cavs is a great rebounding team, but I believe the Pistons will control the glass most of this series.
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The Pistons can throw a lot of bodies on Lebron. Prince will be the primary defender, but Hamilton and Billups can also provide minutes. Ilgauskas’ jump shooting should be negated in this series. The Pistons bigs aren’t immobile, and they should have no trouble getting out and guarding big Z from 15ft.
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[FONT="]The Cavs scoring woes have shown all season and playoffs. Like the Bulls, they get in these scoreless spurts, and the Pistons are too good to let these spurts slide without taking advantage. The Cavs rebounding is very strong, but the Pistons have done a great job on the glass in the playoffs, and their athleticism should win out. The Pistons should be able to score on this team. I expect the Pistons backcourt to dominate the series, and they will be the reason Detroit wins the series fairly easily.
[/FONT] WEST: Spurs vs. Jazz
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Prediction: Spurs in 6
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Many will count out the Jazz in this, but how can you? The Jazz road has been tough. Winning in 7 on Houston’s home floor in a very PHYSICAL series. Then beating the hottest team in the playoffs fairly easily in a series that was played in a totally different style.
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There is no question in my mind that the Jazz will look to speed this series up. I look for them to run a lot this series. I don’t know how much success Utah can have in their half court sets because Spurs D is too physical and too strong. But Jazz does have mismatches. Derron Williams should be able to have success against the smaller Parker. I think D-Will can get to the hoop a lot in this series. He is the catalyst to the offense. If he plays well in all 7 games, the Jazz CAN win. The problem is he is still young and not battle tested, so I see him having an up and down series, but not as bad as the previous series. I think Boozer can have success. If the Spurs uses Duncan on Boozer, he can potentially get Duncan in some foul trouble. Boozer is very quick in the post, and he has a good jumper from 15ft. Duncan will have to be able to move his feet against Booz. I expect the quicker Elson, however, to match-up with Boozer. Okur should also have success from the outside in this series. Duncan/Elson/Oberto haven’t been challenged by a good shooting perimeter big man all playoffs, so Okur is someone who could hurt this team early in the series until the Spurs gets adjusted.
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The Spurs right now is the team to beat for the title. Their close out win in game 6 vs. Phoenix made them the favorites over Detroit in my mind. I did like Detroit to start the playoffs, but I have changed my mind. Duncan simply can’t be defended. Okur will probably start out on Duncan, but he is too immobile. Boozer simply is too small. I see the Jazz showing a lot of doubles on Duncan with the physical Harping and long AK47. That means the wing players should have their fair share of open looks in the series. But Finley, Bowen, Manu, and Barry give a vary of perimeter weapons. And they have simply been on fire all playoffs. Parker should be able to get to the hoop against D-Will, and he can get Williams in foul trouble much like Baron did in the previous series. The Spurs is hitting on all cylinders right now. Beating the Suns has given them supreme confidence, and I see this being the main reason they take this series. The Jazz is on a fairly new stage right now in the conference finals. And one can only imagine how Sloan (A coach who has never been able to take his team deep in the playoffs) will counteract some of Popovich’s brilliant adjustments game by game.
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