Finals Thoughts

Before I return to yardwork and the barbecue on this 90 plus degree day, here are just some wild thoughts on the NBA Finals.

It's hard to be mad at losing the Finals. Sure, the Pistons could have won, but forcing a Game Seven one year after winning their third title is not exactly a bad thing. I'm disappointed, but not terribly disappointed.

I thought the Pistons allowed far too much dribble penetration in each of their losses. They could not allow the Spurs backcourt to drive right to the basket. In their defeats, that's exactly what they did.

Rasheed Wallace was too inconsistent, but Tayshaun Prince was invisible. The Pistons are barely seven deep (the starting five plus Antonio McDyess and, in The Finals, Lindsey Hunter), they simply couldn't afford to have Prince disappear for long stretches. If Prince had played even half the series the way he played in the regular season, or the previous two post-seasons, the Pistons may still be champs.

I laugh everytime I hear someone call into a sports-talk radio show and lament 'Sheed's lack of post-up play. That's been a knock on Wallace forever. He simply can't or won't dominate in the low post consistently. That's, in large part, why he's not an all-star type player.

Regardless of where Larry Brown lands, Darko Milicic has to play next year. Having a number two pick overall not even be able to provide you with a few decent minutes in The Finals hurt the Pistons, too.

Did anyone else think that Game 7 was horribly officiated? Okay, let me try that again. Did anyone else not associated with the Pistons think that it was a horribly officiated game? I thought both teams got some terrible calls against them. Stuff that was no more than incidental contact in any other game, at any other level, got whistles. I thought the refs took both teams out of their games, especially in the first half.

In the end, the Spurs were the better team. As the seven games indicated, they were better, just not by much.

Thanks to the Pistons for another quality season.