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Monday, 28 May, 2007 6:09 PM
Sports Column: Cavs Trailing,
But Still in Control
As the series headed
back to Cleveland, I was worried that the Pistons would come out
stagnant and give the Cavs all the confidence they would need to
make this series competitive. In my mind, I was preparing for a
double digit Piston loss. Just as I suspected, the Pistons came
out with another poor effort. Tayshaun Prince finally showed up,
but then Richard Hamilton promptly went missing. We can only hope
that he is off looking for Chauncey Billups somewhere.
The thing that really
surprised me is that the Cavs didn’t come out with a better
performance. Sure, LeBron James made some big plays down the stretch,
but the whole time I was watching the game, all I could think was
that the Pistons should not even be in the game. Every time Cleveland
pushed the lead to five or six, I would get that sinking feeling
that Detroit was about to let it get away. But every time, the Cavs
stopped scoring long enough to make it close again.
After truly stealing
Games 1 and 2, it looked the Pistons might just walk away with the
third. But, as young and inexperienced as the Cavs may be, they
weren’t going throw this one away. If Detroit wanted complete
control of the series, they were going to have to take it.
Detroit, however, was
simply not up to the task. That’s not to say that no one played
well. Rasheed Wallace was solid all night, and Flip Murray was excellent
in the second quarter, running the team during its most effective
stretch. But when you are a team that lives off a balanced attack,
with no superstars to facilitate easy offense, you can’t have
two of your starters struggling.
I’ve heard a lot
of people in the media questioning whether Cavs coach Mike Brown
is the right guy to lead LeBron to a championship. Some complain
about his play-calling, some say his offense isn’t creative
enough, and some believe the Cavs play at the wrong pace by trying
to grind games out. Everyone wants to see LeBron the open floor,
but I’ve always believed that championships have to be won
on the other end of the court. And quietly, under Brown, the Cavs
have developed into a great defensive team.
Billups has looked as
uncomfortable with the basketball as I have seen him since he came
to Detroit. This is the guy who has led the league in assist-to-turnover
ratio the last two years, and it looks like he is playing with a
greased-up ball. At one point in Game 3, he drove the lane and threw
up a weak layup that was easily swatted, and I thought to myself,
“At least he didn’t lose the ball before he could shoot.”
After Game 1, I was convinced
that Billups’ struggles were a fluke. But then they continued
in Game 2. When he came alive in the fourth quarter of that game,
I felt vindicated. Then, Game 3 came around and he stunk even worse.
His struggles are definitely not a fluke, and the credit has to
go to the Cavs. They are trapping him on all the high pick-and-rolls,
and their defensive rotation has been impeccable. They have forced
Chauncey so far out of his comfort zone, you have to wonder if he
can make it back before this series is over.
An optimistic Pistons
fan would say that Detroit is still up 2-1 and that they could easily
be up 3-0. But the truth is, the Cavs have played well enough to
be up 3-0, they just couldn’t make plays down the stretch
in the first two games. Game 3 changed all that. People want to
talk about how LeBron turned the corner, how he finally figured
out how to take over late. But equally important were the plays
the rest of the Cavs made. Ilgauskas, Daniel Gibson and Drew Gooden
all made big jumpers that kept the Pistons at arm’s length.
I believe that LeBron
has had the drive and desire to be a winner all along. He has already
developed the mental toughness to want the ball every time when
it matters. After having his last-play decisions roundly criticized
after Games 1 and 2, there he was in Game 3, late in the fourth
quarter, running to the ball and demanding it. But when the Pistons
threw everything they had at LeBron, he deferred to teammates and
this time, they came through.
That’s why Pistons
fans should fear the Cavs. For every Michael Jordan, there are many
more John Paxsons and Steve Kerrs. Once some of the bit players
in Cleveland start to realize that any one of them could be the
next Robert Horry, there may be no stopping the LeBron train. The
Pistons better come out with all guns blazing in Game 4, because
the longer they let the Cavs hang around thinking they can win,
the more likely it becomes that they will.
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