Tuesday, June 15, 2004
TOTAL DOMINATION!
Detroit wins the NBA Championship by beating the Lakers 100-87. The first time the second seed won all three games at home. A sweet victory for any number of reasons. Thoughts:
--LA was lucky not to be swept.
--the Lakers clearly missed Karl Malone more than they knew. Once the Mailman was hobbled with a bad knee, Los Angeles was toast. Without Malone (who guarded Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett in earlier playoff rounds) LA had no defense, little rebounding, and no third scoring option.
--the other future hall-of-famer acquisition, Gary Payton, proved to be a complete bust. The Glove seldom if ever brought anything good to the court.
--The Pistons won with team ball. Balanced scoring; taking turns having the hot hand; incredible defense; and a surprisingly deep bench.
--The Lakers better not whine about the refs. They were beat to every loose ball, every offensive rebound.
--I found it incredible that I was cheering for Rasheed Wallace. Only because he helped wipe the smirk off of Kobe Bryant’s face.
--LA was lucky not to be swept.
--the Lakers clearly missed Karl Malone more than they knew. Once the Mailman was hobbled with a bad knee, Los Angeles was toast. Without Malone (who guarded Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett in earlier playoff rounds) LA had no defense, little rebounding, and no third scoring option.
--the other future hall-of-famer acquisition, Gary Payton, proved to be a complete bust. The Glove seldom if ever brought anything good to the court.
--The Pistons won with team ball. Balanced scoring; taking turns having the hot hand; incredible defense; and a surprisingly deep bench.
--The Lakers better not whine about the refs. They were beat to every loose ball, every offensive rebound.
--I found it incredible that I was cheering for Rasheed Wallace. Only because he helped wipe the smirk off of Kobe Bryant’s face.
