Write On Sports LLC - "LeBron was great, but Pistons blew it" by Jake Lloyd

LeBron was great, but Pistons blew it

2007-06-01 21:50:27 | By: Jake Lloyd

Chauncey Billups kept subtly shaking his head as he talked.

He was responding to a question about LeBron James, who absolutely dominated the Pistons down the stretch Thursday night in the pivotal Game 5 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals.

"We were trapping him and he was just making shots," Billups said. "There really isn't much you can do."

And then he shook his bald dome once more.

To a certain extent, Billups was right. James was on another planet Thursday (maybe Pluto? considering that's where Kobe Bryant would like to be traded). James, as I'm sure you've heard 74 analysts/radio guys/TV guys/newspaper guys repeat, scored 29 of Cleveland's last 30 points and the Cavaliers’ final 25 points.

Yet during the game, the Pistons didn't seem to realize this. Consider this: Zydrunas Ilgauskas' layup with 7:48 to play in regulation was the last field goal made by a Cleveland player who didn't own a Hummer in high school. So -- and check my math here -- the normal Cavaliers didn't make a basket for the final 17 minutes, 48 seconds of the game.

But yet, there was Chris Webber backing off James to guard Anderson Varejao before James knocked down a 3-pointer to tie the score at 107-107. And, finally, not a soul was clogging the lane on James' final drive to the basket, which he made appear his easiest layup of the night (and, believe me, he had some easy ones).

James had scored 23 consecutive points, the other Cavaliers had taken exactly five shots in both overtime periods (missing them all, of course), Eric Snow had attempted one shot all night (a 50-foot heave at the end of the first overtime) and airmailed it -- yet Detroit did not make James give it up.

And, trust me, they could have. It's called a hard double-team. Put two guys on James -- who despite his all-worldly ability isn't the fastest cat on the block -- and MAKE HIM PASS THE BALL. Then, deny him the ball.

Let Snow shoot open 15-footers until he sinks seven in a row.

Ditto with Donyell Marshall and 3-pointers.

The Pistons needed to recognize that James was the only Cleveland player scoring -- it was actually pretty obvious -- and stop him.

They didn't. In fact, they failed miserably. And now they are down 3-2 in the series and on the brink of elimination heading back to Cleveland, where the "Q" will be absolutely nuts on Saturday night.

SAME AS LAST YEAR?
The optimistic (and naive) Pistons fan hopes that this series is simply a repeat of last year's conference semifinals, when Detroit won two games, lost three, then won two against Cleveland.

While I applaud auspiciousness in this cold world, anyone who thinks this is Pistons Sneak by Cavs Part 2, hasn't been watching the first five games.

King James is on a mission this time around. He will not let his team lose Game 6. Last year, he wasn't as much of a leader. He didn't always step up when his teammates needed him. He didn't yell at them when they erred.

Now he is that czar. The past three games especially, the precocious James has become one of the best leaders in the game, right alongside Tim Duncan in San Antonio and Dwyane Wade in Miami.

The Pistons, on the other hand, don't have a definitive leader, a get-on-my-back-and-I'll-take-you-to-shore guy. Some say it's Billups, and he certainly was the guy the Pistons went to in big situations Thursday. He delivered with a clutch 3-pointer later in regulation and two tying free throws at the end of the first overtime.

But did Billups shoot on every Detroit possession, or even 50 percent of them? Was he even the focus of Detroit's offensive sets half the time? No would be the answer to both of those questions. The Pistons magnanimously try to divvy up shots -- and this does help spread out the defense -- but you could tell how much it hurt them that they didn't have a guy to give the ball to on every offensive possession Thursday night. What likely will change is the offensive performance of Cleveland's role players, which was down a bit on Thursday. It might be cliché, but it's true: Role players are better at home, in their comfortable home arena. Ilgauskas was the only Cavalier not wearing No. 23 who shot better than 50 percent in Game 5. Expect that to change on Saturday.

WILL THEY EVER LEARN?
You know what's funny (besides the little patch of hair on the back of Drew Gooden's head)?

The fact that if the Pistons find a way to beat Cleveland, I still think they can take down the Spurs. Why am I such an idiot? Because Detroit would be pumped up for San Antonio -- there wouldn't be a problem motivating the Pistons.

Well, that's probably not going to happen. The take-everyone-lightly Pistons will likely see their season end Saturday. And they deserve to sit on their couches during the NBA Finals. Maybe they'll even learn a lesson.

Game 3 of the Chicago series is biting the Pistons right now, even though they don't know it. In that game, the Pistons played horribly in the first half, but came back from a huge deficit in the second half to win. This gave them the impression that they could simply hit an "on" switch whenever they needed to.

That hasn't worked the past three games. Detroit gave the Cavaliers a wealth of confidence despite winning the first two games. The Cavs knew -- after the identical 79-76 losses -- that they could play with the Pistons in any venue. Their young guys' confidence soared. All they needed to do was finish games.

Enter LeBron James.

If Detroit had stopped fooling around with the Cavs in either of those games. If it had blown Cleveland out of the water... we might not be talking about a 3-2 Cleveland lead right now. But that's a moot point.

Cleveland -- especially James -- has learned how to win close games, which is why there was no panic from the Cavaliers when they fell behind 88-81 on Thursday with just over 3 minutes to play. They simply got the ball to James, who (as you probably know by know) sent the game to OT with a layup, a 3-pointer and two dunks.

Will Detroit play its hardest, most passionate basketball on Saturday? I would think so. They are, after all, on the proverbial brink of elimination. But more importantly, will it matter?

Probably not. It would have had the Pistons gone full-throttle a few games ago.

But now the Cavaliers are as confident as ever, they can see the Alamo awaiting them, and they're not a team to take their opportunity for granted.

Like a certain team three hours northwest of them.