Game 5 and Series Recap
This is what they do.  They gut through whatever adversity is facing them.  They play great defense at the most important times.  And they play in the Conference Finals every year.  They slap the other team in the face.  They trash talk the other team.  They tell them that they’re going to stop them because they’re just better.  And then they do it.  This is DEEEEETROIT BASKETTTTTBALLLLLLL.

With their backs against the walls and their manhood in question, Orlando simply couldn’t hang with a Pistons team that was missing their leader on the court, Chauncey Billups.  Jameer Nelson couldn’t take advantage of a rookie point guard and why you don’t guarantee victories when you aren’t anything special in this league.  Rashard Lewis couldn’t show that he was worth $118 million. Hedo Turkoglu’s 5 turnovers didn’t wreak of Most Improved Player.  Dwight Howard couldn’t hit a free throw (his form of Kryptonite).  The Magic showed that their bench is weak.  They showed their lack of size and depth at the big man positions.  They showed that you couldn’t successfully go small against Detroit in a 7-game series.  Their poise was shattered with 21 turnovers.  They showed that you must hit free throws to win playoff games.  They showed that you must play pressure defense and force your opponents into turning the ball over.  All of those things rang true in the entire series.  All of those things are the reason that they’re gone fishing. 

For Detroit, they just did what they usually do, except Chauncey Billups was in street clothes this time when they did it.  Richard Hamilton scored 31 point, including 16 for 16 from the charity stripe. Antonio McDyess rebounded the bal 11 times and hit key jumpers.  Rookie, Rodny Stuckey, provided 15 point and 6 assists with no turnovers.  In fact, the Pistons only turned the ball over 3 times.  Rasheed Wallace played great defense.  And Tayshaun Prince came up with the perfect block on a Hedo Turkoglu dunk that could’ve ripped the momentum away from Detroit.  This is what the Pistons do.  This is why they will make their 6th straight Eastern Conference Finals performance. 

Looking Forward to the ECF- The Pistons are once again putting the thought into the head of every expert in the league that they have a chance at winning a title.  They’re proving that they can turn it on whenever they feel like it.  The Pistons are once again for real, with probably the deepest team that they’ve ever had.  Just remember who picked them to go to the Finals when the season began.  Yours truly. 


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Game 4 Recap
Anybody that thought the Orlando Magic had a chance to win a NBA championship this year by going through the Pistons, Celtics, and whatever powerhouse comes from the Western Conference was either a completely blind-unbiased fan or Biff Tannen back from the future with his Sports Almanac about to make LeBron James-type of money.  Pretty much all of us knew that they didn’t really have a chance and that it was a growing experience for guys like Hedo Turkoglu and Dwight Howard.  But any doubts that this may actually be a title contender were dashed in this game.  If you were to tell the Magic that they were going to play Game 4 at home, after an impressive showing in Game 3 that included a double-digit blowout of the Pistons, and the Pistons were going to play without Chauncey Billups due to a hamstring injury then they probably would’ve pulled a Pete Rose and bet the farm on their expected win.  Title contending teams don’t give up home playoff games like that when the opposing team’s best player is missing in action.  The Orlando Magic franchise may be headed in the right direction, but they have a long way to go to get there. 

For Detroit, they played brilliantly without their point guard and leader on the floor. Rodney Stuckey and Lindsey Hunter came replaced the bulk of the minutes that Billups usually played by providing the Pistons with a steady hand at the point.  They only combined for 14 points and 6 assists, but they shot 5 of 11 from the floor combined and neither one of them committed a turnover in this game.  Tayshaun Prince added 17 points (including the game-winner over Howard), Rasheed Wallace chipped in 16 points, and Richard Hamilton led the way with 32 points.  The Pistons took a different approach in this game by shutting down Dwight Howard inside and letting the rest of the Orlando starters contribute.  Howard had just 8 points on 3 of 12 shooting and the Pistons scored 21 points off of 12 Orlando turnovers. The Pistons were able to win an ugly game thanks to Prince’s runner and Dwight Howard’s inability to win the game with a tip-in off of Hedo Turkoglu’s missed lay-up. 

Looking forward to Game 5: Orlando has to do a better job of setting up Dwight Howard inside so he can control the paint.  While the three-point shooting (10 of 18) was good, the Magic players’ couldn’t hit a mid-range jumper or make a lay-up to save Mickey Mouse’s life.  They played incredibly flat in the third quarter and allowed Detroit to erase an 11-point halftime lead.  Heading into Game 5, the Magic need to do a few things to avoid elimination:
1) Pray that Chauncey Billups doesn’t play.  While Jameer Nelson didn’t have a great game, his job was much easier in the first half dealing with Stuckey and Hunter than trying to control Billups on one end and get by him on the other.  If Billups plays in Detroit for Game 5, it’s almost a guarantee that the Pistons close out the series.  Taking a good scorer and a great leader from the Pistons’ attack will give some daylight to another game in Orlando this week. 
2) Establish Dwight early and often.  Howard had 3 buckets in the first quarter and didn’t make a shot the rest of the game.  Part of that is the Pistons’ defense inside, but a lot of that needs to fall on the guards and on Stan Van Gundy.  SVG needs to make sure Dwight is being involved at a minimum of every other play and they need to find ways to get Howard some lobs inside that will give him the opportunity at easy buckets.  Howard moves so well without the ball, that it’s hard to imagine him not having the looks to get some points.  It’s his teammates duty to find a way to get him the ball. 
3) Get active on defense again.  The Magic only forced 10 turnovers in this game.  With a rookie running the point for half of the game, you’d like to see the Magic get more active on defense and try to confuse Rodney Stuckey with some traps and zone play.  If Billups sits out Game 5 and the Magic aren’t able to force at least 15 turnovers, you can probably safely bet that the Magic will not play another game this season. 
Prediction for Game 5: Pistons close out the series with a 6-point win. 

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Game 3 Recap
It’s hard to officially judge either team’s performance in this game due to the Chauncey Billups injury so early in this game.  He played just 4 minutes before doing the splits and injuring his hamstring. The only good that came out of this injury for the Pistons was their newfound respect for Jean Claude Van Damme.  This helped the Magic jump out to an early lead thanks to Jameer Nelson taking advantage of being guarded by rookie, Rodney Stuckey.  Jameer Nelson scored 12 first quarter points, 10 of them after Billups left the game.  Orlando survived a strong second and third quarter performance by the Billups-less Pistons but turned up the heat in the 4th quarter and put the Pistons into a humiliating defeat by the end of Game 3.  Orlando got a huge game from Rashard Lewis who finally showed up to produce after being called soft by Theo Ratliff of all people.  Keyon Dooling had a nice game off the bench with 10 points and Jameer Nelson and Hedo Turkoglu both chipped in with 18.  Dwight Howard who has been stifled so far by the rotation and athleticism of the Pistons frontcourt dropped 20 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked 6 shots. 

For Detroit, the game kind of went to hell when Billups was unexpectedly taken out because of that nasty spill.  Billups sets up the offense more than most of us realize and while Rodney Stuckey did a fine job with 19 points, he wasn’t the leader on the floor that the Pistons are used to having.  Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince both scored over 20 points but Rasheed Wallace had a bad game and nobody on the Pistons approached 10 rebounds.  As a team, they shot a mere 40% from the field and hit just 2 of 10 from long distance.  The Pistons seemed to have another one of those games that they couldn’t focus on for the entire 48 minutes.  Their performances in the first and fourth quarter should be alarming to Detroit fans because of the lack of fire and effort they showed. 

Looking forward to Game 4- The Pistons’ chances of not allowing the Magic to even up the series at 2-2 are completely contingent on Chauncey Billups’ health.  If he misses Game 4, then the Pistons will struggle and you can expect the same type of performance from each team.  If he does play, then you can probably expect a pretty close game because he won’t be 100%.  Realistically, when both teams are healthy, the Pistons should still roll on the Magic.  They’re just a better team.  But that isn’t the case right now and nobody is going to sit back and wait for Detroit to heal. 
Prediction for Game 4- Orlando wins by 10. 

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Game 2 Recap
There are a couple of things that need to be addressed about this game.  First there’s the trash talking between Rashard Lewis and Theo Ratliff between Games 1 and 2.  And second, there’s the clock malfunction that happened at the end of the third quarter.  One of these had an impact on the game and the other is Theo Ratliff. 

First, the trash talk.  Remember when we used to have the Celtics of the 80s?  A team that knew how to trash talk because they had Larry Bird, the loudest talker in the NBA?  Remember when Gary Payton used to be alive and he would talk everybody’s ear off?  Now the best we get from this series is between Rashard Lewis and Theo Ratliff?  Theo Ratliff?  I didn’t even know he was still alive.  And I cover the NBA.  It’s two soft guys, one is irrelevant and they’re trying to decide who needs help with whom.  It’s just embarrassing and actually makes you miss DeShawn Stevenson a little. 

Second, the clock.  Let’s get this straight that the clock malfunction and poor review of a shot that shouldn’t have counted is not the reason that the Magic lost this game.  The system is bad and should be reviewed and fixed in the off-season but there’s nothing that can be done about it now so quit complaining about it.  The reason the Magic lost this game is because they shot 6 out of 24 from the field and 1 out of 9 from three-point range in the fourth quarter.  They lost this game because they had 19 team turnovers and 17 of them were from the trio of Hedo, Rashard, and Dwight.  That’s the reason the Magic aren’t even at 1-1, not some clock malfunction. 

As for the rest of the game, Orlando needed to play better in the fourth quarter and steal this game in Detroit.  Dwight Howard was pretty good despite the 5 turnovers, especially in the second half.  He finished with 22 points and 18 rebounds with 8 of those rebounds being offensive.  He also baptized enough Pistons to be eligible to become an Archbishop in the Catholic Church.  Orlando erased a big third quarter to erase a 10-point halftime deficit by hitting all 7 of their three-point attempts.  If not for that Billups three that should not have counted, they would have been up 1 point going into the fourth.  But the fourth is where the Pistons’ defense stepped up while the Orlando offense stepped away. 

For Detroit, the starting lineup was fantastic as they all scored in double figures and played really solid defense when they needed to.  The big man trio of Tayshaun Prince, Jason Maxiell and Rasheed Wallace did a great job of neutralizing Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu.  They forced a few key bad shots during the fourth quarter and used their veteran poise to persevere to a win.  One again, the Pistons hit a lot of free throws (24 of 28) and turned the ball over just 10 times as a team. 

Looking Forward to Game 3: Orlando still has to get better and play a complete game to compete with such a deep and veteran team.
1) Orlando must take care of the ball better.  19 turnovers are just far too many mistakes against a team like Detroit. They need to get their number down to around 12 and get Detroit’s number to around 15.  But that isn’t good enough, they have to capitalize on those mistakes with points off turnovers.
2) Execute in the 4th.  25% shooting from the field is pathetic in a playoff game fourth quarter.  Hedo rushed a couple of bad shots and Dwight Howard didn’t capitalize on enough chances around the basket off of deep passes inside and offensive rebounds.  Rashard Lewis was 2 for 9 in the quarter with a couple of turnovers. 
3) Attack the Pistons’ offense.  The Magic had 3 steals and 2 blocked shots in the entire game.  That’s it.  They need to be more aggressive on defense and make the Pistons work harder for their buckets.  If the Pistons’ are being impeded on their way to the basket, it’s going to be a sweep in Orlando. 
Prediction for Game 3: Orlando wins by 6. 

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Game 1 Recap
Maybe the Pistons are a little more focused than we think.  They came out in the second half of Game 1 against the Magic and stomped any pipedream of the Magic fans that the Pistons might give away a second consecutive Game 1 in Detroit.  The Pistons neutralized Dwight Howard, dominated Jameer Nelson, and stopped the Magic bench (13 points) in pounding Orlando by 19 points.  It was a typical Detroit Pistons game as no one on the Pistons’ squad had a great game, the bench played great defense and scored enough points to keep the Pistons comfortable, and the entire team played asphyxiating defense and held the Magic to just 72 points.  Chauncey Billups scored 19 points, Richard Hamilton had 17 and Jason Maxiell scored 12 points, grabbed 9 rebounds and blocked 3 shots in his first career playoff start. 

For Orlando, Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu each scored 18 points but it took them 36 combined shots to do so and only Hedo shot free throws out of the duo (and he only put up 3 attempts).  Dwight Howard was smothered all game long and finished with 12 points, 8 rebounds, and a bruised left hand.  The Magic shot just 2 for 15 from three-point range and missed half of their 20 free throws.  Jameer Nelson (7 points) and Maurice Evans (4 points) were completely ineffective and the Orlando bench shot 3 for 16 from the field. 

Looking forward to Game 2: The Magic and Pistons have gotten into a little war of words after the first game.  Theo Ratliff was fouled hard by Rashard Lewis in Game 1 and has since lashed out by saying he didn’t need protection from his teammates because it was Rashard Lewis and the Magic are soft.  I would look for a much more physical game 2 and a plethora of technical fouls given out. For Orlando to win, they need to fix a couple of things:
1) Knock down shots.  The Magic are a jump shooting team and they need to be opportunistic when given three-point attempts.  The Pistons guard the perimeter extremely well and when Dwight Howard is able to give them a shot out of the double team then they need to knock them down.  3 long-range connections from Lewis and Turkoglu need to be the minimum in Game 2. 
2) Get Physical. Dwight Howard is bigger and stronger than anybody on the Pistons.  He needs to prove it.  Jason Maxiell was putting pressure on Howard’s lower extremities to take his legs out.  Howard has to muscle through that and position his body better.  He’s going to be the only one banging inside for Orlando so he needs to dominate the way he did against Toronto. 
3) Pressure the ball.  The Pistons only committed 6 turnovers in this game and 2 of them were from rookie, Rodney Stuckey.  The Magic have to get more than 2 points off of Detroit turnovers to make it a competitive game.  Maurice Evans and Jameer Nelson need to use their athleticism and quickness to pressure the ball and force stupid mistakes by the Pistons.  This turnover total HAS to be around 13. 
Prediction for Game 2- The Pistons win another big one, this time by 11. 


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Prediction for the Series - Pistons in 6 games

Point Guard - Chauncey Billups vs. Jameer Nelson
	Chauncey Billups is a much bigger guard that will be able to bully Jameer Nelson. Throw in Billups' playoff experience and composure and you have what should be a pretty good mismatch for the Pistons. However, Billups must play motivated to be effective.		Jameer Nelson was supposed to be over run by Jose Calderon and T.J. Ford in the last series and ended up being the best point guard of the three. Nelson has to be opportunisitic and knock down the open jumpers that come to him.
Advantage - Chauncey Billups
Shooting Guard - Richard Hamilton vs. Maurice Evans
	Hamilton has to be extremely efficient in the way that he scores in this series. With Evans on the floor, he won't have to work much on defense except when boxing out Mo for the offensive rebounds. Hamilton should be able to set teammates up too.		Mo Evans has to be willing to run around screens and anticipate where the passes are going to be to effectively guard Hamilton. I'd like for him to take a physical approach to Rip and try knocking him down whenever applicable.
Advantage - Richard Hamilton
Small Forward - Tayshaun Prince vs. Hedo Turkoglu
	Tayshaun will be the key to this series with his defense of Hedo Turkoglu. Tayshaun doesn't need to do much on offense, just be opportunistic. He can completely focus his effort to defense and be a factor there.		Hedo has to be a playmaker in this series to keep Jameer Nelson from having to do so. Hedo will need to be close to perfect and get Prince into foul trouble. 20-10-7 is something the Magic have to have from him.
Advantage - Hedo Turkoglu
Power Forward - Rasheed Wallace vs. Rashard Lewis
	Rasheed needs to play great defense against Dwight Howard in crunch time and hit threes when he's open. Other than that, Rasheed just needs to be Rasheed to dominate this matchup.		Rashard needs to keep up the energy he played with in the first round and be just as effective against the big front line of Detroit. If he can average 8 rebounds like he did against Toronto, the Magic will be thrilled.
Advantage - Rasheed Wallace
Center- Antonio McDyess vs. Dwight Howard
	Antonio has to hit open jumpers and alter shots on defense. It will be interesting to see how he places with the mask after breaking his nose. For Detroit's sake, McDyess hopefully won't be slowed down by the broken nose.		Dwight Howard averaged 22 points and 18 rebounds during the first round and if he can approach that again in the second round, the Magic will have a legit chance at upsetting the Pistons.
Advantage - Dwight Howard
Pistons' Bench vs. Magic's Bench
	The Pistons have one of the deepest benches in the league. Jason Maxiell and Jarvis Hayes will be the key to the success of the bench. Also, look for Lindsey Hunter to come in for 6 to 8 minutes per game to disrupt the opposing point guards.		Orlando really will need to get a lot out of their bench in order to beat this deep Pistons' team. Keith Bogans and Keyon Dooling will be the key to dealing with Detroit's deep backcourt and Brian Cook will have to be healthy and effective.
Advantage - Pistons Bench
Coaching - Flip Saunders vs. Stan Van Gundy
	Flip is looking to return to the Conference Finals with the Pistons for the 3rd straight year. His 45-48 career playoff record may end up costing him if the Pistons can't get to the Finals due to his lack of attention to defense and poor play calling at crunch time.		SVG has turned this team into a pretty solid defensive team compared to what they used to be. His 21-12 career playoff record will really be put to the test with such a veteran team but his offensive schemes to get open shots could be effective.
Advantage - Stan Van Gundy