No. 1 Cavaliers vs. No. 8 Pistons

Why the Cavs should win

While Tayshaun Prince is an excellent defender, he's not strong enough to seriously bother LeBron James. And if James can hit a few perimeter shots, the Cavs will breeze through the series.

Since Rip Hamilton is the only Piston who can routinely light up the scoreboard, Cleveland's bigs will focus on helping to defend his utilization of various screens to curl, pop and reverse. Hamilton's energetic, but less than stifling defense will also be exploited by the underrated Delonte West.

Rodney Stuckey's shaky handle will be attacked by the much quicker Mo Williams.

The Cavs will push the ball into Zydrunas Ilgauskas hoping to get Rasheed Wallace into early foul trouble. Since Wallace is easily provoked by calls that go against him, he could easily become a non-factor, or even a negative force.

Efforts will be made to keep Will Bynum out of the middle. But if the Pistons' quick-footed guard does penetrate, the Cavs will ambush all available passing lanes knowing that Bynum is prone to making passes while he's in the air.

Cleveland will out-rebound, out-defend, out-score and out-run Detroit..

The Cavs SHOULD win in 4.

How the Pistons could win

The most important decision to be made is exactly how to defend LBJ. Double him whenever possible and force his supporting cast to win the game? Or play him straight up, concede his 30-40 (50?) points, and shut down everybody else? Or perhaps mix and match these two options?

The Pistons would best be served by having the long-armed Prince play off of James, even to the extent of going under any high screens. The idea being to let James shoot as many outside jumpers as he wishes, thereby minimizing his opportunities to get his teammates involved. Also, James should be vigorously denied his left hand since he shoots much better going that way. Instead, he should be forced right, and kept right.

2009 NBA playoffs

First round: Saturday's Game Ones

* Bulls at Celtics, 12:30 p.m. ET
* Pistons at Cavaliers, 3 p.m.
* Mavericks at Spurs, 8 p.m.
* Rockets at Blazers, 10:30 p.m.

First round: Sunday's Game Ones

* Jazz at Lakers, 3 p.m.
* Sixers at Magic, 5:30 p.m.
* Heat at Hawks, 8 p.m.
* Hornets at Nuggets, 10:30 p.m.

FOXSports.com analysis

* 2009 NBA Playoff Central
* Hench: Kobe vs. LeBron -- book it!
* 10 burning playoff questions
* Kriegel: Title or bust for Kobe
* Rosen: West first-round preview
* Rosen: East first-round preview

Video

Marques Johnson previews
* West: Lakers-Jazz | Nuggets-Hornets | Spurs-Mavs | Blazers-Rockets
* East: Cavs-Pistons | Celtics-Bulls | Magic-Sixers | Hawks-Heat

Moreover, LBJ must be forced to play defense. Involve him in isolations, run him off multiple screens, and have his man go back-door whenever James turns his head to peek at the ball.

Stuckey should be given multiple opportunities to overpower Williams either in the low- or mid-post areas, or in wing isos.

Because the Cavs are a big man short, Wallace should post-up Ilgauskas and Antonio McDyess should do the same to Anderson Varejao. Foul trouble for either (or both) forces Cleveland to play Darnell Jackson, an earnest but inexperienced rookie.

The Pistons must concentrate on controlling their defensive glass and prevent the Cavs from getting second-chance shots.

Detroit should try to control the tempo by taking the air out of the ball, then counter Cleveland's aggressive defense with reversal passes and backdoor cuts.

As ever, the key to Detroit's destiny will be Rasheed Wallace. If his chops are up, if his focus is steady, and if he's willing to venture into the low post, then the Pistons will be able to complement Hamilton's perpetual-motion offensive thrusts.
And the Pistons would have a great shot at advancing if LBJ were to suffer a debilitating injury early in the series. Otherwise, the Pistons COULD win four games only if they played a best-of-15 series.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/s...reviews:-First-round

wow, you're right. That was'nt funny at all.

what does the title of this post even mean? I thought it was good insight.

I want them to focus on Ripper! Bring all the help you want. Theres a reason he's been racking up assists. Just makes his job easier

hans did you not see the part i put in bold

Sheed360,

I think you need to understand that your team is a huge underdog. I agree that Hollinger probably should have elaborated some. I do not think the Cavs will sweep Detroit and I would like to have read why Hollinger thinks they will.

But besides that, if you are looking for respect for the Pistons, you might be a year late on that one.

I think it's funny because he actually thinks we could force the Cavs to 8-4, since 8 is how many games you would need to win in a 15 game series. That implies that in a 7 game series, he thinks we are actually capable of taking it to 6 games, which would be 4-2.

Haha?

i guess making the playoffs 8 straight season doesnt mean jack ****....i know they have had a down year and i know it kinda comes with the territory but come on now....why so much disrespect....its unprofessional if you ask me..other than the bold the article is fine why would you throw a good piece of writing out like that....