Philadelphia 76ers vs. Detroit Pistons

Philadelphia 76ers vs. Detroit Pistons Series
By The Champs at #1 Sports
Posted on Thursday, April 17th

 #7 Seed – Philadelphia (40-42) had little to play for down the homestretch, having for some time been locked into the 7-spot, and lost the momentum gained over a remarkable 22-8 run by losing their last 4 contests. Size is certainly not a strength of Coach Maurice Cheeks’ crew but they are athletic, like to get out into the passing lanes, and score in transition. Sixer stars 6′2″ PG Andre Miller (17.0p, 4.0r, 6.9a, 1.3 steals), 6′6″ SF Andre Iguodala (19.9p, 5.4r, 4.8a, 2.1 steals), and 6′11″ C Samuel Dalembert (10.5r, 10.4r, 2.3 blocks) have each started all 82 games for a offense that averages 96.6 points per game and a defense that surrenders 96.2. Rounding out the Philly front five are the less than impressive 6′3″ SG Willie Green 12.4p, 2.5r, 2.0a) and 6′8″ PF Reggie Evans (5.2p, 7.5r, 1.1 steals). 6′2″ G Lou Williams (11.5p, 2.1r, 3.2a) and 6′7″ G/F Rodney Carney (5.8p, 2.1r) back up the front court while interesting rookies 7′0″ C Jason Smith (4.5p, 3.0r) and 6′8″ F Thadeus Young (8.2p, 4.2r) support the blocks off the bench. Young in particular is a player to keep an eye on in this series. There’s no doubt his size is needed against the bigger Pistons and with 16.3 points scored per game over his last four, this kid has certainly made the most of his additional minutes during the Seventy-Sixers coast to the post-season. Philadelphia managed a 2-2 split against Detroit this season, although in their final meeting (101-94 Philly at the Wachovia Center on April 9th) the Pistons played without Richard Hamilton and with limited minutes for the other starters. In the other 3 meetings, neither squad managed more than 86 points with Detroit taking a home game 83-78 on November 23rd and a road game 86-78 on January 23rd while Philly scored an 83-82 victory at The Palace of Auburn Hills on March 12th. So just how does Philadelphia stop an experienced playoff team like Detroit? For most playoff dogs is means piling up the 3-pointers and besting the favorite in assist to turnover ratio, neither likely here. The Sixers’ A/TO ratio on the season is 1.43, compared to 1.91 for the Pistons, while Philadelphia is the worst shooting team in the league behind the arc at 31.7% with only Iguodala (101 of 307) nailing more than 55 makes from downtown.

 #2 Seed – Detroit (59-23) cruised to the Central Division Title, some 14 games ahead of the Cavaliers, and enter the post-season as winners 9 of their final 11 contests. Coach Flip Saunders is roundly disliked by Motor City fans for supposedly burning out his starters on the way to the Eastern Conference Finals Series each of the last 2 seasons (The Pistons have reached the Eastern Finals each of the last 5 seasons) and leaving little in the tank to get further. Our home state’s NBA squad (their names will be withheld to protect the lazy the unwilling to play defense) never has to face this problem so we guess we should count ourselves lucky as we count our Ping-Pong balls…again this season! The gripe is true to a degree with 6′3″ PG Chauncey Billiups (17.0p, 2.7r, 6.8a, 1.3 steals), 6′7″ SG Richard Hamilton (17.3p, 3.3r, 4.2a), 6′9″ SF Tayshaun Prince (13.2p, 4.9r, 3.3a), 6′11″ PF Rasheed Wallace (12.7p, 6.6r, 1.8a, 1.2 steals, 1.7 blocks), and 6′9″ C Antonio McDyess (8.8p, 8.5r) accounting for 386 of a possible 410 starts but this season the minutes have been spread around pretty well following the opening tip. No less than 12 active Piston players have averaged over 3 points per game in 2007-2008 with 6′7″ F Jason Maxiel (7.9p, 5.3r) and 6′8″ F Jarvis Hayes (6.7p, 2.2r, played in all 82 games) bringing the most important front court support off the bench while 6′3″ G Juan Dixon (5.0p, 1.4r, 1.8a) and 6′5″ G Rodney Stuckey (7.6p, 2.3r, 2.8a) do likely for the perimeter. Dixon in particular has been sharp lately with double-digit points scored in each of Detroit’s last 5 games. Offensively, Coach Saunders’ unit racks up 97.5 points per contest with 3-point shooting a big piece of their scheme. Billups (137 of 342), Hamilton (62 of 141), Prince (53 of 146), Wallace (112 of 315), Hayes (73 of 194), and Dixon (30 of 72) are all legitimate threats from behind the arc while the Pistons’ have continued their decades-long tradition of stiff defense with only 90.1 points allowed per game this campaign. And then there is the biggest disparity in this first round match up – experience. Philadelphia’s entire roster has amassed a grand total of 95 playoff game appearances (for 6 Sixers, Sunday will be their first) while Tayshaun Prince has 97 of his crew’s 647 under his belt alone.

FREE SELECTION: Welcome to your 2008 Eastern Conference Playoffs! Now, can’t we just get to Pistons vs. Celtics already? In the first 3 games between these teams this season, Detroit dropped the defensive hammer on Philadelphia, allowing Iguodala to shoot just 32% from the field and held Miller to just 11.7 points per game and 3.7 assists. In the 2-2-1-1-1 format, Pistons in 5 makes the most sense but with an eye on Boston’s progress and the anticipated Eastern Finals showdown we’ll put our money on a 4-game Pistons sweep job.