In Defense of Flip
Watching Flip have success in Detroit during the regular season was bittersweet. I was sad to see Flip get fired and blamed last year, but happy that he at least got a great opportunity in Detroit, and was making the most of it.
Of course, I saw a lot of wins in the regular season in Minnesota too.
Again, Flip is finding playoff success elusive...despite matching his career series-win total, it's not enough. The Pistons struggled a little too much with the Bucks and Cavs. And things are not looking good for the Pistons now. The commentators and team are pointing fingers. And every time the Pistons start to falter in this series, they say, "Well we went to the finals twice with the same crew...nothing's changed except the coach. Therefore Flip is the problem."
Whatever.
Dwayne Wade is the problem. Shaq and the very good Heat role players are the problem. The Pistons may not have changed, but the Heat have gotten a whole lot better.
In defense of Flip, may I point out to the jive commentators that Miami was not content to simply keep up with the Joneses. In fact, Damon and Eddie are gone. Instead, the Heat have added JWilliams, AWalker, Zo, Posey and Payton...all of whom have stepped up with veteran contributions at different times during these playoffs. Then they have Wade, who is more unstoppable than ever. Shaq's a year older, but he is still Shaq, and he is having a nice little series...especially with other players to help spread the floor and shoulder the load. Plus, most importantly, the Heat no longer have Laettner...who rode their bench last year and his presence alone may have pulled them down into the muck of suck. And don't forget that Wade missed game 6 last year with a rib injury, and his team didn't even score 70 points that game.
Not to take anything away from the Pistons of the past two years...they have been fun to watch, and are still alive now. I am pulling for an extended series, and if Flip can pull it together, it will be very impressive. But Larry Brown may have had luck go his way a little last year...and Flip is definitely in a difficult place right now...standing between Dwayne Wade and his first NBA Finals berth.
posted by TVDave at
10:46 AM
1 Comments:
I'll agree with just about everything the TV man says here, but with a few caveats. Making Flip the scapegoat in this is redonk, but he shouldn't escape criticism totally. The players have lacked motivation basically since the all-star break, and the especially put it on cruise control during the Cleveland series and haven't been able to get it back. Also, he hasn't been able to make effective adjustments to this point and the all-star starters are dragging, leaving me to think he played them too many minutes in the regular season.
But all of that said, the players should shut up and play. They are the ones who have had lackluster effort. Flip has given them a freedom from the LB carping but with that freedom comes a responsibility to play hard and up to your potential. To move your feet on defense. To play smarter offense with less dribbling and off balance jump shots.
Ben Wallace is a pantheon athlete for me, up there with the likes of Favre, Gretzky, Yzerman, and Dumars, but he should shut up and play better before blaming the coach. Criticizing your coach after a 2 point, 6 board night when you got torched by Shaq and shot some of the most embarrassing free throws in the history of the league spells defeat, not motivation. So I was disappointed in the man who has done so much for the Pistons, which will never be forgotten.
All of that said, it's like time to concede that the Heat is the better team, with Shaq playing like a younger self (his defense has been eerily good, how he's been jumping out on the pick and rolls and then getting back to his man--I don't remember him ever playing that as well) and with the refs allowing him to do whatever he wants. Moreover, Wade has been scary good, an incredible performance that gives you hope for the league as a whole. And the supporting cast is doing it, too.
The bottom line is that something freaky is going to have to happen for the Pistons to pull out the series. I like them tonight, because I'm in denial and think that maybe their pride will resurface at home, but I think the Heat will take it in game 6 and I'll be left to ponder a dynasty that wasn't. How quickly things change in the L.
By
Ironwood Flash, at 5:23 PM
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