Ugly game but that's how they like it

That was a dog of a game.

But if you’re the Pistons, dogs are a man’s best friend.

Sixty-six fouls, 67 free throws, two hours 49 minutes. All the flow of sludge. Sweet.

With Chauncey Billups struggling and Rasheed Wallace basically uninvolved most of the night, it was exactly what the Pistons needed and they did it to near perfection.

I don’t know if they can slow it down and make it ugly enough to win on the road, but I’ve learned over the years to never count them out.

The Celtics continue to confound. They looked horrible for long stretches, their point guard play was abysmal but it’d be just like them to do an about-face and look like the 66-win team when they get back home tomorrow.

I picked the Pistons in six when this thing started, I guess I should stick with it.

But the way these teams have played, you can certainly envision a scenario where Detroit wins in Boston and then Boston wins in Detroit and we all head back to Beantown for Game 7 on Sunday night.

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I don’t know if there’s a better Detroit story than Antonio McDyess, which I’ll explore more fully in the paper version of this tomorrow.

Blows out knee in 2001, blows it out again in 2003, re-invents self as smooth shooting big. Nice kid. Can’t think of anyone not happy for him.

I remember back in 1995 when the Raptors were trying to figure out who they’d take with whatever draft pick they had. I can remember one of Isiah’s trusted lieutenants telling me much they loved the kid from Alabama and if they had a chance, they were going to take him.

The day before Game 4, he’s listening to a conversation between Juan Dixon and Chauncey Billups and he’s hearing Juan saying everything was going to be all right.

That’s when McDyess spoke up and said it was time to stop talking and get it done on the court. It’s the new Leader McDyess.

"Yeah, because I’m kind of fed up with excuses,” he said after Game 4. “Since I’ve been here we kind of have had excuses why we haven’t won another championship … and I feel that if I don’t say nothing vocally that we would have an excuse this year. I don’t want us to have no excuses.”

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Here’s one from the mailbag:

Q: Non-Raps related, but to answer why (Tony) Parker doesn’t get any MVP consideration well it doesn’t help if you are only the third best player on your own team. Besides, he might have played Nash to a tie, although Nash obviously wasn't the one guarding him. Paul, however, was clearly the better player in the series overall. But, to get to my question and it has something to do with Euro players (I include Ginobli, etc., in here if they played in Europe before coming to the NBA) doesn't it seem that all the top Euro players where drafted outside the top 10 aka Ginobili, Parker, Nowitzki, Divac, Kukoc, Sabonis, Radja, Petrovic?....the only exception being Pau Gasol...unless I am forgetting someone - while most of the ones that make it into the lottery end up being so-so or even busts?

Jeff D, London, UK

A: Well, most of those guys (and Nowitzki was a No. 9 selection and traded from Milwaukee to Dallas in what has to go down as a deal in the He Who Shall Not Be Named department) spent time in Europe after they were drafted before heading to the NBA.

That might have something to do with it, don’t you think?

Parker, of course, is the exception but it took him a while to gain the trust of his coach.

But you’re right on a few top 10 busts. Nikoloz Tskitishvili comes quickly to mind in the “bust” department.

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Bryan Colangelo’s got another thing to deal with in Florida today.

And it’s something that will have an impact on every team in the league.

Colangelo’s a member of the league’s competition committee and the steering committee that’s part of that group and they’ll be talking about an increase in instant replay this morning in Orlando.

As we’ve seen with a handful of clock mistakes throughout the season and the playoffs, there’s no reason not to expand how replay can be used.

Maybe that takes giving coaches “challenges” or something like that but that’s a slippery slope. Coaches will whine and challenge at the slightest provocation and the last thing we need is a steady parade to the video replay table.

Something has to change, but not too drastically.

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If you’re interested, here’s the list of the 15 potential top draft picks who’ll take part in the Orlando pre-draft camp. Remember, they won’t do much other than take physicals and do some testing. The only basketball will be “light drills” so it’ll be hard to get a true handle on many of them.

Joe Alexander, Darrell Arthur, D.J. Augustin, Jerryd Bayless, Michael Beasley, Eric Gordon, Donte Green, DeAndre Jordan, Brook Lopez, Kevin Lowe, O.J. Mayo, JaVale McGee, Anthony Randolph, Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook.

None of the top-rated Euros – Danilo Gallinari and Nicolas Batum chief among them – are there.

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Who do we like tonight?

I’m taking the Lakers, with great trepidation, though. And it’s going to rest on Lamar Odom.

Odom should be able to dominate Fabricio Oberto any time he wants and listening him take responsibility for the loss the other night makes me think he’s going to have a big one in Game 4.

Of course, if the Lakers don’t do something to stop Tim Duncan, who got an easy 20-20 game killing Pau Gasol the other night, the Spurs could very well reduce that series to a best-of-three.

And if both conference finals get to that stage, it might provide the drama that’s been missing for almost the entire playoffs.

Comments

[bballer]

hey doug, what do you forsee in the future of kwame brown now that his contract is up? he is a career 8/6 player and pjax states he is very good defensively. at 26 years of age and in extremely good shape, he can be a steal @ 3 yrs/$10m. can you see any team trying to pick him up at all?

Blogger's note: Oh yeah, he's a 26-year-old 7-footer. He's going to get that at least. And he may never be an all-star but he's going to be in someone's rotation for a few years yet, I think.

[Jimmie]

Doug, I've been thinking about this draft a lot lately (like everyone else, apparently), and I thought I would take a look at the list of interesting candidates you included in your other article today.

Nicolas Batum, 6-foot-8 SF, France
(Long, athletic but unpolished; solid defensive potential)
I'm afraid of this pick. I've seen way too many guys with this description come in and never reach their "potential". He has a rep as not being a hard worker and lacking in game intensity. That's the kind of stuff that rarely develops in a player. Skills you can teach; mindset you can't.

Chris Douglas-Roberts, 6-7 SF-SG, Memphis
(Good finisher with either hand; can get to the rim)
I've been against this pick since the NCAA tournament, but I'm starting to come around again. He can produce immediately, and looks like a possible Rip Hamilton type player. Rip didn't look like he'd become what he has when he came out of college, and CDR is a superior physical specimen to Rip, so I could live with this one.

Brandon Rush, 6-7 SF-SG, Kansas
(Good scorer, but needs to improve defensively)
Similar to above, I didn't see a whole lot to love in the tournament, but his defensive skills *are* impressive, and I'm wavering now. I don't think he'd be the BPA at 17, though.

Joe Alexander, 6-8 SF-PF, West Virginia
(Unpolished offensive threat seen as more of a project)
I completely disagree re: project -- he's more than adequate from 15 feet in already. I love this pick, but I think he'll be gone at 17. His athleticism is ridiculous, and he's already a prolific producer scoring and on the boards. Question today is whether he can handle well enough to play SF. If he can, he'll be dangerous because he can get up so high on his jump shot and can dunk over people on the drive.

Chase Budinger, 6-7 SG-SF, Arizona
(Smooth shooter comfortable coming off screens or spotting up)
Just not interested. I think his best case is Matt Harpring. I like Harpring, but not at 17.

BIGS

Darrell Arthur, 6-9 PF, Kansas
(Not a good rebounder, but a solid-scoring big man)
Ugh. My feeling is, if we go big, it's gotta be a true C. We have a franchise PF in Bosh, and backup PFs are really not that hard to come by. And we especially don't need another non-rebounding big.

JaVale McGee, 7-0 C Nevada
(Raw, raw project. Years away from being a major contributor)
Totally agree with this assessment. The potential is pretty nice, though. I think I read he has a 7'-6" wingspan... He could turn out to be a Stoudemire-type player, but he could also turn in Kwame Brown. High risk.

Marreese Speights, 6-10 PF-C, Florida
(Best attribute is his back-to-the-basket offensive game)
Intriguing, but I think he's a ways off from being ready, honestly. After watching the Abunussar camp tape, Alexander looked way more polished. I know that's not a ton to go on, but he kinda looked like best-case Bosh, and as noted above, we already have one of those.

Roy Hibbert, 7-2 C, Georgetown
(Not particularly mobile for a big man, but lauded for work ethic)
I'm so not enamoured by his level of athleticism, but I think he has the most NBA-ready game of all these big men, and realistically would probably help the Raps the most in the short term. I think he would indeed allow Colangelo to move Rasho, as I think he can play backup C today. From a fan's perspective, it would seem disappointing to take an "old reliable" instead of an exciting prospect, but he might be the best choice for management.

Alexis Ajinka, 7-0 C, France
(More a mid-range shooter than low-post presence; another project)
They're saying a 7'-9" wingspan??? Is that possible? I haven't seen anything from this guy, so I have no idea. He is long. Seems maybe too skinny for Toronto's purposes, though. He's put on 35 lbs in 2 years, and still has about 20-30 to go. His frame looks about maxed out to me.

[Chris Clarke]

I had no idea that Kevin Lowe was making a pro sports comeback in the NBA. Good on him. Completely unrelated, whatever happened to that big kid from UCLA people seemed to love so much? Don't hear much about him these days...

Blogger's note: I believe he's playing hockey somewhere.

[Amanda]

If I'm remembering correctly, the Lakers were doubling up on Duncan in game 1 and it worked well, then switched to single coverage. Think they'll go back to double teaming tonight?

Blogger's note: They better.

[Uncle Zeke]

Looking forward to the McDyess article. He's been the Pistons best player by far in the Boston series. It's nice to seem him assert himself in a far greater manner than his previous Pistons "role player" status demanded. He's always been the other guy- the only starter not there for the title- and I think that's made him a little apprehensive to step forward. It would be an amazing story if he becomes the Pistons leader that's clearly been lacking in this playoff run. No excuses indeed.

[Eric]

Doug,

Like everyone else, I'm led to believe that Jose Calderon will be a BYC asset upon signing an extension. However, when would that take effect?

TJ Ford signed his contract extension in 2006, as you recall, but he didn't become BYC until 2007- because that's when the extension kicked in (he had to play 2006/2007 under his rookie deal).

Now, I'm not sure what Jose's contract stipulates because it's not your common first-round deal, but as a restricted free agent, would that not imply that he has at least one more year to play out on his old deal before his extension kicks in? And if so, should all the talk about him becoming a BYC player not be put on hold for a year?

Thanks,
Eric

Blogger's note: No, Jose is a base-year compensation guy this year. The difference was that T.J. signed an extension of his rookie scale contract, which is allowable under the CBA. Jose had a three-year deal as an undrafted free agent and had no chance to sign an early extension.