The Pistons (Part 3)

(21) 1996 Detroit Pistons (46-36) vs. (40) 1952 Fort Wayne Pistons (29-37)

Incredible year by Grant Hill, averaging 20-10-7 this season. Allan Houston added 20 points of his own to the mix, and Otis Thorpe had 14-8. Joe Dumars stumbled to only 12-2-4 in 1996…not very good considering he played 33 minutes a game….

The Pistons (Part 2)

(11) 1987 Detroit Pistons (52-30) vs. (50) 1967 Detroit Pistons (30-51)

This 1987 Detroit team was so close to the Finals…one Isiah Thomas brain fart, and 3 points in game 7 to the Celtics (remember Bird’s steal in this series). Adrian Dantley had 22 points a day, and he was followed by Thomas, who had a superb 21-4-10 season. Bill Laimbeer had 15-12 this year (and he got clocked by Robert Parish…one of my favorite moments of all time. Look it up when you get a chance…if you hate Bill Laimbeer….that video is for you…). 16 points came from Vinnie Johnson, and the Pistons got promising rookies in Joe Dumars (12-2-5) and 25 year old Dennis Rodman (7-4). 

Not a bad team…Dave Bing had 20-5-4, and DeBusschere had 18-12. Eddie Miles contributed 18-4-2, while Joe Strawder had 10-10 this year.

The Pistons (Part 1)

So we are on to Detroit. This team did have some really great moments (mostly 1989), and it had a whole bunch of stars, from Larry Foust and George Yardley of the 50s, to Dave Bing, to Bob Lanier, to Isiah and friends, to Hill, finally to their 04 championship bunch. I’m excited to see this team play. Lots of great players, let’s see who the best of them is. (Note: This has 60 teams….30 matchups…..this may take a while…Note: Why haven't I been posting? I'm too lazy! That's why...and school started also...been writing, just not posting...)

(1) 2006 Detroit Pistons (64-18) vs. (60) 1980 Detroit Pistons (16-66)

And the Pistons begin with….2006. They made the East Finals before falling to Miami. This team still had its championship team mostly intact: Chauncey Billups (19-3-9), Rip Hamilton (20-3-3), Rasheed Wallace (15-7), Tayshaun Prince (14-4-2), and the master defender, Ben Wallace (7-11, almost 2 steals, and over 2 blocks), but this team also had the addition of Antonio McDyess (8-5…One Note on McDyess: I used to be scared of him as a kid….no idea why). This is a pretty good team, but they didn’t win it all….

Not really exciting…Bob Lanier (having 22-10-3 this season) was traded to Milwaukee, but Bob McAdoo was there (21-8-3). I don’t get why you don’t get rid of McAdoo, who was known as a head case kinda then…and you should respect Lanier! He stayed with you through the good and bad…he’s your best player of all time at this point! Treat him better than that…John Long had 19-5-3 this season.

(2) 1989 Detroit Pistons (63-19) vs. (59) 1994 Detroit Pistons (20-62)

This was the first of the Pistons champs. They had Isiah putting up 18-3-8, Dumars had 17-3-6, Laimbeer had 14-10, Vinnie Johnson scored 14 off the bench (instant offense), Aguirre came over for Dantley (Aguirre had 16 points here, and Dantley had 18, but Mark didn’t gripe over minutes…), and they had other tough, immovable big men, like Rick Mahorn (7-7), and James Edwards (7-3), and they of course had Rodman (9-9), and they also had John Salley (7-5). Why did I list all those people? Because each was key in their own way (don’t mistake me for a Pistons fan…I despise Laimbeer like almost no other…and I hate their fouling style….but you have to respect them..((which I do with Thomas, mostly because of his heart….Remember his sprained ankle in 1988…that, my friends, is one of the largest desires to win I have ever seen))). They had a really smart team….I give them that, and they looked for every advantage…but I still hate them…Great team….but they are mostly assholes in my book…

Site/Status Update

Hello, everyone (anyone?)...hope you've been enjoying this. I have another post all ready to go....but two (real) posts in one day in too much...

I've been enjoying this...hopefully there will be some readers soon. I think we're progressing well...

I'm sure you're wondering when the actual games start. I'm planning on opening the first round November 1st (when the season is supposed to start...or was...) or when I am done with the previews, whichever is first.... I will continue writing them after the tourney starts...but I bet I'll be a ways into by then.

Also: It's that time of year again....school starts up in like 4 days. Which means I get less time to write. Don't worry though, I write whenever I can.....Game results will be posted under the label (guess what it is..) game results....

Thanks....

The Nuggets (Part 2)

Here's part 2.....

(11) 1986 Denver Nuggets (47-35) vs. (26) 1996 Denver Nuggets (35-47)

Another high scoring Nuggets team, this one with Alex English at the top of his powers, putting up 30-5-4 every night. Calvin Natt had 18-6, and the do-everything point guard, Fat Lever, had 14-5-8-2 steals. Wayne Cooper and Bill Hanzlik had double figures for Denver.

The Nuggets (Part 1)

The Nuggets….a mix of David Thompson, Alex English, Dikembe Mutombo (and the 1994 team that knocked off the Sonics), and their offensive (and no defense) ways. This was never an elite team, but they did have their moments…

Note: Remember, this does not include ABA…so their two best teams are not in (but I will eventually do an ABA tourney…stay tuned…)

(1) 1988 Denver Nuggets (54-28)

This team gets a bye. It’s one of those incredible Nugget offensive team, led by English (25-5-5), and Fat Lever (19-8-8, and almost 3 steals). 15 points came from Jay Vincent, and they got double figures from Michael Adams, Danny Schayes (son of Dolph), and Blair Rasmussen.

(2) 2009 Denver Nuggets (54-28) vs. (35) 1998 Denver Nuggets (11-71)

After ditching AI for Billups (18-3-6), freeing up Melo for 23-7-3, he led them to the most successful season since 1988, which featured 15 points from JR Smith, and Nene (who doubled as their center, giving 8 boards a night). This may or may not be a successful team in the tourney…On one hand they have pretty good offense….not so much on the other end.

On the other hand…this is basically a nothing team…getting 15 points from Johnny Newman, and 14-7-3 from LaPhonso Ellis.

ABA

I know that I said I wouldn't include ABA...and it is for a pretty good reason....They're stats are skewed, there wasn't much defense.

But when I looked at the Nuggets....I saw so many teams that might be in contention...Like 1976. Is it fair to not include ABA teams? Should I add them in (I haven't really started with Denver yet). Anyone have an opinion?

I think what I will end up doing is just have an ABA tourney at some (later) point.

The Mavs (Part 2)

Part 2....

(9) 1988 Dallas Mavericks (53-29) vs. (24) 1991 Dallas Mavericks (28-54)

This is the other pre 2000s team in the top 13, this one again led by Aguirre (25-6-4). Ronaldo Blackman had a pretty good year, consisting of a daily 19-4-4 diet. Derek Harper manned the backcourt, serving up 17-3-7. Young center (off the bench) Roy Tarpley has 14-12 cooking every night. And who can forget the sweet smell of what Sam Perkins is cooking (14-8). Sorry…I am really hungry right now.

Roy Tarpley got kicked out of the league (to return in 1995, only to be re-kicked out) for drugs. After 20-11 (well, it WAS only 5 games…but still…)! Ronaldo Blackman was still good, averaging 20-3-4, while Derek Harper averaged 20-3-7. To fill the rebounding void 6, 8, 9 rebounds came from Herb Williams, Rodney McCray, and James Donaldson respectively. 10 points were contributed in from an aged Alex English.

(10) 2001 Dallas Mavericks (53-29) vs. (23) 1982 Dallas Mavericks (28-54)

This is where the Dirk era really takes off (after 40 wins last year). Dirk had 22-9, while he got a lot of help from Michael Finley (22-5-4). Steve Nash did a good job at point, having 16-3-7. A late season trade added Juwan Howard, good for 18-7-3 in 27 games.

Year two of the Mavericks was year one for some important Mavs. Debuting was Jay Vincent (21-7), Ronaldo Blackman (13-3) and, most importantly, Mark Aguirre (19-5-3). Brad Davis was a good guard for them, averaging 12-3-6.

The Mavs (Part 1)

The Mavs….the first thing I see is Dirk (a weird note on Dirk…I can’t seem to refer to him as “Nowitzki”…it just feels weird), but there was also Mark Aguirre, and J-Kidd…and one champ (take that Heat fans!). This should be interesting…..

(1) 2007 Dallas Mavericks (67-15)

This infamous Mavs team gets a bye (remember these guys after their meltdown in the first-round against Golden State). Led by MVP Dirk (25-9-3), plus instant offense from Jason Terry (17-3-5), and Josh Howard (19-7-2), these guys didn’t come out of the playoffs anywhere close to where they should have.

The Cavs (Part 2)

Part 2....

(11) 1998 Cleveland Cavaliers (47-35) vs. (32) 1986 Cleveland Cavaliers (29-53)

Just a note: Trying to minimize some of the random stats that aren’t very important…just to save time between posts (wow does this take a long time…)

These teams aren’t anything special….mostly just bland. The Cavs have had some really successful years…but after that it’s not so good. Tell that to the Reign Man Shawn Kemp, who had 18-9-3-1-1. Wesley Person gave in to 15-4 nightly, while they were manned by point guard Brevin Knight (9-3-8, and 2.5 steals). Rookie Zydrunas Ilgauskas (with hair!) had 14-9 in a great debut season. After him, came Cedric Henderson rounding out the starting 5 with 10-4-2, even with Derek Anderson preforming 12-3-3 off the bench. After that….not much else (Vitaly Potapenko for 7-4 anyone?).

World B Free was still going strong with 23-3-4 (though this is his last remotely successful year…he barely played at all next year in Philly…) and Roy Hinson packed the one-two scoring punch (20-8). Manning the point was John Bagley; going for 12-4-9 nightly. After him, Mel Turpin (14-7) was their only other threat….Don’t worry, next year will bring Daugherty, Price, Harper, and Hot Rod Williams….