2006 NBA Playoffs Picks

The 2005-2006 Pistons are on their way to proving there is a difference between being a good regular season team and a good postseason team and without some adjustments your NBA playoffs picks will be suffering.

As they drop both games in Miami and fall into a 3-1 series deficit, the overwhelming favorites to repeat in the Eastern Conference could be on their way out.

Why?

As crazy as this sounds, they might be too team oriented. The same thing that propelled them to greatness in the regular season could be the thing that’s holding them back in the playoffs. What are they missing? If you look at every Championship team, they have that go-to guy who puts their team on their back in the clutch.

This go-to guy demands so much attention that defensive game plans are built around stopping this one player, which leaves big holes for the other players to step up.

Why did Cleveland nearly beat Detroit, despite being an inferior team? Lebron James. There was no secret as to where the ball was going to be in Cleveland’s offense and now, in the Miami series, it’s Lebron’s buddy, Dwayne Wade, taking over in key situations. Even with the great “teams” of the past, there was no discrepancy as to which player would take the shots to finish off an opponent, or when they got behind, or in a close game down the stretch.

The 1982-84 Celtics are known as one of the great “teams”. They started, Parish, Bird, Maxwell, Johnson, and Henderson and brought McHale off the bench, but there was no question that Larry Bird would take or create every big shot.

Chauncey Billups appears to be the closest thing the Pistons have to a clutch player, finishing 5th in the MVP balloting this season. However, he does not go to the basket well, and defenders can crowd him knowing that he’s going to settle for jumpers. It’s plain to see that Lebron and Wade are far superior as go-to type players so early in their careers and their ability to go to the hole allows them to get better opportunities as defenders have to respect their ability to drive. If you look at the Pistons, some might say that Rip Hamilton should be taking the big shots. The problem is, he can’t create any shots for himself. He is a catch and shoot player who depends on his teammates to free him with screens. If you want to know the truth, it’s Tayshaun Prince who has the makings of being the go-to guy this Pistons team desperately needs. He usually poses matchup problems for teams because if you guard him small to take away his quickness, he can post you and use his size and length, but if you try to guard him with a bigger player, he’ll blow right by you.

I believe this Pistons team is going to struggle in the postseason unless they can foster Prince into this role.

You might be thinking isn’t this the same Pistons team who won the Championship a couple years ago. Yes it is, however, the Eastern Conference was as weak as it’s ever been and the Lakers were a soap opera otherwise they would have dismantled them. Lebron James, and Dwayne Wade were rookies then, and now they are emerging as the best players in the NBA, really elevating the level of play in the Eastern Conference as well as the NBA as a whole.

As more and more teams are improving in the NBA, all I can say is, the Pistons better find a go-to guy or they’ll be going home earlier and earlier.  Come back to our site often or visit the Vegas Experts for more NBA playoffs picks.