Terry Foster: Pistons Are A Stepping Stone For Cavaliers
By Terry Foster
@TerryFoster971
The NBA is all about stars. When your star shines so does your team. When your star is sitting the bench or playing selfish basketball at the end then you usually lose.
That was the case during the Pistons valiant yet frustrating 106-101 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. The Cavs big three of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love combined for 81 points and outscored the Pistons entire starting five.
They made plays when they had to, especially in the final moments of a tight game. The Pistons proved that they can play with the Cavs once again. But the Cavs proved once again that they can turn it up when they must in a playoff situation. The Pistons are just a stepping stone toward a hopefully NBA title for Cleveland and might not have taken the Pistons seriously.
There is little threat of the Pistons winning this series but they showed enough gristle and scrap to show that they can extend this series to an uncomfortable level. The Cavs objective is to finish the Pistons as quickly as possible to save on the wear and tear. The Pistons goal is to extend games and this series as long as possible in hopes of tearing apart the fragile Cavaliers.
"We could never get any of their three main guys under control," Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said. "Then we went through a stretch in the game where I didn't think we got great shots."
Van Gundy was a highlight of this game until the fourth quarter. His time out shout outs were forceful, motivating and outstanding. But he made one critical error. He did not shorten his bench enough for the playoffs. He did not adjust to the Cavs smaller lineup in the second half. And he cannot have Andre Drummond defending Love, who draws him away from the paint.
"We're here to try to win games and we didn't get it done and I think I had a considerable amount to do with that," Van Gundy said. So I'm not very happy."
Meanwhile fans were happy at Joe Louis Arena as another young team showed more fight than it did in Tampa. The Red Wings turned their Stanley Cup playoff series into a series instead of a blowout with a hard-fought 2-0 victory Sunday afternoon.
The Wings won because they showed faith in guys that deserve more playing time. Brendan Smith returned to the lineup and set an early physical tone. But I was glad to see Andreas Athanasiou become a bigger part of this offense. He dazzled with a spinning near goal and scored his first playoff goal as the Wings took control of the game.
How do you keep this speed out of the lineup? He deserves more playing time, not less. If you want to criticize the Wings for making roster blunders you need to look no further than Smith and Athanasiou. The Wings are filled with the new and exciting but are hell bent on giving the old and boring more tries. My advice is to live and die with the young.
And if you want to bring back 21 year old Anthony Mantha I am all for it. Let him get his experience and make his mistakes. Why do the Wings hang onto Joakim Andersson while the more physical Mantha sits. Do you think he could help a power play that doesn't even sniff the goal any more?
Look what happened to rookie Dylan Larkin. The Lightning all but spit in his face and called him boy in Game 1. He's been much better the last two games and has been one of the Wings better assets.
Forgive me for complaining. But the Wings can actually win this series. They've got a bunch of young talent, then use it.
The old isn't cutting it any more.
(Foster can be reached at Terry.Foster@cbsradio.com)