Bucks couldn't match Pistons' bulk
By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Friday, April 30
Updated: April 30
3:17 PM ET
Milwaukee Bucks small forward Desmond Mason could have practiced his jump shot until the wee hours of Thursday morning, and although it may have helped his 37 percent shooting in Thursday night's game and 33 percent shooting for the series, it wouldn't have changed the fact that he was giving up 18 pounds to Ben Wallace every time he drove the lane.
The Pistons were just too big.
"That's a damn good basketball team in that other locker room," Bucks guard Damon Jones said in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel after the Pistons eliminated the Bucks from the playoffs. "I haven't given them credit all series long; I hope you (reporters) didn't expect me to. Those guys have a lot of experience in that locker room, playoff-wise. They're playoff-tested. They have some guys who really understand the game. Tonight, they came out and imposed their will on us."
And they imposed that will with a 240-pound Ben Wallace and 230-pound Rasheed Wallace. Not that they're the biggest combination in the NBA, but when pressed up against the likes of Joe Smith at 225 pounds and Michael Redd at 215, they are more than enough.
The Bucks had trouble matching up with Ben Wallace in the paint.
Because that's what Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton like to do. As the starting guards for the Detroit Pistons, they have the luxury, no, the responsibility, to crowd their men on the perimeter and force the drive.
And soon enough, it's point guard versus Big Ben or shooting guard versus Sheed at the point of attack.
Watch them rotate to the open man. Watch them switch on impulse and attack en masse. It's easy to remember one of the Pistons blocking a shot, but the fact is that while the team totaled 40 blocks in the five-game series, they also had 49 steals.
Their big men not only have long arms but quick feet. That's why they look bigger than they really are.
They swarm. They gang defend. And in the case of the perimeter-oriented Bucks, they walk your guards down a dark alley that leads to their biggest bullies on the block.
As Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Dale Hoffman put it: "The team that fooled the league for most of the year had no surprises left for the Detroit Pistons or anyone else. It dropped seven of its last eight games, and except for one respectable Wednesday, was losing ground a mile at a time."
And they were losing that ground because when you take their top four big men and add up their weights, they are the smallest in the playoffs.
Here's the list:
Lakers: 1,089 lbs.
Rockets: 1,060 lbs.
Kings: 995 lbs.
Pacers: 980 lbs.
Celtics: 975 lbs.
Timberwolves: 960 lbs.
Nets: 956 lbs.
Mavericks: 950 lbs.
Hornets: 946 lbs.
Knicks: 945 lbs.
Nuggets: 940 lbs.
Spurs: 936 lbs.
Pistons: 934 lbs.
Grizzlies: 925 lbs.
Heat: 924 lbs.
Bucks: 922 lbs.
We're not talking height or skill here but simple weight and how that relates to mass within a painted key 6 feet wide and 15 feet from a 10-foot high rim to free-throw line. Now put four or five of these guys in there and see what comes out.
Ever wonder why the Lakers struggle with the Rockets? Or why the Pacers seem best equipped to face the West?
So far in the playoffs, there have been six series determined and every one of them has been won by the heavier frontline. In the two undecided matches, the Timberwolves lead the Nuggets while the Hornets have won the last two games against the Heat.
But in the case of the Bucks and Pistons, it became all too obvious.
In the series, the Pistons accumulated 226 rebounds, 40 blocks and 218 points in the paint while the Bucks could come up with only 196 rebounds, 21 blocks and 166 points in the paint.
Per game, that's six more rebounds, 3.8 more blocks and 10.4 more points in the paint that the Pistons were getting than the Bucks.
On the season, the Pistons were averaging 2.2 more rebounds and two more blocks than their opponents. But against a team that featured a jump-shooting power forward in Keith Van Horn and a 7-foot reserve named Toni Kukoc who is known for his ability to pass and hit big 3s, the Pistons were able to twist arms and break legs.
Heck, the Bucks were led this entire year by a 6-foot-6 lefty who shoots 40 percent from beyond the arc over his career.
The Pistons had to be licking their chops while telling their guards to fetch.
"It becomes tough when you're up against talent, and they're working just as hard as you are," Buck head coach Terry Porter said. "You really have to have some guys play some superior games to get you over the hump, and we didn't have that. None of our top guys shot the ball very well."
By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Friday, April 30
Updated: April 30
3:17 PM ET
Milwaukee Bucks small forward Desmond Mason could have practiced his jump shot until the wee hours of Thursday morning, and although it may have helped his 37 percent shooting in Thursday night's game and 33 percent shooting for the series, it wouldn't have changed the fact that he was giving up 18 pounds to Ben Wallace every time he drove the lane.
The Pistons were just too big.
"That's a damn good basketball team in that other locker room," Bucks guard Damon Jones said in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel after the Pistons eliminated the Bucks from the playoffs. "I haven't given them credit all series long; I hope you (reporters) didn't expect me to. Those guys have a lot of experience in that locker room, playoff-wise. They're playoff-tested. They have some guys who really understand the game. Tonight, they came out and imposed their will on us."
And they imposed that will with a 240-pound Ben Wallace and 230-pound Rasheed Wallace. Not that they're the biggest combination in the NBA, but when pressed up against the likes of Joe Smith at 225 pounds and Michael Redd at 215, they are more than enough.
The Bucks had trouble matching up with Ben Wallace in the paint.
Because that's what Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton like to do. As the starting guards for the Detroit Pistons, they have the luxury, no, the responsibility, to crowd their men on the perimeter and force the drive.
And soon enough, it's point guard versus Big Ben or shooting guard versus Sheed at the point of attack.
Watch them rotate to the open man. Watch them switch on impulse and attack en masse. It's easy to remember one of the Pistons blocking a shot, but the fact is that while the team totaled 40 blocks in the five-game series, they also had 49 steals.
Their big men not only have long arms but quick feet. That's why they look bigger than they really are.
They swarm. They gang defend. And in the case of the perimeter-oriented Bucks, they walk your guards down a dark alley that leads to their biggest bullies on the block.
As Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Dale Hoffman put it: "The team that fooled the league for most of the year had no surprises left for the Detroit Pistons or anyone else. It dropped seven of its last eight games, and except for one respectable Wednesday, was losing ground a mile at a time."
And they were losing that ground because when you take their top four big men and add up their weights, they are the smallest in the playoffs.
Here's the list:
Lakers: 1,089 lbs.
Rockets: 1,060 lbs.
Kings: 995 lbs.
Pacers: 980 lbs.
Celtics: 975 lbs.
Timberwolves: 960 lbs.
Nets: 956 lbs.
Mavericks: 950 lbs.
Hornets: 946 lbs.
Knicks: 945 lbs.
Nuggets: 940 lbs.
Spurs: 936 lbs.
Pistons: 934 lbs.
Grizzlies: 925 lbs.
Heat: 924 lbs.
Bucks: 922 lbs.
We're not talking height or skill here but simple weight and how that relates to mass within a painted key 6 feet wide and 15 feet from a 10-foot high rim to free-throw line. Now put four or five of these guys in there and see what comes out.
Ever wonder why the Lakers struggle with the Rockets? Or why the Pacers seem best equipped to face the West?
So far in the playoffs, there have been six series determined and every one of them has been won by the heavier frontline. In the two undecided matches, the Timberwolves lead the Nuggets while the Hornets have won the last two games against the Heat.
But in the case of the Bucks and Pistons, it became all too obvious.
In the series, the Pistons accumulated 226 rebounds, 40 blocks and 218 points in the paint while the Bucks could come up with only 196 rebounds, 21 blocks and 166 points in the paint.
Per game, that's six more rebounds, 3.8 more blocks and 10.4 more points in the paint that the Pistons were getting than the Bucks.
On the season, the Pistons were averaging 2.2 more rebounds and two more blocks than their opponents. But against a team that featured a jump-shooting power forward in Keith Van Horn and a 7-foot reserve named Toni Kukoc who is known for his ability to pass and hit big 3s, the Pistons were able to twist arms and break legs.
Heck, the Bucks were led this entire year by a 6-foot-6 lefty who shoots 40 percent from beyond the arc over his career.
The Pistons had to be licking their chops while telling their guards to fetch.
"It becomes tough when you're up against talent, and they're working just as hard as you are," Buck head coach Terry Porter said. "You really have to have some guys play some superior games to get you over the hump, and we didn't have that. None of our top guys shot the ball very well."
