Pistons Vs. Cavs: A Rivalry Continues...

Starters for Detroit                Starters for Cleveland

PG Rodney Stuckey                PG Mo Williams

SG Richard Hamilton               SG Delonte West

SF Tayshaun Prince               SF LeBron James

PF Antonio McDyess               PF Anderson Verajao

C Rasheed Wallace                 C Zydrunas Ilgaskus

In what's become a flip flop of division rivals, Detroit has it's biggest hurdle in recent history. Cleveland has become the top team in the NBA & a powerhouse. Meanwhile Detroit has struggled all season long to find an identity & even more important, wins.

Cleveland is a spectacular 39-2 at the Quicken Loans arena thanks in large part to LeBron James' leadership & complete trust in his teammates. Mo Williams gives the Cavs a very reliable No. 2 option to James & the rest of the team follows suit.

The Cavs are a tough match up these days because the entire team is willing to defend. Every player knows their position & knows their role. Their bigs clogs lanes, their back court spreads the floor with great shooting & constant motion.

Mo Williams, Delonte West & Daniel Gibson are all the type of shooters to keep the defender honest. Big Z is also capable of hitting the open jump shot which pulls the defending center away from the basket.

Verajao, also capable of hitting a jump shot or two, is also a great defender & offensive rebounder especially with the opposing PF cheating off of him focusing on cutters & more importantly a slashing LeBron.

On the defensive end, Cleveland is the stingiest team in the league only allowing their opponents to score 91 pts per game. They play great help defense especially on the perimeter. They will definitely be a difficult team to beat, especially for the Pistons who have only managed to get 1 win in 4 tries against the No. 1 team in the East & NBA this season.

Detroit is more than capable of going on a run & taking a big lead at any time during the course of a game. The problem has been maintaining those leads. That starts & ends with the play of their second year PG Rodney Stuckey.

His inconsistency has made the Pistons an easy team to defend. His indecisiveness during key stretches have turned 10 point leads to five point deficits. The main problem for Stuckey has been, when he needs to be aggressive & when he needs to get the other focused.

His predecessor Chauncey Billups was great at controlling the tempo & getting others involved. He also knew when it was time for him to be aggressive. Over time Rodney Stuckey will learn & become the player everyone knows he is capable of being.

But for now, the PG position is a great concern for the Pistons going into the first round of the playoffs against the top defensive team in the NBA.

Rip Hamilton has played well all season against the Cavs & plays the best one-on-one defense against LeBron James on the entire Detroit roster. While Prince will handle a majority of the minutes against LeBron, Rip will be called during key stretches to try to slow him down.

Tayshaun will also be asked to score more to force LeBron to play defense & hopefully tire him out on the offensive end. Rasheed Wallace & Antonio McDyess will be asked to cheat in a bit & force the bigs to make shots while also trapping & double teaming LeBron James anytime his feet touch the paint.

Unfortunately for Detroit, LeBron is almost as dangerous as a passer, as he is as a scorer, but the Pistons would much prefer someone other than LeBron take the big shots.

The Cavs boast a deeper bench with the addition of Joe Smith, but with the penetration of an extremely confident Will Bynum, as well as the energy of Jason Maxiel & interior defense of Kwame Brown, the Pistons' second unit has a shot to step in & become a large factor in a few victories.

If the Pistons hope to pull off this upset, they will need to resurrect the swagger they've had the last six years which helped them advance to the Eastern Conference finals. This is their toughest task to date, but with a core used to playing with their backs against the wall, Detroit is a legitimate threat to pull off an upset.

Cleveland must continue to play their best basketball to avoid a breakdown, in order to get by a healthy Detroit team.