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BREAKING DOWN THE FINALS

Well, well. The Detroit Pistons are back in the NBA Finals for the first time since I was a young man (or, more precisely, since 1990). And it’s great to have them back, because the Pistons match up with the Los Angeles Lakers better than any team in the Eastern Conference.

Let’s take a position-by-position look, with the Detroit guys listed first:

Point guard:

Chauncey Billups vs. Gary Payton: Billups isn’t necessarily a true point guard, as he’s more of a shooter than a passer. But he is still very underrated as an all-around player, and most of his shots drop when his team needs a basket most. Meanwhile, there’s a reason the Lakers are expected to leave Payton unprotected for the upcoming expansion draft -- namely, because his best days are behind him. He’s no longer even a solid defender, and his offense now consists of little beyond missing open perimeter shots. Payton can still snarl with the best of them, but age has robbed him of any athleticism. Edge: Pistons.

Shooting guard:

Richard Hamilton vs. Kobe Bryant: Hamilton will keep Bryant busy on defense, as he will be the most gifted offensive player Kobe has gone head-to-head against in the playoffs. But Bryant is far and away the best in the league at his position, and he takes great pride in shutting down the other team’s top scorer. Plus, the man who guards Kobe better than anyone (Minnesota’s Latrell Sprewell) is already gone. Edge: Lakers.

Small forward:

Tayshaun Prince vs. Devean George: With his long arms and skinny frame, Prince looks like the world’s largest praying mantis. And prey on opponents is exactly what he does, blocking shots and burying long-range jumpers. George has appeared lost for much of the postseason, but like Prince, when he’s on his game there is little you can do about it, simply because he’s so athletic. The bottom line is both are fairly inconsistent, but capable of hurting opponents when overlooked. Edge: It‘s a wash.

Power forward:

Rasheed Wallace vs. Karl Malone: Wallace is one of the league’s best low-post defenders and has always used his tall frame to give Malone fits. Malone, meanwhile, is coming off back-to-back series in which he frustrated the top two power forwards in the game in Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett. In other words, even at the age of 40, he’s still got game. With Kobe Bryant certain to limit the opportunities of Richard Hamilton, Wallace will be looked upon to score a lot more, and even occasionally carry the load. How he responds will be the key to this series. Edge: Pistons, by a whisker.

Center:

Ben Wallace vs. Shaquille O’Neal: For the first time in playoff history, Shaq will be facing a starting center who is as awful from the free-throw line as he is. It makes you wonder if the Lakers will occasionally employ a Hack-a-Ben philosophy on defense. Anyway, Wallace is a great defender, but most of his blocked shots come via help-side defense, not that of the straight-up variety. Just like he does everyone else, Shaq is gonna make Wallace miserable in the low post. Worse, unlike previous series, Wallace isn’t the type of center who will make O’Neal feel obligated to guard him on the perimeter. As much as I like Big Ben, we’re about to find out just how dominate the Big Diesel really is. Edge: Lakers.

Bench:

Derek Fisher should be L.A.’s starting point guard, and is one of the league’s best when it comes to making big shots on offense and being a major nuisance on defense. Fisher usually gets destroyed by small, quick guards such as Allen Iverson or Earl Boykins, but the Pistons don’t have anyone like that on the roster. Also for the Lakers, Rick Fox, Slava Medvedenko, and shooting star Kareem Rush are the perfect role players. The Pistons will counter with all-around solid veterans such as Corliss Williamson, Elden Campbell, Mehmet Okur, and Lindsey Hunter. This could be where the Lakers win this series. Edge: Lakers.

Coaching:

Larry Brown vs. Phil Jackson: Larry Brown has done more with less than any man in NBA history; Phil Jackson has done more with more. If I were starting a team from scratch, with no players on the roster, I would hire Brown over Jackson as coach. But if I just bought a team with four future Hall-of-Famers … well, I STILL would chose Brown. I recently read an e-mail that said Jackson’s role players have always come up big in the biggest games, and that’s very true. But it seems that all Brown ever coaches is role players (sans Allen Iverson, who has never made the playoffs without Brown). Jackson is a great, great coach; Brown is better. Edge: Pistons.

Bottom line:

After reading the above, you are probably assuming that I think the Pistons will win a game or two. And you’re right -- I think the Pistons will win ONE game, two if they are lucky. The Lakers have the home-court advantage, tons of Finals experience, and own an edge in every other intangible. They also have extra motivation, as it’s widely accepted that Shaq, Kobe and Phil will go their separate ways after the season.

The Pistons are a very good club and are worthy of the Eastern Conference title. They’ll put up a fight, as the Lakers haven’t seen a defense as tough as Detroit’s all season (sorry, San Antonio). But let’s face it, L.A. has already beaten the Spurs and Timberwolves, and they’re both at least as good as Detroit, probably better. Look for Detroit to win Game One -- a staple of Larry Brown-coached teams -- and the Lakers to wake up and take the next four. Prediction: Lakers in five.

RANDOM STUFF

-- I write this every year, and will continue to do so until the NBA does something about it: I HATE SEEING TEAMS CELEBRATE CONFERENCE TITLES! This is a recent trend that needs to be halted as soon as possible. I mean, do you ever remember Larry Bird of Magic Johnson jumping up and down and holding up some meaningless trophy after winning their respective conference championships? The answer is NO, because there was too much work left to be done. Heck, I don’t even think the modern-day Lakers act that way. The truth is, winning your division or conference should mean very little. There isn’t much about the NBA that irks me, but the league needs to put an end to this nonsense, and it needs to make doing so it’s No. 1 off-season priority.

-- Minnesota guard Sam Cassell told ESPN.com’s Marc Stein that the Timberwolves would have won their series against the Lakers had Cassell been healthy and able to play. “It's difficult,” Cassell told Stein. “Because I know for a fact that if I [were] healthy, we'd be moving on to the next round. No doubt about it in my mind. That's easier said than done. But I know it, and I think if you're a true basketball fan, you know it would have been different.”

-- I agree that things would have been different, but I still think the Lakers would have won. Granted, it doesn’t seem right that both Cassell and Troy Hudson were missing from Minnesota’s lineup, as the Wolves barely had anyone who could bring the ball up the floor WITHOUT pressure. (Interestingly, most analysts failed to even mention Hudson, who almost single-handedly beat the Lakers by himself last season, but was injured for most of this year). At any rate, these ARE the Lakers we’re talking about. No matter what happens, they seem to be able to turn it on -- and match the competition -- regardless of who they’re facing. Cassell is obviously forgetting that.

-- Plus, you can you really expect to beat the Lakers when bench players like Kareem Rush and Slava Medvedenko are combing to make 10 of their first 10 shots, as they did in Game Six? Who could expect to ever overcome a miracle like THAT? And I stress the word “miracle.”

-- New York Post columnist Peter Vecsey reports that Kobe Bryant does not want to return to the Lakers (yawn), and is leaning toward signing with the either San Antonio or Phoenix. Believe it or not, the Spurs are one of the few teams with enough room under the salary cap to make it happen.

-- The Post also reported that New Jersey has talked to Portland about Shareef Abdur-Rahim; to Miami about Eddie Jones and Brian Grant; and to Dallas about Antawn Jamison or Antoine Walker. The Nets are supposedly dangling Kerry Kittles and either Aaron Williams, Lucious Harris, or Rodney Rodgers (or all three). It doesn’t seem like enough for what the Nets are hoping for in return.

-- One rumor of little substance but is still making the rounds: Orlando’s No. 1 draft pick to Memphis for Pau Gasol.

-- Meanwhile, there have been whispers that Chicago is trying to ship its No. 3 pick to Utah for Matt Harpring and the No. 14 or 15 pick (the Jazz own both).

-- Ales Chan, a 7-foot-1 center out of Seton Hill College, is rapidly rising up the draft charts. No, not Seton HALL -- it’s Seton HILL, a small college outside of Pittsburgh. Chan almost gave up on basketball after transferring from West Virginia last year, but he has already worked out for five NBA teams this summer, and is expected to work out for at least five more. It’s nice to see that, despite the inundation of blue-chip camps and recruiting Web sites, some guys can still slip through the cracks.

-- One scout told me that New York high school point guard Sebastian Telfair has played so poorly during individual workouts that “some teams wouldn’t even draft him in the SECOND round.” Still, expect Telfair to get picked somewhere between Nos. 15 and 20. At the very least, Portland wouldn’t pass on him if he slides to No. 23.

OKAFOR AND HOWARD

Last week I wrote about Connecticut big man Emeka Okafor and Atlanta high school center Dwight Howard, who are expected to be the top two picks in the draft. Both are also upstanding young men, as Okafor graduated with honors from UConn in just three years, while Howard is a practicing Christian and good student as well.

Most of your replies indicated that you are thrilled to see two quality citizens enter the league, while a handful of others said they don’t care if a player is a convicted felon as long as he can put a ball through the hoop. Here are a few of your replies:

From Brian Spaeth (Los Angeles): “Howard should take a step back in his preaching IMO. (For the record, I'm atheist.) People push religion all the time and it's no big deal, but an 18-year old kid preaching a lifestyle like that? I just kind of look at him and think, ‘Okay, kid, get back to me when you've lived a little.’ I'm just surprised one of his handlers hasn't told him to cool it. You think LeBron had a complicated transition? Howard is about to be exposed to stuff he can't even believe. I hope he doesn't slip up.”

From Danny Wright (Greenville, S.C.): “As a fan, I am thrilled to see players like Howard and Okafor come into the league. As a pastor, I fear for Howard. To me, it's even more important that he keeps his life clean than that he proves he has NBA game. Howard is about to enter into enormous temptation. I think it's great to hear another devout Christian is coming into the league. But just as David Robinson, Charlie Ward, and Allan Houston have found out, when you make your faith known, you also open yourself up as a target. I just hope an 18-year-old unproven player can handle the pressure he's added to himself. I'll be rooting for his game, and praying for his life choices.”

From Ken Kessler (Albany, Ga.): “As far as Christians in sport, I've always thought that holy is as holy does -- not as holy says. I would like to hear a guy start an interview with ‘First, let me urge all of you to contribute to Toys for Tots’ (or a homeless shelter or some other cause), rather than that stale ‘First, let me give all the glory to God’ for winning a ball game.”

-- As for Okafor, an NBA scout e-mailed and compared him to Adonal Foyle and Tyrone Hill: “Emeka is great character guy in the Shane Battier mold, but he is more Foyle than Bill Russell. He is an intelligent player who does not have to jump out of the gym to block shots, relying instead on timing and reading the opposing player -- much like Foyle. And like Foyle, Okafor’s offense is limited to short hooks and soft turnarounds from five feet out. This sort of offense can only work at the college level where big men stand about 6-foot-8 and have feet of stone. I predict that Okafor will have a decent career with Tyrone Hill-like stats, and if he works hard, maybe an All-Star bid during his prime.”

-- That said, enjoy the Finals! I’ll be back to haunt your in-box or favorite Web site soon.

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