How the Pistons can beat the Cavs

It’s difficult – darn near impossible – to convince myself that the Pistons have a Hook’s chance in Neverland of beating Cleveland in the NBA Playoffs. If I were a betting man, then I would wager profusely against Detroit in the first round, which begins Saturday.

But after a reassuring conversation I had last evening with my good friend Brandon, I am holding out a tiny, microscopic shred of hope for the team that has been to six straight Eastern Conference Finals. It involves an extreme – although not entirely foreign – gameplan. It relies on a lot of “ifs.” And it assumes that the league MVP – Cleveland megastar LeBron James – will not like the strategy one bit:

Hack the molasses out of him. Foul him so hard that the ink from his tattoos flees his body out of fear. Make his life in the halfcourt so miserable that he'll resort to taking those off-balance fadeaway jumpers that from time to time find the net but in reality bring his shooting percentage way down.

Effectively, Detroit must raid the castle and remove the crown from atop The King's head.

When LeBron dropped 48 on the Pistons in Game 5 of the ’07 Conference Finals, he got into the lane at will and suffered no consequences. It was a surprising sight to see the Pistons – long heralded as the best defensive team in the East – side-stepping the LeBron train and allowing him to score easy buckets. For Detroit fans, it was the most painful game to watch in the past seven years – aside from the Game 7 Finals loss to the Spurs in ’05.

That cannot happen this time around. If it does, Cleveland could be breaking out the brooms, and the Pistons’ reign as an Eastern powerhouse will officially be over. To avoid it, the Pistons must revisit the mindset they used to win their first NBA title 20 years ago.

They must become the Bad Boys again.

When Bill Laimbeer, Rick Mahorn and the other Detroit players of the late ‘80s took the floor, they brought with them a rugged mentality that said: “Nothing easy in our lane. No backing down.” Opponents feared them more than any other team in the league.

While Rasheed Wallace, Antonio McDyess and the rest of the current Pistons don’t own the identity as the most physical team in the league, it’s never too late to adopt it. And I believe that’s the only way they can steal this series – by sacrificing their bodies to take charges, by bringing LeBron to the ground before he can get into the air, by every player using all six of his fouls.

Because the Pistons just aren’t as talented as they used to be. And with Chauncey Billups gone (tear), the team chemistry has suffered greatly. But, somewhere deep down, they still have that collective swagger and the real belief that they can win. If they can inject a hint of doubt into the Cavs by winning Game 1 or 2 in Cleveland, then the series will all of a sudden become intriguing.

This will be a colossal task. LeBron, after all, is the most impressive sports figure – athletically – that exists. He may be the most athletically intimidating human to ever play any sport. Size, speed, strength, power, agility, flexibility, elasticity – he’s got it all. On top of that, he is the consummate team player – a characteristic that not all superstars possess.

He has absolutely earned the MVP trophy he will receive next month.

But LeBron has yet to demonstrate what most other sports legends have, and that's the ability to ignore every distraction and every disconcerting circumstance standing between him and his goal – and then go out and overcome it.

Jordan overcame extreme flu conditions and massive fatigue to drop 38 on the Jazz in the Finals.

Nicklaus overcame an extended absence from the spotlight and a dwindling game to triumph at the '86 Masters.

Aaron overcame life-threatening racial persecution during his pursuit of Babe Ruth's record – and then he hit No. 715.

Two years ago, if the Pistons had employed this pound-LeBron-until-his-knees-hurt strategy, I don’t think he would have reacted well. He would have whined, drawn technicals, committed turnovers and crumbled to the point that Detroit would have advanced to the Finals.

But LeBron has matured tenfold since then, and his game is much more multi-faceted. He also has the best supporting cast of his career at his disposal, and that’s why the Cavs enter the Playoffs with the league’s best record. It’s entirely possible that LeBron will look past whatever gameplan the Pistons throw his way – however extreme – and still dictate the tempo.

Remember this, though: The Pistons remain a team that, deep down, no one wants to face. You can’t tell me the Cavs wouldn’t have rather seen Chicago or Philadelphia in this opening round. Those teams haven’t been to the top. Detroit has, and what is more, the Pistons have always managed to elevate their level of play in the postseason.

There are other reasons to believe Detroit won’t play like a No. 8 seed: After some late-season injuries, they’re healthy again. With Allen Iverson out of the picture, that horrendous experiment is no longer a distraction. Most importantly, the Pistons still have a tremendous amount of pride. They remember 2007, and they want revenge. They know that failing to reach the Conference Finals again would mean the end of an era – and, probably, the dismantling of a roster. They badly want to beat the Cavs, and they think they can do it.

But, of course, this all hinges on the Pistons playing like the Pistons of yesteryear – even the Pistons of last May – which were a far cry from the discombobulated bunch of red and blue that trotted out to the hardwood all regular season long. They weren’t quite as pathetic as the Detroit squads who wore teal last decade, but they were the worst Pistons team since the first year of the Joe Dumars GM era (2000-2001).

That can all be forgotten with a win over the Cavs this postseason. But it'll take a magical Bad Boys resurgence. Maybe Laimbeer and Mahorn have a few more games left in them.