Drew Gooden is Making it Rain

After the game, Drew Gooden was asked what he says when he shoots foul shots, and he said "Make it rain!" Drew also told the crowd he loved them to death, and finished his little interview with a scream, Howard Dean style. Please please please someone have the video of this.

I've been riding Drew Gooden pretty hard, but the man stood up for himself tonight against Rasheed and found his game. Love it when a man decides he won't take it anymore. That "Property of Rasheed Wallace" t-shirt I've been joking that he is wearing was ripped to shreds tonight; not even enough scraps left to make a title belt out of. Also, Daniel Gibson: 12-12 from the free throw line. 12-12! Unbelievable. Both those guys certainly surprised me and made my analysis look bad.

And Larry Hughes, often mocked for being soft, limped his way onto the court for 16 minutes: again, these players have something to prove. Finally, Donyell Marshall gave the Cavs 7 points on >50% shooting; very important. I've been harping on the need for Donyell to have good games, and he had a decent one.

All this said, though, I still have doubts that the Cavs can win this series. The Cavs are asking Sasha Pavlovic and Daniel Gibson to outscore Richard Hamilton and Chauncey Billups. That makes me nervous.

However, I would add that Detroit's veteran team is breaking down and getting tired! Perhaps the reason the Pistons come out so strong at the beginning of games and in the 3rd quarter because they get a chance to rest? It kind of makes sense to me.
Three starters over 40 minutes again for Detroit. Flip has to play Flip Murray and Jason Maxiell more, and I still am lobbying for Carlos Delfino.

Anyway, I'll cease my bias long enough to tell you that you need to read a new blog covering this series, http://mindofboney.wordpress.com. "Boney" is a Pistons fan and an acid-tongued, witty commenter on Yaysports who finally decided to give us some blog posts too. Naturally, Cavs fans are hoping that he and erstwhile Nets blogger Becky are stuck consoling each other after their teams have both lost to the Cavs, ha.

Rasheed Wallace's Brush with Goathood

I watched the ending of Game 2 several times now, and am amazed at how close Rasheed Wallace came to being the goat of both Games 1 and 2.
First, in Game 1, he left Donyell for the sake of a useless double team, the very mistake that cost the Pistons Game 5 (and, really, the entire series) of the Finals in 2005.
Second, in Game 2, he somehow failed to hang on to that rebound and thus gave Larry Hughes a high-percentage opportunity to win the game.
However, I don't believe he fouled Anderson Varajeo; he clearly had the position on Anderson, and Anderson was flailingly trying to get it back. If Anderson had the position and Rasheed was trying to elbow in, it would be a different story.

In the end, Rasheed was the hero of both games. That's why I don't like getting too caught up on final results; it's such a coin-flip when you get into the final minute of a closely-contested game. Of course, this gives me yet another excuse to trot out my Rasheed Wallace video. I need to make another one of these sometime. Any ideas as to which NBA player you'd like to see, and which song you want to accompany their pictures?

Rasheed Wallace Video

I made this myself. :-) I know it's not clear whether I am praising or mocking Wallace. Mostly praise, I assure you; deep down, Rasheed seems like a decent guy. Just a touch of mockery in the song choice, though; it's funny to think of Rasheed (or nearly any 7' male) being so insecure.