Heat/Pistons: A Primer

The Heat are all set to take on the Pistons tonight, at 8pm on ESPN, for Game 1 in the 2006 Eastern Conference Finals.

But this will not be a replay of last year.

Both teams bring a different look to the series. The Pistons have Flip Saunders at the helm, in place of Larry Brown who seemed to overstay his welcome. Flip has been able to retool the Pistons offense which bore fruit in his inaugural season. They had the best record in the entire NBA, going 64-18. The #2 record was the Spurs, who are now watching this game at home. A good regular season record does not necessarily translate in the playoffs.

Other than that, there is not much difference in the Pistons' team that won the East last year. They have a strong, cohesive unit that has been able to adapt through adversity and come back in series in which they were down. The recent recovery against the Cavaliers being just another example. As such, the Pistons tend to get awarded with such adjectives as 'tough', 'clutch' and even with the superior noun of 'championship poise'.

These will all be tested by the Miami Heat, who have yet to display those traits. At least, according to a very critical media following.

The Heat have made drastic changes. They have a new coach, or a return of an old coach in Pat Riley. Damon Jones, Eddie Jones, Rasual Butler, and Keyon Dooling were scrapped in favor of Jason Williams, James Posey, Antoine Walker and Gary Payton. The Heat also picked up Derek Anderson to give more offensive depth.

With the new changes, the Heat struggled in the early going, but were able to string together enough wins to grab the #2 seed.

And that is the other difference in this series - last year, the Heat held the #1 seed and home court advantage over the Pistons. That and the Heat are actually healthy this time around.

So, it will be Detroit's perimeter-oriented offense and sticky, physical defense going up against the Heat's dynamic offense and loose perimeter defense.

It is going to be an interesting series. Will Shaq be able to play and sustain a high level of basketball? Will Wade continue to be a problem for the Pistons' defense? Will the time off help or hurt the Heat? Will the Pistons offense get back in stride against a more formidable opponent?

Many questions. Now, we will finally have answers. Getting back to where we started.