Bulls shut down C-Webb, again

 

CHICAGO -- The Bulls have done in the past two games what no team has been able to do in Chris Webber's 14-year career: Make the five-time All-Star center completely disappear.

Before Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, Webber had only been shut out once in his career. Webber heads into Game 5 on a two-game scoreless streak.

"With more touches, you're going to get more shots but that's not even a concern," he said. "The concern is winning. I don't care about scoring or not scoring if we get the win."

It would certainly help the Pistons' cause if Webber didn't go for an ignominious three-peat. Webber played 24 scoreless minutes in Game 3 and 17 on Sunday, getting benched both times early in the third quarter. He has missed eight shots in these games and the only time he tossed one in during the second half of Game 4, it was disallowed because he plowed over Luol Deng.

No one could have anticipated Webber would get the silent treatment after he went 10-for-11 from the field in Game 2.

"The game he was effective, we got him the ball earlier and he really got things going," Flip Saunders said. "We're going to have to do that a little bit more."

Webber's benching wasn't just a product of ineffectiveness. The Pistons' large deficits in the second half of both games also forced Saunders to go with his frontcourt reserves.

"When we fall behind, we can't utilize Chris as much because we're trying to match their quickness in the front line and trying to extend our defense with energy," Saunders said. "We have to do a better job of getting better starts and getting Chris involved a little more early in the game."

Zone press confuses Pistons

After getting bombarded with questions about the Pistons' zone after Game 3, Scott Skiles threw a wrinkle of his own at his tormentors.

Skiles used a zone press that helped his club limit the Pistons to 37 percent shooting.

"We did it a little bit in one of the blowout games in Detroit," Skiles said. "I don't know that it disrupted them that much. It just gives them a different look. When I look at our charting results, it's probably going to be similar to our man-to-man. At least you can take them out of whatever set they're running and dictate a little something to them. But they're so good, that stuff doesn't bother them too much."

On that latter point, Skiles' counterpart was in full agreement.

"I don't think it affected us that much," Saunders said. "Their overall energy and urgency was more of a factor."

No easy way to close this out

In Saunders eyes, the playoffs have only just begun for the Pistons.

"Now we've got a series," he said. "Both teams have gotten beat, so we have a series. We're going to have to come out ready to go. They're not going to give us anything. They have too much pride and they play too hard. We're going to have to go out and earn it."

Chauncey Billups says the Bulls better not expect a repeat performance from his club.

"We're going to be aggressive and try to close this thing out," he said.

Tickets for Game 5 will be on sale today at pistons.com and Ticketmaster outlets. The game will begin at 8 p.m.

Sam Cassell was an easy sell for Saunders

Saunders has learned over the years that it's easier to sell his zone defense to guards than forwards.

When zones were legalized during the 2001-02 season, Saunders was ahead of the coaching curve in terms of embracing that strategy.

The player who agreed with him the most in Minnesota was veteran point guard Sam Cassell, who played two seasons with the Timberwolves beginning in 2003.

"The reason he did that is Sam Cassell didn't like going through pick-and-rolls," Saunders said. "He knew it was a way for him not to have to defend the pick-and-roll. He was calling it even when we didn't need it."

Saunders said any NBA guard should feel the same way as Sam Cassell.

"He's the smartest guy I've ever had," he said. "If I were a guard, I'd say 'Put me in the zone if you can so I don't have to chase everybody around.' Sam Cassell was a good, old cagey veteran who was smart enough to know how to save his legs."

Kevin Garnett also embraced the zone quickly, which allowed Saunders to make that a big part of his strategy in Minnesota. It took him a full year to sell the Pistons on the concept, since they had so much past success playing man-to-man.

"When you throw it to them in small doses in games and they have success, then they understand it can be very beneficial," Saunders said. "The other thing is explaining to them that it's not going to be a steady dose. It's like football. You don't blitz all the time but when you use it, it can be very effective. It can be used to make a team less aggressive."

 

 

 

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