the reason i hate camping trips is b/c most ppl i have tried to camp with only want to talk and not shut up and let you sleep at night. i don't care what you talk about, even if it's something i would be interested in talking about, LET ME SLEEP! God bless "old" ppl who just want to fall asleep on trips and give you resting space, knowing they've got stuff to do the next day.

and i don't fall asleep too easily if i hear ANYTHING.

as a result, to put it quite bluntly, i feel like crap the following day.

if it weren't for that reason, and possibly the fact that i hate the long drive wherever we needs go, it would be a lot better; i love nature. really.

(so lake tahoe was ok i guess; ok, in that if i could've gotten better sleep, it would've been great. i guess i'll add getting a digital camera to my future list of wants, b/c as of late the only thing i really can use to hold onto each trip are memories)

---

just when i think detroit has lost their defensive mentality that i've grown to love, they bring it in a game 7 lockdown. so i guess doubling wasn't necessarily a bad idea on detroit's part; i did hear they pretty much threw every single type of defensive scheme at james the 2nd half. it just was that detroit wasn't really focused in the oh, 2nd through 5th games.

now, san antonio just needs to follow suit on monday to show that both back-to-back champs still mean (defensive) business.

(fyi, i've heard some talk about how rasheed might be the pistons' best player. i've heard talk about that for billups, and also for ben, but if you think about it, rasheed makes a very good case(rip has yet to show he can take over in the playoffs, and prince sadly as good of an all-around player, doesn't scare ppl on the offensive end). offensively, he gives them a low post presence; it's obviously nothing compared to duncan's, but it's still enough to give them an up-close shot when they need it. if rasheed's low post game goes to hell, there's a pretty good chance the pistons will lose. and don't forget how great of a spot-up 3 point shooter he is. that gives billups and hamilton the freedom to be more aggressive in attacking the hoop, knowing they can also kick it back out to rasheed if things aren't going well. if his shot does not fall from the outside, it also puts more pressure on billups and rip. on top of all that, he brings the typical stuff that the unselfish big men on the pistons usually always do; set screens, rebound well, defend well(in rasheed's case, defend big men 1-on-1 well). but like i've said, he also brings the underdog mentality to the pistons' team, something that i truly believe, adds 10 extra wins to their regular playoff game list, and a couple extra wins they squeak out in the playoffs)

that being said, if there is any possible hall-of-famers on this pistons team, it will probably only be ben wallace, but for good reason. the guy is a rock on defense. basically, while his shot blocking's terrifying, and his rebounding skills, if comes down to that if you pick and roll against him, the fact that the guard does NOT carry an advantage in speed that makes ben so special. the list of centers that successfully can defend pick-and-rolls by switching are very few, and even then, for only a limited amount of time, at a certain area on the court; once the timing gets longer, the chances of the offensive guard crossing over the center and driving or pulling back and launching a wide-open trey becomes higher and higher. with ben, the advantage that the guard carries is about 5.5/4.5 i would say, whereas, against an average center, the advantage is like 7/3, vs a good defensive center, MAYBE 6/4, but more like 6.5/3.5 in most aspects. the guy is HORRID on offense in all aspects(except for rebounding, haha), but his defense more than makes up for it. if you're having trouble believing how a guy can suck that bad on offense, but be so good on defense, i like to believe that ben wallace is one of those ppl who just has really bad finger coordination; he would NOT be able to play any stringed instrument. you need finger coordination on offense to handle the ball properly. not so much when you're trying to swat it out of the air, or grab it and pull it down.
billups has been really great, but the argument is that he wasn't really good until he got to the pistons, which incidently, is when good players surrounded him. of course, we also need to realize he got better in all aspects when he got to detroit; defense, clutch shooting, giving the ball up to the right guy, etc. rip and tayshaun haven't hit that level yet, and rasheed just wants to be a role player, not the main guy.