McDyess is a monster

With all due respect to "The Catalyst" (who has played quite well), the Most Valuable Player thus far in the Pistons' first round series against the Bucks has been PF Antonio McDyess. He gets it done every night. The Bucks simply have no answer for him.

McDyess has been so good that as soon Piston C Ben Wallace picked up his fifth foul late in the fourth quarter I cringed. Flip Saunders may not have realized it yet, but the Pistons best lineup vs. Milwaukee is the lineup they used to pull away from the Bucks last night: Billups-Hamilton-Prince-R. Wallace-McDyess. The Bucks have no counter to that fivesome, even with the continued struggles of Richard Hamilton.

By the numbers, the Bucks did pretty well last night, all things considered. But, clearly, they have to be better than good -- they must be superior -- to beat Detroit. That's hard to do.

Frankly, though, the Bucks have surprised me with their ability to play competitively with the Pistons. The Bucks may be further advanced than I had earlier believed.

Here are the head-to-head Eff48 numbers from Game Four:

PG

Chauncey Billups 36.57
TJ Ford 26.05

SG

Richard Hamilton 16.80
Michael Redd 31.99

C

Ben Wallace 3.55
Jamaal Magliore 36.92

SF

Tayshaun Prince 30.26
Bobby Simmons 6.00

PF

Rasheed Wallace 10.10
Andrew Bogut 14.66

Sixth Man

Antonio McDyess 33.10
Joe Smith 19.20

Seventh Man

Tony Delk 36.00
Charlie Bell 30.54