The inevitable Laker championship

The Pistons shocked the world in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, as the Los Angeles Lakers didn't bother to show up for the game.

Still, the consensus opinion in the media is that Detroit still has no chance and that a sleeping giant is about to awaken.

I wouldn't consider myself a media member at this point, though I would like to be, and I have to agree with that opinion.

Regardless of what happened on a Sunday night when most of the country was watching "The Sopranos" season finale, the next four games belong to the Lakers.

Karl Malone and Gary Payton will finally win those championship rings that have proved so elusive their entire careers, and instead of being remembered as vicious competitors, will be living examples of the defeatist statement: "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."

Shaquille O'Neal will add more fuel to the argument that he is the most dominant player in the history of the sport, even if his free throw shooting can be painful and embarrassing, and his defense sporadic.

Kobe Bryant will show the world that no matter what happened at a hotel in Colorado, he was able to put it to the side and turn up his psychotically focused quest for hoops perfection, even if the world will always look at him with a twist of O.J.

Phil Jackson will win his 10th championship, securing a new record for professional coaches by passing Boston Celtics legend Red Auerbach.

None of those 10 will come without the most dominant force in the league on his team, be it the Michael Jordan-Scottie Pippen duo or Kobe-Shaq duo.

On June 4, 2004, Auerbach was quoted as saying, "What I don't like about Phil is that he never gave anybody else any credit. Jerry West built that team."

Be that as it may, the Zen Master will be alone at the top, but the debate of "Most overrated or underrated coach of all-time" will linger on.

Bill Walton's son Luke will be a world champion in his first year in the NBA for basically playing well in limited spurts during the regular season, but for the most part doing absolutely nothing.

Rick Fox will pick up another ring, after losing his starting job and falling so low to the point of hardly playing at all in the playoffs. Still, he will claim his fourth championship.

Derek Fisher will have a place forever in NBA lore, as the 0.4 man who won a title with one lucky heave. The NBA landscape would be entirely different today if he never connected on that shot, but he hit it, and now he picks up another ring, while his role in the four championships has an increased sense of importance.

Worst of all, the radical experiment that was the '03-'04 Lakers will be viewed as a rousing success.

The precedent being set here is horrible for the future of sports.

Malone and Payton were the living embodiments of franchises they gave their life to forever.

Now, they will be incorporated into a family that already had it all.

West, Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Shaq, Kobe, Malone, Payton.

The family will only get bigger.

Why should a veteran star go out and compete at the highest level, putting on a show for fans of the NBA, when he can just head on over to the land of superstars and share the pressure?

In the preseason, concerns were that the Los Angeles Lakers big 4 would not be able to share the spotlight.

Well, Payton and Malone were willing to do less (Payton not as willingly, but he did it), while Shaq and Kobe bickered as they always do.

When they all played together, the result was a beautiful brand of basketball, but that became decimated by injuries and eventually complacency.

Most of this glorious Lakers season was carried by the likes of Slava Medvedenko and Kareem Rush, but L.A. had everything in place for their playoff run, which was all they have cared about since winning their first title anyway.

So, congratulations to L.A. for acquiring yet another trophy -- maybe.

However, what about the Detroit Pistons?

Doesn't this overpowering defensive force have a chance beyond their stunning game one upset?

No, it doesn't, and here is why.

The heart and soul of their team and defense is "Big" Ben Wallace.

He is a little bit bigger than Karl Malone, but will be dwarfed by Shaq's size and power.

Jackson usually employs a defensive strategy in playoff series where his team leaves one player on the opposition open for jump shots so that everyone else can be double teamed.

So Wallace, one of the most frighteningly terrible jump shooters in the NBA, will be given the opportunity to score at will.

Maybe he can catch fire and have a 20 point game, but even that is doubtful.

On the defensive end, when Big Ben asserts himself as a shot blocker, with his hyper-aggressive style, he will find himself on the wrong end of the whistle time and time again.

If there's anything Shaq, Kobe, Malone, and Payton have absolutely mastered in their veteran careers, it is complaining to officials and reaping the benefits with extra free throw attempts.

You think that Wallace will get the benefit of the doubt against four guys that get every call?

Think again.

Rip Hamilton was the brightest emerging star in these playoffs since Tony Parker maxed out in Game 2 against L.A.

He can move without the ball and hit gigantic shots.

Most of those shots came running away from a nearly 40 year old Reggie Miller who was never known to be a solid defender even in his 20s, and whose only recourse was to make Rip run after him on the other end, only to end up not getting the ball or passing up open shots.

Hamilton can run all day, so he wasn't even worn down by Reggie, but now he is going to have to deal with the defensive stylings of Bryant, a man who takes challenges personally, and is one of the top defenders in the game when interested.

In the same way that a healthy Ron Artest hounded Hamilton in Game 6 of the Eastern Finals, Kobe can go after him, only he is too psychologically tough to have a mental breakdown like Ron.

Unlike Reggie, Kobe will make Hamilton work on the other end by going to the basket with authority.

Maybe Pistons' coach Larry Brown will use the lanky Tayshaun Prince on Kobe and save Rip for offense.

If that is the case, Kobe will eat Prince alive.

Tayshaun had some big moments blocking shots in the East, but can he survive a one-on-one with a young Jordan clone that has something to prove?

Of course not.

The trade for Rasheed Wallace solidified Detroit as the best team in the East and had many prognosticators claiming that a team from the weaker conference finally had a legit shot at taking down Shaq and the Lakers.

But Rasheed is happy playing the role of contributor, deferring to teammates to share the load.

Basically, he is to the Pistons what Malone is to the Lakers.

The only difference is that the Mailman is coming to the end of his career, while Wallace is in his prime.

If Detroit has any chance to win then Rasheed has to have an offensive explosion, drilling fadeaways, knocking down threes, and then helping out to slow down Shaq at the other end.

Can he keep his composure when those Lakers' stars receive all the benefits from the officials?

It might be too much for Rasheed to stomach.

Chauncey Billups, Corliss Williamson, Mehmet Okur, Elden Campbell, Lindsey Hunter, the list goes on and on.

These are the players that have to play a role in crushing the Laker' season, and I don't see it happening.

Are they any better than Fisher, Rush, Medvedenko and Walton?

Maybe a little bit, but maybe not.

Fisher has those precious intangibles that gives L.A. the edge.

This already happened, when the Lakers took Allen Iverson's Philly squad too lightly and lost Game 1.

The Lake Show came roaring back with four straight wins.

Brown, then the coach of Philly, will see this happen again.

The Lakers will be a forgettable champion, built by the desperate signings of two aging stars past their prime.

It will take the four Hall of Famers five games to give the Zen Master 10 rings.

Sometimes life isn't fair for basketball fans.