Originally Posted by Dumars4Ever

That's far more important than who comes off the bench. Remember who the MVP of the Finals was against the Lakers? If CB can produce at the level he needs to reach--which he didn't do in the playoff losses the last two years--then the Pistons will be in good shape in the playoffs. If not, they won't.

As for AA and Amir, I'd like them to play when they can, but I also think there's a pretty clear difference between the two vets who have come in and cut back on their minutes so far. Dixon is pretty bad and probably shouldn't be taking anyone else's minutes, but Ratliff has done a really nice job. Against the Spurs, Ratliff produced more off the bench by himself in 13 minutes than the entire Pistons bench combined produced in the most recent loss at Boston! So while I understand the frustration when a non-producer like Dixon comes in and takes minutes away from a young guy who's shown some signs of being a decent contributor, it also seems to me that everyone's 3-year-long crush on Amir (and don't get me wrong, I really like him too) is resulting in some too-quick dismissal of what Ratliff is doing.

And just to tie the AJ/AA thing together with what I said about CB: since I believe that CB's productivity level in the playoffs will be the most important thing from the starters, I'd argue that Stuckey's ability to contribute is clearly more important than whatever minutes AA or AJ might get. So while we're gnashing and wailing about Flip not getting enough minutes for the young players, let's not forget that Stuckey really has gotten the minutes he needs to develop, and that CB's MPG this season has been a full two minutes less than in any of the last 4 years. Not that I'm saying Stuckey is guaranteed to light it up in the playoffs--I'm still concerned that he might end up being in over his head--but if he doesn't get it done, I don't see how anyone will be able to blame Flip for not having played him enough in the regular season.