although it didn't seem like it, this was an important game for our bench. flip gave every player some extended minutes, and every player played well and did things that showed why they can contribute to the team. our bench gained confidence in themselves, and hopefully flip gained confidence in them.

- darko still showed he is raw, and i won't blame him for the turnover pass when he was wide open to shoot, since it shows he's not just thinking of himself...but the one-handed mid-air pass was beautiful. you can tell he has some skill, but no experience.

- delfino entered the game and got 2 steals within 30 seconds. he didn't get much time in the game but played well

- davis showed that we can give the big men more rest and not lose anything by having him in the game, although i'm not sure how good of an idea it was to have both him and ben in simultaneously for offensive purposes

- arroyo...did he hear flip's comments about giving tay time at point or what? 8 assists and 2 boards in 12 minutes? nice

- maxiel is a beast. a steal and 2 boards in 4 minutes is nice, but the real story was getting to the line 4 times in 2 minutes. you can't get any more aggressive than that...just too bad he missed 5 of 8.

- evans played phenomenal, and it was great because the starters were getting him more involved (giving him the 3rd pass on the fast break instead of taking it themselves). that guy can flat out JUMP, and his 3 offensive boards were amazing in that they were boards we'd normally just concede to the opponent, but instead we get 3 extra (and demoralizing) possessions out of them. i was waiting to see his dunk on sportscenter but unfortunately they never showed it...iamme plays of the week maybe? :0

-mcdyess 7-9 shooting, 4 boards 2 steals, 2 blocks. 'nuff said.

the starters were pretty lax on defense, but against the JV squad charlotte put out there it didn't matter. 7 players in double figures, 16 from dice and 18 from evans. 44 bench points. stellar. with a bunch of games against crap teams coming up, if the bench can continue to play like this, it will really benefit us down the road.