I think FreshPrince is referring to initial reviews of Delfino by Coach Brown after his first stint of playing time with the Pistons last year. Larry was not impressed with Delfino's defense at all. Later we discovered that Delfino's defensive ineffectiveness had more to do with his injuries rather than effort and talent.

Motown..I guess so but...we all knew Delfino was hurt last year. He had a stretch where he played a lot of minutes last March but then they decided he wasn't well enough to make the playoff roster. I don't think he earned much of a reputation either way last year to be honest because of the injury.

Maybe a reputation as a complainer or malingerer but it was a wasted year as far as talent evaluation. I think this year in spots we have seen some great defense from Delfino...haven't seen that at all from Evans.

His pre-draft profile said one thing, his play on the court said the total opposite. Even before the injury last year he was an attrocious defender. You obviously didn't pay attention. At least watch the games for pete sake!

Even the beast defenders in the league get scored on. What? You think Bruce Bowen and Ron Artest have never had a point scored on them? Sure they have. In fact, they've been lit up plenty of times before. As has Lindsey. He has a couple times this year already.

Carlos has a chance at being a Bowen/Artest level of defender. Anyone who can't see it obviously isn't paying attention (and needs to watch the games.... for pete sake ). He moves his feet extremely well. He is smart (won't get pump faked out of his shoes like the rest of our defenders). He's not afraid of a little contact. And he can just ride up in someones jersey forcing ugly shots or TOs.

Obviously they aren't going to miss every shot even if they're tough, but he very rarely gives up good looks on the defensive end. Can't really say that for our other defenders. Tay/Rip tend to only like to play D if it's crunch time. And Lindsey is fantastic at grabbing steals and loose balls, but he gives up good looks fairly regularly. He's a different type of defender though.

More often than not he has been our best defender on those bigger, more physical slashers (The Pierce, Carter, Wade's of the world). If he got more minutes, then maybe this would become more obvious to you.

Ok I thought I was talking to a rational person, my bad. This would be like trying to teach a retard to appreciate Shakespeare and I'm just not up to it right now. I think I'd have to get drunk first.

basketbills, FreshPrince22 is mostly right about Delfino. But you know what? Screw Delfino. Is he getting a fair shake? No. Could he help if he were played? You bet. Is he the best defender on the team? Probably. Does he have untapped offensive potential? Maybe, maybe not. But that's all irrelevant.

It's clear that Flip Saunders is not going to use Delfino in a capacity where he can best help the team, and that's the Pistons' loss, but due to the fantastic starting five, not a huge one. And luckily Joe Dumars signed Tony Delk, so Flip can play small(er)ball to rest Tayshaun Prince, for a very simple reason:

Mo Evans is a bum. His game is garbage: spasmodic, undirected, blind and dumb energy. His offense is severely limited: he can't finish at the rim, nor can he shoot anything but the corner three, nor can he drive. His defense is unworthy of the Detroit uniform, and completely unacceptable for the playoffs. Some, including myself, have compared him to Darvin Ham, and for that I apologize to Darvin - he's worse. He's trash. He's useless. He needs to go - be deactivated, waived - before Flip is tempted to use him further.

Tony Delk for reserve 3.

Typical "ohh yea, well... uh.. you're stupid!" response from someone with no answers.

Either way, AHB is right. He isn't going to get enough burn here to prove any of us right or wrong anyways, so it's pointless. I just hope Flip understands that Mo Evans is far from the answer. Neither Carlos or Mo can be relied on to score, but at least Carlos gives you 1 thing consistantly. That's more than I can say about Mo.

Delfino can wipe his arse with both hands... but it still stinks

Ahb is going a little overboard on the Evans suckage meter also.

It has been boiling down to lately a question of who is not playing worse rather than better.

This competition thing Flip has created has not helped either player. Just confuses them on when they will get the call.

I don't think I am - and just to be clear, I don't think that Delfino is playing any more than a hair better than Evans.

I just think that Evans is not an NBA-caliber player at this point, and definitely shouldn't be part of any playoff game that is in doubt. Delfino has potential, but should probably be shelved until next season, because he's useless, too. Delfino made some nice, smart passes today - good for him. That's not enough.

I'm deeply disappointed in the entire situation, really: in Evans, for completely failing to live up to the "defensive stopper" line he was billed as, and for failing to contribute intelligently when he's in the game; in Delfino, for failing to contribute assertively when he's in the game; and in Flip, for generally being an idiot.

Hopefully Joe Dumars can resolve the issue for Flip, or Flip can resolve the issue himself in next year's training camp, but right now I'm sick of the situation and I don't want to hear about either of them until one of
them is both allowed to and makes himself produce on a significantly higher level than either is currently at. The level Delfino played consistently at earlier in the season would be fine. The level Evans played at sporadically, a handful of times throughout the season, would be fine.

I just don't see that happening this season, so I've just taken the view that neither of them will matter in the playoffs, Tony Delk can take both their places, and the fight can be postponed until next season. That could make things slightly more difficult this season than they have to be, but not so much that we can't win a ring for Dice. And ultimately that's what it's about. I'm just disappointed that the situation came down to that (and whoever it was in the previous thread who said that Delfino would ask for a trade may well turn out right).

To me, the bench is clearly Dice, Hunter, Delk, Davis, and sometimes Evans and Delfino. Play these cats, in this order, and celebrate the championship.