If you read my post, you would see that I copied my post from the other forum. Ded is your and my good friend dednever.

I'm just being cute lee.

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To all of my friends, comrades and companions at PF.com

Thank you for another great season!

Lot of positive comments about Hunter and Delfino pairing up in the backcourt. Defensively, it reminds us of the Pit Bulls. On offense, Hunter's inability to run the offense is solved by letting Delfino do that task.

I believe we need Tay in there also with this combo, or possibly Webber, someone to add just a little more ball handling skill to the 2nd unit. After all, what makes our starting five (the new starting five) so good is that Tay gives them that 2nd good ball handler in the backcourt along with Billups. (While Rip does his thing, using picks.)

But, the problem is that if any starter is involved with the 2nd unit, that starter has to sit out some of the time the starting unit is on the floor. Having your starting unit together a lot, provided they are worth a darn as a unit to begin with, is that they learn each other's habits inside and out. The more the merrier.

Here is a rotation that uses both Tay and Webber as part of the 2nd unit.

Start the usual, Billups, Rip, Tay, Sheed, and Webber.

Six minutes in, have Delfino come in for Tay and Dale Davis come in for Webber. Dale only needs 8 minutes per game to keep sharp, so this would be his only 8 mintues. (4 minutes per half.) Dyess plays the last couple of minutes of the 1st quarter.

To start the 2nd quarter, Hunter, Delfino, Tay, JMAX, Dyess. From there, well, use what works. Webber could come back in. JMAX could move over to small forward with Tay at shooting guard. Blalock could come in for a few mintues. Lots of possibilities. Bottom line though, this all leaves your starters together for a maximum of 24 minutes per game.

So here is another rotation, adding in Amir Johnson as a small forward.

Same starters, and they play 32 minutes together per game.

The bench plays 18 minutes per game. Hunter, Delfino, Amir, JMAX, Dyess. Blalock and Dale Davis take some of Hunter's and Webber's mintues. (To keep Hunter fresher for when he is out on the floor, and to keep those knees of Webbers from getting overused.)

Finally, what if we do trade for a backup point? That takes Hunter out of the equation. So we could then use a bit less ball handling up front. The second unit could become: New guy at point, Delfino, JMAX, Dyess, Dale Davis.

Assuming we would not get this new guy unless he was also a scorer, we still would have 4 scorers in this unit. (Only counting Dale Davis as not a scorer)

Elvis is Roscoe

From WEBZ from the trade thread. I will respond to it below-with a rotation.

Me: Ok, so we have Gasol, and lose Sheed, and we threw in Dale Davis for sweetener. And I will add that Jaric is the guy we get for Mohammed and Murray-just to use someone in the rotation below.

Our starting unit becomes, Billups, Rip, Tay, Gasol, Webber. No doubt more offense than ever. More post up offense than ever. Gasol scores from the post pretty much exclusively. Yeah, sometimes his shots are not all that close in, but hey, with range like he has, who cares.

I believe this starting unit lacks defensive presence. Further, having Rip in the starting lineup does not go at all with two post up players. So here is what I would propose to make things work.

Talk Rip into coming off the bench. for the good of the team.

Our starting unit becomes Billups, Tay, JMAX at small forward, Gasol, Webber. Wow, thats 3, count 'em, 3 post up players up front, with plenty of added toughness from Maxiell. And in the backcourt, two guards concentrating on feeding the post. Assuming Webber gets his jumpshot back, all three bigs have range out to 18 feet, so we don't even have to worry about the middle getting clogged up. And of course, with Tay and CB being such potent 3 point threats, it opens things up even more.

Our bench becomes Jaric, Rip, Delfino, Amir Johnson, Dyess.

Hunter is our 11th man, and for a 12th, entice EC out of retirement.

We still got to let Rip play 30 minutes per game, so he would be coming in early for Maxiell and also taking some of Tay's time to keep Tay to a minutes average that does not exhaust him. (Not much more that 30 minutes.)

Just to be a bit more complete, I will list the two units where Rip is in with the starters.

Billups, Rip, JMAX, Gasol, Webber. I think here Amir and JMAX would have to swap roles, to give us a bit more ball handling.

Billups, Rip, Tay, Gasol, Webber. (Already commented on. Too weak defensively up front. But it will do for stretches.)

Interesting and except for one thing: you and I have some misconceptions on the role of Tay.

Start Amir Johnson, Jason Maxiell, and Rasheed Wallace up front, with Billups and Rip in the backcourt.

Stuckey, Prince, Dyess are the three main guys off the bench. Prince spells Amir and Rip. Stuckey sees time at both guard positions. Dyess spells Sheed and JMAX.

To start the season, play Samb. Let him see just where he is, and what he needs to work on. If needed, send him down to the D-League. But if he can do even marginal as is, let him stay on the main team and start getting NBA experience (playing against actual NBA players he needs to learn how to guard and score against) immediately. If Samb can't help at all in the rotation, then pick up a free agent to play some minutes. Do not try to go back to Mohammed. Backwards ain't going to get us anywhere.

Send Afflalo and Mejia to the D-League so they can play a ton. Let them concentrate on developing steady shooting. Whichever one does, bring him up. Both play defense, but neither will get enough minutes to stay sharp if they can't knock down shots.

Some think I am picking on Prince maybe by suggesting he come off the bench. No, I am pointing out the reality that this guy needs a break from heavy minutes. Come playoff time, sure, have him start. But for now, rest is the main thing he needs. Meanwhile, Amir Johnson needs all the time he can get from here to the playoffs to gain experience so that he can help in the playoffs. Its just being practical.

Billups is another guy who was way overplayed last season, especially early. That looks to be no problem this year with Stuckey being around. Having Prince be the main backup shooting guard means its easier to keep Stuckey at point, and Billups off the floor resting. Again, for Billups, nothing is more important than rest for him this season.

Rip will also benefit a bit from this setup, as again, having a backup like Prince means the coach does not have to ever rush Rip back into the game without enough rest. Yes, Rip is the best conditioned player we have. But you still want him to go into the playoffs as fresh as possible.

Sheed would be the guy I worry the most about in this setup. If Samb can't do enough at center, Sheed will be called upon to do a bit too much. Its not offense I am talking about, but defense. And so I hope we change our mind and retain Dale Davis. (No, do not play Mohammed-he does not do his share on defense, and would be nothing but a cause of Sheed getting worn out doing too much.

This post is mostly just to gather my thoughts about the team. Please do not read too much into any of it. If you know me at all, you know I will be posting a different rotation next time. Its just a thought process, not much more.

If we are to get value for Nazz, he must get minutes. He could come off the bench for several teams.
As for Prince, Flip isn't mutable enough to try that.
I like the idea of giving Samb a look see.

Time on the floor for Amir and Jason is ilnvaluable. We can't waste it trying to pump up the value of Mohammed. I say actually, the more we play Mohammed, the more the league is going to see what he can't do. Either trade him, or if untradeable, buy out the contract.

I would kind of like to see the Pistons win it all this year. Distractions like trying to get something for Mohammed should simply be out of the way before camp starts.

This is going to be interesting.
PISTONS: Signing Day
I don't know if it is money matter or what, but as much as I love Lindsey and what he was able to bring in the past, I don't believe he should be taking up a roster spot on the team this upcoming season. It is time to move on.