the biggest thing that hurt our starters in the playoff's was not getting the number 1 seed. If we win the number 1 seed we will have an easier road to the finals.(however, I think that means we will still draw Pacers in second round)

What your stats brought out that I have mentioned before is part of having 5 all-star type players is, you never want to keep that kind of guy on the bench 2 long.

they have played very poorly (indy pacers), and if cleveland kepps it going they just might get the 4th seed.

I just caught the interview on the way home and they did ask him about this. His response was what the Pastor just mentioned. Having 5 all star caliber players means you need to make sure each gets at least in the mid 30s to maintain their rhythm.

off topic, he also said Carlos Arroyo is funnier than Rasheed.

that people are starting to acknowledge that it takes a certain type of player to just come in and light it up off the bench with 5 minutes of playing time. some people call it taking advantage of your time out there. i think the players that are best at this are the players that are more on the selfish side. they love to come in and have the green light to fire away. a more get into the flow let the game come to you type of player needs quite a bit more minutes.

this is a problem with the pistons team. our starters are so good that they play the majority of the minutes. this leads to our bench having no comfort level at all. i think the idea of alternating games is a good one.

me personally i would bring in the 2nd unit as a whole group. so at least if they didn't have a long time out there they could at least have thier own chemistry to draw on. right now bringing them in 1 by one each person takes a little bit longer to get thier legs under them and the play of the team suffers.

i also think the doom of the pistons without the bench is overstated. last year we played with a rotation of 7 players. we also played many games that we shouldn't have. this year we are not toying with teams we should beat. we are beating them. so shorter series will mean more rest for our boys. also the first 2 rounds i see us using deep benches and the last 2 rounds we can run the starters into the ground if we want. they have all summer to get thier energy back.

No offense, but he not only neglects to "light it up" but he actually "stinks it up".

I can understand it taking a while to heat up for some players (if Vinnie is the microwave Darko is the slow cooking crock pot), but he just looks dazed out there. Prince always has that non-emotional look but he lets his play speak for him. Unfortunately, Darko's look matches his play.

I'd love to be wrong Jay, but I've personally given up on him. I hope they trade him...fast.

Darth...tell us how you REALLY feel. c'mon.

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i disagree on darko stinking it up. he's had some up and down games but he's really only stunk it up offensively. i wouldn't even say that because he barely takes shots. he sets solid picks and get open just never recieves the rock in scoring position.

prince and darko have the same non - emotional look but prince is also getting the playing time to let his play speak for him. tay also allows the game to come to him but he's just out there long enough for it to happen. tay just really got aggressive this year and the last part of last year. does darko's look match his play on the defensive end?? darko isn't the only dazed and confused bench player. most of the bench isn't sure of thier role this year.

i think you may have a personal vendetta against darko. he hasn't stunk it up any more than mcdyess. mcdyess has really struggled this year and he is getting the minutes. darko is getting maybe 5 minutes to make it happen. he's also getting those minutes with arroyo who will pound the ball for quite a while then roll pick and roll with mcdyess.

i'm glad you would love to be wrong because you are. darko is a young player with no experience. no high school, no college, no nba rookie season on a lottery team, barely any overseas experience. everything he's learned has been in practice so it may take him a minute to apply it to game time situations.

Carlos Arroyo is hilarious. I caught his Dale Davis impersonation from the Preseason special and I was cracking up.

LOL. I can't. When I do Roscoe deletes it and sends me a PM admonishing me.