SA, our most likely foe in the NBA Finals this year, only has 4 starting caliber players. They play 35, 35,34, and 29 minutes per game so far this season. You want to make sure you beat them, you play our guys 33, 33, 33, 30, and 30. Stay under what SA is doing. Ben and Sheed get the shorter minutes, whether it is from playing Darko, Davis, Maxiell, or even Dyess more minutes.

On the other side of things, this gives the bench 81 minutes per game of playing time. Thats 4 guys playing 20 minutes. Or three playing 20 and 2 others playing 10. Good, serious minutes for the bench players to get in rythm too. (Which self perpetuates itself. The sharper the bench is, the less we need the starters to play. Conversely, the more the starters play, the more they need to play, self justifying it to those who are not paying attention to this loop.)

I don't really understand this. To me, this is like that scene in the Fugitive when Tommy Lee Jones asks the cops why did he kill his wife. She was rich. He was a doctor he was already rich. She was more rich.

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if you are going by what you see. you should have seen the difference between how darko plays when given more that 5 minutes. he's repeatedly shown that he plays well during meaningful minutes. i think the down games you are speaking of that darko has had were the garbage time minutes from lb. darko under lb was never put in a position of success. lb was more interested in breaking darko than building him in the dominant pf/c he should have been by now. during the preseason when he was being given a decent amount of minutes he was leading the nba in blocks. i think that alone is worth hanging on to a 20 year old 7 foot player. last year the atlanta game was the first time darko really had the green light and was given minutes to actually play. it's not a coincedence that it was his best game. he just needs the minutes to play good. i'm confident about darko because it's not the game that's lacking it's the amount of playing time.

yes. he has a very limited history of success but that's because he has a limited history in the first place. this has been covered in another thread that neither side of the darko debate has enough evidence to convince the other.

yes. we have rookies on our bench. but all of them with the exception of amir johnson are 4 year college players. what don't you understand about darko never had that experience. he's been sitting on a bench for the last 2 years. why would you expect him to look polished out there. maybe you've never played a sport but practice is not the same as game time experience.

i wasn't taking a shot at mcdyess. i know he is a great player he would be starting on many of the teams in this league. i'm just using him as an example of a player that isn't exactly tearing things up out there but he is being given the oppurtunity to work his kinks out. he's given the oppurtunity to find his way in this new offense. i feel that if darko was given the same oppurtunity he would be much better.

Let's get one thing straight. Led the NBA PRESEASON in blocks.

The preseason is a lot more meaningless than the last quarter of a game. They don't even record all those blocks as career stats and the team's record means nothing in the scheme of things.

I wanted to stay out of this, but that blocks thing drives me batty.

Dice in not being given the opportunity to work his kinks out. He has earned the opportunity by having an allstar career and an excellent season as a Piston. Darko has been inconsistent at best, and hasn't really earned anything.

The question was, when meeting an enemy after a five thousand mile journey, of what should you make sure.

Tarzan answered, make sure the journy was made by the enemy.

In case you still don't get it, the Pistons should meet SA with fresher legs than SA has. Less battered bodies.

Don't just do as good as SA in using their bench. Do better. Use wisdom. Very simple wisdom.

To me this means home court. My arguement is that playing back to back game 7's while SA sits around waiting for the outcome would be more of a factor than playing less minutes during the season.

I agree that fresher legs and less battered bodies will help us out in the end. as will a better bench.

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I agree. You were the one who made the statement that I was wrong. Now you are talking about a lack of evidence to prove your own statement.

I didn't think you were taking a shot at Dice and I personally could not care less if you did. It's your right.
I don't sleep with these dudes (or want to) or even know them so why would I care who you attack, as long as it isn't me or someone I personally care about.
I might feel compelled to debate or correct you if I disagreed with a statement you made. But care? No sir.

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"Quite simply captain, I examined the problem from all angles, and it was plainly hopeless. Logic informed me that under the circumstances, the only logical action would have to be one of desperation. Logical decision, logically arrived at." -- Spock

I'm assuming you were responding to me since you used my quote, but that isn't what I was asking. I don't want to know anyones opinion on how we can beat those other teams. I was asking based on the numbers quoted, how did Detroits numbers compare to other teams expected to go deep in the playoffs.

of playing the bench longer minutes at a time but in alternating games. They would be better able to get into the flow and get more done.

I would think players, knowing they are going to play extended minutes, could and would get really prepared. They should, anyway, but some do not seem to. Well, a couple do not seem to. One, anyway. Sheesh!!

I don't remember anyone doing this in the past, but then I haven't really pi9d that much attention to patterns of substitution, prior to these last couple of years.

I am for about anything that would improve the quality of our bench in the shortest period of time.