I know the team is youngish so there is still a window of opportunity, but I believe that this 5 "star" thing may hurt us a little for the future. I know people will right away say "in Joe we trust," but hear me out. With 5 starters cemented for 40 minutes, there is no room to plug a guy in for a season or less to see what he is made of. OR to see if there is potential. Therefore, the Pistons bench is now becoming a wasteland of talent. I see the Pisotns having to make decisions based of almost no experience on Darko, Arroyo, and Delfino. Could these guys be great players? Sure, but Detroit will never get the chance to resign them. Either we overpay in order to keep them -- a lottery at best, or we let them go because they didnt like sitting on the bench. Therefore, Billups and the Wallaces are gone, and we need the young guys to come in, they will have felt so slighted that the team will have no chance of keeping them, thus we may slip into a huge rebuilding period. I guess it will be worht it though, being that we have been winning so much, but it kinda makes you want to root against the bench guys from being too good.

One thing we shouldn't assume with J.D. is that he'll stand pat.
Hammond suggested that they would move one of the veteran bigs when the time is right.
I also don't think we can assume the same type of health for the starting 5... it's rare to have all 5 make it through a year injury free... that's where opportunity presents itself for the younger guys.

In a salary-cap league, you are going to have rebuilding periods. Would you rather win a couple of championships and then rebuild for 5 years, or just make the playoffs every year and never win the title?

You gotta get the ships when you can. Who knows when the next Jordan will come along and shut everyone out for a decade?

My sentiments exactly...this opportunity doesn't come along everyday and we need to make at least one serious move to ensure we give ourselves the best chance THIS YEAR. Worry about next year and the following years, next summer.

I would rather make the playoffs every year because making the playoffs is the first step in making a run for a title. Obviously there is a big difference between making the playoffs and being in contention for a championship, but by making the playoffs you are still closer than you would be if you are a lottery team.

This Pistons team wouldn't be where they are now without those Rick Carlisle teams. They may not have ever been in contention for a Championship, but by staying competitive it made our path to a championship much easier.

flip will get the bench guys an oppurtunity i know it. besides an injury what could be an opening though?foul trouble, but that only happens late and that won't help the bench. what do you guys think?

This is almost a topic killer, but the players don't decide where they play. Not Delfino for 3 MORE seasons, not Arroyo for 2 MORE seasons and not Darko for 3 MORE seasons.

It's all up to Joe. It's a player's league, but Joe has the rights of these players under control. Don't think that's why he hasn't relinquished the rights to Glyniadakis, or why he picked 3 guys this year while keeping Acker over Dupree.

Yeah, the bench guys may not be happy, but aside from Arroyo (who is approaching the middle of his career) none of them have done much to justify more PT.

read this: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...512060369/1051

New Coach + New System + New (Young & Inexperienced) Bench = Adjustment Period

I'll be the first to admit that I've been disappointed with the lack of minutes and production from the bench. But I think its way too early to hit the panic button. I also think its WAY too early to say the Future = Not Good.

Flip is caught in a bit of a catch-22. He needed to get off to a fast start to avoid heavy criticism after taking over a 2x Finals team coached by a Hall of Famer. In order to get off to a fast start he had to play his best players. So the bench players continue to ride the bench.

I do think that Flip is honestly trying to get the bench involved. But he's still trying to find the right mix - a point furthered in the link himat provided.

I think Flip has earned a grace period with the way this team has come out and gotten the job done so far this season. Heck, LB never played the bench either, so at the worst we've got the same minute distribution but a much better record than last year.

I say give we give Flip until the All-Star break to see what happens

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if you have not noticed the pistons starters don't always take it to the other team until late. flip has to make the starters get the momentum for the team early. then he could use the bench to see what they could do.