Co-signed. It's flawed thinking.

When did I say either of those things?

Yes, the bench is important. Yes, they could have been better integrated in the playoffs.

I still don't think that's enough to win if your starters choke. It sounds like Joe doesn't think so either.

I think we need improvement in both categories: better production from the starters (and at this point, I think that means some changes in the roster) AND better integration of the bench. You guys keep on talking like the bench is literally ALL that matters.

Bench is important, to a degree. Joe was pissed that Amir wasn't integrated into the rotation. Looks like he's high on the youngster and whoever the coach of the team will be will have to play the guy.

I agree about Amir.

And I still don't think playing him would have gotten us to the Finals this year, not with multiple starters disappearing at key times in the ECF.

But the starters didn't choke. They just didn't all jell at the same time. You can say the same for Boston. Look how bad Ray Allen was for most of the playoffs. Each starter had great games and poor games. That is usually the case, especially when they are up against the best teams in the NBA.

I don't think our starters were so bad that it was futile to explore other sources of production.

We abandoned our player with the best +/- on the team. No other team in the playoffs did that.

Probably not, but now we'll never know.

I would describe what happened in the first half of Game 3 and the 4th quarter of Game 6 as "choking," and that ended up being the difference in the series. Not gelling together in Game 1 and Game 5 shouldn't have mattered, considering that they did gel in Game 2 and got the big road win.

You're right.

I haven't listened to this particular interview yet however Joe has zero credibility in my opinion.

Let his actions speaker louder than his words. Since 2004, he has been an overrated GM living off his reputation of signing Larry Brown, drafting #2 and trading for Sheed.

So much crap about a team that will play hard, that he isn't afraid to make moves, about accountability etc. It's time for Dumars to walk the walk, we've all heard his talk, and for 3 years, it's been a lot of BS.

__________________
Nov 13 LW Milan Lucic had an active night. He scored his first goal in eight games since his Oct. 25 hat trick and also pounded Michael Komisarek in a third-period fight. Lucic cut his hand in a fight with Michael Komisarek. "I'll be fine," he said. "(X-rays are) negative, but there's so many broken bones in there from before you can't really tell."

If you think they choked, then why did they choke? Were they nervous? If so, then why didn't they choke at other times?

I think that's a little harsh. Drafting Stuckey and integrating him into the rotation was a successful move to address a key weakness (backup PG), and Joe deserves credit for getting that done with a mid-first round pick. Of course, some of his other moves have been flops (Nazr, Jarvis).

Joe has already changed the coach and is talking about making changes to the core of the roster as well. Only time will tell if it works out, but with the potential of changing the core AND hiring a new coach who'll really use the roster in the way Joe wants, this off-season is lining up as the one in which he'll be able to put his own personal stamp on the team to the greatest extent in several years.