1990.

Gilliam, Mahorn and Barkley started too many games between F/C for Barkley to not have played the 3.

Washington Bullets at Philadelphia 76ers Box Score, February 6, 1991 - Basketball-Reference.com

IMO it flamed him and provoked him to fullfil his destiny.

Just watched the highlights on ESPN and NBAtv. What clear difference on who's in who's shorts! All ESPN could do is talk up the Suns and make it sound like it was even the whole dang game! "Pistons up by 25 now, BUT LOOK AT THAT DUNK BY STOUDEMIRE! SO GOOD WE CAN WATCH IT TWICE!"

NBAtv pretty much showed everything Pistons and then said, this was all the highlights---! Only thing missing was Amir gettin some love for gettin in Shaq's head.

From Yahoo's John Ludden:

Young guns power Pistons

By Johnny Ludden, Yahoo! Sports 37 minutes ago




PHOENIX – Chauncey Billups threw the ball ahead to Amir Johnson, watched his young teammate barrel toward the rim and winced. Shaquille O’Neal was standing directly in Johnson’s path. He wasn’t moving.
As Johnson quickly swallowed the distance between them with one last long stride, Billups knew what was coming next.
Ouch.
Johnson exploded off the court. O’Neal met him in mid-flight, extended his right arm into Johnson’s chest and sent the Detroit Pistons forward back from where he came. As he hit the floor with a thud, Johnson felt the wind suck out of his chest.


“Sorry young fella,” O’Neal said.
“I figure I might as well get it,” Johnson would later say, “while I’m young.”
That’s the collective attitude of these Pistons: Get it while they’re young. If Detroit is going to push through to the NBA Finals this season, it’s likely going to do so with 20-somethings like Johnson contributing.
Said Billups: “They’ve grown up a lot.”
That was evident Sunday when the Pistons embarrassed O’Neal and the Phoenix Suns 116-86 at US Airways Center. When Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince and Antonio McDyess headed to the sideline late in the first quarter, the Zoo Crew, as Billups has dubbed the team’s bench (they play like animals), quickly hiked the Pistons’ lead from five points to 11.
Jarvis Hayes, a 26-year-old free-agent pickup from Washington, scored a season-high 18 points while the 20-year-old Johnson and 25-year-old fellow forward Jason Maxiell combined for 11 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks. Rookie guards Rodney Stuckey, 21, and Arron Afflalo, 22, helped hold down the backcourt.
The Pistons frustrated the Suns with their athleticism, beating them in transition and on the boards. So much so that O’Neal said it looked like all of the Suns, himself included, were lacking energy.
“This gives us a lot of confidence,” Johnson said. “Especially for later on in the playoffs.”
It was after watching his veteran core tire during their fifth consecutive trip to the Eastern Conference finals last season that Detroit GM Joe Dumars let coach Flip Saunders know it was imperative they expand the roles of Maxiell and Johnson. Johnson even spurned more money from the San Antonio Spurs to re-sign with the Pistons because Dumars promised him more minutes.
In addition to signing Hayes, Dumars also made a couple of heady draft choices in Stuckey and Afflalo. The Pistons are now playing two rookies – three, if you also count Johnson, who appeared in a total of just 11 games his first two seasons – in their regular rotation. Of the teams with the top-four records in each conference, only Boston is giving one rookie steady minutes.




Rest of article here:
Young guns power Pistons - NBA - Yahoo! Sports

FINALLY A LITTLE MORE R-E-S-P-E-C-T!

Oh... so that is why Joe leaned on Flip to get the kid some minutes. Flip was starting to make him look like a liar.

I always questioned that whole SA offering him more money, but Johnny Ludden is their main and most reliable beat writer so i guess it was true.

I have an interesting question for you: Would you, as a coach, give minutes to rookie b/c so was promised during contract negotiations at the price of good vets who in their whole career had to earn their PT?

AJ is technically not a rookie, he's been riding the pine for awhile now, and played in the D-league but i see your point.

If my boss mandated it, i'd probably have no choice, but if it were up to me solely i would play him, and give him a chance to earn minutes/a spot in the rotation. If he struggles, keep the minutes at a min, if he makes positive contributions play him more.

Essentially Flip has done that now, but it took him a really long time just to give the kid a chance.

Also if i was the coach, i'd see him in practice everyday, so i'd have a better assesment of his skills/talent level/NBA readiness.

I'd like to belive the whole AJ became amazing in practice overnight, but it's likely he was always good, and Joe just put pressure on Flip.

On the contrary, my take on AJ is that in this case hard work has paid off, in many cases it hasn't (see Darko). It's not only "to give a chance", this chance has to be based on something, i.e. player has to show at first in practices that he can do. Flip is not "slow",he as a coach sees what a huge amount work is need to be done and what time it takes. We, fans, see only rebound and blocks and wonder why coach does not appreciate it. Fans take results for granted but coach doesn't, fans may be satisfied with results but it's coach's work to demand ever more, even from AJ. We, fans just doesn't see those small things what makes sucessful player.

Do not take AJ, AA progress so self-evidently, please.