Everybody else seems to know that Delfino should attack the basket - except for Delfino and Flip Sr.

Sadly, I don't think Flip will learn his lesson about sitting starters when we have a big lead until one of our players gets injured against the other squad's second unit.

Nice to get a "W", though.

It's really pissing me off. All the starters except for Rip (if he plays) should get around 25 minutes.

If you look at other teams, that's simply not reasonable.

Big players play in big games.

I will agree that we have not cornered the market on big players though. Billups is a very good, but not great PG. Same with Rip, Tay and Sheed.

I don't see a Paul Pierce or Steve Nash on this roster. An Iverson or Kobe.

But managing minutes is always the trickiest of games for the coach. Some guys do not respond when given more, and some guys respond poorly when their minutes are trimmed.

Chuck Daly did a good job with his 3 guard rotation of Thomas, Dumars and Johnson. He would throw Johnson a bone every couple of games if Thomas or Dumars were not playing well. But he would rarely do it in consecutive games. The starter knew he would get a chance to redeem himself the next game.

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They are the archetype for dominance. They are the gatekeepers of the conference. They are the Detroit Pistons.

Chauncey Billups

• 05-06: 36.1
• 06-07: 35.2
• Difference: -0.9

Rip Hamilton

• 05-06: 35.3
• 06-07: 37.8
• Difference: +2.5

Tayshaun Prince

• 05-06: 35.3
• 06-07: 35.3
• Difference: 0

Rasheed Wallace

• 05-06: 34.8
• 06-07: 33.7
• Difference: -1.1

Doesn't seem like the starters are getting rested again.

And they won't. Everything Flip has said amounts to him believing that our guys WERE NOT tired at the end of last season. He thinks they were using that as an excuse, and the only reason we lost last year is that they didn't listen to him.

Hard for me to get much from this game, it looked like the Lakers just came back from a hard night at a strip club. The minute distribution was asinine. Delfino misses one shot, bench. Murray could go 0 for 30, and Flip still wouldn't take him out. And for you JMax lovers, now you can start to understand what the DHOF was going through last year.

You can't earn it, if you never get a chance to play.

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I passed out during the game, but before I did, I saw Delf miss TWO shots. I know because I gave bball jay "the business" about it.

__________________
They are the archetype for dominance. They are the gatekeepers of the conference. They are the Detroit Pistons.