http://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/team/DET_3079.gifhttp://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/team/at.gifhttp://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/team/CHI_426.gif

Pistons at Bulls - December 3rd, 2005 ~ 8:30pm
United Center, Chicago, IL
TV: FSND, NBATV, Canada - RNBATV, RNBATVHD
Radio: WDFN

Detroit Probable Starters
http://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/pistons/chauncey_billups.jpg http://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/pistons/richard_hamilton.jpg http://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/pistons/tayshaun_prince.jpg http://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/pistons/rasheed_wallace.jpg http://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/pistons/ben_wallace.jpg

Chicago Probable Starters
http://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/bulls/chris_duhon.jpg http://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/bulls/kirk_hinrich.jpg http://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/bulls/andres_nocioni.jpg http://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/bulls/michael_sweetney.jpg http://www.pistonsforum.com/img/resources/bulls/tyson_chandler.jpg

Chicago Preview

So far this season, Chicago has had one of the most-productive benches in the league, with their reserves scoring on average more than 50 points a game. As a non-starter, second-year guard Ben Gordon is leading the Bulls in scoring with 14.5 points per game. Luol Deng and Michael Sweetney have also been coming off the bench to score 12.2 and 11.4 points per game respectively. With such a strong bench, the Bulls will have plenty of fresh legs despite playing their fourth game in five days. For both teams, the game will be the second of back-to-back games.
__________________________________________________ ____
Added FSND To the channel lineup - With an assist Going to detteam (thanks BTW)

reserved

This is a road back to back. But it's close and it's the Bulls. I would be quite happy if we put the up and coming Bulls in their place. The Bulls played on the 2sd too and won. So it's almost fair.

I think the photo lineup needs revision, if that's Eddy Curry.

TV: The game is on FSN also

i pm super to tell him he must have not checked it yet but i told him it was curry and he needed to edit his lineup

Like I said yesterday if the Bulls had the best starting five in the league the bench would not play as much. That is why these stats are not something to realy believe in.

Glad to see the Buls were engaged in a come from behind, down to the wire battle last night too.

The game is being broadcast on NBA-TV also.

preview


http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/preview;_ylt=AgqBp8.TU_DDCTcquu9_k728vLYF?gid=2005 120304

hopefully someone (tay) can clip nocioni behind the ears after what happened last year.
that guy is dirtier than pigpen.

we're gonna have to win physically.....I dont see it tonight...Bulls 95-87

Sad effort thus far. You can see all of the weaknesses being exploited by a fast, young club.

Poor shooting, turnovers, defense etc.

The Bulls should not be slept on.

good night, bruddahs!

what's up with the boys 2nite? Let's play DETROIT BASKETBALL!!! We're getting our %%%%% kick. D up, man

i cant beleive what i am hearing delfino getting some pt and making some use of it keep it goin kid

delfino can play. At least when he gets out there, he shows the energy. That's what Darko's suppose to do. He can play too. Give delfino more minutes, flip

whoa ohh people. don't run off just yet. dice, tay and sheed stepping up. way to go dice!

delfino can play. At least when he gets out there, he shows the energy. That's what Darko's suppose to do. He can play too. Give delfino more minutes, flip...and pass on more bad info, chen?

whoa ohh people. don't run off just yet. dice, tay and sheed stepping up. way to go dice!
here's my first apology of the season...They got me good...I'm sorry-Thanks BENCH!

whoa ohh people. don't run off just yet. dice, tay and sheed stepping up. way to go dice!

Yeah those three have led a nice comeback and provided 34 of the Pistons 44 points. Expect Rip and CB to wake up in the second half -so far only 3 points from them:confused: . Good games so far from Los dos. Let's hope Delfino gets some more minutes in the second half and gets out of the Flip's dog house.:nod:

Really rough start, probably due to it being a back to back game, Chicago had a game yesterday too, but they are at home.

Delfino played well so far, I think he CAN bring some instant O from the bench, but has many DNPs for some reason. His defense is much improved tonight.

Dyess missed his first 2 shots but went to the hoop a couple times and has been huge, huge rebounds and stops from him which helped with the run. This might be a bit of a pattern forming. Yesterday his shots weren't falling, but he got aggressive in the paint and things got a lot easier for him.

Arroyo provided the spark in that slump that IMO Chauncey caused. CB is credited with only 2 TOs but it seemed he was responsible for a few more than that.

Mo is kinda blah tonight so far. I like him, but he hasn't been playing all that well this week. I like how Flip stayed with the bench when they were down big and the bench pulled it out and actually cut the deficit. He needs to show much more confidence in the bench and I think things will work themselves out.

Seems the bench gave the starters the wakeup call tonight :)

...and pass on more bad info, chen?

Was that an info at all??? :confused:

Was that an info at all??? :confused:
that room is infected!!!!

What a pass by chauncey.....but this is a 4th qtr Bulls team and we cant let Gordon or Pargo get off!

Take personal stuff to PM please.

What an unbelievable turnaround tonight. Down 15 and then up by 11. Amazing.

Sheed 5 for 9. 3 tres. Only 1 shot near the hoop. IRREGARDLESS of the score it ain't right.

Detroit's pressure combined with Chicago's anxiety with losing a huge lead results in the bulls down by 15. Honestly though it should've been like this from the beginning. These are the Champs vs. the inexperienced Bulls. It is as it should be.

this game is over...good night, bruddahs!

Man, Brother HQ, you gave up on the boys pretty early, huh? I hope you learned a lesson tonight. :laugh:

What an unbelievable turnaround tonight. Down 15 and then up by 11. Amazing.
They put this right in my face! From 21-36 to 66-51! 35-15 run on the road! And Kerr said Flip was gonna run the starters in the 2nd half because they got 2 days off in a row b4 next practice, so this could get ugly..mu bruddahs!

Man, Brother HQ, you gave up on the boys pretty early, huh? I hope you learned a lesson tonight. :laugh: But u should see the look on Johnny Red's voice:laugh: ...I got blaha on webcast in my other ear...home.sweet.home.My bruddah!

and not a repeat of last night's fourth quarter. I want Darko to get some minutes. :) 52 percent from behind the arc tonight. Dyess is turning it around.

Sheed is on fire, Prince & CB are on their game, and lucky for the Bulls, RIP isn't doing much.

This is one of the biggest, and unexpected after that first half, turn arounds that I've seen in awhile.

Outscored Knicks 24-8..
Outscored Bulls 27-10...
I sense a season long pattern...
1st- Keep game close ...Teams will always be fired up for us early
2nd- Bench steps up behind Hunter, Dice, Delf, Arroyo and Evans
3rd- Starters assert their will
4th- We hang on for dear life
My bruddahs!

and not a repeat of last night's fourth quarter. I want Darko to get some minutes. :) 52 percent from behind the arc tonight. Dyess is turning it around.Why????I want some baby Beef!!Put in Max!

Why????I want some baby Beef!!Put in Max!

Yup, I'd like to see J-Max, too. Y'know that guy is itching to play. You can't keep a baller like that down for too long. Inexperienced or not.

that room is infected!!!!

chatrooms are like that, we just got to ignore those ignorant users. It's not infested.

Outscored Knicks 24-8..
Outscored Bulls 27-10...
I sense a season long pattern...
1st- Keep game close ...Teams will always be fired up for us early
2nd- Bench steps up behind Hunter, Dice, Delf, Arroyo and Evans
3rd- Starters assert their will
4th- We hang on for dear life
My bruddahs! here we go again....thank u Evans! great look by Los...good pass by Evans!

Outscored Knicks 24-8..
Outscored Bulls 27-10...
I sense a season long pattern...
1st- Keep game close ...Teams will always be fired up for us early
2nd- Bench steps up behind Hunter, Dice, Delf, Arroyo and Evans
3rd- Starters assert their will
4th- We hang on for dear life
My bruddahs!

Totally agree with you on that, bro. That's the pattern so far.

chatrooms are like that, we just got to ignore those ignorant users. It's not infested.
this is the best site around and we talk DEEE-TROIT BASK-ET -BALLLLLLL!!:eyebrows: U got a home here!

this is the best site around and we talk DEEE-TROIT BASK-ET -BALLLLLLL!!:eyebrows: U got a home here!
And we will be adding chat here in the next 2 weeks.

And we will be adding chat here in the next 2 weeks.Right On.....Right On!my bruddah

Anybody got a lee re-cap pre-cap?

this is the best site around and we talk DEEE-TROIT BASK-ET -BALLLLLLL!!:eyebrows: U got a home here!

It's great to have a home here. I'm from Malaysia and don't have the luxury to watch all the games coz we don't have enough tv coverage here. Only have courtside live at nba.com during game time and the update is slow. At chatroom, i can have live coverage from you guys if i'm lucky. Thank god we are gonna have chat in here the next 2 weeks.

Anybody got a lee re-cap pre-cap? u kidn, my bruddah? that's lee's house!

mo sucked -23 while on the floor or some bs like that at least this time the stats back it up jmax should have gotten his minutes or delfino wow he came to ball did good in the first half and does not get more burn

It's great to have a home here. I'm from Malaysia and don't have the luxury to watch all the games coz we don't have enough tv coverage here. Only have courtside live at nba.com during game time and the update is slow. At chatroom, i can have live coverage from you guys if i'm lucky. Thank god we are gonna have chat in here the next 2 weeks.

i listen to wdfn and watch yahoo when i cant watch them on tv yahoo is way faster than espn and nba.com i refresh more than they do so they stay pretty close
try yahoo instead of nba not real time but not bad

u kidn, my bruddah? that's lee's house!

Oh...come on...you know how it goes!

"Darko almost did this & that"..."Mo brought all the intensity to a standstill on O & D".

Can't wait to hear lee's description of Mo's 3 toward the end of the 3rd as "ill-advised".

i listen to wdfn and watch yahoo when i cant watch them on tv yahoo is way faster than espn and nba.com i refresh more than they do so they stay pretty close
try yahoo instead of nba not real time but not bad Go to Yahoo, click 'Game channel 'and stream at wdfn altho u must register.....

:laugh: Oh...come on...you know how it goes!

"Darko almost did this & that"..."Mo brought all the intensity to a standstill on O & D".

Can't wait to hear lee's description of Mo's 3 toward the end of the 3rd as "ill-advised".

here's my try....
1st qtr...we had our houseshoes on and a lot of our heart was still InLB's back pocket. But bulls came out too strong to maintain.
2nd Qtr..Bulls bench lets them down late and Sheed just imposed his will on Nocioni, Dice hit a shot off the glass that was sposed to be an alley oop for Sheed. Nice point play for Arroyo and Delf's legs were poppin. We cut 33-18 lead to 44 tie at half.
3rd qtr....Big shot abuses hienikenrich with 3's and Sheed just plays silly on both ends of the court. 27-10 run.
4th qtr...Ben buys popcorn as Dice controls defensive end. Bulls do typical comeback but Tay, Big Shot and Rip make FT's.
Overall...FLIP WON this game 4 us with key timeout in 2nd qtr!!
ther..my bruddahs!:P

We got behind early by not being able to score. Maybe arriving on a late flight after playing the night before had something to do with that? Delfino was the first guy off the bench, way early in the first. Delfino knocked down a three, made a layup on a fast break, dived for and got a loose ball, and had a block. On defense, Deng scored on him some. But the shots were challenged. (One was quite a fade-a-way by Deng.)

Arroyo was the next guy off the bench. He took a lot of shots, made at least one. Four assists in the first half. The announcers have mentioned several times how Arroyo got the offense moving. Wait a moment, I think Dyess came in just before Arroyo. Dyess still is not making his typical outside shots, but Dyess was scoring inside. Dyess played a ton in this game, with Ben just getting around 25 minutes or so.

Our bench played a good long time into the 2nd quarter, with Dyess playing the whole quarter. Can't complain about lack of bench minutes in this one.

No Darko, Davis, or Maxiell. Evans played a lot. Did not do anything for us until rather late in the game with us up quite a bit already. He hit a three and made an assist on a fast break. He did not handle the ball too cleanly on that assist, but he managed to make the pass. The Pistons again gave Evans several more chances to handle the ball in the offense in this one, but Evans gave us nothing but missed shots or lost time on the clock for it. Basically, not too impressive at all. But at least he was not negative in this one. At least I am pretty sure he was not.

Rip did not score much in this one. Billups had another 11 assist game. Tay was pretty good tonight, hitting threes, and going inside. Man is his hook shot going across the lane looking viscious.

Sheed was the star tonight, getting 26 points. This included 4 threes, same as Billups. Sheed was aggressive posting up, and was making his shots. As usual, he does not do anything toward the basket. Still just rising up and hitting shots. Very effective.

The Pistons again had a great defensive 3rd. They gave up 10 this time. And for most of the quarter, the Bulls were stuck on 3 points for the quarter. The game was all but over by the time they finally scored again rather late in the quarter. I believe Sheed and Billups each buried a couple of threes in this stretch, with Billups hitting one from the next planet over.

The Pistons seemed to relax toward the end of the game but never really let the Bulls back in this one. However, the Bulls stayed close enough so that only Delfino played there toward the end. No garbage time.

No game until Golden State next Saturday night. A weird schedule gets just weirder. We will start a stretch where we play 8 games in 12 days. A brutal schedule where we travel after 7 of those games. The Pistons will be given 2 days off, fly out west Wednesday to practice two days before the game.

The Pistons are 13-2, which ties for the franchise best ever start with that of the 90-91 team. Golden State is doing well this season. Sure would be nice to go 14-2. GO PISTONS!!!!!

It's great to have a home here. I'm from Malaysia and don't have the luxury to watch all the games coz we don't have enough tv coverage here. Only have courtside live at nba.com during game time and the update is slow. At chatroom, i can have live coverage from you guys if i'm lucky. Thank god we are gonna have chat in here the next 2 weeks.

http://www.sportsradio1130.com/main.html
streaming radio. I listen to it while watching yahoo.com like abe froemen.

i called it. delfino needs to play to get this bench going. he and carlos arroyo are a backcourt and should play together. if it was up to me delfino would be getting all of evans minutes. i think lee has it right evans doesn't handle the ball really well. he needs to get the ball in position to shoot only don't make him create his shot.

What's the word on Ben's foot injury? He has looked like he is in a lot of pain lately - like he's running barefoot on broken glass. Hopefully, the extra rest this week will help him heal up a bit.

Hey everybody. Just got back from the Bulls/Pistons game and the bars afterward. The Bulls crowd never got into the game at all. When the Bulls had the lead, it seemed like everyone there knew that it would not last. We were in the 10th row, and the game is very different from up close than it is on TV. Here are my general observations...

Sheed was having a great time. When the Pistons were warming up pre-game on one end of the floor, Sheed had the other end all to himself. He must have shot 20+ threes with his left hand, hitting 3 in a row from the corner at one point. Then he started talking with the people in the first row and was trying behind the back shots and other trick shots to impress them.
As funny as it sounds, Darko also looked very good in warm ups. He was very loose, and was screwing around with the other players a lot. Poking them when they were shooting, fouling them, etc.
When the game started, the one thing that I noticed was that Tayshaun looked like a freak. He is so gangly in person, but has that amazing coordination for a tall guy. It seemed like he was the dominator for the Pistons. Maybe it is just that the Bulls don't match up well against him. Sheed was also very active and for some reason was getting a ton of wide open looks. And Chauncey looked like the calmest, clutchest dude in the World. Everytime he shot the ball, Bulls fans were moaning.
Noccioni looked foolish tonight. At one point, right in front of us, he chopped Billups on the upper back intentionally with his elbow (away from the ball). It was a cheap shot, and Billups didn't really react to it. But the Pistons started to get a lot more physical with him after that, so I'm guessing they took notice.
Delfino seemed to be trying very hard on defense, for what that is worth. Arroyo as well.
Sweetney really looked tired after the first quarter. He's not in good enought shape yet... sort of like Eddie Curry. That's about all I have to say. It looked like the Pistons had 2 more gears that they could have gone into if they needed. It was a nice relaxing night for a Pistons fan at the United Center.

We did not even show up in the first quarter and then put the Bulls away quickly. Not one Bull player would crack our starting five. Our three ball is becoming a problem for teams. Tay and Rip are way better offensively when they are fresh. Evans game is limited. He is best with the spot up three. I see him as a role player who can make a few hustle plays here and there, hit a three, ect. Delfino has game and I think Flip will unleash it soon. No Darko--a message to the kid, no doubt. Dyss played tough inside. Sheed was a handful and full of confidence. Arroyo made some nice plays but my concern is his tendency to make turnovers. It is like he needed another year of Larry. Our offense has become a real problem for teams to handle. And when they do stop us, doubt it will be like last year. Check out our road record. Wow! We are putting a lot of pressure on Indiana and Miami to focus and win. They are taking notice.

Abe Froemen: I agree with you on Yahoo. There are a lot of games that occur when I'm still at work(7:30 east is 4:30 for me), and Yahoo updates way faster than NBA.com. I've even had occasions where Yahoo is faster than the reports on WDFN talking live. I wonder if sometimes there's a delay in the streaming.

TaShawn, thanks for those excellent observations, it's always good to get an eyewitness report.

LAPiston, I agree that Evans game is limited, which means to me that we need to use him as a situational player. He has good 3 point range, and I think he will become a very good defender if he works on it.

This also means that Delfino needs to replace him in the role he has now. If Delfino is indeed not in the doghouse, he's got the size and talent to really be a mini Ginobli for us. Failing that, I'd like to see JMax on some of the slower SF, which is a matchup he should win easily. As a matter of fact, I think JMax could eventually be our Artest killer(if Artest can stay in the league a few more years).

Thanks for the great recap, TaShawn. Good stuff. Sheed's practice showboating actually paid off when he made that lefty jumper (and 1) against Chandler. The guy is just absurdly gifted. Even the Bulls announcers freaked out and asked for a replay.

Why replace Evans with CD. Why not play Delfino at 3 and Evans at 2.

It looks a lot like Flip is growing the bench one player at a time. His "give them enough rope (to hang themselves)" statement coupled with the timing of this Delfino appearence might indicate Darko out-Delfino in. Delfino played with good energy and aggressiveness.

I think sooner or later Flip will round out the bench with a Dice - Davis tandem.

Evans is a finisher. That's all I have seen from him this far. He can finish at the hoop and hit spot up Js.

I have not seen an ability to beat a man off the dribble, post up or handle.

On defense, I see a player with all of the tools, and very little idea what he is doing. He'll dive for the rock, but it's almost like he has stone hands trying to corral the loose ball.

The reason why I am being so critical is that our only FA upgrades were Evans and Davis. Some of the benchers have been spotty and I really wonder if the talent drop off from Prince/Rip to Evans is going to be ok down the line.

Imagine this. Finals 06. Pistons have Arroyo-Evans-Dice-Prince-Ben on the floor. Spurs put Bowen on Arroyo and Horry on Prince. Shut down.

It's no secret I haven't been the biggest Delfino fan, but at this point I think he needs to play and play lots. Evans is a lot less skilled than I was lead to believe. Athletic? Yep. Good teammate? Probably a sweetheart. Game changer? Absolutely not.

The challenge is finding a main scorer for the second unit so some of the other guys can fall into line. In the current vacuum, I think Evans hopes he can be that guy ... but he can't. He's sort of a more athletic Keith Bogans--most effective when he knows his place.

What I do like about him is his offensive rebounding. He'll scrap around the basket, and we haven't got a lot of that.

Hey everybody. Just got back from the Bulls/Pistons game and the bars afterward. The Bulls crowd never got into the game at all. When the Bulls had the lead, it seemed like everyone there knew that it would not last. We were in the 10th row, and the game is very different from up close than it is on TV. Here are my general observations...

Sheed was having a great time. When the Pistons were warming up pre-game on one end of the floor, Sheed had the other end all to himself. He must have shot 20+ threes with his left hand, hitting 3 in a row from the corner at one point. Then he started talking with the people in the first row and was trying behind the back shots and other trick shots to impress them.
As funny as it sounds, Darko also looked very good in warm ups. He was very loose, and was screwing around with the other players a lot. Poking them when they were shooting, fouling them, etc.
When the game started, the one thing that I noticed was that Tayshaun looked like a freak. He is so gangly in person, but has that amazing coordination for a tall guy. It seemed like he was the dominator for the Pistons. Maybe it is just that the Bulls don't match up well against him. Sheed was also very active and for some reason was getting a ton of wide open looks. And Chauncey looked like the calmest, clutchest dude in the World. Everytime he shot the ball, Bulls fans were moaning.
Noccioni looked foolish tonight. At one point, right in front of us, he chopped Billups on the upper back intentionally with his elbow (away from the ball). It was a cheap shot, and Billups didn't really react to it. But the Pistons started to get a lot more physical with him after that, so I'm guessing they took notice.
Delfino seemed to be trying very hard on defense, for what that is worth. Arroyo as well.
Sweetney really looked tired after the first quarter. He's not in good enought shape yet... sort of like Eddie Curry.That's about all I have to say. It looked like the Pistons had 2 more gears that they could have gone into if they needed. It was a nice relaxing night for a Pistons fan at the United Center.

Great recap! Always great to get the live point of view.

No Darko--a message to the kid, no doubt.

Yeah, but is Darko getting the message? The guy is a mental midget. No mental toughness at all.

i knew it was going to be sheed that was going to make us have a comeback i wasn't sure about tay, and dice because the pistons were on a back to back and sheed had smaller pt against the knicks so i thought he would have the energy to get us back. great comeback that crowd was dead silent after that. next we face the much better warriors and clippers. which is a week away.

i'm just glad sheed was schooling nocioni and laughing about it

Evans did not do so bad in this game. Yes, his adventures in ball handling all ended badly. But he was plus 5 for the game. He contributed some strong rebounding. And the next thing I am about to say says both bad and good about Evans. First, with Evans in the game, our momentum stopped after a very strong run extending from the 2nd quarter to to toward the end of the third. We had missed 6 straight shots and the lead had shrunk to 14. But Evans canned that three. Then his assist on a fast break, followed by a triple by Sheed, put us up 22 with 7 minutes left in the game. So, the triple by Evans did help seal the game for us, but I am wondering that if Evans had simply not got into the game at the end of the 3rd, if we would have needed the triple in the first place.

Time after time, as we bring the ball up the floor, Evans is absent. What you see instead is maybe Billups bringing the ball up being supported by Sheed. Its not very pretty just using one guard to bring the ball up. A bit too easy for the other team to stop our momentum toward the basket.

And although Evans does get some bounds, he could get more. He tends to find one spot and camp out. With no movement, he is not going to find ways to dart inside the defense for offensive bounds. And with no movement, he is not making the other team move with him to negate his three point shooting ability. Basically, he is not moving without the ball. And when he does move, its slow. He needs to bring some energy. Get moving. Find picks. Get free along the three point line. Then dart in at the right moment to contest the bounds. Basically, just move.

The most striking thing I have seen the last few games is what Prince is doing with ball handling. He has gotten very aggressive on scoring. This includes driving the ball inside a lot. And his teammates are spotting up when Prince drives in, and Prince is consistently finding them for open threes. Whats making all this even more effective is that Prince at the same time is hitting his outside shots too, making the other team have to play him for the outside shot. Of course, this frees things up that much more for the drives, forcing the other team to have to rotate to help, leaving those three point shooters open. Great stuff.

Ben Wallace had a horrid game on offense, consistently mishandling the ball. But I sure liked his defense from this game. Challenging outside shots full force, trusting his teammates to do the rebounding. Playing guys out away from the basket, stealing the ball or knocking it away. And of course, in that 3rd quarter, he was just tough against their bigs trying to operate inside. Even though he just played 25 minutes in this one, he was a big factor, especially in that 3rd quarter

Q, how different is Mo's game when he is the only bench guy in there with the starters as opposed to with several bench guys on the court?

i understand that our bench doesn't look too good, but i think they are actually better than we think just the starters make them look bad since they know each other so well. if the bench plays more together they will get better.

Some great posts on Evans by all. LA Sam, I agree that Evan's use will be in a very specific role. But I worry too, Micro, that the drop off in calibur from the first team to our bench could be an achilles heel. My greatest worry is Chauncey getting in early foul trouble. Arroyo can play but I worry about an untimely turnover followed by a me-first jumper (I have noticed those tendencies--if he is patient he also has talent. Lee, your view of Evans this last time is accurate but that means that his role is to be limited per LA Sam. I also agree Lemonpen that Evans is probably not best at the small forward. I agree that Flip is testing the bench player by player. Lee, I too have noticed the change in Tay. He is playing at allstar calibur now and is a bear to defend. We basically have an all all-star first team which is amazing in this day of the salary cap. Micro, Delfino seems to have game so I don't know why they are not giving him a go??

If the playoffs were starting next week i'd worry but we've got several months of the season to go. If Delfino keeps exciting us with his play, he'll carve a niche for himself. Darko could still develop. Darko's gotten 5 minutes of meaningful game time. This is a first really. This should have happened sooner but it didn't and we're stuck with his slow development time.

There's something to be said about having the best starting 5. Other teams might have 2-3 great players. Rotating in a 6th or 7th...you're generally taking out someone only marginally better.

Some great posts on Evans by all. LA Sam, I agree that Evan's use will be in a very specific role. But I worry too, Micro, that the drop off in calibur from the first team to our bench could be an achilles heel. My greatest worry is Chauncey getting in early foul trouble. Arroyo can play but I worry about an untimely turnover followed by a me-first jumper (I have noticed those tendencies--if he is patient he also has talent. Lee, your view of Evans this last time is accurate but that means that his role is to be limited per LA Sam. I also agree Lemonpen that Evans is probably not best at the small forward. I agree that Flip is testing the bench player by player. Lee, I too have noticed the change in Tay. He is playing at allstar calibur now and is a bear to defend. We basically have an all all-star first team which is amazing in this day of the salary cap. Micro, Delfino seems to have game so I don't know why they are not giving him a go??

he played well last night flip got him some pt, now lets see what he does in future games.

It's what the coach needs, if he puts Mo in for Tay he wants Dee on a SF. Not working? If he goes in for Rip he wants a shooter. Might work?
Let JMax rest Tay. I think Tay is Happy with his new contract!!

remember that guy who put hinrich ahead of chauncey, hinrich sucked i'm surprised gordon did bad, he's a pretty good player better than hinrich or duhon he should be a starter.