Carlos Delfino

Man, this guy is a giant "?" How will he do?? Will flip give him more pt?

He sucked it up in Summer league play. I hope he turns out well , because he could be REALLY valuable to our bench if he pans out.

Right. He could be cut or maybe traded, or maybe he will play back in Argentina. I've heard rumors about that too.

There's really no telling what we'll get from Delfino this year. How will he handle having so much competition at the 2/3 spots? Will he start crying about wanting to go home or will he toughen up and battle for a spot in the rotation? Will he play hard on the defensive end?

Truth be told, he's all out of excuses now. There's no more LB to make him feel bad and he should be 100% healthy when camp begins.

I've lost faith in him personally, so I'm not expecting much. But, I hope he can prove me wrong, because he definitely has some talent, on the offensive end.

Depth chart

I don't see a huge problem, here's the current depth chart;

PG, Billups, Arroyo, Hunter
SG, Hamilton, Evans, Acker
SF, Prince, Delfino, Dupree
PF, Wallace, McDyess, Maxiell, Johnson
C, Wallace, Milicic, Davis

Evans minutes shouldn't impact Delfino much. They're technically interchangeable parts. If Delfino doesn't get the minutes it'll be more likely cause of his defensive deficiency in a given situation.

Look at your five first guys off the bench, at least two of those guys have to play intense D, who are they?

Delfino v. Dupree

That's why I like Dupree over Delfino. I just hope we get some idea of what's going on during preseason. Not sure how well the Detroit media will/can cover it.

delfino will play

you don't have to be a defensive stopper to get minutes anymore. last year what killed us was offensive droughts. during these times lb would refuse to put offensive players in the game. this year arroyo and delfino will definitely get more minutes even with there supposed lack of defensive ability. flip also has shown a willingness to play the zone defense. with our quick and athletic bigs the zone should be very effective if we have to use it in short spurts to cover for lack of defensive ability. what's the point of being able to stop the other team if you can't score yourself. very often lindsey would come in and shut his man down 1 out of 3 times but we would go 0 for 3 during that stretch. if the team can put up with defensive specialists we can carry a few offensive specialists also.

delfino has shown that he will get in the passing lanes and collect steals. he also rebounds very well this is all a part of defense. his inability to stay in front of opposing players can be covered in the zone.

arroyo has shown that he will get into the passing lanes and collect steals. he was one of the steals leaders in the olympics. ability to play passing lanes is perfect for a zone defense.

i think we are judging players based on lb's system. of man to man only defense and if you don't play great d you don't play at all. this year i think flip will play players to thier strengths. not stick square pegs into round holes all year and if they dont' fit ship them out of town. delfino probably never will be a great defensive player. that doesn't mean he can't fit in and have a purpose on the team.

hi

bballjay, by some people's logic, Adrian Dantley should never have played for us, as his defense of his position, small forward, was simply abismal. We basically had to help double team his guy on a near constant basis. But Dantley, The Teacher, was a fine player. He scored so easily and continually got the other team in foul trouble with his crafty moves around the basket. Yes, the team had to bust its hump to cover his back on defense, but the team was winning. (Yes, I believed that Aguirre was an upgrade as that double teaming finally stopped when he replaced Dantley. Aguirre was certainly not a great defender, but at least he could guard his own man by himself.) In contast to Dantley, Delfino is a fine defensive player. As a small forward, he has good size at 230 pounds, and good enough height at a true 6-6, as measured without shoes. (Which means we could list him at 6-8 if we chose to.) For a shooting guard, his defensive speed is suspect, but for a small forward probably ok. On offense, he will provide a lot of ball handling (especially pushing it on fast breaks) and offense that we can live with any deficiencies on his defense.

Delfino.........

Well, here's a guy who complains about the lack of playing time and doesn't do much in summer league play to back up his comments. Joe has already talked to him and asked him if he wanted out of Detroit, he had backed down then and Joe left him with a parting message that anytime if Delfino wanted out, he knows his number.

Dumars is clearly willing to make Delfino a player. It's all on him. If he buys into the team first philosophy still remains to be seen. He isn't gonna be the star on this team like he was in Skipper.

I hate primadonnas who complain and don't back it up with performance. I wanted him traded but if he's still here then I trust Joe. Evans, Dupree, Acker have big hearts and great work ethics so I wouldn't be bothered with him getting traded for a draft pick.

don't sleep on delfino!!!!

this guy is good you guy's can't tell did you all watch him play when he frist came here! lb is gone. so watch this guy grow!!!!!!!!!!

Delf

Delfino's the one that needs to wake up -- on defense.

Delfino

I'm willing to write off last year as an adjustment year for Delfino. I can imagine that being a rookie in the league can be intimidating enough, but coming from a completely different culture must be even more tough. Add the injury to the mix (although, it appeared to be a relatively minor injurt, it never allowed him to get in a groove) and its easy to see why we weren't impressed.

This upcoming season should be a great opportunity for Delfino to show us what he can do. He's coming in with a clean slate. A new coach with a new coaching staff (other than the DMC specialist) who have no pre-conceptions about him.

Seeing some film on him, when he's comfortable & confident, he can really attack the basket. That's exactly what we need on this team.

about delfino

fellas,

delfino is going to be solid this yr. he was essential hurt all of last yr, so u have to give the guys a chance. all of the euro's complained about pt w/ lb there. all of those guys, arroyo, delfino, and dmc (even memo and zelly when they were here) got a new lease on pt because of flip!! so everybody just calm down....delfino is going to be solid, and if joe d didn't think he was going to "fit in" and put the team first then he would be gone already!!

remember the flashes that he showed us last yr.....the boy can play! not to say he is as good as ginobili, but he is solid. even watching him in the olympics last summer he was tight. so everybody understand that the guys who didn't play last yr will have something to prove and if they don't by the trading dealline.....then they (except darko) will be out of here!!!! guaran--sheed it!!!

holla!!!!!!

"If U ain't Cheatin......U ain't Tryin!!!!!"

this is Deeetroit Basketball!!!

That is a very ignorant sounding statement to come out of any REAL Pistons fans mouth bball!!! One may not have to be an actual lockdown bruce bowen jr. type of defensive stopper, but he indeed has to try and play real defense in this town. This ain't dallas, and certainly not phoenix pal, this is DETROIT and defense (along with good offense) has proven to win Championships!!! That's how guys like Corliss and Rip made it around here, although not staunch defenders they improved significantly put forth a worthwhile effort! Smarten up my friend, in order for CD to make it happen in the D he's got to upgrade from the pathetic matador defense... Not to mention help dismiss many of our worries of him having the injury prone syndrome.

Ty......AMEN......Preach and pass the PLATE....can I get a Boom-Shaka-Laka