Copper

I was sitting here thinking to myself how nice it was for the starters to get out of the game early and get the bench some extended minutes. I am pleased with Delfinos progress and Im sure he will be a vital part of the bench later in the year. Evans impresses me almost nightly with his non stop hustle, even if he isnt hitting his shot he is mixing it up under the boards and diving for loose balls. Arroyo is coming around, Im sure playing behind Billups must be helping him. He still gets a little too offensive minded which leads to him dribbling the shot clock down and his teammates standing around watching him. I like the fact that he and Dyess are rotating together for the most part, they are apparently getting a rythm for one another and that will help. I wish someone could light a fire under Darkos butt, cause he still looks mopy out there and hasnt shown anything in his game time in recent memory. Max is earning his few minutes with his all out hustle and what appears to be a nice 10-15 ft turnaround jumper...ala Dyess. I just wanted to get other opinions to see where I stand.

__________________
Dont hate me cause Im beautiful...Hate your folks cause you're not!!!

xPAGANx

I like the Pistons bench a lot more this year than last. Last year I didn't really have much confidence in it outside of Dyess.

I see a lot of potential now.

Arroyo is a awesome backup point guard. If he can tag some more minutes I really think he is going to shine. He plays with the rest of the bench a lot so it hurts his stats a little more than if he filled in with the starters. So far he is doing great.

Darko is proving to be a great defensive center. He is getting a lot of blocks and grabbing some rebounds. His shot is pretty good as well. He just doesn't put out the energy he should. I am betting it is frustration from only playing the last few minutes of a blow out. If he can change his attitude a little I think he will be a great asset. He might need some counseling.

Delfino has show a good improvement since last year. He isn't a great player, but he is pretty consistant and can play a decent game. I can't see him replacing any starters should an injury come about, but his game is good enough he can hold teams at bay while the starters are resting.

Dyess is doing pretty good. He is a little streaky sometimes, but when he is hot... he is hot. He does some really nice turnaround jumpers that really do some damage.

Evans... Well I have seen good and bad from him this year. He tries really hard and that is great. I have seen some great performances from him that really show his potential. During other games he has been a little cold. It may be due to the fact he doesn't have enough of a chance to warm up in the game. If his threes are going down he can be a real shooting force.

Hunter... well I haven't seen him around yet this season, but I like the guy. He has been a fun player to watch when he is playing well. He has been around for a while so he knows the game.

Maxiel is really doing great. He might not see a whole lot of playtime this year, but when I have seen him on the court he has been pretty impressive with his strong shooting.

Overall I think the Detroit bench has really gained some depth this year through hard work.

I see Detroit throwing their bench out in the middle of a lot of games and playing them as kind of a second team. I really enjoy seeing them work as thier own unit sometimes.

Austin Kent

Good post Pagan. Interesting. I've only been able to catch a handful of games on TV this year so don't feel as comfortable as I should be when it comes to giving opinions on how our team is playing but I will say a few things.

I personally am disappointed in Darko, which says a lot since I have two of his jersey and consider him my favourite player. Delfino on the other hand is a player that I have been impressed with, not just this year but last. I think he can be a hell of a player on this team and at this point in time consider him a much better player on our team.

__________________
HoopsAddict.com

xPAGANx

I have seen Delfino really produce a couple times, but sometimes I am not feeling it. We both agree he has made a big improvement though. I also have to agree that there is a lot of potential. I measure potential by looking season to season. If I notice an improvement from one season to the next that really says a lot. If Delfino has changed enough to be noticable then chances are there is more potential.

I have seen the whole bench improve over the off season and that really excites me. I would say that Arroyo and Delfino have made the largest improvements and are the two guys to watch down the road.

As for rookies I am hoping to see a lot from Maxiell next year.

MLKG

The guy I'm excited about is Delfino. He's playing like he did at that start of his rookie year again, before the injuries. We he have to keep getting him minutes, it's only going to help down the road.

I had completely given up on him after summer league, but he has actually come out and put the work in and looks like he could be a real player again.

Brian

My thoughts on the bench

Arroyo - Sucks
Darko - Sucks
Delfino - Been a big suprise to me like MLKG said his summer league was disappointing but he has turned things around
Dice - He has struggled a bit this year but still one of the best big men coming off the bench in the league
Davis - He is the Elden Campbell of the past two season. His job will be to guard Shaq in the ECF
Maxiell - too early to judge
Evans - he has been a decent player so far. Not anything special but he is a good bench player.
Hunter - Been injured I can't wait till he is back

P33r~

I agree with Brian. You have to look at the bench through critical eyes. His decent stats are misleading, sure he gets his assists and (usually) low turnover ratio but we all know how much he stalls the offense. Usually just shatters the momentum that Billups created by himself beforehand. And I haven't even mentioned how he's the worst defender on the team.

Darko has also been disappointing to say the least. I don't think there's any excuses he can use anymore to make up for his lackluster effort, even if it is in garbage time. How the hell does he expect to gain his minutes with that crap?

The other areas of our bench have noticeably improved, and we will have the defensive problem at backup PG solved when Hunter returns... but you can't ignore the problems we still face on the bench.

ChrisWoj

PG - Carlos Arroyo - People think I'm crazy when I talk about how much I believe in him as a point guard. I think he's a fish out of water in the Detroit offense, and he just doesn't fit at all. He isn't a Pistons backup PG. I was highly excited when he came over to Detroit... but he hasn't impressed me as a Piston. He plays the worst defense on the team and doesn't fit on offense, sorry. He's good, but not a `Ston.

PG - Lindsey Hunter - When he returns, Lindsey should take over as the primary backup point man. This is unfortunate for Arroyo because Arroyo needs some confidence, some more time to learn how to play an offense that doesn't rely on him driving-and-dishing. That said, having Hunter back will be nice because Lindsey IS a `Ston. He plays hard-nose defense, he can run a distribution offense, and on rare occasion he shows flashes of the spot up shooting he had as a 1st Round Draft Pick for us back in `92.

SG/SF - Carlos Delfino - Carlos Delfino is making great strides. Last year he didn't impress me much at all, but right now he is coming around. When he's on the floor I'm confident that when the ball is in his hands he'll make the right decision. He might not be shooting to my liking, he might not be driving as well as he could... but he's learning to make the right decision with the ball. That plus a fast impressing on the ball defensive ability has me projecting him as our top man off the bench next year.

SF - Maurice Evans - Mo is a hell of a talented basketball player. His athleticism is through the roof. He can do things with the basketball that, simply put, nobody else on the team can do (except for maybe the little used Amir Johnson). With all of that out there, he's still a raw player. He has options for where to go next. He can work on his shooting game and become a very good spot up shooter (because the talent is there), he can become a slashing driver and post-up small forward as well (because the talent is there). If he becomes both... then he'll be frightening, but its all on his shoulders... where does he want to go?

PF - Antonio McDyess - Dice is what he is. He's coming around now after a cold start to the season and finding a rhythm. He's a rock down low, he can hold his own in the paint. He also has a nice little mid-range jumper that he'll knock down without a second thought if he's feeling it. It is very important to have him active throughout the season as our third big, he provides some VERY important minutes out there.

PF - Jason Maxiell - Jason is an energy guy. He's the heir apparent to Ben Wallace. With all honesty, we all know that Jason isn't going to be a star in the next two years, and Ben isn't going to cool off in the next two years. But three years down the road we could be looking at more and more time for Maxiell off of the bench spelling Ben, leading to a transition down the road... he isn't going to get any time right now, but Jason Maxiell has every bit the energy to succeed, the drive, that could see him taking over for Ben and keeping alive the Pistons' penchant for undersized but overenergized centers, with rebounding vacuums for hands.

PF-C - Dale Davis - We don't see him much, but he's a good body. When he's out there he can give us some good solid minutes without too many mistakes. With our solid three man rotation we won't see much of the guy, especially with Max and Darko both getting their looks at the end of each night. But when he's out there, I don't really worry much.

C - Darko Milicic - Darko Milicic is a shot blocking machine. Darko Milicic is has a good jumper for a 7'2" big. Darko Milicic is slowly building mass. Darko Milicic is quick laterally with the ball. Darko Milicic can play solid defense. Its just too bad Darko Milicic has hands of stone and absolutely no desire to be in Detroit. He'll be a good starting Center somewhere in the league within the next three years... but it won't be in Detroit. He just doesn't want to be here anymore, and I wish we could find a good deal for the kid.

Did I miss anybody? Anybody disagree with me?

__________________
DETROIT! Lets Restore the Roar!
We can all to that.
check.the.detroit.tigers.forum