Perhaps Pistons coach Flip Saunders has seen one too many episodes of "Lost." OK, probably not, but he does see a similarity between his team and the hit ABC drama.
On the show, one group of characters stars as castaways stuck on an island after a plane crash.
Another group of islanders is more mysterious. They don't get many lines. Their motives are unknown. They're called "The Others."
In Detroit, the Pistons have a group of stars -- the starters who have led the team in its success throughout the past four seasons. And then there are the others -- the bench players who share a murky identity and rarely play pivotal roles in the team's success or failure.
"Everybody says, 'It's the starters and they're so good,' " Saunders said. "And then it's the others."
And in his opinion, that's a mentality, within the organization, the media and the fan base, that he's ready to change.
"There's a separation, and everyone has bought into that," Saunders said. "My mind-set is to try to do more to blend those guys together, so there's not as much of a separation."
I'm glad he sees it as a mindset that has surrounded the Pistons rather than a reality. That and the story that said the starters were grumbling about their minutes gives me hope it will get fixed this year.
__________________ Amir Johnson will be better than Al Horford
I agree with you SHEED!, words can only go so far. Last year we were told the same thing, but then the minutes started to get cut. I just wish the reporters would write an article on something other than playing our bench more.
I dunno, that was probably because we were winning with the five playing heavy minutes. And winning. And we kept on winning. That's not what's expected this year, so Flip might actually be willing to use the bench. Really, minutes in the low to mid 30s is healthy for starters, especially to strike a balance between the starters and the bench. I know that our guys didn't averaged that much more, but they've been playing heavy minutes day in and day out for years.
Unit contributed 43 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists and six steals in victory against the Heat.
AUBURN HILLS -- Pistons coach Flip Saunders will spend much of the exhibition season analyzing his bench.
With a muscled-up Antonio McDyess, injury-free Lindsey Hunter, newcomer Flip Murray and improving Carlos Delfino, Saunders should have plenty of capable reserves.
Hunter was impressed by the bench's play in Tuesday's 84-64 victory over Miami in Puerto Rico and believes the team could have a group that rivals the one that helped win the 2004 title.
"The guys are playing great, and it reminds me of the championship year when we went five deep," Hunter said. "Hopefully we can be equally good defensively. Collectively, we have to come together."
Against the Heat, the Pistons' bench had 43 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists and six steals. Delfino led the way with 15 points, and Jason Maxiell had 11.
Delfino, Murray, Hunter and Nazr Mohammed played some of the best defense in stretches Wednesday.
"This is a pretty good group and I'm pretty confident that I know what to do and where I need to be when I'm in the game," Mohammed said.
Breaking free
If Maxiell doesn't improve his free-throw shooting, his minutes could be in jeopardy.
Saunders said Maxiell must have more confidence at the line and stop correcting himself after failed attempts.
"Like anyone, when he misses he tries to adjust," Saunders said. "He shouldn't, he should just stay the same way."
Maxiell is shooting about 200 free throws a day during practice to get his form and rhythm down.
He was 5-for-11 against Miami.
Ready to run
Saunders said that Amir Johnson likely will be used as a power forward.
Johnson, at 6-feet-11 1/2 , is still growing and matches up better with opponents at that position then those who are smaller.
Johnson, in his second year, played in three games last season.
Same old story. Hopefully Maxiell does fix his free throw shooting, because I think the kid could be pretty nasty if he started making them.
Darko played horribly, but note that he got around five minutes a game in his seasons here. You can't glean very much from such low minutes. Yeah, if you're out there for two minutes and brick your only shot (which was often the case), that's going to hurt your percentage. Very little can be told about a player's true abilities from five minutes of playing time. Once you hit closer to averaging 10-15 minutes, you can probably tell more about a player's true abilities. Delfino has played around that much time, but he's shown us both bad and good.
Darko played horribly, but note that he got around five minutes a game in his seasons here. You can't glean very much from such low minutes. Yeah, if you're out there for two minutes and brick your only shot (which was often the case), that's going to hurt your percentage. Very little can be told about a player's true abilities from five minutes of playing time. Once you hit closer to averaging 10-15 minutes, you can probably tell more about a player's true abilities. Delfino has played around that much time, but he's shown us both bad and good.
When Darko got enough significant minutes to get into the game he played good enough for me, there's no doubt about that. And regardless, it was completely ignorant to just disregard our young players just because our starters are winning.
I agree, it was short-sighted to keep riding the starters and ignore the bench, but it could really have paid off if we won the championship. Instead it bit us in the ***. Meh.
Here's a McDyess article, not major enough to have its own topic.
From mlive
Quote:
AUBURN HILLS -- When Antonio McDyess arrived in Detroit two years ago, teammates and coaches often referred to him as a sixth starter.
Well, it looks like he'll finally get the kind of minutes to back that up.
Of the handful of issues left to be ironed out by Detroit during the preseason, figuring out McDyess' role isn't one of them.
Ben Wallace's departure to Chicago via free agency this summer, coupled with McDyess being healthy enough to play in a career-high 82 regular season games last season, has the 32-year-old forward and Pistons head coach Flip Saunders confident that the injuries which have limited his playing time in Detroit won't be an issue anymore.
The former All-Star (2001) and Olympic gold medalist (2000) was one of the NBA's dominant power forwards before a series of knee injuries that began during the '01-'02 season. Prior to that, he averaged 33.5 minutes per game. In the four seasons since then, including his missing the '02-'03 season with New York due to a knee injury, McDyess' playing time dropped by more than 10 minutes per game, to 22.3.
However, that's expected to change this season.
"We've always looked at him as a sixth starter, but I do believe his role will be greater this year," Saunders said.
Especially in the fourth quarter, which McDyess acknowledges has been difficult for him to sit and watch instead of being on the floor.
"I'm just like everybody else on this team ... I want to be out there," McDyess said. "But I'm willing to do whatever I have to do to help us win games. If that means sitting for most or all of the fourth quarter, fine, I'll do that. If it means playing in the fourth quarter, I don't have a problem with that either."
And while the thought of more minutes might have made McDyess cringe a couple years ago, he's excited about the possibility of having an expanded role.
"I'm looking forward to this season," McDyess said. "If it calls for me to be on the floor in crunch time and get more minutes, I'm willing to take that challenge."
When Darko got enough significant minutes to get into the game he played good enough for me, there's no doubt about that. And regardless, it was completely ignorant to just disregard our young players just because our starters are winning.
The way I remember it he was a little below average on offense (considering his expectations, but not bad really) and pretty good on defense. Then we played LB and the knicks and he looked like he did in garbage time in the LB years. Flip lowered his minutes and then Darko no longer gave a **** about the pistons and Maxiell surpassed him on the rotation.
__________________ Amir Johnson will be better than Al Horford
I'll never side with Darko if this is an argument about attitude, but I don't think this is. I really wish Darko had presented himself in a more professional manner (granted he's young, but that's no excuse these days, just look at LeBron, Dwight Howard etc). Flip Saunders dropped the ball by not getting Darko significant minutes after that game against NY, how Darko acted his irrelevant to his minutes getting cut back in the first place.
Flip Saunders and the bench...again
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