Lee on Ben offense and Flip Lee, yes, Ben has improved his offense steadily. I remember when he first came to the Pistons even a dunk was an adventure. But it depends what you mean by getting involved. Ben helped break the Laker's backs in that series by taking it to the rim offensively. He has to be paid attention to nowadays. He is good working off the ball and receiving it as he moves slanting toward the hoop. But if involved in the offense is what we saw last year, with Ben getting first touches or receiving the ball late in the clock with his back to the basket, I would say that is not the kind of involvement we want. Flip was clearer on Ben than any other player. Ben should be positioned so that he can be an offensive rebounder and he can be an option down the line of options presumable moving toward the basket. I would say that he discussed this in the course of things with Joe though, of course, I can't prove it. I, for one, am excited by flip's analysis of the Pistons themselves and the Pistons inrelation to the league. I think he sees shortcomings in last year's offense and feels that he has solutions. I support him because we cannot win this year with the same offense.
You are very right about Carlisle's contributions/development of the players on defense. I forgot about all of those examples. What can I say, he's just a great coach!
I hope that we become better at the fast break, and create fastbreak oppurtunities with our lock up defense, and if we don't get the oppurtunities some games we could still grind it out then win.