Utah at Detroit - January 7th, 2006

Playing BW for 50 minutes (with RW out) and having Dale Davis and Darko sleeping on the bench doesn’t make a sense. Who is the couch? Flip or BW maybe?

darko didn't earn more minutes because he had to be better than 4 former all stars. delfino just had to be better than mo evans. there have been games where darko comes in and shuts down the paint. yet he gets no more playing time. i don't think darko's lack of playing time is because of a lack of skill or lack of playing well only. it's politics and loyalty (loyalty to the big old frontline) also.

yes. he is more likely to resign with the pistons if we play him and he starts doing well and feels like a part of the team. yes. he will be more likely to stay because he knows as his contract goes on his role on the team of a nba champion will grow.

yes. lb went about it the wrong way definitely. i don't think darko is any more fragile than any other 18 - 21 year old entering the league as a high draft pick. any other draft pick that had been treated like darko would have demanded trades, been late to practice, cussed out the coach. darko only answers questions asked to him by the media. he just wants to play.

the thing about darko is he is always blocking shots. so you can't say if he isn't blocking shots. darko defends the pick and roll better than any of our bigs. players rarely score on darko one on one. he blocks turnarounds, hook shots, whatever comes at him. in garbage time yes darko will concede a layup instead of risking injury but that's another issue. ( i agree with him though on not risking your future in gt)

you are also very wrong about darko's kinks hurting worse than mcdyess. mcdyess is supposed to carry the second unit offensively. with mcdyess shot not falling the second unit would lose leads very quickly and be right back off the court. now that dice's shot is falling better now the second unit is doing better. it's no coincedence that delfino started playing more and better once on the floor with mcdyess and his shot falling. everybody looks better when mcdyess plays well.

mo evans dribbles the ball out of bounds very often. mcdyess sets more moving screens than any big man i've watched. ben jacks so many free throws it's crazy. rip is a turnover waiting to happen. which one of our big men isn't getting dogged on the boards nowadays??

his fouls is just an example of inexperience and lack of respect from the refs. watch rip on screens he holds, grabs and pulls all the time but rarely gets called.

no i wasn't expecting his minutes to stay at over 20. i just point out the preseason because when he was getting the minutes he was responding and getting better. in the regular season his minutes dropped to basically nothing. he had a bad game in new york then he was back to garbage time only like in the lb era. did flip think an inexperienced player like darko wouldn't have a few bad games??? you don't sit a player that was doing well on the bench just cause he has a bad game.

the future is important. flip and lb don't exactly think about the future. joe d does that's why darko is still here after all these years. i disagree that the minutes would be to the detriment of the team. it is not a given that it will hurt us. playing darko has not lost us a game yet. if he isn't doing well take him out of the game. but put him back in the game the next game.

your point would be valid if other players weren't allowed to come in and stink it up quite a few games in a row. (mcdyess, evans, arroyo) yet game after game they are put right back in.

look at ben /sheed/dice minutes per game. they are not resting more than they did last year. look at how our bigs perform on back to backs. look at how our bigs perform against the younger bigger big men. either it's they aren't getting enough rest or they are getting old and it's time to think about moving them.

darko playing more only extends thier career and saves them for the playoffs.

What bballjay said!!!!

I agree with most all his points, and I envy his persistence. I see things I disagree with on a lot of posts, but right in the middle of some of my arguments, I begin to lose interest because I know that whatever I say and however much it is true, it is not going to change the mindset of most of the posters. So, I lose interest in arguing.

I am glad that bballjay doesn't.

bballjay

darko is a good shotblocker, but this team needs boards more than blocks so i think darko needs to box out better and forget about blocking every shot for a while. it seems as if an injury is the only way he'll play.

hi

You got that right. Keep up the good fight.

Re: himat

I agree wholeheartedly, but when will he get the chance to do this?

Soon, I hope, and without someone having to be injured. I certainly hope no injury to one of our bigs comes, and you can believe that, but if there is one coming, the end of the year would be the worst time as we would then have no time to get anyone else ready to fill in. Dale is NOT the answer.

Re: himat

i'm not hoping for an injury, but if it has to happen some time i hope it's sooner than later down the stretch to the playoffs.