Also, thanks for the head’s up about Tayshaun, as disappointing as that was to read.

AP - LAS VEGAS — Tayshaun Prince sprained his left ankle in the first quarter of the United States’ game with Brazil on Sunday night in the FIBA Americas tournament.

The 6-foot-9 forward for the Detroit Pistons fell and stayed on the floor after going for a defensive rebound late in the first quarter. He was attended to for about a minute and then helped off the court. He gingerly walked to the locker room.

A team spokesman said team doctors decided Prince would not return to the game as a precautionary measure and he would be reevaluated Monday.
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I was watching live when it happened. It looked bad enough that you went ‘I hope that’s not serious’. Here’s hoping it’s not serious.

Getting the 2 seed would have been almost impossible. Had we fallen out of the division lead, we most likely would have been the 5, giving us a Miami/Cleveland/Chicago route to the finals, without home court advantage for the latter two series. Yuck.

Even with the seeding goofiness imposed by the absurd three-division system, the odds certainly indicate that it makes a lot of sense to shoot for the one seed.

Fatigue does not only occur in the playoffs. If our bench has the goods to earn the minutes, then we will see improved play from the big four during the regular season, which will offset 1-3 losses in close call games in which their added minutes would have made a difference.

But if Saunders sees that we are dropping 2 games in 10, there is a fair question as to what the bench is going to contribute in the playoffs, and a fair question as to how much more difficult playoff matchups become.

The 1 seed means nothing, nothing at all, until you know how the playoff bracket turns out. It is possible that Detroit could play Boston then Miami then Chicago in the playoffs next year– rounds one, two, and three, if we land the 1st seed. Or we could play Orlando, New Jersey, and then Chicago in the playoffs. 1st seed doesn’t matter at all– until we know how the rest of the bracket plays out. This is something we have no control over, so it is the same as a roll of the dice…

Want a good example? Imagine if Dallas played the Clippers instead of Golden State…

Further, if you are looking at a 50-55 win team like the Pistons, 3-4 games makes a big difference. 51 wins might mean the one seed in the EC, while 47 might mean the 5 seed, which would be disastrous.

Now, San Antonio obviously made a conscious effort to rest their guys throughout the season. However, they still won 3/4 of their games. The margin of error is a little smaller for the Pistons.

I would be interested to see if their is any data demonstrating that the 2nd or 3rd best teams (who are more likely to have “rested” their starters) have more success in the playoffs, but I am skeptical.

That said, it is clear that Maxiell has earned more minutes, and I am high on Johnson and Stuckey. They should be forced to earn their minutes.

07 DET - ‘Dyess (21.6), Maxiell (9.1), Flip (8.1), LH (8.1), CD (8.1)

07 Spurs - Oberto (20.8), Horry (20.1), Barry, (11.8), Elson (11.5)
06 Heat - Posey (27.8), Payton (24.3), Mourning (10.8), Doleac (9.0)
05 Spurs - Barry (23.5), Nazr M. (22.6), Udrih (10.0), Rasho N. (10)
04 Pistons - Corliss (13.9), Hunter (11.0), Okur (10.6), James (8.9)

Like Matt W. says, deeper gives you a better chance to win. In the playoffs last year Billups, Hamilton, and Prince all played a greater percentage of their team’s minutes than Tim Duncan. The team should be aiming to split 50-60 minutes of playing time per game between Stuckey, Amir, and Maxiell come PLAYOFF time - that means even more in the regular season.