Thanks, Chicago, for signing Ben Wallace, not trading for Pau Gasol, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, and defending Scott Skiles up until he was fired, among other laughers, like Noah.

Stuckey, however, only has Chauncey in front of him– so naturally he’s our first guard off the bench next to Afflalo. Has Stuckey impressed our coaches in practice moreso than Amir? Maybe, but that’s kind of irrelovent: we don’t need Amir as bad as we need Stuckey on the floor.

(sidenote, Garrett- just checked out your site again, you’re a damn good photographer, i’m quite impressed!)

Nice win against Toronto, except for the part that in my NBA fantasy league, my opponent of the week has Rip.

“I LOVE this Rip quote from the MATT’S HOOPSWORLD BLOG”

Fixed.

C’mon, doesn’t anyone read what I write over there?

Hamilton hit 16 of 22 shots against Toronto, including a career-high five 3-pointers.

“That’s my real estate in the corner,” he said. “It’s like Monopoly. I’ve got four houses and a hotel on there. It’s what I do.”

Indeed, just not against crappy teams I guess…

i also don’t buy the argument that they see him in practice so there must be a reason not to play him. i think that’s a convenient excuse used by coaches for ages. i’ve never heard popovich say it. rip said himself not too long ago that he’s felt they always had bench players that could score, they just never got much burn. it amazes me that with this whole discussion going on, that quote doesn’t get more attention.

moderately changing our offense to allow slashers like herrmann, stuckey, amir and even flip murray to flourish may cause some struggles, but we’d be better for it.

i guess there is an argument going on wether the pistons bench has routinely been a non-factor because they’re inconsistent or because they’re under-utilized. it’s my view that they’ve been inconsistent BECAUSE they’re underutilized.

not playing a player, acting surprised that the fans want to see that player, and then mysteriously referring to “inconsistincies” during practice as the reason not to play them is not a way to make a player better. it’s the way to make a player into the new darko.

imo amir has shown enough to be given a shot, but he won’t get it. flip saunders’ use for his bench has always been “go stand over there, behind the 3 point line, and if the starters are struggling with a few seconds left on the clock, then they’ll pass it to you.” that’s what he did to delfino, arroyo, murray and maurice evans.

i have no doubt in my mind that if joe d. weren’t breathing down saunders’ neck we wouldn’t be seeing stuckey, herrmann, afflalo or brezec. it would be hunter, maxiell and hayes. those are the three players he would be criticized the least for playing, even if they lose. if you ask me, flip thinks that if they lose a game in which herrmann, brezec or amir played more than three minutes, then he’ll get torn apart for losing while playing “inconsistent” players.

Flip has never had any concept of an entire, competitive season and then a legit playoff run. granted, lots of voices will criticize flip if we play the bench and lose a regular season game, but if he doesn’t at least get to the finals this year his ass is grass.

oh well, i guess i’ll just get used to seeing herrmann and afflalo wasted, taking spot up threes and then being criticized for not hitting them.

Even more important to him becoming a great player are two things:

1. Hitting the weight room in the off-season.
2. Developing some go to moves in the off-season.

I guess that’s really one thing. Working hard in the off-season. Same goes for Samb (who’s impressed me more than Amir so far).