<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">MEMPHIS -- This is going to be a tricky month for coach Flip Saunders. In some ways, it could be a make-or-break month for him and the Pistons -- and we aren't talking about wins and losses. Having already completed one back-to-back road set, the Pistons have 15 more games over the next 25 days. Nine of those are on the road, eight against playoff-bound teams. The trick for the Pistons will be to come out of the month with both enough wins, and enough rest, to carry a full head of steam into April and through the playoffs. "Mind over matter," Richard Hamilton said. "That has a lot to do with it. You have to be able to push your body to a whole other limit." It is both a mental and physical game. Some Pistons players were quick to use fatigue as an excuse for their sudden playoff fade last season, saying they spent too much energy winning 64 regular-season games and had nothing left for the late rounds of the playoffs. Certainly there were other factors. Rasheed Wallace's injured right ankle and Hamilton's injured left ankle played a role, as did the accumulating mental stress of four long playoff runs. "It wasn't the minutes that they played, it was the mental strain of not winning (both in the Cleveland series and the Miami series) that affected us," Saunders said. Saunders has to find a way to manage the minutes of his starters, particularly the three perimeter starters (Hamilton, Chauncey Billups and Tayshaun Prince), without allowing them to use fatigue as a crutch. "It's a Catch-22," he said. "They don't want to play too many minutes, but you take them out of a game, and they (complain)." Prince agreed: "Me being a player and being on the court, of course I don't want to do that (ask out of a game. There are times he takes me out of the game, and I want to stay in the game. But I know it's something that has to happen." It's not a problem for the front-court players, with the possible exception of Chris Webber, whose legs were clearly gone in the back-end game at Memphis on Saturday. But there are six players up front, none averaging more than 33 minutes a game. Presently, Hamilton is averaging 38 minutes, Prince and Billups 37, and they are not among the top 20 in the league. "I feel great, I really do," Billups said. "But I felt great at this time last year. I think 35 minutes would be a good number, but it depends." The minutes increased in February, largely because the games were spaced out. They played 11 games and had ample time to recover. In March, though, with five sets of back-to-backs, it could be counter-productive to ride those three for 40-plus minutes a night. "It's a mental thing, but at the same time, Coach has to recognize what's going on as far as (the wear and tear on) guys' legs," Prince said. "This is where we have to have guys come in, give us some rest, and make things happen. We have guys that can do that." Saturday in Memphis, Prince, especially, looked tired early in the second half. He had played 44 minutes the night before and missed two shots early in the half. Saunders went to his bench and got good production from Carlos Delfino and Lindsey Hunter. Prince was able to get an extended break and came in fresh, scoring 10 in the final 4:17 to help the Pistons win. "We have to know the playoffs are near, and we can't try to log a whole lot of minutes," Hamilton said. "Guys on the bench are going to have to step up and play in order for us to be the team that we want to be in the postseason." Bench minutes are up this season. The four main bench players last year averaged a combined 58 minutes per game. This year, the four main bench players are playing 76 minutes per game. Most of those minutes are being logged by front-court reserves. Hamilton, though, added that his minutes are much less taxing now with Webber on the floor. "The great thing is, with Webb coming to the team, my job is a lot easier offensively," he said. "Before he came, everything was tough. I really had to work to get my shots. Now, with him, I am getting a lot of easy baskets. Plus, with him being a scorer, I don't have to shoot as much. I don't have to force the issue as much." Surviving March could have an invigorating effect on the Pistons. If they maintain their health and No. 1 record in the East, they would have to feel like they were running downhill into the playoffs. "This month is definitely going to keep us motivated," Billups said. "It's a challenge. It should be a lot of fun."</div> Source
