time to take the training wheels off thaddeous (rgm article)

[IggyTheBEaST]

When Detroit visited the Wachovia Center on Wednesday night, it got me thinking about how then Pistons coach Rick Carlisle broke in the game's most underrated player, Tayshaun Prince.

So inbetween admiring the form of Kathy Romano and various Sixers' dancers (those black outfits are off the charts), I did some research and dived into the Pistons media guide.

In 2002-03, Prince's rookie season, the Kentucky product played in just 42 regular season games and averaged just over 10 minutes per contest.

Then came the playoffs.

Prince's playing time skyrocketed to over 25 minutes per game and, in case you forgot, he made life miserable for the Sixers and Aaron McKie, who was still one of the NBA's better defenders at the time.

The Sixers fell to the Pistons 4-1 in the Eastern Conference semifinals and the rookie was actually Detroit's go-to-guy down the stretch.

Now Prince is an All-Star player and one of the tougher matchups in basketball.

History may be about to repeat itself in Philadelphia's favor, if Mo Cheeks takes the training wheels off Thaddeus Young.

Fans in Salt Lake City might love Kyle Korver and rightfully so. The Jazz actually have a low post scoring threat in Carlos Boozer, so Korver can station himself on the weak side and rain threes.

The fans in Philly who still love Korver don't know basketball. Without a similar low post option in this town, Korver was killing the Sixers and keeping two far more talented players on the bench, Young and Rodney Carney.

Philadelphia turned it around when Ed Stefanski forced Cheeks to take the shrink wrap off his talented rookie.

Sure, there were other factors including the aforementioned Carney, the continued development of Andre Iguodala and Lou Williams, the underrated defense of Samuel Dalembert, the stellar play of Andre Miller and the effort level of Reggie Evans, but Young was at the core of the turnaround.

The Sixers are already a feel good story. Pegged for about 30 wins by most seasoned NBA observers, the team is gearing up for a playoff series. A series they will be expected to lose, no matter who they play...

Unless they take the next step with Young.

Stop babying him, start him no matter what and let the chips fall where they may. The Sixers are 13-7 when Young is on the floor for the opening tip and 27-31 when he's not. You don't have to be a math major to figure those numbers out.

The 19-year-old may not have the post skills or the freakish length of Prince, but he is already a better finisher and primed to make someone else, be it Detroit, Orlando or Cleveland, miserable in the playoffs.