If he didn't know it before, Michael Curry is learning that being an NBA coach is as much about massaging egos as it is drawing up X's and O's. In his comments following Detroit's loss to the Trail Blazers on Sunday, Curry was blunt with his criticism about Tayshaun Prince: "Tay didn't play well tonight." Prince, who's rarely one to give a juicy post-game quote, was clearly surprised by Curry's assessment. From Keith Langlois of Pistons.com:
"Huh? Wow. I thought I was playing pretty good, if you ask me. ... I was upset I came out in the first quarter, because I thought I started off the game well, trying to get guys into the flow. It's always tough for me because I'm in a position where I'm put at the point guard position and I'm trying to make plays for (teammates). Sometimes I'm going to have a good night and sometimes it's going to take me out of my rhythm.To be fair, Curry wasn't completely imagining things: all of Detroit's starters were outplayed by the Trail Blazers, especially in the first quarter when they let the visitor's open up a 25-11 lead before the second unit came into the game and closed the gap. But singling out Prince seems a little odd, especially considering he shot well (4-8 from the field for 10 points in 22 minutes) and didn't play a single minute during Detroit's fourth-quarter collapse.
"I don't know what's going on. Hopefully, (coaches) could have said something after the game and let us know what was going on. They didn't do it, so I don't know."
While the entire team has been forced to adjust to Allen Iverson's arrival, perhaps no one has been asked to change his game as much as Prince. It's clear that Curry doesn't trust Iverson to run the offense, and to compensate he's frequently relied on a three-guard lineup, which bumps Prince to the four, or a traditional two-guard lineup with Prince running the show as a point forward.
Either way, Prince is playing out of position. While he may be averaging a career-high with 15.3 points and 6.5 rebounds, those numbers are skewed by a handful of games early on. In his last seven games, he's averaged just 11.1 points and 3.7 boards, and even though he's played a lot at the one, he's tallied more than three assists in a game just three times all year.
Curry tried to clarify on Monday that he didn't mean to single out Prince and was instead disappointed by all of his starters. If that's the case, why not change the starting lineup? Iverson is a sure-fire Hall of Famer and one of the biggest superstars in any sport that Detroit has ever seen ... but that doesn't mean he can't be a sixth-man.
I made the same suggestion last week, not only reacting to AI's decision to skip practice on Thanksgiving but also in response to Rip Hamilton's struggles to adjust playing without a true point guard. In hindsight, seeing Prince's declining numbers justifies the move even more.
Besides, it was Joe Dumars' confidence in Rodney Stuckey that convinced him to move Chauncey Billups in the first place. Stuckey was extremely inconsistent early this season but seems to have turned the corner, averaging 13.3 points and 7.0 assists in 24.6 minutes over the last three games. He sometimes gets tunnel vision trying to drive the paint when anchoring the second unit but is more focused on distributing the ball when playing with the starters. Allowing him to play the bulk of his minutes alongside Hamilton and Prince would expedite his development while returning the veterans to their former roles.
The only downside? Iverson's ego may not allow him to take such a "demotion" in stride. He's already unhappy about his playing time despite averaging more minutes (36.1) than anyone else on the team. But if he embraced the role and moved to the second unit, he'd be able to dominate the ball as much as he wanted without bruising anyone else's ego and could easily lead the team in scoring, much like Manu Ginobili and Ben Gordon have done in recent years.
Do I expect Curry will make such a drastic move this early in the season? Not at all. But considering the Pistons are just 6-6 since AI joined the team, it's something worth thinking about, especially if the rest of the lineup continues to struggle adjusting to AI's presence.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
A.I. coming off the bench sounds like a nice idea, but it wouldn't work. Iverson is used to playing big minutes (40+ or even 42+) and he said in an interview that he has to get used to playing less minutes (that's probably why he can't hit a shot). Just imagine him coming off the bench...he would need years for adjustment... /sarcasm
Seriously: A.I. wouldn't like to be a 6th man. Maybe it's his ego, maybe it's just "unnatural", but he definitely wouldn't do it.
Let's give them some more games to try and figure it out. I still hope that the return of McDyess will fix everything. They give up the most points when the 2nd unit plays (first and only time this season the 2nd unit played better than the starters was the game vs the Blazers).
Ignoring future bench/starter moves, one good thing to come all of this is Curry's desire to play his starters shorter minutes to "keep them fresh." With AI playing poorly and not yet fitting in on both ends, Rip's game falling apart in every conceivable way without Chauncey, and Tayshaun struggling on the offensive end, the guys who are actually delivering are Afflalo and Stuckey, especially on the defensive end. With McDeyss coming back soon to bolster the bench, that's a solid group that's playing well -- and whether they're getting out there because they deserve it or to keep the starters "fresh," keeping the old guys' minutes down is and will continue to be paying dividends.
they should have never traded for iverson in the first place. detroit was a hot team for the last 3 years. They eventualy was one of the hottest teams in the east.
now they messed it all up trading away billips. i was a pistons fan till they messed it all up.
I agree with you because every since Chauncey was traded the pistons has been out of wack and it is because they got a superstar on the team and he is trying to mesh into a team chemisty when he hasn't played on a team that was elite so he is not use to allowing others to play team ball without him having to be out on the floor taking every shot...He needs to be the sixth man coming off the bench because he is not helping the pistons at all he is hurting them
For you Detroit fans that are looking for a way to incorporate AI into your team....forget it. I have been a fan of AI from his Georgetown days, but that said, I live in Denver and have watched him the past two years closely. He is a unique tallent that just doesn't mesh on good teams. He has to play a lot, he has to have the ball a lot, he will score a lot and he will dish off a few assists. The problem is, he has a playground mintality and can not thrive in a structured system. He dribbles his way into a shot or a dish and the other players don't know when to cut and when to get out of his way. It is too bad but I don't see him ever getting a ring. Oh...but hey....thanks for Chancy! We are doing just fine now.
Curry is not NBA coaching material. Iverson is not the answer. He needs to come off the bench to just score. Wallace should have been traded because all he does is shoot the 3 and complain to the Ref's on his fouls. Denver and Detroit don't have good teams. After Billups there is nothing. It's time for Prince to go to another team. He is a great hustle player who should come off the bench. That Piston team is out of whack. And Hamilton can be traded also. All he does is shoot. I don't watch Denver or Detroit basketball because the play is terrible.
I was really stunned that Dumars traded chauncey because with him in the lineup they were 4-0 and with him out of the lineup they are 5-6 you do the math...Dumars kept his word about shaking things up. He shook it up to the point that he has lost the majority of the team. When you take away the point player then all you have left is frazzled players and it is more evident now than them losing in the playoffs for 3 seasons in a row. I know that AI is good but he doesn't mesh good with the Pistons because he is a one man show and the Pistons is about team. Detroit lost a good neucles with trading chauncey he has put Denver nuggets on a win win situation what has AI done for Detroit
ME MYSELF,CURRY DOSEN'T NOW WHAT LINE UP TO PLAY.SHEED NEEDS TO COME OF THE BENCH HES NOT GIVING 100%.AI DOSEN'T FIT WITH THE TEAM,HE DOSENT NOW HOW TO.CURRY NEEDS TO GIVE AFFALO MORE PLAYING TIME AND WALTER HERMAN,BROWN AND JOHNSON SUCKS.I WOULD START RIP,TAY,STUCKEY,DICE AND HERMAN.AI AND SHEED WOULD COME OFF THE BENCH. U STILL HAVE AFFALO,MAX AND JOHNSON.CURRY NOT AT NBA COACH,ES LEVEL,U CAN SEE IT WHEN HE GIVES AN INTERVIEW (THE WORST)!HERMAN GIVES U HUSTLE,DICE GIVES U SIZE,TAY AND RIP GIVES U THE DOUBLE TEAM,STUCKEY GIVES U PENATRATION HES MORE OF A POINT GUARD.AI,S ALWAYS OUT OF CONTROL DON'T GET ME WRONG HE CAN STILL BALL,BUT HE DOSEN'T FIT.HIS OFFENCE WOULD BE BETTER OFF THE BENCH.SHEED LOOK LIKE HE DOSEN'T WANTTO BE HERE ANYMORE.HE SHOULD HAVE GOT TRADED.GET RID OF BROWN WHAT A FLOP.HOPFULLY DICE WILL HELP,BUT I DOUT IT!HE SHOULD HAVE WENT TO(BOSTON). THE PISTON WONT GET PASS LABRON OR GARNETT. LOOK FOR THIS TEAM TO BE OUT AGAIN.NEXT YEAR WILL HAVE A NEW LOOK. THE PISTONS WILL GET BETTER!