The Detroit Pistons are a team that will undoubtedly have a new look to them in 2009-10. With a new coach in John Kuester, new veterans in Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon, and three new rookies in Austin Daye, DaJuan Summers, and Jonas Jerebko – all of them playing well at the Vegas Summer League – things are good right now for the red and blue.
"I feel very blessed to come back to organization that I was fortunate enough to work for in '04 and won a NBA championship," said Kuester after watching his summer league Pistons top the New York Knicks 96-73. "I'm very excited about all that.
"Any time you take a new job and you are able to have been there, that's a huge plus. Having been there in '04, it's very special."
Kuester is excited about all the different elements his team will have. Along with the five new faces will be - barring a trade - veterans Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton, plus a pair of point guards who already were looking pretty good.
"Rodney Stuckey is becoming an outstanding basketball player and Will Bynum came on strong at the end of the year, so we have some firepower offensively," Kuester noted. "What's going to be a big part of our whole transition is to focus on what's going to be important – that's defense in the beginning."
Defense is important, but this team will be able to run with anyone in the NBA, provided they can make stops and get boards. The young guys will definitely need to pay attention to veteran leadership – the experience of Prince and Hamilton will tell them what it takes to be successful in the NBA, and what it takes to win a title.
"I'm sure they'll want to get up and down, but they'll understand what's important is making sure we do a good job rebounding the ball, which will enable our fast break."
And what about those rookies? Wednesday's game may as well have been labeled the 2009 Detroit Rookie Class Coming Out Party. Daye led the team with 27 points and 13 rebounds, but not to be outdone Summers added 26 and eight while Jerebko finished with a double-double himself, 13 and 12.
"They did a great job today with the way they shared the basketball, the way they defended, and the way they rebounded," beamed Kuester. "I was very pleased to see how they aggressively went to the basket also."
Daye was beaming after the game too.
"I had a terrible game last game so I wanted to make up for it today, and I think I did a good job of that."
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NBA PM: Grizz Need Guards: Grizzlies after another guard...Jason Williams is back...Spurs sign... "At Gonzaga I was asked to do different things and I was fully on board with those things, and here I'm being asked to play a little bit more," explained Daye. "I think my game is more of an NBA game than college because of my length, my athleticism, and my shooting ability."
Daye is showing that in Vegas, averaging 16.3 points and 8.5 rebounds in Detroit's first four games (Summers leads the team with 19.5 points). He's also stoked to play with Summers, whom he has known for awhile.
"At LeBron James' Skills Academy we played with each other and in camps before that," Daye said about how long he has known Summers. "He's a great player – I'm just happy for him to be my sidekick."
Sidekick? Really? Does he know he's the sidekick?
"We're both sidekicks to each other!" backtracked Daye with a laugh. "Every day I'm trying to match what he's doing and he's trying to match what I'm doing. We're best of buds here."
Sometimes being a rookie and trying to fit into a veteran team, even a team with relatively young veterans (apart from Hamilton), can be difficult. However, the trio of rookies on this Pistons team is getting along great, creating a support system so they can lean on each other to help get through the ups and downs. Daye feels this will be key to becoming successful pros.
"We push each other to be better," Daye said. "Whenever one of us is getting down we try and pick each other up. It's important to have that. Three rookies on one team, it's definitely going to help."
So what's next? Is this the start of something truly special? Daye cautioned against reading too much into a one game performance, but he was clearly pleased with what he was able to do and absolutely believes it's a good start.
"I'm just happy with my performance today," he said. "I don't want to do too much, I just want to go out there and play my game. If my game is 27 points and however many rebounds, I'm fine with that."
Daye is fine with it? Without a doubt new coach Kuester and the Pistons organization will be fine with it as well.
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