By NOAH TRISTER
Associated Press
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Last season, 11 different
players started at least 10 games for the Detroit Pistons.
So far, 2010-11 is looking like more of the same.
With his team falling behind in the playoff chase, coach
John Kuester has already used seven different starting lineups. Injuries have
played a role, but Detroit is also trying to find a combination that will pull
the team out of an early-season funk.
With Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva and Tracy McGrady all
making rare starts, the Pistons beat New Orleans in overtime Sunday night, but
at 9-19 they still have a long way to go before they can say they've turned
around their season.
"We had to shake things up, and it's as simple as that,"
Kuester said Tuesday. "When you're going through the season that we are right
now, we just couldn't stay pat."
It wasn't the first time Kuester tried to shake things up
a bit. He benched point guard Rodney Stuckey barely a week into the season, but
that was only temporary. Stuckey has been a regular starter for the Pistons ever
since.
Injuries played a role in Sunday's lineup, but Kuester was
clearly hoping a new look would pay dividends. Villanueva started for the first
time all season. It was the fourth start for Gordon and the second for McGrady,
who didn't play in the second half because of a groin injury.
Stuckey sat out the 111-108 win with a toe injury. Richard
Hamilton also missed it with an upset stomach, and Austin Daye was out with a
strained hamstring.
"Seems like when we're undermanned, guys are a little bit
more comfortable," Gordon said. "They know they're going to be playing, they
have time to get a rhythm. We've just got to figure something out that works and
get everybody going."
Gordon went 0 of 7 from the field in the first half, but
Detroit didn't have many other options so he stayed in the game. He finished
with 25 points, including a tying 3-pointer in the final minute of regulation.
"He's a shooter," guard Will Bynum said. "He's going to
miss a few, this is basketball. ... But Ben's a scorer, despite if he's 0 for 7,
I'm still looking for him every time."
Detroit has generally gone with Stuckey, Hamilton,
Tayshaun Prince and Ben Wallace as starters this season, but Kuester certainly
sounds ready to consider other options. Hamilton said Tuesday he's willing to
accept coming off the bench.
"I've got to be a man about it and come out and play,"
Hamilton said. "They wanted to do something different. ... If (there's) anything
I want to prove, it's prove that we can turn this thing around."
Meanwhile, the power forward spot has been unsettled
since the start of the season. Daye has started 11 games, Jason Maxiell has
started 14 and even rookie Greg Monroe has been in the starting lineup. Now it
appears to be Villanueva's turn.
Forward Jonas Jerebko went down in the preseason with a
torn Achilles' tendon, robbing Kuester of another option. That was only the
beginning of what has been a season of uncertainty for the Pistons, who are
still awaiting the final word on the team's sale.
The low point might have been a 21-point home loss Friday
night to the Los Angeles Clippers.
But as dreary as these last couple months have been,
Sunday night was a highlight. Detroit rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit
with some unfamiliar faces on the court. DaJuan Summers played in only his sixth
game this season and scored eight points, and Maxiell made a key defensive play
in the final seconds of overtime.
Bynum, one of only a handful of Detroit players who
hasn't started this season, finished with 21 points and nine assists, giving his
team something to feel good about going into Wednesday night's game at Toronto.
"I think that every time something positive happens you
have to build off of it," Gordon said. "I thought the guys that were out there
... had a chance to show coach what we can do if we just get some time."
Dec. 22, 2010
