Keith Langlois has a lengthy Q&A with Michael Curry on Pistons.com. Some highlights:
Langlois: You also said the other day you had opportunities to be an assistant coach when you retired yet you decided to go the administrative route with the league office for two years. Just talk about why you decided to go that route if you knew you wanted to be a head coach.
Curry: It’s funny. As you sit around, you prepare and I’ve always thought at times it’s difficult to get to a point unless people really see you in that light. I’ve seen some guys I thought were really good coaches that everyone kind of saw as an assistant coach. I didn’t want to take a job as an assistant just to be an assistant coach. I wanted to be a head coach. I’m a leader, I have a strong personality and I crave leadership positions. So that wasn’t quite the offers that were there when I first came out, once I interviewed with the league office, with what I could do in basketball operations and what I would be able to do within the D-League, it would be the best of both worlds. It would quench my thirst as far as the actual and on-the-court aspect in the D-League and the business side of basketball working in basketball operations.
Langlois: But it was done with the thought of becoming a head coach in mind, not a general manager?
Curry: I’ve always liked that part of basketball as well, being a general manager or being a head coach. Either one of those leadership positions. I knew after my two years in the league office, just talking with guys and GMs around the league and some of the interaction I’ve had with players. A lot of guys outside where I’ve been, they didn’t know me as well. But in that same setting, they knew I possessed the qualities to lead. Halfway through my second year in the league office, I knew that right now I craved being on the court more so than being a general manager. If I was a general manager right now, I’d probably get in my own way – in the way of the coach I hire – because I still see a lot of things I want to do and being on the court actually coaching is one of those things.
One of the things that impresses me the most about Curry is how calmly confident he is. He knew he’d be a head coach but didn’t want to settle for taking the usual path to success. And reading his answer to the quest above, I get the feeling he knows he’ll eventually be a GM some day, as well. It’s rare to see a new coach speak so candidly about his ambition.
His thoughts on holding players accountable:
[Players] want playing time. When you go out here you have 15 players. If you preach certain things to the guys and this is what you are going to hold them accountable for, if you allow two or three guys to do what they want to do, then not only those two or three are gone but you lose the other 10 that are not playing at the time. The best thing to do is make sure you follow what you’re teaching the guys and what you’re saying are your points of emphasis and make sure you keep those other 12 that are doing right and the other two or three, they’ll conform and be the way you want them to be.
I said this before, but I hope he’s serious, and I hope he doesn’t change his mind come playoff time.
His thoughts on some of the team’s young players:
Amir Johnson has to be more consistent every day and I think we have to coach him more consistent. What I mean by that is, he’s not a guy who can take two days away from the gym and come back and still be playing at the same level. As you saw when he played, he played four games in a row and he played really good. If you don’t play him for two games, he doesn’t go all the way back down but he takes a step backward. We have to find a way to make sure we give him consistent minutes and a consistent role so he can grow. Hopefully, once he starts to grow and get that consistency, he’ll realize how valuable he can be for us as a team.
Stuckey can take a big leap. With increased minutes, we want to put things in place to make sure he can stay aggressive when he’s out on the court. The biggest thing for him this year was trying to figure out when to be aggressive and when not to be aggressive. Sometimes he erred on not being aggressive. We want him to err on the side of being aggressive. Be overly aggressive and let us calm you down. That’s sort of our thought process with Stuckey.
Arron is great. He’s one of the few guys that I just thought never had a bad game. The way he prepares every day, he’s going to be a model where he doesn’t stand out so much by the way he prepares – we have to get everyone else preparing that same way every day. The way he prepares, the way he competes every day, every day in practice, he is the poster boy for the way we have to be.
Afflalo definitely gets overlooked when most people talk about Detroit’s young players, but that’s exceptionally high praise. If you’ve been paying attention, though, it’s also not surprising — I’ve heard Dumars and Flip Saunders say as much all year. No matter what your impressions are of Afflalo’s game right now, don’t underestimate him — with that kind of drive, anything is possible.
“No matter what your impressions are of Afflalo’s game right now, don’t underestimate him — with that kind of drive, anything is possible.”
As Dumars likely sees a lot of himself in Stuckey, I wonder how much Curry sees himself in Afflalo… The way Matt and Curry describe him, it sounds a lot like what I’ve heard of Curry.
One of Curry’s main jobs last year was to work with the Zoo Crew in practice. So he is very familiar with Stuckey, Johnson and Afflalo. This should help them maximize their potential and help the Pistons get the most benefit from their abilities as they continue to grow.
Afflalo may be the most prepared of the three but all three are very hard workers and increased playing time should benefit all three.
Afflalo has the same approach to the game as Ben Howland who he played for at UCLA. Kevin Love who in my opinion will be a big time NBA star has the same approach to the game as Afflalo but more physical ability and basketball skills along with a higher basketball IQ. Its too bad we couldn’t draft him.
Simply put, Howland is the best coach in the college game. I was thrilled when we drafted Afflalo, becuase I knew we had gotten someone who knew how to play right off the bat and would work hard. Anything less than that is not accepted on Big Ben’s watch. I agree regarding Love. I still have hopes, if a move is imminent, that it involves a top 10 pick. If Seattle could fetch a top five pick for Ray Allen (and some role players) who hadn’t even played a half-season the year prior why couldn’t we get something similar to that for one of the core four?
I love the Curry hire for his work with the Zoo Crew this year (I posted something similar after Flip was fired, because I believe we are going to get back to the hard work mantra) and because he brings confidence based off of how hard he works, not off of past results. That’s been the DPs number one problem since ‘03-’04.
It’s easy to underestimate Afflalo, but here’s what the record says: consensus All American, one of the top five college players in the country as voted by ESPN, the coaches’ association, Sporting News and the Associated Press. In a different age he’d be a lottery pick, but the game now spurns seasoned collegiate guys who stick around long enough to absorb solid coaching.
Many times this year, our fortunes improved when Arron played - and declined when the starters came back in. You can win with his kind of player.
Amen LanierFan
once arron develops a consisten shooting game he will be very valuabe…already ahead of the curve on defense.
Either was at or watched every game Afflalo played at UCLA. He’s always been my favorite of the Howland recruits (more so than Farmar).
He definitely has a lot more to show us Pistons fans than we got to see this season. Let’s hope he gets a chance to show it.
I couldn’t have been happier as a UCLA student and a Pistons fan when the Pistons went ahead and selected Arron. It totally caught me off guard since I didn’t even think he was on their radar.
I can’t remember if Curry said it or Dumars, but most rookies come in needing to extend their range, but as time goes on, they generally do. It’s a good point, and as a casual fan, one I overlooked but makes sense if you watch the development of Kobe, LBJ, even Chauncey and Rip, among others.
So, I’m optimistic that Stuckey and Arron will develop as well. Even though I’m a SC grad, I have to echo the love given to Howland. He’s a great coach , and if you want to play in the NBA, you’d be best served playing for him.
Skiles was just talking about how too many guys jump into the league too early. I bet he’d love to have AA in Milwaukee.
I’m stoked about Curry already
As a Pistons fan, of course I hope that Afflalo stays in the D and becomes a fantastic player. He’s already well on his way, and while he’s probably the least physically skilled player of the Zoo Crew, Curry’s statements prove that Arron is compensating for that with a great work ethic. I’m definitely glad he’s wearing a Piston’s uniform.
However, I’m not quite sold on him. He disappeared offensively and was absolutely abused in the ‘06 National Championship game against Florida. For whatever reason (probably because I’m a Florida fan), that game will always stick with me and that game instilled a slight bit of trepidation whenever I see him on the court. Unfortunately, because Flip pretty much threw him into the back of the bench for the playoffs, we won’t know how he responds to big games and pressure situations in the NBA until next season at the earliest.
I like that Curry not only is confident about what he could do, but what he can’t do. If Isiah had understood he can’t be a GM or executive, he might have been a mediocre coach in the league for a few years, being retreaded, rehired, eventually bouncing down to college. Instead, he proved that he’s not able to leave well enough alone and only do what he he’s good at (or at least, not abysmal at).
McCosky’s blog states that the Star-Ledger reports that assistant coach Pat Sullivan is joining the Curry bench. McCosky seems fairly high on him. That he’s a former roommate of Rasheed is simultaneously interesting and unsettling. But he’s a link to the LB days, which should make many fans happy, due to that association alone.
I should have prefaced that comment by saying it’s “unconfirmed,” in McCosky’s words.
While we’re throwing out all our praises of Afflalo… his offensive game is pretty weak but he CAN finish around the rim. I’m not talking about Vince Carter dunks, I’m talking about consistently making tough layups in traffic and when challenged. Its somethign I noticed during the season when he was getting minutes. If he’s going at the rim and there is only one man in front of him (even a big) then theres a good chance his shot is going in. I guess it comes from being an alpha-dog in college.
I read this:
“In a different age he’d be a lottery pick, but the game now spurns seasoned collegiate guys who stick around long enough to absorb solid coaching.”
And then I read this:
“once arron develops a consistent shooting game he will be very valuable…”
So, all that solid coaching didn’t lead to a consistent shooting game? You can cite the value of his college experience, or you can cite the need for young players to adapt, but it is beyong optimism to propose both factors as positives.
Older rookies to not accelerate at the same rate younger rookies do. If Spellcheck is going to earn minutes, he has to develop reliable offensive weapons. If earns gets big minutes for being a Michael Curry clone, we’re in trouble.
I’ll echo kevin’s point. This guy has a ceiling of what…a middle-income man’s raja bell? Scrappy defender, maybe develops an ok nba 3? Talking about the bright future of a late first round guard who can’t create his own shot seems foolish.
He’s looking like everything we could have hoped for given where we took him. And I really appreciate his effort and am genuinely glad he’s a piston. But he’s not talented enough to warrant the praise we seem to be lavishing on him. And he doesn’t deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as stuckey and amir — that’s just silly.
i’m not worried about any cat’s range. that comes from 1000 jumpers a day in the offseason. as was mentioned in these interviews, rookies rarely exhibit nba range and consistency in their first couple seasons. stuckey wouldn’t have made that 3 in game 5 if it had been played in january.
i finally found an interview with curry where we actually hear what he might want to do offensively as a coach. key words: “points in the paint.” i was wondering how it would work when you’re transitioning from an offensive guru like saunders whose x’s and o’s are arguably the sharpest in the league. do you throw out everything from his 3 years here? seems like it might be throwing the baby out with the bath water. if it was a seasoned coaching vet like a van gundy or lb, you probably would, especially with the ego of a guy like brown, but since curry is constructing his coaching identity from scratch, does he retain some if not most of saunders’ plays? i can’t decide if i think that’s a good thing or not. on the bad side, we’ve been a jump shooting team for the past 3 years. on the good side, it’s been mostly a very effective offense. there seems like there’s a place for plays like that on this team.
however, the “points in the paint” thing to me was embarrassing this year. a lack of points in the paint always screams to me of a team that plays like it’s trying to avoid contact. (aka like a bunch of pansies.) i’ll love it if curry is pushing things towards the cup. and i also love him talking about being uptempo with the young guys. it would be great to play like the sixers started playing the second half of the season: aggressive the whole court on d and aggressive with the outlet pass up the court.
i already have bought into the “great leader-accountability-etc” rhetoric. but before i completely buy in, i want to see what sort of plan he actually has for the court.
Celtics getting away with a lot of contact in the first half here, wow
It’s good to see that Curry is going to give the young guys some burn, especially Afflalo and Amir. Truth be told, I honestly think we are only one player away from future greatness. A lineup of Stuckey and Arron in the backgourt, with Maxiell and Amir at the forwards is something that could have us contending in a few years. All Joe D has to do is turn Rip or Chauncey plus one other piece into an all-star big man and we’ve got what we need to keep contending while building for the future. Also, Curry is a great hire. I predict he coaches five years before moving upstairs, success by any measure for a coach in the NBA.