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It has been less than nine months since Spencer Dinwiddie had reconstructive knee surgery, so when he was drafted by the Pistons on June 26, it was uncertain if he would even play during the first half of the 2014-2015 season.
Dinwiddie's progress has been noted here on DBB despite not really knowing what to expect going forward because the rookie has been asked by the Pistons' brass to keep mum on his rehab schedule. We were told he would be ready by training camp, but to what extent he would be ready remained unclear.
Now we know that on Monday Dinwiddie saw his first live action during team 3-on-3 drills (quotes from MLIVE's Dave Mayo).
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"It was good," Dinwiddie said. "Had a turnover, got a couple steals, played basketball. It was fun. I was happy."
Dinwiddie claims to feel no discomfort and is close, if not already at, pre-injury strength, but he was not allowed to run full-court drills and it sounds like he had to be pulled from the court against his (and his teammates') own desires.
"That was a hard thing," Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said. "His teammates all wanted him to keep playing. I told them I'd listen to them when they had a medical degree."
"I don't really have a say," Dinwiddie said. "If it was my choice, I'd be starting against the Bulls [Tuesday] night. But it's not my call."
"Obviously, that's not a real game, but it's not very far off at all, either," he said. "We run plays, and run the action, and run our calls defensively, and that type of stuff. So I'm getting used to that, adjusting to the NBA, how it's played, how it's called, the speed and everything. It's just, you know, I've got to get to full-court."
Dinwiddie has already been ruled out for Tuesday night's preseason game.