Pistons leave core intact, improve bench

TRAVERSE CITY -- Scott Perry said there's a good reason the Detroit Pistons didn't break up the core of the team after losing to Boston in last season's Eastern Conference finals.

"If you're going to do anything with your ball club, you want to make it better," said Perry, the team's vice president of basketball operations, during a tip-off tour stop in Traverse City. "There was a lot of talk that the Pistons were going to make a trade, needed to make a trade. But if you're going to make a trade, it has to make you better. There was nothing out there that we felt was going to make us better.

"Quite frankly, talking amongst ourselves, we thought we were one of the few teams in the league that could get better internally with our young players -- like Rodney Stuckey, Arron Afflalo, Amir Johnson and Jason Maxiell. We think we can grow from within. Our younger players are going to play. I expect our rotation will run little deeper this year."

"It's hard to break up a team that's been to the NBA's Final Four the last six years," Walker said. "The older guys are a little bitter about what happened last year. If our younger guys can step up to the plate and play the way we know they're capable of playing, we have a good chance to win again."

Walker, who spent the last four seasons with the New Orleans Hornets, said the Pistons need to regain the mentality they had when they won it in 2004.

"From the outside looking in, I thought they needed to get that edge back that they had (in 2004)," he said. "Rasheed (Wallace) needs to come back in the right mindset, and I think he will. Chauncey (Billups) looked great when he came in to work out a couple days ago. Rip (Hamilton) is Rip. (Coach) Michael Curry said he wants to get back to the old Pistons way of defending and locking teams up. We're going to be a dangerous team again."

"The Pistons franchise during the championship years was built on a tough, defensive, edgy persona," he said. "That's what Michael Curry was as a player. He made it in the NBA because he was willing to do the little things, to do the dirty work.

"Teams often assume the personality of their head coach and I think Mike's personality will transfer over to the court."

The Pistons own the NBA's best record over the last seven seasons. It's been accomplished with a core group of Wallace, Billups, Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince.

"I'm OK with those guys staying together," Greg Kelser, a Pistons analyst, said. "This is still a team that was just two wins shy of getting back to the NBA finals last season.

"I'm hoping that will serve as ample motivation to get the job done this season. They're still very good, very capable. With Michael Curry bringing a little different brand of coaching, promising to be demanding and holding guys accountable, I think they can get it done. I really do. I'm optimistic."

Detroit lost to Boston in six games in the Eastern Conference finals. The Celtics then beat the Los Angeles Lakers in six games for the title. Although the Celtics look like the team to beat this season, Kelser said it's not a given.

"There's a reason you don't have a lot of teams repeating," he said. "You never know how a team is going to come out and approach the season following a championship. How does a team win a championship, then all of a sudden is not as good the next season? It has to do with concentration, commitment, and staying incredibly focused while teams are shooting at you. A lot of teams can't do that. That's Boston's challenge this year."

Photos

Pistons' guard Rodney Stuckey presents Traverse City mayor with a Detroit jersey during a downtown rally Wednesday. Record-Eagle