Pistons coach Kuester has 'great memories in Philly'

Kuester was an assistant in Philly during the Larry Brown era (1997-2003), then went with Brown to Detroit, capturing the NBA title in 2004. He returned to the Sixers for the 2005-2006 season, then had stops in Orlando and Cleveland before landing as the head man in Detroit.

"I have great memories in Philly," Kuester said in his office before yesterday's game. "My family basically grew up there. Both of my children went to St. Joe's, and my daughter is a sophomore there right now. Philly was very good to me and my family and I wish them all the best. But I'm very happy to be here in Detroit."

His son, John, is a Saint Joseph's grad, while his daughter, Katie, is a member of the women's basketball team.

His short head-coaching journey hasn't been very smooth so far as veterans Rip Hamilton (sprained right ankle) and Tayshaun Prince (ruptured disc in lower back) are out for the foreseeable future.

"It's made life interesting, that's for sure," he said. "You go into that first game and I think everybody recognized that when we were on the same page on everything, we had things going pretty well. That's [injuries] part of the NBA. We have to have other players step up and understand what they need to do to put us at the level we want to be at."

Kuester has finally reached the level in his profession where he wants to be, though it would be easier if he had his best players available.

"You lose the experience," Kuester said of Prince's injury. "He's a guy that you trust, a person that has been to a championship and won it and a guy that knows what it takes to win in 82 games. We'll miss his experience, we'll miss his leadership plus his ability to talk to other players."

Tough grind

 

Yesterday was the second game in a stretch of six in 9 days. That would seem to severely cut into coach Eddie Jordan's teaching of his new offense. But the coach is OK with the loaded schedule.

"I like for it to happen," Jordan said. "You teach by tape, and that's even better. You see things on tape while you're playing and you can point out some things. You see how different teams play you differently and it's even a better way to show how to be more effective in the offense."

Guard Willie Green agreed.

"It's always good to get a lot of games in," Green said. "You can correct mistakes that you've been making. I think it's an opportunity to really challenge the team and see where we are as far as our determination to get better. That's a lot of games coming at you, not a lot of practice time so you've got to be able to react on the fly."

The team will host the Phoenix Suns tonight, travel to the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday, host Utah on Friday then be in Chicago on Saturday.