Earning His Chair

Michael Curry took a lot of heat when the Pistons were struggling midway through December. Detroit fans had come to expect consistent excellence out of their Pistons. When the Pistons failed to deliver in the first six weeks of the season, blamed was assigned to Curry – a new variable in the equation. Now that the Pistons have won seven of their last eight games, Curry deserves his share of the credit. Curry has made a number of moves that have worked in the Pistons favor. He has altered the starting lineup, accommodated for injuries, and removed unproductive players from the rotation.

Curry decided one month ago that Rodney Stuckey needed to start and handle the point guard duties full time. The move has proven ingenious. Stuckey has played so well that he is being mentioned with Rajon Rondo and Devin Harris with regards to the best young point guards in the East. The move has also had a positive impact on the team’s two shooting guards. Allen Iverson has been allowed to play off the ball, where he is able to play his game without worrying about quarterbacking the offense. RIP Hamilton has also benefited from playing alongside a true point guard, who can get him the ball when and where he needs it.

The drawback with starting Stuckey was that he replaced Kwame Brown in the starting lineup, thus forcing the Pistons to play a badly undersized lineup. An injury to RIP Hamilton allowed the Pistons to revert to a traditional lineup, and the early returns are positive. The Pistons are 5-1 – despite a flurry of injuries – since reverting to a traditional lineup. Curry has hinted that he will stick with the bigger lineup even after Hamilton returns.

An early criticism of Curry was that he played too many players. Early in the season, 10 or 11 Pistons would often see important minutes in a given game. Curry appears to have weeded out a few of his less productive players and settled on a more stable nine man rotation. Will Bynum has not played much of late and Walter Hermann has only seen spot minutes. There is a chance that Kwame Brown will also be squeezed out of the regular rotation when Wallace returns from injury.

When Curry was named head coach, he assured the world that the team’s level of intensity would no longer waver. In the past, the Pistons were criticized for “flipping a switch,” or exerting maximum effort only occasionally. This season, the problem seems to have disappeared. Rasheed Wallace remains lackadaisical on the offensive end, but it is hard to imagine that any coach other than Larry Brown could get through to Sheed. The rest of the Pistons have played hard every game this season. Part of the reason for this is that Curry has kept to his mandate that the players who play best will play in crunch time.

Another Curry promise was that he would help develop the team’s young players. Stuckey is playing his way into Most Improved Player discussions. Arron Afflalo is still not much of a scorer, but he has increased his shooting accuracy and become a lockdown defender that helps the Pistons in a variety of ways. Amir Johnson has developed into a great defensive player under Curry and may have finally locked up a permanent spot in the rotation. Jason Maxiell has taken a slight step back, but he remains a valuable contributor for the Pistons.

As long as Curry sticks with a big, traditional lineup, he has the Pistons headed in the right direction. He is developing the young players, invoking intensity from his team, and winning games. Curry also has the respect of his players – there been minimal, if any, public criticism of Curry from the players. He will face his biggest challenge yet when Hamilton is ready to return. So far, Curry has done an admirable job with the roster. If he chooses the correct starting lineup while keeping all of his players content and on the same page, he will have truly earned his promotion to head coach.

Update (1.13.09): Curry undid much of his progress with one misguided maneuver today. He announced that he will return to a small ball lineup and that Will Bynum will again be a significant part of the rotation.