Catching up with Michael Curry in Flint

Just got back from the Flint stop on the statewide media tour. (In deference to my native Upper Peninsula, let’s acknowledge that it was really a very representative job of covering the Lower Peninsula and even northeastern Ohio with Toledo the next and last stop on our whirlwind two-day barnstorming trek.) While George Blaha held court in front of an enthusiastic bunch of kids at the Boys & Girls Club, another of the learning centers the Pistons have outfitted, Michael Curry was in the recreation room talking to the media.

Curry was supposed to be with us from the start, but the death of his grandmother changed his plans. It’s been a pretty wild emotional ride for Curry this summer, starting with his being named Pistons coach in June. His dad was at that press conference. A few weeks later, he was dead. Now his grandmother.

“Everybody goes through it,” he said. “Fortunately for us, my grandmother lived 80 years and did a great job with her kids and our lives. I had my dad for 62 years. He got really sick when I was in college and we didn’t think he would make it. Sometimes you’re blessed and don’t realized it until afterward. That’s kind of the way I am now. I don’t take anything for granted. I just work hard and try to be the best I can be all the time.”

Among the other subjects he touched on, he confirmed what we’ve been suggesting for the past month – that Antonio McDyess will go back to the bench to give more scoring punch to the second unit and better utilize McDyess’ talents.

“With Dice starting last year, he averaged the same number of shots in eight more minutes a game as the did the two years before that,” he said. “We think he can be more efficient when he’s not out there with the starting unit. We have so many guys who are capable scorers and who want to score the basketball. What we have on our second unit – and I know you don’t always play first and second unit at the same time – we have Rodney Stuckey, who, like Dice, could very well be a starter, and when you have both of those guys anchoring your second unit, you allow your role players to play their roles and not play outside of themselves.

“You’re not asking Amir Johnson to become a primary scorer or Jason Maxiell or Kwame Brown. Same with Arron Afflalo. Those four guys are key and their success is about having the right combinations and having a really good post scorer and a really good perimeter scorer out there with them. That will help with their development.”

Curry said he’s talked frequently with Rasheed Wallace over the summer – Wallace is the one Piston veteran who spends the majority of his summer here – to stress conditioning and efficient play, particularly post play. And he’s pleased with the way the message has been received.

“The thing we talked about early is I wanted him to be in better shape once training camp started and wanted him to maintain his conditioning throughout the season.” Curry said he believes that strength coach Arnie Kander is the best in the business, but the team hasn’t always taken full advantage of Kander’s keen instincts for maximizing workout techniques and conditioning levels.

“I know a lot of people talk about Rasheed getting down in the post,” Curry said, “and I talked to him a lot last year about it. We will call more plays for Rasheed – and not only Rasheed – to get down in the post. Getting points in the paint is going to be one of our main focuses, but it takes a lot of conditioning, especially as you get older, to get down in the post.”

Curry talked about reducing Wallace’s minutes as well as McDyess’, which opens the door for the likelihood that all three of the other big guys – Kwame Brown, Amir Johnson and Jason Maxiell – will factor into the rotation.

Curry reiterated what Dave Cowens said on Wednesday’s leg of the media tour – that Brown has had a terrific attitude over the summer, feels a sense of belonging for the first time in his career, and they expect him to be a much more significant addition than most believe.

“I think the biggest thing I’ve seen is a young player that really likes the game of basketball,” Curry said. “If Kwame was the 15th pick in the draft, everybody would be talking about how good he’s played at stretches of his career. As the No. 1 pick, that’s the thing everyone has held over his head, which was very tough as an 18-year-old. But now, at 25, I saw a who had been beat down a lot and sometimes didn’t handle it the best but probably handled it the best way a young person knows how to handle it. Now I see him overcoming it. At his size, he’s a presence inside. It’s tough to get a young big that size. We’re lucky to have him. He’s excited. Our goal is to get him as healthy as possible, define a role for him and continue to support him and coach him. He’s had enough beat-down in his career. We don’t want to do that with any of our guys. We want to coach and teach rather than beat guys down for what they’re not good at.”

Those were the highlights from Flint. We’ll have more over the next week or so as the days until training camp continue to fly off the calendar. Cheers.

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