Troy Weaver enters his fourth season with Detroit, while Monty Williams begins his first. Both are optimistic about where the franchise is at and believe, for a multitude of reasons, that it is time for Detroit to take that next step in their “restoration” process. Here are some notes and quotes from Pistons media day:
Troy Weaver
- Development isn’t one player getting better at dribbling or shooting, but more focused on the team developing to have sustainable long term success
- Defense is the central focus of that development
- “We have really talented, young players but their development will determine what kind of team we turn into.”
- Those last 25 games are to be played about being in contention. “The goal this year is to play 82 meaningful basketball games.”
- “We didn’t want to microwave this process. We wanted to put it in the oven and make sure all the ingredients got cooked the right way.”
- “We’re ready to go” Weaver said as he explained that they’ve spent years developing and its now time for those guys to step up
- In-house competition is the best thing for the Pistons to grow, it is an equal balance of veterans needing young guys to keep them on their toes and vice versa.
- Why is it time? A multitude of reasons:
- Monty Williams is here
- Aging injured stars are moved out, young talent is added
- Healthy Cade Cunningham
- Time in the process has passed
- Monty came here to mold a young group and push ahead
Monty Williams
- Says the Pistons’ star in Cade Cunningham plays like he is still in high school, as far as how he is willing to be molded: “I’ve been really impressed with Cade Cunningham’s level of ‘coachability.’”
- “He knows he’s not there yet” which Williams finds refreshing and appealing
- Talked about the phone call he got from Troy Weaver after he got fired from his last coaching position. He said there was some interest in what he could bring to the table, that felt good after leaving the Suns. But it felt even better when he heard Troy’s vision. “If I could do it, this is the type of opportunity I want to be a part of. I was unbelievably elated when he called.”
- A consistent focus of Monty, and even something he promised to fans, camp is going to be really competitive from the start and that’ll continue through the season.
- Great deal of “healthy pressure” coming into Detroit with what this community stands for, expects out of his team
An interesting note about Monty Williams as he enters his time with the Pistons, Monty Williams won coach of the year in 2021-22. Going back to his playing days, of the seven head coaches he played for throughout his NBA career, six won the NBA Coach-of-the-Year Award at least once at some point in their careers:
- Pat Riley
- Don Nelson
- Gregg Popovich
- Mike D’Antoni
- Doc Rivers
- Larry Brown
Four have been enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame
- Riley
- Nelson
- Brown
- Popovich
