Ben Gordon recalls Detroit Pistons turmoil – NBA Update
Ben Gordon recently gave an interview revealing the extent to which things went astray last season with the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons had one of their worst seasons ever, not only on the court but off it as well.
The whole campaign was marred by player-coach troubles which often spilled over onto the newspapers. Detroit’s head coach was John Kuester back then. He came to Motor City with a growing reputation but failed to produce results
in his first season.
Last season things got even worse as he developed serious differences with many of the players, especially the senior group of TayShaun Prince, Tracy McGrady and Richard Hamilton. The senior pros had major rows with the head coach.
Things got so bad that the players even started skipping practices and the coach responded by benching them for whole games. In one game the Pistons only used 6 players.
Joe Dumars, the President of Basketball Operations in Detroit revealed at the end of the season that his hands were tied throughout the fiasco. Because of Detroit’s protracted sale, Dumars couldn’t make the necessary changes to
readdress the issue plaguing the franchise.
Once the season was over and a new owner was installed, Dumars promptly fired John Kuester. Now Gordon has come forward with some details revealing just how bad the situation was,
“Last year, everything that possibly could have went wrong, went wrong. We had a lot of talent. There were a lot of issues in the front office, on the floor, with coaches, with players. It was just a mess. People from the outside
looking in don’t realize how bad it was. It wasn’t conducive for playing basketball at a high level and it showed. It was pretty much what everybody saw. Some guys showed up to play. Some guys didn’t show up to play. Whatever point people were trying to prove
by showing up or nothing showing up, those points were taken. Six guys showed up. Six guys played and a few other guys decided not to play that night. That was one of the uglier moments during the season.” Said Gordon.
Ben was one of the players who kept their composure during the turbulent season. His attitude was exemplary and he was perhaps the only player who didn’t get benched due to differences with John Kuester.
However, his performances on the court were still not up to his high levels. It might be that Gordon found it difficult to perform with the storm stirring all around him. Whatever the reasons, Gordon is hoping he can put the past
behind him and look forward to a successful season with the Pistons.
Detroit have installed Lawrence Frank, formerly coach of New Jersey Nets, as their new head coach and would be hoping he can steer clear of troubles that marred the reign of his predecessor.
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