Pistons coach wants rookie Brandon Knight to stay pumped

Philadelphia? Most rookies would have to be calmed down in their first NBA start.

But for Pistons rookie Brandon Knight, his coach wanted him to be as hyped as possible.

"You want that type of excitement and passion," Pistons coach Lawrence Frank said. "You don't want to dim the light."

With other rookie point men like Kyrie Irving (Cleveland) and Ricky Rubio (Minnesota) getting a lot of attention, Knight has fallen somewhat off the national radar.

Knight had an opportunity to vault himself back into that conversation with the Pistons playing without Rodney Stuckey (groin) and Ben Gordon (personal matter) against Philadelphia on Friday night. But he pretty much did what he had been doing in an average 23 minutes off the bench, scoring 10 points with four assists Friday. He did bring down nine rebounds.

Knight has been solid since his spectacular home opener (23 points, six assists vs. Cleveland). Frank's trust in Knight is why he doesn't worry about having to take him out for making mistakes out of carelessness.

"If you tell him to stay calm, cool and collected, he may psyche himself down," Frank said.

It's unlikely Stuckey's groin will improve to the point of him playing tonight against the Knicks, which will give Knight another opportunity to show his mettle.

'I'll be all right,' says Daye

Austin Daye might as well be on a milk carton, because he's been invisible to start the season. He hoped starting at shooting guard alongside Knight, with whom he developed a nice drive-and-kick chemistry during the preseason, would jump-start him.

"I just need to make some shots, a shot," Daye said before the game. "Then I'll be all right."

But Daye did little to break from the tentativeness he had been showing in his 10 minutes per game, contributing four points, two rebounds and three assists over 24 minutes. He went scoreless in four of his first five games.

With only guard Will Bynum on the bench, Daye got a chance to sink or swim, not having to worry about the quick hook.

"Sometimes, this helps guys," Frank said. "When you're starting, you feel like the leash isn't as tight."

Damien Wilkins' steady play and tough defense has minimized Daye's role thus far, but Frank said he'll get more than his share of opportunities.

"It comes down to performance, it's not a knock on Austin," Frank said.

Villanueva stays upbeat

Speaking of too early to draw conclusions, Charlie Villanueva comes to mind. Villanueva hasn't played much since returning from his four-game suspension to start the season and didn't play Friday night.

"It's way too early to get frustrated," Villanueva said, smiling. "? I'm slowly getting back into things now. I'll be in the rotation."

Pistons prize picks

Former Sixers center Marreese Speights was traded to Memphis earlier this week, which, of course, spurred a reaction from Pistons fans wondering why the team didn't get involved in trading for a big man who can score.

The Pistons were in talks with the Sixers, but the Sixers wanted draft picks and not actual players in return for Speights, who was traded for two second-round picks.

The Pistons like him but didn't want to give up picks while adding payroll.

Source: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120107/SPORTS0102/201070357/1127/rss13

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