Pistons reserves kept starters on the bench

Minneapolis — It was an odd lineup to have on the court, especially in closing time, but Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy wasn’t about to pull them.

Tobias Harris, along with the reserve group of Ish Smith, Darrun Hilliard, Jon Leuer and Aron Baynes started the fourth quarter on Tuesday against the Bulls — and turned a one-point deficit into an eight-point lead by the time Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Andre Drummond helped put the game away in the final four minutes.

Keeping the starters on the bench seemed a bit unusual, but with the reserves rolling, Van Gundy didn’t want to massage the starters’ egos by bringing them back when the second unit was playing so well.

“You’re trying to win and that’s also the development of guys, to understand that’s what this league is all about,” Van Gundy said.

“That’s what determines team success and individual success: how much can you help your team in terms of winning games. The guys who are doing that on any given night get the opportunity to play more minutes usually.”

It wasn’t an affront to the starters, as Van Gundy says he generally likes bringing the starters back in to finish games, but when the bench unit is going hard, it’s not tough to keep the starters on the bench.

What’s more, he wants to reward the players who work hard — starters or reserves — when they’re playing well and not just dole out playing time because of entitlements like player salaries. Even younger players, who may have gotten playing time in the past don’t necessarily continue to play, if they’re not helping the team.

That philosophy could be applied to second-year wing Stanley Johnson’s reduced role, though Van Gundy wasn’t speaking specifically of Johnson’s situation.

“I’ve never been a big believer in the way to develop players is just to give them things they haven’t earned,” Van Gundy said.

“It sends the wrong message to them and in a lot of ways, even though they’re getting playing time, it can hinder development.”

Van Gundy noted that the Timberwolves, Friday’s opponent, are in a similar situation, where they’re giving younger players such as Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins and Kris Dunn more playing time, but they’re in more of a development stage and need to give them more court time.

It’s a constant back-and-forth between coaches and players about court time and the roles that players have daily. Van Gundy welcomes the questioning — and notes that players have to have the confidence to believe they should be on the court all the time. If they don’t have that confidence, he questions their desire to be NBA players.

“We’ve got good guys; you see Marcus and KCP celebrating good plays by other guys. They understand what it’s about; they want to be out there,” Van Gundy said. “The thing players have to understand is they can be (mad) at me and disagree with me, but they have to stay with their teammates; they can’t take it out on their teammates and sit there and sulk. Nobody else is making the decision but me.”

Close games

In their 24 games, the Pistons have had seven decided by single digits; the problem, though, is the Pistons are 1-6 in those games, including Sunday’s loss to the Magic.

Morris sick

Marcus Morris left the court in the early minutes of the first quarter and ran straight through the tunnel toward the locker room. The assistant trainer followed him quickly and made a couple of trips back and forth.

It wasn’t an injured ankle or foot; rather, Morris was ill from something he had eaten on Wednesday. He returned to the game toward the end of the first quarter and didn’t seem to show negative effects the rest of the game.

“He was sick and said he needed a sub,” Van Gundy said.

“He was able to play the rest of the night, but he wasn’t feeling well.”

rod.beard@detroitnews.com

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