Dwane Casey is using the final few weeks of the summer to enjoy a little baseball at Comerica Park before he embarks on his fifth season as head coach of the Pistons.
Casey spoke to Bally Sports reporter Johnny Kane during Wednesday night’s game between the Tigers and Seattle Mariners to discuss his team’s progress throughout the offseason and his expectations for next season.
“It’s a relaxing time of the year for us in the basketball world, but it’s getting closer,” Casey said. “You can feel training camp coming around the corner.”
NBA teams will hold training camps later this month and the earliest preseason game begins on Sept. 30. Detroit’s preseason slate will begin with a nationally televised road game against the New York Knicks on Oct. 4.
Kane began his conversation with Casey with a name-association game. Casey called his young guards, Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey, “stars to be.” When asked about No. 13 overall pick Jalen Duren, Casey called the former Memphis center an “up-and-coming star.”
“He reminds me a lot of Shawn Kemp,” said Casey, who also mentioned the comparison during one of the Pistons’ Summer League games.
The Pistons will wear their classic teal uniforms for 11 home games this season. When asked about the team’s throwback jerseys, Casey summed it up in two words: “Like ’em.” The Pistons are entering Year 3 of their rebuild under Casey and general manager Troy Weaver. When asked about rebuilds, in general, Casey acknowledged the difficulty but was optimistic about the direction of his team.
“(Rebuilds) are tough,” Casey said. “We’re rounding the bend, going around the corner. It’s an exciting time. We’ve added some veteran players in Alec Burks and also Nerlens Noel, so it’s going to help our young guys grow. We really have turned the corner in the rebuild, but I wouldn’t recommend it a lot.”
The Pistons won 23 games last season, but the team made vital additions to the roster with the addition of Ivey, Duren, Burks, Noel and Kevin Knox. Casey said he expects to see growth in this new iteration of the team.
“You expect growth,” Casey said. “The internal growth is very important. One thing Troy Weaver has done is brought a bunch of young, hard-working, character guys in that have been working all summer. I can see the improvement. The game has slowed down for a guy like Saddiq Bey. You mentioned Cade Cunningham. You mention Isaiah Stewart — all those guys, the game has slowed down for them.
“So, the growth is there. (They) had a great summer workout for the Summer League team, and so you can see the growth. You expect that growth process and the ceiling, I’m not going to put a cap on where they can go, but you’ll see a significant improvement with the team going into this year.”
The Pistons will open the 2022-23 season at home against No. 1 overall pick Paolo Banchero and the Orlando Magic on Oct. 19.
Pistons celebrate 30th anniversary of ‘Martin’
2022 marks the 30th anniversary of Martin Lawrence’s classic sitcom, “Martin,” and the Pistons have updated their apparel collection from last year’s collaboration with the popular TV franchise.
However, the merchandise is only available for a limited time, through Friday. Fans can purchase items from the collection, including an array of T-shirts, hoodies, crewnecks and hats with the signature “Martin” font, online at pistons313shop.com.
The series, which debuted in 1992, ran for five seasons and was set in Detroit. Lawrence was made an honorary Piston and received a championship ring when the team won the 2004 title.
Motor City Cruise releases 2022-23 schedule
The Motor City Cruise, the Pistons’ G-League affiliate, will open the 2022-23 season on the road on Nov. 4 against the Cleveland Charge.
The Cruise’s home opener will be held on Nov. 7 against the Windy City Bulls at Wayne State Fieldhouse. Both games are set for 7 p.m.
For the second consecutive season, teams will participate in the “Showcase Cup,” an 18-game, single-elimination tournament before the 32-game regular season gets underway on Dec. 27.
The Showcase Cup separates teams into four regional pods and the teams with the best winning percentage in each pod, as well as the four teams with the next best win-percentage across the league, will play a single-elimination tournament before the regular season begins.
The G-League also announced that the 2022-23 season will be the beginning of a few modifications to the rules of overtime. Games that advance to overtime will now be determined by a final target score.
The winner of an overtime game during the season will be the first team to reach or surpass the target score, which will be the tied score after four quarters, plus seven points.
Here’s an idea of what this looks like: If teams are tied at 100, the final target score would be 107. Overtime will also be untimed and games will end when a team makes a basket or free throw to reach or surpass the final target score.
Tickets for the Cruise’s 2022-23 season will go on sale at noon on Sept. 7.
The Cruise will hold local tryouts on Sept. 14 at the Pistons’ practice facility in Midtown Detroit.