"The Detroit Pistons featured a new-look starting lineup Friday night. But three guys who came off the bench turned in the best performances. Austin Daye had 21 points, Ben Gordon added 19 and DaJuan Summers scored 15 to lead the Pistons to a 115-110 overtime victory against the Milwaukee Bucks in their preseason home opener. Daye scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime and finished with seven rebounds. "I thought our young guys did a great job," Pistons coach John Kuester said. "I thought DaJuan Summers just did a phenomenal job. Austin Daye was terrible in the first half and then had a great second half. I thought he was great." Instead of starting Gordon, Kuester inserted Will Bynum into the starting lineup at point guard and moved Rodney Stuckey to shooting guard. Starting shooting guard Richard Hamilton remained away from the team after the birth of his son Wednesday. Bynum also played well in a starting role and finished with 14 points and nine assists. Stuckey scored 15 points, and Gordon had five rebounds and five assists. Both teams were shorthanded. The Pistons were without five players: Jonas Jerebko (torn Achilles), Tracy McGrady (rest), Chris Wilcox (sore hamstring), Terrico White (broken foot) and Hamilton. Milwaukee had six players sit out, including starters John Salmons (right knee sprain) and Andrew Bogut (rest/sore right hand)." Read more: http://www.mlive.com/pistons/index.ssf/2010/10/ben_gordon_austin_daye_come_of.html
Re: Ben Gordon, Austin Daye come off bench to lead Pistons to preseason win against B Daye Making a case to start Full Story Ray (Detroit): Anyone who has watched the preseason or looked at a box score has seen Austin Daye getting big minutes and putting up big numbers. What are the odds he starts? Langlois: Right now, I’d say the odds are pretty good. He grabbed 17 rebounds in the two games over the weekend, so he’s holding his own on that score. The concern with Daye will be can he hold up against the more physical power forwards and can he avoid foul trouble playing that spot? His scoring ability and versatility make him a real weapon, but would John Kuester worry that playing Daye at power forward will wear him down and neutralize his offensive ability? A good push from Charlie Villanueva this week heading into the regular season could nail down the starting spot for him, but Daye at least has given Kuester an awful lot to consider. And whether Daye starts or not, he’s all but proven he deserves to play.
