DETROIT — Just one month ago, the Detroit Pistons along with many other teams made a flurry of moves to round out their rosters. With 11 new faces on the team, the Pistons are one of the teams that had the most roster turnover.
While the Pistons continue to build their new culture and chemistry among players, fans have begun to see the competitiveness the team envisioned.
Some of that intensity comes from rookie center Isaiah Stewart. The 6-9 native of Rochester, N.Y., made his debut in the Pistons’ third game and has been a part of the rotation ever since. He’s made the most of those minutes and now sits atop the league averaging four offensive rebounds per game.
Pistons coach Dwane Casey knew that they would get that intensity when they selected Stewart with the 16th pick in this year’s draft out of the University of Washington. On top of that high energy, they landed a smart player who is always ready to learn.
“(He’s) thoughtful, he’s only one of a few guys, in my years of being in the NBA and draft workouts that asked questions about, ‘Am I doing it right with the pick and roll defense, how do you guys teach it, what’s your philosophy?’ ” Casey said.
Now a professional, Stewart has continued to be a student of the game. The team’s second-youngest player has taken advantage of the veterans and coaches that are around him as he strives to improve each day.
“Whether it’s learning from the best coaches, I’m always trying to learn something new every day that’s going to help me,” said Stewart, whose style of play has drawn comparisons to former Pistons great Dennis Rodman.
One of those things that has helped Stewart is quickly shifting his focus to the next play and not dwelling on mistakes he may make.
“If I miss a shot, or if I get a turnover, make a mistake, I just have to have a quick turnaround because the game is still going on and I have to be ready for the next play,” Stewart said. “So I just tell myself, I can’t get that back, on to the next and make up for it.”
It’s allowed him to keep up that intensity and play through errors. In Friday’s 96-93 victory over the Celtics, Stewart got picked off on a bad pass, but he made up for it throughout the night against Tristan Thompson and Daniel Theis. The rookie helped limit Thompson to five points and Theis to two.
“Not really concerned about, how he bounces out of (mistakes) which he does do a good job of playing through that,” Casey said. “He makes mistakes but they are hard mistakes, which I love, and his future is really going to be bright here the NBA.”
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