Auburn Hills, Mich. – Between the NBA Finals and draft workouts, Detroit Pistons coach Larry Brown seems to be doing more coaching than sleeping.
After Game 3 of the Finals ended late Tuesday night, Brown was at the Pistons’ practice facility at 8:15 Wednesday morning to conduct draft workouts. He also is expected to conduct the Pistons’ draft workouts this morning.
“What makes it easy is Larry Brown loves watching young kids,” Pistons director of scouting George David said. “He looks forward to it like it’s another game. We have guys here working out at 8:15 in the morning, that’s how much he likes it.”
The Pistons, who also have workouts today and Saturday, would not divulge whom they have worked out. Detroit has the 26th pick in the first round of the draft June 28, and the 45th and 56th picks in the second round. Brown’s workouts include individual, one-on-one and 2-on-2 drills, and he often stops to give pointers.
“The prospects are floored by the fact that he is not only doing the workouts, but is doing it the morning after a Finals game,” David said. “They are watching Larry Brown coach Game 3, and he is coaching them the next day.”
While the Pistons are working out prospects during the Finals, the Spurs are not.
Spurs general manager R.C. Buford said his team conducted workouts during the eight-day break between the Western Conference finals and NBA Finals.
Being in Detroit, and the fact that Spurs coach and president Gregg Popovich wouldn’t have time to attend the workouts also has kept the Spurs from conducting more. San Antonio has the 28th pick in the draft.
“Are we going to see something in an hour and a half that’s going to (overshadow) research from the last couple of years?” Buford said.
Footnotes
About Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace, Popovich said: “He is probably one of the four or five most talented players in the league, and defensively he does a heck of a job on everybody.” … While ABC could end up with the second-lowest rated Finals in the country, the ratings have been solid worldwide. Game 2 drew an estimated record 115 million viewers among the 205 countries tuned in, while Game 1 drew more than 105 million viewers. In Spurs guard Manu Ginobili’s home country of Argentina, 4.25 million viewers watched Games 1 and 2.
