Austin Daye: John Kuester played favorites, but that happens everywhere

Austin Daye, via Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News:

""They were used to Larry’s (Brown) tough love, and (Kuester) wasn’t that way," Daye said. "He was a lot different than what they expected.""You’re gonna take different stuff from vets than you did from young guys, and I understood that. There was favoritism, but that’s the NBA. That’s how it is everywhere.""

Reading into the first line of that quote, I infer the veterans spent a considerable amount of time talking about Larry Brown. Daye was a sophomore in high school and living in California when Brown last coached the Pistons. The most likely way he knows about Brown’s style is from the vets on this year’s team.

The second line of the quote explains, in part, Kuester’s downfall. He tried to set a hardline with the players, but he still gift-wrapped Tracy McGrady (before he had built strength in his legs) and Richard Hamilton (who spent more energy whining to the refs than working to score) early-season minutes while keeping hard workers Austin Daye and Will Bynum on the bench. Players see through that type of hypocrisy.