AUBURN HILLS -- As Tayshaun Prince dribbled toward the basket, 6-foot-5 Arron Afflalo, about four inches shorter than Prince, did his best to defend him by trying to keep Prince as far from the basket as possible.
A few seconds later, 6-foot-7 Ronald Dupree was trying to back Afflalo down into the paint as well. Up next was 6-8 Jarvis Hayes, yet another bigger, more experienced player Afflalo had to contend with.
They each had varying degrees of success in scoring against the rookie.
But Afflalo kept coming back, seemingly more determined than before.
His willingness to mix it up, regardless of how much of a size disadvantage he might be at, is one of the reasons why the Pistons are optimistic that he will contribute this season.
"He's not afraid of the physicality of our league," Pistons coach Flip Saunders said. "That's usually the biggest thing (with rookies). Young players that come in our league, they don't understand how physical our game can be especially over an 82-game schedule. He doesn't back away from that."
Said Afflalo: "I look forward to as many competitive drills as possible, so you can get a better judgment of where you are."
While Afflalo's role has yet to be determined for this upcoming season, his ability to defend NBA players is clearly ahead of his offensive skills.
However, Saunders is quick to caution that Afflalo is not as one-dimensional as some might believe.
"He's a defensive player, but he can do other things," Saunders said. "Don't slight his offense because he works hard defensively."
Afflalo acknowledges that most of the talk since he was drafted by the Pistons has centered around his play defensively.
"I don't take any shame in that," Afflalo said. "It's part of the game. Basketball is a two-sided game. If I can get to the top in this area and slowly come along in another area, so be it. But I take pride in both."
Afflalo's effort defensively has drawn some comparisons to San Antonio's Bruce Bowen.
"Bruce has been one of the top three defenders in our league, and he's 6-7. Arron is 6-4 1/2," Saunders said. "He's a good defender, but he has a ways to (go to) be Bruce Bowen. He plays like Bruce in that he plays hard, takes pride in his defense and gives his body up."
source : mlive.com
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