Stackhouse on Curry becoming next Pistons coach

Source: Agencies  |   2008-6-10  |     ONLINE EDITION

MICHAEL Curry will be the Detroit Pistons head coach next season after only one year as an assistant.

A former NBA teammate is not surprised.

Curry is set be introduced as Detroit's new coach on Tuesday, Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars said.

Dallas Mavericks guard Jerry Stackhouse, who played with Curry in Detroit, said Curry was like a player-coach during his career on the court.

"It was just a matter of time," Stackhouse said yesterday. "Everybody who knew Michael from his playing days knew this is where he would end up.

"He's going to do great for Detroit because he already has great rapport with those players, who will give him a different kind of respect because he played in the league."

Curry was an assistant last season in Detroit under Flip Saunders, who was fired last week.

The Pistons and Curry agreed on a three-year deal worth US$2.5 million a season. The team holds an option for a fourth season.

Before going to the bench, Curry was the NBA Development League's vice president of player development following a playing career that started as an undrafted free agent during the 1993-94 season in Philadelphia and ended during the 2004-05 season with the Indiana Pacers.

He averaged 4?points, 1.6 rebounds and 20 minutes a game over his career, which included two stops in Detroit along with stints in Milwaukee, Toronto and Washington. His defense and leadership kept him in the league despite averaging less than seven points a season.

"I think he has a lot of good qualifications," Phoenix Suns coach Terry Porter, who was a Pistons assistant with Curry last season, told the AP. "It's a pretty good jump going from assistant to head coach, but like Stackhouse said, he's been a player-coach most of his life."