As a new member of the Detroit Pistons, veteran Taurean Prince is working hard to get up to speed before the season starts
Training camp is in full swing for the Detroit Pistons, which should allow new arrivals like Taurean Prince to build some chemistry with his teammates. But for Prince, that process shouldn’t take too long since the veteran already knows quite a few faces within the Pistons building.
From a player standpoint, Prince suited up alongside Kevin Huerter and John Collins while in Atlanta, so he’s played next to those floor spacers already. Now a coach in Detroit, Jarrett Jack was attempting to recover from a knee injury during Prince’s rookie season with the Hawks, so they have a pre-existing relationship there as well. Those connections should help the sharp-shooting Baylor product fit into a defensive-oriented lineup that covets stocks more than most teams in the league.
To help ease the transition, Prince has worked to come into camp in top form so that he can jump right in and learn the system in Detroit.
“Just peak conditioning, just doing things I haven’t been asked to do offensively and defensively, but it’s whatever is best for the team,” Prince said after practice. “I know it’s going to make me better, so I’m with it.”
Truthfully, it was twice as important for Prince to stay in shape during the summer after missing multiple months last season due to a herniated disc in his neck. Last year, the 6-6 wing was forced out of the lineup in early November with discomfort in his neck, which led doctors to further explore the severity of his injury.
While difficult to handle, the diagnosis was not going to stand between Prince and the game he loves.
”That was a very, very hard time— a dark time in my life,” Prince said. “A lot of people don’t know, but I had the injury one day then I played in Toronto the very next day. My doctor told me if I would have took a wrong hit, I could have been a vegetable. That was his quote, so I was very blessed. All I was worried about was getting back, so I just did three-days on, one-day off routine and just tried to get back as fast as possible. The main thing was I lost feeling in the left side of my body, so I was hoping I got that back after surgery, which I did.”
Now that Prince has a clean bill of health, he’s ready to embark on his 10th season in the NBA. Since the Pistons added a group of role players during the summer, Prince is likely to start off on the second unit alongside Kevin Huerter and Paul Reed, though he may have to battle with Ron Holland II for minutes at the four. Still, Prince is a versatile player that could contribute at shooting guard or small forward as well, so expect him to space the floor on the wing on one end before locking in on the other end.
”Get stops and go score,” Prince reiterated. “Get stops first though.”
That’s the mantra in the Motor City, and it’s the approach that Prince will take into the team’s first pre-season game against the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 5 at 7 pm.
