Increase In Assists Sparks Pistons Winning Streak

Pistons coach John Kuester has been right a few times this season.

While many thought Ben Wallace was on his last legs, Kuester thought the veteran big man was going to surprise.

Score one for Kuester.

He predicted rookies Jonas Jerebko, Austin Daye and DaJuan Summers would be needed at some point this season.

Score two for Kuester.

And when the team was struggling earlier in the season with ball movement -- evidenced by one of the NBA's worst averages per game for most of the season -- he said that would improve.

Well, the team still is next to last with an average of fewer than 17 assists per game. However, better ball movement is a major reason the Pistons, winners of five of six, have stayed afloat while many of their top scorers are out with injuries.

The team is averaging 20.2 assists during the stretch, when Kuester put Chucky Atkins in the starting lineup and moved Rodney Stuckey to two-guard.

One of the primary knocks on Stuckey has been his low assist total, but the move from point has made his numbers increase as he is averaging 5.7 assists over the past six games to raise his average to 4.4 on the season.

He remains the primary decision-maker on offense, and his sharing has become contagious.

"He's trusting his teammates," Kuester said. "And all of us are trusting one another. There's not one player that shouldn't be looking to get the ball from one side to the other, and I think in the beginning of the season, we were sort of satisfied with just the first initial shot.

"Now we're looking at our second and our third options, and I think that has a lot to do with Rodney trusting his teammates and recognizing they can make plays."