Cheeks On Heated In-Game Exchange With Bynum: 'It's Not An Issue'
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
AUBURN HILLS (CBS DETROIT) - When Detroit Pistons head coach Maurice Cheeks yanked Will Bynum from Detroit's recent game against the Orlando Magic, the guard got upset and had words with the coach. Veteran teammate Chauncey Billups and assistant coach Rasheed Wallace each tried to settle Bynum down.
Bynum, a sixth-year player with the Pistons, did not seem much happier with the situation on Thursday at the team practice facility.
"I care," Bynum said, "so it's hard for me to sit back and act like I don't care because I do. All I'm really concerned about is winning, and if I see something that's not right, sometimes in the heat of the moment you kind of say something."
Bynum said he does not regret speaking up, though he admitted he might have been a little too passionate. Asked whether he would seek out Cheeks to discuss the incident, Bynum dismissed the suggestion even before the reporter could complete it, and he also shot down an inquiry as to whether the two would talk later in the day.
"No," Bynum replied to both queries.
Cheeks said he and Bynum had not talked yet, and though he seemed more open to the possibility, the coach did not seem to believe a conciliatory meeting is a necessary step.
"It's not an issue," Cheeks said. "Look, we watched some film, and that's what they did. They watched some film and shot the ball. I haven't talked to Will Bynum yet.
"Coaches and players are going to have disagreements," Cheeks added. "We're not always going to agree. That's part of it. At times you're going to have disagreements. That's okay. They don't agree with everything I say or do; I don't agree with everything they say or do. That's part of it."
Though being pulled after a sub-par three-minute stretch evidently irked Bynum, the coach did not appear to see any problem with it. Cheeks said a reserve getting pulled quickly, and perhaps more quickly than a starter, is hardly something new, though he still may talk with Bynum about it.
"If I'm going to have a conversation with Will, if I have a problem with Will, and he has a problem, him and I will probably have a conversation at some point," Cheeks said. "Through my years, coaching, playing, starters usually have a little bit, a little bit more stretch. They do, and it's been that way, and that's probably not going to change. That's it. I don't know any other way to say it."
Bynum is currently averaging 7.7 points and 2.8 assists for the Pistons.
