Earlier today, some Pistons players skipped the morning shootaround, apparently in protest of head coach John Kuester. In response, Kuester used only six players during the first half of tonight's game between the Pistons and 76ers: DaJuan Summers, Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, Will Bynum, Greg Monroe and Jason Maxiell (who came off the bench).
In the second half, these same six players continued to be the only ones to get playing time, but Kuester wasn't directly responsible for the game-long benching of the rest of the team. Why? Well, toward the end of the first half, Kuester shouted at an official from the sideline about a call and was ejected as a result. Assistant coach Brian Hill took over for Kuester and only used the aforementioned six players during the remainder of the game, meaning the rest of the team continued to be benched.
As Kuester was leaving the court, cameras caught Tracy McGrady, Rodney Stuckey and Ben Wallace laughing on the bench.
All three players missed the morning shootaround, although a team spokesman said that Wallace "was dealing with a family matter" and Stuckey showed up toward the end of practice after missing the bus. Regardless of the excuse, neither Wallace nor Stuckey played tonight. The same goes for McGrady, Richard Hamilton, Austin Daye, Tayshaun Prince and Chris Wilcox. They all stayed on the bench the entire night, watching as the Pistons lost to the 76ers by a score of 110-94.
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