Tayshaun Prince on How Allan Houston “Bust” His Ass
A Rookie Tayshaun Prince had to learn the hard way.
In college, Tayshaun Prince was regarded as a versatile defender.
He had long arms and quick feet that allowed him to effectively defend on the perimeter and in the post.
He carried this title with him into the NBA when he was selected by the Detroit Pistons in 2002.
Though he didn’t get much play time in his rookie season (played 42 games, 10 minutes per game), head coach Rick Carlisle did throw him into the trenches now and then to test him.
And on a recent episode of The Knuckleheads podcast, Prince revealed that his most challenging tests (or the players who busted his ass) were Allan Houston and Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson.
Prince said that these two players were masters of the mid-range. They knew how to slow the game down, use screens and cut.
“That first couple games that I had actually got in the game and got some decent minutes, it was against Allan Houston and Big Dog. It was just like -obviously, he came off screens, you know, not fast at all. Just working you to sleep, you know what I’m saying? And then Big Dog was the same thing. Just super slow, patient, you know what I mean? You think you just got him, you know, but he was just ahead of the game.
“Those are the two guys I recall when I got into the league, and going against those guys, how easy it was for them to score and they wasn’t even working that hard.”
It’s a little funny to me how Prince chose those two guys as his most difficult matchups because 2002 had some of the most athletic shooting guards and small forwards.
That season had killers in Tracy McGrady, Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Vince Carter and Paul Pierce, to name a few.
But I guess the older guys were just harder to predict because they had the IQ and moves to make you play their game.
Oh, I also want to add that both Houston and Robinson averaged more than 20 points per game that season, so they weren’t geriatrics who didn’t get minutes.
They were still solid players who contributed to their team.
Just wanted to clarify that.
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