According to a report over the weekend, John Kuester made an attempt to reach out to disgruntled shooting guard and longtime Piston Richard “Rip” Hamilton.
After the game against the Phoenix Suns on Saturday, Hamilton said that he did not speak with Keuster and nothing more was said at the time.
In a report that was released today by the Detroit Free Press that was later picked up by Chris Iott of Mlive.com, Hamilton was “offended” by Keuster’s approach to talk to him.
Here is an excerpt from Iott’s article…
Hamilton said that he was offended by the way Kuester asked to speak with him and turned down an opportunity to speak with his coach. Hamilton said Kuester sent head of security Jerry Hendon to ask Hamilton to speak with him just a minute before the team was to meet to go over strategy for the night’s game.
“I felt offended that he sent Jerry instead of coming himself or sending an assistant coach,” Hamilton told the Free Press. “I could tell Jerry was uncomfortable and I said no.”
If this was in fact the case then the blame in this situation is more on Keuster then Hamilton. I agree with Hamilton in the sense that it should have been Keuster making the approach to Hamilton rather then a security guard. However this doesn’t eliminate the fact that Hamilton still must be traded and Keuster must stay on as head coach throughout the rest of the season. Keuster like Joe Dumars hasn’t been given a whole lot to work with and Hamilton has been sulking ever since Billups was traded.
I can certainly understand some Pistons’ fans opinions on them wanting to hold on to Hamilton given his past success with the organization. This latest situation is just another indication that the relationship right now with Hamilton and the Pistons is not getting better, it is only getting worse.
Source: Detroit Free Press, Mlive.com
