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Dinwiddie on Denver debut: ‘It’s about winning games’

DENVER – That even keel Spencer Dinwiddie uses to steer his life’s course will serve him well in the oft-tumultuous world of professional sports. But it doesn’t make for a dramatic return to home base for the launching of his NBA career.

So when Dinwiddie, drafted by the Pistons out of Colorado in June, saw that his NBA debut would come in Denver – about a 3-point shot from Boulder, where he spent the last three years of his life – he thought it “ironic” and then got back to rehabilitating the torn ACL that pushed him into the second round and made him a Piston.

“That’s my second home. It’s my home away from home,” he said, adding he expects somewhere between 10 and 20 friends to attend the game. “I have a couple of people there, but at the same time it’s not going to be any more pressure. I’m coming off the bench and all that. It’s about winning games. It’s not like I’m a star or something like that. It’s not that type of deal. We’re going back to Denver.”

But the flight west on Roundball One sort of makes complete a remarkable journey for Dinwiddie, who probably thought his dream of playing in the NBA was at least severely delayed – if not put out of reach – as he lay writhing in pain on the court at the University of Washington last Jan. 12.

If there were a few dark days in the aftermath of the injury, they didn’t last long. After his head cleared, he decided to bypass his senior season and attack rehab head on. He moved to Houston to work with Russ Paine, who guided Adrian Peterson’s recovery from a similar injury and got him back on a football field within nine months.

That nearly perfectly matches Dinwiddie’s timeline, though if it were up to him he would have returned before he did – in time for last Thursday’s preseason finale.

In just a few minutes, he flashed some of the potential that had Van Gundy and general manager Jeff Bower so pleased to be able to get what they considered a first-round talent with the 38th pick. He knocked down his first two shots, both 3-pointers, penetrated and pinpointed a pass that Andre Drummond converted into a three-point possibility and kept the offense flowing with quick decision making.

Those traits – on a 6-foot-6 frame with a 6-foot-9 wing span – were why Dinwiddie was considered a likely first-round pick, and potentially a lottery pick, before the injury. At the time he got hurt, Colorado was nationally ranked and Dinwiddie was its clear leader, averaging 14.7 points and 3.8 assists a game while shooting nearly 47 percent overall and 41 percent from the 3-point line.

The Pistons certainly aren’t about to make brash predictions for Dinwiddie’s future, but they exude an air of confidence that he’ll beat the odds for second-round picks whenever the subject is raised. Dinwiddie exudes the same air of confidence in himself, but remains remarkably grounded at the same time, especially for a 21-year-old.

“Everybody’s goals when they come into the league are extremely high and they have extreme aspirations and they want to be a starter and a guy who starts on a championship team,” he said. “Those are my goals. Whether they come this year, down the line in my career or whatever – they don’t come at all – nobody knows. It’s my job to work toward that but in the process of doing that I also have to maintain focus that my job is to help the team win, whether that’s in 30 minutes or two minutes.”

Five point guards went ahead of Dinwiddie in June’s draft: Dante Exum, Marcus Smart and Elfrid Payton were all top-10 picks and Tyler Ennis and Shabazz Napier also were first-rounders.

Dinwiddie told reporters at the NBA draft combine in May that he considered himself the best point guard in the draft. With the injury behind him, now he gets the chance to prove it.

“I feel good,” he said. “I feel like the injury is behind me. I feel like I’m back to being a normal rookie. It’s all about getting the concepts down and continuing to play within the team concepts and helping the team win.”