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Perked-up Pistons offense to get another boost from Anthony Tolliver

As far as Anthony Tolliver knows, the Pistons are a virtual offensive machine. He's seen them twice this season: when the Pistons beat the Suns two weeks ago at Phoenix, scoring a then-season-best 105 points, and again Friday as a newly minted Piston when they beat Indiana 119-109, re-establishing a season-high point total and shooting a season-best 54.7 percent.

"Last night, they played really well. Moved the ball. Everybody touched it," Tolliver said after Saturday's practice, his first since Wednesday's trade that shipped little-used Tony Mitchell to Phoenix for the 6-foot-8 Tolliver, a classic stretch four. "Seemed like everybody was in a rhythm, everybody was hitting shots. That's how I love to play. Whenever you're on a team that the ball sticks, it's no fun because certain guys are going to get all the shots and everybody else is going to be out of rhythm. It's just not the way to play team basketball."

If Stan Van Gundy is right, Tolliver – who arrived at The Palace an hour before tipoff Friday and took and passed his physical before watching the game in street clothes – will send a little more of a charge into the offense. They're confident he'll be a good fit for a number of reasons.

"He's always been a guy we've liked," Van Gundy said, adding that the familiarity of assistant coach Bob Beyer and pro scout Adam Glessner, each of whom were with Tolliver last year in Charlotte, further encouraged the deal. "We knew a lot about him as a person. He's a high-character guy who can stretch the floor out and his contract is a great value contract. We were very lucky that that one sort of fell in our lap and we had the opportunity to do that."

Van Gundy said Tolliver will be active for Sunday's 4:30 p.m. tipoff at Cleveland. He's not sure how much he'll be used, but both he and Tolliver felt comfortable enough after Saturday's practice that he'd be ready to go.

"The system here offensively is actually similar to the Charlotte system that I played with (former Van Gundy assistant coach) Steve Clifford," Tolliver said. "Whenever they were trying to show me the offense, I was actually saying, 'Hey, I'm supposed to be here and do that.' A lot of the stuff translates pretty similarly – a little bit different calls, different names, but same action, same type of movement."

"I'll have him active. How much we'll use him, I don't know," Van Gundy said. "It's been one day, but he picked things up pretty quickly. I think we've got enough of a package. We could run stuff and play him if we needed to."

How Tolliver fits in the power forward rotation remains to be seen. With Monday's waiving of Josh Smith, Greg Monroe slid into the starting lineup with Jonas Jerebko behind him. Is there room for both Jerebko and Tolliver in Van Gundy's rotation?

"We'll see," he said. "There's room for a fourth big guy. We'll just have to see the way the game plays out. Maybe down the road Jonas plays a little bit at the three, too, and we get a little bigger."

Tolliver caught an eyeful of Andre Drummond and Monroe in Friday's win, Drummond taking – and making – seven hook shots while Monroe put up 19 points and 15 rebounds.

"Somebody that is a dual threat like (Drummond), be able to be a pick-and-roll threat going to the basket, alley oops, like he's been traditionally and he starts developing that low post where you can throw it in and get a bucket, he's going to be a problem," Tolliver said. "Guys like me really play well off a guy like that, like I did with Al Jefferson in Charlotte. To be able to have a guy who can go get a bucket and be a threat down there – and, obviously, Greg, too. Greg is already polished down there and really good around the basket. To have those two guys and be able to play off one or both of them is going to be a lot of fun."

Tolliver, who has played for seven NBA teams over his career, had signed a two-year contract last summer with Phoenix, but had recently fallen out of the rotation. The Suns simply had too much duplication of his skill set in the Morris twins. He was on his way to Suns practice on Christmas Eve morning when his agent, Larry Fox, reached out.

"Merry Christmas, huh?," Tolliver laughed at the timing. "Hey, if I get an opportunity, I'm up for whatever. Literally 20 minutes later, I got called into our office in the gym and they told me I was traded."

Fox pointed out the mileage Van Gundy has gotten out of his power forwards in the past, not that the 29-year-old Tolliver needed any cajoling.

"He talked several times about how coach Van Gundy used Rashard Lewis in Orlando, how he was a stretch four and how he was all over the place. I'm hoping to come in and make an impact. Rashard Lewis was All-Star caliber at his peak. For me, I just want to come in and fit in and be a part of the team and be a threat. Do what I do – shoot the ball, shoot threes and spread the floor for guys like Brandon Jennings to get to the basket. Go out there and play the right way, move the ball and get shots for everybody."